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Added for You - Developing A Sales Process - Two Systems That Work
Developing new products and services rapidly and effectively is a very important skill in many businesses and the ‘decision to design’ can commit the business to hundreds of thousands of pounds and many months of work, as well as significant risk. The focus needs to be on minimising cost whilst reducing the time taken to develop the product or service and reducing the business’s risk exposure.The problems with traditional design processes are that they occur sequentially and often involve ‘over the wall engineering’ in that one department ‘throws’ the design to the next department who then have to unpick the problems that have been designed in, often at great cost. In manufacturing companies, often the design engineers will not understand the production process and will design a product which cannot easily be made, or is too expensive, and in service companies often the marketing team will not understand in detail the operations function and will promote a product which is difficult to manage effectively – both examples of dysfunctional and sequential design.During WWII, the need for rapid product development was recognised and the concept of Concurrent Design (CD) was born. The backbone of CD is the formation of a multi-function team consisting of designers, production, quality and test engineering personnel and key suppliers to develop a new pro
The Platinum Rule defines four behaviors styles: Director, Socializer, Relater, and Thinker. Each style has certain behavior characteristics and these characteristics are observable. The personality of every single person can fit within one of these four broad categories. While on a day-to-day basis we might move closer to one style or another, every person has one general category that dominates his or her personality. As we observe people’s behaviors, we can adapt our behavior to allow us to treat the other person the way they want to be treated to maintain rapport and effectiveness in our relationships. This leads to developing more sales faster.
The Platinum Rule teaches: why people do what they do, what they need in order to do their best and the strengths and weaknesses of their personal style.
The power of using The Platinum Rule is that it is easy to learn and easy to use. It has a 30-year track record and is being used by companies all over the world. Companies use The Platinum Rule in sales, marketing, customer service, business strategy, and process improvement, to name a few, to improve the effectiveness of the entire organization.
Because of its history and track record, The Platinum Rule provides concrete actions and steps you can implement to become more
Without a doubt one of the most crucial tools available to supply chain professionals today is information technology (IT). IT can be the glue that help Supply Chain deliver real value to organizations – however an incorrectly configured system or a poor technology choice can bring it’s own problems – here we check out 6 things that your Supply chain IT system should deliver.1. Efficient Transaction ManagementHaving simple standard transaction processes, for example how you raise a Purchase Order, supported by a user friendly user interface is a must – make it easy for users to capture data once and then utilize it again and again within the system. Pay close attention to processes that may result in data integrity concerns – make sure that your transactions capture the key information that you require to monitor your business and look for automation of repetative non-value add activities where possible2. Business IntelligenceAn adequate business intelligence or management reporting solution is often the keystone of any business – for Supply Chain that’s equally true – knowing where your assets are, accurate and timely inventory information, supplier performance and a firm grip on costs should be easily achieved at the click of a mouse. Look to ensure that everyone in your organization has access the data they need when they need
Your pipeline is filling up but you are not closing as much business as you expected. There is a reason for this. Inexperienced business owners and non-professional sales people don’t understand the sales process and how to quickly qualify and disqualify potential customers. Qualifying means there is a need for your product or service and the prospect agrees there is a need, that they have buying authority to make a purchasing decision, and that they have the budget to spend on your product or service.
In this article I am going to talk about how to move this process very quickly. This is “The Platinum Rule®. The Platinum Rule allows you to “treat others the way they want to be treated” by identifying their behavioral style, thereby increasing your personal sales effectiveness and closing more business. Before we get into the details of this system, I want you to document your sales process. If you don’t have one, you need to create one. Ask yourself how you put prospects into your selling pipeline. What tactics in this book did you use and how did you implement them to create and fill your pipeline? Once you understand this, you have solved half the challenge. When you find what works, create measurable, repeatable, and predictable processes so you do not have to go through this process every year. Find what works for you and stick with it.
Creating measurable, repeatable, and predictable processes applies to the sales process as well. Your goal is to develop a sales process that gets you to “Yes” much more often and to “No” much more quickly. How do you do that? There are three steps to this process.
First, it is critical that you gain agreement on the agenda. You are there to help them make a buying decision and they need to understand and agree that you are there for that purpose. If this obstacle is not addressed, anything after this point is going to be a problem. This can be accomplished, during the opening of the sales call, by saying, “We are here today to… and at the end of our discussion, together we will determine if there is a next step and what that next step is. Are you okay with that?” This sets the tone and texture of the meeting as requiring some form of action at the end. This action can be “No, I am not interested” or, “Yes, let’s move forward.”
Second, both you and your prospect must agree on how the product or service will solve this need. Agreeing there is a need addresses the intellectual side of the sales presentation. The emotional side investigates the impact of the need (or what I refer to as pain).
Let’s use insurance as an example. Your prospect is looking to buy insurance for a specific reason: lower insurance premiums, gain initial protection or better protection. Those are intellectual reasons. To better understand the pain (prospects reasons for making a change) you might ask second level questions such as, “What would happen if you did not find a better price?” or, “Why is it important to have this protection now?” or, “What would happen if you continue without protection?” These questions get the prospect emotionally involved in the buying process. You are helping them understand the impact of not making a decision—the real reasons for buying. Once you understand the real reasons for buying, you tailor the rest of your presentation to address these needs. “If I can give you the same protection for a lower price, what would you do with the extra money?” We help them to understand what would happen with the money they save.
The third aspect of the sales process is the decision making process. After you and the prospect have gained agreement on the purpose of the meeting and the pain has been identified and investigated, you are now in the position to do what any good sales representative does—help the prospect make a buying decision.
The decision process is a natural byproduct of creating a good selling process. Many times during the decision process, the prospect will put obstacles or objections in front of you. Objections are questions or concerns that have not been answered during the sales presentation. Objections are a very good thing because this is the prospect giving you permission to ask further questions to gain clarity to move the buying process forward. Many times there is no asking for the order. If done right, the prospect will ask you for the next step. Naturally the next step is to sign the order.
Creating a sales process using The Platinum Rule is very powerful. Dr. Tony Alessandra describes The Platinum Rule like this:
We have all heard of the Golden Rule—and many people aspire to live by it. The Golden Rule is not a panacea. Think about it: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Golden Rule implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be treated the way that you would like to be treated.
The alternative to the Golden Rule is the Platinum Rule: "Treat others the way they want to be treated." The Platinum Rule accommodates the feelings of others. The focus of relationships shifts from "this is what I want, so I'll give everyone the same thing" to "let me first understand what they want and then I'll give it to them."
The Platinum Rule defines four behaviors styles: Director, Socializer, Relater, and Thinker. Each style has certain behavior characteristics and these characteristics are observable. The personality of every single person can fit within one of these four broad categories. While on a day-to-day basis we might move closer to one style or another, every person has one general category that dominates his or her personality. As we observe people’s behaviors, we can adapt our behavior to allow us to treat the other person the way they want to be treated to maintain rapport and effectiveness in our relationships. This leads to developing more sales faster.
The Platinum Rule teaches: why people do what they do, what they need in order to do their best and the strengths and weaknesses of their personal style.
The power of using The Platinum Rule is that it is easy to learn and easy to use. It has a 30-year track record and is being used by companies all over the world. Companies use The Platinum Rule in sales, marketing, customer service, business strategy, and process improvement, to name a few, to improve the effectiveness of the entire organization.
Because of its history and track record, The Platinum Rule provides concrete actions and steps you can implement to become more
To survive, a company must satisfy different groups, refereed as stakeholders. These include stockholders, employees, customers, and society at large. In the short term, the aims of these groups conflict. Stockholders want additional sales and increased productivity, which will result in higher profits and a higher return on investment. Employees want additional compensation. Customers want lower prices. Society at large would like to see increased corporate taxes or corporate involvement in social functions. In the long term, all of these aims must be achieved adequately or none will be attained at all because each stakeholder group is powerful enough to cause the company's demise.Although the management teams of multinational enterprises (MNEs) must be aware of these various interests, they serve them unevenly at any given period. At one time, most gains may go to consumers; at another, to stockholders. Making necessary trade-offs is always necessary at a corporation's domestic environment. However abroad, where corporate managers are relatively unfamiliar with customs and power groups such as trade unions, the problem is choosing the best alternative can be compounded; this is particularly true if dominant interests differ among countries.The effects of MNEs on growth and employment are not a necessarily a zero-sum game among countries. Classic
Creating measurable, repeatable, and predictable processes applies to the sales process as well. Your goal is to develop a sales process that gets you to “Yes” much more often and to “No” much more quickly. How do you do that? There are three steps to this process.
First, it is critical that you gain agreement on the agenda. You are there to help them make a buying decision and they need to understand and agree that you are there for that purpose. If this obstacle is not addressed, anything after this point is going to be a problem. This can be accomplished, during the opening of the sales call, by saying, “We are here today to… and at the end of our discussion, together we will determine if there is a next step and what that next step is. Are you okay with that?” This sets the tone and texture of the meeting as requiring some form of action at the end. This action can be “No, I am not interested” or, “Yes, let’s move forward.”
Second, both you and your prospect must agree on how the product or service will solve this need. Agreeing there is a need addresses the intellectual side of the sales presentation. The emotional side investigates the impact of the need (or what I refer to as pain).
Let’s use insurance as an example. Your prospect is looking to buy insurance for a specific reason: lower insurance premiums, gain initial protection or better protection. Those are intellectual reasons. To better understand the pain (prospects reasons for making a change) you might ask second level questions such as, “What would happen if you did not find a better price?” or, “Why is it important to have this protection now?” or, “What would happen if you continue without protection?” These questions get the prospect emotionally involved in the buying process. You are helping them understand the impact of not making a decision—the real reasons for buying. Once you understand the real reasons for buying, you tailor the rest of your presentation to address these needs. “If I can give you the same protection for a lower price, what would you do with the extra money?” We help them to understand what would happen with the money they save.
The third aspect of the sales process is the decision making process. After you and the prospect have gained agreement on the purpose of the meeting and the pain has been identified and investigated, you are now in the position to do what any good sales representative does—help the prospect make a buying decision.
The decision process is a natural byproduct of creating a good selling process. Many times during the decision process, the prospect will put obstacles or objections in front of you. Objections are questions or concerns that have not been answered during the sales presentation. Objections are a very good thing because this is the prospect giving you permission to ask further questions to gain clarity to move the buying process forward. Many times there is no asking for the order. If done right, the prospect will ask you for the next step. Naturally the next step is to sign the order.
Creating a sales process using The Platinum Rule is very powerful. Dr. Tony Alessandra describes The Platinum Rule like this:
We have all heard of the Golden Rule—and many people aspire to live by it. The Golden Rule is not a panacea. Think about it: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Golden Rule implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be treated the way that you would like to be treated.
The alternative to the Golden Rule is the Platinum Rule: "Treat others the way they want to be treated." The Platinum Rule accommodates the feelings of others. The focus of relationships shifts from "this is what I want, so I'll give everyone the same thing" to "let me first understand what they want and then I'll give it to them."
The Platinum Rule defines four behaviors styles: Director, Socializer, Relater, and Thinker. Each style has certain behavior characteristics and these characteristics are observable. The personality of every single person can fit within one of these four broad categories. While on a day-to-day basis we might move closer to one style or another, every person has one general category that dominates his or her personality. As we observe people’s behaviors, we can adapt our behavior to allow us to treat the other person the way they want to be treated to maintain rapport and effectiveness in our relationships. This leads to developing more sales faster.
The Platinum Rule teaches: why people do what they do, what they need in order to do their best and the strengths and weaknesses of their personal style.
The power of using The Platinum Rule is that it is easy to learn and easy to use. It has a 30-year track record and is being used by companies all over the world. Companies use The Platinum Rule in sales, marketing, customer service, business strategy, and process improvement, to name a few, to improve the effectiveness of the entire organization.
Because of its history and track record, The Platinum Rule provides concrete actions and steps you can implement to become more
No, it’s not the historical battle between two New York newspapers in the late 1800’s to see who could dig up the biggest scandal to sell papers. It’s the world of directory publishing you know as the Yellow Pages. Yet ironically, it’s been around as long, if not longer. But it’s gone through many changes in the past century. For instance, it’s in full-color and printed on white paper with yellow ink, to give the appearance of yellow paper. It also has an Internet counterpart for every book printed. It’s also available as a CD or DVD in many areas. No, it’s not your father’s Yellow Pages anymore.If you are reading this and an advertiser, it would behoove you to learn as much as you can about this media. You are investing your profits into a marketing campaign in an attempt to bring in customers. But what do you know about your ads? Let’s take a test. Can you answer “yes” to any of the following questions:Do you know what the average customer is worth, within your industry?Do you know the percent of profit you should spend on YP advertising?Do you know what part of your ad is the most effective?Do you know what part of your ad is least effective?Have you recently looked at all your competitor’s ads?If you even
Let’s use insurance as an example. Your prospect is looking to buy insurance for a specific reason: lower insurance premiums, gain initial protection or better protection. Those are intellectual reasons. To better understand the pain (prospects reasons for making a change) you might ask second level questions such as, “What would happen if you did not find a better price?” or, “Why is it important to have this protection now?” or, “What would happen if you continue without protection?” These questions get the prospect emotionally involved in the buying process. You are helping them understand the impact of not making a decision—the real reasons for buying. Once you understand the real reasons for buying, you tailor the rest of your presentation to address these needs. “If I can give you the same protection for a lower price, what would you do with the extra money?” We help them to understand what would happen with the money they save.
The third aspect of the sales process is the decision making process. After you and the prospect have gained agreement on the purpose of the meeting and the pain has been identified and investigated, you are now in the position to do what any good sales representative does—help the prospect make a buying decision.
The decision process is a natural byproduct of creating a good selling process. Many times during the decision process, the prospect will put obstacles or objections in front of you. Objections are questions or concerns that have not been answered during the sales presentation. Objections are a very good thing because this is the prospect giving you permission to ask further questions to gain clarity to move the buying process forward. Many times there is no asking for the order. If done right, the prospect will ask you for the next step. Naturally the next step is to sign the order.
Creating a sales process using The Platinum Rule is very powerful. Dr. Tony Alessandra describes The Platinum Rule like this:
We have all heard of the Golden Rule—and many people aspire to live by it. The Golden Rule is not a panacea. Think about it: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Golden Rule implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be treated the way that you would like to be treated.
The alternative to the Golden Rule is the Platinum Rule: "Treat others the way they want to be treated." The Platinum Rule accommodates the feelings of others. The focus of relationships shifts from "this is what I want, so I'll give everyone the same thing" to "let me first understand what they want and then I'll give it to them."
The Platinum Rule defines four behaviors styles: Director, Socializer, Relater, and Thinker. Each style has certain behavior characteristics and these characteristics are observable. The personality of every single person can fit within one of these four broad categories. While on a day-to-day basis we might move closer to one style or another, every person has one general category that dominates his or her personality. As we observe people’s behaviors, we can adapt our behavior to allow us to treat the other person the way they want to be treated to maintain rapport and effectiveness in our relationships. This leads to developing more sales faster.
The Platinum Rule teaches: why people do what they do, what they need in order to do their best and the strengths and weaknesses of their personal style.
The power of using The Platinum Rule is that it is easy to learn and easy to use. It has a 30-year track record and is being used by companies all over the world. Companies use The Platinum Rule in sales, marketing, customer service, business strategy, and process improvement, to name a few, to improve the effectiveness of the entire organization.
Because of its history and track record, The Platinum Rule provides concrete actions and steps you can implement to become more
Most people know about networking. Sometimes it appears that whom you know is more important than what you know! Some people want to know who knows you too! What do you think? Has this been your experience?Networking has been around for a long time. It is a tactic used to go after new business, gain competitive advantage, "close deals" and get the sale! Sometimes, it can be a little superficial. Few people establish meaningful long-term relationships. Few people discover what lies under the business suit and what a person's true passion is. Let's be honest, the focus of networking is about you! It is all about you and not the other person!There is a new concept gaining acceptance. It is called netweaving!Netweaving is a new term created by Bob Littell who lives in the Atlanta metro area. netweaving is 180 degrees different from networking. With netweaving, the focus is on the other person. netweaving is seeking to help others and networking is seeking to sell to others. A Master NetWeaver listens first and looks to become a resource for other people! Bob believes that people are incomplete. Many people face challenges, have needs and problems to resolve.Netweaving seeks to help others and not sell others! By simply asking, " How can I help you"? Take notes about the people that you meet. You will be quite different from everybody e
Creating a sales process using The Platinum Rule is very powerful. Dr. Tony Alessandra describes The Platinum Rule like this:
We have all heard of the Golden Rule—and many people aspire to live by it. The Golden Rule is not a panacea. Think about it: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Golden Rule implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be treated the way that you would like to be treated.
The alternative to the Golden Rule is the Platinum Rule: "Treat others the way they want to be treated." The Platinum Rule accommodates the feelings of others. The focus of relationships shifts from "this is what I want, so I'll give everyone the same thing" to "let me first understand what they want and then I'll give it to them."
The Platinum Rule defines four behaviors styles: Director, Socializer, Relater, and Thinker. Each style has certain behavior characteristics and these characteristics are observable. The personality of every single person can fit within one of these four broad categories. While on a day-to-day basis we might move closer to one style or another, every person has one general category that dominates his or her personality. As we observe people’s behaviors, we can adapt our behavior to allow us to treat the other person the way they want to be treated to maintain rapport and effectiveness in our relationships. This leads to developing more sales faster.
The Platinum Rule teaches: why people do what they do, what they need in order to do their best and the strengths and weaknesses of their personal style.
The power of using The Platinum Rule is that it is easy to learn and easy to use. It has a 30-year track record and is being used by companies all over the world. Companies use The Platinum Rule in sales, marketing, customer service, business strategy, and process improvement, to name a few, to improve the effectiveness of the entire organization.
Because of its history and track record, The Platinum Rule provides concrete actions and steps you can implement to become more
Global Communications feels the pressures of the industries with trying to keep up with its competitors and watching its stock prices fall. Yet the stockholders are giving them a lot of pressure to correct the problem. They need to offer better services than what their competitors are providing to their customers. This paper will discuss the background, the problem, the end goals, alternative solutions, risk assessment, the optimal solution, and lastly the implementation plan.Situation Background (Step 1) The entire telecommunications industry has fallen into hard times due to the Cable Companies entering the competition but Global Communications has been hit hard with not just the increased competition but smaller profit margins, the costs of doing business, and have realized that they need a new strategic plan, but will need help in implementing this.The problem is not really obvious, as one may think. It is easy to say that there is too much competition and blame outside entities for their woes. Ultimately, the real issue is GC’s inability to effectively compete with new players in the market (i.e. cable companies). Often this is the secondary to a failure to differentiate their offerings from those of the competitors. It sounds as if their attempt at differentiation has been “Our Edge is People”. This has two obvious flaws. First, it i
The Platinum Rule defines four behaviors styles: Director, Socializer, Relater, and Thinker. Each style has certain behavior characteristics and these characteristics are observable. The personality of every single person can fit within one of these four broad categories. While on a day-to-day basis we might move closer to one style or another, every person has one general category that dominates his or her personality. As we observe people’s behaviors, we can adapt our behavior to allow us to treat the other person the way they want to be treated to maintain rapport and effectiveness in our relationships. This leads to developing more sales faster.
The Platinum Rule teaches: why people do what they do, what they need in order to do their best and the strengths and weaknesses of their personal style.
The power of using The Platinum Rule is that it is easy to learn and easy to use. It has a 30-year track record and is being used by companies all over the world. Companies use The Platinum Rule in sales, marketing, customer service, business strategy, and process improvement, to name a few, to improve the effectiveness of the entire organization.
Because of its history and track record, The Platinum Rule provides concrete actions and steps you can implement to become more effective in dealing with suspects, prospects, and customers. What makes it so simple is that it is structured around three specific observable behaviors: The Verbal -the actual words they use – the content, The Vocal: the way they say the words – inflection, intonation, and emphasis, The Visual: the way they subconsciously communicate their intentions through body language, facial expressions, and gestures.
Through the simple act of listening and watching what they say and how they say it, you can quickly and easily understand their behavior style and how they want to be treated. Your ability to adapt your behavior and meet them where they are is where theory and action meet.
The goal of The Platinum Rule is personal chemistry and productive relationships that results in more sales, faster. You don't have to change your personality. You simply have to understand what drives people and recognize the options you have when dealing with them.
Everyone possesses the qualities of each style to various degrees and everyone has a dominant style. The key to using The Platinum Rule is in understanding what a person's dominant behavioral style is and treating him/her appropriately.
Here is a very basic breakdown of the behavior styles defined by The Platinum Rule: Directors are driven by two governing needs: to control and achieve. They are goal-oriented go-getters who are most comfortable when they are in charge of people and situations.
Socializers are friendly and enthusiastic and like to be where the action is. They thrive on admiration, acknowledgment, and compliments. They are idea-people who excel at getting others excited about their vision.
Thinkers are analytical, persistent, systematic people who enjoy problem-solving. They are detail-oriented, which makes them more concerned with content than style. Thinkers are task-oriented people who enjoy perfecting processes and working toward tangible results.
Relaters are warm and nurturing individuals. They are the most people-oriented of the four styles. Relaters are excellent listeners, devoted friends, and loyal employees. They are good planners, persistent workers, and good with follow-through.
How can you apply this knowledge to grow your business? When you identify the behavioral styles of your clients and prospects, you will know how to sell to them by treating them the way they want to be treated. Let me give you some examples:
Directors are goal-oriented. When selling to Directors, the best approach is to give them the headline first, focusing on results. Since they like to be in control, let them give you permission to tell the rest of your story (if they like the headline).
Socializers like to have fun and they will sell themselves if you can get them excited about your products and services. Your message should focus on the outcomes they will experience, the fun they will have, and the recognition they will receive for being visionary enough to implement your solution. Thinkers don’t like to be wrong, so you need to be prepared when selling to a thinker. They want to know that your facts and figures are correct. They will want to know the details behind the methodology and how the results were documented. Don’t press a Thinker for a decision. They will decide when they are ready. Build credibility by doing what you said you were going to do.
Relaters want to know that you care for them. Relaters are concerned about the impact that the change will have on the team (family.) Spend time building a relationship.
The power of The Platinum Rule is that it is easy to learn and implement—but in order to experience great success, it does take some practice.
This material has been excerpted from 49 Marketing Secrets (THAT WORK) to Grow Sales. This book includes: 9 Winning Marketing Strategies, 8 Branding and Corporate Image Strategies, 6 Media Strategies, 3 Networking Strategies, 9 Technology-Based Marketing Strategies, 6 Event Strategies, 8 Sales Strategies. The book will be available second quarter 2006. To learn more check www.49marketingsecrets.com.
To learn more about sales: www.whysellingdoesntsell.com
The Platinum Rule® is a registered trademark of Dr. Tony Alessandra. Used with permission. For more information on The Platinum Rule, see http://www.alessandra.com/products/prrsproducts.asp
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