Dealing with Budget

It seems like every salesperson I run into lately asks me how to handle budget objections. Creating a sense of value with your customer is indeed an art form, but here are a few tips to help you tighten up your discussion about money.

1) You MUST determine if it makes financial sense for your prospect to purchase what you sell before you submit a proposal. Prospects are smart. When they see an opportunity to invest intelligently, they often do. But they hate to be sold when an investment doesn't make sense. If you can't figure out if it makes financial sense for a prospect to purchase your product, then they probably won't either.

2) Clearly you need the prospect to share a range that they are willing to spend. But you also need to understand their ability to spend. Gone are the days of a quick bank loan or VC funding to obtain some spending money. It's the salesperson's responsibility to understand how the purchase will be financed and where the funds are coming from. Salespeople look at me cross-eyed when I tell them this for the first time. However, it just takes one deal when the bank or board "didn’t approve us" to make a salesperson realize they just wasted hours (or days) on a proposal that should have been structured differently or discussed with different key decision influencers.

3) Have a specific place in your selling system to discuss money. It's certainly not at the beginning but don't wait until the proposal to disclose fees. The proposal should be anticlimactic, not a time to disclose surprises. A systematic process takes a lot of pressure off the salesperson too.

Unfortunately, selling isn't like tennis. You only get one chance to get it right. Once the prospect gets your proposal, the selling is over. Sophisticated buyers will give salespeople a second chance but even they do that to squeeze the seller on price. In this economic environment, it makes sense to handle the money issues up-front and only submit proposals that will win the business.

This article was contributed by Chip Doyle of the Sandler Sales Institute.

Just Say No to Procrastination

In light of the current economic climate, you need to use your time wisely and make every minute count. The old adage “time is money” rings especially true. If you are striving to be more efficient and effective perhaps you’re ready to just say no to procrastination.

We know it’s ineffective and a drain on our energy, but everyone procrastinates occasionally. We put off starting big projects because we feel overwhelmed or fear failure, we avoid unpleasant tasks like employee discipline because we don’t want to inflict or experience pain, and we resist tedious (but sometimes essential) work by telling ourselves that there are more important things we should be doing with our time.

Whatever your motivation or justification is for avoiding certain tasks, consider how much more productive you would be if you could break the habit of procrastination. Here are five ways to develop a healthier and more effective approach to your work.

Clarify the desired outcome. If you’re putting off starting a project it may be because your ultimate goal is unclear. Take a few moments to write down what a successful outcome would look like. Visualizing the end can be very motivating. If needed, do this step for each phase of the project.

Don’t wait to be in the mood. This is a common avoidance technique when the work at hand requires a high level of creativity. Any professional musician, artist, or writer will tell you that they are not always inspired when they sit down to work, but that they begin and often the muse appears. When it’s time to think creatively or strategically about the future of your business, get started (even a little bit) and allow the inspiration to build within you.

Work on a challenging task first thing in the morning. It’s tempting to begin the day reading e-mail and the headlines, checking in with co-workers, or returning non-critical phone calls. Before you know it, half the morning is gone and your to-do list is untouched. Try starting each day by doing one challenging task as soon as you arrive at work. You’ll feel accomplished and approach the rest of your day with more confidence.

Simply begin. If you are avoiding a project by shuffling papers, surfing the net, and thumbing through business journals, force yourself to put the distractions aside and simply begin. Tell yourself that you will focus on the project for 30 minutes, and then do it. Getting started is often the hardest part. Once you have momentum on your side you’re half-way home.

Remember past successes. If you find yourself feeling tentative or ill-equipped to do the work in front of you, or that the end result will be substandard, think back to a time when you embarked on an equally difficult task or project and completed it successfully. And then get moving.

In all of my work with business owners I have found that the ones that focus on improving their time management skills and prioritize the work that they "need" to do vs. the work that they "should" do are by far the most successful! Are you ready to stop procrastinating?

Creating Effective Teams

Now more than ever, we need strong teams that operate in harmony. Effective teams are composed of individuals with complementary skills. Each member brings unique talents and experiences to the team, creating a more powerful unit.


The Challenges of Teamwork
Do you have teams that aren’t as successful as they could be? Most of us do. Here are a few reasons why teams are challenged. Which ones apply to you?

• Some people on the team don’t pull their weight.

• The goal or purpose of the team is unclear or has no meaning.

• Team members blame each other when things go wrong.

• Team members don’t bring their problems or concerns out in the open.

• Some team members don’t fully contribute to the team.

• Team members are unable to constructively discuss differing views and opinions.

• Team members don’t have confidence in each other.

• Team meetings are unfocused and waste time.

• Team members don’t have a clear plan for achieving their goals.

Team members can support their teams by focusing on three key elements to set up their team meetings. By ensuring that the elements are in place, team members share responsibility for team success in a powerful way.


Functions and Roles
Every meeting has four key functions that must be managed if the meeting is to achieve results:

• Participation

• Process management

• Information management

• Decision making

Making decisions on who will manage these functions prior to (or at the start of) a meeting gets any team meeting off to a solid start.


Desired Outcomes
A desired outcome is what your meeting aims to achieve. Without a goal, meetings become unfocused and confused. Team members can help clarify the meeting goal by asking for or helping to create a desired outcome for a meeting. They can also use the desired outcome to check progress during and at the end of the team meeting.


Decision Making
Much of the power on the team resides in decision making. Teams must make both process and content decisions in meetings. Who makes what decisions and when? Understanding the range of options for decision making on a team helps teams to eliminate confusion and avoid breakdowns that occur when decision-making methods are absent or unclear.

To develop teams that know how to communicate with each other consider a behavior and communications survey! They are invaluable tools in building effective teams.

Most likely you have changed the way you manage your company during these economic times. Create high-performing teams so that you can thrive under any economic climate.