Selling is a process, and there are certain fundamentals or steps that must be taken for the process to work. I have been selling for many years. And, I have noticed certain selling mistakes made repeatedly, by both veteran business development/operations managers as well as new hires. These mistakes often become habits, which lead to less than desired results and wasted efforts. Let’s take a look at five of the most common selling mistakes and how you can avoid or correct them.

1) Lack of Preparation. How many of you really take the time to properly prepare for a sales or client call? It doesn’t matter whether the call is face-to-face or via phone, you should make sure that you are prepared and focused for success with the person you are contacting. Make sure you are doing the following:

• Prepare a written outline of what you expect to achieve on the sales/client call€¦don’t just “wing-it”, plan the call! What is your objective? Spend some time understanding the real needs and wants of your prospect or client.
• In addition to the outline, prepare a list of questions or issues that you want to address with the client/prospect. Remember that time is valuable€¦for both you and your prospect/client.
• Use DataFax (or other resources) to determine current and pending project opportunities with your prospect/client.
• Use the Internet or other media to learn more about your client/prospect and their business.
• If two or more people are going on the sales/client call, make sure each person understands their role and the purpose or objective of the call.
• Bring with you applicable marketing materials, reports, etc. that are necessary for the meeting.

2) Don’t Understand and know Aquaterra and the services we can provide. Effective selling and relationship building start with you really knowing and understanding the company you work for and the services it can provide. How can you expect your prospect or client to understand how Aquaterra can be of service to them if you don’t really understand Aquaterra yourself?

To improve your knowledge of Aquaterra, the technical services we provide and how we operate, make sure that you have done everything suggested in the last BYB blog post.

3) Talk too much; don’t ask good questions and don’t listen. Some of you simply talk too much! When you are talking, you are not listening. And when you are not listening, you are not learning about your prospects/clients needs or wants. The general rule is that a good sales or business professional should talk 30% of the time and listen 70%. Remember, you have two ears and one mouth€¦this is no coincidence.

Proper preparation for the sales call or client visit will assist greatly in this area. I have found that in the absence of preparation we often overcompensate for not really knowing the purpose of the call/meeting and talk endlessly. Don’t spend too much time with non-business conversation about personal matters, sports, weather, etc., unless the client takes you there. Remember that your clients are busy, have a job and are expected to produce results too€¦taking too much time with small talk or hanging around for no reason is unprofessional and breeds resentment.

4) Don’t ask for the job or opportunity. I firmly believe that you are missing out on many projects and much new business just because you don’t ask the prospect/client for the job! If you are properly prepared, have a receptive prospect/client and were professional in your presentation of Aquaterra, you have the right to ask for the job, contract or project!

Make it a habit to ask for the job on every sales call or client meeting!

5) Don’t follow-up! No follow-up and no follow-up system equal no sale! It is a mystery to me why the concept and importance of follow-up is so difficult to grasp by some. If you believe in yourself and Aquaterra, and you have a viable opportunity with a receptive prospect/client, and the client has asked for something from you (return my call/email, send me a proposal/SOQ, deliver my report, schedule lunch or dinner, etc.), why do many of you fail to follow-up consistently? Also, how many of you routinely follow-up sales calls or client meetings with a short email or written thank-you/summary note of the meeting and agreed to actions? Finally, take a good look at your outstanding proposals and make sure all proposals have an assigned person and date for follow-up with the prospect/client €“ and make sure you do it or it gets done!

Don’t leave follow-up to chance or manage this important function haphazardly. Follow-up is mandatory for sales and client development success. Your follow-up habits and skills are responsible for 80% of your sales. Improve your follow-up and improve your sales. Persistence is the key to follow-up success. Obstacles can’t stop you. Problems can’t stop you. More important, other people can’t stop you €“ ONLY YOU CAN STOP YOU!

Fifty percent of success is believing you can€¦simply put, you become what you think about!
- Ricky

Part 5 of 5 of Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Disfunctions of the Team:

Disfunction - INATTENTION ON RESULTS:

A team that is not focused on results €¦

• Stagnates/fails to grow.
• Rarely defeats competitors.
• Loses achievement-oriented employees.
• Encourages team members to focus on their own careers and individual goals
• Is easily distracted.

A team that focuses on collective results €¦

• Retains achievement-oriented employees.
• Minimizes individualistic behavior.
• Enjoys success and suffers failure acutely.
• Benefits from individuals who subjugate their own goals/interests for the good of the team.
• Avoids distractions.

Well there you have it. The five disfunctions of a team:

• Absence of Trust
• Fear of Conflict
• Lack of Commitment
• Avoidance of Accountability
• Inattention to Results

Is your team functional? Is your team successful? If not, do something about it - change is inevitable.

Traveling. It can be quite interesting at times. I traveled down to Baton Rouge last week for a corporate meeting. I make this trip quite often, and usually fly from Atlanta to New Orleans and drive up to Baton Rouge. I left out Wednesday afternoon toward Atlanta and was actually able to leave a little early (I usually drive like a mad man then rush to the gate just in time). As I pulled into the airport and through the terminal to West End Parking (best kept secret), I pulled up to find the gate closed - LOT FULL. Rats, this happens from time to time as the West End Parking is a fairly small lot. So, I pulled back through the terminal towards Long Term Parking only to find - LOT FULL, as was Short Term Parking. Hmmm, never seen that before. No problem, there’s plenty of off-site third part parking vendors off the airport at Camp Creek Parkway. I pulled into the first lot - FULL, pulled into the second lot - FULL, third lot - FULL, fourth lot - guess? The parking attendant there informed me that every lot was full. Hmm, I’m getting a bit concerned now and my early buffer is slipping away. I know, MARTA (mass transit train). I traveled over to the MARTA station only to find - lots full. Wow, this is quite the predicament. As I was heading over to the next MARTA station up the line, a potential solution came to me - hotel shuttles. So, I jumped off the interstate and pulled into the Hilton (nice big parking lot). I went in and asked the concierge for help. “Excuse me sir, my name is Jeff and I need some help. I’m trying to catch a flight and all lots at the airport are full. May I park my car here and ride your shuttle?” I said. “Sure, no problem” he replied. He didn’t have to help me but he did and gained a client for the future. Shuttle trip to the airport took less than 5 minutes to check in. Made the flight with time to spare.

Three morals to this story:
1) Never give up and adapt, improvise and overcome. There’s always a solution.

2) Ask people for help or a favor. This is something my dad taught me. In general, people want to help and do others favors.

3) Being helpful, even to those you don’t have to help, is some of the best marketing. It makes you feel good too. Be helpful to your clients and potential clients. Oh, and almost anyone is a potential client - as far as you know.

Have a great week.

Part 4 of 5 of Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Disfunctions of the Team:

Disfunction - AVOIDANCE OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

A team that avoids accountability €¦

• Creates resentment among team members who have different standards of performance.
• Encourages mediocrity.
• Misses deadlines and key deliverables.
• Places an undue burden on the team leader as the sole source of discipline.

A team that holds one another accountable €¦

• Ensures that poor performers feel pressure to improve.
• Identifies potential problems quickly by questioning one another’s approaches without hesitation.
• Establishes respect among team members who are held to the same high standards.
• Avoids excessive bureaucracy around performance management and corrective action.

Are you being held accountable? Are you holding others accountable? Are you holding yourself accountable. Accountability is a key to success - both for the corporation and personally.

John Bachner, Executive Vice President of ASFE has developed a blog. Checkout John’s post entitled “A client is a client is a client. Not so.” In that post, John’s also talks about expectations management. John says “By allowing yourself enough time, you can almost always deliver on or ahead of schedule. And by quoting appropriate fees and expenses, you can almost always deliver on or below budget. Doing that makes your client representative heroic, which makes you a hero to your client representative€¦ putting you well on your way to helping your firm develop a client for life.”

Check it out. John writes some good stuff.

Part 3 of 5 of Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Disfunctions of the Team:
DISFUNCTION - LACK OF COMMITMENT

A team that fails to commit €¦

• Creates ambiguity among the team about direction and priorities.
• Watches windows of opportunity close due to excessive analysis and unnecessary delay.
• Breeds lack of confidence and fear of failure.
• Revisits discussions and decisions again and again.
• Encourages second-guessing among team members.

A team that commits €¦

• Creates clarity around direction and priorities.
• Aligns the entire team around common objectives.
• Develops an ability to learn from mistakes.
• Takes advantage of opportunities before competitors do.
• Moves forward without hesitation.
• Changes direction without hesitation or guilt.

Is your team committed?