Pony Of Prey Blog

When companies introduce new products and services, everyone is
excited and upbeat - especially the sales force. They have a new
reason to go back to old customers, a chance to knock out
competitors and the potential to have a great year selling.

Yet all too often, things don’t quite work out as planned and
sales come in slower than everyone projected. The tension rises.
Marketing and Sales start pointing fingers, blaming each other
for the lackluster results.

Sound familiar? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this
happen in my years as a consultant. Lots of factors are involved,
but today we’re going to look at one that salespeople have total
control over.

Recently I worked with a company who had just introduced a new
technology product. It was way ahead of the competition and had
a strong value proposition. I spent a day out in the field with
one of their salespeople to get a better understanding of their
sales process.

He was a real nice guy. He’d been with the company for thirteen
years and always done a decent job. We had an appointment with a
good prospect - someone he had called on before, but never done
business with. The sales rep’s plan was to leverage this meeting
into a full-blown needs analysis.

Everything started out fine, but within 10 minutes he was heading
into deep trouble. It all started when he mentioned his
excitement with their new product. The buyer asked some techie
questions that the sales rep understood. They talked some more.
Then, the buyer asked the near-fatal question, “Do you have a
brochure?”

Now you’re probably thinking that’s a good sign - that this guy
was interested and the sales rep was doing a great job. Well,
that’s just what the sales rep thought too.

He quickly pulled one from his briefcase and laid it on the desk
between them. The buyer leaned forward and started reading. “Can
it do this?” he asked, referring to a specific capability. “How
about that? What speed? How does it connect?” The barrage of
questions continued for what seemed like an eternity to me.

The sales rep was getting even more excited. He pointed out other
features they’d stressed at the launch meeting, highlighting how
much better they were than what else was on the market. The
buyer’s head was nodding, as if in agreement.

I knew things were going downhill, but couldn’t do anything to
stop them. I was only there to observe. At last, the killer
question emerged: “How much does it cost?”

The sales rep, trying to deflect it, explained that a full
assessment was needed to configure the system properly. He
suggested that as the next step, but the damage was already done.

“You’d be wasting your time,” the buyer said. “There’s no way we
can spend that kind of money right now. Besides, it can’t …” He
proceeded to pick apart some minor detail about the system.

The sales rep looked puzzled, not understanding why this
qualified buyer would so quickly reject the new product -
especially when it had such a financially attractive value
proposition. He was never able to get the meeting back on track.
We left with no follow-up planned.

You know what the problem was?

It was that darn brochure! By bringing it out so early, the
sales rep lost control of the sale process. He didn’t uncover any
problems, difficulties or dissatisfaction with the current
system. He didn’t explore any business ramifications or find any
pay-offs for making a change. No wonder the buyer said it was
too expensive.

Worse thing is, the sales rep dug his own grave; everything that
happened was totally preventable.

LESSONS LEARNED

1. The untimely use of brochures and other marketing collateral
quickly derails even the best sales efforts with highly qualified
prospects.

2. If your sales process requires multiple calls and involves a
variety of decision makers, keep your new product or service
brochures in the car on the first call.

3. Use early sales calls to focus on the customer, their goals,
processes, challenges, issues, bottlenecks and needs.

4. Save your brochures till later - you may never even need to
use them!

Jill Konrath, President of Selling to Big Companies, helps small
businesses win big contracts in the corporate market.

For free articles on getting your foot in the door and developing
profitable long-term relationships, sign up for Quantum Leaps
Selling, our FREE eNewsletter. Take your business to the next
level. Go to http://www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jill Konrath is founder of SellingtoBigCompanies.com, a web
resource that helps small businesses win big contracts in the
corporate market. To learn more about how to get your foot in the door, create
urgent needs for your services and develop profitable long-term
relationships, check out http://www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com .
Sign up for our FREE newsletter, Quantum Leaps Selling by sending
an email to mailto:jill@sellingtobigcompanies.com with subscribe
in the subject line.

You may have heard the terms proof coin and un-circulated coin, but what’s the difference between these two? To understand the difference between a proof and un-circulated coin, let’s first answer the question, “What is an un-circulated coin?”

Un-circulated means a coin has not had any wear, such as the wear a coin might experience when it is used in commerce. Handling a coin, as well as improperly storing a coin, can result in wear on the surface of the coin. This wear, even if very minor, will cause a coin to no longer grade un-circulated.

When coins are minted they often bump into each other and receive small nicks and abrasion marks during the production process. These marks also occur as coins are transported in large canvas bags. These marks, sometimes called “bag marks”, are more noticeable on larger coins, such as half dollars and dollars. Typical “bag marks” do not keep a coin from grading un-circulated. However, they can be an indicator of how high of a grade the un-circulated coin might receive.

Current accepted grading standards provide for a range of un-circulated grades, from the grade of MS-60 to MS-70. MS60 would be a lower grade (yet still) un-circulated coin with normal bag marks for that type of coin. Anything below MS-60 would not be considered un-circulated. MS70 would be the perfect “ideal” coin. Some coins are rare in grades MS65 to MS70, and even unheard of in MS70 grade. (The attribute “MS” stands for “mint state”.)

A newly minted proof coin is also un-circulated, however it is the way it is made that causes a difference in appearance and qualifies it as a “proof”. To understand this, let’s look at how coins are made. Coins are produced when two dies strike a blank piece of metal with tremendous force. One die is engraved with the front (obverse) design for the coin. The other die has the back (reverse) coin design on it.

A proof coin is made with a specially polished and treated die! By treating the die in a special way, the coins it produces have a different appearance. Modern technology allows the high points on the coin design to be acid treated (on the die). The background (field) design of the coin die is polished, resulting in a mirror-like look on the coin it strikes. This gives the finished coin a frosted look (frosting) on the raise parts of the design, with a mirror like finish on the background. This contrasting finish is often called “cameo”. On some older coins a cameo appearance is quite rare. The attribute “CAM”, when added to a coin’s description, means cameo appearance. “DCAM” means deep cameo, and indicates the cameo appearance is strong and easy to observe.

About the Author: Lana Hampton makes it easy to find the coin collecting information you want. Visit http://www.yowscoins.com today for the latest coin collecting information.

Source: www.isnare.com