Springboard

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The WHY of Success: WHY do some Business Succeed when others Fail?

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Why are some organizations more successful than others, despite being no more qualified than the competition?

Why are some leaders able to inspire when others are not, despite having no “special” attributes?

Why!?

Simon Sinek seeks to explain the WHY in his lecture, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Action.


“The inspired leaders and the inspired organizations, regardless of their size, regardless of their industry, all think, act, and communicate from the inside out,” said Sinek. He further explained this theory using what he calls his Golden Circle.

 

What: Every organization and every leader knows what they do.

How: Some organizations and leaders know how they do what they do is better than the competition. For example: our computer is user friendly, our car gets great gas mileage, etc.

Why: Very few organizations and leaders know WHY they do what they do.

And no, profit is not a why. It is a result. The why is a purpose, a cause, or a belief. The why has to do with why your organization exists? You do not exist to turn a profit. If you do, your business might not be around very long.

Pursuing a result is a recipe for failure; it is what drives businesses into the ground. Pursuing a belief is what drives businesses to succeed, despite the odds. It is what drives prospects to you.

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” said Sinek. “The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have; the goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”

The WHY of Sales

The why, the belief, is the reason a prospect buys your product or service. And everyone’s why is different. Because of this, there is no one size fits all sales solution. The key to sales success is to understand your prospects why and respect that belief throughout the entire buying process. This is how you foster long, happy client relationships.

“They know you ‘get’ them,” said Springboard CEO Karin Schwartz. “They trust you; they believe in you.”

If you have any questions about 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!

Five Ways to Tell You are Losing a Sale

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We have said it before and we will say it again, sales is definitely not an exact science. But while there is no one way in which to go about a sale, there are some fairly common warning signs to tell you are losing a sale. These telltale signs that you are losing a sale include:

1. You Aren’t Dealing With A Decision Maker: If you aren’t put in touch with a decision maker after a few conversations, this is not a good sign. So do your best to get in contact with someone that actually has the authority to buy your product or service. Otherwise, you are wasting your time. And time is everything to a salesperson.

2. There is No Deadline for a Decision: One way to firm up deadlines is to offer limited-time discounts/offers to create a sense of urgency. If this doesn’t work, move on. You cannot waste your time on a pointless sales meeting.

3. You are Asked for a Proposal and Not a Conversation: It is hard to give someone your sales pitch if you do not meet with them face to face. After all, business is all about forming meaningful relationships. Find anyway you can to get your foot in the door and have a face-to-face conversation. This may be hard, but you have to try.

4. Your Price is Too High: What makes your product or service worth so much? If your competitors are offering the same product/service at a lower price and you cannot justify your high prices with superior service, then consider changing your price tag or losing sales.

5. Your Client Seems Indifferent: This is never a good sign. If your potential client begins to lose interest and stops asking engaging questions, you may be out of a sale.

Of course, if you do lose a sale, you should use that opportunity to grow as a salesperson. How? Checkout one of our past blogs: Learning from Lost Sales: Turning a Negative into a Positive.

Then again, you could always just outsource your sales needs to a professional business development firm, like Springboard!

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Springboard offers outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. It’s simple, while you focus on you core business activities, we bring our sales expertise and connections to focus on your business development challenges.

Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the concerns of sales team turn-over, lack of sales expertise and payroll.

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

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

Sources:

Five Signs You’re Losing a Sale – And How to Save it

Learning from Lost Sales: Turning a Negative into a Positive

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You can’t win them all (if sales were that easy, everyone would be in the business). What you can do is learn from those lost sales. A good sales person loses a sale and moves on to the next prospect; a great sales person loses a sale and asks “why?”

Which sales person are you? The one who ignores defeat, or the one that learns from that defeat and constantly strives to be better? Remember, those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. So don’t risk losing future deals because you failed to address past failures.

Ask Yourself the Following Questions:

  • Was I able to effectively communicate with the customer?
  • Did I learn the prospect’s key needs and desired benefits?
  • If so, how did I address those needs?
  • How did the customer respond to me?
  • What sales techniques did I try?
  • How did the customer respond to those techniques?

Set Up a Post-Sale Debriefing with the Prospect

  • Ask the following question: “I’m always looking to improve, what could I have done better to earn your business?”
  • Don’t settle for vague answers. Ask “How do you mean?” or “Say more” to help probe for more detailed answers.
  • Don’t get defensive or angry. Take full responsibility for everything.
  • Don’t try to resell the prospect.

By learning from failed sales deals, you will grow as a sales person and become a much more efficient seller.

If you have any questions, 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. It’s simple, while you focus on delivery, we bring our sales expertise and connections to focus on your business development challenges.

Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the concerns of sales team turn-over, lack of sales expertise and payroll.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Sources:

What Did You Learn from the Last Sale You Lost?

How Sales Outsourcing Increases Revenue

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If at first you don’t succeed…OUTSOURCE!

This is business. This isn’t riding a bike. If your company does not have the resources to sell efficiently and effectively, then outsource these duties to a company that can increase your sales and overall revenue. Turning your sales duties over to an outside firm of experts can help by:

Utilizing an Expert Sales Force: Your outsourced sales team has the experience and knowledge to start selling right away.

Dedication: Your Outsourced sales firm does nothing but sell. Selling is in their blood!

Save Money: You will not have to hire or train anyone in-house. This means that you will be saving money while also increasing your revenue. That is what we like to call a win-win.

More Time: You are not a salesperson, so why were you wasting your time trying to sell? Outsourcing allows you to go back to doing what you do best – growing your company!

At the end of the day, increasing your revenue is the driving force behind your sales campaign. And what is the driving force in sales? Experience. Trying to utilize inexperienced salespeople is like running in place. You are doing a lot of work, but you are simply not going to get anywhere.

So if you are really interested in growing your business, give outsourcing some serious consideration.

Outsourcing is becoming a common practice for many businesses as more and more companies are realizing the benefits of utilizing the skills of others to help their business venture succeed. So let Springboard take care of your sales while you focus on growing your business.

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

At Springboard we offer outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. It’s simple, while you focus on delivery, we bring our sales expertise and connections to focus on your business development challenges.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Sources:

5 Ways Sales Force Outsourcing Can Increase Revenues

Building a United Sales Team

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If your business is built around sales, you have undoubtedly had to address the following question; is it better to build a sales team that works together or one that is in constant competition? Yes, competition can be a good thing, but a sales force that acts like a team can be far more productive than one with inherent competition.

The trick, however, is to promote both teamwork and competition. How is that possible? You must motivate your sales team with a group goal – perhaps an end of the year trip or a cash bonus. Whatever you do, you must make it about the team and not about individual accolades. If your sales team spends all its energy fighting against each other, they won’t have much energy or time left to fight for your customers.

It is okay to encourage competition; however, you can never let it compromise what you stand for as individuals and as a company. Competition is healthy when the team is bound with mutual respect and a common goal. If you accomplish this, you will have built a sales team focused on sales and profitability and not on direct competition with one another.

It is also important, however, to treat each sales person individually. The truth is that most professional sales people have big egos. That is just the way it is. Salespeople want to hear that they are performing well. But you cannot ignore the “weak link,” either. You need to encourage weaker sales staff and show them support. After all, your sales team is only as strong as its weakest link. And since your entire team is working towards one goal, they should also be more receptive to helping out one another. So, as you can see, a unified team is a strong team.

It’s a simple formula on paper, but can be very challenging to carry out.

At the end of the day, the success of your sales team comes down to how THEY measure success. Happy customers? Profit? Gross sales? Annuity revenue? Loyalty? Entrepreneurialism? Work ethic? Passion? Or individual accolades?

So be sure your sales team is working towards the right goal(s) – profit, customer satisfaction, business growth, etc.

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

At Springboard we offer outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. It’s simple, while you focus on delivery, we bring our sales expertise and connections to focus on your business development challenges.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Sources:

Sales Manager Tips :How To Manage Sales People ManagingSalesPeople.com

Should I Encourage Competition Among My Sales Team? SmartCompany.com

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