The Btb Interview

Daniel McVicker is director of client services for StrathMadigan , which is a professional services and business consulting firm. Their focus is on developing long lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships with clients by providing straightforward and Consultative advice. The firm is tasked with delivering genuine added value with a measurable return on investment through the provision of highly experienced and industry specific professional business consultants. StrathMadigan provide 2 distinct services across all disciplines. They can provide an entire Outsourced function for a division of your business or provide Project Staff and Interim Managers to address specific critical issues.

Me: Cost is the big issue now, is price cutting a good way to hold on to existing customers?

Daniel: Don’t lower your prices. Tempting though it is under the premise that it may increase sales, I believe that although in the short term it may generate revenue - it could have a potentially serious damaging effect on the longevity of your business.

If you cut prices now, when the upturn comes as surely it will, how will you then justify increasing your prices.

Me: So how then can you deal effectively with customers who want cheaper prices?

Daniel: Address pricing issues with guarantees. By giving a guarantee to your customers it says that you are confident in your product or service and it is also ethical. Be prepared to give generous guarantees, customers will see through guarantees which are weighted in your favour.

Me: Salespeople and business owners tell me that motivation is very difficult, as someone who is continuing to successfully grow business - what would you say to these people?

Daniel: Knowledge and ability mean nothing without action. With the credit crunch and the recession biting hard, sales people and business owners alike are becoming increasingly despondent and shying away from picking up the phone to customers for fear of hearing another no.

Now is the time to pick up the phone and stay close to your customers. The companies which are weathering the storm best at present have one thing in common, they are taking Action!

They are increasing their marketing, increasing their customer contact, whilst all the time stealing and increasing market share!

Me: So how do you know what actions you should take and when you should take them?

Daniel: There are 4 important factors in taking action:

(i) “All Encompassing Action”: taking action in all the areas of your business which require it. It is easy to fall into the trap of taking successive steps action, ie: I’ll do a leaflet drop this month; I’ll update the Website next month etc.

(ii) “Habit” Once you begin to take action makes it a continual habit, not sporadic. Successful people generally have similar habits but beyond that they have a structured plan and one that they follow religiously.

(iii)“Focus and Measurement” On taking action, make sure it is the right action, it is easy to become a busy fool taking the easy options or doing the tasks we enjoy. For every Action we take it should be measured to ensure that it is an effective use of our time.

(iv)Be positive about taking action. Taking action and making change can be difficult; it takes us out of our comfort zones. A positive attitude and a realisation that your business will benefit as a result will increase the likelihood of your actions having the desired outcome.

Me: Are we perhaps paying too much attention to the problems and not enough attention to the solutions?

Daniel: Stop talking about the credit crunch. Talking about the economy won’t change it, taking action, speaking to customers and selling will.

Over at TSE

Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 at 6PM GMT (1:00PM EASTERN)

Join Danita Bye, Jonathan London, Steve Martinez, Craig Klein and Jonathan Farrington for our latest TSE Roundtable:“The Power Of Sales Process”

Take the tour above.

Btb Guest Author

Miriam Ahern

Face-to-face business networking is a much cheaper way to promote your business than advertising or PR. It is a low-cost activity where the pressure is on your time rather than on your pocket. It’s more effective than on-line networking as you build important personal relationships more quickly.

Nevertheless, meeting someone just once is unlikely to bring you new business. The key lies in repeat-encounters. However, the old maxim still holds – time is money. Here’s how to spend that time wisely:

Step # 1 - Determine why you need to network and set clear networking objectives for yourself

Action - List the main (important and urgent) objectives for your networking activities for the next twelve months. These objectives might be aligned to a personal or business plan that you have developed. Be very specific in terms of what you need to

do and why and when you need to do it. Use the SMART principle so that your networking objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

Step # 2 - Audit your existing networks

Action - Make a ‘master list’ of your existing networks on one sheet of paper. Then, for each of those networks, take a blank sheet of paper and brain-storm that network. What you want to end up with is a set of individual lists of all of your active contacts within in each of your current networks. An active contact is someone with whom you have interacted during the last three months or so. If you are used to ‘mind-mapping’, that method makes this step really easy.

Step # 3 – Align your ‘master list’ to your new networking objectives

Action – Ask yourself this question. Are there other relevant groups of people that I need to network with to achieve my current networking objectives? If the answer is yes, your immediate mission is to identify, locate and engage with these new groups or individuals. Different networking objectives may require you to interact within different networking groups.

Step # 4 – Galvanise your existing networks into action

Action – In the context of your new networking objectives, review the names on each of the sheets that you have prepared for each of your networks. Are there other people available to you through those existing networks that you have not included in your list? For example, are there wider family members, ex-colleagues, or co-professionals with whom it would benefit you to acquaint yourself? Plan to connect with these additional people at your earliest opportunity.

Step # 5 –Re-educate your existing contacts

Action – Make sure that your introduction, or ‘elevator pitch’, is up to date. For many of us, the way in which we introduce ourselves may depend on which network we are interacting within. Make sure that if you have a ‘set’ of introductions that they are all freshly aligned to your networking goals. Do this in advance of any networking activities. Don’t get caught on the spot at events or meetings where you might get tangled in a long explanation about how or why you have changed your slant.

Step # 6 – Encourage your contacts to be your ambassadors and your sales reps!

Action – Make yourself memorable. One extremely good networker that I know carries a stunningly beautiful pair of diamond earrings in his pocket. Not so strange, really. He’s a master jeweller and a diamond grader. You should see people flocking around him when he’s in action. No-one ever forgets having met him either!

Use every available opportunity when you are networking to become involved in the event itself. Here are some suggestions:

Get to know your network organisers or facilitators

Volunteer to ‘buddy-up’ with newcomers at formal networking events

Become a connector, introduce your acquaintances to each-other

Offer to present a short talk on your subject(s) of expertise

Extend a special discount to fellow-networkers

Offer to be a table facilitator or host during round-table networking activities or exercises

Follow up a promising chance encounter with a one-to-one meeting over coffee or lunch

Relationships + Reputation = Referrals

Miriam Ahern is the founder and managing partner of Align Management Solutions – a consultancy specialising in organisational change and development. She also manages LINK! - Dublin City Enterprise Board’s Network for Start-up Businesses. Miriam is a regular contributor in the national media on issues relating to business management and human resources. She is a Certified Management Consultant and a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants and Advisers.

Mobile: + 353 86 234 2789

Office:  + 353 1 412 5890

www.twitter.com/MiriamAhern

www.linkedIn.com/in/miriamahern

Over at TSE

I am really looking forward to tomorrow’s roundtable “Harness the Power of Referrals”

Do you know what it takes to build a referral business?

Join five Top Sales Experts share their techniques that turn up the heat in prospecting by harnessing the power of referrals.

Joanne Black, Jonathan Farrington, Paul McCord, Steve Martinez and Nancy D. Solomon present this 60-minute roundtable on Tuesday May 26th.

Your current clients are your most under-leveraged referral source. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Learn where traditional referral training falls short, why it is so essential to understand your ideal client profile and recognize your ideal referral source, how to overcome referral roadblocks and how to develop a process that does “what it takes” to build a referral business.

The investment? $25.00  or $99.50.

HUH? You can become a VIP member of Top Sales Experts (at $25.00 for the entire year) and the Roundtables are FREE. If you’re not ready to become a VIP member then they are $99.50.

This is a meet event organised by the Sales Leadership Ireland LinkedIn Group. This is a not-for-profit initiative.

When: Wed, 03 Jun, 2009, Start time: 07:00 - End time: 09:00      Cost: 15 Euro

Where: Burlington Hotel, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 4 ireland. View on Map.

Des: A practical look at how companies and sales people might respond to the current challenges and opportunities in the market.

SECTION 1: Interactive sessions with Speakers (45 minutes)

1) Introduction to Sales Leadership Ireland
- Niall Devitt, Beyond the Boardroom Training

2) “Removing the New Bottlenecks in today’s Sales Processes” – 10 minutes
Niall Devitt will lead a discussion on how sales challenges are always changing with changing markets, how to identify these changes and how to respond.

3) “Partnering into New Markets” – 10 minutes
Donagh Kiernan of Maidsfield Associates will present a case study of how corporate partnering is an effective method of entering new sectoral or regional markets.

4) “Engaging with Customers through New Media” – 20 minutes
Damien Mulley of Mulley Communications will discuss how new media can be used to communicate with your market and gain new business.

SECTION 2: Key Challenges Roundtables (1 hour)

Maximum attendees 30 – 3 round tables of 10

A number of identified Key Challenges in the industry today will be discussed and debated to share insights on how challenges can and are be met by members. The key challenges will be collected from the Sales Leadership Ireland - Linked-In Discussion Group.

Structure:
a) Introduce identified “Key Challenges” – (5 Minutes)

b) One “Key Challenge” will be assigned to each roundtable. Each table will select a spokesperson to chair a discussion and collect suggested actions to meet these challenges, taking notes on a flipchart page (30 Minutes)

c) Each table’s spokesperson will present their findings to the whole group (30 Minutes)

d) Session Summary and Close

COFFEE & NETWORKING

A session report will be submitted to the Sales Leadership Ireland LinkedIn Group Discussion

SIGN UP FOR THIS EVENT HERE

iQ Content is an Irish company, based in Dublin. Working for clients from across Europe, their team of usability, accessibility and content experts are dedicated to creating better websites.

Yesterday, they launched the The iQ Prize: 10,000 euro for the best business plan for an internet start-up.

“iQ Content was born in the last great tech recession of 2000, so we know how hard it is for startups. But we also think recessions are a great time for creativity, good ideas and starting sustainable businesses,” said Morgan McKeagney, managing director at iQ Content. 10K! Morgan, were you drunk?

“The iQ Prize is our contribution to creating a better Ireland: a catalyst to tap into Ireland’s talent, to spark innovation, and to help create the great businesses of the future”

But the company has made it clear that they will have no equity stake in any business founded by the eventual winner of the prize, nor are they looking to invest.

“We’re doing this because we can, and because we think it’s timely and worthwhile.” McKeagney also thinks Ireland as a nation is particularly well-positioned to create world-class internet companies.

“What are the Irish good at?” he asks. “Storytelling, creativity, technology” and that’s just the start of it. I think we have a natural advantage in building web-based businesses. We’re good at it, so why not focus on it and try to build something out of it?”

Interested entrants must send in a brief 5-page business plan that shows how they will turn their idea into a great online business.

The prize will go through an initial round of applications, after which a shortlist of applicants will be asked to present their business plans before a panel of independent judges.

Visit www.iqprize.ie

Well done to Morgan and the team at iQ.

As I have already mentioned on this blog, I am now a member of the Top Sales Experts team. TSE is a collection of the world finest sales gurus, all under one roof.

TSE has many truly excellent resources with more on the way. Rather than take you through the full list, I thought I would pick one at a time and give a little more detail.

The TSE Daily Interviews

Maureen Blandford, founder of the MindTime Group and author of “Branding Doesn’t Work in B2B interviews a different expert, Monday through Friday.

As you put the key in the ignition of your day, tune in to a power-packed interview with one of our experts.

This tool is designed to be an easy add-on to your morning office routine. And, all interviews will be archived, if you miss one or you want to share with your team.

Although free to everybody, subscribers to TSE have the unique opportunity to request topics they would like to hear covered.

Yesterday was my first day in the hot seat, all feedback welcome.

Post Updated 05/03/09

Chairman of the Sales Corporation, CEO of Top Sales Associates, based in London & Paris, and our own Captain at Top Sales Experts (when does he sleep!?!), Jonathan Farrington says the best word to describe TSE 2.0 is Comprehensive. For more information on Jonathan and the myriad ways he helps sales organizations, you may find him at www.jonathanfarrington.com and www.jfblogit.co.uk

Mark your calendars for Friday 27th March to attend our Sales Expo ‘09.

An event enabling sales professionals and business managers stay up to speed on all things sales as well as NETWORK.

There will be a selection of expert speakers along with sales product / services stands for sales professionals to connect with. Stand participants will be any company in the “Business of sales”

Attending will be sales trainers & coaches, Telesales / Sales Lead Generation Companies, CRM software providers, Sales Recruiters and much more…

Topics covered in seminar talks

Selling in Tough Economic Times - Yes We Can! – Sean Weafer, SeanWeafer.com

Selling Yourself in a Sales Interview – Frank Rock, Harvest Training

Selling Even When Your Competitor Drops Their Prices - Niall Devitt, Beyond the Boardroom

Selling as a Great Career -Stories from the Front - Redmond O’Leary, Oracle

Selling with the Latest Technologies - Sales V 2.0 - Anthony Quigley, DigitalMarketingInstitute.ie

Moving from One Sales Industry to Another - Samantha Judge, Rightfit

The talks will be held from 4.30pm and held at regular half hourly intervals. Expo attendees will have the option to attend talks of interest and/or browse trade stands.

Parties interested in participating at the event with a trade stand call Niall @ 01 236 6636.

Individuals interested in attending the Sales Expo ‘09

Booking details:

Date: 27th March

Time: 4pm - 8pm

Venue: Ballsbridge Court hotel (Formally known as Berekely Court)

Cost:        €20.00

Contact Denise/Lisa with credit card /laser:
01 236 6636 or email denise@SalesJobs.ie

Looking forward to Seeing You There!

Published by Niall Devitt, Btb Business Training

Jonathan Farrington wrote an excellent post, on why smaller companies are well positioned to do well in the year ahead. In it, Jonathan describes the factors that give a smaller company an edge including:

Not being weighted down by unnecessary bureaucracy

An ability to make decisions quickly

Being more capable of building stronger, sustainable relationships with customers

Jonathan goes on to talk about why 2009 will be the year of “Customer Focus” describing what is meant by the term, and why it creates competitive advantage.

(more…)

Published by Niall Devitt, Btb Business Training

I thought for my first post of 2009, Id start with a hypothetical situation about two imaginary competing companies contemplating what 2009 will have in store.

While these companies are of a similar size and operate in the same space, their philosophy as to how best deal with the situation is entirely different.

So why not name them after their individual philosophies.

(more…)

Published by Niall Devitt, Btb Business Training

Talking to salespeople, there seems to me to be an air of futility about at the moment, about prospecting for new customers and new business. While It may be easy to find reasons to be despondent, allowing yourself to feel and behave in this way, what ever the evidence is actually counter productive.

(more…)

Review

“Our conversion rate of prospects doubled from 20% to 40% and the average time-to-convert shrunk from 6 to 3 months. Netting it out — sales benchmarking has single-handedly improved our revenue by 5% this year alone.”

That’s what Geoff Smart; CEO of ghSMART has to say about “Making The Number” a new book by Greg Alexander, Aaron Bartels and Mike Drapeau of Sales Benchmark Index.

(more…)

Published by Niall Devitt, Btb Business Training

This post is the result a conversation I had with one of my clients who is very nervous in terms of what the future holds for her business. Siobhan, this is for you.

Firstly, Lets get real here, this is by no means the first, worst or last recession. In fact, many businesses do better during recession than during boom times.

(more…)

Published by Niall Devitt, Btb Business Training

A client of mine called me the other day looking for some advice. He owns and operates a small distribution business and as he put it is considering investing in CRM technology, with the aim of helping his business through automating his sales and customer reporting.

The catalyst event for this call was that one member of his sales team had recently left the company taking with him a long list of contacts, and presumably with time customers.

(more…)