| Don't Try To Take
By Force What You Could Get Just By Asking!
Have you ever had the feeling that a vendor
you had previously used felt they were “heir apparent” to your future
business? In this setting,
the vendor may have communicated subtly, or even boldly, that you
were somehow “obligated” to send your business their way!
If you can remember
a time when this has happened, it is also likely that you will recall
how uninviting, or perhaps distasteful, the experience was.
Are you aware of why the presumptuous approach of the vendor
causes you to automatically resist their effort to get additional
business from you? Is it possible your companies’ clients would
have the exact same reaction if one of your account managers used
such an approach?
The title of this memo, “Don’t Try To Take By
Force What You Could Get Just By Asking”, has a couple of interesting
applications when it comes to the approach account managers may
take in their effort to build their base of clients. Two different groups of people
are negatively impacted when sales activity is too low (making an
unacceptably low number of sales presentations, etc):
- Existing Clients - It becomes too
important to the account manager that their existing base of clients
send work…now! The outcome is that the account manager wears out
their welcome. The impression to the paralegal
or attorney is that the account manager is needy…always coming
around. Realistically,
people are more drawn to do business with someone they perceive
to be successful, than with someone for whom they feel pity.
- New Prospects - Although there is an obvious correlation
between activity and performance, it is not uncommon for an account
manager to reduce their level of activity without allowing for
a corresponding reduction in their performance.
As a result, the pressure intensifies in each sales presentation,
causing the account manager to communicate a sense of desperation,
i.e. trying to take by force what they should be able to get
just by asking.
As a Sales Manager,
few things are more disconcerting than pushing a sales team to perform
at a level which is inconsistent with their level of preparedness,
i.e. “inspiration without preparation leads to frustration.”
And, frustration is what account managers often feel with
regard to their performance.
It is very hard to remain enthusiastic about continued involvement
in an activity where the outcome is expected to be negative…based
on past results.
To be effective today, the skills of prospecting,
using the phone to set appointments, sales calls, consistent follow-up,
territory management, and time management all need to be instilled
in account managers if they are to experience optimum success.
As an owner or manager
of a company, effectively managing your sales force will always
represent one of your greatest challenges. Individuals who go through our
Strategic Selling In the Litigation Support Industry sales workshop
will leave with a working knowledge of every ingredient necessary
to be successful in the litigation support industry.
Call or email us, to
let us know of your plans to have one or more of your account managers
attend one of our upcoming workshops. The schedule for the fourth quarter
is listed under training schedule. |
