Landscape Management, January 2019

kehoes Playbook BY KEVIN KEHOE The author is managing partner of The Aspire Software Co Reach him at kevin kehoe@ youraspire com Sell more technology should be part of the plan M ake no mistake sales is hard work The thrill of victory is tempered by long stretches of disappointment Its the nature of the game Yet the best salespeople succeed because they marry technology to the method A few years ago I wrote a column about the method In brief here it is Work from a list grind out a daily action plan go direct and get answers and prep for every call The reason The big wins result from the accumulation of small actions And when the method is married to technology technology becomes a force multiplier that produces big results THREE TECHNOLOGIES 1 Pipeline management You must prioritize your list and goals The list is made up of prospective properties and jobs The goals are monthly proposal dollars and monthly closed dollars This list is the scorecard and your pipeline The method calls for working on high probability properties and jobs where proposal dollars are driven by prospecting activities and closing dollars are driven by negotiating activities You must divide your limited time between these two Wasting your time on low probability properties and jobs is one way to fall behind on your scorecard but forgetting to follow up because you have a poor list is the surest way to underachieve You must work from the list every day and schedule your time Heres what the pipeline report looks like 2 Property job information You must document essential information for prospecting and negotiating each property and job This includes information about the scope of work the primary needs and concerns and the people who make decisions This information is then employed in your daily planning to prioritize your activities and craft your 58 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET JANUARY 2019 progressively more direct sales messages why prospects should choose you and your solution Yes better messages and better proposals beat low prices almost every time In addition in a long selling cycle without this history of messaging you will likely forget important details essential to the negotiation and your closing rate will decline Heres what property job information looks like 3 Activity management You must prep an agenda for every touch so you control the call There are only two possible objectives for every call The first is an agreed upon action with the prospect to advance the sales process The second is a decision yes or no by the prospect Every activity must be on your calendar These activities include to dos emails face to face appointments and virtual appointments GoToMeetings This is the grind of the sales process Manage your daily weekly and monthly calendar so it reflects the necessary follow up for every opportunity Only by doing this will you spend time wisely and drive the pipeline to a decision Heres what activity management looks like In summary successful salespeople are not necessarily the most well spoken or charismatic More often than not the best salespeople are the most disciplined and detail oriented When you marry the method to technology you will look and sound like a pro and in doing so build that essential condition for a sale trust