Deadlines WORK!

Why Sales Professionals MUST Use This Tool

I'm constantly surprised by how many sales professionals insist on reinventing the wheel. It’s either through a stubborn sense of independence (I speak for myself here) or not understanding how much is out there for the taking.

Do you feel like you have to start from scratch when you take on a new client? If so, then no wonder you're constantly overwhelmed!! It's like climbing Mt. Everest every three months.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Using processes, procedures, checklists, and tried and true methods each new deal should be easier than the last! It's a smaller mountain each time. After a while you're walking up a small hill to the park on a sunny day.

I don't mean we should get complacent about our jobs. Far from it. What I mean is that stress is not (nor should it be) synonymous with success.

Blah blah blah Keril, you're on a soap box now. Yeah I am. Ok fine. Let's get down to it.

We're talking about deadlines again. Yes. Again. Why? I'll tell you.

Because deadlines are a big deal! And not enough sales professionals use them to their fullest advantage.

Last week, we spoke about how deadlines can move deals along and keep you accountable for the work you need to do. Smaller or shorter deadlines are easier to check off and psychologically helpful. Big deadlines can seem overwhelming or too far away, causing us to procrastinate.

This week, we'll speak more about the client-facing side of deadlines. Why we should be using deadlines for ourselves AND our clients.

The Big Idea is...

My goal with this blog is not to talk about random topics. I don't want to just learn. I want to put these ideas into action. I want to see how they apply to the sales profession. And how they help us reach our goals (i.e. close more deals and hit higher numbers).

We can't talk. We've got to put deadlines to use in our every day schedules to see positive effects.

In a nutshell:

• Learning is the beginning. Application is the goal.

• Theory isn't enough. It's all well and good to read the "ideas" I have. Today, I'll include concrete examples of these ideas in action.

Why Deadlines?

People wonder how I close deals when I say I'm going to close them. It's because I have a repeatable system that uses deadlines to my advantage. It's because I understand human psychology. It's because I've studied old school advertising. Check out Gary Halbert or Frank Kern when you have a few minutes (links below in the references). They're geniuses.

Here's a few things every sales professional should be acutely aware of:

• Humans (aka ourselves and our clients) like to move toward pleasure and away from pain. 

• FOMO is real. No one likes to miss out.

• Scarcity is an excellent motivator. It moves people to ACT.

• People procrastinate! Deadlines help them get a move on.

It's time to APPLY.

Ok, it's time to apply this knowledge in a way that benefits everyone. Plus, helps us reach our goals as sales professionals: close more deals and hit higher numbers.

Here's an example of how I use deadlines (in a non-threatening way) that moves clients toward action. I've removed client info and changed names to protect privacy. Everything else is verbatim.

From: Keril Sawyerr

Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at 12:05 PM

To: CLIENT (and relevant teammates, plus others who are part of the deal)

Cc: Keril Sawyerr

Subject: CLIENT - COMPANY EOY Proposal Review

Good Afternoon Jason,

Tamara and I mentioned working on putting together an offer that would help resolve a couple of potential problems you’ve mentioned on previous calls. Here are some of the challenges we are solving for:

• Finding extra help/staff to increase the speed of store rollout

• Being able to refresh equipment at stores on a schedule that aligns with CLIENT’s current initiatives

Here is what we have so far. We’ve put together this configuration, knowing  that we will need to work with you to validate the final store count. It reflects (600) access points (12 per store x 50 stores), 200 MS switches (4 per store x 50 stores), and (60) MX84 units (30 new stores). It shows two purchase scenarios:

• Normal purchase: $1,297,978.20

• Incentive purchase: $1,097,978.20

Here are some potential benefits:

• Depending on the remaining stores, CLIENT will be spending less on acquisition cost of the equipment and licenses

• There is 50k built in to this proposal to assist with implementation services or some form of “smart hands.”

• The extra implementation dollars will allow you to augment your staff. In short, you will be able to do more with less.

• No capital is required upfront - We can structure payments so that it comes out of next year’s budget if necessary.

• We can potentially work with CDW to create a process of staging and shipping the gear to the appropriate locations.

• There is a potential savings of 200k.

Here is a potential next step. If you would like to explore this further, let’s discuss tomorrow or Thursday. If you provide some available time slots, I will send out an invite. One last thing to note, Tim and I had to leverage Cisco business unit and Cisco end of year programs that typically aren’t available. The deadline or time line we would need to work towards to make this happen is July 22nd. Have a great rest of the day.

Best Regards,

Keril Sawyerr

JOB TITLE

ksawyerr@email.com

Tel: work number

Mobile: mobile (give them multiple ways to contact you!)

Ok let's break it down.

Where's the deadline? Did you spot it? July 22. Nice job. (FYI: Before July 22, I'll send a reminder email if the client hasn't yet moved toward closing.)

Remember, when it comes to implementing deadlines in your own work, that this isn't dogma. You've got to make it work for you and your own style.

BUT, here are some things that all sales professionals should be aware of:

• Repetition. Say it once. Say it again a different way. Maybe a reminder at the end. Repetition is key.

• Formatting.

• Use bullet points to break up text.

• Italics to draw the readers eye.

• Bold important points so they don't skip over it.

• NO ONE READS EVERYTHING! (Make sure the important stuff sticks out. Also, not everything is important. That's ok.)

• Integrity. Using deadlines is part of a legitimate sales process, not an excuse to sell snake oil. Don't give sales a bad name by misusing these techniques. Use it to put together deals that will solve real problems and make life easier for your clients.

What Surprises Me

In doing a deep dive into deadlines these past weeks, I realize that I don’t leverage deadlines as much as I should. I should be using them as often as possible because we KNOW they work. Use them with myself. Apply them more to client facing projects as well.

What really surprises me is that the use of deadlines ISN'T common knowledge in the sales rep community. Half of the sales reps I spoke with recently don't make this a habit! WHAT?!?! That's like leaving money on the table.

Deadlines should be in every email template. Never send a quote without an action item attached to it! As a professional sales rep, we should all understand how to do this well. It should be automatic.

What are some creative ways you use deadlines? Pop them in the comments! I'm always looking for more ideas!

References:

Frank Kern. https://swiped.co/file/consulting-salesletter-from-ryan-deiss-frank-kern/.

Gary Halbert. https://swiped.co/file/key-west-college-of-millionaires-ad-by-gary-halbert/.

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