The Competitive Advantage

July 24, 2018

5 Ways to Say “No thanks” to a Proposal

Twice in the past few years, I’ve written a blog post about the frustration that I (and all people involved in business development) feel when not hearing back from a potential client after submitting a proposal… a proposal that they requested. I wrote about how any answer – even a ‘no’ – is better than being ignored. With a clear answer… at least I’ll know how to move forward.

Sadly, the practice of ‘responding with silence’ from potential clients continues to this day.

So, on behalf of all small business owners who do the selling, seller-doers and professional salespeople everywhere, I’ve taken the liberty of writing out actual email scripts – based on several different scenarios – that you can use when responding to proposals you don’t want to accept. I hope these help:

July 17, 2018

5 Times When You Should Turn Down a Project.

While we all have some level of responsibility to help grow our businesses – and for business leaders, there’s the added responsibility of keeping our employees employed – sometimes, as painful as it might be, there are projects that you just need to walk away from. Why? Because taking on those projects can do more harm than good.

Based on conversations with clients and my own experience, there are 5 times when you should turn down a project:

July 3, 2018

The Perfect Sales Commission Plan! Sorry, it doesn’t exist.

But these 10 guidelines can help you get close.

A few weeks ago, I met with the President and Senior Sales Executive for a firm in Dallas. They were looking for an objective assessment of their sales commission plan. Here’s what I told them…

After 30+ years in sales & marketing – and after seeing literally hundreds of different plans in a variety of industries – I can say, with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY, that there is no one perfect sales commission structure.

June 26, 2018

A 3-Point Tune-up for Your Sales & Marketing

We’re halfway through 2018… how are you doing so far?

Like taking your car to the mechanic every 5,000 miles, halfway-through-the-year is a good time to “look under the hood” of your sales & marketing efforts to see how you’re really doing. If your “engine” is running smoothly… great! If it feels a little rough… it might be time for some ‘tweaking.’ And if it is, we hope this 3-Point Tune-up will help.

June 19, 2018

How Many Times Should a Sales Rep Follow-up? Here’s the REAL Answer…

With over 30 years of sales and marketing experience, I have seen countless articles and graphics detailing what the author thought was the ’right’ number of sales follow-up touches. They write as though success is inevitable – if (and when) you get to that “magic number” of follow-ups.

June 5, 2018

Avoid these 8 Rookie Mistakes with your Next Capabilities Presentation

Whether you’re an introvert who hates public speaking – or an experienced presenter who thrives in front of an audience – there are a number of common mistakes you must avoid to give yourself the best chance of success with your next capabilities presentation.

#1. Lousy PowerPoint slides. Come on… you know you’re guilty of this. These are the slides with 6-8-10 (or more) bullet points, each one in the form of a compete sentence. As an attendee, they’re just miserable to have to sit through. And as the presenter, they’re impossible to remember… so what do you do? Turn your back on the audience and read them verbatim! UGH!

May 27, 2018

Think. Plan. Do. A Smarter Way to Grow Your Firm

Those who are regular readers of my content have heard me say (on more than one occasion), that “Market Research is an industry that does not embrace marketing and sales”… particularly among agencies and consultants. And when these firms do decide to execute some business development efforts, they often just execute. There isn’t a lot of thinking or planning that goes into it… in reality, they’re just “winging it.”

Why does this happen? Why do the smart people at these firms not invest the time upfront to help ensure better results on the back end?

May 16, 2018

Your feedback please: Are ‘thank you notes’ a good idea or a bad idea?

I got into a “passionate” discussion last week with a client about sending handwritten thank you notes, especially at the close of large projects.

I argued for them. I like the personal touch… and think that a handwritten note of sincere gratitude, thanking a client for their business is a good and appropriate thing to do. To my way of thinking, if a client spends $50,000 with you – or even $5,000 – I don’t think it’s asking too much to take five minutes out of your day to write and send a note.

For all the tools, techniques and technologies we employ, I believe we are still in the “people business.” And that well-written thank you notes (something, by the way, that your competitors are unlikely to do) are a real H2H (human-to-human) touch point.

One of my client contacts took the other side of the ‘discussion’… with equal fervor.