Prospecting in the New Economy using the Customer Assessment

On Monday April 20th 2009 I had the opportunity to pilot a new program for 70+ people. Selling Solutions in the New Economy.After i had conducted a survey with the participants it became clear what their challenges were. One of the clear challenges was that after the initial contact with the prospect the project stalled.
I shared with them my thinking about the new economy and how our mindset plays a very important role in how we respond top all the news we are hearing. This news can have a great impact on how we feel and that drives how we think, decide and act.
By using some music, they could feel the pressure.
We then moved on to talk about prospecting and how to do that ongoing, so in business we continuously build pipeline and have the relevant information for our current opportunities. This is where we started to talk about the Customer Assessment. Structuring what we know about our customers in a very specific way, so it helps us to find new opportunities. The information can be in our heads, but a lot of it can also be found online. What it need is some structure, so we can drive insight.
Selling hasn't changed. The environment in which we sell has. Less money available, decisions made at higher levels and sometimes even outside the organization (by the government).
In all of this the Customer Assessment helps to get a very clear understanding of the issues that are driving a customer's business and the pain and possibilities it presents them with.
The world in which we sell has changed...have you?

Achieve Your Sales Quota

Achieving Sales Quota is on top of every sales persons mind. Some tend to run from one opportunity to the next, others take a more strategic approach.

Making sure you know what you are selling, where you are selling and how (through or with whom) you are selling is the best starting point.

Make sure you (over)achieve your sales quota with less effort ... we have 86,400 seconds in a day in which we both need to fulfill our personal and business objectives. And where many companies speak about work-life balance, for many sales people this is about how much life can i cram into my work. In my view we have to turn this around and focus on life-work balance ... how big a part of my life should my work be.

If you are looking for proven ways to achieve your sales quota, then look at the Quota Achievement Plan.