It usually takes a long time to find a shorter way. - Anonymous I spend a good percentage of my time selling. I also spend a lot of time coaching and training sales teams. One question that comes up time after time is, "How do I shorten the sales cycle?" My quick response is usually, "Have more in each stage of your pipeline at all times, so the sales cycle just seems shorter." Of course, that rarely makes anyone feel better. So based on RAIN Group’s research and experience, here are Ten Commandments that will help make your sales process move more quickly...      

In my last article about shortening your sales cycle, I revealed the first five tips for getting to the close faster. I covered: I. Thou Shalt Present a Crisp, Clear Value Proposition II. Thou Shalt Talk to the Right Person III. Thou Shalt Uncover the Prospect’s Aspirations and Afflictions IV. Thou Shalt Engender Trust and Confidence in Your Company V. Thou Shalt Deal With Objections Early On In this article, I’ll finish the list of commandments with the next five ways to shorten your sales cycle...      

In our What Sales Winners Do Differently research, we learned that reducing risk has shot up in importance as a criteria for buying today. Now, for every 100 times you as a seller find advice to sell the return on investment case, you might find just one piece of advice focused on minimizing the perception of risk for the buyer. This is interesting because it was just 40 years ago that marketers and sellers didn’t focus much on results and impact. The transition away from features and benefits had just begun But fast forward to today and every company’s marketing and sales messages promise some kind of results, often wild results, as their first foot forward. Yet while everyone’s promising results, buyers regularly report disappointment...      

Effectiveness of process to evaluate additional areas of value we can bring to strategic accounts. In our Benchmark Report on High Performance in Strategic Account Management research study, we learned that high performers—those companies that had much greater revenue and profit growth in their strategic accounts than the rest—were 2.8 times more likely to have an effective process for planning ways to add value to accounts. If you want to increase revenue in your accounts, the first thing you need to do is—you guessed it!—make it a standard, formal part of your process. Once you get the right members of the team together, you can explore ways to have the greatest impact on your client through additional product and service offerings. But simply having these meetings isn't enough. Four common problems crop up, all of which can be aided with the help of the right sales planning tool...      

Sales coaching—working one-on-one or in small groups with firms and individuals in a highly focused manner to help them increase effectiveness, revenues, and sales—is a large part of what I do on a day-to-day basis. Done right, it’s one of the most powerful, impactful ways to increase revenue and boost individual or group performance. I love the work. It allows me to make a real difference, work with driven, motivated professionals, and see them grow and expand their abilities in the process. I also love it because it is one of the most direct ways in which I can demonstrate the full impact of what I do to a new (or existing) client. Clients are often surprised by the effect of sales coaching, both in terms of "hard numbers," as well as the changes they see in the people being coached...      

Sales coaching has become a hot topic in business as more and more companies see a significant return on investment. However, where executive coaching and personal-effectiveness coaching yield positive results, sales coaching lags behind. Whether it's a lack of time, inconsistent coaching conversations, unavailability of tools and resources to succeed, or weak coaching skills, sales managers and leaders simply aren't producing strong results. Over the years, and through our own RAIN Sales Coaching program, we've learned there are three critical components to sales coaching success. A sales coach must: •  Play the five roles in the coaching process •  Establish a regular rhythm and frequency to the coaching process •  Lead masterful coaching conversations This infographic briefly covers the five roles of a sales coach. Feel free to print it, use it as a reference, and share it with your teams...      

Ask a group of professional services providers how much of their business comes from existing clients and the answers usually will be 60%, 70%, 80%, or even more. Then ask them how much time they put into nurturing those same clients and the answers will be a little, not much, or none. Finally, ask why they spend so little time building relationships when there is potential for so much new business and the answers will be: "Don't want to be a pest." "Don’t have the time." "I am not sure what to do to keep in touch." "I feel like a stalker." Obviously, doing great work is the first step in keeping in the best graces of your clients. But client loyalty can be fleeting and is not something you should take for granted...      

More than ever, sales teams are struggling with unqualified leads, missed sales goals, and lost opportunities. Increasingly, company and sales leaders are turning to coaching as a solution. And, why not? Executive and personal-effectiveness coaching have historically yielded great results. According to the International Coach Federation, the average company can expect a return of 7 times the initial investment in coaching.* Shouldn’t the same be expected from sales coaching? Yes. Even more. But both the approach to sales coaching, and the results, are pretty erratic. What we commonly see are sales managers and leaders who: Don’t have time to coach Aren’t sure what sales coaches are supposed to do Don’t have access to the tools and resources that can help them get the most of coaching Don’t establish consistent rhythm of coaching conversations Can’t lead a great coaching conversation The best sales coaches—the ones who get it right—play the following 5 specific roles in the sales coaching process...      

It's often been said that people buy with their hearts and justify their purchases with their heads. Now, this might be a cliché, but it is true. People think this is mostly a consumer thing. It isn’t. Business buyers buy on emotion and justify with their heads, too. I know one particular situation where there was a consulting firm, and the consultants spent 5 months selling to a particular client and could not make the sale. No dice. Now the ROI story, it was great. The company could invest $2 million and get $8 million in cost savings at a minimum over the coming years. But the consulting firm still didn’t sell it and they didn’t know why...      

Insight selling is an old concept that has recaptured the fancy of the sales world, and rightly so, because it’s about adding value. Specifically, it’s about the seller adding value over-and-above the product or service. Too many folks, however, think insight selling is about educating buyers through presentations. They’re about half right, but without the other half, they’re missing out on the full impact of insight selling. The missing link is asking questions. Or, as we call it, inquiry. Insight selling in any form hinges on the concept of cognitive reframing. Cognitive reframing refers to creating alternative ways of viewing ideas, events, situations, possibilities for action, or anything. Change a buyer’s perception of what’s true and what’s possible, and you can influence their agenda for action...      

In What Sales Winners Do Differently, we studied over 700 purchases from the perspective of business-to-business buyers to find out what really happened in their buying experiences. In our research, we looked at the factors that most separate sales winners from second-place finishers. These are the essential selling skills you need to find yourself in the winner's circle in the year ahead.   The 10 Essential Selling Skills   1. Educated me with new ideas or perspectives 2. Collaborated with me 3. Persuaded me we would achieve results 4. Listened to me 5. Understood my needs 6. Helped me avoid potential pitfalls 7. Crafted a compelling solution 8. Depicted purchasing process accurately 9. Connected with me personally 10. Overall value from the company is superior to other options In our infographic, we share what you need to do to master each of these essential selling skills and boost your sales success...      

Sales has changed dramatically in the last few years. What should sellers do to prepare for 2014 and how should they react to new trends in the sales industry? RainToday’s Michelle Davidson interviewed our own John Doerr, President of RAIN Group and author of Wall Street Journal bestselling Rainmaking Conversations, to find out. Click through to read a summary of their conversation and listen to the full sales podcast...      

In our What Sales Winners Do Differently research, we found that the number one factor separating sales winners from second-place finishers is this: Sellers educated buyers with new ideas or perspectives. In other words, the seller became known as a source of insight. You can do this, even before you meet people, by sharing content such as: • Research • White papers • Articles • Videos • Webinars The content doesn't necessarily need to be your own, but it must be worthwhile content containing insights that matter...      

Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2013 Time: 2 p.m. ET Duration: 60 minutes with Q&A Presenter: Mike Schultz, President, RAIN Group & Author, Rainmaking Conversations This live event has passed. Click here to view the recording.   Sales has changed drastically in recent years. Buyers are more educated and resourceful than ever before, causing sellers to search for elusive competitive edges, differentiation, and value add. To find out what separates sales winners from the rest in major sales today, RAIN Group studied over 700 business-to-business purchases representing $3.1 billion. This research revealed that sellers who are perceived by buyers as sources of insight are more likely to win sales—and do so consistently—than those who aren’t. In this webinar, Mike Schultz, President of RAIN Group and author of Wall Street Journal bestseller Rainmaking Conversations, will share the keys to becoming a source of insight. Click here to view the recording.      

OK, I hope I have your attention now. Sales training is a multibillion-dollar business. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated to be more than $5 billion (according to Dave Stein in Sales Training: The 120-Day Curse from ES Research Group). Yet, also according to Stein, between 85% and 90% of sales training has no lasting impact after 120 days. If we do the math, that amounts to somewhere north of $4.25 billion of unproductive training. In speaking to prospects about the sales training they plan to implement, more often than not they ask, "What is the most important thing we have to do to ensure that this investment in training will pay off?" While there are many things that can and should be done (see Why Sales Training Fails), the one I believe is most important is that senior management has to be committed. Training is not something you do to someone and then go on your merry way, waiting for your newly jazzed sales force to bring in wealth, fame, and fortune...      

Top Sales World has announced the finalists for its annual Top Sales & Marketing Awards and we’re pleased to share that RAIN Group has been nominated in three categories. 1. Top Sales Thought Leader: Mike Schultz & John Doerr 2. Top Sales Ebook/White Paper: What Sales Winners Do Differently 3. Top Sales & Marketing Resource Site: RainToday.com According to Top Sales World, "The annual Top Sales & Marketing Awards contest has been created to hail ‘the heroes’ of the sales and marketing space." While we do encourage you to vote, we’d also like to share some of the great work we’ve accomplished this year in each of these categories. Please note: the polls close on Friday and we could use your help to secure a spot on the podium. Vote today!      

According to recent data from the Social Media and Sales Quota report from Social Centered Selling, 78.6% of sellers using social selling outperformed those who didn’t. And social sellers were 23% more successful in terms of meeting and exceeding quota. The question isn’t if social selling works. It’s how. Many so-called "gurus" continue to talk about social selling as if it were limited to asking/answering questions in LinkedIn groups and monitoring customers' Twitter accounts while scanning for buying signals ("our server is down again"). Good luck with that kind of strategy. Social selling isn’t about gimmicks or using the same old tricks to get the meeting. It’s about a quiet revolution that is rapidly widening the gap between those who will succeed in sales tomorrow and those who will get left behind. It’s about leveraging the power of technology so you can focus on what you do best—selling—instead of spending your time chasing after prospects who aren’t worthy of your time and devotion...      

In the Benchmark Report on High Performance in Strategic Account Management, we studied more than 370 companies that engage in formal strategic account management. We looked at what sets High Performers apart from the rest, and what you need to do to become a high-performing organization. Among other areas, we asked about the challenges companies face when it comes to account development. We found that High Performers report fewer challenges and issues in a host of different areas, including: Finding time to focus on strategies and actions to maximize growth at strategic accounts Getting funding or resources needed to maximize growth at strategic accounts Gaining support from company leaders to focus on strategic account management Here’s the hard truth...      

9 out of 10 sales training initiatives have no lasting impact after 120 days.1 Considering companies spend $3.4 to $4.6 billion on sales training with outsourced providers each year, that’s a big investment with little to show for it beyond short-term, short-lived gains.2 Fortunately, the reasons sales training fails are both predictable and fixable. By avoiding common mistakes, you set yourself up for successful training initiatives that lead to increased sales performance and long-term revenue growth. Here are the most common problems we see: Before training, companies don’t have clearly defined outcomes and they don’t align the outcomes with learning needs   Training focuses on building sales skills but doesn’t build fluent sales knowledge   Sellers attributes (their drivers and detractors of sales success) are ignored   There’s no process or methodology or goal and action planning, so sellers don’t know what to do to get the best results...      

I recently returned from an industry conference. The speakers were excellent and it was great to get away from my desk, connect with the attendees, and have the opportunity to step back and think big picture about what I need to be doing to drive success in my position. I returned with all sorts of notes, to-dos, and grand visions for change. On my first day back in the office I was energized. Then the phone started to ring, the emails came flooding in, and my schedule filled with meetings. Two weeks later, while I had made some progress on my aspirational list of to-dos, by and large I was back to doing what I had always done. The problem for me was that there was no support to make the change when I got back to the office. The same thing happens after even the best sales training programs, especially if the training is structured as an instructor-led, event-based, one-time only affair...      

Bringing in new customers is expensive. According to research by Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company, it costs 6 to 7x more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing customer. In our own work, we regularly find companies have significant untapped opportunity for growing accounts. Yet cross-selling, up-selling, and growing accounts is a major challenge companies face. In our research, The Benchmark Report on High Performance in Strategic Account Management, we looked at what high performers in strategic account management do differently than the rest to grow accounts. These 5 keys show the starkest difference and have the greatest impact on cross-selling success...      

According to research from Aberdeen Group, best-in-class companies—those that outperform others on a variety of sales factors, including quota attainment, shrinking the sales cycle, and growing the average deal size: Provide structured sales training with a formal methodology (58% of best-in-class companies compared to 37% of laggards)1   Outpace laggards by nearly two-times in providing post-training reinforcement.2   Are much more likely to provide licensable content from an external provider (59% compared to 38% of laggards)   Provide third-party customized coaching (40% compared to 28% of laggards) Up until now, these capabilities were really only accessible to big companies with millions of dollars to build programs, set up sophisticated technologies, and have the staff and resources to implement and improve...      

You finally got the meeting! Now what? While getting a buyer to say "yes" to an initial sales meeting is a battle in and of itself, much success is determined by what happens in that first meeting. There are many mistakes to avoid, especially when you’re the one setting the meeting and driving the demand for your offerings. At the very core, meetings set by you—the seller—flow differently than if the buyer contacted you and asked you to meet. After all, if you set the meeting, odds are the product, service, or solution you’re trying to sell isn’t on the buyer’s radar screen. You’re trying to persuade a buyer to put something on their agenda that they hadn’t otherwise been considering. You need connect. You need to inspire. And you need to drive action...      

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." - Inigo Montoya People at large companies bandy about the terms "key account management" and "strategic account management" in conversation every day. Ask 10 people to define what these are, or to tell you what the criteria are for an account to be named a "key" account, and you’re likely to get 10 very different answers. When companies lack an effective and universally understood definition of key account management, their success is hampered from the start. If you can’t define something, it’s difficult to develop a strategy around it...