2010 has been a whirlwind of activity.   We’ll see if the old cliche, “…where there’s smoke, there’s fire…” will be true for 2010 but it’s trending that way.  With all the activity, I’ve been more reactive than proactive on sharing my thoughts.  However, there have been 3 really interesting articles that I’ve stashed away to read again when I’m in a contemplative mode.  Here they are, what do you think?

• Guest Article: “Send Me a Proposal,” by Chris Lytle – I really liked this one. Many times, I see sales tips that are regurgitated from last year’s sales tips. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to get a reminder of the basics every once in a while. But this post by guest author Chris Lytle is more than that, which is why I want to share it with you!

• Fire Any Customers Lately? – When the economy is just recovering, are you ready to consider firing a customer? I’m sure your tech support department can give you a list of the high maintenance customers to cross-check that against your lowest value customers and there you have it … the customers that need to be fired.

• 10 Free Online Sales Tools for 2010 – Are you using these tools yet?  Of the list, we’re already using Google Analytics, Jigsaw, Hoovers and Zoho CRM.  I’ll have to nudge Geoffrey James on two things – why isn’t Inquisix included and why does he continue to force me to hit the <next page> link so many times?  10 tools & 11 (short) pages to click on.

If you’d like to learn more about building and strengthening your business 100% thru referrals then I highly recommend you attending this special event from a master networker and early Inquisix member, Rick Roberge.

Rick’s program, “By Referral Only” will be offered on Wednesday December 30th, 2009 from noon to 1:30pm US ET. You have two options of attending  – you can be there in-person in Westboro, MA, USA or participate via webinar.

But act fast, as the first 24 people who register for each event using “RR1230” as the discount code will receive a $50 discount when they register.

Pick your option but don’t do nothing!

Join in-person

Join online

Not often that your C-level prospect will tell you how to sell to them.  They’ll hide behind email spam filters and executive assistants but won’t take the time to tell you what you’re doing wrong.  Until this CEO opened up with their automated email reply telling you to do more than just call the vendor hotline at purchasing – a voice mail no one ever picks up.

Top ways to get noticed:

• Let your prospect find you – ie Inbound Marketing
• Get introduced by someone they trust – ie Referrals

Top ways to annoy:

• Constant cold-calls
• Mass emails to entire executive team
• Trying to connect via social media

Thanks to Hubspot for the full article.

Ivan Misner posted on his blog – What Is the Number-One Trait of a Master Networker? this week and I thought, “Absolutely dead-on!”

Nothing frustrates me more than giving a referral to someone and then they DON’T FOLLOW UP. I’ve asked my colleague if they’d accept this referral to and now I have to explain why there was no follow up. This affects my reputation. That’s why Inquisix allows members to rate the referral in both ways – rating how well one party handled the referral and how well the other party gave the referral.

I came across Lee Salz‘s site earlier this week and really enjoyed his discussion on completing RFP’s. RFP’s seem to be causing quite a bit of discussions because I’ve spoken to several Inquisix members this week about RFP’s from the “I’m the new vendor” point of view to the “I’m the trusted incumbent, why are they doing this?” point of view.

You can see all of Lee’s articles on his Sales Architecture website.

RFPs can leave you feeling powerless. Before you decide to respond to your next RFP, read this article. You can regain the power!

Superman, as strong he is, is paralyzed by kryptonite. It brings him to his knees despite his superhuman strength. Sales people have their own kryptonite called RFPs, the dreaded Request for Proposal. An RFP process doesn’t have to be kryptonite. Superman has no choice but to fight this nemesis to survive. Unlike Superman, sales people have choices.

For one, there is no law that says you have to respond to every RFP that crosses your desk. You have the right to say, “No.” Some of you are now thinking that I’m insane, but it’s true. Let me turn the tables on you for a moment. The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If you aren’t the low price provider and you have no relationship with the prospect, how can you possibly win the business? You can’t and won’t. Therefore, sending in countless RFP responses under these conditions will yield nothing but losses. So, who’s crazy now?

Sure, when the pipeline isn’t as full as it should be, it is a natural reflex to want to pursue every RFP you can get your hands on. Yet, filling out an RFP is work. It also has a cost to both you and your company. While you are working on an RFP which you have little chance of winning, you aren’t prospecting for business that has a much higher chance of award. Look, we all get the same number of hours in our day. What you elect to do with yours determines whether or not you are successful in sales.

A couple of things you should know about RFPs. First is that there is a disconnect between Procurement and their customers (called users). Often times, Procurement authors the RFP and establishes the measurement criteria for evaluating the submissions. However, when you speak to the actual user, they say that the criteria developed by Procurement is inconsistent with their needs. Thus, a supplier is selected for a user based on flawed criteria.

Another thing you should know is that an RFP is not necessarily a commitment to make a change in provider. Some companies require that they source the business every x amount of time. Ever wonder how that RFP got in your inbox? Procurement will surf the web and pick a handful of providers to whom they will send the RFP and off it goes. It helps to know that Procurement folks are measured on their ability to reduce cost to the company. Just like a sales person’s scorecard is based on achievement of their sales quota, Procurement’s quota is based on cost reduction. The RFP that arrived in your inbox could very well be their attempt to put the squeeze on the current provider so they can show a 10% savings. Don’t kid yourself. This happens a lot!

One final thing you should know about RFPs is that they are sometimes used as a manager tactic. For example, some people are too nice to tell you “no,” so they hide behind the statement that their company only buys through the RFP process. Don’t buy that for a second. No company exclusively buys this way. Even the Federal Government, who is the most formal buyer, does not limit their purchasing to this means. Sales people, present company included, sell products and services to the Feds without an RFP being issued. It can be done!

There is also a safety net for managers when they buy through RFPs as multiple people are involved in the selection process. If the supplier fails to perform, the finger can’t just be pointed at one person. During your needs analysis discussions, you can often get a feel for who really wants the RFP, the company or the person with whom you are meeting. Don’t underestimate the fear of blame. Many managers try to stay off the radar screen so they don’t want to create risk for themselves.

Dealing with an RFP where you have a relationship with the prospect is the subject of a future article. Keeping us focused on the blind ones, as I said before, you have choices. You could just respond to every RFP. Or, you could just chuck it in the trash. Care for a third option? What if you called the Procurement person and had a conversation that sounded like this,

“Hi, I’m Lee Salz with XYZ Services. I just received your RFP in the mail and wanted to ask you a few questions so I can determine if it makes sense for us to respond. As you can imagine, we receive many RFPs and are very selective when determining to which we will respond.”

With that said, one of a few things can happen. She could give you permission to ask your questions. Or she could say, “Fill out the RFP, or not. It’s up to you.” My vote is to decline any RFP where the Procurement person won’t allow you to ask questions of them. How can you have a fighting chance to win if they won’t speak with you?

With permission granted to ask questions, what is it you need to know to decide if it makes sense to participate in this process?

• How did they get your name for inclusion in this process?
• Why is this RFP out now?
• Have they definitively decided to change providers?
• What criteria will be used to score the RFPs?
• What are the steps of the process after the RFP is submitted?

Sure, there are a ton of other questions you could ask, but this information will best help you to determine if you have a chance at winning this account. The rule of thumb is that the less information Procurement shares, the lower your chances of winning the account.

Yes, walking away from the mega-deal is hard and painful. But is this deal real or simply a mirage? Watch any Superman movie and you will see that he overcomes his kryptonite peril. Will you overcome yours? By the way, if you are a finalist resulting from an RFP submission, send me an email and ask for my Finalist Preparation tip sheet.

About the author: Lee B. Salz is a sales management strategist who specializes in helping companies build scalable, high-performance sales organizations through hiring the right sales people, on-boarding them effectively and efficiently, and aligning their sales activity with business objectives using his sales architecture® methodology. He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is a columnist and member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Look for Lee’s new book in 2010 titled, “The Sales Marriage” where he shares the secrets to identifying, hiring, and on-boarding the right sales people. He is a results-driven sales management consultant and a passionate, dynamic speaker. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitects.net or 763.416.4321.

Picture from Dreamspeak site.

I just ordered this book because that’s what Inquisix members do – they build business relationships that last.

If you’ve already read the book, please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

I called a division of Acme Industrial [name changed to protect the guilty] a week ago and asked to speak to someone in sales as I had some questions.   The service runs about $7500-12,000 per year, not an insubstantial amount of investment. The phone system asked me to press 1 if I wanted to speak to someone who “would be happy to answer your questions about our services.” The person I got didn’t know anything about the product at all, and said someone would call me back.  Already a bad precedent, I wonder how the sales rep covering my territory would feel about their inside team dropping the ball.

A week goes by. A week!

So I call back today and go thru the menu prompts again and again I’m told I’ll be transferred to someone who “would be happy to answer your questions about our services.” When they did answer, they said that they have no record of my call last week. They put me on hold for 4 minutes. They come back on the line and ask me for the same contact information I provided a week earlier. Didn’t ask any qualifying questions, curiously, like budget, timeframe, or even what 2-3 top questions I wanted answered. Said “someone will call you back.” When I asked when I would hear from them or who would call me, the rep didn’t know. I pointed out it had been a week and I wanted this information as soon as possible so I could make a final decision – would I get a call back today? “I’ll ask them to call you sooner rather than later.”

By contrast, their competitor took my call live on the first time I called them, answered my questions reasonably well, and sent me email today to follow up.

What company can afford to put themselves in this situation? How many other calls did they handle this way? Sales live by the numbers, but this team isn’t doing themselves any good. And with marketers scrambling to justify their existence and their budgets based on closed leads, its clear that getting the metrics right is only part of the equation. What does this experience communicate to me as a prospective buyer about what it may be like to work with these guys? I felt a lack of accountability, lack of concern for me as a customer, and a very low service experience.   Guess who’s product I purchased?  And that Acme Industrial sales rep handling my territory never even knew what they lost.

Thanks to Malay Pharma Sales Rep Rant  for the picture.

2 great tips for freeing up a bunch of your time – from the in-box and out-box side of your desk.  First tip is from the out-box side on how to decide whether to respond to an RFP or not.  It’s tricky to tell if it’s a real RFP because they can just take SOOO much time.  What’s worse, coming in second or not having it awarded?  The second tip has really freed up my day to tackle my to-do list instead of read and respond to trivial stuff.

• How To Avoid Deals Where No Vendor Wins – Really enjoyed this post from Geoffrey. In discussions with other sales reps in various industries, there seems to be an uptick in RFPs being issued but two items stand out –
  * RFP decisions are pushed out out out. The company wants the RFP response back in 2 weeks but the decision drags drags drags. Hence the timeliness of Geoffrey’s post
  * RFPs in purgatory. In addition to new RFPs being issued, old ones are getting dusted off and sent out again. When you ask, “Why” the answer boils down to, “We’re getting ready JUST IN CASE…”
  Always a challege for a small company responding to an RFP from a F500 company when there’s no real good understanding (or belief) in whether the RFP’s really real or not.
• Improve Your Connect Rates – Absolutely spot on commentary. Emails are so easy and cheap to send that readers are bombarded by them. Therefore, they don’t read them or at best, scan thru them. I’ve even set up my BB to only accept emails from people who are already in my address book as all other emails get saved on my PC. Guess how many of them are read on my PC?

  Jim’s critical point – call & leave a message pointing out the details in your email. I’ve had a much higher connect rate when I both call (leave a message) and send an email. And as he says, “Persistence is key.”

There were a bunch of quick and valuable reminders and tips on the web this week on improving your sales process.

• Making You Suprisingly Unforgettable To Your Customers – Loved this post – in these days of too many competitors and too many choices offered to our prospects, here’s some great tips make yourself unforgettable. How many of you think of Nat & Natalie Cole when you hear the word, “Unforgettable” like I do?

• Three Tiny Changes That Drive Success – Nice reminders to help get you out of a sales rut. Don’t forget Dale Carnegie’s, “21 Days to Making it a Habit” as you try these changes. Assuming you don’t do them already!

• Quiz: How To Bypass a Gatekeeper – Real good quiz on bypassing the Gatekeeper when you just can’t get in. Interesting decision by Geoffrey on which department you should call into to ask for the transfer. Other ways:
  - try Jigsaw for direct dial # of executive
  - try Inquisix for a referral to the executive by someone they know.

Geoffrey’s idea is manipulative but sometimes you just have to try it. But only after you can’t get an Inquisix referral or JigSaw is not coughing up the direct dial numbe

“You can’t have a better tomorrow if you’re thinking about yesterday.” — Charles Kettering

Quote of the Week – Great quote that should strike a chord in any sales rep, manager or business owner bemoaning their poor 2009 sales attainment. Sales people are usually very good at moving on whether the last month was a win or a dud but for anyone needing a reminder, read and internalize this quote. Now go get them!