No 21. Build rapport - don't pitch to early
July 25, 2012BIG, BIG debate on LinkedIn prompted this one! It is very easy to pitch products and services too early - before we have sufficient information or have built any real rapport. How do you avoid this trap? Use this structure - get the prospect talking about 1) themselves, 2) their organization, 3) their present application / useage, 4) their technology / method. Dont forget - use open questions HOW WHAT WHY WHERE WHEN WHO. Make it a conversation not an interrogation.
Whatever you are selling this works but if you want a variation on this technique for selling professional services, consultancy, legal services or accountancy, rather than products, email me.
No. 20 - have you found the budget?
July 12, 2012We all know about prospect qualification - Need, Timescales, BUDGET, Decision Maker - but we get fooled into thinking we have all four boxes ticked. We think we are dealing with the "budget holder" when in reality we are dealing with the "budget caretaker". Let's take the example of Purchasing Managers, unless they are buying something for the purchasing department, they are not the budget holder - they are spending someone else's money, they are the budget caretaker. So ask yourself, "have I found the budget holder?" - and make sure you get to see them too. Could be your prospect is not qualified after all.
Team Building versus Team Working
July 12, 2012
Delivering an ROI on Team Building with Team Working
As the economy sits on the edge of a double dip recession the only thing certain, is uncertainty. Businesses are finding they need to sustain and even improve productivity to survive. The focus on survival means that very little attention is paid to how teams are communicating and working together cohesively to ensure success.
One solution is "Team Working" rather than team building and we are not playing with semantics. A "Team Working Event" may mean that your team has a day out of the office, but the tangible results are invaluable.
Let's say you do find the funds to send your people off on their team building event. They have a great day out - rafting, racing go karts, playing putt putt, cliff climbing and getting to know one another. Everyone worked as a team and enjoyed the day out, but what happens back at the office?
That same team is back at their respective desks, facing individual tasks and deadlines, and generally performing in accordance with their own agendas. Now it's all work and no play!
So then, what is a Team Working Event? It is a hands on program where your people work on, and solve, the real business challenges that your organization is facing. When they return to the workplace they arrive not only working better as a team, but also with solutions to the business, process, organizational, production, and procedural problems that have been impeding your success and survival.
Team Working Events can also help you:
- Facilitate decision-making, strategies, criteria, requirements definition, action items
- Overcome stature that may be impeding success within your department or organization
- Save time, generate more ideas, build consensus within your group
Team Working means no more wasted dollars on team outings and activities that may not have lasting effects.
What is one of the best advantages of a Team Working Event? They are designed based on your overall goals for the team and your defined outcomes or objectives.
The collective experience, wisdom, and ideas of any group significantly outweigh that of one individual. So if your team members are more concerned with their own work, chances are that your overall performance as a department or organization is faltering.
