Build New Business in 6 Simple Steps

Your New Business pitch needs to have a plan, but not a script. (In some cases, your pitch will have some language you use verbatim in every sale. If you have disclosures, they are usually mandated to include certain language.) Strong outlines and agendas for New Business calls are very effective. Rote-memorized scripts are not. What follows are skills and dynamics to add into your outlines and agendas. Stay in control of the conversation to hit your agenda points, and use these tools to educate, excite, and close your prospect.

Start building a pitch sheet. The goal is to present your product in the context of your prospect's business or life. Each heading below should prompt you to add specific concepts, questions, or phrases to your sheet. From there you can build an agenda of how you’d like your New Business calls to run, and polish some lines for your pitch.

Feature – A feature of a product is something positive and observable or concrete. It will include something that sets your product apart, like “leather seats” or “lightweight.”

Benefit – The way in which the customer’s situation is improved by the product. “Added comfort” or “time-saving” are benefits. They define experiences, not something concrete.

Differential Advantage – The differential advantage is the reason your product is the right choice for your customer, as opposed to other alternatives. Ex: When it comes to rain gear, most of us would like to stay dry, with style and durability for our money. When we’re at Niagara Falls and getting hit with spray from the falls, the flimsy little plastic pullovers at the merchandise stands have the differential advantages of being on site, and inexpensive.

Probing Questions - To fully understand what products and services your client needs, you need to learn about their pain. You need to ask questions. What isn’t working? Why doesn’t it work? How does that affect their business? These questions are all about establishing the specific needs of your customer, and bringing those needs to the front of your mind and theirs. Make notes of the answers. Probing questions should be a major part of every sales call you ever make. Finding a way to discuss what your client finds to be a problem and then keeping them talking about it is the bread and butter of daily sales work. It tells you what to sell them. Depending on your product or service, you may want to set a minimum number of probing questions for each interaction. I always aim for at least three, even on a grip and grin visit, and there is no upper limit.

Focus on the problem/solution equation - Every product or service represents a solution to a want or a need. Focus less on your product, and more on the needs of the prospect. The right probing questions will lead to a sense of urgency on the buyer’s part. Encourage them to discuss how the solution will be implemented. The answer to any of the following questions can lead you to a solution-implementation conversation. What specific problems has the unmet need caused? How it will affect their life or business the longer their need goes unmet? Does this need arise often? How long has it been unmet already? How would it be if the need were met today?

Goal-setting – What are your prospect’s goals? It doesn’t matter if they seem to relate directly to your product at this point! Understanding what the prospect is working toward will give you more context for how they will make buying decisions. (If your prospect plans to sell their business within 5 years, and your solution will take 8 years to pay for itself, you may not want to emphasize the short term return on investment in your conversation.) Immediate, short term, and long term goals all matter to your current conversation. Of equal importance, they matter to your follow-up visits. Even if your prospect doesn’t buy today, you’ll have a relevant subject to discuss next time you talk – how’s that goal coming along? Remembering their goals (make notes!) and taking an interest makes you an ally, not just a supplier.

These steps will close more new business.  Incidentally, they'll also close more repeat business.  Commit to your agenda before you set foot in the door. Ask your questions, and present your product or service in the context of the client's world.  Help them see how buying from you helps them meet their goals.  You'll build your client base, and have more loyal customers. 

How To Make More Money In Sales

You're a "natural born salesman," right?  People have said it your whole life.  I’m here to tell you that they don’t exist!  There isn’t one, any more than someone is a natural-born brain surgeon.  Talent will make a good living some of the time.  Effective salesmanship is a group of skills - learned behaviors.  There are folks who are naturally persuasive in conversation.  That doesn’t mean they possess the skills to find new business, close a sale and maintain a customer relationship.  Sales is a combination of technique and creative application of that technique.

What are the magic techniques?  There isn't just one!  Each market is different.  What works in Des Moines definitely doesn't  work in L.A.. What works for everyone is this: read everything!  At least twice a year, buy a sales book, and get learning.  Why?  Because your market is evolving every day, and you need to evolve right along with it.  Each technique you learn is another useful tool in your toolbox.  Relationship selling may be the ticket in your area right now, but will not necessarily work tomorrow.  

Prospecting and closing are the basis for all sales.  Solution selling, challenger selling, trusted advisor selling, SMART selling - each one is a set of disciplines that keeps the customer talking about his needs, and each in a different way. That's the only "trick" in the book.  Keep your prospect talking about the trouble caused by not having their solution or your product.  If your current pitch isn't opening up the conversation, change tactics.  The only way you can do that easily is to have dozens of tools in your toolbox.

Focusing on the buyer's needs does several things: it teaches you how the prospect does business; it shows you what solutions they are shopping for; it demonstrates what solution has failed; if properly handled, it brings up the urgency of the buyer to solve the problem.  Urgency is what tips the scales from conversation to sale.  

If your only tool is a wrench, you'd better hope every prospect is a bolt.  Otherwise, build your toolbox.  Read, role-play, and continually sharpen your skills.  You'll close more business, and make more money!  

(Suggested reading: Zig Ziglar, Paco Underhill, Jeffrey Gitomer, Meridith Elliot Powell, Stephen Schiffman, etc.)

Networking: Just Do It!

Networking meetings don't have
to be formal.  Make 'em happen!

Networking – verb.  Any process by which you expand your network of business connections.  Conventions, industry happy hours, and professional organization meetings all can be networking activities.   Charity events like fun runs, community events like parades and festivals, LinkedIn, other social media, and attending events where your target market recreates are also networking opportunities.  Don't attend these events blindly!  Target the connections that will be the most useful to you, and cultivate them.

Cattle-call networking event.  Don't!

Recently some sales professionals have been actively preaching against networking. Bad networking is out there, and a total waste of time.  What is bad networking?  Collecting business cards and shaking hands is not networking.  Don’t bother.  Effective networking brings you prospective, customers, job offers, references, referrals, and a bigger paycheck. 

Good networking is establishing a real connection with another business professional.   Customers can be valuable network members, but the most valuable are frequently folks from outside your customer base.  Inside your industry there are key players, and you want to know them.  Make it a mix of the two.

Networks are a
two-way relationship

Why build a network?  There are many reasons.  Connections in vertical markets can help you learn more about your business, and stay on top of changes in the industry.  Keep track of the competition.  Connections can become advisors,  and mentors on tough days.  They pave the way for introductions to hard-to-reach professionals.  Objectivity and different professional circles make network members effective for each other.  These are people you will make part of your professional life.  You’ll maintain contact with them through occasional emails and phone calls, and build your relationship over time.  Their objectivity will help keep you grounded.  Their professional networks will be resources for you, and yours will be for them.  Remember it's a two-way street!   Be there for them.  You'll often need to prove your value before the relationship truly blossoms.

Network members are often the missing
piece of the puzzle!

When you reach out to a network prospect, you'll treat it like a sales call.  (Having a big network is nice, but having the right network makes you money.  Woo them a little!)  You'll talk about them.  You'll focus on their position in their market, and learn what their goals are.  Helping your network members achieve goals is key to a productive relationship.  You'll make an effort to share articles with them, and connect them to appropriate business people in your world.  Follow them on social media.  Recognize their accomplishments and milestones.  As you demonstrate a genuine interest, you'll be securing their loyalty and their interest in you.   

Cultivate strong relationships with professionals in other industries, too.  Outside your industry, there are movers, shakers, and influencers.  Adding them to your network will help you stay ahead of the curve on local and regional business news.  Beyond keeping you "in the know," there is always someone your clients are looking to meet.  Your network members make great referrals to clients who have needs your company can’t meet.  Based on your personal relationship, your client will receive great service from your network members.  If you supply the name of a terrific plumber, landscaper, and dry cleaner to a new home buyer, your value to that home buyer has just gone way up.  A strong network of competent professionals is helpful in every profession.  Think about the connections that will help your customers, and build them.

A strong professional network also will help you when you need a job.  If you’ve been sending them business, and taking good care of the business they send you, your network will be happy to share the job openings they know of.  They will look at you as a competent professional, and will recommend you as such. 

Sales Fulfillment Issues

I hear this one lament over and over from fellow salespeople: "I did my job and sold it, and then the back end screwed it up."  Has this happened to you?  Doesn't it drive you crazy?


First, make sure the weak link isn't you!  You may be terrific in the field, and not so great on follow-up.  You may make wonderful presentations, and make errors on your paperwork.  If you aren't squeaky clean on your process, when the time to comes to solve the problem, you may be considered part of that problem!  Confirm everything you can in a bullet-pointed email to your customer, including your scheduled follow-up calls and dates.  Make sure all relevant addresses and phone numbers are in that confirmation email.  And make sure the same email goes to your fulfillment department whenever appropriate.  (Fulfillment will appreciate the heads up!)  If you've covered these bases, move on.


Second, don't jump the gun.  If the fulfillment department falls behind occasionally, or only when things are extremely busy, let it go. Or better yet, ask your manager how you can help the fulfillment go more smoothly during crunch time.  Life gets easier for you AND fulfillment, and you're recognized as willing to pitch in and help the team reach its goal.


If it's time to address the issue, look at the big picture. The messenger of bad news is never received with open arms.  Management is interested in facts and solutions, not counting up problems.  If you present things well, you'll supply both facts and solutions.  Make the news as attractive as possible. 
Discuss fulfillment problems when you and your boss are on good terms.  If you discuss it when you're missing quota, late on paperwork, or have been late or absent for a couple of days, it will sound like an excuse for your poor performance.  On a day when you've delivered more than expected and the boss is beaming, mention your concerns.  Then, send them in writing.  Make your notes clear and without blame.  Make sure you indicate with whom you've spoken in fulfillment, and what supporting paperwork has been sent to them and received from them.


If you deal directly with fulfillment, send an email confirming the contents of every phone call or meeting.  Even if they don't write back, and insist on calling, write a confirmation.  You are creating a paper trail, which will allow you and the managers to identify where the communication breakdown or execution problem is.  If there are frustrated customers, forward their emails to your manager and the fulfillment department.  Keep everyone in the loop with the problems being faced by the customer, and offer to be part of the solution.  Things will improve!

Foundations of the Sale

There are three foundations that make every sale succeed.  They are : 1) Client needs the solution you are providing.  2) Client has reasonable expectation of the product and the service you provide. 3) The client feels they have paid a fair price for the solution provided.  When the client sends a strong buying signal before these three foundations are in place, start the paperwork.  But understand that your job isn't finished.  Don't take the signature until all three conditions are met. 

Short of reaching for the pen and asking for the sales agreement, is there a clear buying signal?  Sure there is.  And when your customer starts to send the buying signal, can you rush the sale, or over-think it?  Of course.  So let's get it right.  It's much more profitable to sell the prospect correctly on the first try than to try to appease an unsatisfied client.

Customers send buying signals from the moment they agree to meet with a sales person.  They'll tell you what they want, what they need, what they have filling that need right now, and why they are considering a change.  They'll ask for a delivery or in-service date. Is that the right moment to close the sale? 

The answer is, only sometimes.  We want happy customers.  They become our advocates and sources of repeat business or referrals.  Still, no one wants to feel like they are part of your agenda. So when they ask, "when can we take delivery" or "what kind of deposit do you need" or "how do I bring my people up to speed on this" or any other classic buying signal,  it's time to stop any overt selling.  They're sold.  It's time instead to educate and advise. That will help ensure a happy customer.

Move to what using the product will mean for that client. Ask them questions about how they anticipate implementation working, and use that part of the conversation to set realistic expectations.  Make sure they understand the payment process.  Clients who can reach out and get immediate answers are usually the happiest, so make sure they have your number, the support number, and the address of the website.  Now you're ready for the signature.

Always send a follow-up email thanking them for their time and business.  If your client will be working with someone else for fulfillment of their order, make sure that you include all of the contact information in the email.  That customer is about to be an excellent referral source for you, and that will keep bringing you commissions as long as they are happy!

Shake Off Your Stale Sales Pitch

We all learn them: Long pitch, short pitch, elevator speech, card-passing catch phrase...  They are useful; they help us stay on track when we're nervous, and help us cover all the high points in the face of distractions.  And sadly, they can be total killers of a relationship with a current of potential client. 


Everyone wants to buy, and no one wants to be sold.  As sales professionals, we are the least likely to tolerate being "pitched" anything.  So why do we do it as often as we do?  The pitch is a last resort, a checklist, and definitely NOT the relationship builder we need in this competitive market.  So what works? 


Have the client sell themselves.  It's easier than it sounds.  Everyone wants to talk about themselves, their successes, their challenges, and the "obstacles" they have to overcome.  There are a series of questions most clients will find attractive enough to answer, even when they are pressed for time.  In general, they involve asking about current successes, future goals, and challenges to be overcome. When your client answers, they're giving you all the information you need to tailor your offerings to their current situation, and to where they want to be headed. 


Ask targeted probing questions.  We have all sat through dozens of seminars telling us to use probing questions, but no one seems to talk about targeting them.  Read recent press releases, and ask questions based on the image the company is trying to present.  "What made you decide to expand into the Syracuse market?"  Notice their differential advantage, and ask how that focus is working out.  "Your free delivery is the only one in the industry.  Have you seen a change in your customer retention?"  It doesn't matter whether these facts are related to your product or service - it matters that the client understand you are interested in the overall health and productivity of his business.  These questions make you an ally, not a salesman.  Now you're entering the "trusted advisor" stage of the relationship, and that's where you want to be.


Separate features from benefits.  When we deliver a feature and follow it up with a benefit, we can easily fall into a pitch.  When we start with a benefit, "Our customers hire us so they don't have to be experts in small business banking," it's easier to stay client focused.  "How much time do you want your people to spend managing your banking needs?"  Listen to the answer.  The client will tell you where he wants his staff focusing their attention.  Now incorporate those answers into a targeted outline of the features your product/service offers.  "Introducing a new product line in your company is what you excel at.  We would be happy to manage your payroll and credit card processing for you.  We'll save you time, money, and most important, take away that distraction from what you're in business to do."


Keep business and executive profile notes.  This is a must for prospective and new clients, as well as a great way to focus your meetings for existing ones.  If you have existing customers who aren't giving you enough of their business, it's time to make an appointment to "update their business profile."  What is the company's current focus?  What are they moving away from?  What do they see as their biggest strength?  Who are their primary and secondary competition?  Who are the key players, and what is their contact information?  Does their business run deadline-driven cycles?  What are those deadlines or cycles?  When is the most convenient time to contact the decision makers?  Point out that you want to be a resource to their company, and ask what else you should know to make that happen.  Don't sell in these conversations.  Let the customer come to you.  These questions encourage the most honest and creative statements on the part of the customer, and listening is what you need to do.  As you stand up to leave, offer to make a separate appointment to present solutions to their needs.  "I'd like to consider what you've told me and tailor some materials for you to address (this need)."  Your customer will ask you to stay if they have time, and make an appointment to learn more if they don't. 

Style Points

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.   - Maya Angelou, American Poet


Every product has a style.  The style is going to dictate the market, and the salesperson.  However, it doesn't change the rules of selling.  Or does it?  The goal in marketing and sales is to intrigue the customer, and make them feel things that will incline them to buy and use the product or service.

Different times in the life cycle of a product dictate different types of sales techniques.  As an example, a new product style, or a whole new invention, will be looking for what they call "early adopters".  These are the first ones to buy any new techno gadget, like to be ahead of the curve on style and restaurants, and know all the words to the newest music before you've even heard of the band.  Offbeat advertising and new marketing techniques are going to get the attention of these buyers.  However, it's not the catchy ads that will sell the product.  The pitch and the close will still be about features and benefits.  How you present those features and benefits may vary, but people don't buy what they don't understand. 

Apple is a favorite among early adopters, but they call some of their sales and education staff "Geniuses".  These people are extremely knowledgeable about every product they offer.  The company is renowned for their customer service.  Non-traditional advertising and non-traditional retail style, with expert and traditional pitch and closing techniques, has been the model of retail success for them for decades.

Remember this ad?

The advertiser is Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.  The concept is all style.  Seriously, the adrenaline hit of bungee jumping is an excellent way to grab the reader's attention.  (Talk about remembering how someone makes you feel!)  The copy (writing in the ad) is all pitch and close.  "Trust.  It's what pretty much all decisions come down to.  And with 75 years of experience...."

Sounds mighty traditional, but next to that photo and caption, it held the attention of the younger market it was seeking to attract.  This brokerage isn't pitching to retirement age investors with this ad, but the copy reads true to the long term image of the company being a solid foundation of knowledge and financial stability for long term investing. There is no goofy slang or trendy phrasing.  You don't want to invest with your buddies.  You want to invest with people you think are smarter than you are.  The product hasn't changed.  The audience they were seeking was all that had changed.  Style.  Not substance.

What's key is the engagement of your prospective buyer.  If you can continue to link the style of your message to the substance of your pitch and close, you're on the right track.

Want to know more?  Schedule an appointment with me to help you improve your closing ratio!