Skinned Knees Blog
What An MBA Didn’t Teach You About Sales
The sales profession is challenging. You need to work hard at it to succeed. You need to learn from the best. You need to improve your skills continuously. If you think you can sell since you are a hit at parties and have a lot of friends, you may soon find that you are a failure as a salesperson. Blunt truth:
I call this blog, Skinned Knees because I try to relate all of the learning that I have done over the past 4+ decades (while skinning my knees in the learning process).
I hope that you learn from my mistakes so that your business will grow!
Presentation to FocusCFO meeting
I was honored to present “The States of Sales in Small Businesses” at the annual meeting of FocusCFO. This presentation compiles data from the survey of thousands of business owners regarding their sales practices. Sadly, very few small businesses excel at sales, which is why they need to hire high-quality fractional Vice Presidents of Sales, like the services provided by New Sales Expert, LLC.
FocusCFO provides CFO services on a fractional basis, meaning clients get all the advantages of a full-time CFO on flexible and affordable terms, working under a recurring schedule that fits within their budget. With a CFO on the management team, the entrepreneur is free to focus on what they do best: building great products and services and growing revenue.
Small and mid-sized businesses benefit from FocusCFO’s industry-leading model.
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Two Tall Guys Talking Sales Podcast – Episode 3
Are your sales representatives consistently hitting their assigned quotas?
Two Tall Guys Talking Sales Podcast – Episode 2
How do you determine your company’s sales objectives each year?
October Newsletter: Drive New Sales In Your Company
– I hope that you enjoy my October newsletter Posts Subscribe I hope that you enjoy my October newsletter Published: Tue, 10/11/22 I hope that you enjoy my latest newsletter View the online version of this email. I hope that you enjoy my October newsletter. As I write this, the weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing colors, and football is everywhere. It is not surprising that this is the favorite season for many…
Two Tall Guys Talking Sales Podcast: How Do You Determine Your Company’s Sales Objectives Each Year?
In this episode, Kevin and Sean discussed the importance of setting appropriate sales goals for a company. They suggested starting with the end goal in mind and then working backward to set achievable but challenging targets. They also advise avoiding pitfalls such as not considering attrition or overstating possibilities when setting goals. Finally, they emphasize the importance of dedicating resources to new markets or initiatives to grow the business rather than only replacing lost customers.
You can subscribe to our podcast by searching in your favorite podcast player for “Two Tall Guys Talking Sales,” or you can listen to the embedded version here.
The following is a transcript of the podcast above. It has been sparsely edited to increase its readability, but many of the idioms and poor spoken grammar have been left in place. Fireflies.ai automatically generated the transcription, and, as capable as that product is, there are times when words are missed or the sentence structure is incorrectly interpreted. We have tried to catch all of these software misses, but we are confident that some still remain. The below text is provided for those that would rather read than listen to a podcast.
00:00
Kevin Lawson
Hello, and welcome to episode two, not eight, of “Two Guys Talking Sales.” I’m one of your hosts, Kevin.
00:10
Sean O’Shaughnessey
And I’m Sean.
00:11
Kevin Lawson
We’re glad you’re here on this Two Guys Talking Sales episode.
This podcast tackles real sales issues, big and small, for salespeople selling situations and sales leadership. We’ve individually built successful sales careers around the problems and solutions in B-to-B selling, from software and services to manufacturing distribution. We have sold to and for many of the world’s most recognized brands as well as some you have yet to hear of. We know LinkedIn says this is a 30-minute time slot. Still, we’ll only take 15 minutes—nothing like under-promising and over-delivering. For roughly the next 15 minutes, we invite you into our world of experience. We’ll dig into one issue. You’ll have a solution should you encounter a similar situation in your career. Let’s dive in.
Sean, let’s set the stage.
01:07
Sean O’Shaughnessey
This topic should be about setting your sales plan objectives for this year.
01:15
Kevin Lawson
Setting objectives for the year. Like not being tongue-tied on a public broadcast. How about that?
01:21
Sean O’Shaughnessey
At least you tried to plan ahead and had it written. Now that’s better than I did. I’m just winging it.
01:25
Kevin Lawson
Our last episode was all about planning your year. Why not have a plan? Well, so you’ll know how you’re doing?
01:32
Sean O’Shaughnessey
There you go.
01:33
Kevin Lawson
Today, we will talk about how to determine company sales objectives. Yes, let’s do that.
Read the rest of the article…Two Tall Guys Talking Sales Podcast: Why Should a Company Assess Its Practices in Sales?
In this podcast, Kevin and Sean discuss why it is important for companies to assess their sales plans and processes. They explain that having a sales plan is about more than just setting quotas and involves figuring out how to bring value to the customer. It is also important for smaller businesses that are transitioning from founder-led sales organizations to have an assessment to build the right infrastructure. The conversation also touches on how CEOs should still be involved in customer conversations regardless of company size and that competition, complacency, and consistency should all be considered when assessing one’s own organization. Lastly, they invite listeners to reach out with any questions they may have about creating a great sales organization.
You can subscribe to our podcast by searching in your favorite podcast player for “Two Tall Guys Talking Sales,” or you can listen to the embedded version here.
The following is a transcript of the podcast above. It has been sparsely edited to increase its readability, but many of the idioms and poor spoken grammar have been left in place. Fireflies.ai automatically generated the transcription, and, as capable as that product is, there are times when words are missed or the sentence structure is incorrectly interpreted. We have tried to catch all of these software misses, but we are confident that some still remain. The below text is provided for those that would rather read than listen to a podcast.
00:00
Kevin Lawson
Hello, and welcome to Two Guys Talking Sales. I’m Kevin.
00:06
Sean O’Shaughnessey
And I’m Sean.
00:08
Kevin Lawson
We’re glad you’re here. In this podcast, we’ll tackle real sales issues big and small for salespeople selling situations and sales leadership. We’ve collectively built successful careers around the problems and solutions used in B2B selling, from software to services, manufacturing, and distribution. We have sold to and for many of the world’s most recognized brands as well as some you’ve never heard of. For roughly the next 15 minutes, we invite you into our world of experience, where we’ll take one issue and dig into it so you might have a solution for when you encounter a similar situation in your career. Let’s dive in. Sean, what are we talking about tonight?
00:48
Sean O’Shaughnessey
Kevin, we should discuss why a company should assess its sales plan, process, and methodologies. How about that?
00:57
Kevin Lawson
Sounds Good. Maybe we should start by asking, “What are a sales plan, system, and methodology.”
01:03
Sean O’Shaughnessey
That makes sense to me. Do you want to start? Go Ahead.
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Determining Your Company’s Sales Objectives Each Year
As a company owner, one of the most important aspects of running a successful business is setting and achieving sales objectives. But how do you determine what those objectives should be? Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you set realistic and achievable sales goals for your business.
Sales objectives are goals a company sets for its sales team to achieve over a certain period. These objectives can be anything from increasing revenue by a certain percentage to selling a certain number of products or services. Sales objectives should be set annually, but they can also be set for shorter periods such as quarters or months.
Let’s talk about the basic steps first.
- Define your overall goal.
- Break down your overall goal into smaller, more manageable goals.
- Create a timeline for each goal.
- Assign responsibility for each goal to a specific team member or department.
- Measure progress and revise objectives as needed.
- Celebrate accomplishments and learn from failures.
- Define your overall goal.
Sales goals are essential for any company regardless of size. They give you a target to aim for and help to motivate your sales team. Without a goal, getting complacent and falling into bad habits is easy.
It’s essential to clearly understand your company’s sales process before setting a goal. You need to know your closing rate, average deal size, and how many leads you need to generate to hit your target. Once you have this information, you can start to play around with different numbers to see what’s realistic.
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The Benefits of Sending a Newsletter to Your Customers and Qualified Prospects
A newsletter is one of the best tools you can use to maintain a relationship with your existing customers and qualified prospects that are uninterested in buying your product or service at this time. By sending out a newsletter quarterly, you can keep your brand top-of-mind so that when they are ready to make a purchase, they will think of your company first. You can reach an even wider audience by posting your newsletter on LinkedIn.
There are several benefits of sending a newsletter to your customers and qualified prospects, including:
- Keeping your brand top-of-mind: By sending out a quarterly newsletter, you can keep your brand top-of-mind so that when your customers or qualified prospects are ready to make a purchase, they will think of your company first.
- Developing a relationship with customers and qualified prospects: A newsletter is a great way to establish a relationship with your customers and qualified prospects. You can build trust and credibility with your readers by providing valuable information in each issue.
- Reaching a wider audience: Posting your newsletter to LinkedIn provides you with an opportunity to reach an even wider audience. When you post your newsletter on LinkedIn, include a call-to-action so that your readers know what you want them to do next.
- Generating leads: Including a call-to-action in each issue of your newsletter is a great way to generate leads.
- Increasing sales: By sending out a quarterly newsletter, you can increase sales by reminding your customers of the products or services they’ve purchased from you in the past and introducing them to new products or services that they may be interested in.
- Building customer loyalty: A newsletter is also a great way to build customer loyalty. By providing valuable information and helpful tips, you can show your customers that you value their business and are invested in helping them succeed.
- Enhancing customer service: In each issue of your newsletter, include contact information for customer service so that your readers know how to reach someone if they have questions or need assistance.
- Boosting morale: A well-written and informative quarterly newsletter can boost your employees’ morale by keeping them up-to-date on company news and developments.
Let’s explore these concepts even more.
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