On the Hunt: The summer slow-down is here, and with it comes prolonged sales cycles due to customer scheduling issues, shifting prospect priorities ("Sorry, I've been busy catching up from my vacation..."), and the wrinkles of our own travel plans. Overall, the sporadic nature of summer can make us less productive. We talked last year about using this time to get budget attention. Another way to use this time to our advantage is to think more strategically - use the open time to realign with Marketing. Believe it or not, Marketing is intended to be your ally. Without you Marketing has no purpose - they can build the greatest brand, product awareness, or corporate brochure ever and it means zippo if the effort does not result in increased sales. So here is the suggestion, go to your marketing group and let them know there may be some time over the next month when you have some open slots in your schedule and you'd like to sit down to flesh out how you can best align to make everyone as productive as possible. You then share with them what is resonating with your prospects, what is NOT resonating with prospects, where you are seeing success, what doors you'd like to get opened, etc. Ask from Marketing their effort in targeted campaigns, message refocus to what is resonating, etc. Also, make sure press releases are up to date, new positive releases push old negative ones off the PR web page of your site, and messaging reflects customer feedback. Let's face it, Marketing can easily get into their own caccoon and create messaging that sounds great on paper, but means little to the real market. You are the eyes and ears of the company and if you do not provide feedback to Marketing, you then have the blind branding the mute.

Bringing Down your Deal: If you receive this newsletter, chances are you are NOT a piker. Odds are that you are a fairly accomplished sales executive who consistently applies the fundamentals and works the sales process - closing your share of deals. So what is happening when you lose one? There is a possibility you are in a complacent stage of your sales career. Not lazy, not apathetic, but so comfortable in your ability to get deals done, that the customer reads your confidence as indifference. Think back to your deal-demeanor when you were first really hitting stride. You sweated out every nuance of the pursuit and the prospect appreciated that sincerity. Revisit your early hunger and how committed you were to excellence in every phase of the sales cycle. Chances are you will rekindle a fire for success and blow out your numbers in the second half of 2006.

Setting the Pace: KPIs, KPIs, KPIs! That's Key Performance Indicators - if you didn't know. I'm sure your solution is stellar - it does everything you say it will and can tune the corporate piano all at the same time. It is so great in fact, that your prospects are getting tired of hearing about it. What they really want to hear about is what life will be like for them after they implement your awesome, outstanding, one-of-a-kind, competitorless solution. And, they want to hear about their post-implementation bliss in terms that mean something to them. That's where the KPIs come in. Since the Braves are about the get waxed by the Mets for the first time in 15 years, let's use them as an example. Ownership is looking at one thing for the Mets (because they are leading the division), winning percentage. For the Braves (14 games out), they are looking deeper - overall ERA, blown saves, on base percentage, runners left on base, etc. Pitching and hitting coaches are digging even deeper than that - individual player stats, if-then scenarios, and so on. Your prospects are the same way. Senior management has their KPIs, division management has their KPIs, and group management has their KPIs. Smart prospects are keeping an eye on their own KPIs AND their boss's KPIs as well. So, some thougts for you:

1. Sell to the improved KPIs of the individual with whom you are speaking - kind of a no-brainer one would think, but too many sales execs get focused on the solution because it is easier to talk about.

2. Include in your conversation how the impact on this person's KPIs will translate into improved KPIs for their boss. Demonstrating an understanding of the interrelations in your customer's operation will help your cause.

3. Be prepared to discuss the elements down the line that are influencing the prospect's KPIs. Here is where you have to know your stuff. Going back to baseball - your prospect's ERA might be great, but they are still losing, why? Because they stink at fielding and runs scored due to errors do not count toward a pitcher's ERA.

4. KPIs are a great discussion framework. Reviewing the industry standard KPIs with a prospect, then asking about targets for improvement or unique internal KPIs can get you into the heart of the prospect's thinking.

Winning the Prospect: Let's face it, in a normal sales cycle, NO ONE has all the information. The players dole out the information they believe the other parties need to get the deal to their desired end. Prospects hold back, sales execs hold back, consultants hold back. Not that they are being dishonest, just that they are being shrewd. For the sales exec, filling in the blanks comes from experience, assessment, and an occassional educated guess. Sounds like poker to me. Watch the World Series of Poker some time. These guys are amazing in their ability to accurately determine what they cannot see based on the clues, trends, and odds. Certainly a little luck comes into play, but the real key to their success is knowing when to take a risk. Ten-time world champion, Doyle Brunson, said, "Don't be afraid to go out on a limb - that's where the fruit is." Get in the habit of looking at risks by their associated rewards and relative impact on the deal. Will a risky tactic basically put you all-in? Will it divulge your overall strategy? Could it force your competition out of their comfort zone? Will it reveal strengths or weaknesses to your competition? Remember, gut feel comes from experience, a strong understanding of who you are, the rewards and penalties of taking a particular risk, and what you can afford to lose. Gut feel moves without those insights are just the knee-jerk speculations of the soon-to-be unemployed.

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