As we approach the half-way mark for the first quarter, we hope that your year is off to a great start. We are headlong into our new series of articles about increasing sales revenues and profits. Last month, we kicked off this series with an article about prospecting activities. We provided an overview of telemarketing, market segmentation strategies, prospecting using information seminars and collaborating with partners in joint sales work. We hope that you consider some or all of these strategies as they have proven repeatedly to be highly successful when properly implemented and executed.
In this article we will be discussing a variety of sales strategies and selling techniques that can be incorporated into your business practice. So let's get right into it so we can begin to generate more top-line revenue.
For us it all starts with needs selling. For those of you that read this column regularly, we always start with the client or customers' needs and develop action plans, processes, procedures and incentives to address those needs. So make certain that your listening skills are sharpened and that you have the proper tools to assess your clients' needs. The sales process is a large funnel. When properly used, the large opening of the funnel is the development of needs; the small end is the time spent selling. Try inverting a funnel and see how effective it is! Engage your clients and prospects in an open-ended dialogue about their key business issues. All sorts of needs will come percolating to the surface.
That brings us to the next point - selling solutions. Professionals sell solutions that address needs. They are viewed as consultants and business advisers, not product peddlers. Listen to your clients' concerns and create solutions - preferably comprehensive solutions - that meet or exceed their expectations. Think broadly and strategically. In a prior article, we advocated the creation of a strategic plan for your clients' benefits programs that articulates their goals over a three or five year time period. Yes that incorporates capitation of benefits, plan redesign and cost-shifting. But it also provides other solutions, like voluntary benefits, to fill the gaps created by cost-containment strategies. Exceeding client expectations doesn't have to cost you money; in fact, it can significantly increase your income. You'll find that you will spend far less time selling and much more time problem solving, and you and your client will be on the same side of the table as you explore possibilities.
Consider deploying technology, where appropriate, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your communications about benefits both in your selling to clients, and when communicating and enrolling benefits with employees. We all learn faster and retain more information when we experience learning through multiple senses. You probably know this from the education of your own children. So why wouldn't this apply to sales as well? Consider making use of:
· Animated presentations
· Web seminars
· Online demos linked with conference call capabilities
· Video clips
· Avatars
· Communication and enrollment platforms, and other integrated delivery systems
· Other technology enabled sales tools
But don't fall in love with technology just for the sake of technology. Embrace it as an enabler that improves your effectiveness and engages your clients and their employees. Start with one that you have a comfort level with, and expand as your confidence and sales results increase. We will spend more time on certain aspects of leveraging technology and its deployment in next month's article.
Perhaps your firm needs additional sales resources. Adding one or more producers might be the right approach. Should they be employees? Or 1099 independent contractors under contracts with non-compete, non-disclosure, non-circumvention provisions? Clearly there are advantages and disadvantages to both resource models. In future articles we will explore these issues in much greater detail. For now, if you are uncomfortable with making the decision with your current knowledge, a business adviser can be invaluable to you in evaluating your options. Your clients come to you for help with their benefits, there's no shame in going to an expert for help running your business. Perhaps adding an incentive program for your current account management staff to cross-sell other solutions to your existing clients is the next appropriate step. Cross-selling to your clients will add additional revenue streams and improve your client persistency at the same time. So think creatively and motivate your staff to be more productive by presenting solutions that address client needs.
Once you decide to not be the sole business producer or the major rain-maker for your firm and involve others in sales activities, you will need to think about sales training initiatives. After all, these sales resources will be representing your firm and will be your face to the customer. You will want to provide them with both the appropriate sales training that incorporates needs selling, and addresses your philosophy of sales and service. Inspire people with knowledge and confidence and they will succeed to your mutual benefit. In addition, you will need to be thinking about structuring sales management processes and systems, and the creation of sales accountabilities. After all, if it's worth achieving, it's worth tracking and managing.
So consider these ideas and implement those that fit within your current organizational structure, culture and personal management and sales style. They all work. It's a question of which ones are best for you, right now. And let us hear from you about your sales successes. Remember, sales success is the intersection of preparation and opportunity. Good selling.
In our next article, we will delve into a discussion about benefits enrollment and communications.
Jack Kwicien is a managing partner for Daymark Advisors, a Baltimore, Md.-based consulting and advisory firm that serves the insurance, banking, benefits, financial services and workforce management sectors. He can be reached via email at jkwicien@daymarkadvisors.com.
Dial in for better sales
There is still time to take better advantage of the sage advice and counseling Kwicien offers regular readers of EBA. We're offering readers the opportunity for more business development coaching via a monthly teleconference. Email Robert.whiddon@sourcemedia.com if you would like to participate. It's first come, first serve and the size of the calls will be small to ensure order and facilitate substantive discussion. Don't pass up this valuable opportunity to hone your business strategy with an expert in the field.
