Category: Blog

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Handling Remote Sales Team Functions

Many Australian Sales Teams are in Social Distancing Mode and working remotely right at this moment. This places many new demands on the sales team, and we have taken the opportunity to offer some insights as to the silver linings which are visible as a result of working remotely.

Some Salespeople may struggle with time management working from home and this can be expected, however setting and agreeing on expectations is crucial. Expectations such the amount of sales activity, proposal offered, won sales, should be part of the agreements.  If your sales team is acquiring new business then they should still be able to prospect at this time, provided they are calling on industries that are not having financial hardship or at risk of closing. What is important that you create a strategy with respect to what industries your team should be reaching out to. Remember that even in times of adversity their will be industries that are playing steady or in growth mode.

For sales teams that are in account management, then this is a great time to catch some of your clients on the phone and have a general discussion.  Discussions could lead into an account health check. Of course, find out what your clients will be doing to handle the current situation and how you may be able to assist them. All these actions will be relevant today and in the future.

Regular contact with each sales team member, and possibly even daily is recommended to ensure that they have zero barriers to success. Ongoing mentoring will be crucial at this time to maintaining motivational levels. Let’s talk more about our successes and what is working and keep the negatives away from the discussions.

What are some of the other tasks your sales team can complete during this remote working session, well here some additional tasks:

Reviewing, and cleaning up the sales pipeline – this is crucial and as we have discussed on many occasion, distorted sales pipelines do not do any favors for the company and the sales team. In fact, the current circumstances may actually have an impact on the timeline of the opportunity – the opportunity could be delayed or advanced as a result of the current climate.

Following up on past sales opportunities or projects that were never closed off – this is a great opportunity to discuss these with your clients, and possibly line up a plan of action for the future.

How about just calling some clients or prospects that you have not heard from for a while, start the call with a statement such, “Hello Mary, just calling to say hi”. You will find that many people will be delighted with the call. Just talk, don’t sell, the business discussion may come at the end, but certainly building that forgotten bridge may be beneficial.

Researching who are the customers that are not buying any more from your firm, ask your administration / accounts for a list and work through the names and call each company. Some may be glad to hear from you, even if its only to say hi. Sometimes we lose touch with people who once provided a steady revenue stream for your company.

This would also be a great opportunity to update your CRM system, even calling some of the entries to cleanse the database would be advantageous. The process of cleansing a database by phone can generate leads. So, don’t be afraid to hop on the phone to tidy up your database.

Training is another task that can be scheduled during these times, it could be product or sales training. Another great use of time at this moment. If you are seeking information on Sales Training Brisbane, Sales Training Adelaide, Sales Training Perth, Sales Training Melbourne, Sales Training Darwin, Sales Training Sydney, Sales Training Hobart then why not call us for some options which can assist your team at this time.

If you are seeking further information on the above article or more information on the training options we can offer remotely then please call our Toll-Free Number 1300 791 571, or call George Manolis directly on 0418 436 743, or email george@sfsi.com.au.

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Sales Training gains consistent results for Global Corporation

Sales Training gains consistent results for Global Corporation – Read Below for the full story from one of our clients!

One of our clients who are part of a Global Organisation which collectively turns over $ 2 Billion dollars, contacted us over 4 years ago and asked for assistance in sales growth.

As a directive from the Global Headquarters of this company, the request for a modest increase of 15% per year was requested in our proposal. Whilst this growth requirement seems small, it came at a time when “mining” clients and projects were drying up – so the task was rather larger than it appeared.

A detailed brief was gathered from the client and part of the process was the development of a sales training program Sydney which was able to deliver required sales growth from existing and new prospects. This meant that a complete forecast and expectation of sales was put into place for each sales territory in Australia. The growth was to come from conquest clients and existing clients – the entire process had buy in from all stakeholders around the entire national sales region.

An important part of the process was to increase the revenue from existing customers and our research indicates growth of 20 to 30% can come from this area. This involved implementing an Account Management Plan for the top 20% of clients who brought in 80% of the revenue.

The plan required cultural change in the organisation as well a new CRM system was also specified and installed. Sales Processes were designed and installed to work alongside of the CRM system.

The training was aimed and delivered to all parts of the business, including the sales managers, sales team, administration, and warehousing – the focus was not just on sales growth but also “the customer”.

The sales training Sydney was not a “one touch” scenario but in fact an ongoing process and will continue to be part of the company’s development program in the future as well.

The sales team has now delivered the required results for four years running! This was a calculated plan and came off, ticking all the boxes for our client.

If your organisation is seeking sales growth and increased margins, then we can assist with a program tailored to suit your situation.

For enquiries relating to Sales Training Sydney, Sales Training Brisbane, Sales Training Melbourne Sales Training Adelaide, and Sales Training Perth please contact us for an obligation free discussion on 1300 791 571 or email us on george@sfsi.com.au

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What to expect in 2020?

Feedback from some of our Clients in 2019, was that it was one of toughest years for a long time.

An expected burst of activity after the elections in May 2019 did not eventuate for many organizations. Retail and Automotive including Trucks saw massive declines in Revenue. Some Mining clients experienced the reverse and enjoyed sales growth last year.

When we contacted the C Level Executives for many of these organizations for comment, we were told to expect “head Count” reductions for 2020.

Our advice to all organisations in 2020 is as follows:

  1. Do not reduce head count in the area of client acquisition and certainly not in the account management areas. To reduce sales effort in a cooling economy would be a disastrous decision as it is in these times that we need to build opportunity Vs, ceasing sales acquisition activity. It is a possibility that your client’s level of sales growth will diminish or move into the negative area; hence we need to continue building. In addition, clients and prospects respect your “sales efforts” and “presence“ in a cooling market. You will be the first person they call when the economy starts to move again.
  2. Account Management: Guard your existing clients this year, in fact, apply more effort than ever before. Work your account management plan and find out what your client’s vulnerabilities are and attempt to work solutions that can assist them meeting their own targets. Remember the words of Zig Ziglar: “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want”.
  3. Ensure your sales team is developed on a regular basis – the sales team will require heaps of support, motivation, training and encouragement in these times. Some of our clients who are the market leaders continually train their sales team. They are offered generous dollars for ongoing sales training each and every year.
  4. Conduct weekly sales meetings and regularly review each member’s sales pipeline. It is preferable to have less sales opportunities in your pipeline having a higher probability, than what is often the case, a large list of opportunities with uncertain percentages of probability.
  5. “Windscreen Time” is the time you spend on the road with your sales team. This time is valuable as it allows you to develop your team member whilst conducting joint sales calls. This is one of the most important development strategies that Sales Manager leave out of their routine, but one of the strategies that will go a long way to assisting you in increasing sales.

If you are wanting 2020 to be the year of sales growth and more profit, then consider Sales Training Brisbane, Sales Training Sydney, Sales Training Melbourne, Sales Training Adelaide, and Sales Training Perth. Our Sales Training Programs are proven over 30 years in the Australia Marketplace and will offer a sales methodology that will benefit your team for many years to come.

Contact George Manolis at Synergy For Success for more information on how Sales Training can assist your organisation in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth Adelaide and Darwin.

Contact us now on 1300 791 571. Ask for George Manolis

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Sales and non-sales related activities

How effective is your sales team? What percentage of their time is invested in sales related activities? A recent survey of Australian Corporations conducted by SFSI indicates that sales teams invest less than 30% of their time in Sales Related Activities. How does your team compare?

 

Sales related activities are regarded as:

  • Prospecting activities by telephone, door knocking, LinkedIn & Social Media, networking events, trade shows etc.
  • Initial and subsequent visits to prospects to conduct needs analysis and or pitch
  • Additional visits to a prospect to advance a sale through the funnel/pipeline
  • Generating proposals
  • Negotiation activities
  • Processing Orders
  • Follow up calls after the sale to ensure the client is delighted with our product & service offerings
  • Seeking testimonial and writing case studies

Non-Sales Related Activities which are necessary but not conducive to increasing revenue include the following:

  • Poor Time Management which can include travel & transit time
  • Collecting company debts on behalf of accounts departments
  • Delivering goods to the client as a PR exercise
  • Poorly planned meetings where we have a cup of coffee and share the same discussions as last month, and no effort is made to discuss sales growth or relationship management matters
  • Meetings which involve sales team members, and require compulsory attendance which are sometimes not related to sales growth matters
  • Bureaucracy and politics which stifle the efforts of our sales team members.

What is the seat cost of a B2B salesperson?

SFSI has researched seat costs of B2B sales team members and this figure can be a minimum of $99 per hour, hence an expense of almost $4000 per week. This is the reason why we need to ensure that we keep our Sales Team members hovering in sales related matters as opposed to reverse option.

Tracking sales team activities is easy if you are using CRM to its fullest:

Our experience has shown that 20 years ago only 5% of companies had a CRM system, and today we can tell you that up to 95% of companies have CRM and only 5% of these are using CRM to its fullest.

Our recommendations are that all sales teams conduct a review of their sales effectiveness and consider all options to ensure that they break the habits, activities, and bureaucracy that holds them back from having effective selling days.

If you are having issues with sales effectiveness, then feel free to send us an email to arrange a complimentary audit which can demonstrate how much time your sales team can save each week. Email us at george@sfsi.com.au or call us on 1300 791 571 !

If you are looking for Sales Training Brisbane, Sales Training Gold Coast, Sales Training Melbourne, Sales Training Adelaide, Sales Training Perth, Sales Training Sydney, then please call us for obligation free discussion about how we can assist to increase your sales and profit. Call 1300 791 571 Now !

 

Related Tag: Sales Coaching Melbourne

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Recruiting Great Sales People

Here are some great tips when you are recruiting great sales people.

  1. Get referrals from friends and colleagues. I’ve found most of the great performers I’ve hired for my business this way.
  2. Ask your customers. Customers bond well with sharp representatives and they often will be a great medium for an introduction.
  3. Use social media. LinkedIn is particularly powerful.
  4. Engage with people – everywhere you go and especially when you have met a great sales person.
  5. Create an amazing advertisement to attract the right candidates for the job.
  6. Head hunt in the right areas for those looking for a career change.

Look for the following attributes.

  1. Conscientiousness
  2. Coachability
  3. Intelligence
  4. Prior success
  5. Passion

Experienced and capable salespeople are a vital asset for all businesses. They are often the first point of contact for your prospects and customers and contribute heavily to an organisation’s bottom line. However, building a high-quality sales team is not always easy. It requires the Sales or Inside Sales Managers to invest a considerable amount of time and money to assemble a team of productive sales people.

Choosing and recruiting right people require a right hiring strategy and a hands-on approach to ensure you hire the best.

Strategies for recruiting top Sales People.

Recruit Salespeople on an Ongoing Basis

Do not start looking for replacements when salespeople leave. Look for talent inside your team. Don’t overlook people without experience as their passion to become part of a sales team can make them a star sales person.

Be an organization that develops a system that attracts sales talent on an ongoing basis. Make sure your culture is a place where people want to work as your reputation will attract sales people that want to work for you.

Advertise in Multiple Places

You never know where you will find a good candidate. Although, posting vacancies on job boards can prove to be beneficial, companies should also utilize social media sites such as candidate pool to choose from. There are data bases available with the job seekers listed and this can be a great tool for head hunting.

Work Hard when Writing the Job Description

Different sales profiles would require different traits, skills and experience. Make sure you sell the job when putting together the advertisement. You have to make the job look attractive to the potential job seeker.

Build a Recruiting Referral Program

Create an incentive program for your current employees to refer salespeople who can be a high achiever for the company. Your staff can be the best people to recommend the best sales person for your organisation.

Hire from your Competitors

Always keep your eye out with your competitors. Head hunting top sales guns from your competition is always something to consider.

Phone Interview

Have a brief discussion over the phone before going for a face-to-face interview. This can elevate some candidates and save you time.

Have Multiple Interviewers ready

If you have interviewed a high achiever with a great reputation then have the second interview lined up immediately or the next day. Good candidates do not last long on the market so you will need to act quickly.

Ask the right questions

Be prepared for the interview. Ask the correct questions. Ask why they have left previous roles and why they are passionate about this role. Make sure the referees match the positions on the resumes and there are no date gaps.  If so ask for an explanation. Listen and let the candidate speak. A good sales person will know how to sell themselves.

Always make sure that this candidate will be a good fit for your team and if they are a sales gun. A bit of friendly competition always helps boost the overall game of your team. Make sure they are teachable to the new culture and adaptable to a certain amount of change. Intelligent people will not have challenges with team completion and fitting in, or any changes they may be required to make to fit into a new culture. They should be able to transfer their skill sets used for their prior success and implement this into the new culture. Talk about these skill sets and how they will fit into your company culture. Above all make sure the sales person has passion as this passion is the reason they will knock on the doors and close the deals.

If you are seeking to work with a recruitment agencies Brisbane, or recruitment agencies Gold Coast then please call us on 1300 791 571 or email george@sfsi.com.au

 

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Hiring by cultural fit or Job Competency?

Hiring for most jobs attracts & draws many candidates who are qualified for the role. However, in this mass of applicants, candidates who tick the competency boxes perfectly reduce the “possible group” even more.  How many will fit the culture? Cultural fit includes, personality, ability to “fit” into the team, background similarities, hobbies and Interests, personal philosophies and beliefs, in fact many factors are often considered when a client asks for a candidate that fits the culture.

A further filtering of candidates who fit the culture will only leave you with a small Gene pool of candidates who are perfect for the job.

There are different local cultures say for recruitment in Melbourne, for recruitment in Sydney and recruitment in Brisbane within the same company. We take this into consideration when we are conducting recruitment nationally for our clients. So, a great recruiter knows this and understands the different cultures that environments bring to the table.

Properly interviewing for cultural fit can be a challenge and that is why we at Synergy for Success are experienced in asking the right questions whether it be for recruitment in Melbourne, recruitment in Sydney or recruitment in Brisbane. A huge trap for organizations is relocating team members to other states because they are “good at their job” only to find that once they land in the new office, both the employee and colleagues are disheartened by the lack of cultural fit.

It’s easy to ask complex questions and gravitate toward the candidates who give well thought out articulated answers. However, unless those questions are based on your cultural preferences you could be attracting the wrong people. Candidates who are relocating more and more now from interstate and it is very important to understand that recruitment in Melbourne is a different cultural fit against recruitment in Brisbane. The same goes for recruitment in Sydney as we find a lot of candidates are relocating from south to the north of the country.

All that said, if you value a cultural fit, understand that we at Synergy For Success make it part of our interview process. You just need to take the right approach and avoid the pitfalls, so you hire people who truly enhance your culture. Know when you use Synergy For Success, we are well experienced and have techniques to capture the right candidate whether it be recruitment in Brisbane, recruitment in Sydney or recruitment in Melbourne.

If you are seeking Sales Training in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or Perth then call us Synergy for Success, for an obligation free consultation: call 1300 791 571

 

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What are the signs that you have the best sales team in Australia ?

We often come across C Level Executives who advise us that they have the “Best Sales Team in Australia”.

In order for your team to be ranked as the best, here are some questions you should ask yourself.

  1. Does your team actively use Client Relationship Management (CRM)? Not only as a tool to make it a powerful contact manager, but more importantly used to trigger sales process and take the prospect on a journey from agnostic to key account and raving fan. Is the CRM used to manage the sales pipeline and predict sales revenue over the next 30, 60 and 90 days?
  2. Does each sales team member have a sales plan? We have been dealing with this issue for over 30 years here in Australia and the first issue is that most sales teams don’t have a sales plan, and certainly not a territory plan. In fact, in most companies we detect no evidence of a business plan for the sales team.
  3. Are the KPI’s of each member of the sales team agreed upon and signed off by all stakeholders? Once again, this is a process that is often not in place so essentially we have expensive resources in a company that are not deployed effectively.
  4. Has your company defined a PDP (Professional Development Plan) for each sales team member? In other words have you delivered the best sales training to your team and then analysed each of the 13 competencies in the Professional Development Plan? Once you understand the deficiencies of each sales team member, is there a plan in place to develop their competencies? Your Sales Training Provider should be able to offer you support and guidance in this area.
  5. Can each of your sales team members understand and articulate your company’s Point of Difference and can they pitch this effectively to your prospects and clients? Remember the reason your company loses deals, is because the opposition pitched better than you.
  6. Finally the Holy Grail of Sales Competencies: Can your team ask the hard questions? Finding out things like, who is the current incumbent and how long have you been using them? What do they do well and what do they not do well? On what basis will they choose their next incumbent? What boxes do we have to tick in order to win their business?

Before you make claim to having the best sales team in Australia, we suggest you deliver the best Sales Training for your sales team, regardless of where you are in Australia – Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide or Darwin.

Call Synergy for Success now to book your sales team into the best sales training program ever.  Call George Manolis on 0418 436 743.

 

Related Tag: Sales Coaching Melbourne

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Stand out from the Crowd

Imagine being a Soldier!  You are an amazing individual, well trained and fit, however by appearance you all look the same. How do YOU stand out from the crowd?

Consumers today have a wide choice of options when shopping for goods and services.  Why should someone choose your company and your service and offerings over someone else? The most common issue we find when working with a new client is the ability for the sales team to position their offerings in the market place. What is the point of difference of your offerings over your competitors’?  Are considerations such as your bricks and mortar presence of interest to the client? How about levels of stock holding or even the guarantees you offer? There are so many benefits you can offer the client, but where do you start?

This Point of Difference is the most misunderstood aspect of sales, and our experience is that sales people really don’t understand that the point of difference must be all about the client and what is in it for them.  The best way to establish what your point of difference is in the marketplace, is to research what is on offer in the marketplace, and even research your own existing clients to find out what keeps them with you.

Points of difference could include any of the following:

  • Location of your stock, quality and pricing of your product
  • Features and Benefits of your product
  • Outstanding technical features of your product
  • Performance of your product
  • Colour range, warranty, trading terms, the list goes on and on.

Some clients are also looking at the location of a company’s call center – ie Australia v Overseas Call Centers.

Whatever the points of difference are as determined by the stakeholders in the company, these must be shared and documented throughout the organisation. All team members and departments must be acclimatized to the Points of Difference; in fact every person that has any form of customer contact must be aware. All sales literature must also be aligned. We often find that marketing and sales collateral is not consistent throughout an organisation and appears differently on the website, shopping cart, sales literature etc.  Once an organisation realises the Point of Difference of the company’s products and service offerings, the sooner they can be assured that they will have a greater chance of winning the deal.

Mystery Shopping Exercises conducted within organisations prove the level of variations of articulating the points of difference – in many cases, sales teams react with a price only when a customer orders.  If you have any doubt whatsoever that your team may not be across the articulation of the Point of Difference of your company’s products and services, then we suggest you ask Synergy for Success to conduct some mystery shopping of your market channels.

Synergy for Success delivers Sales Training Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne,  Adelaide, Sydney and Perth.

Call George Manolis, Synergy for Success on 0418 436 743 for an obligation free consultation on how we can assist you in increasing sales profit. Website www.sfsi.com.au

Email george@sfsi.com.au

 

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Is there something missing from YOUR customer service?


This is the signage from the Customer Service Counter of one of our major airlines in Australia.  Yes, it is only a small “fail” that some letters are missing from counter signs, but what message is it sending to their clients?

Sales teams work hard to prospect, qualify and win new customers.  Sometimes it can take years to win some of these deals. Of course it stands to reason that we should ensure we audit and benchmark customer service levels in our companies to ensure we foster customer loyalty.

Synergy For Success conducts after sales surveys to benchmark performance, and we find that most companies fall short in the area of customer service. We would like to share some of our findings, and let’s focus on the common customer service “fails”.

  • Long waiting times to answer telephones – the same goes for acknowledgment times at counters.
  • Inability for staff to resolve issues on first call –  FTR (First Time Resolution).  This is annoying and frustrating for clients.
  • Staff that really don’t care about relationships – this is evident, not only on phone and counter interactions, but also with online enquiries.
  • Not keeping the customer informed of progress – one of the most common complaints.
  • Harsh words conveyed online with respect to service and technical faults – this is a rapidly growing area of complaints, as technical support team members are being relied on to provide technical support and of course “customer service”. Most are ill equipped to deliver outstanding customer service.
  • Insulting and inappropriate comments made to clients in general.

So what are the possible outcomes of such poor customer service traits?

We have had examples of major clients who complain about customer service on the very first deliveries and/or interactions, with threats to move back to their previous suppliers.  Clients who don’t fully activate due to poor customer service will only send you a small part (or none) of their business

Complaints about your performance being elevated to the senior levels of your organisation, or worse, to your competitors, can extensively harm you and your company’s reputation.

It is crucial that your company is performing at 100% plus on customer service levels as this will ensure your clients remain with you and reward you with all of their business.

If you would like to gain a better idea of how your company is performing in the area of customer service, then call Synergy for Success, for an obligation free discussion on how we can measure your customer service levels. Call 1300 791 571 or email us on info@sfsi.com.au

If you would like to invest in sales training for your team in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth then please call 1300 791 571 or email us on info@sfsi.com.au

 

WE GUARANTEE CUSTOMER SERVICE IMPROVEMENT WHICH WILL FLOW ON TO MORE SALES!

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Recruitment is evolving quicker than ever

 

Recruitment is evolving quicker than ever, and it can be challenging trying to keep up. Here at Synergy For Success we are continually developing and researching for better ways to recruit which ensure better outcomes for our clients.

We specialise in Sales Recruitment Sydney, Sales Recruitment Melbourne and Sales Recruitment Brisbane, Sales Recruitment Adelaide, Sales Recruitment Perth and Sales Recruitment Gold Coast.

It is paramount for us to be able to “own our patch”, and to be able to source quality candidates for our clients.

Where do you learn how to hire and retain the best talent?

There are many ways to source great talent and with the rapidly growing social media platforms this powerful marketing cannot be overlooked. We call it Social Recruiting here at Synergy For Success and it is yielding great success and relevance within our rapidly growing digital world. Inside these expanding platforms it gives us opportunity to advertise, screen candidates, headhunt and gain referrals.

Of course, our greatest is asset is our own CRM system which has been populated over the last 21 years and has over 50,000 candidates which we can screen and filter to suit each application.

We also always have the job board advertising which is almost often used. It is a simple platform to navigate, but writing the job is where the experienced recruiter will utilise their skills. At Synergy For Success we pride ourselves in being able to write outstanding job adds, and this is because we know our clients and have an empathy for their business? More often than not we have already been working inside their company by providing sales training and perhaps even marketing services.

Because we understand the culture of our client’s business, we can source the personality type and skill set they require, and we pride ourselves in being able to deliver excellence. How you represent your client and screen your candidate has to flow right through to the interview and hiring stages.

Job board advertising, interviewing and selection from recruitment technology must work hand in hand with legislation and correct recruitment procedures.

Synergy For Success has the leading edge on the bigger recruitment companies in being a boutique recruitment company, and this enables us to be up close and personal with our clients. This enriches us as recruiters to be able to understand what our client wants and to write that job add or to source people through the social media and digital platforms.

Our network and corporate community enables us to headhunt and source great people for the job. We have thousands of candidates available on our own databases, to access and place in the matrix for that outstanding person our client requires.

Often here at Synergy For Success the perfect candidate is already on our own in-house database.

Synergy For Success understands the culture of Sales Recruitment Sydney, Sales Recruitment Melbourne and Sales Recruitment Brisbane. We research and understand all corporate cultures throughout the country and adapt our processes accordingly.

Synergy For Success prides itself on a business model built on relationships and a strong reputation for the trinity of what we deliver in Sales Training, Recruitment and Marketing. Each area of our business enhances each other. So, when you hire us as your recruiter you get far more than a paper and people sorter. You have a team that can look far deeper to full fill your requirements.

Call Synergy for Success now if you would like to build a new and better team, Call 1300 791 571!