the power of persistence

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March 4, 2014@DiscoverOrg

Discover Org

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Henry Schuck Co-Founder & CEO

DiscoverOrg@HenryLSchuck

Chris Cosmos Founder and Managing Director HPO Professionals and Cosmos

Sales Professional

@DiscoverOrg

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The Power of Persistence:

A Sales Formula for Success in the IT Staffing Industry

To be…

MEMORABLE!!!

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IT‟S NOT COMPLICATED, IT‟S JUST NOT EASY

“It takes a great deal of unspectacular

preparation to produce spectacular

results”

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Trust the Process…

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…and Your Ability!

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…to be MEMORABLE!!!

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The Ultimate Sales Machine

Persuasive Selling

Guerrilla Selling

Covert Persuasion

Selling the Invisible

Selling Power

Spin Selling

Power Base Selling

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The Cosmos Sales Professional (CSP) Formula…

… is a simple sales methodology developed over 17 years

specifically for the IT staffing industry based on a great deal of

strategic activity that must be tracked, triggered and executed

on a daily basis. The formula is broken into two primary

functions: Hunting & Farming. The goal of the hunting stage is

to get to get to farming. Good farming, like cultivating, will lead

to relationships, which will lead to orders, which will lead to

placements, which will lead to the almighty $$$$. The CSP

Formula, if executed correctly every day, is a sales process so

consistent and repeatable that it allows the sales executive

more time to focus on the customer‟s “buying cycle” and just

as importantly, keep the top of the sales funnel constantly full.

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• “Active Campaign” - When a

(Sales Rep) has a “to-do” triggered

in their CRM associated with a

particular prospect or client that is

dated for sometime in the future.

Typically, a sales rep will have at

least 350 Active Campaigns going

at one time.

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The turnover rate for sales professionals in our

industry is over 50% during the first year

The great majority of sales professionals in our

industry DO NOT have a sales process

65% of initial sales calls in staffing are made to

the wrong person

You lose more than you win.

A great deal of competition

The favorite kitchen tool for the great majority of

sales people in our industry is…

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You control your own destiny

You‟re in the “life altering” business

There are plenty of managers dying to work

with you

By the end of the hour, you will introduced

to a sales process that works

A good sales process is recession proof

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Hunting VS Farming

Science VS Art

Proactive VS Reactive

Understand our buyers

Shorten each sales cycle

Losing early is OK

Your 100% Responsible…

Having multiple LBR‟s

Hunting is a number‟s game

Farming is about listening & making a connection

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What is your number one key differentiator?

What is it about your company that would turn a prospect into a client?

Why would a prospect decide to work with your company?

What makes your company different?

Sales * Recruiter * Candidate

Features & Benefits

Website

Database

Brochure

Pricing

The Million Dollar Question?

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Hunting - The front-end of the sales cycle a sales rep partakes in starting with research, building your CRM, & active campaigning that leads to the initial contact. The primary functions of the Hunting phase includes organization, persistence, scripting, urgency and follow-up. The goal of Hunting is to get to Farming.

Farming - The back-end of the sales cycle a sales rep partakes in while communicating in any fashion with the prospect. The primary functions of the Farming phase includes listening, rapport building, order qualification, connecting & overcoming objections.

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Hunter Farmer

The Sales Process@DiscoverOrg

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• Active Campaign - When a sales rep has a “to-do”

triggered in their CRM associated with an individual

prospect or client that is dated for sometime in the

future. Typically a sales rep will have at least 350

Active Campaigns going at one time.

• Legitimate Business Reason (LBR) – Answers the

question… How can you be memorable and add value

during the hunting phase? Why should a prospect or

client take time out of their busy schedule to take your

call, answer your email or meet with you? (W.I.I.F.M.)

An LBR can be professional or personal.

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EMAIL:

Subject Line: Something of interest for you

Hi (IT Director / VP). I hope your day is going well. I

read this morning that Your Company is planning an

upgrade to Sharepoint 2013 from 2007.

This past year I have helped Your Competitor 1, Your

Competitor 2 and a company in your industry, staff for

these types of migrations.

Let me know if you have a moment next week for me to

come by and introduce myself to you?

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Reach-Out - (Unique Progress & Maintaining the Campaign) - Any activity a

sales rep does such as a phone call, email, hand written note, face to face

meeting or other correspondence during the hunting or farming phase of the

campaign. All reach-out‟s MUST be tracked in your CRM with a next action

step (by you) triggered correctly.

“Reach-outs are like breathing. The last breath you take is important, but

not nearly as important as your next breath.”

Trigger Mechanism - The process and CRM tool a sales rep uses to

remind oneself when and how to follow-up with the prospect or client. It is

100% the responsibility of the sales rep to trigger their CRM tool with a

follow-up date for that particular prospect or client.

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Make them feel important

Kill „em with kindness

Find common ground

Personal or Professional

Building rapport is connecting

A connection can trump a commodity

90% of making a decision is driven by emotions

What type of personality do they have?

Usually requires…

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Understanding your competition

They are everywhere

They are always trying to break-up your business relationships

Are they good?

Are They bad?

“Success creates corporate arrogance, I am a great

subscriber to paranoia”

– David Pottruck, former CEO of Charles Schwab

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From: _________________________________

Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013

To: Chris@cosmossalespro.com

Subject: New Business Prospects – Hello

Hi Chris,

My name is _______________________

I currently work for ___________________ in the capacity of a Business Development Executive.

My company is a small IT solutions firm providing Mobile and Web app development services, along with high quality IT staffing services.

I would like to extend this invitation with prospects of doing business with you.

I sense that you must be getting such invites without a doubt of an acquaintance.

I cannot assure you that its different here but what I can assure you is that the level of quality and professionalism in our services.

I would appreciate if you can take a bit of time to have a small conversation with me and explore the idea of us doing business together

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“Nothing can take the place of Persistence.

Talent will not. Nothing is more common than

unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will

not. Education will not. The world is full of

educated derelicts. Persistence and

determination alone are omnipotent.”

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Research through the moment of the first two-way

communication

Building your CRM

Farming and hunting always go back and forth

Active Campaigning either by making “unique progress”

or “maintaining” each particular campaign

Shorting each particular sales cycle

Finding & using a Legitimate Business Reason (LBR) to

reach-out

What will this particular sales cycle look like

The primary goal of Hunting?... Get to Farming!

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Know the difference between sales activity and sales strategy

Are organized, persistent & different

Work with urgency

Know when to lose early

Are friendly, outgoing and upbeat

Know it‟s 100% their responsibility to maintain

the campaign with every prospect & client

Know how to do research on a company & hiring manager

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Create muscle memory

Celebrate small victories

Understand sales is a process

Have a full pipeline of prospects and clients… Always

Build and maintain their CRM accurately

Use Legitimate Business Reasons all the time

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… are rarely used correctly by sales executives

… are not Applicant Tracking Systems

… are often not used as a management tool

… are one of the primary reasons (excuses) why sales

executives are NOT successful in our industry

… are almost always an intricate part of a successful

sales process

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Hunting + Farming = Active Campaigning

Flexible

Organized

Reach-outs

Prioritize

Accountable

Disciplined

Be Yourself

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From: Chris Cosmos [mailto:chriscosmos13@yahoo.com]

Sent: Monday, August 08, 2011 1:01 PM

To: John Doe

Subject: Re: Chris, are you still there?

John, good job in following up with me! I just started my business and I have a great

deal on my plate right now. DiscoverOrg will be one of the first investments I make

once things settle down.

Please stay in touch!

From: John Doe [mailto:johndoe@jigsaw.com]

Sent: Monday, August 08, 2011 1:15 PM

To: Chris Cosmos

Sounds great Chris, give me a call when you would like to move forward.

John Doe , Sales Representative

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Day 1 - Hand written note (Solutions or Staffing)

+ 5 working days - scripted VM (referring to following up on the HWN)

+ 3 working days - scripted email #1 & VM (referring to following up on the HWN)

+ 3 working days - scripted LinkedIn invite #2 ( A feature and benefit)

+ 3 working days - scripted email #3 & VM ( Another feature and benefit)

+6 working days - scripted email #4 & VM (LBR)

+6 working days – scripted email #5 & VM

+6 working days - scripted email #6 & VM (LBR)

+6 working days – scripted email #7 & VM

+10 working days - scripted email #8 & VM (LBR)

+10 working days - scripted email #9 & VM

+10 working days - scripted email #10 & VM (LBR)

+10 working days - scripted email #11 & VM

Repeat the process quarterly

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How many licks does it take to get to the center of a

Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop…?

How many reach-outs does it take to get to YES?

No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-YES!!!

How many Yes‟ does it take to get to $$$$$?

yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes- $$$$$?

.

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Hunting

Farming

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Hunting

Farming

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Hunting

Farming

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“It takes a great deal of unspectacular preparation to produce spectacular results”

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Presenter Contact Info

Henry SchuckHschuck@discoverorg.com@HenryLSchuck

Chris Cosmoschris@cosmossalespro.com415-819-4785

@DiscoverOrg