KATRINA HELP: Everyone knows of the devastation along the Gulf Coast. If you haven't yet contributed to help the victims of Katrina, consider UMCOR - 100% of your donation will go to hurricane relief. Here's the link:

http://www.umcor.org

On the Hunt: You have a choice when you are prospecting - you can play to your obvious strengths and look only for the companies who have prioritized the need your solution addresses to the top of their to-do lists OR you can work with the needs that are at the top of each prospect's list and discuss how your solution addresses that broader list. The sales people in the first group are often leaving a lot of money on the table; those in the second group are finding new opportunities. There is a huge opportunity out there right now for most of you, and you all have heard about it - Sarbanes Oxley. Sure your solution might not be geared specifically toward facilitating Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, but can you affect it? The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires extreme financial reporting and documentation. Non-compliance can mean JAIL TIME for senior executives. Which of you believes ensuring the CEO stays out of jail is not a priority for one of your customers? Figure out how your solution advances the Sarbanes-Oxley compliance of your prospect and you will find more opportunities.

Setting the Pace: Do you know what a Piker is? In the investment community, a Piker is someone who wants to play in the big leagues, but doesn't have the resources. In sales, a Piker is a sales exec who talks a good game, but cannot consistently make the grade. There are a lot of attributes individual Pikers might have - poor listening skills, poor time management, and phone failure are pretty typical. The most common characteristic we run across in Pikers is the fear of bad news. Why? Because they work to load the pipe, not get deals closed. They are so happy to have a prospect that is willing to talk to them they forget to set the pace of the deal and ask the questions that might kill the deal. Then they waste months chasing a deal that didn't have a chance in the first place. You all know how to ask about budget, decision processes, executive sponsors, etc. But ALWAYS ask the following, it can save you a ton of time, "What concerns do you have about our ability to address this need?" Assume the concerns are there. Asking the question shows you are tuned in to the client's position, makes you look more professional, gets critical information on the table, and opens the door to probe for opinions.

A great follow-up is around the next step - and, it's not, "What is the next step?" ...unless you want to completely lose control of your sale. Hopefully, you've uncovered the next step in the cycle when you asked about the decision making process. So, the question becomes: "Are there any issues that would keep us from going on to _______ (proof of concept, due diligence, budget discussion, etc.)?" This is the closed-end counterpart to the concerns question and shows you are not afraid of tough issues and will work to ensure your customer gets what they need to make a decision.

Winning the Prospect: Most of you have taken a personality test somewhere along the way. They can be pretty valuable tools for helping you understand your communication style, approach to work, motivators, and weaknesses. One of the most beneficial aspects to these tests is helping sales executives understand their prospects. It is interesting to uncover how certain personality types are often seeking similar types of information to support their purchase decision process. Some buyer types prefer guarantees, others prefer in-depth analysis, while others want to know which market leaders are using the solution. Clearly, along the sales cycle path, all of these information types may come into play. But, when it comes to winning the prospect over early, giving them the information most important to them is critical. Review your old training material or dig it up on the web. Be conscious of who you are selling to and sell accordingly.

Who Is On Your Team? Most companies are finding that money is loosening up and there are more deals in the pipeline. Next on the agenda, build out the sales team. We seem to be on the back side of a wave left to us from three recent technology periods: The 90's with the boom of client-server architectures, ERP, Y2k, and the web; the bubble bursting; the aftermath. In the 90's sales people were in high demand and most were closing deals. They negotiated ever-increasing packages and companies, loaded with cash, paid the price. When the bubble broke, the sales people who were not very adept and had been able to coast through the 90's, were exposed in the tougher post dot-com and 9-11 markets. When this group failed to get deals closed, sales management looked at the high salaries they were paying and gagged. Since then, the jaded attitudes of many sales managers has driven base salaries lower, shortened ramp-up periods, and churned many sales teams. Many of those companies now struggle to attract good sales talent - who wants to work in a lousy environment for little pay? (By the way, the answer to that question is the sub-standard sales exec who has no place else to go.)

So, what does this mean? First of all, talent WINS (see the McKinsey study The War for Talent). The companies with superior sales teams continued to sell in the face of adversity, or at least recovered quickly. Second, bad hires are EXTREMELY expensive (2x to 10x of salary). Lastly, don't be jaded by past bad-hires. You've still got to attract the best talent available - you can't do that with an adversarial attitude.

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Elite Sales Professionals is an executive search firm specializing in high-level sales and sales management searches, primarily for postions selling technology and services into the Insurance, Financial Services and Healthcare verticals. If you would like to correspond with us or submit your resume, please e-mail us at .

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