FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT
April 27, 2009 Media Relations
412.327.2604
info@women-drivers.com
Website Assists Women Going to the Car Dealership
Women-Drivers.com Gains National Exposure
Pittsburgh –
With the recession in full swing, it’s refreshing to hear the media tout a company’s success. So refreshing, in fact, that America’s leading news sources have taken notice of Women-Drivers.com. Women-Drivers.com is a site that connects women and families to certified women-friendly car dealers. Car dealerships are recognized as certified women-friendly by consumers who write reviews on their actual browsing, purchasing and servicing experience. Launched in October 2008, the site is quickly becoming a popular resource for women shoppers, Women-Drivers.com caught the attention of ABC News who recently interviewed CEO, Anne Fleming. The station asked for Anne’s know-how and insights on the latest purchasing strategies. Other interviews were conducted by ABC News.com, NBC’s WPXI, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, KDKA Radio and American Entrepreneur.
What began as one woman’s mission to connect women and families with women-friendly auto dealerships has turned into a national story of how the dealership experience for women can be gratifying. Tracking 19,000 dealerships across the country, the company’s mission is to transform the dealership experience for women. The company does this by empowering them with the tools and the know-how to do business with dealerships that are women-friendly. Other features on the site include tips negotiation, Her & His car reviews, a community forum and reviews on the grooviest auto gadgets.
As a market research company, Women-Drivers.com sells the analytics to the dealership network so that they can improve their level of service to women – who influence 80% of all car purchases.
“Consumers love the site because they can share and rate their experience,” says Anne Fleming “and, dealerships are happy because the higher their ratings, the higher they are featured in our search engine – resulting in more women and referrals coming in their store.”
Contact 412.327.2604 to schedule Anne Fleming for an interview. Learn more at www.women-drivers.com.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
E-Mail Subject Lines, Getting the Click
EPISODE67 -This show was originally broadcast at www.talkshoe.com on March 16, 2009 and can be heard archived at: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/33960 or on its unique Radio Channel at www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com
Hey, when you are going through your e-mail, do some jump out at you because you know the person or you need to know what they have to say and others just fall by the wayside as you spill your morning coffee all over your nightgown? So some demand your immediate attention and others go into the old fashioned File 13 which means the trash?
A compelling subject line can make all the difference whether you are the sender or the recipient. It has been said, you are either the steamroller or the road. Personally I would rather be the steamroller. So let’s figure out what gets peoples attention. There is a two second, two word rule for e-mails and that is all you get.
There was a time when I read every e-mail that everyone sent me because inquiring minds want to know. Then all of a sudden I had two businesses, four talkcasts, four blogs and an on line community magazine and I was forced into the real world. We all play the same game of managing our inboxes and flagging emails that we’ll “get to later.” This is the battle of priorities. We all play it, and as a marketeer, you can and must win that battle.
Here are the hard facts: Open rate have slipped, slightly, from 19.8% during the second half of 2005 to 19.1%. And they’ve taken a somewhat more substantial slip from 20.77% in the first half of 2005. Click-through rates dropped in a similar pattern, from 3.6% in first-half 2005, to 3.3% in second half of that year, to 3.28% during the first six months of 2006
MailerMailer, E-mail managaement company
When someone first gets your email, you have on average three seconds to get them to open it. The first second is spent on the From line, recognizing who sent the message. From there, you have just two more seconds to compel them to open your message with your subject line.
So how do you get past this hurtle?
Tips for Dynamic, Dazzling Subject Lines
Create interest with your first few words
Cole Porter wrote a song in the forties, called Begin the Begine, sounded with a long I for you teenagers who don’t know who Cole Porter is. The subject line is perhaps the most critical aspect of your message. Think about it: The subject line is often what readers use to decide whether to open an email at all. It’s just like your English teacher told you in High School, you have to have a snappy title to get the reader’ attention. This is no different, print or digital, it usually it takes three seconds or less to make the decision to read or delete. If your subject line isn’t compelling enough, your message could end up unread or in the trash folder.
1. Intrigue: Your email is competing with 50 to 100 or more other emails for the recipients' attention. To increase the chance of having YOUR email be opened it must intrigue the recipient, the same way a well written headline does. It must stimulate some part of the recipient’s brain, prompting them to open the email immediately.
2. Action: Subject lines are a major driver of click-through rates, as they “direct” recipients to pay attention to specific articles, products and information. Every email you send should have an overt or implied strategy behind it. You hope that specific products are purchased over others or that recipients read a specific article and then visit your Web site seeking additional information. Subject lines should reflect your goals and help direct recipients to take the desired action
3. . Think Context – “Google Apologizes”: Put yourself in the mind of your subscribers. What are they thinking about, what's in the news, what events and holidays are coming up? One of the best subject lines I’ve seen in years was one that was appeared in the December 2003 newsletter from WebProNews. The subject line was simply “Google Apologizes.” The newsletter had been covering developments in search engine marketing and optimization, particularly the changes in Google’s search ranking algorithm that sent many Webmasters and search engine optimizers into anywhere from a tizzy to panic or outrage. In that context, the subject line “Google Apologizes” was brilliant. It was clearly at the top of readers’ minds at that moment, it was intriguing and it portended the answer to a key question – what happened with Google’s search rankings?
4. Focus – Avoid The Generic and Boring: Don’t be afraid to be very specific in subject lines. Many marketers use broad and generic subject lines, such as “May 2004 Newsletter” because they fear that a specific subject line may not resonate with all readers. First, remember that generally only 25 to 50 percent of your recipients are opening your emails to begin with. Secondly, your subject line should be targeted to each segment (if you are segmenting your list) or be relevant to the vast majority of recipients. It's your job to figure out what topics, offers or products are of most interest to majority of your recipients and then deliver that information on an on-going basis. As such, your subject line should be as narrow as possible to generate interest and action from a majority of recipients.
5. Push the Envelope (or Inbox as the case may be): Don’t be afraid to try subject lines that are more aggressive, creative, tantalizing or specific than you're currently using. Try some new styles and test them via split tests. Monitor the results across all metrics open rates, click-through rates, spam complaints, bounce rates and unsubscribes to make sure that a bump in your open rate didn’t lead to an increase in unsubscribes, bounces and spam complaints
6. Use numbers to get attention. For example, "20 Seats Left for Friday," "Top 10 Tax Tips," "5 Green Things to Do Today," "3 Reasons Your Jeans Don't Fit," etc. When used to support your content and call to action, numbers can add greatly to your open rate
7. Create a sense of time sensitivity with terms such as "RSVP," "Today," "This Weekend Only," and words like "few" and "limited" -- but stay away from the word "free" in your subject line. (See sidebar)
8. If you're using email marketing to stay in touch with your customer base but do not have a time sensitive message, try tying your subject to a current event to give your message a relevant angle. "Tax Time, the Stimulus Package, and You" or "Everyone Is Going Green -- You Can Too" work better than "Joe's Pet Store Newsletter," for example.
9. Spam Filter Triggers to Avoid in Subject LinesDeliverability is the first step to getting noticed. Find alternatives for the Subject Line No-Nos below to make sure your communications aren't swept into spam filters. Sale, Free, Advertisement, $$$$$, ALL CAPS, Excessive Punctuation
10. Studies show shorter subject lines create better open rates, longer lines create better click thru rates.
11. Less is more: Testing proves that shorter subject lines provide more credibility. Keep it short and simple--less than five words whenever possible.
12. Establish objectives first
You know we have talked before about the research on understanding target audiences, test marketing offers and other “think outside the box” tactics. Many factors can affect the determination of “killer” subject lines but the best way to start is by determining what your objectives are.
Do you want to increase open rates?
Do you want to improve conversion rates?
Do you want to acquire new customers?
Do you simply want to build awareness of a new product or service.
When you define your goals right from the start, it helps to set the tone of your subject line.
13. Segment your lists to start and that way you can target the subject line to your segmented list. I almost never use the person’s name in the subject line unless I have told them ahead of time to watch for my e-mail and I want to track it later. Proper segmentation of your list will lead you to offers, topics and products that will be of interest to your varying lists. Once you get that together just Make sure that you have a regular time for these e-mails or better yet, put them into a newsletter which your list will begin to expect on a certain date.
14. First impressions and first words Count. Make your first word important and chock full of information. Start with the name of your company, brand or product that is referenced in the message
15. Put yourself in the recipents place. Even though you are sending this out in bulk, it is going to individuals who eat, sleep, breathe and have needs. They will want to know what’s in it for them, how will this benefit me, is this important to me.
16. A good way to get attention is to be clever and witty but please avoid cute or corny and make sure that the wit has mass appeal.
17. An economy of words is important, make every word count, so never start your subject line with articles, like “a”, or “the.”
18. Be daring, innovative and aggressive and creative, keep thinking always because you know as soon as you come up with something wonderful someone else will copy it and you will have to start all over again, so keep those creative juices flowing.
19. How long your subject line is, depends on your goals. If you are looking for a sale and you know your audience, you can be more specific and therefore more relevant to a smaller segment of your audience. As a result, fewer people open the email, but those that do are more interested in your offer, and therefore more likely to convert.
20. Think outside the box, doing the same thing and expecting different results, as we all know is just madness.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
Or on its unique radio channel at:
www.positivelypittsburghlivemgazine.com
Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding.
Joanne has also been designated by the 2009 U.S. Small Business Administration as the Small Business Journalist of the Year for her work with information relevant to small business.
Hey, when you are going through your e-mail, do some jump out at you because you know the person or you need to know what they have to say and others just fall by the wayside as you spill your morning coffee all over your nightgown? So some demand your immediate attention and others go into the old fashioned File 13 which means the trash?
A compelling subject line can make all the difference whether you are the sender or the recipient. It has been said, you are either the steamroller or the road. Personally I would rather be the steamroller. So let’s figure out what gets peoples attention. There is a two second, two word rule for e-mails and that is all you get.
There was a time when I read every e-mail that everyone sent me because inquiring minds want to know. Then all of a sudden I had two businesses, four talkcasts, four blogs and an on line community magazine and I was forced into the real world. We all play the same game of managing our inboxes and flagging emails that we’ll “get to later.” This is the battle of priorities. We all play it, and as a marketeer, you can and must win that battle.
Here are the hard facts: Open rate have slipped, slightly, from 19.8% during the second half of 2005 to 19.1%. And they’ve taken a somewhat more substantial slip from 20.77% in the first half of 2005. Click-through rates dropped in a similar pattern, from 3.6% in first-half 2005, to 3.3% in second half of that year, to 3.28% during the first six months of 2006
MailerMailer, E-mail managaement company
When someone first gets your email, you have on average three seconds to get them to open it. The first second is spent on the From line, recognizing who sent the message. From there, you have just two more seconds to compel them to open your message with your subject line.
So how do you get past this hurtle?
Tips for Dynamic, Dazzling Subject Lines
Create interest with your first few words
Cole Porter wrote a song in the forties, called Begin the Begine, sounded with a long I for you teenagers who don’t know who Cole Porter is. The subject line is perhaps the most critical aspect of your message. Think about it: The subject line is often what readers use to decide whether to open an email at all. It’s just like your English teacher told you in High School, you have to have a snappy title to get the reader’ attention. This is no different, print or digital, it usually it takes three seconds or less to make the decision to read or delete. If your subject line isn’t compelling enough, your message could end up unread or in the trash folder.
1. Intrigue: Your email is competing with 50 to 100 or more other emails for the recipients' attention. To increase the chance of having YOUR email be opened it must intrigue the recipient, the same way a well written headline does. It must stimulate some part of the recipient’s brain, prompting them to open the email immediately.
2. Action: Subject lines are a major driver of click-through rates, as they “direct” recipients to pay attention to specific articles, products and information. Every email you send should have an overt or implied strategy behind it. You hope that specific products are purchased over others or that recipients read a specific article and then visit your Web site seeking additional information. Subject lines should reflect your goals and help direct recipients to take the desired action
3. . Think Context – “Google Apologizes”: Put yourself in the mind of your subscribers. What are they thinking about, what's in the news, what events and holidays are coming up? One of the best subject lines I’ve seen in years was one that was appeared in the December 2003 newsletter from WebProNews. The subject line was simply “Google Apologizes.” The newsletter had been covering developments in search engine marketing and optimization, particularly the changes in Google’s search ranking algorithm that sent many Webmasters and search engine optimizers into anywhere from a tizzy to panic or outrage. In that context, the subject line “Google Apologizes” was brilliant. It was clearly at the top of readers’ minds at that moment, it was intriguing and it portended the answer to a key question – what happened with Google’s search rankings?
4. Focus – Avoid The Generic and Boring: Don’t be afraid to be very specific in subject lines. Many marketers use broad and generic subject lines, such as “May 2004 Newsletter” because they fear that a specific subject line may not resonate with all readers. First, remember that generally only 25 to 50 percent of your recipients are opening your emails to begin with. Secondly, your subject line should be targeted to each segment (if you are segmenting your list) or be relevant to the vast majority of recipients. It's your job to figure out what topics, offers or products are of most interest to majority of your recipients and then deliver that information on an on-going basis. As such, your subject line should be as narrow as possible to generate interest and action from a majority of recipients.
5. Push the Envelope (or Inbox as the case may be): Don’t be afraid to try subject lines that are more aggressive, creative, tantalizing or specific than you're currently using. Try some new styles and test them via split tests. Monitor the results across all metrics open rates, click-through rates, spam complaints, bounce rates and unsubscribes to make sure that a bump in your open rate didn’t lead to an increase in unsubscribes, bounces and spam complaints
6. Use numbers to get attention. For example, "20 Seats Left for Friday," "Top 10 Tax Tips," "5 Green Things to Do Today," "3 Reasons Your Jeans Don't Fit," etc. When used to support your content and call to action, numbers can add greatly to your open rate
7. Create a sense of time sensitivity with terms such as "RSVP," "Today," "This Weekend Only," and words like "few" and "limited" -- but stay away from the word "free" in your subject line. (See sidebar)
8. If you're using email marketing to stay in touch with your customer base but do not have a time sensitive message, try tying your subject to a current event to give your message a relevant angle. "Tax Time, the Stimulus Package, and You" or "Everyone Is Going Green -- You Can Too" work better than "Joe's Pet Store Newsletter," for example.
9. Spam Filter Triggers to Avoid in Subject LinesDeliverability is the first step to getting noticed. Find alternatives for the Subject Line No-Nos below to make sure your communications aren't swept into spam filters. Sale, Free, Advertisement, $$$$$, ALL CAPS, Excessive Punctuation
10. Studies show shorter subject lines create better open rates, longer lines create better click thru rates.
11. Less is more: Testing proves that shorter subject lines provide more credibility. Keep it short and simple--less than five words whenever possible.
12. Establish objectives first
You know we have talked before about the research on understanding target audiences, test marketing offers and other “think outside the box” tactics. Many factors can affect the determination of “killer” subject lines but the best way to start is by determining what your objectives are.
Do you want to increase open rates?
Do you want to improve conversion rates?
Do you want to acquire new customers?
Do you simply want to build awareness of a new product or service.
When you define your goals right from the start, it helps to set the tone of your subject line.
13. Segment your lists to start and that way you can target the subject line to your segmented list. I almost never use the person’s name in the subject line unless I have told them ahead of time to watch for my e-mail and I want to track it later. Proper segmentation of your list will lead you to offers, topics and products that will be of interest to your varying lists. Once you get that together just Make sure that you have a regular time for these e-mails or better yet, put them into a newsletter which your list will begin to expect on a certain date.
14. First impressions and first words Count. Make your first word important and chock full of information. Start with the name of your company, brand or product that is referenced in the message
15. Put yourself in the recipents place. Even though you are sending this out in bulk, it is going to individuals who eat, sleep, breathe and have needs. They will want to know what’s in it for them, how will this benefit me, is this important to me.
16. A good way to get attention is to be clever and witty but please avoid cute or corny and make sure that the wit has mass appeal.
17. An economy of words is important, make every word count, so never start your subject line with articles, like “a”, or “the.”
18. Be daring, innovative and aggressive and creative, keep thinking always because you know as soon as you come up with something wonderful someone else will copy it and you will have to start all over again, so keep those creative juices flowing.
19. How long your subject line is, depends on your goals. If you are looking for a sale and you know your audience, you can be more specific and therefore more relevant to a smaller segment of your audience. As a result, fewer people open the email, but those that do are more interested in your offer, and therefore more likely to convert.
20. Think outside the box, doing the same thing and expecting different results, as we all know is just madness.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
Or on its unique radio channel at:
www.positivelypittsburghlivemgazine.com
Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding.
Joanne has also been designated by the 2009 U.S. Small Business Administration as the Small Business Journalist of the Year for her work with information relevant to small business.
Monday, March 30, 2009
MondayMorningMarketeer, Tough Times Evaluation for Your Sales Team
Blog—MMM 3-30-09 Tough Times Evaluation for Your Sales Force
In tough economic times a business owners needs to know the value and payback on every dollar paid out in the business including the money paid out to sales employees. So this is one of the areas that you need to closely examine as a business owner as your sales drive your revenue and revenue drives your profit.
Before you can evaluate the performance of your sales team, you must first analyze the components of sales performance. There is a simple, standard and accepted formula for analyzing the components of Performance.
Performance = Competence + Motivation + Opportunity
Each component is individually important. For instance a highly competent sales person or team that has no motivation is dead in the water and in these tough times if opportunity is not created, yes created, then all of the competence and motivation in the world will not end up in outstanding performance without opportunity. Here’s the catch though, a competent and motivated team will create its own opportunity no matter what.
After you evaluate the components of performance, evaluate the key measure of performance: sales results. After you complete all of your evaluations, you can take action for each sales representative. In a down economy results are king, it’s difficult to keep paying a highly competent, motivated sales team who creates opportunities but has a mediocre closing rate.
Appraise competence
Competence includes knowledge of your products, your sales processes and policies, your company, and your industry. It also extends to knowledge of your customers, their problems and opportunities, and their industry. Additionally, it includes a basic understanding of how business operates. Do not forget, however, that competence includes the basic knowledge of what I call the anatomy of a sale, how does it happen, what are buying signals, what does “no” mean and what makes turns a suspect into a prospect and a prospect into a valued client.
Evaluate Historical Knowledge
Depending on your industry, sales representatives might need to have a certain amount of knowledge in technology, finance, engineering, manufacturing, or human resources or any number of fields wherein your prospects lie. But the rainmakers in your organization will also research their individual targets and know as much as possible about the prospect before even calling on them or making the initial phone call. Many sales are won or lost in the initial contact, ignorance of important details about a prospect or company can be lethal.
Consider Sales Abilities
The second element of competence is sales abilities. These skills include:
• Knowing how to find new leads and qualify them in advance
• Knowing how to prepare for a sales call, what to bring, information needed about the prospect
• Knowing how to build rapport and trust with customers, often the sale is not made in the first
contact
• Knowing how to qualify prospects and assess their needs—never going in to pitch first without finding out the needs of the client, worst case scenario, beautiful pitch, prospect agrees with everything but has no need for product or service.
• Knowing how to write a proposal and deliver a sales presentation
• Knowing how to overcome objections and close the sale, most importantly knowing how to ask for the sale, well and often
When you evaluate representatives who manage key accounts, look at their skills in building relationships at multiple levels of the customer organization, managing change, communicating back into your company, influencing, negotiating, and thinking strategically.
Simple Guidelines for Sales Competency Appraisal
There are many complicated assessment tools and psychological profiles out there but this is after all gorilla Marketing, which means we are doing this on the cheap but also efficiently.
So here are some basic guidelines for your business evaluation of your sales team.
One star—operates like a newbie) Knows the names of all the products and can review features with customers from the product catalog or sales collateral. Don’t discount the novices, they make up for in enthusiasm what they lack in knowledge. A new broom often sweeps clean.
Two Stars—functions with competence Competent functioning requires that the two star sales person knows the names of all the products and can review features with customers from the product catalog or sales collateral. This Two Star Rep knows what’s going on in the world and can relate it to customer needs and benefits. . This representative can also demonstrate online products at a customer's desk and can answer a customer’s general questions about a product.
Three Stars—Functions Proficiently The Three Star Representative knows the names of all the products and can review features with customers without the assistance of the product catalog or sales collateral. This representative can readily link current events and trends to a customers business and has a feel for the next big thing that will affect the customer. A Three Star Rep demonstrates online products at a customer's desktop and can answer more specific questions about the products.
Four Stars: An Expert Rainmaker The Four Star Representative knows the names of all the products and can review features with customers without the assistance of the product catalog or sales collateral, if necessary. The Four Star Expert Rainmaker is good at defining trends early and creating sales opportunities out of them. . This Four Start Expert Rep can demonstrate online products at a customer's desktop and answers the most specific questions about the product without qualification or assistance.
Field Sales Call Shadowing
The most effective method of evaluating your sales team's competencies is to shadow them in the field and observe them in action. You need to know how they create relationships, demonstrate your product, deal with objections and their sales closing procedures. Use a competency assessment as a guide, and record what you see. Your representatives will appreciate the time you spend with them, and they will be much more likely to accept an on site, in person assessment and any constructive suggestions.
The Mystery of Motivation
Motivation is a self starting desire to succeed. It can come from within or from incentives.
Assessing your representatives' motivation is much more subjective than assessing their competencies. Observe them in the field and around the office, and note the following:
Examine opportunity
Opportunity is the availability of goals, territory, tools, products, and support.
Performance evaluation starts with you, the employer, the boss. To evaluate the opportunity component of performance, ask yourself the following questions:
Have you set the right sales strategy and goals?
Have you convinced your team that your goals are their goals?
Are territories clearly defined?
Do you have the right salespeople in the right territories?
Are your sales collateral and product demonstrations conducive to creating interest?
Does your sales team have marketable products fitting current economic trends and customer needs?
Are the products positioned, promoted, and priced effectively for the current market?
Do you make product training available and is it effective?
Do you create exciting promotions that will excite both your sales force and your clients?
Do you coach your representatives, help them in closing difficult deals? Do you create a winning attitude environment for them? The apple does not fall far from the tree!
Do you create effective sales incentive programs, partner with marketing to generate leads?
Do you augment the sales process with excellent fulfillment and Customer service?
Put a number on sales results
At this point, you have evaluated the competencies and motivation of your representatives. You have also considered the role that opportunity might have played in your representatives' performance. Now it is time to look at the most important measure of performance: sales results.
Metrics of sales performance against sales goals
The fairest way to evaluate sales results is to measure them against goals.
1. Keep track of whether your representatives achieve or exceed the goals that you set for them.
2. Do they achieve their own goals or even set them?
3. Be sure to set goals that support your sales strategy. If your growth strategy is to get more revenue from existing customers, it's a good idea that your sales representatives' individual goals state the source of the revenue.
4. Your evaluation measures might include a percentage of total revenues from existing customers, and an increase in revenues from existing customers compared with last year. You would not give much weight to any decline in the total number of accounts.
5. How about evaluating new accounts and lost accounts returned?
6. Measure sales results rather than sales activities
Be careful of the activity measures trap. If you measure sales activities (for example, number of calls or number of proposals), you get activity from your representatives, but it might be at the expense of results. Instead, measure results such as revenue, profit margins, number of new accounts opened, and increases over last year.
7. But in tough times, it’s important to also reward and evaluate activity because nothing happens until someone gets excited and gets out there..
BE Decisive, after all you are the boss!
After you complete your evaluations, use the following four categories to decide which action to take with each of your salespeople.
Top performers who are competent and motivated, you should keep and promote.
High potentials who are incompetent but motivated, if you can afford to keep, coach and train.
Underachievers who are competent and unmotivated, again if you can afford to keep and counsel, good employees are hard to find, perhaps you have a job better suited to them.
Unacceptable performers who are both incompetent and unmotivated, according to your budget you may chose to reassign to a non sales position but incompetent and unmotivated employees would only motivate me to dismiss them.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
Or on its unique radio channel at:
www.positivelypittsburghlivemgazine.com
This show was originally taped at Talk Shoe on Monday, 3-30-09
In tough economic times a business owners needs to know the value and payback on every dollar paid out in the business including the money paid out to sales employees. So this is one of the areas that you need to closely examine as a business owner as your sales drive your revenue and revenue drives your profit.
Before you can evaluate the performance of your sales team, you must first analyze the components of sales performance. There is a simple, standard and accepted formula for analyzing the components of Performance.
Performance = Competence + Motivation + Opportunity
Each component is individually important. For instance a highly competent sales person or team that has no motivation is dead in the water and in these tough times if opportunity is not created, yes created, then all of the competence and motivation in the world will not end up in outstanding performance without opportunity. Here’s the catch though, a competent and motivated team will create its own opportunity no matter what.
After you evaluate the components of performance, evaluate the key measure of performance: sales results. After you complete all of your evaluations, you can take action for each sales representative. In a down economy results are king, it’s difficult to keep paying a highly competent, motivated sales team who creates opportunities but has a mediocre closing rate.
Appraise competence
Competence includes knowledge of your products, your sales processes and policies, your company, and your industry. It also extends to knowledge of your customers, their problems and opportunities, and their industry. Additionally, it includes a basic understanding of how business operates. Do not forget, however, that competence includes the basic knowledge of what I call the anatomy of a sale, how does it happen, what are buying signals, what does “no” mean and what makes turns a suspect into a prospect and a prospect into a valued client.
Evaluate Historical Knowledge
Depending on your industry, sales representatives might need to have a certain amount of knowledge in technology, finance, engineering, manufacturing, or human resources or any number of fields wherein your prospects lie. But the rainmakers in your organization will also research their individual targets and know as much as possible about the prospect before even calling on them or making the initial phone call. Many sales are won or lost in the initial contact, ignorance of important details about a prospect or company can be lethal.
Consider Sales Abilities
The second element of competence is sales abilities. These skills include:
• Knowing how to find new leads and qualify them in advance
• Knowing how to prepare for a sales call, what to bring, information needed about the prospect
• Knowing how to build rapport and trust with customers, often the sale is not made in the first
contact
• Knowing how to qualify prospects and assess their needs—never going in to pitch first without finding out the needs of the client, worst case scenario, beautiful pitch, prospect agrees with everything but has no need for product or service.
• Knowing how to write a proposal and deliver a sales presentation
• Knowing how to overcome objections and close the sale, most importantly knowing how to ask for the sale, well and often
When you evaluate representatives who manage key accounts, look at their skills in building relationships at multiple levels of the customer organization, managing change, communicating back into your company, influencing, negotiating, and thinking strategically.
Simple Guidelines for Sales Competency Appraisal
There are many complicated assessment tools and psychological profiles out there but this is after all gorilla Marketing, which means we are doing this on the cheap but also efficiently.
So here are some basic guidelines for your business evaluation of your sales team.
One star—operates like a newbie) Knows the names of all the products and can review features with customers from the product catalog or sales collateral. Don’t discount the novices, they make up for in enthusiasm what they lack in knowledge. A new broom often sweeps clean.
Two Stars—functions with competence Competent functioning requires that the two star sales person knows the names of all the products and can review features with customers from the product catalog or sales collateral. This Two Star Rep knows what’s going on in the world and can relate it to customer needs and benefits. . This representative can also demonstrate online products at a customer's desk and can answer a customer’s general questions about a product.
Three Stars—Functions Proficiently The Three Star Representative knows the names of all the products and can review features with customers without the assistance of the product catalog or sales collateral. This representative can readily link current events and trends to a customers business and has a feel for the next big thing that will affect the customer. A Three Star Rep demonstrates online products at a customer's desktop and can answer more specific questions about the products.
Four Stars: An Expert Rainmaker The Four Star Representative knows the names of all the products and can review features with customers without the assistance of the product catalog or sales collateral, if necessary. The Four Star Expert Rainmaker is good at defining trends early and creating sales opportunities out of them. . This Four Start Expert Rep can demonstrate online products at a customer's desktop and answers the most specific questions about the product without qualification or assistance.
Field Sales Call Shadowing
The most effective method of evaluating your sales team's competencies is to shadow them in the field and observe them in action. You need to know how they create relationships, demonstrate your product, deal with objections and their sales closing procedures. Use a competency assessment as a guide, and record what you see. Your representatives will appreciate the time you spend with them, and they will be much more likely to accept an on site, in person assessment and any constructive suggestions.
The Mystery of Motivation
Motivation is a self starting desire to succeed. It can come from within or from incentives.
Assessing your representatives' motivation is much more subjective than assessing their competencies. Observe them in the field and around the office, and note the following:
Are they giving 100 percent effort?
Do they have a positive attitude?
Do they understand the numbers, that it takes a certain amount of “nos” to get to the "yeses."
Do they enjoy interacting with your customers and creating concerned relationships?
Do they celebrate their sales successes because they know they are worthy of both success and praise?
Do they closely track their sales results and commissions earned? Are they constantly seeking to outdo themselves, they should be their own best competition?
Do they hit the ground running and enjoy getting out in the field or on the phone?
Does every new day of selling provide an exciting opportunity for them?
Also look at past performance. A decline in performance might indicate a motivation issue rather than a competency issue.
Examine opportunity
Opportunity is the availability of goals, territory, tools, products, and support.
Performance evaluation starts with you, the employer, the boss. To evaluate the opportunity component of performance, ask yourself the following questions:
Have you set the right sales strategy and goals?
Have you convinced your team that your goals are their goals?
Are territories clearly defined?
Do you have the right salespeople in the right territories?
Are your sales collateral and product demonstrations conducive to creating interest?
Does your sales team have marketable products fitting current economic trends and customer needs?
Are the products positioned, promoted, and priced effectively for the current market?
Do you make product training available and is it effective?
Do you create exciting promotions that will excite both your sales force and your clients?
Do you coach your representatives, help them in closing difficult deals? Do you create a winning attitude environment for them? The apple does not fall far from the tree!
Do you create effective sales incentive programs, partner with marketing to generate leads?
Do you augment the sales process with excellent fulfillment and Customer service?
Put a number on sales results
At this point, you have evaluated the competencies and motivation of your representatives. You have also considered the role that opportunity might have played in your representatives' performance. Now it is time to look at the most important measure of performance: sales results.
Metrics of sales performance against sales goals
The fairest way to evaluate sales results is to measure them against goals.
1. Keep track of whether your representatives achieve or exceed the goals that you set for them.
2. Do they achieve their own goals or even set them?
3. Be sure to set goals that support your sales strategy. If your growth strategy is to get more revenue from existing customers, it's a good idea that your sales representatives' individual goals state the source of the revenue.
4. Your evaluation measures might include a percentage of total revenues from existing customers, and an increase in revenues from existing customers compared with last year. You would not give much weight to any decline in the total number of accounts.
5. How about evaluating new accounts and lost accounts returned?
6. Measure sales results rather than sales activities
Be careful of the activity measures trap. If you measure sales activities (for example, number of calls or number of proposals), you get activity from your representatives, but it might be at the expense of results. Instead, measure results such as revenue, profit margins, number of new accounts opened, and increases over last year.
7. But in tough times, it’s important to also reward and evaluate activity because nothing happens until someone gets excited and gets out there..
BE Decisive, after all you are the boss!
After you complete your evaluations, use the following four categories to decide which action to take with each of your salespeople.
Top performers who are competent and motivated, you should keep and promote.
High potentials who are incompetent but motivated, if you can afford to keep, coach and train.
Underachievers who are competent and unmotivated, again if you can afford to keep and counsel, good employees are hard to find, perhaps you have a job better suited to them.
Unacceptable performers who are both incompetent and unmotivated, according to your budget you may chose to reassign to a non sales position but incompetent and unmotivated employees would only motivate me to dismiss them.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
Or on its unique radio channel at:
www.positivelypittsburghlivemgazine.com
This show was originally taped at Talk Shoe on Monday, 3-30-09
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