Hi Everyone,

I thought I would post a question received on a forum that I moderate at Software CEO. The question is relevent for many of my clients….

Dear Colleen

We have offered finders fees in the past (generally around 10%) for qualified referrals leading to a sale of our software product. A partner company has asked us for a similar arrangement, except the referrals may involve a significant amount of services on our part in addition to or in lieu of the software product sale. The services may be done on a fixed price or hourly basis, depending on the project.

Does you have suggestions for the structure and rate of a finders fee for services engagements for 1) fixed price and 2) hourly projects?

My concerns are 1) the real cost of the services deliverable compared with the negligible cost to provide a downloadable copy of a product, 2) the added financial risk on a fixed price engagement (unless we bump the price to account for the referral fee which may not be practical), and 3) the finders fee size for long term engagements.

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Hi,

If the services delivered really are “significant” the profit should also be “significant” if priced correctly. – albeit NOT as high as a product sale.

It’s my opinion that most early stage companies under value their service contracts in an effort to win the business. Ironically most buyer will pay we just don’t ask for it. So….my suggestion is that you keep the 10% finders fee standard and work on increasing your service fees to a rate that better reflects the true value you are delivering to the client.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

I have always argued that being nice was a principal tenant of the top 10% of sales people. Harvard researchers agree with me, Mike Staver, and Joe Girard (Guinness book of records top sales person) agree with me and now….Donald Cooper agrees with me too! I am so glad that top thought leaders in sales, leadership and customer management are hoping on board the “nice” train.

Donald reminds us that there are 4 currencies important to people, Money, Time, Safety and Feeling Special. These four currencies are all things that are in limited supply and we want more of them.

How can you make your customers feel special? Provide them genuine compliments. If you think their business is great – tell them! If they have just won an award, Congratulate them! If they are a pleasure to do business with – tell them in front of their colleagues!! If they look good – tell them. ( but not in a creepy way just in a nice genuine way: Like “that colour is great on you!”)

There is no time like the present. According to Chases Book of Days today is National compliment. What does that mean? – find 5 people and provide them each a genuine compliment. Recognize someone today for the great job they have been doing for you. Tell them how much you appreciate the work they have been doing. Anything – as long as you mean it!

I think National Compliment Day should be everyday. Try it today, and you will reap so many rewards yourself, you too….will soon agree with me!

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

They say that most people fear public speaking more than they do death. Apparently fewer than 3% of North Americans have no fear of public speaking at all – or at least have never felt shy.

If you are one of those shy types – today is your day to Stand up, Speak out and Succeed! Because, thanks to Mary Ellen Drummond, of Polished Presentations inc. Today is National Speak up and Succeed day!

Excellent speaking and presentations skills are vital to sales. The best sales people are excellent communicators. Its no surprise to me that top performers practice the art of speaking regularly – and always practice before they give a presentation in front of a real (and potentially paying) audience.

What do you do everyday to improve how you communicate? My suggestion is join Toastmasters. With 211,000 members in more than 10,500 clubs meeting in approximately 90 countries it would be hard to say “but they don’t have on in my town!”. Yes there are other presentations courses out there. What is exceptional about toastmasters is its weekly format which provides you regular development and feedback.

Top performers are constant students of sales. They know they are never finished learning and implementing new, and old ideas. Rather than lamenting “But I know all that stuff already!” top performers ask “sure, but am I using it?”

I am sure that you read many of my postings and think “I already know that”. True. You are probably right. The question is how often are you using it.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

One this we know about top performing sales people is that they, like everyone else, make mistakes and fail to close business. The difference is that Top Performers take ownership of the loss, learn from their mistakes and apply those learning to the next opportunity. As a result, top performers seldom lose business for the same reason more than once. When I interview top performers and I ask them, what happened, “why did that client not buy?” they answer buy saying:

“I didn’t qualify the client deeply enough” or
“I didn’t follow up the way I should”
“I presented to early”
“I didn’t clarify my understanding.”

Never do top performers blame the client, their company or their colleagues for the loss. They know, that ultimately the responsibility is theirs.

So, what can we do to emulate this behaviour and become a top performer. Easy. Take a minute right now and think about the last time you lost some business. Maybe the client didn’t file the paperwork on time or maybe they cancelled. Maybe they stood you up for a meeting? Now, what are 2 things you cold have done differently that might have prevented the loss? What could you have done to avoid the missed meeting or the cancellation. Write those down. Take ownership of them and promise yourself that you will take those actions on the next customer. Doing so will ensure that you avoid the same situation again