10 Ways to Increase Your Close Ratio — Now

Start by knowing your personal close ratio and that of your organization:

 Top performing companies — 46% average close ratio
 Average — 29% average close ratio
 Lagging — 19% average close ratio

1) Spend more time probing and less time pitching.
 Focus on the “why” questions, not just the “what.”
 If the customer wants to streamline systems, ask WHY before what to find the business driver.

2) Identify the decision criteria and don’t stop there – probe who developed it and why it’s important.

3)Ask who the competitors are, what their solutions include, and then ask the tough questions to find out how the customer feels you compare to the competitor.

4) Be more responsive than ever before — when a client asks for something, find out when he or she needs it and beat that time frame.

5) Find ways to take the load off the customer. For example, if he or she says “Let’s set a phone call to…” not only set the phone call but have a document ready to e-mail during the call to advance the discussion. Take an extra two steps.

6) Get coaching. Discuss the deal with your sales manager or a top performing colleague. Do this early in the deal. Mid to late in the deal will likely be too late.

7) Review your needs analysis and proposal with your manager.

8) Connect personally. The #1 reason a customer buys is the relationship with the salesperson. What do you know about your customers? How do you feel about them? It’s likely reciprocated.

9)Identify your customer’s quantifiable goals and provide solutions that show value. Show customers how your solution will help them achieve their goals.

10) Supplement your understanding of why you lost a deal or won it by asking your manager to have a win-loss debriefing after the customer tells you about his/her decision. Then be open to specific feedback your manager shares with you and use it to win your next deal.

Set a reasonable goal with a time frame for increasing your close ratio by putting these ten practices to work.

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Learn more about Richardson's sales training and perofrmance improvement solutions by visiting us on the web at http://www.richardson.com

Richardson's SalesCallPlanner Nominated for Best Sales Tool

Richardson's SalesCallPlanner has been nominated for a 2010 Sales Award as best Sales Tool. Gaining votes has been an interesting exercise in leveraging Social Media.

Hope you can vote for us. Please click here to vote for the "SalesCallPlanner"

Being Invincible

This past Wednesday and Thursday, October 13-14, 2010 Richardson held our 4th annual Client Forum the Sofitel Hotel in Philadelphia. It was an exciting day with over 75 clients, partners and staff in attendance. The primary theme was how a high impact learning culture is a proven business driver in today's changed business environment. David Mallon of Bersin & Associates and Peter Ostraw of Aberdeen Group were the key note presenters. Both David and Peter shared insights, data and practices that support the notion of how an organization's culture impacts business results in a direct and predictable manner. Numerous clients, including Mary Slaughter, CLO of Sun Trust Bank shared best practices and success stories of how they transformed their sales cultures to positively impact results and differentiate their organizations from the competition. On Wednesday evening our dinner reception at Amada was a great time, with our guest speaker Vince Papale, former Philadelphia Eagle and subject of Disney's movie "Invincible," inspiring the group with his heart felt and brutally honest words. His authenticity was evident to all. Vince spoke of his incredible million to one odds of making the NFL team's roster as a 30 year old unemployed school teacher who had played only one year of high school football.

I was particularly moved when Vince spoke of the moment he was standing on the field in Veteran's Stadium in 1976 for the "open to the public" try out with hundreds of others, all with the dream to be a Philadelphia Eagle. He shared with us that he wanted when given this opportunity, he wasn't going to waste it. He certainly didn't! What struck me was how relevant Vince's comment was to those of us in business today - when given the opportunity to succeed, be sure you seize it!

I believe that in order to seize your opportunity in today's environment, you must extensively prepare to succeed and when your chance to shine arrives, be sure you remain authentic (i.e be yourself), demonstrate your knowledge of your client's needs, show your conviction to your client's success and let none of your competition stop you. In other words, be Invincible.

I'd like to thank each of our clients and prospects for your commitment to Richardson, your attendance at this year's event and for your participation and contribution. Hope to see you all again in Philadlephia again next year.

Transforming Sales Organizations: Complimentary Webinar

Improvement happens...when the right changes are made. Please join presenter David DiStefano, President & CEO of Richardson, during this interactive, 60-minute webinar in which you will learn:
- the meaning of "sales transformation"
- why there is a need for transformation
- why transforming NOW will set you up for success
- the "what, where, and how" of successful transformations
- best practices that Senior Executives of industry-leading organizations have implemented to transform their teams.

Date: June 22, 2010
Time: 11:00 am eastern time

Click the following to register today: https://richardson.webex.com/richardson/onstage/g.php?p=3&t=m

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Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions by visiting our web site at www.richardson.com

Sales Training Resolving Objections

Transforming the Sales Organization

Richardson President and CEO David DiStefano will be moderating a session entitled Transforming the Sales Organization at Selling Power's Sales Leadership Conference on April 19, 2010 at the Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas.

The past 18 months have uncovered significant sales performance challenges that were previously overlooked — from ineffective sales processes and lack of operational efficiencies to the skills and talent required to be successful. David DiStefano will be moderating an interactive panel discussion with Larissa Chaikowsky of BMO, Jennifer Hammonds of WellPoint, Allison Kerska of Kelly Services, Matthew Serynek of SunGard, and Tim Weyland of Trinet. David will lead this highly experienced group in an open discussion on the importance of transforming sales organizations to effectively compete in business in 2010 and beyond. The group will address the vital elements of the sales function, including structure, processes, and talent development, to help better equip sales organizations with the capabilities needed to optimize revenue impact and operating effectiveness.

The Sales Leadership Conference is the premier event for Senior Sales Leaders. Attendees of this event will spend the day networking with colleagues, sharing best practices, and sharpening management and leadership skills.

Click here for more information or to register for the conference.

About Richardson

Richardson (http://www.richardson.com) is a global sales training and performance improvement company that helps leading organizations improve sales results. We do this in three ways. We analyze the structure and talent of your sales force, we train and develop your sales team, and we continue that development through coaching and reinforcement. We equip your sales leaders and sales force with the skills and strategies they need to win in today’s complex selling environment. What is unique about Richardson is how we create truly customized solutions that change behavior and provide measurable results.

Aligning Sales Talent To Maximize Results

When you look at your sales organization, do you see a perfect fit between your Sales Professionals and the roles they are expected to fill? Are Hunters hunting and Farmers farming? As salesforces have been right sized, customer expectations have risen and competition has become more fierce. The question of “right role, right fit” has become top of mind for Sales Leaders in every industry.

Click here to join an archived session of Harry Dunklin, Senior Vice President and Practice Leader of the Sales Readiness Practice of Richardson, for a 60-minute webinar to learn how world class organizations are:

- Creating a high-performance profile of Sales Professionals and Managers that align with the challenges of today and tomorrow

- Leveraging selection technologies and tools to make the best choice from a pool of qualified candidates

- Jump starting the onboarding of new Sales Professionals to improve retention, engagement, and time to productivity

- Auditing in-flight sales organizations to align the roles and talent to the go-to-market strategy

- Using assessment technology to put a laser focus on training needs and accelerate learning

Attendees of Harry's session will receive a complimentary copy of industry-leading HR Chally's whitepaper, The Trouble with Personality Tests, which details why personality does not equal performance and how talent assessment tools can help your sales organization be more successful.

Visit http://www.richardson.com/ to learn more about Richardson's comprehensive sales training and performance improvement solutions.

Complimentary Webinar

Aligning Sales Talent to Maximize Results:

When you look at your sales organization, do you see a perfect fit between your Sales Professionals and the roles they are expected to fill? Are Hunters hunting and Farmers farming? As salesforces have been right sized, customer expectations have risen, and competition has become more fierce, the question of "right role, right fit" has become top of mind of Sales Leaders in every industry.

Join Richardson's Harry Dunklin for a 60-minute webinar to learn how world-class organizations, Align Sales Talent to Maximize Results.

Click here to register today.

Richardson Releases 2010 Sales Challenges Research Report

Richardson has released our 2010 Sales Challenges Research report, Lift Off: Compelling Insights to Launch Your 2010 Strategy.

To better understand the primary areas that a sales team should focus on in 2010, Richardson’s Research Group conducted a survey of over 15,000 sales professionals across every major industry segment and a variety of sales roles. Leveraging this survey data, Richardson developed a report that highlights the most pressing issues facing sales organizations in 2010 and provides data that helps Sales Leaders to:

• Shape business development and sales strategy
• Identify process improvements and align skill-development resources
• Strategize how to best position your sales team for success

Through careful reflection of their 2009 business outcomes and in anticipation of a more successful 2010, survey respondents provided insights and information that was aggregated to identify areas of focus for this upcoming year. When asked about potential challenges concerning five key sales cycle categories — generating business, negotiations, closing business, managing relationships, and expanding relationships — survey respondents indicated, as a percentage basis, the following as the most difficult in each category:

• Business Generation — Identifying new prospects — 26.3% of the respondents
• Negotiations — Maintaining profitability during negotiations — 27.9% of the respondents
• Closing Deals — Positioning competing value propositions — 32.0% of the respondents
• Account Management — Finding additional ways to add value — 38.5% of the respondents
• Expanding Relationships — Becoming a Trusted Advisor — 36.5% of the respondents
  

Lift Off: Compelling Insights to Launch Your 2010 Strategy research report can be leveraged by Sales Leaders to identify for their own sales teams the one or two areas where a significant investment of time, effort, and resources can be deployed to develop critical skills and improve crucial processes. By addressing both skill and processes, Sales Leaders and their teams will be better poised to deliver results in 2010.

Lift Off: Compelling Insights to Launch Your 2010 Strategy is complimentary and can be obtained by visiting the following: http://www.richardson.com/saleschallenges2010/.