Hi Friends, Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world,...
Hi Friends,
Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world, what I’m thinking about, and what I’m learning about. Forward anything that you feel inspired to share.
What I’m Hearing From Sales Leaders/Professionals
I am hearing that top of the funnel continues to be tough for many teams. This has been true for a while. The reality is that the most common problem I have heard in all my years sales consulting is, “We need more leads.”
Every time I hear that, I ask the same thing: “What is your win rate?” (If you read to the end, I will share a top-of-the-funnel tip that is working for some client.)
A version of this question was asked of me during my retail manager days when I complained about foot traffic. I remember telling corporate leadership that we could not hit our numbers because we lacked foot traffic and that they needed to up the marketing spend.
The CEO looked at me and asked me what would happen if I increased my conversion (win) rate by two additional people for every 10 that came in. I told him that if everything else stayed consistent, we would hit our numbers.
He then went on to share his philosophy (not groundbreaking but extremely logical) that I have more control over capturing a customer’s wallet if they are in the store then I do over getting them to come in in the first place.
Thus, I should be focusing more on how to capture customers’ wallets and less on getting people in the door. If I did that and moved my conversion rate and still could not hit my numbers, then we should talk about adding marketing dollars. Until my sales team was humming and closing a reasonable number of customers, it did not make sense to add marketing dollars.
That has stuck with me until this day. So, first things first, look at your funnel and see if there are ways to get more wins.
Now on to the tip.
I have a few clients that are aggressively revisiting closed lost deals from two, three, and four years ago. This is working for a few reasons:
1. If the CRM data is good, the seller has some context.
2. If the original contact is there, there is some familiarity. (I tell people that this is like remembering someone you went to school with when you were younger.)
3. The original contact may now have more authority or responsibility (which matters if they were a champion but could not get it across the line).
4. If the original contact is not there anymore, the new one may have a different perspective.
5. If the CRM data is OK, you can do some decent segmentation and create relevant campaigns. (Happy Anniversary! It has been two years since you told us “No!”)
I could go on, but you are a smart bunch and you get the point—there are additional ponds to fish in!
If you want to talk through this strategy, feel free to reach out.
What Made Me Laugh
One time, when G was very little, he told me he refused to eat some asparagus because it was not straight but was “derpy.” His words not mine. Later that day, I asked him to describe what “derpy” meant. He could not come up with the words so instead he made a face (picture attached). This past week, I saw picture of a dog (picture attached) that immediately made me think “derpy.” I get it now!
This Week’s 40/20
For every 40 hours of work, I believe you should spend 20 (additional) hours mastering your craft. This is how I spent some of my 20 hours this week.
Last year I read an article about how much weather can affect our performance and mood. The article suggested that you can improve both on gloomy days by reciting a positive affirmation about gloomy weather. I tried to implement that practice but it was hard—sometimes I just hate rainy days.
Recently, I have started to revisit the practice. Really, I had no choice in May as it rained three straight weekends. What I can say is, whether it works or not, what it did do was make me conscious of my mood and how I was presenting to the world. That was enough for me to be outwardly positive and not sour for others. Sometimes in life (and sales), that is enough. Do you have any practices you use when you know your mood is not great but you don’t want to bring that energy into the world?
Potpourri for 800
In Jeopardy!, potpourri is a category that covers a variety of topics. For Fuentes Fridays, it’s a category where I may cover anything from someone interesting I met to my favorite new restaurant. Whether or not it's related to sales, my hope is that it will bring you value.
Oh, happy day! One of my favorite movies of all time is Sister Act 2. This past week Whoopi Goldberg, who starred in the movie, brought back the choir to sing a few songs from the movie. I have linked to the performance of my favorite song from the movie below. Fun fact: Lauryn Hill (The Fugees) and Jennifer Love Hewitt (Party of Five, etc.) were both in the movie! Oh, happy day:
https://x.com/notcapnamerica/status/1798400257891467456?t=LmiNjwEuTcdUnX9jo2jyqA&s=01
Quote for My Son
Every day, I give my son a quote to help him learn and not repeat the same mistakes I made in my youth. This was my favorite from this past week:
“God sells us all things at the price of labor.” – Leonardo da Vinci
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Let me know what you think about this week’s edition of Fuentes Fridays. Which section was your favorite? How can I make this better? Shoot me a message on LinkedIn @willfuentes.
Until next week!
Thanks,
