I recently realized we’ve taken for granted a powerful shortcut for creating Outlook message templates that’s been in our company toolkit for a while. I was talking to a prospect recently about email workflows and described our process for sending multiple personalized emails containing a similar core message. He was amazed at this shortcut, even though it seems pretty obvious to me. I’m documenting it here to share more widely. Hopefully you already take advantage of using Outlook’s standard signature setup; this just kicks it up a notch for creating multiple personalized emails containing similar message text.

5 Steps to use Outlook’s signature function for creating email message templates

Step One: Click New E-mail

Step Two: Click Insert, then click Signature

Step Three: From drop-down menu, click “Signatures…”

Step Four: Click “New”. Enter a name, as well as text, for a complete email message. (Remember to also include an email signature in this “Signature” template entry!)

Step Five: Select the appropriate standardized message by “Signature” name each time you want to send similar text in a new email. Don’t forget to add a subject line and the first name of the person to whom you’re sending the message in the message body. Also, modify the templated text appropriately to ensure it’s relevant to the individual receiving it.

This shortcut saves me time when I want to repetitively send only slightly different emails over and over again–such as a follow-up to a hands-on product demo I’ve just given. Let me know how this shortcut works for you.

Got any Outlook tips to share with us?

We got a lot of interest in our blog post, Do Not Create Resistant Donkeys! where we discussed WEAC and STRONG sales tactics (mnemonics coined by me) and how they make the difference between creating a “resistant donkey” and unleashing a racehorse to the sales finish line.

“So what would I actually ask if I was using STRONG tactics?” asked one participant in our recent repeat of the Hide & Seek webinar presented by Cliff Pollan and Trish Bertuzzi.

Salespeople always want to know what questions to ask prospects. While it’s important to ask good questions, it’s even more important to use reflections in your conversations with prospects.

Let’s bring to life the S in STRONG sales tactics. To do so, I’d like to acknowledge David B. Rosengren’s work on reflective statements as being very influential in my understanding of this tactic.

S: Support the change process by asking questions, listening and reflecting.

Why?
Reflections are known to help individuals gain momentum in the change process. Persistent questioning—without a healthy mix of reflections—has the risk of interfering with your racehorse’s momentum and may instead cause resistant donkey to dig in its heels to stay put with the status quo.

Questions are critical to learning about a prospect’s needs and situation. It is important, however, not to overdo it. Too many questions get in the way of the conversation feeling collaborative. If the salesperson is asking all the questions, then it’s as if the salesperson is directing the solution—like a mechanic fixing a car, the prospect is put in the position of being “worked on”. The important point here: ensure the conversation feels collaborative by actively involving the prospect.

Reflections are very different from questions. Reflections are statements that the salesperson makes to confirm his or her understanding of what the prospect is saying. These statements are asked in a more declarative voice. Unlike questions, your voice does not turn up at the end.  The purpose of reflections is to get the prospect to really listen to him or herself, thereby promoting a conscious and well informed decision.

How?

Here are some examples of reflective statements:

“OK, so it seems you are worried about your software for these reasons…”

“You are curious about how long it will take to learn the new tool…”

“You might be interested in learning about other options for…”

“It seems your current system is satisfactory for these actions…and deficient for these…”

“You seem frustrated with…”

“It feels difficult for you to…”

“So, you want to improve your __ and on the other hand you realize that you need to figure out __.”

(Note in this last example the use of the word “and” instead of “but”. The problem with “but” is it’s a natural showstopper. “But” raises anxiety, suggesting there’s a problem and putting a negative spin on the first part of the sentence. “And” sets the tone for calmer consideration of both sides of a situation, letting the show go on.)

Tips:

• Vary your reflections or you risk sounding ingenuine and robotic. Don’t start every question with the same phrase:   “It sounds like…” , “It sounds like…”  ad naseum.
• If you are someone who likes metaphors, try using one to structure your reflection: “So, it’s like having the opportunity to buy tickets to the big game and at the same time having promised your partner that you’re serious about sticking to the budget.”
• Avoid using “charged” words that may be jarring to the prospect and likely to encourage resistance. For example, the prospect might really be feeling afraid but may not want to hear the word “scared” played back.
• Remember you are learning the prospect’s vocabulary and gathering motivational data that will help you later on  to close the deal.
• However you state your reflection, the goal is to communicate genuine interest and empathy in your prospect’s situation while at the same time confirming you correctly and thoroughly understand it. Don’t worry; you don’t have to always get it right. In fact, if your metaphor or understanding is off, your prospect will likely correct you and in doing so maybe even offer additional information to deepen the level of the conversation.

 Are you using reflective listening in your conversations with clients? 

Peggy Kriss, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newton, Massachusetts and a consultant to VisibleGains. Stay tuned for more psychology informed blogs by Dr. Kriss.

In a webinar we presented for the second time today, Trish Bertuzzi and Cliff Pollan offer tips for helping B2B salespeople win at the game of “Prospect Hide & Seek”. They talk about keeping prospects engaged in all steps of the selling process to avoid the salesperson’s nightmare of “being left out alone in the dark”.

While Bertuzzi and Pollan share many things you can do, they also emphatically stress one thing not to do: “Do not create resistant donkeys!” 

How many of you have defaulted to using the weak sales tactics described below (my mnemonic: WEAC) when trying to “convince” a prospect to break from the status quo and purchase your product?

• Warning of consequences for not changing
• Explaining how change should occur
• Arguing for the benefits of your solution
• Convincing someone they need to make a change

STOP!

Psychological research tells us WEAC sales tactics may very well halt whatever momentum in the sales process you’ve established by causing your prospect to behave like a donkey digging in its heels.

Why? The reason has to do with a natural tendency we all have to be apprehensive about change. Prospects, for example, often worry about selecting the very best solution or how a change might impact employee relationships, increase costs or demand more of their time. Pushed externally, a prospect may feel even more off balance. The more out of control a prospect feels, the more likely he or she is to gravitate back to a place of security—the status quo.

Remember, resistance is natural in the sales process. The mere existence of it does not suggest something wrong. The takeaway here is that the relational stance the salesperson takes can either strengthen or reduce this natural tendency.

Q: So what can you as salesperson do to minimize natural resistance and keep your prospect actively engaged in the “daylight” of your sales nurturing?

A: Put the prospect in charge of the change process. Use STRONG sales tactics (another mnemonic coined by me!) to facilitate keeping the prospect actively engaged:

• Support the change process by asking questions, listening and reflecting
• Trust the prospect’s perspective on the pros/cons of change, and the risks/benefits of the solutions available
• Respect how difficult the change process can be
• Offer encouragement for change if the prospect decides to take action
• No judgment—allow all issues to be on the table
• Guide, but do not drive the process—motivation for change needs to come from within your prospect

What sales tactics have you tried to prevent your prospect from becoming a resistant donkey?

Peggy Kriss, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newton, Massachusetts and a consultant to VisibleGains. Stay tuned for more psychology informed blogs by Dr. Kriss.

Photo Credit: pmarkham flickr

I had coffee with a psychology colleague who is a brain specialist. I told him about my recent post discussing how salespeople can inadvertently paralyze prospects through information overload.

He got thoughtful and asked if I wanted to know what actually happens in the brain when someone is presented with too much information—like when a buyer has to shop in a “superstore” versus a “bodega”. I eagerly said yes and this is what I learned.

First of all, he explained, we humans are motivated to solve problems. Problems create uncomfortable feelings and we are programmed to make those uncomfortable feelings go away. In fact, the feelings (FB) part of the brain (science speak: limbic system) has many lines of communication that are directly connected to the problem solving (PSB) part of the brain (science speak: prefrontal lobe). So when we experience discomfort about something not working right, that feeling gets sent directly to the PSB, pleading:

“Do something about this problem!”

Feeling some pain or discomfort is actually a good thing because it energizes us to gather information in order to find a solution. For example, a prospect may search websites, read blogs, or perhaps ask a trusted colleague for some solutions to his or her problem. The shopping process begins…BUT when a prospect is presented with massive amounts of information, the PSB, craving order, has to work “overtime” to categorize information in order to be able to make a decision.

The FB picks up the strain in the PSB and sends frantic messages to it:

“I’m overwhelmed! I don’t have enough time to figure out the best solution. What if I make a mistake?”

With all these distress signals going to the PSB, guess what happens? The PSB gets exhausted and gives up trying to solve the problem and instead shifts into survival mode. Your overwhelmed prospect is no longer shopping for a solution. He or she is using all of her energy to feel better.

“How can I get out of here? My problem is not so bad. I don’t really need to change anything. Good bye!”

ALAS, PARALYSIS!

So what can a salesperson do to avoid this from happening to a prospect? 

• First and foremost, keep your sales communications clear, concise and well organized.
• Use categories (sales speak-qualifiers) the thinking brain “craves” by spelling out the obvious so the prospect does not have to work so hard.
• Gain a simple understanding of your prospect’s most important problems, identify the key ways you can help him or her and align those two tightly. (If you cannot describe how your solution solves the problem in a few sentences, then you’ve missed the mark!)

Helping buyers categorize information leaves them with more energy to make an informed purchase decision more quickly. Think about going into a superstore to buy a television. When you arrive in the TV area, you’re faced with a dizzying array of choices. Left on your own, you may get overwhelmed and bolt. An experienced salesperson, though, can prevent you from fleeing and promote thoughtful decision making by asking you a few “category promoting” questions such as:“What are you going to watch? How big is your room? Does it have a lot of sunlight? Will you be gaming on it?” This line of questioning enables you to narrow your selection and hone in on a few options to choose between.

Understanding how the brain reacts to information overload is critical to helping your prospect stay focused to make a decision. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog for more tips to help your prospect thrive in our “superstore” culture.

How do you simplify decision making for your prospect?

Peggy Kriss, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newton, Massachusetts and a consultant to VisibleGains. Stay tuned for more psychology informed blogs by Dr. Kriss.

Sharing content—it seems like everyone in Sales and Marketing is doing it. In fact, it’s not uncommon now for companies to encourage employees at all levels and roles to join in the task—customers and partners, too.

Inside Sales Strategist Trish Bertuzzi from The Bridge Group, Inc. urges companies to consider salespeople as valuable members of the content team.

“The salesperson needs to be viewed as the thought leader, not just the company.”  

Instead of calling your prospect with the standard check-in call, Trish suggests trying this: “Hey I’m going to send you an article with some data I think you’ll find interesting. I would love to chat with you about it—give me call when you have a moment.”

Your role here is to keep a laser focus on the topics of interest to your prospect. Done properly, the very act of sharing a great blog post, industry research paper or white paper from Marketing is a service, providing additional touch points while at the same time building your reputation as an expert who can help.

B2B Marketing Strategiest, Ardath Albee agrees, “The net is credibility and trust for your company AND your salespeople. That’s what wins complex sales in today’s market.”

She goes a step further and suggests that salespeople should not only share content, but their voice should also be reflected in the content. She offers some terrific tips for how marketers can access salespeople’s knowledge and front-line experiences and get it into print. For example, “interview them” and “find out what they’re passionate about”.

As your content-sharing relationship grows with your client, you may decide that it would be helpful to scribe your personal experiences and opinions. What are your reflections on the article you just sent to your prospect? How about commenting on that? Or, writing your own blog about your sales experiences. What’s important is that whatever you do share is genuine. You could even write about how your personal experiences as a buyer inform your professional sales approach.

You may find that this “more personal” style of content sharing is a “win-win”. Your expertise and trustworthiness are much easier to showcase when you are the creator of information and not just the pusher. You are building a genuine relationship, demonstrating you are actively engaged and curious about your prospect’s perspectives and that you “get it”. Your prospect may reciprocate by being more open and honest with you, and, ultimately, become more comfortable making a decision about buying your product or service.

What topic might you write about and share with a prospect?

Peggy Kriss, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newton, Massachusetts and a consultant to VisibleGains. Stay tuned for more psychology informed blogs by Dr. Kriss.

Photo Credit: ElvertBarnes’ Flickr photostream

Just back from attending HiveFire’s user conference for content curators. Content curation has taken off! My learning from the conference is that the reason why has much to do with TRUST!

What is content curation, you ask? Simply put: content curation is the process of sifting through the boatload of information “out there”—blog posts, tweets & news feeds—and passing on the golden nuggets others in your network find valuable.

After sitting in this curation conference and being bombarded with the “T” word, I was struck by the incredible potential content curation has for salespeople to virtually build trusting relationships as the foundation for generating sales and referrals.

I found this trust theme particularly interesting having just read a blog by Steven Woods, CTO at Eloqua, on “Trust, Reputation, and Inside-Sales”.

“There is a significant shift underway in how we establish and build trust… [having] numerous profound implications for society in general, but more specifically, it is causing significant shifts in the way that people buy… the evolution of trust is opening up new opportunities for inside sales teams.”

“As the emphasis on face-to-face interaction as a way to build trust decreases in lieu of other ways of building trust, the need to be “in the field” also decreases. It is unlikely that field sales as a discipline will disappear any time soon, the economic bar at which a face-to-face interaction is “necessary” is in the middle of a dramatic shift.”

Marketers are all over the power of content curation for building trusted reputations of brands and products. According to Hivefire’s B2Marketing trends 2011 survey, 82% of B2B marketers now use content marketing as a strategy in their marketing programs. Forrester Research cites the use of online content curation to build thought leadership and authority relationships as one of four critical emerging technologies for B2B sales and marketing.

Posting a Youtube video occasionally on Facebook to share with friends or sharing links to articles of interest with your network are forms of content curation. Chances are you already do this to some extent. Now think about someone you know professionally you consider as a go-to person or expert. My guess is that they regularly share information on a particular topic you find valuable. By doing so consistently, they’ve established themselves as a trusted source.

Bottom line: every communication you send—and online interaction you have—is an opportunity to build trust capital you can leverage strategically to boost sales. Continuously earn deposits in your prospects’ trust banks by routinely sharing valuable, golden nuggets of information. Here are a few content curation tips to help you get started:

1. Add real value by selecting content of specific interest to an individual prospect or customer. Make sure it’s information your reader truly cares about; do not be guided by what you find interesting or stimuating.
2. Less is more—don’t overload your prospect with too much information.  Remember, too much information and they will shut down (read more in my previous blog).
3. Don’t be afraid to share information about your competition; it is a critical way to show that you are trustworthy.  Nobody wants to do business with an “information censor”.

Stay tuned for future posts with additional practical tips to help you create a simple, disciplined routine for continuously discovering and sharing valuable information with prospects and clients.

How are you building trust virtually? Is content curation one of the trust-building tools you use?

Peggy Kriss, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newton, Massachusetts and a consultant to VisibleGains. Stay tuned for more psychology informed blogs by Dr. Kriss.

So ironic!  I am a psychologist writing a blog about the danger of overwhelming sales prospects by information overload, via the web or constant emails.  And I am now feeling very personally overwhelmed, trying to take in ALL the research “relevant” to this blog.  So I am going to stop researching and start writing.  Let’s see how it goes.

First thought: 

Calm down and remember how I got started with this blog idea.

My goal has been to write  about how to help sales people  best communicate one to one  with their prospects in an attempt to nurture them through a successful sales process.  Lots of tips about choosing relevant content and using personal pages or landing pages as a way of delivering a more targeted and relevant message.

How I got the idea:

I watched Barry Schwartz’ TedTalk on “Paradox of Choice”.

What’s the point:

This is perfect -I thought!  This talk dramatizes what happens when mortals are exposed to too many choices, too much information: they get confused , they have a less satisfying experience,  and instead of being nurtured, they become paralyzed!

How does this relate to the sales process?

Schwartz explains a critical psychological fact that every salesperson should understand.  People will derive much less satisfaction from any given product (or specific feature) when they are given too many choices.  And paralysis- this is not what the sales manager had hoped for!

“Everybody needs a fishbowl,” says Schwartz.  “In the absence…a recipe for misery, and I suspect, disaster.”    Converting to sales speak, prospects need tailor fit content presented to them over time, organized in a simple easy to comprehend fashion , a bodega as opposed to an overwhelming one stop mega superstore (think Walmart) website.

Here are five takeaway tips:

Note:   These tips helped me to avoid “paralysis” during this research and writing journey. -so I would have energy left to share something with you:

1.  Present  your message and your product  in simple, uncluttered ways.  Learn a lesson from Steve Jobs: “I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.”
2. Don’t do a “data dump”.  An example of information overload for me was watching this lengthy video on using LinkedIn to generate sales.   Great ideas but way too much information all at once.  I got a headache, and more concerning, I have not even looked at my LinkedIn page for days…paralysis???  Suggestion -  Tell me that I should do these over a 60 day period and indicate what to do every third day.
3. Help your prospect to be oriented:  A fascinating psychological study of how people absorb information on the web found that people spend so much of their energy just getting oriented on the web that they have little cognitive steam left to learn and make decisions from the information.   Make  your communications visually easy to follow so that your prospect can best use their attention and energy to learn from your thought leadership and product value.
4.  Given that attention is such a scarce commodity in this age of information overload, be creative and do something unexpected.  A great example was at the  Inbound Marketing Summit  when Hubspot employees dressed up in orange suits to make a splash!
5.  Make sure your content  and social media conversations are relevant and add value.  Pam Moore does a nice job summarizing this tip in her “social-media-a-little-less-talk-a-lot-more-action-please” blog.

Are your sales prospects suffering from information overload? Are you selling to them from a “Bodega” or a “Superstore”?

Peggy Kriss, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newton, Massachusetts and a consultant to VisibleGains. Stay tuned for more psychology informed blogs by Dr. Kriss.

Is “prospect” a dirty word in our changing culture of commerce? I propose that salespeople will be much more successful if they work to create “prospect communities”- the goal being for prospects to feel excited, involved, informed, engaged in discussions and interacting in the eco-system surrounding their companies.  This community approach will dramatically increase the motivation of the prospect to make the transition to customer.  Why? Because being part of a community increases trust, sense of value, reduces resistance, identifies needs, reduces fear, and makes people feel really good.

Chris Brogan said in his recent blog “I am not a customer. I am not a user. I might be a client. I might be a member. I may even be a loyalist. But don’t call me a customer. ‘Customer’ is a dirty word.”

Twitter expert, Laura  “@pistachio” Fitton  expresses this sentiment in her “4 enchanting ways to improve your inbound marketing” blog post where  she talks about the importance of building an “enchantment ecosystem” so your customer has lots of ways to feel valued, be part of a community, actively giving and receiving and overall having lots of opportunities to interact and feel positively about the  company.

Let’s extrapolate from what we are learning about the changing customer and apply it to the prospect.  Look at LinkedIn Groups or a Tribe as Seth Godin puts it.  Using groups creates multiple opportunities to engage prospects and customers alike.  If they are active participants in a group or tribe you can rest assured that they are passionate about a specific topic and have come together because they care. A post from triplepundit explains it this way: “think of success as the strength of the relationships your stakeholders will walk away with”.

What’s the worst thing you can do as a member of these groups?  Sell Stuff.  You run the risk of alienating the group and groups tend to stand up and force selfish people out. You will undermine trust, reduce your perceived value, increase resistance, distract them from the important task of focusing on their own needs and fears, and foster unhappy feelings.

Here are 7 tips for creating a “prospect community”:

1. Make your first contact remarkable:  clear message, value focused and delivered to match the stage and readiness level of the prospect.
2. Be thoughtful about what content is shared. Don’t overwhelm people with content.  Send information that will be valuable and relevant to the needs of each receiver.
3. Create an organized system for your content (both self-created and curated) that makes it easy for your sales team to send out tailor-fit content, as a way of building trust, and facilitating an on-going dialogue.  Consider a landing page that is less cluttered than what is found on your website.
4. Use multiple channels to interact with your prospects:  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, newsletters, phone calls, surveys, or perhaps your local Starbucks.  Share your exceptional content, compelling testimonials, and constant visceral and tangible reminders of the value that comes from interacting with your company.  Ask them for feedback on their needs, dreams and their experiences as a prospect with your company.  Don’t wait; be proactive and curious.
5. Create an outstanding customer referral system. Check out my recent blog for four tips for fueling your “referral engine”
6. Create events both on the phone and live in your office, thought leadership or product oriented. Mix it up and have some events for both prospects and clients:  conference calls, an invited speaker event, birds of a feather or round-table discussions.
7. Create regular community building opportunities for your own employees:  How about holding weekly Friday bag lunch discussions to ask questions, celebrate successes, and learn from each other’s interactions with the outside world.

Are you just selling stuff or are you passionate about it and willing to contribute to the community?

Peggy Kriss, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newton Massachusetts and a consultant to VisibleGains.  Stay tuned for more psychology informed blogs by Dr. Kriss.

In my previous blog, Refer or Die, Sales Use of Social Media, I highlighted the New York Times Study (Click to Open the Download Link) on “The Psychology of Sharing:  Why Do People Share Online?” described as “A first-of-a-kind inquiry into the motivations behind why we share.”

I am talking about the study a lot these days and its results permeate many of my conversations.  “Do your endorphins surge when you share a cherished product with a friend?”  Great ice breaker.

At a women’s entrepreneurial networking meeting sponsored by the Wellesley Pod for BIG, I asked our speaker, the very successful career and life  coach and radio personality Mel Robbins to remind her audience not to be afraid to ask your network for help with growing your business-because, I explained,  “research shows that people share because it feels good, it gets their endorphins going.”

“Yes,” Mel replied, “BUT you must be very specific in what you want them to do for you.  If the request is too general, they will forget about it and not respond.”

John Jantsch gives similar advice in “The Referral Engine”.  “We rate and refer as a form of survival,” he explains.  But, here is his “BUT” in terms of getting customers to refer to you:

“You simply need to stay top of mind and make it easy for them to do.  Hint: Ask and remind!”

Here are four tips for fueling your “referral engine”:

1. Write for them –  Send  an email to your referral agent that they can quickly and easily forward with a short note to the person they are connecting you with.  Don’t leave the work on writing and assembling materials to them.
2. Use share buttons –  On your website and blog, include share buttons that allow them to grab information that they can share to make the introduction.
3. In person event/networking –  hold an event with the right agenda where your referral agent can invite connections you want to include in your network.
4. Identify people –  Use LinkedIn to identify specific people and groups you may have in common you want to meet through your referrer – the more connections the better.  Don’t exclusively leave it to them to identify people.

For any business, customers are its single most important asset.   Customers represent the lifeblood of the company, a source of revenue, new growth and ideas for future opportunities.  But we often forget that it is also the best source to find new clients.

Here is a customer case example that I stumbled upon in the Q&A section of a webinar that CSO Insights held:

An example was a software firm we benchmarked. They showed us a report from their LMS system that showed quantity of leads per various lead sources. Top on their list was tradeshows, which accounted for 42% of their total lead flow. Last on the list was a source titled, DebbieC which was responsible for .05% of the leads for the previous twelve months.

…. DebbieC turned out to be the name of a customer who regularly sent referrals to the company. On an annual basis she sent 56 referrals. When they started tracking leads through their sales cycle in their CRM system, they found that 46 of those leads turned into opportunities that closed!

That insight prompted them to reallocate some of their lead generation funds to start a formal referral management program, which while generating small numbers of leads, is way out performing any other program for deals that close.

It is interesting that many B2B companies do not have programs to help them get referrals.  I think that is because marketing focuses on getting new names through other vehicles and account managers most often are responsible for current client relationships and see their role as having these clients succeed.

Account managers do not see or are not incented for the broader goal of getting referrals to help generate new revenue from new accounts.

John Jantsch has done a great job of evangelizing this opportunity.  His book “The Referral Engine” is worth reading, as it provides a blueprint for a holistic approach.

What are you doing to drive referrals?