Bill Walton Sales Training - Blog

The Era of the Subject Matter Expert

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 17:47:24 GMT

The seller/doer model of business development is dominating professional services

With rising customer demands, and more technical solutions dominating the B2B landscape, business has entered into The Era of the "SME Sale." Instead of fielding dedicated sales teams, professional services firms in finance, consulting, engineering and accounting are relying on their subject-matter experts, project managers, or senior consultants to identify and close opportunities for new work. While this level of expertise and trust is critical to closing high stakes sales, selling is often at odds with "the work."

The problem? To do it well, you need a mindset shift from being purely technical to being customer-centric and persuasive.

Implications for SMEs:

Time: Sales among SMEs engaged in business development are hampered by the real and perceived limits on their time as they are engaged in project work. SMEs need a system that contains qualified lead lists, messaging and a cadence that aligns with the time they have available and when prospects and existing clients are available.

Shift in Role & Mindset

SMEs are often trained to solve problems, not sell solutions . They are not typically briefed on sales process or where to initiate the conversation. To that end, selling requires a mindset shift: from being purely technical to being customer-centric and persuasive. Many SMEs look at sales as being too self promotional, without realizing that there is no one more credible to make business building recommendations.

Need for Soft Skills

Selling demands communication, storytelling, negotiation, and empathy—skills not always emphasized in SME training or among technical experts. In addition they must translate complex technical knowledge into business value language t hat resonates with decision-makers.

Credibility Advantage

SMEs often have high credibility with clients. When they speak, clients listen—so if they can articulate value, they can be very persuasive.

Increased Responsibility

SMEs now need to be more accountable for revenue outcomes , not just technical deliverables.

Implications for Companies

Overloading SMEs – be mindful of asking them to sell and deliver and project manage, you don't want to cause burnout and clients are the priority.

Ineffective Selling – if untrained, SMEs might undermine sales efforts by focusing on features, not benefits and sell too transactionally. Ensure they can connect client needs to the broadest spectrum of solution components your organization offers.

Misaligned Messaging – with more stakeholders involved in purchasing decision, you need to be mindful of not speaking in technical jargon the buyer doesn’t understand. Speak to user benefits, brand benefits, operational benefits and fiscal benefits.

How to Make it Work

Provide sales enablement training tailored for SMEs that respects their background and adds to what they're already doing well.
Partner them with sales professionals and suggest ideal interactions and roles.
Equip them with messaging tools that translate technical value into business outcomes.
Encourage storytelling over data-dumping.

For more information, download our fact sheet for our SME selling training program or call (917) 439-3271

Transforming personal relationships into business contacts

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 16:38:15 GMT

Your personal network is THE greatest asset you possess!

Four things you will need to consider when asking someone directly for a referral:

Have a reason to reach out : People are busy, so don’t contact them just for the sake of doing it. Look for a good opportunity such as a promotion or significant win in their company.
Personalize your message : Differentiate your brand by relating to your contact with personalization. Be sure to do your research and learn a little bit about your ideal introduction target. You can bring up how you work with them, how they have benefitted, and a hypothesis on how you can help your introduction candidate.
Don’t go overboard : Going overboard with personalization can be a big turn off and make your contacts uncomfortable. Keep your insights related to your issue fluency with a specific title, role, and business unit.
Know who's right . You want to connecting with individuals you know you can add value to as they may be able to assist you in your interests.

Assessing influence and boosting greater involvement:

For greater influence in your network, categorizing potential professional referral sources into four main types of stakeholders:

Primary stakeholders are those you have a healthy personal relationship with that possess a role, title or degree of influence that can directly help you in your professional pursuits.
Secondary stakeholders are those who you may know by name more formally and possess the same characteristics as primary stakeholders.
Aspirational stakeholders are those who possess the same characteristics as primary stakeholders, but you have no existing relationship or connection to them.
Connector stakeholders are those who can introduce you to secondary or aspirational stakeholders. Some refer these induvial as centers of influence or COIs.

Sales Process IS the Product

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 23:14:30 GMT

Building a "Buyer-Based" Sales Process Can Drive Top line Sales by as Much as 10%

At Bill Walton Sales Training we've been building client sales processes for over 15 years. Most of this work has been done out of necessity due to a lack of a validated selling model. The good news? It's all plus business for sales organizations. A validated sales process not only tells salespeople what to do and when, but it's a great compass that aligns with the buyer's journey. The key is to engage the right ideal prospects and nurture them to close with value added conversations and well-timed SME introductions. Here is a window into some of the key areas we examine in this process:

1. Define Your Ideal Client Type

Demographics (age, gender, income, etc.)
Psychographics (interests, values, behaviors)
Firmographics (industry, organization type, size, strategy, likely buyer personas)

2. Understand How Your Product or Service is Purchased

Decision Makers/Influencers/Demand Units
Procurement

3. Align Sales Process to Sales Strategy

B2B Sales (Business to client): Selling directly to other businesses.
B2I Sales (Business to Intermediary): Selling to distribution partners.

4. Map the Inflection Points of the Sale

We break sales processes down into distinct stages with their own set of winning behaviors. A common flow in the professional services sale often looks like this:

Lead Generation/Qualification : Identifying potential leads agains an ICP, demographics and filmographies
Research and Prioritization : Creating a list of prospects that "fit the bill"
Outreach : Leveraging all platforms to "sell the first meeting" to your warm doors list
Discovery : Validating and affirming prospects while linking need to your solution
Solution Review : Reviewing the solution against the backdrop of the prospect's spoken words and ideal scene
Proposal/Quote : Creating and reviewing proposals with prospect feedback to ensure early buy in.
Close and activate : Addressing concerns or objections and executing flawlessly for quick wins

5. Train and Reinforce

BWST trains to the process with pre-work, in class facilitation and post-training deal coaching
CRM Software: Link your CRM to the prospect journey with key milestones
Deal coaching: BWST engaged in live pipeline coaching that encourages sales teams to coaching one another on next steps

For more information or to get started on your selling model journey, send Bill Walton a message at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com or text (917) 430-3271.

A Pandemic Reemergence Strategy for Wealth Management

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 16:06:18 GMT

Five problems to solve for in Wealth Management in 2024

For the past 10 years we've been working with RIAs, wirehouses and Bank Wealth Management teams. To a person, each of our senior sponsors admitted to a lack of prospecting activity for new business. Suddenly the phone has gained 10,000 pounds and email is the new snuggy blanket. It's not surprising - anyone looking for new clients are still confused as to how prospects are engaging. The good news? We're all trying to figure it out. Here are five other challenges senior leaders are faced with that must be addressed:

Tame the Four Headed Dragon : Client advisors are spinning too many plates. They are managing existing client relationships, prospecting for new, engaging on social media and at conferences and beating back waves of admin and compliance. It's easy to feel like there is no time to grow.
Fear of being too salesy : There are just as many prospects that want to be told what to do as there those that are indifferent. If you're having success with particular client types - Client Advisors need to press on that type and lead with their "issue fluency."
"I grow my business via referral" : No doubt referrals are amazing. Here's what no one thinks about: 1.) you never know when the next one is coming 2.) you can’t control the message until they arrive at your office 3. you can't control the prospect's AUM. Proactive targeting is much more effective.
Not sure who's right for their practice : the best focus on 3-4 client types such as multicultural investors, high tech entrepreneurs or athletes and entertainers. HNWIs want to know you have context for their world and in a way "know them already."
Lack of messaging : If you've visited 5 RIA websites you've seen 20. All state pretty much the same thing. Advisors need to communicate 1.) who you are and what you do 2.) the problems you solve and the needs you address 3.) the impact you're having with your clients and 4.) the secret sauce for how you're getting it done.

For more insight into how Bill Walton Sales Training is helping clients tackle these issues, contact Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Script for working with gatekeepers

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 20:57:35 GMT

Treat gatekeepers like the client!

Getting past gatekeepers is an art. Instead of seeing them as a passthrough to the decision maker, treat them like the client and ask them for ADVICE . When you ask for advice or coaching, it humanizes your call and you’re more likely to create an advocate.

Here is a sample script:

THE INTRO : Hello, my name is James Tordance. I was wondering if I could get some coaching from you. My firm are experts at helping [Target Title] grow revenue. We do this through our proprietary training. [IF YOU WORK WITH THE COMPANY NOW, ADD THAT HERE]. I'm trying to reach Bob Brown.

THE VALUE: When I connect with Bob, I planned to share with him what his peers are doing over in the [Division/AREAS name HERE]. (REPEAT GATEKEEPER’S NAME AND THANK THEM).

THE ASK : I’d like to speak with [NAME OF PROSPECT]/person. Can I collaborate with you, [GATEKEEPER NAME] to arrange that?

To learn more about helping salespeople move through prospecting obstacles or to provide training for your team, contact Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Tips and more tips on Phone Prospecting

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 20:34:59 GMT

You wanted more Billisms on Prospecting - Here are 14 of the best

Stop calling it cold calling : You are not doing that. You’re calling a specifically curated list of contacts that exhibit many of the success factors of your current clients.
Stay out of your head : Today people make and receive phone calls during business hours. Just do it. We all speak at 125 words per minute. We think at 450. Don’t think.
Stress comes from winging it : I’d rather have 20 placed calls that are well researched vs. 80 “pitches.” Your voice sounds weak when you wing it and confident when you’re prepared.
Use a script : But don’t fear coming off it. Scripts are great for consistently and provide direction for your calls.
Start with the right mindset : Before picking up the phone to make a cold call, it’s important to get in the right headspace. Attitude is everything when you’re making cold calls. It’s easy to get discouraged so don’t allow doubt or fear to dictate your day.
Show enthusiasm : The people you’re calling can feed off your personality so set a positive tone early. Aim for professionalism but talk to prospects in a way that’s friendly and approachable.
Speak to a client type or persona : Recipients respond better to sellers when they know you understand them uniquely. Another reason not to wing it.
Sell a meeting : Too many salespeople start pitching their service and get baited into defending it.That’s the not the purpose of phone prospecting. Sell a meeting – that’s it.
Prepare for rejection : But... keep in mind most rejection comes from initial confusion on the part of the recipient. Speak slowly; let the prospect know why you’re calling and the value to THEM for being in the phone with you.
Up your “issue fluency” : Prosects do NOT want to educate salespeople. Come prepared with key themes and value statements relevant to that person’s industry title and role. Google their job description for additional insights.
You are at equal business stature : Too many prospectors are apologists. Stop using language like “Just wanted to reach out...” or “would love to learn more about you...” Instead state the purpose of your call, the value to the prospect and segue to a meeting suggestion.
Be upfront about why you’re calling : The fastest way to get a prospect to hang up is to beat around the bush about why you’re calling. So, when someone answers your cold call, briefly introduce yourself and the reason for your call.
Be polite : After you’ve given a brief introduction, ask your prospect if you can share more. Avoid asking if it’s a good time to chat – the cynic in all of us is likely to say no. Be mindful of a prospect’s time but don’t be overly apologetic or deferential.
Put your services in context : Phone outreach is not about listing your greatest achievements; rather it's about sharing specific insights around the problems you both share and linking your solutions to them. So, as you’re discussing a prospective client’s challenges or needs, tailor your insights to their specific situation and what value you can provide.

For more tips on prospecting or to provide prospecting training for your team, reach out to Bill Walton directly at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Reduce the stress of phone prospecting - think "reasons to meet"

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 19:52:17 GMT

Clients don't want to educate salespeople - sell value for time

There is a lot salespeople want to say – and can say – on the phone, but most fail to anchor a reason to meet . Why is this important? Too many salespeople start selling too early on the phone when prospects give them a window to pitch. It’s tempting when target prospects say things like “Whatcha got?” or “What are you selling me…why should I care?” The way salespeople respond to these prompts can mean the difference between success or failure. The key is to encourage a dialogue, manage any misperceptions and segue to a meeting or definable action. So what does it mean to sell meetings?

When amazon can put a hairbrush you ordered at 8am on your doorstep at 1pm same day, the entire business world has raised its expectations. Prospects think you should know their world and be ready to share how you can help. In this case, you need to know that value is industry and role specific . To really know what a prospect is charged with Google their job description . This will give you a sense of their purpose and deliverables. Triangulate that with what they chose to share on their LinkedIn profile. The default is why other of your clients chose to work with you and what you've learned from that. Articulating those reasons will beat any pitch.

For more on prospecting or to connect with Bill Walton personally, send Bill a message at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

A Mindset Shift for Phone Prospecting - Think M.A.I.N.

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 19:35:56 GMT

More reps are winging it in their prospecting- here's why

At BWST, we don’t profess to be psychologists, but we think most salespeople expect rejection from phone prospecting. They get in their heads and start projecting negative thoughts onto the process: “When I call, I’m probably going to interrupt them.” “They’ll think my call is spam,.” “They're not going to be interested in what I say.” Most humans speak at a rate of 125 works per minute, but we think at four times that. So, there is a huge opportunity to refocus every sales rep’s mindset about the phone. In addition to a lack of calling “dials” and the psychology of the fail, most salespeople don’t prepare. These same salespeople also succumb to the pressure for call volume vs. call quality.

POINT: Preparation and quality are winning the day. So how can you prepare efficiently? Think M-A-I-N , like Main Street:

M - The Market or industry your prospect operates in – key trends, people, Wall Street reaction

A - A is for the Actual or company. How are they doing financially? What’s their culture? Growing?

I - I is for the Individual title and role. What are their personal self-interests? What’s changing for them?

N - N is for Networks. What are the trusted pundits and thought leaders sharing about the space?

When you can solve for MAIN, you have the ingredients for a value hypothesis and fodder for your messaging. The good news? your competition is NOT doing this!

For more information or to have Bill support your team in their breakthrough prospecting, please send a message to Bill directly at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Prospecting in the Age of AI

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 19:22:01 GMT

Where Sales Talent Wins Over Tech!

At Bill Walton Sales Training, we interact with sales leaders in the Fortune 500 each week. Every single leader admits that they want to see more prospecting activity from their people. They see an overreliance on email and not enough use of the phone, social media and their own artifacts their sales enablement teams provide. But there's good news from the RAIN Group:

- 60% of decision makers accept calls from new providers

- 82% of decision makers are accepting meetings from new providers

The phone is proving effective again, yet most sales professionals avoid it. The phone provides immediate feedback and provides a deeper level of intimacy and personalization. I’ll never forget asking my sales manager about prospecting. I asked her one day, “Should I call or send an email first?” What she said next was sobering. “Do you want an answer from a prospect five minutes from now or two weeks from now?” Her reply stopped me in my tracks.

Twenty years later, salespeople and their sales enablement groups are relying too often on automated email programs [think SPAM] and moderate phone follow-up. When they do pick up the phone, salespeople make the mistake of trying to sell their product vs. simply selling the first meeting. As soon as prospects hear “pitch,” they tune out or turn cynical and pushback on the rep. We'll be providing more insights into both phone and email prospecting and keep an eye out for our white paper on the topic - we are providing scripts and sample emails! Good selling everybody! - Coach

For more information or to connect with Bill Walton directly, please email Bill at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com

Back on the phones? Don't get tripped up by common objections

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 19:01:32 GMT

More salespeople are back on the phones. Be ready for these common objections.

When prospecting on the phone you want to encourage some bit of dialogue. It's a mindset as well as what you say. But calls always carry some element of resistance. Don't get tripped up. Be prepared to be spontaneous on the phone with these sample responses to the most common phone prospecting objections in our Encourage/Provide/Test framework:

"Not a good time"

Encourage : I hear that, Jane. Our best clients are heads down on their internal client work.
Provide : When they do come up for air, they’re relying on me to keep them current on trends in the business and other insights. They’re finding our thought leadership helpful.
Test/Segue : Can this be something we focus on at a better time? How best should I arrange a conversation?

I don’t need another "rep" pitching me right now

Encourage: Others have said the same thing—I actually don’t like the title because it doesn’t speak to what I do with clients.
Provide: I actually don’t pitch anything since clients rely on me and my external partners for implementation support for their more sophisticated applications. They value having a go-to resource when they get to a sticking point.
Test/Segue: I’d love some coaching from you; is this something we could take up when we find some time to speak?

I don’t know your company well

Encourage: We hear that from time to time, Ed. That’s partially why I’m in my role.
Provide: My company seamlessly connects clients to the technology they need with logistics support around the world. We are the approved partner for most of the Fortune 500 for this application.
Test/Segue: What trend or insights would you like access to that you don’t have right now?

I have what I need for now

Encourage: I understand. The clients we work with are highly capable with sophisticated strategic plans.
Provide: While most of our clients know us for our tech, they’re interested to hear more about the services and consulting we deliver around the world.
Test/Segue: I’d love some coaching from you; is this something we could take up when we find some time to speak?

For more information give Bill Walton a call at 917-439-3271 or visit us at www.billwaltonsalestraining.com

Energy not time management key to new business prospecting

Wed, 03 May 2023 18:49:48 GMT

Keep prospecting from becoming transactional

Time management isn’t what it used to be.

In the current workplace and economy—disrupted by the pandemic and new workforce expectations—sales organizations need to seek out new ways to keep their workforce motivated, engaged, productive and thriving. This is especially true in hybrid and remote work environments, and means salespeople need help differentiating what’s a priority and what isn’t, to operate at their fullest potential.

It’s No Longer About Peak Performance, It’s About Energy

The old model of time management focused on “peak performance” in a way that’s irrelevant to the modern salesforce. In this new era of knowledge work, businesses need to align to changing needs and preferences which necessitate constant shifts in priorities and bursts of urgent requests. This is challenging for those who are linear thinkers or who prefer to follow rules and protocols in an orderly, prescribed fashion. To develop a sales organization which performs at its best, we need to help employees find ways to do more with the time they have: we need to shift the focus from managing our time to managing our energy.

The following four strategies, adapted from the work of Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, will help you get there.

Strategy #1: To increase performance, focus on managing your energy, not your time.

Many of us in sales race through life without ever taking a break. We return home exhausted from a long day’s work, feeling overwhelmed with both work and our private lives and, no matter how hard we try, there’s never enough time to get everything done. But energy, not time, is the fundamental ingredient of efficiency and high performance. While we naturally focus on optimizing our time, time alone won’t help us achieve our sales goals. We also need energy: without it, we can’t perform at an engaged level for any sustained period. One way to efficiently manage energy and get more accomplished is to work less and take more breaks. Think about it: How do you feel after working for four hours straight? Most of us feel completely drained and frustrated, and that that last Grande Dark Roast didn’t hold our focus and productivity. Instead, try maximizing your energy (and therefore your productivity) by planning your work around breaks.

Strategy #2: To maintain energy levels, work in "bursts."

Each of us has a limited amount of energy. If we expend more energy than we can recover, it will inevitably end in burnout. In fact, recovery is an integral part of sustaining high levels of energy and thus peak performance. In David Kleitman's famous sleep research, he found that humans can only operate at optimum levels of engagement for about 90 minutes at a time . He called this the Ultradian Rhythm. Kleitman suggested that we need to rest approximately 10-15 minutes after every 90-minute "burst." In sales, this means taking a relaxing break. Have a coffee, connect with colleagues, or take a stroll through a nearby park for fifteen minutes before getting back on the phones or finishing off that proposal. As salespeople plan their work, they should also plan their breaks. Salespeople can plan an entire day around these work-break “bursts” and have four to five of them in a workday.

Strategy #3: Embrace the value of vitality and creativity.

There’s never been a greater need—or value—for creativity in engaging prospects and clients. Creativity also requires time and energy, and the challenge is, the more we try to achieve creativity, efficiency and focus all at once, the harder each becomes.

So how do we balance them all? The key is how you use your own mental energy. First, we need to find ways to focus most efficiently on our work. This means adopting realistic optimism: viewing the world “as it is” while simultaneously working positively toward our desired outcome. Realistic optimism helps us keep our sights on the target, even when things go awry. A helpful tip to accomplish this is to create a daily "big six" list: six priorities each day that will drive you to your week's most vital outcome. This beneficial hack keeps you from becoming too tactical with your to dos and ensures your laser attention on the right work. Once you’re able to keep your focus through realistic optimism, you can set your sights on boosting your creativity, and managing your time and energy to allow your own brain to perform in both its analytical and creative capacities.

Strategy #4: Think big and focus on the broader context of the sales job.

When salespeople are stressed—maybe on the verge of burnout—they tend to focus on the small tasks or tactics. In times of stress, focusing on the small things can seem less daunting, but it also can impede appointment setting, sales calls, and overall goal attainment. Before salespeople can fully harness our energy toward our professional goals, we should examine the sources of energy and how they connect to what’s most important.

We’re all familiar with physical energy (what we all use to get around), but there are three additional sources of energy we bring with us to our work: emotional, mental, and spiritual.

Emotional flexibility allows us to align our emotions appropriately to a given situation rather than responding with rigidity. This allows us to experience the business day at a flat emotional plane, absent of tone or subjectivity.
Mental endurance keeps us focused and concentrated over time. It helps us, for instance, to power through the times when we’d rather quit but shouldn’t.
Spiritual strength helps us stay connected to what we value most deeply. These values are our life’s compass which keep us connected to our career and personal life mission.

Focusing on and maximizing each of these energy levels will help us perform at our peak and feel our very best. We should use them to set bigger goals that drive and inspire us. These are goals that at first blush almost seem impossible to achieve but, with a good plan and deep energy stores, can be done.

Energy in the New World of Work

Today’s and tomorrow’s workplace presents new challenges and opportunities that are different than we’ve seen before. Each of us must develop the ability to adjust and respond to the challenges of balancing a remote working environment while maintaining personal and professional engagement. The good news is that salespeople are resilient creatures and, with the help of sound energy management and full engagement practices, organizations can help them achieve a sense of accomplishment and purpose no matter where they work or the type interactions they experience.

To help individuals become and remain fully engaged, people must learn to actively build their energy capacity and direct this energy intelligently to the right tasks and activities each day. Performing at our best requires focus and finding ways to do more with the precious and limited time we possess.

In today’s and tomorrow’s workforce, managing our energy is not only a recommendation - it is a survival strategy.

To learn more about BWST's Energy is the New Time program, text Bill Walton at 917-439-3271.

New Business in Wealth Management Comes Down to Three Letters

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 20:56:27 GMT

Personalization is Wealth Management's Trending Key Word - Part I

Client acquisition in wealth management has undergone a substantial change. Engaging with prospects such as entrepreneurs, founders, and wealthy families has traditionally been a high-touch contact sport, one characterized by influence-fostering connections at conferences, summits, and informal gatherings. And referrals, the ones that used to come by way of social events and coffee talk meetings, are now inbound in less personal ways such as email and Zoom. So, in the era of hybrid work, and thus hybrid selling, a different approach is needed . Post-pandemic, new connections need to be made—some in person. Some remote. So, no matter the purpose, you must bring context fast as an advisor. This means financial professionals need to cease their reliance own email only. The good news? There are other platforms that let you approach without being pushy, salesy, or abrupt.

An advisor’s job is no longer just about knowing the markets and selling your slice of the pie—it’s about looking at the broad picture and providing financial planning advice connected to a client type. To succeed, advisors (and those selling to them) need to change the way they engage. Selling in this environment means advisors need to be clear about their ideal prospect types. Prospects want to know that you are “issue fluent” with their challenges and aspirations. Also, teams need to articulate their collective value as well as their individual parts.

Consultative Selling

As of this writing, there are over 60,000 books for sale on Amazon on the topic of selling. Most speak to value or integrity in the interaction. But what most don’t teach you is that selling is behavioral, psychological, and operational —for us and for prospects. The good news? Being authentic and genuine counts!

People have interesting relationships with their money, their cars, and their pets—those connections aren’t always rational. It’s up to the advisor to tap into the current aspirations of the prospect and what they see as an obstacle in getting there. Whether it’s generational wealth transfer, planning for retirement, or investing proceeds from an asset sale, a prospect has an internal vision of how they want the end state to look.

Sounds logical, right? Well maybe.

Consultative Selling: Getting the Process Started

While many advisor teams grow their business via referrals, it’s becoming increasingly important to grow books of business organically. While inbound leads are always appreciated, often the referrer hasn’t teed up your firm or your team in the most holistic light. Growing business organically provides advisors the control and flexibility to target and attract prospects that have the highest likelihood of success with RMB.

To make prospecting as painless as possible, high performers are concentrating outreach on a few known client types with whom their team has been successful. Whether that’s small business owners, female business executives, or physicians working in large multi-office practices, there is leverage in communicating your team’s fluency in the issues and concerns of such types. Think about prospects this way: each fall into a client type category with concerns and aspirations unique to that type, and there are solutions that best fit that prospect’s needs. So, think C – P – S : Client type –Problem – Solution.

Stay tunes for Part II... or to get the inside track, send a message to Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

The latest on email personalization

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 18:33:46 GMT

Most salespeople rely too heavily on email. But the best are doing this.....

Before the pandemic, receiving a sales email with your name was impressive. Today that's table stakes. Sellers need to do more to create rapport. The best are making them feel like they are receiving a message custom-made just for them.

Some examples of email personalization include writing emails that are:

Unique to the individual (attended the same school or know people in common)
Aligned to a buyer’s unique challenges as positioned by specific knowledge of their pain points
Company- or account-based trends or data
Persona-based – positioned by buyer role
Sale stage-based – positioned by where a buyer is in the sales cycle
Cause or charitable-based - cues as to where they are giving or lending support

Insight sources for personalization are plentiful. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, provide cues as people actively publish personal information for public consumption. I'm always curious as to what folks chose to share in the "About" section of their LinkedIn profile. You can often tailor your message to their key passions and challenges. Don't forget search strings on Google like [person's name] and speaking - where have they posited their point of view? [person's name and charitable ] - where are they giving? [person's name and promoted ] - are they on the move?

So for your next email, think "personal" and do the homework your competition is not. Drop us a line for more tips on personalizing emails at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Mastering the Art of Follow-up

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 23:03:24 GMT

No better way to keep the pipeline moving - artful follow-up

You might think with all the topics I could possibly write about that I would choose the topic of follow-up. It sounds so intuitive, right? But it's amazing how much follow-up is not happening out there. Do you know that over 80% of sales leads are not followed up upon properly? That's a staggering number especially for companies looking for additional incremental revenue. There are many reasons, but the biggest reason is that we are all maxed out, carry multiple responsibilities multi-task way too often.

So here are a few tips to think about when following up, because follow-up starts after the very first meeting.

Listen up: You can't follow up appropriately if you were not listening. Every meeting should have 3 to 4 areas of interest that are worthy of follow up in your discussion. Take notes for sure, but make sure that every interaction nets you 3 to 4 major points that have context for the prospects

Time: Most salespeople wait too long to follow up. The key is the follow up within the first hour of some important major interaction. And it doesn't matter which follow up method you use, phone, text, email or handwritten note which is my favorite. The key is to avoid the melt, and make it happen.

False Fear: Many salespeople are afraid of the follow-up stage of the sales process. This is because they fear annoying the prospect, being seen as a spammer, or even losing a potential sale due to following up too much.

Email blast : Use a variety of follow-up methods.So, you’ve sent two or three follow-up emails to your prospect and heard nothing back. It may be time to pick up the phone. Alternatively, if you keep calling and they’re always too busy to speak to you, you might have more luck by sending a social media message (i.e., LinkedIn).

Let it Breathe : There’s no exact formula for correctly spacing your follow-ups. In most circumstances, every day is too often, and once a month is not often enough. Once per week or so is appropriate in most circumstances.

Content is king : Include a link to a relevant article, blog post, or video in your follow-up email — the content must relate strongly to the prospect and the problems they’ve told you they are facing. By providing them with useful content, you prove that you are interested in a mutually beneficial relationship as opposed to a quick sale.

For more quick hitting sales tips, visit www.billwaltonsalestraining.com

The Three Meeting Close

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 01:47:20 GMT

The three meetings every salesperson needs to master

Over 30 years ago I decided to make a career in sales. I really loved the customer and prospect interaction, and when I was armed with a great message and a joy of helping, I really felt that I could advance any sales situation. I think most salespeople have upped their game over the last several years given the demands of operating in a remote economy.

But no matter the venue, no matter the technology, there are three critical sales meetings that must be mastered to ensure sales success. These three meetings fall into three categories I call coffee talk, discovery, and playback. Too often salespeople when they hear a cue or a few spoken words that sound like interest, they move the solution to fast and too soon. Most of these opportunities are stalling on their pipeline as a result.

But when you can isolate these three key interactions you give prospects and current customers an opportunity to engage you in the way that’s more aligned with how they buy.

Coffee Talk

Coffee talk meetings, while on the face of it sound innocent and informal, have critical importance to the sales process and the ability to advance sales situations. For these meetings it's important to come prepared to be spontaneous but be clear about what you want to accomplish. Unfortunately, three things can happen in a coffee talk meeting and two of them are bad. For the bad, this is typically the prospect or the salesperson dominating the conversation and giving little air to what could be next or what a potential relationship might look like. The key is to ensure that both parties get equal time, and that the salesperson gets to ask about the prospects journey, where they are now, and where they are going. The best make time to playback 2 to 3 major points of interest and use those as fodder to request the second meeting.

Discovery

Discovery meetings are important because you need to get certain questions answered by your prospect, as well as to obtain a vision of their ideal scene. The art as well as the science in discovery is to have the prospect feel that this is meaningful dialogue, and not an interrogation. Any question asked should elicit a response that can be used to shape several ideas or earn the salesperson the right to share more formal recommendations. But before going to proposal, you need to let the prospect know that is your plan and if they are aligned. Translation - discovery is also about qualification.

Playback

The playback meeting is the meeting most often left out of the average sales pursuit. The value of the playback meeting is it puts the salesperson in position to make an "intelligent recommendation" - a contextual subset of high-level recommendations used to shape a final proposal. The concept here is rough layouts sell better than finished ones. The playback meeting allows the prospect to process your ideas and see themselves in a potential relationship with you and your firm. You want to be able to say to a prospect, "based on what you shared with us, here are a few specific recommendations." This personalizes the process and builds trust since you're working with what the prospect said about their situation, not solely your interpretation. Think of the playback meeting as the proposal without the money.

To make sure you ace your next series of prospects meetings, contact Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

The Perfect First Meeting

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 18:58:50 GMT

Master the first meeting in the sales process

The first meeting is the key to the rest of the sale. Consistency in approach and methodology for first meetings accelerates the s ales cycle, sells higher value for your solutions and ensures opportunities don't get stalled on the pipeline. In first meetings, all pieces need to come together: preparation, engagement, alignment and a commitment to next from the client.

Preparing for first meetings

In first meetings so much needs to happen in a short amount of time that a certain brand of preparation is a must. Salespeople need to prepare to the point that they can be agile in the dialogue while arrive at a place where the second meeting becomes profoundly logical. Sound preparation guides the questions salespeople should ask and aligns the value proposition with the prospect’s likely needs and challenges. So how do you prepare for the perfect first meeting. To answer that let's take a walk down MAIN street:

M arket: what's happening in the prospect's industry or sub-industry that can be impacted by your solution or may impact the resources available to purchase your solution? These typically include market trends, new capability, emerging technology, or the overall financial performance of the sector and the prospect organization.
A ccount: the account is the actual company. What's changing in the culture, are they adding employees? Are they buying back stock? Have they made any recent acquisitions? Or have they had any success in their lobbying efforts in Washington to advance the cause of their industry or subindustry?
I ndividual: this is the actual title role and position of the key decision maker in your prospect organization. What's changing in their environment? What is their personal self-interest? What is their job description and LinkedIn profile saying about their responsibilities and accountabilities? Where have they done any speaking or shared their point of view? Your questions and eventually your proposal need to align with this insight.
N etworks: what is the prospects peer group saying about opportunities in their industry or sub industry? Who are the thought leaders that you believe your prospect follows? You can obtain this information on LinkedIn. It's important to understand the nuances of the industry so you can become issue fluent and prepare to be spontaneous in your first meetings with any stakeholder that you meet.

Opening first meetings

While preparation is key in a first meeting, it's important in the first meeting to be flexible and agile. In a word you prepare to be spontaneous. You don't know how casual and or professional your prospect will be, and you don't want to give off the wrong impression too early in the first meeting. I use the format called RVT, the reason for the meeting, the value to the prospect and how we were connected, and to test for time make sure that they have the 30 or 60 minutes originally scheduled. I can't tell you how many initial meetings have been cut short because of other conflicting prospect obligations.

Advancing first meetings

There are three things that can happen in the first meeting and two are bad. Let's start with a bad first. One, the prospect can talk the entire time, dominate the conversation and learn very little about you and your organization. The opposite can be true if the salesperson talks at length about themself and or the organization and the customers or clients that they work with. The best first meetings are a 50-50 split where everyone gets a piece of pie. You need to strike a balance between what's happening in the prospect's world and what you were seeing amongst others like them. The first meeting should be questions light. There are three questions I recommend salespeople ask: 1. "What has been your journey? 2. Where are you now on your journey? And 3., Where are you going? The extra credit question to all of this - What is standing in the way?"

C losing first meetings

Since the toughest meeting to get in business is always the second meeting, you must allow time at the end of your conversation to play back what you heard, highlight any intriguing points that you both connected on, and set the stage for the next conversation. Most salespeople do not do this. You must have context. If you don't, you will likely find yourself in a doom loop of email and phone follow up that may never end. Anchor the need and the value to the prospect for getting together again right at the end of your first meeting. The language I love salespeople to use sound something like this:

"Terri thank you so much for meeting for coffee today. It was so great to meet you and I'm glad Ted could introduce us. We covered a lot of ground in the last hour, but three things rang out for me. 1. You're looking to save money on your financial administration process, 2. you want to bring some younger talent into your organization, and 3. you need to find more time for your writing and your speaking - perhaps finding a junior associate to take up some of the admin slack in your role. Anything I missed? When we get together again, I'll be ready to share what a few of my clients in a similar situation have done and how I've supported them. Before you leave can we book some time today? I really look forward to it."

You can't control the person, but you can control the process of preparing for and advancing first meetings to they lead to a meaningful next. For more insights into mastering your sales meetings, contact Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Writing the Perfect Proposal

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 16:53:32 GMT

7 Steps for Writing a Winning Proposal

There’s been a lot written about consultative selling. The underlying objective is to get salespeople to focus on what matters m ost to the customer. You build sales momentum by demonstrating that you’re delivering an important solution to an important problem.

So, to be able to create a client-centered solution, and thus write a client-centered proposal, there are seven areas of focus for creating greater customer commitment. One pitfall is to write proposals without acknowledging the issues that brought you to the proposal stage in the first place. This makes it almost impossible to craft an approach that sounds "right" to the buyer. The best proposals reflect what you’ve learned about the company and the reader. ProDirect works with clients to help streamline the proposal writing process by uncovering what buyers look for in a proposal.

Based on our research and our own success, we’ve found the following to be the seven key elements to any successful proposal:

Title and Brief Introduction
When customers evaluate candidates for a solution, they tend to give more attention to the provider that goes beyond the simply stated issues in their approach. Successful proposals capture a compelling rallying cry- a theme that’s both creative and pragmatic. For example, we recently won a sales training engagement with a large financial services firm. While the goal of the training program was to fill pipelines with more quality prospects at a more rapid rate, we labeled the program “Tips, Tools, and Tactics to Get to Centurion”, Centurion being their annual sales awards banquet in Nevis. This got the attention of the Sales VP and salespeople have already started visualizing their feet in the sand.
About XYZ Company
A proposal should have “legs”. Make sure that those who pick up your document can assess the issue and see the value and experience that you and your company bring to the table. In this section, provide your company’s key stats, elevator pitch, clients served and years in service. This will help bring any new readers up to speed on your approach. Note briefly any awards or special recognition your firm has received.
Customer Situation
This section needs to say one thing “Wow, they really listened”. When preparing this section, review your notes from key meetings and interactions with the customer organization. Every company has their own lexicon for their products and process. Using their words sets the reader at ease and reinforces that you understand them, and their business issue. Go to their website and social media posts and look for a tie to the issues your customer articulated. When online, look for the company’s mission and vision and its orientation toward its customers and employees- look for what they’re proud about. Then list the key factors that have led you and the reader to this juncture.
Customer Need
Here you want to prioritize the customer's most important outcomes first. That way, the customer will feel you think the way they think. Key: Don’t make any assumptions at this point. If you’re unsure, tap back into your network or call the client directly to confirm salient details. Most important, use as many of the spoken words of your buyer or champion as possible.
XYZ Company Approach
Usually there's more than one way to solve a particular problem. Let the buyer know what your process will look and feel like and detail the customer’s level of involvement. At BWST we win as many projects for how we plan to manage them vs. the content that we provide. Where possible, use a complementary graphic to portray your process or recommendation. Use a level of detail appropriate to your reader. If she’s a big picture thinker, use broad strokes. If they are a detailed thinker, then spell out your steps. The key is to help them visualize your solution so use as many graphics and as much suggested movement as possible.
Investment
Also known as the money page. Over 85% of readers go right to this section. We prefer “investment” because investments have a payoff. I try to avoid sticker shock, so where possible, detail your pricing in chunks tied to milestones. If a fee or cost is a one-time charge, let the client know. If the client is more concerned about cash flow vs. getting a big number through the approval process, price your approach accordingly.
Why XYZ Company?
Other than an appendix, this is the last section of your proposal – the last chance for you to tell the buyer that you’re the perfect partner for this work. Based on what the customer values in the solution to her problem, recant 5 to 6 competencies your organization possesses that makes them uniquely qualified to win this business. If the customer values speed, reference your rapid response times. If they value experience, reflect your rich and storied history. If the client values testimonials, reference a partial client list in their industry. This is the section where you help the buyer feel great about her decision to choose you.

For help with your next winning proposal, contact Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Unsticking the Stalled Sale

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 15:57:30 GMT

Tips to keep your pipeline moving

I can't tell you how many salespeople we engage with have opportunities on their pipeline that have just fallen off a cliff. They say they've had productive conversations and were asked for more information, all with a promise that we will talk again. So, what's going wrong opportunities that are stalling or feel stuck on your pipeline?

The first thing to know is that it's nothing that you did or nothing that you said. But keep in mind there is ALWAYS a reason . On occasion a prospect you meet with may have exceeded their area of responsibility by speaking with you and really have no authority to decide, even though they sounded interested and important. In other situations, a prospect may have been seeking a solution to a problem, but then as they got closer to decision time, they realize the workload involved. Others realize that certain purchases or projects aren’t worth the career risk. And in some cases, your competition has presented compelling offer and value proposition.

The Good news? There are several things you can do to stay out of what master sales coach John Orvos calls "maybe land." Here is a list of tactics that you can follow to avoid stall sales:

1. Plot a three-meeting strategy that includes some form of a coffee talk meeting, a discovery meeting, and another meeting to play back with a prospect heard before you go to final proposal. The playback meeting is the most important because you’re basically presenting a proposal without the money and gathering feedback for a final proposal. We call this a proposure - part proposal, part brochure. At the end of this meeting, you should ask "If the investment is in line with budget, can a decision be made?" How the proposure also works? Rough layouts often sell better than final ones. A proposal without prospect input and engagement is just that - it's too final, too soon.

2. At the end of every meeting whether it's a phone call, face-to-face meeting or an online video conference, always reserve the last five minutes of the meeting to play black what you heard from the prospect. This is critical because the prospect wants to know that they've been heard, and you want to know that you're in alignment with need and value. Playing key points back to prospects also validates and affirms them and builds trust in you, your company and your solution. It also distinguishes you from the competition.

3. Don't be afraid to ask about decision processes, or internal approvals because you need to be able to know how to satisfy those requirements, and gauge how you prepare for each step in that process.

4. Ensure that you know enough . Too often salespeople are asked for a proposal, dutifully create one and then email it in hopes of appearing responsive and appealing. The last thing you want to do is produce a proposal that's not informed and at a time the prospects has shown you little if any commitment. To keep your sales from stalling, you need continuous prospect engagement.

There is more to keeping your sales unstuck. Give Bill Walton a call at 917-439-3271 or email him at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com to learn more.

FREE DOWNLOAD! Sales Kickoff Dos and Don'ts

bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com (Bill Walton) — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 21:29:56 GMT

FREE DOWNLOAD! Sales Kickoff Dos and Don'ts Checklist

Sales Kickoffs (SKOs) are a great time to re-energize your sales force. Most share new knowledge and insights and reflect on the learnings gained from last year. But In 2025, new methods, technologies, and strategies will continue to emerge (AI, Social Selling, Personalization) and reshape how we connect, engage and grow. Share what how your organization will harness this change and allow sales teams to pause, reflect and then activate on opportunities in their markets. Download this free Sales Kickoff Do's and Don'ts checklist. Good Selling!

The New Sales Kickoff (SKO)

bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com (Bill Walton) — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 18:42:35 GMT

Boost engagement and accountability

FOUR ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL SALES KICKOFF

Every successful sales kickoff should focus on four main elements: Inspiration, GTM, Self-Management and Learning .

Inspiring Vision

Inspirational elements help align your team around upcoming business goals. Skip minor organizational changes, new product updates, or new sales strategies (share this electronically). Instead, focus inspirational components on the higher vision that these changes are to support. Typically, this is done via keynotes from company leaders, like the CEO or VP of Sales. But creative companies are using mobile gamification , and have rank and file participants present their plans and share their aspirations in large groups.

Go to Market Strategy (GTM)

Every SKO should have a piece on strategy and opportunity. But the best don’t wait and translate that strategy into achievable action. One of our past clients created a placemat for each of their sales divisions (some might call it a dashboard). Each placemat had a theme, goals, metrics, and a support section that detailed areas of support to help everyone reach their goals. Each group then broke out into their respective areas to refine their GTM, bid for unique resources and articulate their individual commitments.

Collaborative Accountability

SKOs are an important time for recognizing big wins, top performance, team-building activities, and fun. After all, the goal of an SKO is to energize as much as it is to educate sales team members. Celebrations often take the form of happy hours or team dinners, but don’t shy away from realizing the ROI from the SKO - execution. In every aspect of the SKO, provide a repository of ideas - ensure the salesforce is heard. In turn, poll each participant's commitments as they experience every aspect of the SKO (i.e., new product placement, higher activity levels, more SME interaction, etc.).

Learning and Education

Educational sessions are paramount to any SKO. Reps want to be successful out of the gate. Let them know what lead gen support they can expect but teach them to be entrepreneurial prospectors. Use the SKO to define ideal markets, accounts, personas and the networks they'll need to tap into to find more prospects. Then give them the skill to engage on all platforms including phone and email. Capture prospecting goals that the group is willing to commit to and set a coaching cadence for the first quarter to ensure their attainment. Other focus areas can include Energy Management . We all work best in 90-minute burst of activity - teach your salespeople to harness that and create weekly cadences around it.

For help with your upcoming SKO, contact Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Free "Getting Back to Business" Sales Tools - Elevator Pitches

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 19:07:13 GMT

I/Why/You pitches have three components.

I: who I am and the firm I represent
Why: detail on what I do and why other clients choose to work with me
You: why you, the prospect, might be interested (based on your research)

Here are a few examples of I/Why/You pitches:

Good
I: I’m Ron Hunt from United Insurance Brokerage.
WHY: We work with small businesses to meet their insurance needs.
YOU: I thought you’d be interested, and I’d like to meet to see how we can work together.

Better
I: I’m Ron Hunt, a Producer from United Insurance Brokerage, an insurance, risk management and business consulting services firm dedicated to the needs of entrepreneurs.
WHY: We guide leaders through the challenges that can put their organization at risk and threaten its wellbeing. Clients work with us for the affordable and easy-to-implement Insurance programs we provide.
YOU: I thought you might be interested because the employees of small businesses are often their most important asset. Our solutions help small business leaders reflect that appreciation by keeping them safe and healthy.

Good
I: I’m Jenny Sturgess with Seacrest Bank.
WHY: We provide a full suite of banking services for local businesses.
YOU: I thought you might be interested because local businesses often have banking needs they are unaware of.

Better
I: I’m Jenny Sturgess from Seacrest Bank, a leader in supporting local businesses in Fairfield County.
WHY: We offer custom combinations of banking services to help local businesses not only
manage their cash but also deploy their investible assets in the most prudent manner.
Clients choose to work with Seacrest for the wide array of services thought only to be
available from larger banks.
YOU: I thought you might be interested because efficiencies in cash management are
critical to saving employees’ time and improving transaction accuracy. We have
specific tools to do just that.

Summary : You can use these I/Why/You pitches when prospecting, opening meetings, and/or educating your centers of influence. Be sure to clearly communicate the benefits that your potential client gets by working with you. By following the I/Why/You format, you should find it easier to boil down all the complexity of your offer into something that clients and prospects can easily grasp and remember.

To create your organizations Elevator Pitch write us at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Burnout is real, especially among top performers

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 20:16:13 GMT

Recent data from research by Yale University and published by Harvard Business Review shows that one ou t of five employees reported both high engagement and high burnout. They call this group the engaged-exhausted group. And this includes salespeople. These engaged-exhausted workers are passionate about their work, but also have intensely mixed feelings about it — reporting high levels of interest, stress, and frustration. These feelings are exacerbated at this time of year as we balance closing the year, preparing for the holidays and planning for next year.

Solution:
Sales Managers and HR can help by examining the demands they’re placing on sales people to ensure that goals are realistic and sales teams are getting the resour ces they need . Many are examine weekly cadences and the admin demands placed on sales .

The other opportunity is to h elp s alespeople build their energy stores to operate at a high level. What this requires is an understanding of a salesperson ' s ultradian rhythm - times where we have the most energy and clarity of thought - and align our work accordingly. F or sales, plan your day around 4-5 90-minute bursts - proposal writing, email, market development and social media. Here are some ideas for salespeople to stave off bu rnout:

- Plan y our daily focus in 90-minute increments with brief periods of rest after
- We are creatures of habit - create energy rituals that don't drain you mentally
- Match caffeine intake with water intake. Caffeine is a diuretic and dehydration saps energy
- Drop the notion that you should work evenly and hard all day long. This has worked never.
- Give yourself permission to take time off, go for a walk, or read a book vs. social surfing.

To learn more about how your organization and boost their energy and engagement, download this fact sheet for our Create a Sustainable Edge program or call Bill Walton Sales Training at 917-439-3271.

Free white paper: Account Professional as Value Creator in Insurance Brokerage

Sat, 01 Oct 2022 21:29:13 GMT

Since there is competition in all markets for traditional coverages, agencies need to add value to their clients to distinguish themselves in their market area. But there’s a disjoint in perception of what “client value” actually means. Agencies are focusing on systems and efficiencies to process transactions faster. It's the right thing to do. But clients want value creators managing their account – people with high degrees of business acumen that can relate to the uniqueness of their industry and recommend solutions accordingly.

BWST works with Agency Brokers to apply a value-creating client interaction process that when followed, earns account professionals the right to suggest business building ideas that make sense to the client. There is no one better equipped than the day-to-day client contact to make cross- and upselling recommendations and BWST helps these firms make the most of this valuable resource.

Click on the PDF below to see how you can transform your account and relationship management teams into revenue-producing value creators!

Team Selling...it's baaack!

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 23:22:00 GMT

For those of you working in sales in our remote environment, I’m sure you think that the job has gotten a bit tougher vs. easier. Decisions are taking longer and the list of stakeholders to touch is growing by the day. Add to that some consultant or buying intermediary injected into the process and you have more complexity.

So in this era of selling, an era I call the Hybrid Value Creation era, you have to play by the buyer’s rules. Any account still standing after the pandemic deserves to be in the position they’re in and they expect great things. Complex solutions required complex understanding. Prospects want to talk to the thought leaders as well as those in the engine room that will be responsible for their business day-to-day. We’re lucky at Bill Walton Sales Training because we coach many of the buyers you’re selling to. And here’s what they say:

For these reasons and more, Team Selling has come back into vogue. But this isn’t about more bodies per se. Rather it’s about an intentional focused team that aligns well with the prospect’s interests and subject matter expertise needs. So here are some top tips for selling in this era of Value Creation when orchestrating a team approach becomes a sales survival skill:

For more information or to make Bill Walton Sales Training insights a reality for your organization, send us a note at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com

Landing new Clients - The "Warm Doors" Approach

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 22:23:00 GMT

Senior salespeople don't need to be trained on how to sell per se. But when it comes to new logo acquisition, new skills and mindsets have emerged as success factors to business growth. Prospects are consuming market data and industry related insights at a voracious clip, and they expect solution providers to bring value fast. They key is to segment and prioritize prospects where you can have the fewest barriers to entry and add the greatest initial value.

The most successful salespeople can identify opportunities with a high likelihood of connection and have the insight to react quickly (e.g., first) to capture prospects' attention. At Bill Walton Sales Training we call this the “Warm Doors” approach. Warm Doors prospecting entails several of the innovative prospecting methods being used by elite sales professionals to find and connect with new prospects as well as connections in your personal network. One of the hallmarks of this approach is creating an ideal client profile. This profile is not only critical for you to create your focus, but it’s imperative for your spheres of influence to let them know who's ideal and why.

Prospecting in sales is still a confidence game.

Confidence and productivity for the salesperson comes from knowing they’re targeting the right prospect at the right time with the right message. Confidence for the prospect comes from a perspective that the provider can bring unique value. The best prospects are warm, relevant, and qualified according to very specific criteria. But how do we get more of them when we’re the ones targeting? It’s often helpful to look at three elements when embarking on a territory development process: Demographics, “Firmographics,” and VENT.

Demographics: Demographics are quantifiable identifiers which characterize your lead population (for example title, role, and subject matter expertise).
Firmographics: Firmographics are organizational characteristics of your ideal client organization (for Revenues, employees, funding level, and/or high referability).
VENT: “VENT” can help you prioritize your prospects by anticipating and analyzing his or her Value, Event, Need, and Timing attributes.

V: Value: Does this prospect typically see value in working with outside service partners?
E: Event: Is this prospect in a stage of the clinical drug development process we can impact? Are they funded?
N: Need: Does Certara’s expertise fill an articulated need?
T: Timing: What is your prospect’s timeframe? Does that align with your sales cycle? Their development cycle?

By using these criteria, you should now be able to paint a picture of a group of prospects that project to be a fit. NOTE: For new prospects, you will have to make some educated guesses around value and event, but you can use past precedent for that.

For more information or to make Bill Walton Sales Training insights a reality for your organization, send us a note at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com.

Landing New Clients - It's about "value-based positioning"

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 18:35:00 GMT

Part 2
Here are nine proven strategies that can help you create a viable pipeline of new clients while tending to current relationships:

6. See more to win more:
In sales, pipeline math can be sobering. Recent research is takes 6-7 touches to create a meaningful sales opportunity (hence the need to sell more meetings). Add to that not all sales opportunities close as planned. They key is to use past client behavior to assess the percentage of opportunities that have closed and along what time frame (close ratio and sales cycle). It's also important to look at the dollar value of those past sales to create a pro forma forecast. For example, if your goal is $500,000 and your average close rate is 25% you actually need $2,000,000 in your pipeline. If your average deal size is $50,000, you'll need 40 opportunities in your pipeline throughout the year. These easy metrics can help you understand how many opportunities you'll need to meet your goal and when you'll need them to close.

7. Understand the types of meetings required to close business.
In sales, there are typically three meetings that lead to a high level of client or prospect engagement and eventually the closed sale. The point - each meeting has its own emotional quotient. These three meetings take the shape of coffee talk, discovery, and playback. In coffee talk meetings, the focus is on building rapport and anchoring your value. Rapport gets created in the small talk that establishes common interests and challenges. The key is to playback key themes to "sell" the next meeting, Discovery. Discovery meetings should be initiated off some burning platform, aspiration not met, or constructive discontent. Questions are not to educate, but more designed to clarify key goals. The playback meeting is a meeting that validates and affirms the client or prospect, pulls key themes forward and paints a picture of possibility prior to going to proposal. This meeting is all about confirming the value of taking action.

8. Never send proposals without a commitment to review.
Early in my career I can remember how many times I responded to her request for proposal thinking that the client needed to have this proposal to review over the weekend. Nine times out of 10 they didn't need it for the weekend and never read it. The additional bad news, the client never got back to me. The key to closing more business is to maintain and grow client engagement throughout the entire process. Proposal should reflect the client situation, their need and their articulated goals and visions. The response is the solution to the problem almost like it hurt and rescue mission. Clients love to see their name in lights, and thus it makes it more important to schedule time to review your recommendations based on the context of the client need, your conversations, and the business issue that your solution will address.

9. Stay loyal to current clients but move upstream in the business strategy.
If you live and die by the next SOW, you may be relying too heavily on your current contacts. This is risky for several reasons. One, they may not be strategically linked to the business strategy; two, they may get promoted or leave the organization, or three; they may not be universally well thought of across the organization. There are "ifs" for sure but demand their own risk management strategy. Build relationships with senior economic buyers in the C-suite. Communicate your understanding how your services or products fit into the overall context of business strategies and goals. Leadership wants to know if and how you can help them achieve their business goals. You need to bring value fast, share robust examples and provide a vision for what it would be like to work together.

10. At some point you need to ask for the business.
For many, this the hardest part. Whether willing to not appear pushy or fearing rejection, more deals get lost or stall because of a lack of commitment...to ask! There are two ways of doing this. First, if you sense the client is committed, use a summarize and suggest approach. Here is an actual client example: “Tom, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you and your business intelligence team. Based on what you’ve shared with us and the recommendations we’ve reviewed together, we pledge our commitment to enhance your ability to provide actionable insights to your sales organization that nets new prospect meetings. With that, we’d be remiss in not asking for your commitment. We would be honored to have you as an ACME client.”

For more information or to make Bill Walton Sales Training insights a reality for your organization, send us a note at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Landing New Clients - It's about "value-based positioning"

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 17:54:00 GMT

Part 1
Most successful salespeople and account managers are pretty good at retaining clients. Staying in touch, being responsive and solving problems are all key skills. But today that's table stakes in the era of remote business.

Today we need to add value beyond the fray AND add new clients each year. "New" could be brand new logos or new clients within existing client companies with multiple buying centers.

Why do we need to source new business if most of our work comes from referral?

For new business salespeople focused every day on client acquisition this is an easy question to answer. But what's emerging in many organizations is a seller/doer model where the subject matter expert or consultant is not only doing the work but also responsible for selling it. In this case client work can become the enemy of new business and vice versa. Here are a few reasons why it's important if you operate in this model to always be on the lookout for new revenue opportunities:

• Clients often define their problems narrowly
• Waiting for the next SOW is risky and unplanned
• The client’s frame of a problem is often insular (culture, internal group think)
• Your firm can likely support the client in other areas of their business
• Current sales usually lead to more of the same in terms of size and scope

But there is a way to do this without being pitchy, or salesy.

Here are nine proven strategies that can help you create a viable pipeline of new clients while tending to current relationships:

1. Act like a thinking partner
The term trusted advisor is still a viable label. But as a thinking partner, clients start relying on you for advice and counsel and don't make big decisions without consulting you. Thinking partners are also value creators - always ready with a hypothesis of value for their client's industry and industry subsegment relative to the work that they do. Thinking partners are insanely curious (intellectually so) and strive to make peer-to-peer connections across both of their organizations.

2. Make an educated guess as to ideal prospect and client need
This is where salespeople typically say "we are not fortunetellers." But this isn't an about predicting the future, it's about creating a hypothesis of value based on industry trends and client roles that links your firm’s capability to likely needs. Yes, this is the hard part. But as a thinking partner it's OK to be only directionally correct in your outreach and engagement because this let's ideal clients and prospects know that you're well-versed in their issues, you are curious, and you truly want to help.

3. Articulate a clear, compelling value proposition
This is a tricky one because so many of us in sales and service roles struggle with what to say and to whom. But at Bill Walton Sales Training we have found if you can answer these four questions you are on your way to articulating a great value proposition:
a. Who do you work with and who do you serve?
b. What problems do you solve and what needs do you address?
c. How would you describe the value and impact that you and your organization are delivering to your clients?
d. What is the secret sauce or special ingredient to delivering that unique value that your clients or customers appreciate and pay you handsomely for?

4. Engage in digital marketing and social media for professional interaction
When we say utilize social media, we don't mean create dance videos or post selfies. What we do mean is to share relevant thought pieces, articles, points of view, and research trends unique to the persona(s) you're looking to attract. With LinkedIn for example, you want to first connect with ideal prospects, engage on their content and ask for the same, and THEN suggest an offline conversation. Build a credible LinkedIn profile and ensure your bio on all platforms complies with your organization's social media policy.

5. Sell meetings, not products or services.
For many reasons, seller/doers in their roles always feel like they are not doing enough to service and to sell. As a result, most business development becomes transactional and tactical because we are "fitting it in." But if are you're operating like a thinking partner, have thought through a hypothesis of value and can thus articulate why you're reaching out, you're in great shape. Focus more on selling a conversation vs. selling a thing. Another way of thinking about this - sell the verb, not the noun. Compile a short list of reasons to meet based on what you're seeing, what your current work is revealing, and what you see lacking across the stakeholder population for a particular persona.

For more information or to make Bill Walton Sales Training insights a reality for your organization, send us a note at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

Asking Friends and Former Clients for Referrals

Tue, 17 May 2022 22:49:00 GMT

Having friends in high places can be a definite benefit when you’re looking for referrals. But first things first—if they haven’t offered, you need to ask. That’s where some awkwardness can come in. How do you ask a friend to refer you to others in their company our outside of it without seeming pushy, desperate, or exploitative? Here are some tips that will help you get the referral you want without putting unnecessary strain on the friendship.

Asking for an introduction directly helps you better connect with your network. However, to make this scalable, segment your best ideal contacts, or the ones who will mutually benefit from receiving your introduction. Here are three things you will need to consider when asking someone directly for a referral.

Have a reason to reach out: People are busy, so don’t contact them just for the sake of doing it. Look for a good opportunity such as a promotion or significant win in their company.
Personalize your message: Differentiate your brand by relating to your contact with personalization. Be sure to do your research and learn a little bit about your ideal introduction target. You can bring up how you work with them, how they have benefitted, and a hypothesis on how you can help your introduction candidate.
Don’t go overboard: Going overboard with personalization can be a big turn off and make your customers uncomfortable. Keep your insights related to your issue fluency with a specific title, role, and business unit.

For more information or to make Bill Walton Sales Training insights a reality for your organization, send us a note at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com

Sales Enablement - The Digital Selling Mandate

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 17:07:00 GMT

And that's where we come in. We provide:

AI-driven Lead Generation and Nurturing: Injecting speed, focus and productivity into effective lead generation
Customer Journey and Sales Process Mapping: Aligning strategic engagement with the right tool, right conversation
Onboarding and Training: Reducing time to production for sales and those that support them
Sales Playbook Development: Once source tool for sellers to target and market to ideal prospects
Email & Marketing Automation: Connecting with your network productively with impact
SEO Optimization: Improving monthly ranking growth and achieving additional business listings
Social Media, Web Advertising and Data Management: Executing strategy across all platforms relevant to ideal clients

To learn more visit https://www.billwaltonsalestraining.com

Relax on talking product too soon

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 22:19:00 GMT

So here are a few tips to ensure you stay in a alignment with your prospect and earn the right to make an intelligent recommendation:
1. Make a connection with your humanity: We are all in inside sales now which includes our prospects. Everyone has made the shift to remote work, so be curious about the tools and hacks prospects are using. We are all in this together so I like to lead with genuine care and concern. It's who I am anyway but this matters in the sales and relationship building dialog. Keep it professional but be personal and personable. These initial conversations are about giving, not receiving.

2. Realize that there will be at a minimum three steps to your sales process. Typically there will be a get to know you call, a diagnostic call, and a call to review initial recommendations. Of course there will be back and forth emails for clarity and questions, but the are the key legs to the engagement stool. Do your research but don't be afraid to show up to these conversations with insights that you couldn't find on your own. Just make sure they lead to a bigger hypothesis about a problem you can solve or the pebble in the prospect's shoe you're uniquely able to remove.

3. Be patient. If you want to talk solutions because the prospect is proving you a wealth of insight, remember that rough layouts sell better than finished ones. This is one of the greatest lessons I've ever learned in solution selling. Work harder to collaborate with the prospect on solving the right problem vs. pitching your solution. With that in hand, the next step is a high level approach that entails the prospect's spoken words, interwoven with the credibility that communicates that you and your firm have done this before. If you're going to use a few slides, make sure they say "draft" on them. In the era of remote selling, too final, too soon can make prospects can feel locked out. Most want to have a point of view and see their fingerprints on something they'll ultimately have to sell internally. Set another meeting for a deep dive after you've shared a more final version of a proposal.

The face time dilemma in the era of remote selling

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 17:36:58 GMT

POINT - it's harder to get in front of prospects with the same impact and connection. So now what?

DIGITIAL ENGAGEMENT
For those of you who've followed this blog you know I'm a big fan of sales process. Well now the chickens have come home to roost and validated and repeatable sales process is now a must. With coffee talk meetings off the table for the most part, we need to engage and persuade prospects to take an idea journey with us via the web. Here are 5 steps to make the process of engaging prospects easier and more productive:

1. Think Prospect Enablement vs. Cold Calling: If you really want to make every interaction count, come back to your segmentation. You cant afford to be with someone that's not right. Become issue fluent in their market challenges, their employer's value chain and the demands of their specific role. Bone up on that and use the messaging that flows to book meetings that make sense.

2. Be bold with the calendar: If you've uncovered a true pebble in your prospect's shoe and there's tight alignment with your solution, ask for a meeting. But communicate its value in doing so. Be ready with the answer to this fill in the blank statement: "You spend 20 minutes with me online and you will get __________ (this insight) now and walk away with a better ability to _________ ."

3. Sell the verb, not the noun: Example - "Hi Teri, it was great to connect on LinkedIn last week and thanks to Frank Harper for the introduction. Prospects are coming to us for ways to inject more sustainability into their supply chain. I had shared our work with Frank and he thought we would have a spirited conversation. If you share your email I'd be happy to set up a 20 minute call to discuss." The verb is what you're "injecting" - the specific value you're adding. Once you get the email, send a Zoom invite immediately and let the prospect adjust if need be. Since we're all working remotely, people have more flex in their calendars. Work 10 days to two weeks out.

4. Rough layouts sell better than finished ones: This is one of the greatest lessons I've ever learned in solution selling. Work harder to collaborate with prospects on solving the right problem vs. pitching your solution. With that in hand, the next step is a high level approach that entails the prospect's spoken words, interwoven with the credibility that communicates that you and your firm have done this before. For detailed approaches, set another meeting for a deep dive after you've shared a more final version of a proposal. Why so long to go to final? If it's too final, too soon, prospects can feel locked out. Most want to have a point of view and see their fingerprints on something they'll ultimately have to sell internally.

5. Schedule the 6-point closing meeting: Most salespeople forget to bring the prospect back to the driving force for how the relationship got to this point. It's hard for salespeople to realize the prospect is not looking at your pipeline! They are living in today. So bring them back:
1. Executive summary of the relations ship - the catalyst and the depth
2. Dates and times of all of your interactions and with whom - you've both left no stone unturned
3. The "ah ha's" around the value you both discovered together - the prospect's spoken words
4. Any resistance that you encountered and its resolution. We are not re-litigating the case!
5. Your offer and investment
6. An easy next step.

For more information or to learn how your team can get more face time with prospects in the era of remote work, contact Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

4 Steps to New Business Now: Step 4 - ENGAGEMENT

Mon, 15 Jun 2020 17:46:21 GMT

The fourth and final step to new business now is engagement. Whether it's your initial outreach or your first meeting, all of your work in client type targeting, segmentation and messaging comes into play. You don't know everything about the prospect at this point but you know enough to form a hypothesis. This hypothesis drives your outreach and your ultimate connection. For actual appointments, remember it's your time too. You did your homework - now go have a great meeting:

Email - leverage the subject line and no more than 5 lines (think small smarphone!)

Text - only if given permission

LinkedIn InMail - great option. Err on the side of deference and respect. Operate slowly.
Social media - it's a giving game so have something to share that triangulates back to your client type.

Phone : no one picks up the phone right? But they do listen to their messages. Use it as a strategic touch in setting your appointments. Here's more from Bill Walton on ENGAGEMENT:

If you have no other option than to bring in new business now, send Bill a note at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

4th Quarter Come Backs: MESSAGING

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 17:51:26 GMT

If you want to make the 4th quarter, your messaging must be client type focused and packed with credibility. Anything else is bug spray. Most prospecting messaging is self serving and unaligned with the center-of-plate issues of the prospect. So...turn that around - include why other clients make the conscious decision to work with you, the nature of the problems you're solving and the client type impact you're having . Anything else will be ignored! Here's Bill Walton sharing how to create your new business now messaging:

If you're not supremely confident in your messaging, send Bill Walton an email directly at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

4 Steps to New Business Now: Step 2 - SEGMENTATION

Sat, 13 Jun 2020 17:55:32 GMT

The 4 Steps to New Business Now is about just that... NOW . To win business early and often, you only have time to pursue high value prospects. You have no time to be with prospects that aren't poised to buy. Good News? We can put your list into "poised to buy" shape! Factors for segmentation (in addition to client type) are profitability, business model fit, referral potential and servicing. These are critical factors for new business now, especially if you make money from renewals. Here's Bill Walton sharing how to segment and prioritize for New Business Now:

If you're in need of new business NOW send Bill Walton an email at: bwalton@billwaltopsalestraining.com !

4 Steps to New Business Now: Step 1 - Client Type Focus

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 17:58:33 GMT

The 4 Steps to New Business Now is just that; it's about NOW . To win business early and often, your approach needs to center on several distinct client types. Speed and success comes when EVERYTHING flows from a focus on a specific subindustry and the key stakeholders that drive those organizations. Why this approach? Because buyers buy comfort – comfort that you empathize with their issues, comfort that you know their space, comfort that you’ve been there before. They also don’t want to waste time educating salespeople. So the client-type approach will help you be more comfortable leading with insights and ideas over product attributes; sharing best practices and observations over testimonials and pricing. Your prospects are asking for this. Listen to Bill Walton to learn how to adopt your own Client-type Approach to New Business Now:

If you're in need of new business NOW send Bill Walton an email at: bwalton@billwaltopsalestraining.com !

BWST Introduces Suite of Free "Getting Back to Business" Sales Tools

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 19:07:04 GMT

Complimentary Messaging Help
In support of sales organizations looking to make meaningful market entry, Bill Walton Sales Training is offering a set of complimentary tools for prospecting. Areas will include message support, email structure and contact management tips. First Series: free taglines.

TAGLINES:

Taglines help you cut through the clutter and put you and a prospect on common ground. Typically they’re five- to twelve-words in length. It should represent your job function and a particular focus. Here are a few examples. Note the combination of specificity and brevity:

Good: Retirement solutions for doctors
Better: Retirement solutions for fast-growing physician groups and their valued employees

Good: Insurance experts for bus companies
Better: Risk management solutions for the ground-based mobility industry

Good: Family solutions for wealth preservation
Better: Helping manage, preserve, and enhance multigenerational wealth

Good: Providing benefits solutions for small business
Better: Helping entrepreneurial companies leverage wellness to attract and retain the best talent

Good: Transfer solutions for business owners
Better: Providing exit strategies and plans for entrepreneurs and their companies

Don’t try to be too creative with your taglines. The key is to balance describing what you do with the need to communicate what’s different. Need help with your re-entry messaging? Connect with me personally at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .
to edit.

This is what HNWIs want from Private Client Advisors

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 20:10:07 GMT

For those selling personal insurance solutions, commitment from high net worth prospects can be tough to come by. But it’s not impossible. The HNW prospects we speak with continue to articulate that they want counsel and advice on new insurance solutions, but they're not getting it in the way they want it. From our research, high net worth individuals value three things deeply:

Help me understand what I need...specifically
I value advice but I also value choice and control
I need to feel I made the right choice and my time was and is well spent

So in your HNW prospecting efforts, the approach needs to be more than dialing for dollars and a reliance on COI referrals. The competition does this. Rather it needs to feel and sound like an intentional process that's tailored toward a client type, with a hypothesis or insight in mind that your prospect would likely find valuable. In a way, it’s about knowing more to mean more – a process that leverages your own "issue fluency" to start a conversation.

Want more? Please visit www.billwaltonsalestraining.com and download our newest Whitepaper on prospecting in the High Net Worth Segment or reach out to Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com.

Sales Leadership in Financial Services: A Shift to “Transformational Energy Leadership!” A VoiceAmerica Radio Show with Bill Walton and Dr. Matt Woolsey, Renown Executive Coach

Tue, 24 Jul 2018 19:21:45 GMT

With the Wealth Management, Banking and Insurance industries changing practically weekly, firm leaders should be taking a hard look at their talent - specifically their sales leaders . They’re the true pivot point in an organization and when trained well, MAKE MONEY FOR THE FIRM.

FACT - Investing in sales leadership can yield top line revenue gains of up to 29% according to Wilson Learning. The role of the sales leader has morphed over the years, from “top closer” to “product expert” to "administrator." To win in this era of digitial client acquisition, these pros need to be freed up to coach and develop producers.

Listen to this engaging conversation with Bill Walton and Dr. Matt Woolsey, the nation’s leading authority on transformational leadership. You’ll be given a roadmap on how to make sales leadership a strategic advantage in your organization – one that you can drop to the bottom line. Topics include:

“The Managerial Covenant”: Getting producers to commit to bigger goals
The difference between general leadership and sales leadership
The four competencies of effective sales leaders
What sales leaders in financial services need to start doing, and STOP doing
Managing across multiple generations
Finding more time to coach

Click on the link to enjoy the show:
https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/108308/transformational-sales-leadership-what-is-it

Share your comments with us on LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/billwaltonsalestraining ) or Twitter (@wfwalton) or at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com.

Client Acquisition in a Box [Book]

Sun, 01 Jul 2018 19:30:53 GMT

Financial professionals all agree that they need new clients. But the challenge of balancing a healthy client base and dealing with an endless flow of admin is crowding out the time for a strategic prospecting effort. The result? A prospect-when-I-get-to-it approach that barely moves the needle. Without a dedicated prospecting effort, advisors, planners, bankers and insurance pros face real revenue gaps in their practice. In order to respond, this book provides a proven system that will get the growth readers need that positions them as credible, not salesy.

Taming the Four Headed Dragon gives Bankers , Private Client Advisors and Insurance pros an easy-to-adopt process that validates what they’re already doing well while giving them the three things successful prospectors possess:

Laser beam focus on an ideal client type
The messaging to connect credibly
The time to commit to a planful approach

Without these three things, prospecting becomes tactical and sounds transactional. That's not a good thing since most any client worth attracting is with another firm and individual. Inside you’ll find:

Templates for prospect messaging (with great samples!)
Ideal client “declarations” to share with COIs
Meeting agendas and constructs to make sure every contact pays off
Closing process that gets prospects to commit

Click here to see what readers have said about Taming the Four Headed Dragon: https://www.4headeddragon.com .

Start winning more that your share of new business by ordering your personally signed copy of Taming the Four-Headed Dragon. Go to https://www.4headeddragon.com to order. Most credit cards accepted. For an earlier start on your client acquisition efforts, download your free copy of the chapter that helps you ask for the business. Click here to get yours: www.billwaltonsalestraining.com/freedownload2.html .

The Coffee Talk Meeting: The first Step in Effective Client Acquisition Part 2 in a Two Part Series

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 19:35:53 GMT

In part one, we talked about the coffee talk meeting as a co-created experience. The key is to build momentum for next – the all-important second meeting in business. Here are 10 tips to ensure you get your share of the pie in your next coffee talk meeting.

Asses a client type category that you think your prospect falls into such as a Rental Car CFO, top producing commercial Real Estate Executive or Brand Director for large Pharma. This can help you get some fluency in the specific trends these folks encounter.
Introductions: Try it’s nice to “see you” vs. nice to “meet you” It implies more intimacy and projects confidence.
Check timing: ask if your contact still has the full hour that was pledged. You want to make sure you can bring your conversation to a good segue if time gets cut short.
Ask these three “journey” questions during your meeting for light discovery 1.) What’s been your journey? (Gets at the prospects view of their path) 2.)Where are you now? (Gets the prospect to divulge the current state) 3.)Where are you going? (Gets at goals, and potentially some dissatisfaction in the current state)
Take notes selectively. In your notebook, draw four rectangular boxes one over another on one page. As you hear a key point, fill in the box. Remember this is a connection meeting, not a court case.
Based on your journey question answers, offer to help in your own special way of authentic generosity.
Context is king - if your meeting is scheduled for an hour – protect the last 10 minutes like gold. Use this time to play back and clarify key points and suggest a next meeting.
Have one specific ask. This should be tied to what you thought the client type (prospect) could realistically help you achieve. Link the ask to the value of the current conversation and extend that to a second meeting.
Craft a hand-written thank you as soon as you can. Bullet your playback points as a tee-up to meeting #2.
A few days later, send an email follow-up that looks something like this:

“Hi Ellen, it was great seeing you this past Tuesday and thanks for being so generous with your time. We covered a lot of ground together but wanted to follow up on some of the things we both thought were important:
• This is the video of my Chamber talk on messaging
• A Whitepaper on what the best are doing around prospecting in wealth management
• A link to my blog post on social media that I told you about. Nice tie to your team’s challenges.

Thanks also for your help in connecting me to Steve over at TKD Securities. I know we said that we’d connect at the end of the month - here are some additional dates and times for us to reconnect on the prospecting topic. Please feel free to pick one that works or suggest another.
• June 6 – after 12p
• June 7 – all day
• June 13 – before 3pm

Thanks again, Ellen. I look forward to seeing you soon."

If no response in two weeks, send a calendar invite with the same message above around timing flexibility. This assumes that you made firm and purposeful connections in the coffee talk meeting and the next meeting was implied and agreed upon.

As always we value your comments and success stories. Please send all good news to bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com .

6 Client Types You Need to Be Targeting in Your HNWI Prospecting- Part 2 of a 2 part series

Tue, 05 Jun 2018 19:45:13 GMT

Thanks for reading part 1 in our series that spoke to the need to connect uniquely with HNW prospects with CREATED wealth as their main characteristic. In part 1 I wrote about serial entrepreneurs, mature business owners and C-Suite execs and the pebbles in their shoes that Wealth Management firms can address. In addition to this client type approach, firms need to be ready for the millennial-like client who will be looking for their own brand of relationship with you... or with another firm.

So to continue our client acquisition glide path, let me share with you three more client types that should also be part of your HNW prospect segmentation. This set of client types can best be associated with INHERITED wealth. Source of wealth is hugely important when making distinct connections with HNW prospects:

Client Type # 4 – Family Office

Potential Problem Areas

Most assets in Real Property
Direct ownership
Perceived need for institutional diversification
Lacks a total snapshot of true wealth

Prospecting Opportunity

Commercial Banking
Structured titling (Real Estate)
Experience with investors that have direct ownership
PIMS – aggregating personal information and reporting
Single view cash and payments management

Client Type # 5 – Large Asset Owners

Potential Problem Areas

Concentrated in one subset (i.e. Timber)
Need to pass on illiquid wealth
Diversify away from real assets
Complicated family dynamic across generations

Prospecting Opportunity

Structuring of liquidity for real assets
Lending against real assets
Specialty asset management (purchase or ongoing management)
Generational planning and wealth transfer

Client Type # 6 – Philanthropic Organizations

Potential Problem Areas

Board of advisors – Investment Committee
Focus on prudent management with need for annualized returns to break even
Not big on change or adapting to new approaches
Board engagement – varying tenures, decision making, impact stewardship

Prospecting Opportunity

Investment policy statements
Legal support for Fiduciary
Outsourced CIO
Real asset investment
Targeted asset allocation

For more ideas to support an effective client-type prospecting strategy, sign up here for a link to the corresponding chapter in my book, Taming the Four Headed Dragon ( https://www.4headeddragon.com )

6 Client Types You Need to Be Targeting in Your HNWI Prospecting- Part 1 of a 2 part series

Wed, 30 May 2018 19:51:26 GMT

For nearly three years you’ve been hearing from me on the need for a client type approach to new client acquisition. We are in the midst of a massive shift in generational wealth and Wealth Management firms need to be ready for the millennial-like client who will be looking for their own brand of relationship with you. Those in client facing roles must shift their focus – private client advisors on whole are not achieving their appropriate share of wallet with clients, relying too heavily on AUM and pressing issues of the day. I actually write about this in my book Taming the Four Headed Dragon – current clients, compliance and events are crowding out the time needed for a dedicated prospecting effort.

So to make things easier (As BWST always does), I've provided a window into six client types. Each come with their unique problems or aspirations not yet met. I've also provided some nuances to be mindful of when surfacing opportunity during your prospecting. The first set of client types will be those associated with CREATED wealth. (Part 2 will address prospects associated with INHERITED wealth). Source of wealth is hugely important when making connections with HNW prospects:

Client Type #1 - The Serial Entrepreneur

Potential Problem Areas

Always putting capital back into the business
Low liquidity; need for credit to build the business
Has not addressed wealth transfer
Perception that there’s no time, light on planning

Prospecting Opportunity

Give them permission to take care of their future and the family
Recommend retirement, education funding, real estate investments
Know that they’re always looking for the next investment, be ready with ideas
Secure financing options for expansion

Client Type #2 - The Mature Business Owner

Potential Problem Areas

Often concerned family is not interested in carrying on in the business.
Ideas to scale or exit the business; use of proceeds
Unclear around business succession planning
Hesitant to take money out of the business, release control
Uncoordinated team of advisors

Prospecting Opportunity

Sell a coordinated team of advisors and the full firm
Commercial banking to manage the balance sheet of an entire family business
Structuring support: title, contracts, controls
Next generation planning
Credit

Client Type #3 - The C-Suite Executive

Potential Problem Areas

Concentrated wealth (in their company stock)
Many ask if they're giving enough away
Information overload
Liquidity events that don't signal the market
Taxation of stock options
Volume restrictions

Prospecting Opportunity

Emotional distance and discipline
Legal support
Risk Planning
Coordinated advisor team
Philanthropic advisement, board recommendations

For more ideas to support an effective client-type prospecting strategy with High Net Worth individuals, sign up here for a link to the corresponding chapter in my book, Taming the Four Headed Dragon ( https://www.4headeddragon.com )

The Closing Blog: Executing an Effective Closing Meeting-Part two of a two-part series

Mon, 30 Apr 2018 20:02:15 GMT

Since this is a blog post I’ll get right to it. Not enough emphasis is being placed on closing. The reasons we typically hear range from a fear of being too salesy to the reluctance to confront the mortality of a deal. Flashbacks to Alec Baldwin’s famous “A-B-C” sales office scene in Glengarry Glen Ross also add to the pall. But to understand how to improve this, it’s important to understand some of the success factors that drive high close ratios:

1. Prospect fits criteria of past success and aligns with core competencies.
2. Initial contact came via credible outreach or respected referral.
3. Rapport was built and an authentic connection made.
4. Dialog revealed a true need or aspiration not yet met consistent with success factor #1.
5. Other influencers in the sales process were identified.
6. Several solution ideas were exchanged and feedback provided.
7. “Next”.

It's at Next where all the trouble starts. Is the client supposed to ask for the order? Does the client know that they are at the end of your process?

The Solution:
What we recommend is a meeting among parties that acts as a collective gathering of where everyone is in the relationship. We call this meeting The Relationship Review™ . It’s an agenda as much as it is a conversation designed to do one thing: get the client to realize that it’s time to decide . Together you’ve left no stone unturned and it’s time to act. Here’s the flow:

Summarize the Relationship: Bring the prospect back to the conditions that were present when you first met - who introduced you and the context of the discussions thus far.
List a Contact Chronology: List the dates of meetings held, with whom, and at which venue. Show the client the variety and value of your meetings in addition to the sheer volume of them. The goal is to show the prospect that you’re invested.
Share Unique Needs Uncovered Together: This is a capture of what both parties has learned through the process – learnings that are pointing to a likely and logical solution.
Recap objections and accepted responses: At this stage you are not selling in reverse. Acknowledge any resistance or objections, but focus more on how they were handled and the benefit of that clarity.
State Your Investment Recommendation: This is your recommendation for the prospect, stated in context with steps 1-4 above.
Layout easy next steps: We recommend no more than 3 easy steps that, upon the prospect's commitment can get your recommendation moving.

Bottom Line: The goal of this conversation is to continue to engage the prospect. More important - you want the prospect to see the full extent of your effort. This meeting should demonstrate the depth of agreement on key points, the uniqueness of the needs uncovered and the pragmatism in your recommendation. You want to create the impression that you've both been diligent. The ask then, is very simple. You have demonstrated your/your firms’ commitment – now you are simply asking for theirs.

Need to improve the closing skills on your team? Check out our program Taking the Stress Out of Asking for the Business. Delivered online or at a location of your choice! Click here to learn more .

4 Roles Sales Managers Perform that Drive Revenue in Wealth Management

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 20:09:07 GMT

The perceived value of sales management and the nature of the role have morphed over the years. From the “top closer” to “product expert” to "administrator", the role is being redefined as there has never been a more dire mandate for new client acquisition.

Investing in sales leadership can yield top line revenue gains of up to 29% - Wilson Learning

To get there, help sales leaders adopt these 4 roles that are helping firms grow their topline:

Role 1: Enabler of Success

Acts in the role of mentor—using communication, negotiation, and development skills to lead their people.
Refrains from TELLING people what to do, rather holds people accountable to what they think is best.
Removes barriers – redundant processes, resistant internal support – the best sales leaders intercede and make it happen.

Role 2: Technical Expert

Pulls from their own in-depth knowledge, experience, and credentials to make the tough decisions and adapt to changing market/client demands.
Influences sales opportunities with their recognized skill and unique knowledge.
Applies their knowledge of systems – new and legacy.

Role 3: Business Manager

Uses business management skills to operate the team like a business.
Manages the P&L, invests wisely, and manages the forward-looking commitments of their people.
Gauges pipelines – assesses what real, what’s worth it and where their people can win.

Role 4: Visionary

Pulls people out of tunnel vision to see the interrelation of things
Shares where client demand is shaping the industry and why.
Helps their people understand client behavior and potential sources of motivation.
Paints a picture of where the organization is going and their role in it.

The bottom line - sound sales and performance management works best when it supports striving rather than keeping score. If you’re hiring right, your best people want to see the connection of their work to strategy, and strategy’s connection to value for clients. Your moderate (“movable middle”) performers need your coaching and training to help them get to their next level of performance. These four roles applied simultaneously will help your sales teams get there.

Need to win your next new business pitch? Bring the "engine room" to the boardroom

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 20:56:20 GMT

If you sell in the B-to-B space you know that at some point Procurement or a formal buying committee will request to engage with you. Not new news. But what they want to see and what they expect has changed dramatically in the last 5 years and you may not be winning as many deals as a result.

For years I made a good living teaching presentation skills to salespeople. It was fun; you could see folks improve right in front of your eyes and for participants, watching your video was never as bad as it felt recording it. But with new business pitches being held in different meeting environments and the needs of stakeholders changing, the simple rules of touch, turn and talk don’t fully apply.

In most cases, your new business pitch was already submitted via some form of formal proposal. I can’t tell you how many sales teams try and recant all that was proposed. I literally had a client come to me with an 85-page deck for a 90-minute presentation! Well, the last time I checked 85 will get you a ticket in more ways than one. What clients want is to hear from the folks that will handle their business day –to-day. They want to meet the delivery mechanism of the service.

Doesn't sound so bad, right? Wrong. These subject matter experts rarely present, and are rarely asked about who they are and the significance of their role. These are the things that you’ll need to nail in a new business pitch. In fact – I hate the word pitch because what you’re really creating is an experience.

Here are 6 things you can do to ensure your best showing at your next new business presentation:

1. Assign a team leader. There HAS to be someone to act as the ambassador of the agenda - to direct the energy and focus of the assembled team.

2. Clear the agenda. Rather than launch right in, share that your team is prepared to tackle all of it. But ask if there are areas of deeper emphasis client stakeholders would like to focus on. Ideally you’d know this going in.

3. Know each other well. The client is looking for how oiled your machine is – you need to have regard for one another, be able to speak to each other’s strengths and connect to the purpose of the meeting and the client’s requirements.

4. Practice handoffs. What gets awkward in presentations is when it’s your turn as the presenter who rarely presents. Wait for your cue from the team leader; make your key points and end on a confident point. Then hand it off to the next presenter with an intro as to who they are and their significance.

5. Expect the tech to fail. If you are going to the client site, expect the outlets to be far away, the projector to have a bad bulb and the client to have forgotten their pen. Bring perfection with you – take an extra extension cord, power strip, projector and pens.

6. Pledge your commitment. The close at these presentations can be awkward, but they don't have to be. For the selling team, affirm your commitment by stating it and reiterating a key point from your presentation that was important to the client. Then, acknowledge that the client has a process, but that your team feels you’ve earned the right for their commitment and that your organization will give the client its highest energy and priority. And that's it. Assume equal business stature in these meetings. With the right prep, you wont have to worry about wearing an air of confidence. It will already be all over you. Good luck and good selling.

To make the most out of your next new business pitch, please contact us at 917-439-3271 or bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com.

Attracting and retaining coveted COIs: A giving hand is always full

Mon, 23 May 2016 21:04:59 GMT

In financial and professional services, your client and professional advocates (centers of influence) are incredibly important to the success of your business. The best have experienced the value you can offer or have intimate knowledge of the impact you’re having on others. While everyone would agree COIs can be as important as a client itself, most go about attracting additional sources all wrong.

Much of what we see among financial professionals is that they do their prospecting on a limited time budget. That’s reality. But what this is driving is a transactional approach to attracting coveted referral and introduction sources. In short, we see too much of a “take” mindset vs. a “give” mindset.

Renowned sales coach and author John Orvos, speaks to this concept. John is fond of saying “a giving hand is always full”. As a peer I’ve found this advice to be invaluable. As a friend, I’ve found it to be the best “retention tool” going. So when thinking about gaining more COIs in business, it’s about balancing two buckets – a give bucket and a take bucket. Managing your give bucket is about what you can offer COIs in terms of insights and eventually valuable introductions. Your take bucket holds what you can realistically ask of COIs, namely referrals and support for your business once earned.

It’s also important to note that there are two dimensions of time between you and your COI – time together and time apart. Face it, you are apart more than together so it’s important to drip on your COIs to let them know what you’re up to and to provide valuable insights for their business.

Let’s take a look at a few COI types:

Attorneys:

Attorneys make money on transactions and the billable hours that result from them.
Be attuned to transactions associated with the risks and business issues your firm can address.
Attorneys need help prospecting – they don’t like to take time away from billable hours. Help them be successful.

Financial Planners:

Financial planners (and most COIs) value your ability to provide expertise to their clients.
They’re in the planning business – focused on future events. You’re in the same business!

Real Estate Professionals:

Realtors value those moving into certain neighborhoods, neighborhoods where your ideal prospects reside.
Be a net giver, tap into that information and know the inventory.

So here are 6 proven tips to attract and retain the best centers of influence for your practice.

Ensure that the COI has a business model you can identify with. If you cant get excited about their business, you will have very little to give in terms of insights, support, and ultimately referrals. Attorneys and CPAs make their living on billable hours – help them see the value in prospecting. Give them actionable ideas on how to do more in less time.
Find a link between your value prop and theirs. Every one of your COIs, whether they be real estate professionals, financial planners or lawyers all have a value prop for their practice. While some are better than others, find the connection between how you both go to market. Some of the best CPA firms we’ve seen have done a great job of creating industry and market specialization and promote that heavily. There’s bound to be a connection there for you.
Be their number one referrer. Make sure that you have a referral mindset - A “giving hand is always full”. Be on the lookout for their ideal client type.
Support the networking events or social gatherings of your COI. The Woody Allen rule works in this case – there is high value in showing up. Put each one of your COIs on the mailing list for your events and functions.
Share helpful insights that they can use to grow their business. Always update them on new developments in their industry that affect them, as well as what’s happening in yours. For example, help your real estate partners know the inventory in your market and share what your affluent clients are looking for as they look to live their life in your community, not just find a home.
Keep a client type focus. Certain client types- such as serial entrepreneurs or retiring land owners– have unique problems, concerns and aspirations. Identify the client types you both serve, the problems you both address and the impact you’re having on solving those problems. Work that understanding into your messaging and support for one another.

For more information, visit https://www.billwaltonsalestraining.com

Hunters or Farmers...or Both?

Thu, 06 Mar 2014 22:17:01 GMT

One of the advantages of being an executive coach is that you get to sit in on boardroom conversations. I'm always excited when the conversation turns to revenue generation. Everyone around the table is interested in the why's and how's of where the numbers are and the question always arises - "do we have the right sales organization structure?" Most senior (non sales) leaders understand the concept of Hunters and Farmers but the lines are blurring between the two. Even the most seasoned sales leaders are wrestling with fielding the right balance of both. Here's why:

HUNTERS
The term “hunter” is used to describe the type of salesperson focused on closing deals with new customers. Once one deal wraps, hunters aggressively move on to the next prospect and try to close another deal. This focus on deal-making and capturing new “prey” fills a need but is creating a drive for transactions. This drive is often frustrating the efforts of marketing and product groups looking to raise the bar of sophistication (and thus value) in their solutions. In addition, hunters are prone to action, not analysis. Today’s buyers are expecting business value and a high level of knowledge about their issues and challenges. Hunters detest administration and thus prep (what I call sleuthing). Most hunters abhor sleuthing because they are not “in motion.” Point – more sleuthing is needed to win the B-to-B sale.

FARMERS
The term “farmer” describes a sales role that cultivates and nurtures customer relationships. Farmers deploy a more consultative sales process than hunters. The farmer’s focus is on developing an in-depth understanding of the customer’s business in order to effectively identify solutions that fit well with the customer’s strategy and needs. Many Farmers are incented to grow revenue within existing accounts. Farmers must possess strong interpersonal skills, be able to develop trusted relationships over time, and have the ability to make and execute mid- to long-term account plans. What holds these professionals back are the administrative and firefighting activities required in ongoing relationships. This “stress” is sapping the intellectual curiosity of these groups, which oddly enough, is driving more hunter-type mentality. The challenge is that farmers need to balance the relationship and the next sale. Typically one wins out.

THE THIRD WAY
Sales organizations need hunters and farmers to meet in the middle. Hunters need to be more cerebral about their pursuits; savvier about the various stakeholders they’ll be engaging and more patient with consensus-based buying policies. But this is more than just adding more pepper and cooking with less salt. Farmers need clarity as to what is truly value adding to their customers and need to recommend incremental solutions by playing ideas upstream constantly. Senior sales leaders then need to think about their sales process and the types of skills their people will need depending on their roles.

High performing sales organizations are talking to their customers about how they prefer to buy and are aligning their sales and relationship management processes around that. In addition, more non-sales resources are touching the customer, both in transactional and consultative pursuits and they need to know where they fit in the sales process and what’s expected.

The Bill'isms Glossary

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 22:12:50 GMT

"Happy Has a Short Shelf Life": For those operating daily within existing client relationships, you have to anchor the value you and your firm are providing everyday. Resist the desire to reflexively jump at every client request - rather take the time to seek clarity and always come back to the client with context, especially if it's a negotiation.

"Break Some Dishes": In sales, if you want things to be different, you can't be afraid of change. Achieving something often involves things going wrong and encountering difficulties.

"Mean More to Clients": Meaning more to clients is about being more relevant and valuable than your competition to your customers.

"You'd Rather Have a No Than a Maybe": When managing a sales pipeline, it must be real or take it off. With a "no" you can free yourself and move on to another opportunity.

"Equal Business Stature": What you achieve by enhancing your business acumen in your client's chosen field. You don't have to be a CFO, just have empathy for the pebbles in their shoe.

"It's Your Time Too": Too many business people surrender themselves when they get that all important meeting with a senior exec. If you prepare, and you have insights to offer, ask for what you want. Get what you need from YOUR time investment.

"Avoid the Melt": When you leave a sales call, the experience you created is like a fine ice sculpture. It looked wonderful at the party, but started to melt as soon as the guests left. Keep your follow-up relevant and pointed to avoid the "melt".

"Clients Like to Hear Their Name in Lights": When in conversation, play back the critical spoken words of your client or prospect when shaping your recommendations. People love to know that you listened to them.

"Value is Role and Industry Specific": Most salespeople sell to a body across the desk. The that body has a day job and works within an industry with opportunities, pressures and challenges. A CFO in Aerospace & Defense cares about different things than a CFO of a Consulting firm. Bring relevant industry insights to the role in which you are connecting.

"The Proposure": Too many salespeople rush to creating a proposal for their clients. At early stages, any price you include will be too high. Instead, create a proposal without the money that sells your approach, not the financed amount. Proposal + Brochure = Proposure.

'Rough Layouts Sell Better that Finished Ones": A line from Paul Arden's book It's Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be., finished proposals can be too final too soon for the client. If they haven't had time to influence it or socialize it internally in their organization, they will likely reject it. This is the reason for the "Proposure."

"Plan Hard, Sell Easy": For client meetings, prepare in such a way that you are prepared to be spontaneous. There is no guarantee on how a meeting will go, but you can guarantee how you can influence it's outcome.

"Zero to 80 Will Get You a Ticket": Long presentations, those that are 80 pages in length for example, will not reach their intended outcome. The average attention span lasts 20 minutes and 20 slides takes an hour on average to present. So 80 slides is the wrong number.

The Value of a Defined Sales Process

Thu, 27 Feb 2014 22:23:48 GMT

A company cannot grow consistently unless the sales process is repeatable, non arbitrary, and aligned with how clients buy. That’s why companies investing in a defined sales process experience a minimum of 5-10% revenue growth when a formal process is followed consistently (Sales Leadership in Action, 2010). Organizations without a documented sales process often exhibit several common symptoms, such as a disconnected and manual approach to selling and a lengthy cycle time to find prospects, get quotes out the door, and close orders.

The Solution:
Companies, not just their sales organizations, need to map the critical client interactions that reinforce the value they deliver through their processes, products and services. The goal of a validated sales process is to make routine the manner in which the entire organization engages clients. It’s a process designed to maximize each and every touchpoint they with a client and to thus drive greater buying commitment and post purchase satisfaction.

The Benefits of Designing and Implementing a Branded Sales Process:

Greater speed to decision and decreased length of sales cycles
Greater forecasting accuracy from understanding where each opportunity lies in its evolution
Greater execution from a what-to-do-and-when roadmap for salespeople, sales managers and other key roles
Articulates the most valuable touch points your organization has with clients
A defined set of coachable sales skills and actions (aligned with how clients buy)
A blueprint for the training you need to win along with defined roles for sales managers
Key ingredient to creating a sales culture for tenured reps as well as those new to the sales organization

Bill Walton Sales Training - Blog

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A Mindset Shift for Phone Prospecting - Think M.A.I.N.

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Prospecting in the Age of AI

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The Perfect First Meeting

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FREE DOWNLOAD! Sales Kickoff Dos and Don'ts Checklist

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Landing New Clients - It's about "value-based positioning"

Asking Friends and Former Clients for Referrals

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Relax on talking product too soon

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4th Quarter Come Backs: MESSAGING

4 Steps to New Business Now: Step 2 - SEGMENTATION

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Client Acquisition in a Box [Book]

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6 Client Types You Need to Be Targeting in Your HNWI Prospecting- Part 2 of a 2 part series

6 Client Types You Need to Be Targeting in Your HNWI Prospecting- Part 1 of a 2 part series

The Closing Blog: Executing an Effective Closing Meeting-​Part two of a two-part series

4 Roles Sales Managers Perform that Drive Revenue in Wealth Management

Need to win your next new business pitch? Bring the "engine room" to the boardroom

Attracting and retaining coveted COIs: A giving hand is always full

Hunters or Farmers...or Both?

The Bill'isms Glossary

The Value of a Defined Sales Process

The Closing Blog: Executing an Effective Closing Meeting-Part two of a two-part series