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Getting “New” Clients/Customers
Tom Doescher
If you’re responsible for bringing in new clients, I would keep this book in a prominent place on your desk and refer to it frequently. In fact, I would consider it your sales field manual, as it has so many practical, easy-to-implement tips for developing new business.
In this blog, I’ll provide Weinberg’s 16 Reasons Salespeople Fail:
1. You haven’t had to prospect, don’t know how, or haven’t seen it modeled well.
2. You spend too much time waiting on the company, or waiting for new materials, clearer instructions, or leads.
3. You allow yourself to become a prisoner of hope for a precious few deals and stop working the process to create new opportunities.
4. You can’t effectively tell the sales story.
5. You’ve done an awful job of selecting and focusing on target accounts. (Editorial Comment: I’ve written about referring to clients or future clients as “accounts” before. I strongly suggest you refrain from the use of that term, as discussed in my September 21, 2015, post.)
6. You’re late to the party and end up playing an already-in-progress game.
7. You’ve become negative and pessimistic.
8. You’re either faking your phone effort or could be much better on the phone.
9. You aren’t coming across as likable, or you’re not adapting to your buyer’s style.
10. You aren’t conducting effective sales calls.
11. You babysit and overserve your existing accounts. (Editorial Comment: Weinberg is very rough with his words. I would suggest saying that you should be spending the appropriate amount of time with your existing clients. Then I’d probably say — actually, maybe I’m rough, too — don’t use time with your existing clients as an excuse for not selling new business.)
12. You’re too busy playing good corporate citizen and helping everyone else. (Editorial Comment: I’m not sure where Weinberg is coming from when he states that it’s rarely the person voted the “most pleasant, selfless member of the team” who thrives at acquiring new business. I’ve recently compiled a list of the best new business developers (Hunters) I’ve personally known over the past five decades. The No. 1 person on that list is Frank Moran, one of my mentors. Frank may have been the most well-known and hired CPA in Detroit by owner-operated businesses. He was amazing. Recently I was with a Plante Moran partner and asked him, “Did you ever meet Frank?” He smiled and told me a story. When he was a new audit staff member, he was returning to the office with the footlocker that we used to store our working papers in at client offices. When he arrived, he wasn’t sure how he would get the footlocker to our 4th-floor offices. While he was standing at his car, Frank walked up and introduced himself and asked if he could help. He took the time to help this young staff member carry the footlocker. As I review my new business stars list, not one of them matches the Weinberg comments.)
13. You don’t own your own sales process, and default to the buyer’s.
14. You don’t use your calendar well or you don’t protect your time.
15. You’ve stopped learning and growing.
16. You just aren’t built for prospecting and hunting for new business.
Other than my editorial comments, I find Weinberg’s recommendations spot-on and very practical. I would highly suggest purchasing this “sales field manual.”
p.s. As a sales rep, ask yourself this question: What would I like to experience if I were the prospective client?