Have you been victimized by a Sample Bandit lately? Sample bandits are the prospects that are always asking for demonstrations, samples and quotes yet never buy from you. The important thing to remember is: you cannot be victimized by these bandits if you are not a willing participant. You can control who wastes your time and who doesn´t.

Not every request for a quote, sample and demonstration will result in a sale. On the other hand, not everyone is a sample bandit. How do you figure out who is wasting your time and who isn´t?

The secret is in your ability to qualify the prospect.

There are several issues that need to be qualified before you agree to generate a quote, sample, etc. When you consider how much time it takes you to generate a quote, send a sample or give a demonstration and multiply this time by the number that did not result in business, you will be amazed at how much time you have wasted over the period of a year. Giving samples, generating quotes and providing demonstrations are not bad for business, just only do this for qualified prospects and not with everyone you meet. Time is a precious commodity. The more time you spend with qualified prospects, the more you can expect to sell and earn.

What qualifies a prospect to receive a sample, quote and/or demonstration?

• Timing—You have heard the famous expression that timing is everything in life. It is so true in sales. No matter how good your product/service is, even if the price is great, if the timing is not right, the sale is not happening.

  Sometimes, pricing or a good argument can nudge the time frame up a little bit. Find out when the sale is expected to happen. If the deal is not expected to happen for a couple of months, wait to generate a quote.

  If you feel there is a chance to motivate the buyer to do the dealer sooner, make sure your value proposition is strong enough to motivate the change in timing.

• Disqualification— Often customers will use your samples, quotes and demonstrations as a method of disqualification. Make sure your samples, quotes and demonstrations are being used for the right purposes and not as a tactic for knocking you out of the game.
• Justification—Customers will sometimes request quotes from a certain number of vendors just to show they have looked at several choices, even when they know who they want to work with. Don´t allow yourself to be a justification! Some sales execs go forward in the belief that any quote allows them to get a foot in the door. You get a foot in the door by doing the right qualification and needs analysis followed by a strong value proposition. The concept of handing in quotes, samples and doing demonstrations does very little to strengthen your position without a properly qualified customer.
• Positioning—Many sales execs go out of their way to time their presentation. They try to be the last demonstration so they can have the final word and last source of impact. This is a good strategy. However, you still need to do the proper due diligence to succeed in your positioning.
• Numbers Game—-Some sales reps act like a high speed quote and sample machine because they are followers of the old maxim that sales is a numbers game. Sales is a numbers game—-the more qualified accounts you deal with, the more sales you will generate. Quotes and samples do not constitute a justifiable numbers strategy without the proper due diligence.

If a customer does not have a qualified situation that will justify your investment of time and resources, move on to the next prospect. Every minute and dollar you spend is not retrievable, once spent it is lost forever. Only you have control over your time and money. Don´t let anyone else spend it. Protect it and only give it to the people who deserve it. Self discipline in this area is crucial to your sales success. Otherwise, the Sample Bandits are waiting and will pounce on you the moment you show up. They will bleed you of all the time and money you have.

It’s time to say “NO” to the Sample Bandits!!!

Do you want to avoid being a victim of the Sample Bandits? Learn how to qualify accounts better and close more sales. Reserve your seat today in the next Titan Sales Boot Camp.

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If you don´t know your Points of Power, how can you stay strong in a negotiation? Points of Power are defined as the strengths you have in a certain negotiation and using that power provides the ability to negotiate a deal that is favorable to both parties

Points of Power include:

• Timing—If the customer needs to conclude a deal now and you have the ability to meet all deadlines, that is a Point of Power in your favor.
• Demand vs. Supply—The more demand there is for your product, the stronger your position.
• Ability to Take Risk—-If you can’t afford to lose the deal, even if it is not favorable, you are dealing from weakness. You must have a strong pipeline so you can afford to walk away from deals that do not make sense. The ability to risk losing the deal is probably one of the strongest Points of Power you can bring to any negotiation.
• Expertise— Customers are always looking for up-to-date information on trends, market conditions and product/service knowledge. If you possess expertise that your customers rely on, that is a Point of Power.

These are just four of the Points of Power that will strengthen your hand in a negotiation. To learn the rest, order your copy of Power Negotiations or reserve your seat at the next Titan Sales Boot Camp

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Sales forecasting is probably one of the most difficult and distasteful topics for sales executives. After 30 years of selling, managing, consulting and coaching some of the top sales executives in the world, I can you tell you it is one of the most powerful tool you can use to guarantee your success. You probably have heard the famous expression, “if you don´t know where you are going, all roads will lead you there”. Question: Do you have a sales revenue goal in mind for this year? You probably are answering yes. Second question: Are your actions supporting your goal? Again, you probably are answering yes. Think again!!!

All too often sales executives have a goal in mind and think their actions are going to help them achieve that goal. Yet, when they look deeply into their business, often they will see holes that need to be plugged. A forecast tells you in advance where the holes are and allows you to make the necessary repairs and prevent the ship from sinking. When you create a forecast, you are not only looking at the projected results, you are also analyzing why you think those results are going to happen. Often, you will find the deals are not as solid as they seem on the surface.

When creating a forecast, here are 4 simple steps you should take to ensure your success each and every year.

1. Start with the end in Sight- What is the revenue goal you need to achieve this year? I am not asking what you think you can do or what your company wants you to do. I am asking what it will take to support your desired lifestyle. This includes the vacations you want to take, the level of education you desire for your children, affording the mortgage and taxes for the type of house and community you want to live in, saving money for your retirement and having a little extra to spend on other items like the car of your choice. How much do you need to make in order to live a fulfilling life? Before you write telling me money is not the only fulfilling thing in life, I agree. If you are into charity work and giving, how much do you need to make to support your favorite causes? In some cases, the number may be more than you think you can do. Still, put it down. You need to see what you are after so you can build the appropriate forecast and plan. If you shy away from thinking it is not doable, guess what? It isn’t.
2. Make Sure Your Strategies and Actions Support Your Goal. Assume you are selling life insurance and you want to earn $50k more this year. The average income of the clients you have been serving is $100k per year. How would you do it? The common answer is to sell more insurance policies to more people. This is a good but limiting answer. Yes, you want more clients. But how many clients can you realistically work with at a given time? Instead of putting all of your eggs into one basket, you may want to also change your target market. What if you changed your target market to include clients with an average income of $200k? It is likely this target market would buy bigger policies (they have more to protect) and pay larger premiums which allow you to earn higher commissions. Look at your overall strategy and see if it supports your goal.
3. Make Sure Your Actions Support Your Goal. This is where the forecast comes into play. First, you need to list the opportunities to see if the total matches your goal. If not, you need to find new opportunities. Second, you need to qualify the opportunities you have listed. There are a number of realizations you may come to uncover, such as:
   1. a. You may not be dealing with the decision maker
   2. b. You may be asking the wrong questions
   3. c. You may be falling short in your value proposition
   4. d. The time may not be right for a deal
   5. e. You should be closing the deal
   6. f. You should cut your losses and move on

   Identify the steps of your sales cycle. See what is necessary to move each deal to the next step. If you can’t reach the next step, find out why and overcome the hurdles. Often, deals are not as solid as they appear. It is best you find this out sooner than later. Only then can you plug up the holes and ensure you safely reach your goal. These realizations only come after you look at your projected opportunities and dig really deep into how well they have been qualified and what needs to be done to get the business.

4. Measure Your Results. Break that yearly goal down into the smallest time measurements possible so you can gage your results and make appropriate changes. In some cases this is a monthly sales number, in other cases it can be weekly. You can even break it down into the sales cycle steps you have identified above and see if your pipeline at each level is strong enough to support your goal.

Today is August 1st. With five months left in the year, there is plenty of time to build a forecast and see where you stand. If your results are above your stated goal, don’t stop there. Raise your goal and take advantage of the strong market. Downturns occur and you always should maximize your opportunities.

If your number is below your goal, don’t be too quick to lower your expectations. Many times you can look at the forecast, identify the holes and make the necessary changes in time to ensure your success. If you have a complex sale or a long sales cycle with time running out this year, then at least start planning and forecasting your success for 2008.

One thing is for certain…there is no overnight success. Everything is planned for in life. That includes both failure and success. The top performers all plan for their success.

For tools that will help you realize your forecasted revenues click here.

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Athletes and sales executives have one thing in common: They all go through streaks. They have their moments when they are in the zone and can do no wrong. They are full of confidence knowing they are going to “hit a home run” the next time at bat. And then, for some unexplained reason, the hits stop coming and they fall into a rut. The confidence disappears and they wonder if they will ever hit again.

This has happened to every sales executive. The question is how you handle this situation and reverse the slump. The first thing you need to do is to take yourself back to a moment where you were successful. Replay that event in slow motion, be honest with your self, and identify all of the actions you took and the mindset from which you operated. Now compare that picture to what you are currently doing. Often you will see there is at least one difference in your approach. Sometimes, all it takes is one minor tweak to reverse a trend. In most cases you will be to identify the tweak if you allow yourself to revisit those moments in which you owned the world and could do no wrong.

Slumps happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is just bad timing and market fluctuations. While you may not be able to control those situations, you can control your actions. Remember this; if you did it once, you have proven your capabilities in doing the task. All you have to do is keep in game shape and remember that championship form. While slumps may be unavoidable, the severity of the slump and how long you stay in it is for the most part controlled by you. It’s all in the mind.

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Okay, here is another golf anecdote. For all you non-golfers, I promise to make this relevant to your sales success. Golfer Phil Mickelson fired his long time coach last weekend. Yesterday, Mickelson won the US Players Championship. Phil will be the first one to tell you he got a lot out of his old coach, yet he either learned everything the coach had to offer or he needed to learn other things the coach wasn’t covering. Either way, the impact was not the same so a change was required.

As a sales executive, did you ever look at yourself as a coach to your customers?  If not, you may want to reconsider that.  Coaches find out the goals of their clients and the obstacles they face.  They act as confidantes and provide a learning experience that enables the client to explore new ways of doing things and getting better results.  Isn’t that what sales is all about?  Helping your customers learn new ways of achieving better results and showing them how to do it.

If you ever lose business again from an existing customer, ask yourself where did the relationship start to lose its value for the customer?  Did the customer feel they have maximized their results with you and that the competition offered better results?  Did you take the customer for granted and stop doing the things you did to get the business in the first place?  Often, when a customer goes to the competition, it is usually for reasons that a coach on top of things could handle and prevent.

Has your customer fired their coach lately?

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