Sales Cycles in ICT are getting longer for some companies that can be a real killer to profitability and success. It doesn't have to be that hard. Here are my Top 5 Ways to Reduce ICT Sales Cycles
According to Qvidian research 2014, only 63% of sales people will make their sales target in FY2014.
That leaves over a third of you either auditioning in the Tap section of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ with your manager or connecting with a dozen more recruiters on LinkedIn.
If you managed to reach or exceed quota...well done, but it was probably harder than ever and one of the key culprits is the ‘Long Sales Cycle’ –the Golden Staph of Selling.
Here are my Top Five Ways to Reduce ICT Sales Cycles
Stop talking to the IT Flunky
Your main mid level IT contacts have limited budgets and authority. They don’t know everything that’s going on in their organisation, When they say ‘I have no budget for 12 months’ it’s probably true and simply an inconvenient fact.
Your mother didn’t even carry you in the womb for that long so why gestate him for 12 months in a long sales cycle. Start talking to C Level and get your whole organisation involved. They will be able to move faster than a politician at a baby photo shoot if your solutions can help their business.
12 months becomes 3 if the right executive hears your potent story.
Use the client’s balance sheet
A Systems Integrator company went back to their client and asked how the financial return or ROI was faring on their implemented solution.
The client smiled like a kid who got away with farting in Science class and said ‘Oh, we virtually paid for in 6 weeks’.
The sales manager said ‘6 weeks! Fantastic, but why did you bash us around for weeks for reduced pricing if you knew the ROI was that good’?
The client smiled again (must be an-going flatulence problem) and said ‘Just part of the game – we knew we could delay and push you against your quarterly targets....bit of fun really’.
Find someone who can read a proper balance sheet, a director, your CFO or your Weird Uncle Archie who likes Over 50s Singles Ballroom Dancing at the RSL but also happens to be a qualified CPA.
Nothing shortens the sales cycle more than when you walk in with financial proof that every month they delay is costing them money or poor Return on Assets/Capital/Cash Flow.
Qualify like a Reality TV Show
If you’ve watched any of the talent shows on TV, you know they are ruthless in weeding out the people who can’t cook, sing, dance or walk a catwalk.
They even flaunt it for their own glory by showing you brief shots of these insecure, destroyed souls who missed out on the chance to burn a soufflé on national television.
Anyone who has been to an audition knows that it’s more ruthless than an ICAC investigation into Grange Hermitage (NB Penfolds, do I get a 1959 bottle for the free plug?....happy to write a thank you note.)
Despite Bid/No Bid Systems, Sales Meetings and Forecasts, qualification is still done poorly. Mostly, it’s because the pipeline isn’t big enough so we hang on to prospects more than we keep our favourite pair of worn, de-elasticised, comfy undies. Yes, the red ones.
Poor qualification leads to long sales cycles and forecasts about as accurate as the Bureau of Meteorology, the place where pathological liars are sent for work experience.
Let’s have the courage to ask prospects questions like:
‘Based on our initial meeting/s, before we go any further the budget for this is typically around $300-500k. Are you happy to continue talking?’
We have three software experts coming off projects in June who will then be allocated for the next major client assignment. What are your thoughts on that timeframe for you?
If yes, you’ve shortened the sales cycle. If not, you can still keep them warm, but they’re not part of a long sales cycle, because they have qualified themselves out.
Your hairdresser, masseur, car mechanic does this effortlessly.
There’s no need to be squeamish about ‘Are you ready for us or not?’
As the great philosopher, Beyonce said ‘If you like it you should have put a ring on it’.
Stop being the clingy, needy boyfriend/girlfriend. Move or Move On.
Get your Really Senior Management Involved.
In my work consulting on major ICT pitches, we have seen tremendous results by getting your CEO, Regional Director, Global CEO or Chief Superintendent of Intergalactic Greatness to call the client.
Depending on the situation, he or she may say one of the following things to your client’s senior management:
My people have been working with your people for 6 months – this has global visibility at our end and the ROI seems to be less than 12 months –what’s the hold up or what hasn’t my team done to prove this yet?
I’ve just come back from a meeting with one of your competitors who implemented our solution months ago. Help me understand why this appears to be dragging on so long?
With respect, I can’t give you our global expert, Rita any further without some understanding of where and when this is going?
Basically, it’s the Jerry Maguire moment ‘Show Me The Money’
Timeline on a Whiteboard
We have used this to help win ICT pitches for Infrastructure, Contact Centre, ERP and Software for years.
NOW ______________________________________________________________THEN
You work backwards from ‘THEN’, the point in time where they indicate they need to see a result in cost reduction, implementation, cash flow improvement, customer acquisition or whatever is their Holy Grail.
You then fill in the blanks with:
6 weeks to implement and train
5 weeks for testing
7 weeks for procurement and shipping
2 weeks business analytics
4 weeks stakeholder engagement and signoff etc etc
Before you know it, it will often become evident that they should have ordered this thing in 1978 to get the results they want.
Too many sales people do the opposite by promising that they’ll expedite things to help. All that does is take the pressure off the client to commit because s/he knows you’ll run around like a Coke addict (not the Cola kind) to get things done even if they delay decision making.
Stuff that for a game of Monopoly.
Show them the real timeline that has in-built protection, assurance and quality and ask them if they want to get a 457 Visa for Dr Who to Time Travel back to meet the deadlines or simply place the PO now.
Reducing sales cycles is like sticking to the speed limit to avoid penalties. You have more control than you think.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can shorten sales cycles join me in the Salient Executive Level Selling Program HERE.
As CEO of Salient Communication, Elliot is a sought after keynote speaker and corporate trainer who has coached and trained over 4000 people including CEOs, senior management and successful sales teams throughout Australasia and Asia including Hong Kong and Singapore.
Elliot is a specialist sales speaker for high profile corporates having spoken at over 1500 conferences, workshops and break-out sessions on presenting, selling, negotiating and pitching for leading companies such as HP, SEEK, Avaya, Hitachi , Computershare and CUB.
He is renowned for ensuring sessions are engaging, interactive and relevant to winning business in competitive markets.
Elliot is based in Melbourne where he lives with his wife and two expensive children
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