Springboard

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Why Labeling Clients is Bad for Business

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“Once you label me you negate me.” – Soren Kierkegaard

We are a culture obsessed with labels – from the ones displayed on our designer jeans to the titles we use in the workplace to distinguish higher-ups from entry-level employees. Categorizing people, places, and objects is a way of simplifying our lives, of easily defining who is who and compartmentalizing them in our minds.

But labels are also risky – they make us inclined to expect certain behavior from certain people, which can cause us to project negative attitudes onto them. I see this happening a lot in the world of business. Oftentimes, business and sales people might judge their clients before much interaction has even taken place. It’s not something I’m proud to admit happens in the sector, but it’s a reality, and labels like “annoying,” “needy,” and “high-maintenance” might get tossed around as descriptors for clients with specific needs.

Usually, I find that applying such labels has a guarantee of making them come true – they are self-fulfilling prophecies, so to speak. If you dread dealing with a client because you regard them as any of the aforementioned problematic labels, then it makes sense that they are going to seem annoying, needy, and high-maintenance. This, I think, is what Kierkegaard was getting at in his famous quote – assigning a label has a way of automatically nullifying who an individual is beyond the classification. That is to say that all other distinctive aspects of a person fade away so that the label takes precedence.

Needless to say, this only makes doing business more difficult, which is why I’d like to propose a challenge: leave the labels behind. Rather than ascribing strict designating terms to people, think of your prospects more generally: as an opportunity to help someone. I guarantee it’ll make your interactions with clients more pleasant, and your attitude about working with them much more positive.

At Springboard, our sales team is committed to letting go of labels, and our resulting positive approach to sales makes our business development successful, expanding your company with our outsourced services.

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Self-Evaluate: Are you a Giver or a Taker?

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A few months ago, I read Bob Burg and John David Mann’s Go-Givers Sell More, the follow-up to their national bestseller, The Go-Giver, a work aimed at inspiring individuals to shift the focus in their lives from getting, to – as the title suggests – giving. Applying this concept to the workforce, Go-Givers Sell More emphasizes the importance of generosity in business transactions. As I perused its pages, I was forced to face the facts about my own altruistic intentions like a child who’s just realized that the tooth fairy isn’t real. When I did, I realized a troubling truth: I had become a taker.

As someone who runs a company that’s a part of the sales industry, I have a business that depends on introductions. When I stopped to really think about the current state of affairs at Springboard at that point in time, it occurred to me that for some reason, my referrals had come to a screeching halt. It was time for me to accelerate into high gear and drive my business forward, but before I could, I had to seriously evaluate what was going wrong with my business.

It’s easy to get caught in the hustle and bustle of daily obligations and tasks, and I had certainly fallen into the habit of so doing. I had become so busy, focusing on clients, family routines, and checking off my day-to-day to-do list that I had forgotten to incorporate one crucial element into my life: giving. Whether you want to call it karma, cause and effect, or something else entirely, Burg and Mann have gotten it right: receiving without reciprocation is bad for business.

I made the decision to make a change and make it my mission to give. I started building connections and providing introductions that I had promised in the past but forgotten to follow through on. I used my Motorola Xoom tablet to make connections on social media networks on the spot as I’m interacting with people in person. I seek out reasons to establish meaningful relationships with more and more people around me.

But intentionality has a lot to do with the outcome of your endeavors, I’ve learned; you can’t have a quid pro quo attitude, constantly expecting equal exchanges from others. Instead, you must focus on acting purely for the sake of helping others, without selfish goals in mind. If you’re hoping to give merely to get, then you’ve overlooked the thematic issue in this post entirely. Here’s the thing, though: once you give without expectation, you will get back. Since realigning my focus, I’ve received introductions and opportunities I never thought possible. And for every two introduction I make, I get back at least one.

If your referrals have dried up, take a page from Go-Givers Sell More and make it a point to give business opportunities away to others.

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Telemarketing: Is it an effective Sales Method?

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If you are looking to increase your company’s sales you’ve probably considered telemarketing.  It’s been a viable option for as long as you can remember but is it still viable?  Will you get business opportunities or just throw away money?  Here are a couple of things you need to ask yourself first:

  • Who do we typically target?  Are they easy to reach?  Do they have a gatekeeper?
  • What do we sell?  Is it a commodity where it’s all about the latest and greatest or lowest price or is it a service based on trust and relationships?
  • How long is your sales cycle?
  • What are your expected outcomes?
  • How will you be paying for such a service?

Challenges of Telemarketing and Cold Calling

  • Battling Perception:  According to a Nielsen poll, less than 10% of consumers trust telemarketers.  If you are selling a service based on trust and building relationships using a telemarketer creates a major conflict for your prospect.  If your sales pitch is, “I can save you ‘x’% on something you buy everyday” – that might get you in the door but be prepared to do battle with internet pricing.
  • Time vs. Reward: The goal of the average telemarketer is to call 100-125 people a day with the hopes of generating 8-10 interested parties. That’s right, 8-10 people out of 125. Cold calling is a numbers game with no real winner. If any other aspect of your business had a success rate of less than 10%, would you continue with it, or would you pull the plug?
  • The Internet: Telemarketing and cold calling were effective methods before the advent of the Internet. Back then, consumers needed someone to tell them what products and services were out there. Now, consumers have all of this knowledge available to them at the click of a mouse. Because of this, today’s customer is more knowledgeable than ever before. They know what they want. They have done all their research online. They don’t necessarily want a telemarketer giving them a sales pitch over the phone.
  • Building Relationships: Effective sales representatives are all about building long-term relationships. Telemarketers are all about quick turnaround. One of these salespeople has a higher probability of multiple transactions. We will let you guess which one we are talking about…
  • Do Not Call Lists: The National Do Not Call Registry allows consumers to remove their names from marketing lists, thus shrinking the overall reach of telemarketers. Millions of people have already added their names to the registry.
  • Caller ID: Ask yourself the following question: do you pick up the phone when you’re home at night and you don’t recognize the number? If not, then why should you expect a prospect to?
  • Weak Leads: How do you keep from getting appointments set simply because the prospect wants a telemarketer to stop calling them?

Telemarketing used to be highly successful but the way people buy has changed.

Springboard Business Development: Our stand on telemarketing

We aren’t telemarketers: we don’t believe it works – but then again, our clients are service providers who make sales based on building trust and relationships. To us, Business Development is about building long term happy client relationships.  It’s our job to help you increase your name recognition and exposure in the markets you serve, create partnerships that feed opportunities for years to come, open doors to the decision makers that need your services, and of course, help you to close the deal.  We believe relationships are the key to growing a service type business; we believe in making our connections face to face.

If you do decide to give telemarketing a go, here are a few things you need to ask:

  • Who will be training the telemarketing team?  How often will they call and when do they stop calling?  You’d be amazed to find out how many appointments are given just to get the telemarketers to stop calling.  The problem comes when you arrive to meet the prospect and they tell you they aren’t interested in anything you’re selling – they just wanted to the calls to stop.  You’ve wasted time and money.
  • What are you paying for?  Is it total calls, time, appointments set or qualified prospects?  Most likely you are calling for total calls or time so there’s no need to qualify the prospects or ensure they truly want to meet you

Ultimately your decision is about value of time and money, the type of sale, and your typical buyer. Don’t forget, this isn’t a selling process – it’s a buying process.  It’s not about you or what you’re selling, it’s about the buyer, the problem they need to solve, and what solving it means to them.  In a call focused on scheduling an appointment you just can’t get what’s necessary to move the buying process forward…at least that’s our opinion. We’d love to hear yours.

If you have any questions about Outsourced Business Development, please contact Springboard Business Development by calling 410-832-7560 or click here today!

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Springboard offers outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the financial burden of an in-house business developer.

At Springboard we know sales!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn as well!

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How do you know if Outsourcing is right for you? 

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You have heard about all of the benefits of outsourced sales. Outsourcing sales can save your business money. Outsourcing sales can increase your business’ profitability. Outsourcing sales can help you grow your business. Blah, blah blah…

You have heard that spiel over and over and over again. But you are still not sure that outsourcing sales is right for YOU and YOUR business. It is important to examine your mindset before outsourcing your organization’s sales to an outside entity.

“If you believe all sales people are evil, you’ll likely have a bad experience because you’ll hire someone that will ultimately fulfill your expectation,” says Springboard CEO Karin Schwartz. Sales outcomes are a snapshot into the organization itself, if there’s a problem in sales most likely it’s not the only department in trouble.

So before you think about outsourcing sales, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do you need to see the person every day to believe they are working? If you need to see a salesperson each and every day, you may be a micromanager.  Micromanager has a negative connotation but let’s face it most of us business owners are to one degree or another, a micromanager.  And if this is true, outsourced sales may not be right for you. Remember, the more a salesperson is in the office, the less work they are actually doing.
  2. How long is your sales cycle? If your sales cycle is short where price is the dominating factor (transactional sales), then outsourced sales may not be right for you. You need volume not relationships.  If your sales cycle is longer and dependent on building relationships (relationship sales), then outsourcing may work for you and your business.
  3. Will your salesperson perform multiple tasks on a weekly basis? Do you need someone who can take on service and account management as well as sales? Most likely you are better off hiring 2 different people as these tend to be different skill sets but if you absolutely cannot do that, then focus on growing existing clients and hire someone who thrives on building relationships, who wants to take care of their clients, and who can ask for referrals.  This would be a full time hire.
  4. How technical does this salesperson need to be? It really doesn’t matter provided your sales person has access to someone who is technical who can assist them when the time comes to get into the highly technical details.
  5. What are my expectations of a sales person? As we said earlier, if you believe all sales people are evil, you’ll likely have a bad experience because you’ll hire someone that will ultimately fulfill your expectation.  That being said you need to determine and communicate how this person will be measured.  It’s certainly easier to “measure” the activity of a full time sales person.

So when should you outsource?

“You should consider outsourcing when you need someone with existing connections and relationships and you see value in the introduction but can handle the rest in-house,” says Schwartz. “Since we tend to be more cost effective than hiring full time and our consultants are fully entrenched in the areas our clients do business we can be far more efficient so essentially for the equivalent of hiring one full time business developer we can create of team of 3-6 highly experienced business development professionals who are having conversations with your prospects daily.”

If you have any questions about Outsourced Business Development, please contact Springboard Business Development by calling 410-832-7560 or click here today!

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Springboard offers outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the financial burden of an in-house business developer.

At Springboard we know sales!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn as well!

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Outsourcing vs. Hiring a Full Time Business Developer: A Pricing Breakdown

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In today’s economy, businesses are looking for ways to cut costs without hurting productivity and, most importantly, profitability. Some organizations are going paperless, others are cutting back on business trips, and still others are trying to more efficiently manage their current business practices.  Many of these organizations are completely overlooking one of their biggest costs…Business Development.  So whether you are business to business (B2B) or business to government (B2G) Business Development is more than just salary expenses and with belts tightening across the country it is imperative you’re getting value for the dollars you spend.  So how do you know what’s right for you?

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll review the cost structures, process and questions you need to ask yourself to determine the best avenue for you to grow your sales.

Average Salary for Business Developers

  1. B2B Business Developer: $70,000 + 20% for payroll taxes and benefits
  2. B2G Business Developer: $150k + 25% for taxes and benefits (government contractors tend to have substantial benefits packages due to the limited available supply of top talent)

Keep in mind, we’re based in Maryland so your state may be a little higher or lower.

And that is just the beginning. Then there are all of the extra costs that organizations often fail to consider, including:

  • Mileage Reimbursement: $500-800 average per month
  • Phone Reimbursement: $100 average per month
  • Event Fees: Federal events average about $35 a piece and you should expect your business developer to attend 4-5 each month totaling $140-175 per month, while B2B events range from $30-$250 each.  The more decision makers in attendance the higher the cost and there are far more to choose from so you should expect easily $500 per month in event feed for a B2B Business Developer.
  • Memberships: Federal market focused memberships are usually very inexpensive ranging from $35-150 per year and so you should budget for a minimum of $350 a year; B2B memberships can come in anywhere from $5000 to $10,000 annually.  I have memberships that range from $100 a year to those that are over $3000 annually.  On the very low end you should expect to pay a minimum of $5000 in memberships for your Business Developer to network with decision makers.
  • Client / Prospect Lunches: average $300 per month
  • Parking & Tolls: average $50 per month
  • And more! (don’t forget trade shows and travel)

When you add the above costs, you will have a better idea of the typical cost of hiring a full time, in-house business developer.  You certainly have options as to how you pay your full time Business Developer but keep in mind less pay = less experience = longer lag time = more of your time in training and potential lost opportunity.

Outsourced Business Development

More and more businesses are looking for alternatives to hiring full time and are turning to outsourced business development firms to cut costs.  Depending on the organization you talk with you can expect to pay fees anywhere from $3000 to $30,000 per month with hourly rates of $150-450.  I know business developers who charge $5000 per month to gain access to one agency, and others that charge $30,000 to get you on the GSA schedule.  I know outsourced business developers that repackage RFP’s found on FedBizOps and those that focus on multiple agencies at one time.  On the B2B side I know firms that still cold call; quite frankly I think that’s a waste of time of money and others that hire people with zero business development experience to be your outsourced Business Developer.  Outsourcing doesn’t always make sense but when it does it’s best to look for an organization that has strong existing relationships in the areas you wish to target, can work within a reasonable monthly budget and has deliverables of some kind.  Let’s be clear the deliverable cannot be X% increase in business or X number of sales because as you know sales is a risk and there are no guarantees.  Be very careful of someone who promises you the world.  Your goals should be based on activity, meetings, introductions, opportunities, etc.  Outsourced business developers put their relationships on the line to help you grow your business and they are dependent on you to do your part – come prepared, know your stuff, deliver, service, be respectful, do what you say you’re going to do and offer a reasonable price.

Here’s what we do at Springboard to give you an idea– our typical retainer starts in the $3-4000 per month range and we have a proposal out right now that’s for 6 Business Developers totaling $40,000 per month.  We have the flexibility to be as big or as small as you need.  We don’t believe in cold calling, we believe in building long term client relationships and our Business Developers are full entrenched in the areas in which they work – they aren’t building relationships, they already have them.  Based on our clients target markets, their need and capabilities we craft a team of high level Business Developers that can go to work immediately to bring them opportunities.  For Springboard we find that for what organizations typically pay in terms of salary for a single business developer we can give them 3-5 high-level business development experts.

If you have any questions about Outsourced Business Development, please contact Springboard Business Development by calling 410-832-7560 or click here today!

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Springboard offers outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the financial burden of an in-house business developer.

At Springboard we know sales!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn as well!

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