Eddie Smith, Author at align.me

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So far Eddie Smith has created 12 blog entries.

Protect Your Client Relationships

Increasing Business with Existing Accounts Many companies make the mistake of concentrating too hard on winning new business instead of cultivating additional business with their existing clients. The matrix below explains the notion that selling existing products and services into existing relationships is the easiest sale to make. After all, if your client is familiar and comfortable with your offering, they’re more likely to increase their business with you. Furthermore, selling new products and services into these existing accounts is also a relatively easy sale to make. Strategic investment in existing accounts makes good business sense for a number of reasons: READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Sales|

People Buy from People They Like

On the face of it, the strongest solution should always win the new business, regardless of how much the client likes you. However, it’s commonly accepted that personality factors can influence decisions in awarding new business. So to what degree does this happen - if you have the strongest solution, is that enough to get you over the line? Or are decision-makers swayed by how much they like the person behind the solution? The Importance of a Strong Solution Let’s face it – even your staunchest supporters will find it hard to support you if you have READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Sales, Velocity|

Four steps to winning new business

Winning complex new business requires a disciplined strategy. By using a systematic approach, business developers can increase the flow of opportunities and identify which specific actions will close the deal. Long-term high-level performance in business development is not just about posting the easy wins. In complex situations, a disciplined, systematic approach is crucial to winning business, and to delivering ongoing success. Easy wins are usually the result of silver bullets like a market-beating competitive advantage or a very strong personal relationship with a powerful buying influencer. Of course, these are great strengths to have on your side READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Strategy|

Closing sales opportunities faster

How often have we heard sales managers complain that they are generating lots of selling opportunities, but the Sales team just doesn’t seem to be able to close them fast enough? Certainly not fast enough to achieve sales budgets. Out with the pipeline, in with the funnel One approach to this problem can be to do away with the sales pipeline. Clients often talk to us about what’s in the pipeline and what’s coming down the pipeline. But, in a sales pipeline, all opportunities within the pipeline are more or less the same. Let me explain why READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Strategy, Velocity|

How to use five core strengths to win business

In our previous article “Four steps to winning new business”, we discussed the importance of developing a big picture strategy and identifying your key strengths to help you win new business. Today we look more closely at five core strengths and how they can be put to good use in your strategy. Strengths generally fall into one of five categories, each with a specific action plan that can maximise your chances of securing new business. 1. A superior solution You may have a superior solution over your competitors, but it is no guarantee that you will win READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Strategy|

How saying goodbye to your customers can help you re-engage with them

We’ve spoken about Funnel Logic and the way we manage work-in-progress using a sales funnel. One of the critical things in this process is keeping your funnel clean, as there’s nothing worse than a clogged funnel. A clogged funnel contains expired opportunities. These ‘dead’ opportunities cause problems by giving you a false sales forecast, obscuring how much work you need to devote to each stage. This is especially hazardous when it causes you to neglect topping up your funnel with new opportunities. We suggest you purge prospects that have spent too long at a particular stage. Of READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Sales, Velocity|

Maximising the propose to close ratio

Many selling organisations are submitting an increasing number of proposals, in the hope that this will lead to an increased number of sales. But, proposals don’t always close. So, how can you fix a low propose to close ratio? Don’t rely on the proposal document Relying on the proposal to do the persuading is inherently flawed. The client has to want your solution before the proposal is submitted. Back to the funnel Our Funnel Management thinking maps buyers at 3 stages in the sales funnel: Defining the problem; Determining available solution types; and Choosing the best supplier. READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Sales|

Equipping your sales team for success

We’re often asked by clients: “How can we replicate the results that are being achieved by our top sales performers?” In other words, they want to know what they have to do to get their whole team performing at the same level. This question almost always comes from sales managers, and whilst it’s a valid question, it also fails to recognise an important truth – most salespeople fail in their roles because of poor sales management. Whilst most sales managers ask what his or her top performers are doing that the poor performers aren’t, a better question READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Skills|

How to create real value for your buyers

We invest a lot of effort into building great sales teams. We pay our sellers generous amounts of money, invest in solid training programs, and ensure that our team is effective at what they do. So, despite our best efforts, why do we get the impression that our sellers just aren’t adding value in their interactions with prospects? Before we start blaming our salespeople, there’s one thing we need to consider. Sellers are trained to talk about a product, and sell it. But clients are now better informed than they’ve ever been. With the prevalence of research READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Velocity|

Selling skills for a changing market

With greater demands now being placed on salespeople, the need for improved selling skills has never been higher. Typically, as organisations look for ways to remain commercially competitive, many try to strip costs out of their business. Overheads are usually the first place they start, and unfortunately, the inclusion of selling costs within this category means that sales resources are often the first to feel the pinch. With added pressure put on individual sellers to perform, the best way for sellers to deal with these pressures is to ensure that their selling skills are at the highest READ MORE ›

By Eddie Smith|Sales|

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