Businesses struggling to grow usually have plenty of leads. In fact, that is often the problem.

They have too many leads and not enough focus.

Better prospecting is the one thing salespeople can do that almost immediately leads to increased revenue, higher profitability and stronger customer relationships.

First things first

Selling is easy when you consider it consists of just a few simple steps:

1. Prospect

2. Engage

3. The Sale

4. Continual Development

The one step that salespeople ignore the most is also the one that a salesperson should spend the least amount of time performing: prospecting.

What is prospecting?

It’s important, that’s what it is. Messing up this step pretty much guarantees total failure during the next three steps. With a few exceptions, less than 10% of time should be spent on prospecting.

Prospecting starts with knowing what it is you offer and who can potentially benefit from it.

In essence, prospecting is qualifying.

Remember department stores?

The department store had a lot going for it. From a sales perspective, they knew how to capture a customer and literally walk them through a highly focused and time-tested sales process.

At the fragrance counter, there was always someone ready to spray whoever who came by with a sample perfume scent.

Like many salespeople who don’t think carefully about the steps of the sales process, I’m sure these people were told they were selling perfume. However, that was absolutely not the case.

Why are you spraying me with that perfume? Get away from me!

Sales is the successful transfer of something a person has to someone who wants and needs it.

What the person spraying perfume was actually doing (or at least, should have been doing) was prospecting.

By being highly visible and prominently exhibiting what they were selling, they were given the perfect opportunity to determine who might already be remotely interested - or in a very gentle way, garnering interest.

If the person walking by was not interested, there should never have been an attempt at sales! However, if they showed even a little interest, then the salesperson was onto step two: engagement.

Why is prospecting and qualifying so important?

A salesperson who tries to sell to someone who is not in a position to buy, does not need what is being offered and is not interested, is the stereotype of the obnoxious salesperson.

That salesperson is also wasting valuable time.

A salesperson should never “sell” or seriously engage anyone who has not been pre-qualified as someone who wants and needs what is being offered and is ready to potentially buy. This is what the person at the department store fragrance counter was given the ideal opportunity to do.

So, I should go and buy that “pre-qualified” list of LinkedIn leads that guy keeps emailing me about?

I definitely did not say that.

If, and this is a big if, someone can sell you a list of absolutely 100% pre-qualified lists of individuals who want, need, potentially already use, and are ready to buy what you have to offer then by all means, buy it! That is money well spent.

However, think carefully about what I wrote above: want, need, use, buy. You and your team are already the most qualified to find those people.

For example, let’s say your target audience is manufacturers. Anyone can sell you a list of manufacturing contacts. However, is it really all manufacturers you are selling to? Or, are there traits your ideal prospects have that narrow that list down significantly? I bet there are.

This goes back to knowing exactly what you have to offer and who can most benefit. Taking the time to do this actually creates your target prospect list for you!

Isn't sales about relationships?

It is! However, if you build a relationship with everyone and anyone in the order you encounter them, you may become very popular but you won't be building a business as quickly as you probably need to be.

The warning signs of not enough prospecting are easy to spot:

• “Great” meetings that go nowhere

• Buyers who “ghost” you

• Cancelled or unfillable orders

• Low close ratios

• Not enough customers

• Slow or no growth

Tell me again why I should only prospect for a few hours a week?

Prospecting is the first and most important step in the sales process, at least as far as time management is concerned. Without it, the rest of the day could be spent chasing “ghosts”.

A good salesperson does not spray perfume on every single person that walks by. Instead, they use the spray bottle as a tool to determine who might be interested.

Spending just 10% of one’s time on prospecting allows the other 90% to be spent engaging with the prospective customers who actually need and want what the salesperson has to offer.

The end result is higher close ratios, more new customers, better partnerships and hypergrowth.

Who are you and why are you telling me what to do?

After nearly 25 years as a successful executive and sales leader, Vic Ing started Viking Sales Consultants in order to help other companies simplify their sales processes and grow their businesses. Our “Focus” workshop is our most popular consultation service. In just a few two-hour workshops, customers walk away with a better understanding of who they are, what they have to offer, who can most benefit and how to easily find those target audiences. See our website for other training programs and workshop offerings.

“Selling is easy. It just takes a little hard work to keep it that way”.

Check us out at www.vikingselling.com or reach out today: vic@vikingselling.com or 330-459-9554

LinkedIn often gets lumped-in with the other major social media platforms. However, LinkedIn is not for sharing random quirky thoughts or pictures of your lunch but instead this is a place to establish your professional reputation and promote your company. If you are seeking a new position, think of it as a free billboard featuring your resume that anyone can see at any time.

If I am ever on the fence about taking a meeting with someone, I head straight to LinkedIn. If they haven't put the right amount of attention into this completely-free, always-available marketing tool then I move on to the next person.

Here are 5 common mistakes you should avoid on your profile page:

• “Manger” or did you mean to say Manager? Typos are the quickest way to tell a potential employer or new client, "I don’t care about details". Unlike a tweet, you only have to get your profile right once and then you're good for a long time. Example: according to a LinkedIn search I just ran, there are currently 16,008,580 people in the workforce with "Manger" as their job title. If you would like to be one too, good news, there are also 565,751 job openings for the same position!

• Your lame profile picture - If we can see your college roommates cropped out of your photo or if we see you at a wedding reception, obviously drunk and holding a cocktail but looking good, then you have failed already. If you don’t have a photo at all, then I'm wondering if you are even a real person. Do you not have a face? I'm not judging, just help me understand what the issue is. Here's how easy it is to fix your picture problem in less than three minutes: 1) Head over to your workstation or stand in front of a blank wall, 2) Hand a co-worker your phone, 3) Smile for a few pictures, 4) Pick your favorite, edit it, upload it. Boom! You're done.

• Headline vs Job Title - Did you know your headline is a different thing than your current job title and position? No, I can tell you did not. You see, when you switched companies last year you updated your job title but failed to change your headline. Now, whenever you do anything on LinkedIn you are giving your old company free advertising and making yourself look like a fool. My personal favorite is when a salesperson reaches out to me, telling me what a big wheel they are down at the cracker factory while their LinkedIn headline says, "seeking a new and exciting career". I know of some openings for an experienced "Manger". You should check those out!

• Work history - Some people list way too many (no one wants to hire a job-hopper). Some people don't list enough (you graduated college 15 years ago but have only worked for the last two years?). Others fail to update the end of the last position when they start a new one (even though LinkedIn walks you through how to do this) so now it looks like you work at four different companies simultaneously. Plus, your headline says something else completely. Moving on!

• Not enough connections - Here is the most advantageous way to use LinkedIn, other than it serving as free advertising and a valuable self-promotion tool. Even if you never look at your news feed, never "like" a post, or never share an update, here is how you leverage LinkedIn as a wonderful sales tool (or to find a new job). Look up a person you want to know. Right next to their name you'll see 1st, 2nd or 3rd. If it says 2nd, go to their profile and just below their headline you'll see who you both know. These are people who can make an introduction for you! If the person you are connected to isn't someone you know that well, that's okay. Ask them anyway, or, take this as a sign you need to connect to more people starting right now! Since you are not sharing what you would on other social platforms, connect with anyone who will let you. This is called building a network.

By the way, did you know LinkedIn keeps score on you? Click this link to learn your Social Selling Index. If your score is less than fifty then that means your competition is mastering this free tool better than you are.

Lastly, it's not lost on me that many of you are reading this on LinkedIn which means the ones who need help the most aren’t even going to see it. Do me a favor and share this wherever you would like or refer anyone my way who you think could use some help.

A defined pricing strategy is one of the most important ingredients for any successful business. Without at least some kind of pricing guidelines for the sales team to follow, the results can be lost revenue opportunities, diminishing profits and clients that actually cost more money to service than they bring in.

Here are five red flags that a company may be losing money on every new sale:

1. Markups or bill rates that are nice, even numbers. Nothing makes it more obvious that very little thought went into a price than when the markup is an even amount like 40%, 50% or 60% or when a bill rate is a rounded number like $18.00 or $20.00.

2. Eroding profit and margin for a particular client year over year. Most companies have no objection to passing on increased costs to their clients when the cost is one that both sides clearly share in the burden. However, many companies absorb the rising costs of general overhead entirely themselves only because they are too scared to discuss rate increases with their long-standing clients.

3. All pricing is based on the competition. Matching or beating the current cost of their existing provider will never lead to long-term success. Chances are, if the sales team is having these kinds of discussions to begin with then they have either failed to identify the correct buying influence or decision maker or they haven’t offered the right solution for the pains the prospective client is experiencing.

4. Big clients always get lower pricing than small clients. The only pricing strategy most companies adhere to religiously is that high-volume customers deserve a low price, even when just a small slice of the business is being offered. When pricing is focused strictly on the volume potential, the true costs are often ignored. Undoubtedly, high volume accounts have higher expectations which in turn drive additional overhead costs to service. In addition, if a client is juggling multiple vendors for the same service, there are going to be cancelled orders and changes on very short notice. In addition to diminishing the returns this also creates a demoralizing experience for the team working on the account.

5. Pricing is made to the client with little or no discussion. It’s easy to assume that customers just want the best price with no discussion or hassle. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t willing to pay more than they’re currently paying or have a discussion around the pricing being offered. If the sales team has taken the time to understand the true pains and frustrations the customer is having and carefully manages the expectations around what the fulfillment team can deliver, it is very simple to break the cycle of lazy pricing.

A well-defined and simple pricing strategy is guaranteed to keep profit margins on pace with increasing costs, keep operations lean and efficient, and reduce frustrations that arise from poor partnerships. The fact is, clients can easily tell when their pricing is arbitrary which means they won’t hesitate to push back or simply demand a low price whenever they want, because why not? Having some kind of pricing strategy in place actually leads to better clients who truly serve as collaborative partners and don't see your company as just another vendor they can push around whenever they need to cut costs.

Life is often fast-paced, especially at work. It’s even more so ever since the advent of email and smart phones. Work seems to come at you now from every direction, even when you’re not at work. You can’t hide from emails and text messages and phone calls because when it’s coming to your phone, your boss and your customer knows you saw it the minute they sent it. You may not have acted on it right away, but they know you saw it.

The result is a tendency to over-communicate, under-communicate or just plain drop the ball. Here are some helpful tips to make work communication much more streamlined, efficient and tolerable.

Don’t call someone and leave a voicemail saying “Call me.”

What a caller should do is leave a detailed but brief message indicating what it is they need. There are many reasons for this and some benefit the initial caller. The person can prepare themselves for the call and hopefully, eliminate multiple conversations on this topic in the future.

If the person you’re calling knows what you need, they can simply find you the answer and call you back. What’s best is the two parties may not need to even talk! They can exchange voicemails, emails or text messages in a very time-efficient way.

What the person who receives a “call me” call really wants to do is just ignore the call. It’s an intrusion in the first place and when no information is shared, it becomes an annoyance as well. But of course, let’s be honest – many times it is a customer or your boss making this call. You can’t ignore those calls. So, what do you do? You train the person. Explain had you known what they were calling about, what you could have done differently and how this would have benefited them.

Or, share this article with them. Maybe they will get the hint.

If it’s easier to text or email or otherwise send a quick message instead of talking, do that instead!

This is far more efficient than a conversation if you’re just delivering a quick alert or update.

However, it also is a real-time interruption to the person at the receiving end, especially if it is a text message, so make sure it’s information the person truly needs or is waiting for. A quick text message they can glance at can go a long way since they’re often likely to do so even while they’re in a meeting – which could be very useful and help streamline communication in the subsequent meeting.

In Information Technology, data transfer is expressed in terms of “packets.” To extend this analogy to interpersonal communication, an actual in-person conversation often involves way too many “packets” of information. A conversation can veer off course and take way too much time. This can be a good thing, of course. An exchange of ideas can lead to additional ideas and great things can happen. But, if you just need a specific piece of information at this time, just send that single data “packet.”

Be courteous of other’s time and attention. It’s as valuable (or more) than your own.

If a message goes back and forth three times or more, talk instead!

You’ve experienced it before. A simple question and what should be a simple response becomes an entire chain of messages back and forth. Questions are asked, clarifications are made, requests are made and the result is communication that is far more complex than it should have been.

Cut it off when it starts! If you hit the third response, suggest that you speak instead. Better yet, just pick up the phone and make it happen. A few minutes conversation can clarify what neither of you were able to communicate in brief sentences via text or email.

Some people do communicate better in person or on the phone than they do in writing. If this is the case, even if you are skilled at communicating either way, give in and allow yourself a quick conversation. It will make it easier on you and far easier on the other person who may been having trouble keeping up – or wasn’t giving you their full attention.

Always give acknowledgement that a task is completed or a message received.

Effective communicators are able to keep a lot of balls in the air at the same time. They track their tasks and responsibilities to make sure they hit their own deadlines and promises to clients and managers.

They don’t want to lose control of a project when they need the help of someone else, so generally they will carefully track who they requested help from and communicated clearly on what deadline they need the information or response.

As a result, you can bet they are going to track you down if you miss the deadline or if they just don’t hear from you. As someone entrusted to assist in some way, you may be responsible enough to have taken care of the issue immediately. However, if you haven’t updated the person requesting the help, you are doing both yourself and them a disservice. It’s all about communication.

Do not ‘Reply ALL’ to a group email.

Unless you have a very good reason to do so (and it’s rare you will), please think twice before you hit everyone with an email who may have been unfortunate enough in the first place to be on a group email.

We’ve all experienced this personally and most likely have had our phone burn up as person after person responds and feels the need to include everyone on their comment or opinion, or worse, to just say “OK, Boss!” or “Thank you!”

Don’t be that person. Just say no.

Good communication makes you a better person.

Please heed these tips. Embrace them. Make the world around you a better place. Being efficient at work leaves more time for development of your business. Being efficient at work leaves you more free time to enjoy away from work. Being a good communicator makes your job easier and makes you a more valuable resource to others.

Since its creation over 80 years ago, Monopoly has never gone away.

A big part of its appeal to players everywhere is the fact that it directly mirrors a lot of the best business principles. Buying, selling, negotiating, perseverance, focus…these are all skills and traits business leaders share with the best Monopoly players.

It’s also not a game many people have patience for. Just like a successful business career.

Here are six ways Monopoly can prepare you to be the best in business.

#1 – Sometimes it comes down to the roll of the dice, but you’re always in control.

I don’t believe in luck in business nor do most business leaders but sometimes some serious crap is thrown your way that you didn’t foresee and can’t avoid. Good employees quit to work elsewhere. Clients close their doors. Your key contacts at your clients move around, jeopardizing your relationships.

Every one of these things can be a burden to bear. However, by preparing in advance you can head off some of the worst that can happen. At best, you can avoid relying on factors out of your control.

So it is in Monopoly. Going to jail once in a while (in the game) or landing on someone else’s high rent property won’t end the game for you if you are focused on achieving your goals and beating your opponents through domination of the board.

#2 – You must build relationships.

A big part of winning Monopoly is negotiating trades with your co-players. If they don’t like you or you’ve proven to be ruthless or unfair, no one will deal with you.

So, it is with business. You must build trust. You must build lasting relationships. You must stay in contact with people and be genuinely glad to do business with them.

You don’t need to like them and they don’t need to like you but you have to want to play the game together.

#3 – You must have a sense of urgency or the game might take forever.

To non-players Monopoly seems like an overwhelming investment of time they don’t have. But, doesn’t everything worthwhile require an investment?

A sense of urgency makes all of the difference. Driving the game forward and always being ready to play are key factors that allow the game to be played without the loss of an entire night of your life.

So, it is with work activities. People lose interest when a goal is not in sight. Endlessly toiling is no one’s idea of a successful business model. Achieving levels of success – by seeing a completed project, or fulfilling a client’s needs – is what drives most workers.

#4 – Losing isn’t really losing.

You can always play another game, right? Even against the same players.

Business is no different. I’ve seen salespeople get frustrated when they miss out on a bid, or fail to get orders after a sales presentation. Does that mean you’ve lost the entire game?

NO! The game is constant and ongoing. You always get another chance if you seek it out. Buyers and buying influences don’t know every provider of a given service or commodity, as much as they may try to compare all of their options.

So, why would you ever give up? Just because someone else controls the game board currently doesn’t mean it can’t be you next time.

#5 – The Lowest Cost is Not Always the Best Option

There are many ways to win Monopoly.

In the first block of the game are the lowest rent properties and thus, the lowest cost to purchase. It is very rare that someone wins the game by achieving monopolies on those properties.

Similarly, Boardwalk and Park Place (the most expensive properties) are not always the best way to win either. First of all, because they are expensive there are only two of them and thus only two chances for players to land on your property and pay your exorbitant rent.

Statistics have shown that the most ideal properties are the red and orange properties (in that order). They are the most likely to be landed on and being around the halfway point of the game have a mid-level price.

Isn’t that the typical experience in business and in life? There are times you want or need the Boardwalk and Park Place experience because the general rule that ‘you get what you pay for’ holds true. Thus, it is the same with the lowest cost providers. You will never get the best experience and the best level of service and best products when you pay the lowest commodity price available.

A fair price backed up by a solid product and good level of service is generally the direction businesses will head, sometimes after the poor experience of trying out the lower cost providers.

#6 – Games are the Future of the Workplace

People love games. Everyone engages in play activity. Everyone loves to achieve success in some way. Games provide this opportunity.

Gamification of the workplace is one of the most exciting business trends in years. Finding a way to track the key performance indicators and then setting them up in terms of a competition, a contest or even just as a means of gauging performance creates a fun work atmosphere and an environment focused on success.

To discuss ways to gamify your workplace or to share your experience,
Join the Monopoly Players in Business LinkedIn Group:
https://www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=8282987