September 2003 Newsletter
 
 
 
 

Sign up for our
monthly e-newsletter:
E-mail Address:
First Name:
Last Name:
 

back to newsletter repository

September 2003

ANNOUNCEMENTS

REPORT FROM ISRAEL

Herb Rubenstein Consulting toured Israel for nearly three weeks from August 20 through September 7, 2003. I wanted to give you a short first-hand report since having spent time there it is clear that the picture that the news in the U.S. presents of what is happening in Israel is very misleading. Israel has nearly 7 million people. It is the size of New Jersey. It has an extensive and reliable public bus system. Every day hundreds of thousands of people in Israel ride the public buses, eat in the cafes, and shop in the markets. And while there are occasional bombings, these are very rare, very isolated and pose no real threat to 99.9999% of the people who live and visit Israel. Tourism supports not only the Israeli economy, but in the Old City and elsewhere, it supports the economy of the Muslim shopkeepers, the Arab cab drivers, the Christian tour guides and the populace as a whole. Our trip revealed that Israel is generally a very safe place to travel and the country has both an amazing collection of well preserved historical sites as well as vibrant, modern economy and lifestyle. Most importantly, we learned first hand that there are many more people in the region looking for a peaceful resolution to the situation than there are looking for a fight. I hope that if you have ever considered a trip to this part of the world that you not let isolated incidents of violence permanently deter you from making such an historic journey. Auto accidents do not keep us from driving; they just make us drive more carefully. When you visit this part of the world, be careful, but you need not be fearful.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS SCORECARD IS NOW ONLINE
The Herb Rubenstein Consulting Board Scorecard is now on-line through InfoTool, Inc. This Scorecard forms the core data collection instrument and we are accepting beta clients at no cost to take the survey and receive a free report based on the survey results. To learn more about the Board of Directors Scorecard, contact Herb Rubenstein at herb@herbrubenstein.com or 301 718-4200.

CLIENT OF THE MONTH: KNOWLEDGE ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC.

Investing in publicly traded securities has been a roller coaster for the past five years. First up, then down, then sideways and turning. Now, the market is on a generally upward trend. What we have learned from the past five, as well as the past 50 years of history in the market, is that picking individual stocks is risky and trying to time the market is even riskier. Our client, Knowledge Asset Management, Inc. (KAM) was formed in 2001 to manage the money of its client investors and has one goal: to beat the stock market by deploying one theory. That theory of investing based on the research of leading economists is that the companies that invest significantly in the education and training of their workers would outperform the market. After nearly two years of live results and five years before that of testing the theory, Knowledge Asset Management is well ahead of the market in its returns.

Knowledge Asset Management, Inc. has developed and owns the only investment grade data base in the world on how much money companies actually spend on training and educating their workers. Individual investors and institutional investors can put their money under management with Knowledge Asset Management. Knowledge Asset Management, Inc. has five sets of investment portfolios. Minimum investments are $50,000 for the standard portfolios and $250,000 for the “hedged” funds. See more information about the company at www.knowledgeam.com. Herb Rubenstein Consulting serves as the strategic and legal advisor to the company and has assisted Knowledge Asset Management in hiring Stan Sorrell, the former CEO and Co-Chairman of the Board of The Calvert Group, to be the CEO of the company.

ARTICLE

THE PROFESSIONAL SALES PROCESS IN A NUTSHELL

Article by Herb Rubenstein,
Founder and President, Herb Rubenstein Consulting

Introduction

Sales is not only an art. There are sophisticated methods behind developing the right strategies, finding the right potential customers and learning what you need about the potential customer's needs, timeframe and budget. This process of finding and qualifying the potential buyer requires in depth research and analysis. At the SAS Institute, a process called "CPA – customer pain analysis" pinpoints exactly how much the customer is spending in a particular area, how much risk the customer is currently facing, explains exactly how much money the customer will save and how much risk will be reduced by investing in the SAS Institute's products and software for that customer.

This article provides a framework geared to selling energy savings related products but is applicable for creating an effective sales process for your organization. Although the process has ten steps, over time, it can become imbedded in the fabric of your sales organization. This process will help your organization manage its sales process as well as help improve the results you are currently experiencing in selling your goods or services.

The Sales Process Overview

The ten steps in the sales process are:

  • Step 1 – Create Your Sales and Marketing Materials, Your Thirty Second And Three Minute Opening Statements
  • Step 2 – Develop A System to Generate Leads and Know the Questions You Are Going to be Asked in Advance from Each Potential Customer
  • Step 3 – Understand the Potential Customer's Needs, Buying Habits and Buying Personnel
  • Step 4 – Develop Carefully Tailored, Probing Questions for Your Potential Customer

THEN

  • Step 5 – Make The Initial Sales Call
  • Step 6 – Collect Data and Record
  • Step 7 – Conduct a Precise Needs Analysis for Each Potential Customer
  • Step 8 – Prepare and Present the Needs Analysis, The Proposal, Answer Questions and Be Prepared to Negotiate
  • Step 9 –Develop and Implement the Game Plan to Close
  • Step 10 – Close the Sale; Start Work, Ask for Referrals and Possibly Enter into Referral Fee Agreement for Additional Leads

The Sales Process in Detail

STEP NUMBER 1 - Create Your Sales and Marketing Materials, Your Thirty Second and Three Minute Opening Statements

  • Among the materials you will need to sell anything significant today include a logo, an introductory letter, business cards, brochures, powerpoint presentations, CD's, advertising campaign, sponsorship campaign for events, articles, website, samples of your product or service, letters of reference from your past customers and many other forms of tangible marketing materials.
  • You must have the ability to send this material out within 24 hours of first meeting or learning about the potential customer whether you have a large sales force or whether you only have a sales force of one.
  • Set a goal to send out material to a certain number of potential customers each week (or month), with follow up contacts for each potential customer.
  • The introductory letter should include specific information about the potential customer and not just be a form letter. It must be "personalized" to the potential customer. This can be done by searching the potential customer's website, visiting the premises, interviewing an employee, customer or board member or other person knowledgeable about the potential customer.
  • Make sure your thirty second and three minute "opening statements" are so good that others you know can repeat them when they introduce you to potential customers.
  • Write articles and get them printed and published on websites, in newsletters, magazines, etc. You can use co-authors or professional writers, if necessary.

STEP NUMBER 2 - Develop A System to Generate Leads and Know the Questions You Are Going to be Asked in Advance from Each Potential Customer

  • The key word in step 2 is "system." Identify sales "channels" including individuals, companies, social and business organizations, trade associations, clubs and other entities who will help you find and connect with potential customers. Set a target for generating a certain number of leads each week (or month).
  • When you are asked a question about your business, its benefits or services, be sure to write it down with a careful answer, post the answer to your website under frequently asked questions and include the question and answers as part of your training of your sales personnel. Always look to improve your answers.
  • Create and manage a referral network with written agreements to give referral fees to those who provide leads.
  • Be very generous in referring potential sales leads that are not in your area to others who you know and respect.
  • Develop a system to predict accurately what each potential customer will ask you and be prepared with a well rehearsed answer.

STEP NUMBER 3 - Understand the Potential Customer's Needs, Buying Habits and Buying Personnel

  • Create a chart for each potential customer that includes key information about the potential customer and at least two reasons why the customer should (or must) buy what you are offering and why that customer should buy from you and not your competitor.
  • Remember, you have competition and often in the energy savings business, the strongest competitor is the potential customer just doing "nothing" rather than buying from a competitor
  • Figure out how your potential customer learns. Is he or she a visual learner, an auditory learner or kinesthetic learner? A customer's learning style will affect how you make the key presentation.
  • Know exactly who makes the buying decisions
  • Learn about your potential customer's current and long run business needs including:
    • financial goals
    • current financial situation
    • leadership and decision making structure/mode
    • history of operations
    • full range of products/services provided by your potential customer
    • how your offering fits in with your potential customer's urgent, current or future needs
    • potential tax benefits from investing in energy savings product and services

STEP NUMBER 4 – Develop Carefully Tailored, Probing Questions for Your Potential Customer

  • Develop a set of 10-15 probing questions that allow the potential customer to inform you of their needs and current level of interest in purchasing the services you offer. Examples of these questions are:
  • How much does your company (or non-profit) spend on energy related services? How much does it vary over seasons? What do you believe your competitors spend on similar services? When is the last time you had an energy audit? How strongly do you believe the USA should reduce energy consumption?
  • How are decisions made to buy energy related advice and products? Centrally? By facility? By division? Who makes these decisions and what is their budget authority
  • Is your organization going through significant cost challenges? If so, what cost cutting strategies have you deployed recently and which ones do you expect to implement in the future?
  • Is your organization planning for significant growth in the next several years which will affect your energy costs?
  • How much do you expect to grow your business over the next five years?
  • Do you have a business plan for your organization that includes an analysis of your energy costs and needs over the next year or several years?
  • Would your organization realize tax savings if you invested in energy savings products and supplies?
  • Would investing in energy saving products and services positively contribute to enhancing your company's reputation in the community or help with your marketing campaign?
  • Would your employees or board of directors support your decision to invest in energy savings products and services.

—————

After these four steps are completed and you have conducted research on a list of potential customers, now you are ready to make that initial sales call.

STEP NUMBER 5 – Make the Initial Sales Call

  • Once you have some understanding of the potential customer's needs and resources to pay, then contact the right person in the organization and make the initial call or take steps to find someone who will make an introduction for you.
  • If you do not have an introduction to a potential customer, it is a cold call. If the potential customer has been informed about your company through the lead generation process, it is a warm call. If the potential customer has expressed an interest in your products and services to the person who is making the introduction, and is expecting your call, then this is a hot lead.

STEP NUMBER 6 – Collect Data and Record

  • Your initial sales call should focus primarily on exploring the needs of the potential customer. Sixty percent of the time should be spent listening and 40% of the time should be spent talking and presenting your sales pitch.
  • Offer to sign a nondisclosure agreement and promise to keep all information given to you about the company in the strictest confidence.
  • Get the data on energy costs for the company and look for the low hanging fruit in the area of energy savings possibilities.

STEP NUMBER 7 – Conduct a Precise Needs Analysis for Each Potential Customer

  • Conduct a thorough needs analysis to offer the potential customer a fresh look at the potential customer's problem and the costs and benefits of the solution you provide.
  • Be precise and present the analysis in writing.
  • Invite your potential customer to show the needs analysis to others for reanalysis.

STEP 8 – Prepare and Deliver the Needs Analysis, the Proposal, Answer Questions, and Be Prepared to Negotiate

  • Meet again to educate the potential customer about your findings and make your offer in writing
  • The proposal should have a pertinent quote by the potential customer from one of your meetings, plus a timeline, budget, all warranty information and all key components outlined clearly and in plain English
  • The proposal should look tailored specifically for this potential customer
  • Make sure that you have some room for negotiation in your offer and be willing to make some type of concession to close the sale right then.
  • Show in the proposal how you intend to maintain a relationship with the customer after the initial sale is completed.
  • Include as exhibits to the proposal any new articles that are on topic and would help educate and persuade the customer.

STEP NUMBER 10 – Close the Sale; Start Work, Ask for Referrals, and Possibly Enter Into Referral Fee Agreement for Additional Leads

  • Make sure the contract is signed and all financial arrangements are satisfactory
  • Monitor implementation closely
  • Warn client immediately of any expected delays or problems
  • Ask for letter of recommendation
  • Ask for referrals
  • Offer to post your customer's name on your website or in your marketing materials
  • Offer some compensation for referrals, if appropriate

Conclusion

Ten steps. Easy to describe. Challenging to implement. Keeping accurate records of all sales efforts and results, as suggested by The Balanced Scorecard authors, Norton and Kaplan, is essential. Keeping abreast of your competitors is required. Learning new strategies from others who are successful in your field across the country or in other countries has become easier due to email, chat rooms, websites, and other forms of electronic information transfer. In addition, keeping all of your lead generators abreast of your successes and lack of success with their leads will help keep your lead generation pipeline healthy. Ultimately, you will judge yourself against the goals you and your organization set. Set "stretch goals" and when you reach them, increase your future goals accordingly.

Biographical Information

Herb Rubenstein is an attorney and the CEO of Herb Rubenstein Consulting, a leadership and management consulting firm. He is co-author of Breakthrough, Inc. – High Growth Strategies for Entrepreneurial Organizations (Prentice Hall/Financial Times, 1999). His email address is herb@herbrubenstein.com and he can be reached at (301) 718-4200 in Bethesda, Maryland or (202) 236-7626 in Washington, D.C.

back
 

© 2007 Herb Rubenstein Consulting