Deploying a Virtual Sales Team

Deploying a Virtual Sales Team is the ideal solution for augmenting your sales force and closing new business.

For most business owners, the concept of a perfect sales force is a moving target. With new product and service announcements, shifts in regional priorities, and evolving vertical market requirements, the result is an ongoing source of anxiety, and a drain on even the most efficient organization’s bottom line.

With On Demand Sales, a service of Salesconx, we remove this burden, and replace it with easy access to the best sales professionals in the country. They work for your company, selling your products and services, on a pay-for-performance basis. Our nationwide network of selling experts have a proven track record of success, and can be ramped up or down as your business requirements dictate. So you can forget about recruitment fees and the expense of in-house hiring. There are no administrative nightmares to toil over, and no huge overhead expenses to concern yourself with. It’s that simple.

Looking for results? Look no further than On Demand Sales. Visit us at www.ondemandsales.com.

Getting Your Foot in the Door

You have a great product or service to sell. You know the pitch back and forth and are prepared to handle any objections made by the prospect. All you need now is a prospect. Knowing full well that the right person isn’t going to pick up the phone and call us – how do you get in front of the right people?

We all make cold calls or, in the web 2.0 vernacular, send out blind emails (not spam). We certainly want to make the most of our lead generation time. Marketing is always concerned (or should be) with the return on investment (ROI) of marketing spend but how about the ROI on sales time? Who is measuring whether the time spent on the phone prospecting is actually paying off in revenues? If reaching the wrong person is a sure fire way to not drive business, then reaching the right person will certainly move the ball forward.

Aim High – why not set your targets on reaching out to the best possible prospect first? Go for the homerun! Find out the person’s name by using Zoominfo, Hoovers, LinkedIn or any professional network. Why not send a well written by brief email to the target? If I am sending an unsolicited email I always apologize for the intrusion and ask for their assistance. Make a list of your top prospects and send them all similar but personalized emails. Make sure the subject is interesting and compelling. Perhaps you read a recent article demonstrating their ingenuity or some other element that connects you together – use it.

Stop and Ask for Directions – when you are talking to any prospect, why not ask them to steer you in the right path? Start by stating upfront that you know he/she is not the person you should be talking and then ask for the right person. If you are able to engage a person in a conversation then have them help you. Talking to an administrative assistant or a subordinate – ask them when the best time would be to reach the prospect.

Think Out of the Box – let’s be real, whatever you are selling the chances are that someone pitched the very same thing to your targeted prospect within the past 30 days. If not then you got a hot one. Why not think about a different pond to fish in (enough metaphors). If you are selling small business benefit services why not pitch to local accountants that serve small businesses? If you are selling web design services why not introduce your services to local computer stores?

Buy Your Way In – larger companies spend a fortune in marketing getting their service/product in front of the right people. According to the American Marketing Association, $90 billion was spent in the US in 2006 in marketing. While you may not have that kind of money to spend, think of what it is worth to you to get in front of the right prospect. Is it $50? Is it $1000? Why not offer that up to your network as a referral fee for helping you get into door of a prospective client. Most enterprises use appointment setting services where they pay telemarketers to open up doors for them with prospects. Why not do it yourself?

Knocking down doors is a hard business, especially in a difficult marketplace. If your company’s marketing department isn’t driving leads for you then you have to do it yourself. The good news is that we (all of us sales guys) have done it before. We all have good days and bad days. The key is always persistence, staying on top of leads and following thru.

The First 10 (Customers)

Your research is completed. Your development is done. Your blood, sweat, and tears have finally come to its zenith. Your forecasts for revenues are in line with your expense projections. Your hot-off-presses business cards are printed and your website is going ‘live’. All that’s left is to finally prove to the world (and of course all the naysayers) that your idea for a new business was right on the mark.

We can talk about writing press releases, taking out ads and sending out mailers. But, think about it - in tangible terms, how are you going to get those first ten customers? Your first few customers are so critical to your success because they:

• Legitimize your offering, demonstrating that yes, there is indeed a market for your products and services (“dogs eating the dog food”).
• Provide valuable feedback to help you improve your business operations.
• Give you real testimonials and referrals.
• Pay the bills (let’s not forget about that one).

The Old Way

Let’s assume for our purposes that you are not blessed with a brand name like Pepsi or Jack Welch. If that was the case, then simply cold calling a potential customer would suffice. There are a number of ‘old school’ ways to find potential customers in your immediate network – the “warm market”.

• Personal Contacts – friends and their friends, school connections, fraternity brothers, club members, church and so forth.
• Business connections – former employers, employees and customers. Your personal vendors - lawyers, doctors, accountants, insurance agents, mortgage brokers, bankers, real estate agent, contractor and so forth.

After you have built your list of contacts, send them all something letting them know about your new business. Keep in mind that you aren’t necessarily soliciting them to be a customer but rather, you are informing them that your new venture exists and with that knowledge your contacts could either decide to become a customer themselves or refer folks that might be interested in your product or service. Make it really simple for them too; what problem are you trying to solve and how do you solve it. When should you be brought into the situation? A colleague/friend is going to refer business to you in the hopes of them looking good to both you and the prospect.

In order to attain your first customers, you are relying on the trust that you have built (ideally) with your personal relationships, friends and family. While this method will hopefully drive business, if your business does not directly align with your contacts then hitting them up for business will be futile.

The Internet Way

What better way (presumably) to launch your new company than to leverage the power of the Internet to get your first 10 customers. The (now) classic steps are:

• Build your website.
• Optimize it to be visible within search engines.
• Launch a pay-per-click campaign with text and banner advertisements.
• Tweak the messages to attract your audience.
• Weed thru the clicks to find quality leads.
• Close business.

While this seems extremely straightforward and easy to launch – it is still difficult to get your first customers this way. We surveyed 800 small businesses at the end of 2007 and most of them were concerned about upfront costs on any marketing program.

While the internet will help you drive people into your store, when they look around they aren’t going to see pictures of satisfied customers – because there aren’t any. As they look around for accolades from your biggest clients, all they’ll find is smoke and mirrors. Of course you could get lucky and convince your site visitors to buy your service but this could take quite a while. It is no wonder this approach is often called the ‘spray and pray.’ Think about it; you have allocated a significant amount of money (that you likely don’t have) into Google and PPC advertising in the hopes that one of the hundreds of people who will click on your advertisement will convert to a customer. It could happen…but can you rely on it for your first ten customers?

The New Way

With the proliferation of social and professional networks, there must be a better way of ‘finding the right person’ to buy your product/service. And, isn’t that what all this marketing is really about – finding the decision maker who could authorize a purchase or trial of your product/service. The “old way” as described above, finding the right person was by leveraging your immediate network. The internet way says: broadcast your message to as many folks as possible and someone (hopefully) will be the needle in the haystack.

But, the new way, and ideally the most cost effective and efficient method is to harness the business relationships of others to find the decision maker. Here is a good visual – if you were to launch your company and have 50 independent sales people ready to promote your product/service would that be a better approach to finding your first ten customers? Think of the power of having an army of people trying to open up doors for you the “master salesperson” to close the deal.

Social and professional networks have really gotten the ball rolling on this approach. Think of your ideal decision maker – the head of sales training at a company with more than 100 sales reps, the head of marketing at a consumer good company or the CIO of a retail chain. Now, why not tap into your professional network (whether it’s LinkedIn, Xing, Ning or others) and ask them to make introductions for you to your target decision maker. I know some folks on LinkedIn (like Moshe Weiss) who have 17,000 contacts in his ‘network’. Surely, the type person that you are looking for could be found in Moshe’s network. Getting these networked folks to make introductions for you shouldn’t be too difficult even though you don’t actually know them. How, you may ask? Would you ask 50 independent sales reps to go out and find customers for you without compensating them? Of course you wouldn’t. So why not offer the same compensation you would offer an independent sales force – on performance or based on success.

Let’s assume that you stand to earn $50,000 from landing your first customer for your new product or service. If you hired a sales executive they would expect commission of 5%-7% on top of a base salary. So why not offer $5,000 to anyone that could bring you a customer. Maybe it is a residual payment of 10% of the monthly revenue. Think of what it is worth to you to get that customer and what it would cost you to drive that lead yourself – PPC ads, telemarketing, etc. Add on top of that the cost of commission to a full time sales executive. It certainly sounds far less expensive to leverage a 3^rd party sales team that to build one yourself – especially if you are only paying for success. Outsourced sales and telemarketing is a huge business that usually incurs upfront fees or monthly minimum commitments. They could be very effective but it requires an investment in time and money.

Leveraging the networked folks seems like a winning combination; a broader reach than your personal contacts without the cost exposure of a full blown internet marketing campaign. Let’s not forget that money is a great motivator so why not offer money to help drive your business. I generally don’t like the whole favor business – the quid pro quo of you doing this for me and I’ll do this for you. I prefer, here is what I need and I am willing to compensate you accordingly.

So here is the question; if I was looking to meet someone you know professionally and compensated you for making the introduction a percentage of any revenue I generated from the relationship – would that create more of an incentive for you to make the introduction? That would make you the middleman just like the role of a real estate broker or even an investment banker. Now if you could only earn the fees of an investment banker – wouldn’t that be something?

The New Networker

Social and professional networking has really taken the Internet by storm. LinkedIn, the largest of the US professional networks, has more than 20 million professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries. There are many smaller professional networks such as BizNik, FastPitch networking and Xing just to name a few. Recruiters and corporate recruiters were the first ones to jump on the professional networking bandwagon. Examine the top “connected” folks on these sites and you will still find an overwhelming number of them in the recruiting field. And it is no wonder, before the days of business networking - the recruiters always carried the largest rolodexes. Online networking created a new platform for recruiters to tap not only the folks in their network, but also the contacts in their network. Private wealth managers also account for a healthy segment of this user base. These folks spend a large portion of their day cultivating new clients and landing one produces significant fees.

Recently, a new breed of online networker has emerged – the ‘power networker’. The power networker doesn’t tap into his network to sell his/her product line. The power networker doesn’t tap into his/her network to find potential candidates. The power networker in fact doesn’t sell anything to contacts in his/her network. Rather, the power networker derives revenues from simply having amassed the collection of contacts. How does the power networker make money?

(a) The old fashion Internet way – Ad revenue. Pretty amazing that we treat ‘old fashion’ in Internet-speak as advertising revenue but so it goes. For the power networker to earn advertising dollars he/she invites their network over to platform that provides them a share of the advertising revenues. Xing has put together a great platform for doing just that – creating a true partnership between the social networking site and the creator of the network. Facebook and LinkedIn both have group functionality and this resource has been leveraged by the power networker to collect users and then bring them over to another site that provides them revenue. Given people affinity for joining social and professional networking sites joining yet another one is not a far stretch. A similar approach (even easier) is to drive ones social network traffic to ones own site where advertising revenues could be earned. [it should be noted that we found a number of power networker’s home pages are actually their social network profile].

(b) The business developer. This clearly is the favored approach and most likely the reason that professional networking exists – to help drive business. For the power networker with rolodexes exceeding 10k professionals, the odds are the person that you are seeking is in their rolodex. Requests are made to power networkers throughout the day requesting introductions and access to their rolodex. The power networker is entitled to ask the requestor for a fee in exchange for making the introduction. Though this functionality is not built into the traditional professional networks, these fee based transactions are occurring and are growing in frequency and size.

(c) Referral Fees from 3^rd parties. As anyone who has purchased a lead list before could attest to – just obtaining a name is valuable. Zoominfo, Hoovers and Spoke are just some of the firms that provide contact information (of course for a fee). Well, the power networker also has valuable contact information and could easily leverage their network. Of course the power networker needs to be careful how many times they tap their network for promotional purposes but it is a great source of revenue. Many online publications derive lots of revenue from dedicated emails, sponsored promotions and newsletters. The power networker has access to the same base of users and in many instances outweighs the smaller publications.

If you missed the boat on buying up 1800 telephone numbers, registering thousands of domain names, or setting up an offshore development company, chances are you are too late to become a power networker. We are already seeing a significant amount of cross over in terms of contacts from power networker to power networker. But, as new people are joining social and professional networks everyday it shouldn’t take long for anyone to amass enough of an online network to drive some real revenue.

LinkedIn Lion Taps Salesconx to Monetize Network

NEW YORK- April 14, 2008--Salesconx.com, the online business referral marketplace today announced that Moshe Weiss, a master rainmaker and leading networker with over 16,000 direct business connections, has joined the Saleconx Partnership Program to monetize his network.

Salesconx helps businesses drive more revenue by providing a platform for qualified lead and deal generation by leveraging the 17 million sales professionals in the United States. The member base currently consists of 1,800+ frontline experts across numerous industries and disciplines including finance, banking, real estate and business services. These members are compensated for introducing qualified decision makers in their individual networks to other Salesconx members seeking these connections.

"Salesconx is all about delivering added value to the sales cycle - from the buyer, to the seller and the decision maker," said Evan Sohn, CEO of Salesconx. "Shortly after launching, we were approached by companies who wanted to deliver similar value to their members. This served as the foundation for our Partner Program."

The Salesconx Partner Program was launched this past March to make the platform more accessible to new sales, marketing and small business professionals. The partners consist of small businesses and networking individuals interested in adding value to their network by providing their members, users or contacts with the opportunity to buy and sell business referrals on Salesconx.com. Salesconx Partners are looking to help their existing contacts drive more business, while profiting from these relationships they have cultivated over several years.

In a world of web 2.0, sales 2.0, social and professional networking, Weiss is a new breed of networker. In past a truly “connected” person has a few thousand relationships. Weiss by leveraging and focusing on online networking tools has amassed an online ‘rolodex’ of over 16,000 professionals. Moreover, Weiss spends his time cultivating and nurturing his contacts. “These aren’t merely names in a list,” said Weiss, “I spend most of my day communicating with my contacts, listening to what relationships they are seeking, and helping them grow their business.” By leveraging Salesconx, Weiss is now earning income while helping his connections drive revenue for their business and for themselves. “I am always looking for new ways to bring value to my network,” Weiss continued. “By inviting my contacts to join Salesconx I am now enabling them to drive revenue for their business and for themselves.”

About Moshe Weiss
As a master rainmaker and leading networker with over 16,500 direct business connections on LinkedIn alone, Moshe Weiss (http://mosheweiss.com) is always looking for ways to support and offer value-added benefits to his network, especially with people whose companies and products have a stake in the successful rollout of Relationship Capital. Interested networkers looking for a way to monetize their contacts can join Moshe on Salesconx at http://www.salesconx.com/mosheweiss.php?reff=1003. Join Moshe’s growing network here.

About Salesconx
Salesconx, Inc., the leading marketplace for business referrals, provides an online platform for qualified introductions, pay-for-performance deal generation and appointment setting. Salesconx has helped small businesses, sales professionals and marketers across the country drive more business, adding more clients and customers in a broad range of industries and disciplines including financial services, banking, computer services, real estate and marketing services. Visit Salesconx at http://www.salesconx.com.

The American Idol Philosophy of Selling

I don’t know about your home, but my house is an American Idol home. I am not alone as American Idol is now the most valuable TV format in the world with an estimated value in excess of $2.5 billion. As we are in the midst of American Idol mania I was thinking about the lessons learned from seeing talented performers compete week after week. What makes an American Idol champion? What makes a winning American Idol performance? All things being equal how does one contestant rise above the others? Given that it isn’t always about the one who has the best voice - what makes an American Idol? The biggest reality of this reality show is the contestants need to sell themselves week after week to the American public. These 12 contestants (now down to 11) are therefore thrust into being top salespeople. The compensation plan is fierce, the payout is huge and the space in the President’s Club is limited.

Here are the characteristics that make up an American Idol:

The Right Place at the Right Time - a solid performer picking the wrong material is a sure fire way to get ridiculed by the judges and fall out of grace with America. Timing in sales is always important. Getting in front of the right decision maker with the right solution at the right time is more an art form than coincidence. You could be the best salesperson on your team but not returning a client call in time could be the difference between getting the deal and losing the deal. Knowing when your client is most open to your pitch is just as important as the pitch itself.

You Gotta Have Heart - being emotional in what you sell is always important. People respond to those who really care about what they are selling. You have to always believe in what you are selling. If you don’t, then I suggest you sell something that you can get passionate about. Passion sells.

Honesty - a lot of the judges talk time on American Idol is telling contestants to be true to who they are. A country singer should sing country and a rock and roller should always rock and roll. Putting on a bandana and carrying a chain doesn’t make a person a rock and roller and the customer is never fooled. Don’t try to convince the customer that your service or product does more than it really does. While you might get through the first few rounds, the likelihood is that you’ll soon get tossed.

Listen - nothing pains me more than watching these young performers acting smugly when getting advice from Simon Cowell. Simon, a seasoned recording professional is always trying to get the best out of the contestants. The show is his product and he strives for excellence. Those who listen to him almost always come back the following week to rave reviews. All they have to do is listen. Selling is just as much about listening to your customer as it is talking to them (maybe even more so). Hear the feedback from your customer. Why aren’t they as excited about your offering as you think they should be? How was your pitch?

Never Forget Your Lines - remembering the words to your song is selling 101 basics. Giving a presentation to a room full of people should be a conversation between you and your audience. Stopping the presentation to look up your notes ruins the flow of your presentation. Rehearse your presentation over and over again. Go over potential questions. Be prepared.

Nice Guys Don’t Always Finish Last - while American Idol is supposed to be a talent contest it is just as much a personality contest. An obnoxious, egotistical and arrogant performer no matter how good never makes it to the end. Simon is quick to point out who is nice - never as a matter-of-fact but always as an asset to any performer. People like to work with nice people. A sale is about forging a relationship between two parties. Choosing nice people to work with is the prerogative of the decision maker. When in doubt - be nice.

So, do you think you have what it takes to be an American Idol?

Driving leads with a balanced portfolio

There was a Linkedin question posted on the 29th of February – perhaps the whole leap year effect brought out the best out. The question asked, ‘What type of lead generation strategies for software industry do you recommend?’ Well, given that Linkedin is limited to 4,000 characters could only assume that the person asking the question was hoping for a single answer. I could only assume that the same person would ask a hedge fund manager ‘what type of investment strategies do you recommend’.

Ironically, both answers are pretty similar – a balance portfolio. In marketing this means a combination of online marketing such as banner advertising and pay-per-click, event marketing such as tradeshows, seminars (online and offline), cold calling which including telemarketing, word-of-mouth and referral campaigns, channel marketing and advertising. Depending on your industry some of these initiatives should be weighed more than others. Specialty software for example would do better at a niche tradeshow than say cold calling. A broad horizontal software service for SMBs for instance would do better with PPC campaigns than with a live seminar – though you may want to try both.

The key is to invest some time and money in a combination of these items and always measure the results.

Many of today’s marketing programs could be started and stopped with very little notice; Google Ad words could be set up online and your could pause your account or double it instantly. Clearly, planning for an industry tradeshow takes time and money but many programs have less up front costs. Regardless, always measure your return on these programs increasing your investment in those that are working. One last thing to remember is that marketing in today’s world is very fluid. What worked great 2 years ago produces poor results today. Think of where direct mail is today.