The Xplor View - October 2008 - (Page 12)

Identify and Sell your strengths - Network Use Marketing & PR - Tempt new business The presentation Build a list of prospects and put together the materials you need before approaching them. Do you require a professional presentation for example, with images, case studies, and testimonials? Put together a businesslike offering, whether using slides or boards, then make sure that whoever is going out to present it is trained beforehand in effective presentation skills—rehearse it in front of colleagues to gain meaningful feedback. Many a good opportunity is wasted by sending the wrong person on the call. For important pitches put together a team of people—a good front person, then some back up on technical/IT/finance. This shows thorough preparation, proves that you as a company are taking the pitch and opportunity seriously, and that there is substance behind the presentation. Be sure to brief your support team thoroughly prior to arriving at the pitch. Ensure that you have the right environment prior to the appointment—if you need AV equipment for example, check that they are in situ at the client premises, or take what you need with you. Arrive early if you need to set up in advance. Take copies of the presentation for distribution. Consider what questions you might be asked, and ensure that you have not only the answers prepared, but also supporting material to back them up. Tick the right accreditation boxes Have you got what it takes to appeal to the companies you are approaching? Blue chip companies often work on a roster basis, and as a bare minimum you might need some ISO accreditations. The environment is becoming key to many companies these days—do you have an environmental policy; FSC accreditation; ISO14001? Find out what you need and get them underway before pitching. Do not fall at the first hurdle. Have health and safety policies, procedural documents, quality assurance documents, financial statements, plant lists, case studies, etc, etc in place, ready to be presented when required. Ask for the business Keep the client and their needs at the forefront of your mind at all times. Ask questions of their business and what plans they have going forward. What are they trying to achieve? What areas cause them problems? What difficulties do they foresee? Listen to what they tell you, and then react to their answers. Keep asking questions—never assume that you know everything there is to know about a customer and their business. Things change, people move on, goals are reset, and if you do not keep up, you may find that your competitors have. Do not forget to ask for the order at the end. Keep a careful eye out for buying signals, and handle objections as they come. Objections should be viewed as the client seeking more information—remember to reiterate the benefits of your proposal when responding. If you win the order—say thank you. If are not successful in your bid—within a suitable time period, ask if you can have a debrief session. Ideally this should be taken by a member of your company who was not part of the pitch team. Enquire as to why you failed, what could you have done better, and when might another opportunity arise? Good luck! The sales process When out selling, one of the things that we should think about is ensuring that we have thought through and identified our USPs—or Unique Selling Propositions. All companies will have features of their service that will be of benefit to customers—they will differ according to the company that you are selling to, so a list of USPs should be established—and then communicated to the sales team and all client facing personnel within the company. Key to this process is to remember that a feature is not of interest to a prospect unless you explain the benefit behind it. So telling someone that you have installed the latest high volume digital press is of little relevance until you make that press real in their eyes. Do this by explaining the benefit behind the press and what it can, therefore, offer them and their business—whether it be speed of ripping or print output, colour management, print quality, sheet size, choice of substrate, etc, etc. Every time you quote a technical feature of your factory or the equipment within it, follow it up with how that benefits whoever it is you are talking to. If it does not, do not mention it! Always put yourself in the customers shoes—what’s in it for them? For more information on strategies for winning new business, visit www.cotmandene.com Jo Lloyd Managing Director Cotmandene Training & Development Ltd jo.lloyd@cotmandene.com “Leaving it all to the sales people can mean they are spending more time trying to find prospects, than out talking to potential customers.” 12 The VIEW Journal Xplor European Edition Issue 6 October 2008 http://www.cotmandene.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Xplor View - October 2008

The Xplor View -� October 2008 Contents TPE Master Class: Three Ways to Tame your Print-to-Mail Workflow Right Now Mission Impossible: Embracing Environmental Concerns TPE Master Class: Implementing a Lean Working Environment Improving Business Processes Yields Award-Winning Business Performance How Do� You Effectively Win New Business Writing a Marketing Plan to Win New Printing Clients How Buying Strategies Have Affected How the Industry Sells Let's Talk About Integrated Customer Communications Management:�Transpromo...It Takes a Village! Knowledge Management Part 3 XDU: Leading the Education Revolution Kodak plus Xplor equals XDU Around the World Xplor Europe News:�Short News Items for the Xplor UK�Programme and Europe News

The Xplor View - October 2008

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