Process!

Let’s devote this week to process. If you apply a proven process to your daily sales activities, you’ll secure predictable, sustainable and repeatable sales results for you, your commission check, for the folks at home who depend on you and for your management.

Look at your sales and customer-buying processes. If these processes are not well understood, refined, documented and matched, you’re missing opportunities.

Process, as defined by dictionary.com, is: “a continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner.” How could this possibly affect your daily sales activities? I know how most of us think – “I know my hot prospects, medium prospects and cold prospects and spend my time appropriately”. But it’s not necessarily where you spend your time, it’s how you spend your time.

Today, we’ll look at the customer’s buying process. You MUST understand how your customer buys, or you’re throwing darts at a dart board. Why? If your sales tactic or approach does not match the point at which a customer is buying, you’ll miss badly and will likely not be invited to the next step in their process. Remember, it’s not our process, it is their process. The customer process will vary by product and industry, but generally, a customer’s buying behavior might look like this:

1. Unaware of any need and blissful.
2. Starts to realize a problem or challenge.
3. Determines a need and begins to evaluate solutions.
4. Performs research on potential solutions.
5. Interviews potential providers.
6. Makes a selection.
7. Finalizes contracts.

Notice something about this process. Where is the word “budget”? It’s not there. Prospects will find a budget in steps 3 through 5, with or without your help. Just because there may not be any budget, does not mean we walk from the opportunity, yet so many of us do.

I love to tell the story of the car dealer ads that hit you and me earlier in 2009 that were immediately dismissed. While “Cash for Clunkers” was popular, thousands and thousands of dealerships went out of business. “There is no way I can afford a new car with the economy the way it is”, I’d mutter. Suddenly, my existing mode of transportation was spending 48 hours per week in the mechanic’s garage with seemingly no end in sight. My mechanic is now a benefactor on my will because of what I owe him! Besides the cost of repairs, it was impacting our productivity since cars are important to our jobs. Somehow, I “found” a budget to buy a new car.

There is also something subtle, yet profound about this process. The internet is not changing this process, but it is forcing a magnificent change to the way we, as sales professionals, should engage with the client buying process. Huge, absolutely huge!

I learned early in my sales career that “knowledge is power”, and whoever had the most knowledge on either side of the table would become the “winner”. The internet has shifted that power balance from the sales person to the prospect. To be able to research a competitor, product or price is one thing. We’ve been dealing with this since the mid-90’s. How about the advent of social media on the internet? The prospect is taking control, and you better be ready for it!

Tomorrow, we’ll talk more about how to align your sales process with the client’s buying process, given the impact of the internet. In the end, don’t you want sustainable, repeatable and predictable sales results for your commission check, family and management? Come back tomorrow!

       "What You Should or Should Not Do in Professional Selling"

A new academic semester is before us and when asked to present an expectation from the professional selling class before him, a student asked, "What should and shouldn't a professional sales person do in the course of a day?"

This prompted a slew of brain activity in this author (caution: this can be harmful if not treated....).  At once I was reminded of my training as an aviator in the U.S. Navy.  No slight intended for my Air Force brethren, us Naval Aviators always bragged that our superiors who wrote the manuals always told us what we could NOT do once inside the aircraft.  Air Force manuals seemed to be written to suggest only what the pilot could do in the aircraft.  There is a big difference here.  Many believe, myself included, that the former opens up the world to possibility.  The latter stifles the creative mind.

So goes it in Professional Selling.  As this blog promotes, selling is both a science and an art.  Successful selling requires a certain level of creativity.  I would argue a great deal of it.  Who but the best of us can find a solution to a customer's challenge(s) without the solution anywhere in sight for the buyer?  We find opportunities where no others can.

And so, I've put together a list of "Do's and Don'ts" for the Professional Seller. Here goes:

Top 15 Don’ts:

1.     Do NOT lie, cheat or steal.  Instead earn it.
2.        Do NOT disparage your competition.  Instead trap them with professional tactics.
3.        Do NOT disparage a co-worker unless he/she has violated a law or policy.  Instead buy them a drink.
4.        Do NOT disparage your company.  Instead find a new employer.
5.        Do NOT disparage your spouse’s/mother’s cooking to cancel an appointment.  Instead blame it on your dog, he/she is defenseless.
6.        Do NOT under-dress for an appointment.  Instead un-dress in the parking lot if you must.       
7.     Do NOT be late for an appointment.  Instead call ahead.
8.        Do NOT eat a burrito before an appointment.  Instead buy a stash of Altoids and Imodium for the glove compartment.
9.       Do NOT make spelling errors or errors of grammar.  Instead hire your room-mate to proof.
10.        Do NOT “wing it”.  Instead prepare.
11.        Do NOT whine to your boss without a solution.  Instead recommend two solutions for every “whine”.
12.        Do NOT ask your boss out for drinks unless you whined and want to apologize.  Even then, refrain.  Instead, drink alone.
13.        Do NOT comment on a fellow worker’s or customer’s hair style or wardrobe.  Instead, self-deprecate.  Your weight or lack thereof, is always an easy target.
14.        Do NOT comment on a customer’s pictures of his/her spouse/partner and children.  Instead, comment on the weather.  Everyone sees, feels and agrees on the weather.
15.        Do NOT comment on politics (especially now), religion and your favorite sports team, UNLESS it is to hate the Yankees or Jets which is accepted everywhere.

Top 15 Do’s:

       1.  Everything NOT protected by the “Top 15 Don’ts” – be CREATIVE!

THIS denotes the ART of Professional Selling!

Academia Here to Help!

This blog started with many premises, one that undergraduate curriculums are late to prepare their students for an eventual career in the sales profession.  The outlook is much brighter now in 2014.  Historically, those of us in sales probably just “fell into it” and survived the “in-the-field-boot camp” as an entry-level participant only to realize our dreams later than we expected.  Else, many, many others fell by the wayside…….and we characterized such failure as “chalk it up to not meant for selling”.  We all know the “churn” in sales positions……..what a waste of aspiring human talent!

Here is some research that shows much change in just a few short years.  Our undergraduate and post-graduate curriculums are responding to the demand and look to train and educate aspiring sales professionals with more fervor than ever before:

 
According to BusinessWeek and reference to studies from DePaul University (see below):

 ·       In 2007:  44 undergraduate programs offered curriculum in Sales

·       In 2011:  101 undergraduate programs offered same
·       Now, at least 15 universities offer an MBA with a Sales Concentration.
·       http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-13/sales-hits-the-big-time-at-b-schools

Statistics from 2013/14 are still under research and consideration, but rest assured, more good news is coming.  From my own personal experience, I am teaching in a newly-founded program

 

http://www.bentley.edu/undergraduate/academics/professional-sales/curriculum

delivered from a well-known university that offers a major in the Sales discipline.  It was not mentioned in this study because the program is brand new since this piece was written.

 There is HELP on the way for our aspiring Sales profession thanks to academia…..let’s continue as outlined below! 

Action items for those invested in this profession to consider:

 

1.        Recruiters:  If you’re looking for new talent, do you have these universities in your “cross-hairs”?  You should!  Some of the best sales talent I ever hired came straight from an undergraduate curriculum, advanced super-fast and are now in high-level management.  Where are your next super hires?

o   Canvass universities and colleges that offer curriculum in selling

o   Participate, sponsor and recruit in national sales contest career fairs such as  The National Collegiate Sales Competition   http://www.ncsc-ksu.org/

2.       Sales “Wannabees”:  If you want to be a Sales Pro, do you have the education and training?  Any firm looking at the “cost of hire” is extremely diligent in hiring and that makes your placement goals considerable.  Take the “load” off the hiring manager and show him/her that you’ve already been educated and trained in the basics of Sales.  As such, you will ramp alongside his/her own program much faster, generating more revenue faster for your new employer……

 ·       Look for universities and colleges that offer a program in selling.

·       “Get your feet wet” by enrolling in one of the many commercial programs offered by such firms as Sandler Training.  www.sandler.com

 

3.       Hiring Manager/HR Professional:  Do NOT discount the worth of an entry-level hire from the college ranks when looking for “experience”!  So much in our profession is placed on work experience…..I’ve hired many with “years of experience” with accompanying mediocre performance against those with “no experience”, but with strong undergraduate experience and saw super-charged performance delivered in the short term and beyond.

 ·       Open up your hiring window to those coming from a university-accredited program, no matter your “experience” requirements.  From these programs, identify “High-Pots” and find a way to ramp them quickly through your on-boarding process.  3M and General Electric and many other best-in-class companies have and continue to make this an underpinning of their success.

 

Those of us in this profession must welcome such good news.  Finally, there is structure, discipline and a formal gateway into our profession called Selling.  Tap into it, no matter who you are!

 

 

 

 

 

Create and Control!!

So it's been awhile!  I've been busy!!

Probably like you....it has been topsy-turvy the last couple years.  Where are we headed?  Uncertainty seems to abound wherever you look.

Without comment on recent politics, as a Sales Professional, I like to take matters into my own hands.  That's why I love the profession.  I don't have to wait for my boss to write me a pay raise - I make it myself!!

We see so much economic uncertainty out there, and have for some time.  It is ever so easy to blame a sagging forecast, or poor results on this economic uncertainty.

Don't let this happen to you!!

You are in this profession to create demand for your product and/or service.  Anyone can pick up the phone or email in box to field interest.  That's not selling.  What are you doing to CREATE interest and demand??  Are you solely relying on your marketing team, the internet, social media etc. to create that interest and demand?

These are all wonderful great ways to supplement your pipeline, good times and bad, but they will not fill your quota, and your company's expectations for you alone, good times or bad.

What can you do to CREATE and CONTROL, i.e. create demand and control the buying and sales process?  If economic times have you tired of the same old excuses, think about how you might create value in your client/prospect, and then once created, how you will control the buying and sales process.  

Create and Control!!  I'll have some ideas for you in a future post.

Why Not Use LinkedIn for Lead Generation? Four Objections to Overcome

You may find this unusual, or perhaps not at all, but as a daily user of LinkedIn, with searches everywhere and with contacts from associates in both large and small companies, I find that those at large companies hardly use LinkedIn for anything. I can tell by the lack-of-freshness of their profiles (even the total lack of existence) and the number of connections and recommendations. Peers from smaller companies, however, seem to be more rigorous users based on such criteria. What is clear from experience with companies of all sorts, however, is that sales people are reluctant to use it for lead generation. This is a shame. (By the way, I’ll let you define the line between small and large companies, you’ll see it if you look for the same things I have!)


How come? Well of course, social media is all relatively new to all of us. If you are in sales management and wonder why your sales people won’t use the tool for lead generation purposes, consider the following reasons that I have uncovered, not through scientific study, but through discussion and observation of sales people in all types of companies:

1. It is perceived as “unethical” to prospect into a LinkedIn contact unless they are a “first level” contact

2. It is only a place to start discussions, for which sales people have no time

3. It might only be good for building a profile, just in case there becomes a need for a new position somewhere else

4. It might be good for something but I don’t know where to start

To my earlier point, I believe that “large company” sales people will point to #3 and #4 as their chief reasons to object from LinkedIn. They’ve got large lead generation programs and probably a large brand name behind them to draw interest. They don’t need LinkedIn for lead generation. So they think. Read on.

Sales people from smaller companies apparently see more value in creating a network with this tool, thus more connections and more investment in their profiles, but they may offer up #1 and #2 as reasons to stay restrained in its use. On the point of #2, by the way, ever notice how it seems to always be the very, very small business, or “one-man/woman” shops that start these discussions? Most often, however, they are great discussion opportunities. They likely have “been there, seen that and done that”.

Allow me to overcome the resistance to all four of these points, for your professional improvement, if I might - whether you are a sales person or a sales leader.

1. “It is perceived as “unethical” to prospect into a LinkedIn contact”: I have had this one thrown at me many times. I say “bunk”! What good sales pro that started out knocking on doors paid any attention to a “No Soliciting” sign? What good sales pro did not join an old-fashioned networking group(s) 10 years ago to become friends with a friend for the purpose of his/her own lead generation? LinkedIn is the “new hotel club meeting room for networking” to meet that 2nd and/or 3rd level contact. What’s different? The degree to which the sales person feels compelled to get an introduction first is up to the sales person. And, of course, there should be much thought and research put into how that contact is initially approached. In the end, LinkedIn remains a no-cost, extremely valuable way to reach out to a new prospect as a warm call, with far greater success than a cold call. For those nay-sayers out there who still believe this practice unethical and also have a “No Solicitation” sign/policy in their own offices, how would you expect your own revenue-generating sales personnel to act in such a situation? I hope that you would not advise them to “leave the area”! Otherwise, you will be out of a job soon!

2. “It is only a place to start discussions”: These discussions should become a part of your own professional development. We used to espouse reading trade journals and attending classes. Who can afford to do that anymore? Here lies an effective way to overcome time and cost to get what is truly needed, i.e. continued professional development.

3. “It might only be good for building a profile”: For those large company sales people out there, this is a mistake. Social media and Sales 2.0 will turn big company conventional lead generation and branding on its head. It already is. Who reads direct mail, email blasts and newspaper ads these days? Very few, and fewer and fewer. You need new sources of lead generation activities. Get with the program!

4. “Don’t know where to start”: Here is one place to start: make use of the Group feature of LinkedIn and appropriately advertise value-added, no cost events/products/services that you and your company may be sponsoring. Join and participate in the groups that your target profile prospect/customer belongs to for an appropriate advertisement and/or discussion on a topic of interest. They are not hard to find. Be careful, however, not to be seen as selling a product or service. The Group lead will likely ask you to abstain. If used correctly, this can be a warm and comfortable way to start a conversation with the tool.

An even better use of LinkedIn for the true sales pro, would be to use it as a place for warm introductions, with a value-add approach from the sales person, to people who are associates of associates, i.e. effective and efficient lead generation. Thanks to the internet and LinkedIn, you know something about your prospect. You know their company and perhaps its challenges. You can build rapport before you even walk into their office. There is no reason not to use this tool for lead generation, and every reason to do so. Today, we, as sales pro’s, are so much more fortunate that our predecessors who had nothing more than a telephone to make a very chilly cold call. We are fortunate, let’s use the technology. If you don’t, your competitor will!

Soft Words and Hard Words

Despite the existence of the English dictionary, though now albeit banished to the internet and out of hard print in many circles, words often have different meanings to different people. In any professional and personal communication, it’s important that we recognize this. In the sales profession, it can make or break our income if we are not careful with the words we hear.


When your prospect says, “Your “price” is too high?” what are they really saying about your “price”? Is it the price of your widget or is it the total cost of ownership? When your prospect says, “I need better “service”.” What does “service’ really mean to the prospect? These are words we call “soft” words – they mean very different things to different people, and as sales pro’s we need to be sensitive to words like this.

In fact, most of the words in our vocabulary could probably be considered “soft” words. A “hard” word means the same to all of us. But think about it, what word does mean the same to all of us? What does a “No” mean? To some prospects, it means “not now”, to others, it is “Not now, not tomorrow, never!” To some sales pro’s it says “try harder”. It is, quite often, not a clearly defined negative response despite the apparent simplicity of the word “no”. What is a “win” in the mind of yourself and most important, your prospect? A win for the home team is clearly defined, but what is a win for your customer/prospect. Hmmm. Be careful before you craft a response for your customer or prospect to a collection of soft words. Those soft words deserve some probing.

While you are in the discovery phase with your prospect/client, it never hurts to keep asking questions. Probe on those “soft” words. “What did you mean by that?” “Does this mean that you feel xxxx?” “Help me to understand your use of the word xxxx. Does it mean that……”.

In life, we tend to take some things for granted. Someone else’s choice of words is one of those. We jump to conclusions based on what our clients and prospects say, without additional clarification. But don’t, if you are a sales pro. Learn to recognize a “soft” word when you hear one, and let the alarm bells go off. “Gosh I have to question this a bit!” You’ll be far more successful!

Five Ways to Improve Your Proposal Win Rate

In many ways, I’ve viewed my sales efforts and resources much like a CXO would view his/her precious assets – I want to use them just-in-time and at the right time, every time. One of the biggest and most precious assets in the sales process is the writing and delivery of a proposal. Because I’ve viewed proposals this way, I have enjoyed very impressive win rates throughout a long career once my proposals have been delivered. Here are five tips to live by if you’re looking to increase your win rate or that of your team:

1. In naval aviation circles, Navy pilots are taught to “get a good start” at the beginning of their landing approach to have any chance at catching the aircraft carrier’s arresting wire. We, as sales people, need “good starts” as well. So hire a lead qualifier tasked with three critical objectives to accomplish before any efforts at proposals are begun:

     a. Develop and identify a compelling reason for the prospect to act on your goods and/or services (not from your perspective but from that of the prospect)
     b. Identify each member of the decision-making group
     c. Gain commitment for at least two members to be at an initial discovery meeting before any proposal is considered

If it’s not in the business plan for such a resource as a lead qualifier, do these things on your own before you start committing too many resources.

2. Avoid boilerplates at all costs. Yes, you’ll win some of those and maybe save some time, but you won’t get the improved results you need. Willy Loman Street is littered with boilerplate proposals thrown out by the prospect because:

     a. A former prospect’s name is spread throughout the proposal
     b. It shows no appreciation for the prospect’s unique challenges, i.e. “they didn’t listen to me.”
     c. It shows no effort, i.e. “how will I be treated as a client?”

3. Show only the following in your proposal:
     a. Summary
     b. Findings
     c. Feature-Benefit
     d. Cost-Benefit

Remove the “fluff’. “Fluff” is “fluff” and it is rarely read or appreciated. If you’re hoping to “catch an eye” with some written word, that work should have been done at the discovery stage. Anything outside of (a)-(d) above is “fluff”.

4. Check, double-check and then triple-check for grammar, spelling, formatting etc. And always with at least a second set of eyes involved somewhere. If you are not good at this kind of attention-to-detail, hire someone who is, just like you did in college to type up your term papers!

5. If at all possible, deliver the proposal in person. GoToMeeting and tools like it are impressive and can be tremendous resource-savers, but there is no substitute for reading a prospect’s body language as the proposal is delivered. And it gives your prospect more trust in you to see you delivering points and answering questions with supreme confidence. If you send a proposal via mail or email, you are an amateur fisherman who saw some fish biting in that spot earlier in the day, and has no clue that the fish may have “moved on”.

If you follow these steps, you’ll deliver a resource-hungry asset known as the proposal to the right prospect, at the right time, every time, and improve your win-rate. You may even get back some precious personal time for you to go off and improve those fishing skills!

Five Probing Questions to Test Forecast Validity

Our last blog post suggested five attributes of good pipeline management. Follow those suggestions religiously and you will meet your quota AND your forecast more consistently. But try as we might as individual contributors, sometimes we are not totally honest with ourselves. As sales managers, we might not be supremely confident with the forecast picture that has been painted for us. The following five questions can work for both the individual contributor and sales management to build transparency through the sometimes over-optimistic forecasts we might deliver!

(Assume that the sales process is built on the following progression: suspect is qualified to become a prospect who is pursued for the purpose of an appointment to conduct discovery in order to present a proposal and then close. Each bold point is a critical step in the sales process and marks an advance through the pipeline and subsequent forecast.)

1. When, where, how and with whom was the discovery appointment conducted?

Based on your sales process and sales cycle, this question will often reveal the opportunity’s true place in the forecast. For instance, if your average sales cycle is 60 days from appointment to close, and the appointment occurred 90 days ago, this opportunity is possibly slipping and may not even deserve a place in the forecast. Also, if discovery was not conducted with all the major stakeholders, then perhaps there is more work to do and a less optimistic forecast should result.

2. What is the “compelling reason to act” in the proposal?

In other words, have we clearly identified the prospect’s pain point(s) in the proposal and matched the feature(s) of our product/service to create a benefit, or compelling reason to buy? Often I hear, “well, we are less expensive” or “they don’t like their current provider”. I’ve met thousands of prospects who retained a more expensive product/service even when they didn’t particularly “like” the current provider because the provider presented benefits elsewhere. If I can’t get better compelling reasons than these replies, the opportunity is removed from the forecast.

3. Who is the key decision-maker? And how do you know?

This is my favorite! Mostly the reply is this, “Well my contact is because they told me they are.” Ugh. Everyone in business is a self-proclaimed decision-maker! If we were not, we would only be worker-bees. And the person who will sign the contract is not always the key decision-maker either. Identifying the key decision-making person or group gets more difficult with more complex sales opportunities. I like the Miller Heiman framework for help in flushing out who that person or group might be for the complex sales opportunity.

4. Who and what is your competition? How would the prospect rank you against them?

I have seen way too many 30-day forecasted opportunities swept away by the competition at the last minute. Here’s a classic reply to this question, “Well, nobody, they are only looking at us!” And another, “I didn’t want to ask for fear of bringing up the idea of shopping us.” This is capitalist America, where choice and the right and duty to pursue choice are king! You better bet there is competition, if not from a direct competitor, than at least from a decision to source the solution internally or to make absolutely no decision at all. If we have not nailed down this crucial factor, the opportunity has no place in our forecast.

5. How do you know the opportunity is closed without signed contracts in hand?

The deal is never closed until the ink is dry on your contracts. Or in some sales processes, the deal may not even be closed until the product/service is delivered. In most sales processes, there is still a long way to go between a “verbal yes” and the point at which your company measures it as truly “closed”. Ensure that your sales process and associated forecasting ladder maps each and every critical step between the “verbal yes” and eventual closing.

Over the last two posts, you now have a way to manage your pipeline and to test the validity of your resultant forecast. I hope it helps you to beat quota and forecast every time!!

Five Attributes of Strong Pipeline Management

Strong funnel or pipeline management results in the best chance of forecasting your results accurately and your best chance at exceeding your quotas. As we say in our profession, it is one thing to miss your objective. It is yet another step and a serious miscue to miss your forecast too, in the same month or quarter. The seriousness of this offense will grow the more senior in sales management you become. Do it too many times and you may find yourself in the Accounting office!

Before I suggest the five best attributes or indicators of strong pipeline management, it is important to understand the terms used in pipeline management. I see pipeline and funnel to be synonymous. Both are a depiction of each and every opportunity and its stage within your sales process (http://sellingwisdom.blogspot.com/2010/01/process.html). The stage-gate which the opportunity holds in your sales process should indicate its placement in the 30/60/90 day window since your sales process and average sales cycle should combine to become a predictor of time.

Your pipeline is not your forecast or “commit”, a term often used synonymously with forecast, although generally whatever is in the 30-day window should be your forecast or commit for the next 30 days. If at that stage in the sales process you cannot accurately predict its closure in the next 30 days, you should give consideration to placing the opportunity back into the 60 or 90-day window. Anything that could be signed in the upcoming measurement period, i.e. month or quarter, but is still somewhat tenuous in its placement along your sales process might be considered “upside” to which you are not willing to commit. Enough definitions!

Ok, so here goes. Here, from my experience, are the five best attributes or indicators of strong pipeline management:

•“The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”. You can give good news late and bad news early. It gets real ugly if you can’t do either and you miss your quota. Even Clint Eastwood could not shed that reputation!

•“The Multiplier”. You have at least 2x, 3x and 4x your monthly revenue quota in the 30/60/90-day window respectively. Same can be said for the number of opportunities in each window, based on the average value of your sale. You need this buffer to protect against the unexpected. You have life insurance don’t you? Put those multiplication tables from the third grade to use!

•“Green, Yellow, Red”. From month-to-month, each opportunity moves at least from one window to the next (Green), never stalling more than 2-3 months (Yellow) in the same window. If the opportunity is stalling past 2-3 months, move it way back in your pipeline (Red). Where it is moved will depend on your sales process but I would suggest that since it is “Red” it is close to “Dead”. Find something new to work on. Better yet, ask for help.

•“Equal Opportunity”. Diversity, presented in terms of different companies or opportunities, products/services offered and revenue amounts associated, exists within the pipeline. Live by the elephant, die by the elephant if it decides to play elsewhere in the jungle!

•“Upside”. Forecast is at or near quota with enough upside to likely produce an exceeded-quota measurement period. Relying on the stretch of forecast only to get to quota is like asking for a quarter tank of gas to get you the manual-prescribed mileage for that quarter tank. Go get more gas, no matter the octane. Be safe with yourself and your passengers, i.e. your management!

So there you have it. Remember these five descriptors and paste them to your cubicle or PC/laptop for best pipeline management!

A word for sales management: if you have a closely defined sales process and stage-gates with specific criteria, and you combine this process and these stage-gates with careful probing of the sales person during forecast reviews and your first-hand knowledge of the prospect, you will meet your forecast almost every time. Just as important, you will quickly determine the sales effectiveness of your sales person, i.e. are they effectively executing the work necessary to fill the pipeline and advance opportunities, or are they “selling you on a bag-of-goods”. Many are sales people are good at the latter, far fewer are better at the former – these are our true Sales Pro’s!

Is Selling The Same as Persuasion – Part II?

Let’s replay those definitions from last week’s post:

To sell:
“A recommendation to sell a particular security.
The process of liquidating an asset in exchange for money.”

To persuade:
“To prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging: We could not persuade him to wait.
To induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince: to persuade the judge of the prisoner's innocence”.

It is amazing to me how each definition is so narrowly defined. Sales Pro’s sell more than “securities” and do more than “liquidate assets”. I hope I never catch one of my Sales Pro’s liquidating assets! According to the definition of persuasion, one can only prevail “on a person”? I persuade my dog all of the time, through much urging, to use the bathroom outside. I must admit, I am not always successful.

Some big pieces are really missing here. “To sell” is more than a single act. It is a process, a series of steps, each step performed at an appropriate time with expertise, rigor and finesse (i.e. the art and science of selling).

Persuasion, as defined above, does not necessarily cover the sales process and therefore does not make selling and persuasion equal. Show me a sales person who, during the sales process, only “advises”, “urges”, “appeals to reason” and “convinces”, and I’ll show you a sales person who typifies the very low end of our profession, the ones who give us all a bad reputation. There is no room in persuasion for listening, empathy and probing, the very acts embodied in good selling.

Sure, there is always a point or two in the sales process where we may have to perform the act of persuasion, but persuasion is not selling. Selling is a far greater cause. It is a process that combines art and science, and a bit of persuasion here and there. If you throw too much persuasion onto your sales process, you will have thrown a bit too much flame on the beef and ruined a perfectly good steak. Selling is sometimes persuasion, but persuasion is never selling! What’s for dinner tonight?!

Is Selling The Same as Persuasion – Part I?

Did you ever buy a new car and then suddenly notice how many people on the road own your same make and model?

I was asked, in question form, the title of this posting during an interview recently and suddenly, I see the topic popping up everywhere on blogs and LinkedIn groups. So I thought I would add a nickel to the thought reservoir on this topic since my earlier “two cents” during the interview apparently was not enough to get the job. I am, after all, still writing this blog. Perhaps my “nickel of thought” will provoke a “dime of thought” from you!

Before engaging in a game of semantics, I consulted my trusty source of definitions on the web, Dictionary.com. The results were not inspiring. I sought out the verb definition of selling and persuasion, i.e. “to sell” and “to persuade”. Here is what I found:

To sell:
“A recommendation to sell a particular security.
The process of liquidating an asset in exchange for money.”

To persuade:
“To prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging: We could not persuade him to wait.
To induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince: to persuade the judge of the prisoner's innocence”.

Yecchhh. These definitions leave a Sales Pro wanting much more and feeling cheap. So it is natural then, to rest our response to such a question on the “art and science of selling”, the very premise of this blog!

So come back next time to “Part II” when I suggest that selling is sometimes persuasion, but persuasion is never selling.

"Sales and Service – Do They Mix? – Top Five Reasons Why"

There are certain things in corporate life that don’t mix well with Sales. Like Sales and Finance. Always seems to be a conflict there, i.e. “Why are you discounting the price?” Or Sales and Manufacturing, i.e. “Why did you sell it before we made it?” Or, my favorite, Sales and Marketing, “We paid for that lead, why can’t you convert on it?” While some might view this as conflict across the functional disciplines, I view this “conflict” as a healthy check and balance system for the corporate entity. It works if managed well by the senior leadership team. But what about the idea of Sales and Service? Are the two mutually exclusive? Should they compete with one another? Are they different disciplines?

My premise is this: Sales Pro’s should always be servicing, and Service Pro’s should always be selling. Dictionary.com defines Service as: an act of helpful activity; help; aid: to do someone a service. You are a Sales Pro, so you know how to define Sales. Can these skill sets be combined? I say they must. Here’s why:

1. Both Sales and Service Pro’s work with clients who have a need. No matter who we are, it is our job to fulfill it.

2. Prospects need to be assured that they will be serviced after the sale and judge that criteria based on their perceived level of service during the sales process.

3. Service Pro’s get the opportunity to engage with clients at a time of self-proclaimed need. After that need is satisfied, an opportunity presents itself to open up the conversation to uncover other hidden needs for an up-sell or cross-sell opportunity.

4. Sales Pro’s present and sell a solution that fulfills a need – is this not Service?

5. Interaction with a customer and/or prospect is a precious commodity. Sales and Service Pro’s are pressed up against the client or prospect and gain these interactions. Whether this interaction is for a sales or service purpose, it presents a wonderful opportunity to broaden the relationship. Take advantage!

I recently called my cable company for problems with a router. While they were quick to offer suggestions for a fix, they never asked me whether I was enjoying my experience with their offering. Like you, I receive marketing materials from them all of the time, only to toss them into the trash can or delete file on email. I am quite sure there are a couple of other channels out there that I have not heard of that I might enjoy, if only I had the benefit of a conversation. A lost opportunity for this provider!

"Discounts and Buyer Behavior - Where's The Logic?"

Everybody wants a deal. Even if the client is dead set on your product or service, you may very well have to provide a perceived price concession just to seal the deal. As a sales pro, you’ve been there before, haven’t you? Well here’s my question: when it comes to comparing costs and gaining price concessions, why does the buyer often favor the cost and/or concession when it is framed as a “discount” even though your effective price, after the discount, may still be higher than your competitor’s?

I have run into many situations where when it was time to consider price, the buyer compared only the discounts, not the list price or rack rate with the discount. Doesn’t it make perfect sense to do the latter and is it not foolish to do only the former? Look at marketing collateral everywhere – “discount!”, “discount!”, “discount!” is sometimes all that is printed. Why is the buyer in love with discounts, and not actual prices? I don’t get it.

I even try to put myself in the buyer’s shoes, I am one from time to time, and I still cannot develop the love affair with the discount in my choice of products and services. But it is always there! Back in my sales shoes, I experimented once and left discounts out of the cost page of my proposals and showed only actual pricing. I wanted to be simple and direct with my prospects in the belief that such an approach would improve my success. My win rate declined. Lesson learned there: always show your costs as a discount to something! And be prepared to bump the discount up a few points just to seal the deal. Everybody wants a deal.

In a perfect world, us sales pro’s would always be selling value and our buyers would always be buying value, thereby negating the need to spend much time on pricing and discounts. But it’s always there to consider. I just simply marvel over the attention a discount gets above and beyond that for the effective net price. Everybody wants a deal – “hey, I just got 30% off!” “Off of WHAT?!” I ask!!

“Top Ten Things I’ve Learned About RFP’s”

With a number of years responding to Requests for Proposals (RFP’s), I have learned a few things about these dastardly thorns in the side of a Sales Pro. It is an interesting buying process for the customer. In the government, it is mostly mandated. In the corporate sector, it might be mostly desired, but rarely followed, depending on your industry or product. One fact for sure, RFP’s are highly resource-intensive on both sides of the table, for both buyer and seller. In these days of “do more with less”, that very aspect of the RFP stays at the forefront of my mind while deciding how to handle the newly-arrived RFP. Here is what I have learned, or come to question, about RFP’s: (Forewarned, this is not the Letterman format, 10 is best!)

1. There are three types of RFP processes: (1) The process where contact and communication are allowed freely through-out (2) The process where contact and communication are closely guarded or totally prohibited through-out (3) The process where you are the incumbent. In response to each situation, I say respectively, “Play, Run, Must Play”! The words of my second-grade teacher at recess are ringing in my ears!

2. RFP processes that do not allow a free exchange of ideas and questions between participants and customer do not educate the customer and will most likely end up in a poor decision for the customer, unless there are experts on your product and industry on the side for the customer. So why do buyers, without experts, sometimes put up so many barriers? They don’t want to be bothered by account teams? It shows the respect they have for our profession. I say let them go away in this case, if unsolicited. Even if you win it, it will likely be a relationship-poor and margin-poor relationship between the two companies. Bad divorce coming!

3. The RFP you helped to write is likely the one you will win. The RFP that arrives unsolicited is likely the one you will lose. This one’s been around since Ben Franklin sold his first time-piece! I wonder if Ben ever put his kite up into a cloud of incoming RFP’s and hit lightening??!!

4. Every study that I have conducted suggests that my team will win 10-15% of unsolicited RFP’s. Miller Heiman and other reputable sales training firms will likely back that up. What’s the opportunity cost of NOT pursuing other non-RFP opportunities to spend the time winning that 10-15% of the business? I say mostly it is not worth the trade-off. It’s like playing the slot machines. When do you quit throwing quarters at the machine and decide it’s time to go home and earn an honest wage?

5. Over a third of delivered RFP’s never result in a decision. More than 50% of RFP’s, when awarded, result in a major change of scope, almost always downward, significantly. My opinion and experience anyway. It’s the princess before midnight, and then it turns into an ugly pumpkin. And you spent all that money on the prom dress!!

6. Beware the RFI (Request for Information) that is supposed to result in an RFP. As the vendor, if you can make your presence “felt” by the prospect in the RFI stage, keep chasing it. Otherwise, run! How many RFI’s do you think even really turn into RFP’s? An extremely small percentage. We’re back at the Black Jack table! And your partner is up in the hotel room ordering expensive room service!

7. No single RFP is ever the same. Why can’t we make a rule in our business that “all RFP’s must have the same format for our product?”  The fact that no RFP and RFP response will ever be the same, suggests that if your organization decides to spend much time here, that a dedicated group, or an RFP Response Team is put in place, so that traditional selling resources are freed up to do what they do best. This is a significant investment but required if RFP responses are significant to the company’s sales plan. Do you really want your OUTSIDE Sales Pro’s INSIDE in the company library pulling volumes of material and editing content? That’s like asking the landscaper to paint your living room!

8. In any RFP response, follow the customer’s format, question progression and instructions to the absolute letter-of-the-law. Put many sets of eyes on the final response. This cannot be overstated. The easier it is for the client to read your response (with a quality response, of course), the faster you pile on points for your team.

9. If you are the incumbent, take nothing for granted, but know that you have the biggest advantage in your favor: change is extremely hard for a customer toward a new provider. If you have provided good service and quality at a fair price over the preceding time, the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor. Got to bed tonight, get a good night’s sleep and attack it with fresh eyes tomorrow! The princess will still be a princess!

10. Here’s the RFP I like most. Our Sales Pro creates the opportunity through great discovery and relationship-building with a number of decision-makers. The solution begins to become scoped and the prospect suggests, “yes, but we must go to bid.” This Sales Pro does not quiver. S/he is extremely confident that she has everything in his/her own favor, and plays willingly and enthusiastically. Because s/he has the deal “under control”. There are no pressure tactics to force the prospect’s hands at not going to bid and there is no remorse on the part of the Sales Pro. In the end, it is a win-win for the prospect and the provider.

Is Number Ten nirvana for you? Maybe it is, but it should be your goal to create situations like this. If you’re in control, it makes perfect sense to let the deal take its course in accordance with the prospect’s buying process.

So maybe you can tell, I don’t like RFP’s. Truth be told, I don’t. They make capitalism inefficient (government business excluded from this remark). But I understand its role in our marketplace. And I have won my fair share of them. As a provider, just be sure that you have a well-planned and well-supported process for handling them. I hope the “Top Ten” help you and your organization to find that kind of governance if it is not already present. Good selling!

Top Ten Half Truth's, From a Sales Leader's Perspective

From time to time, we all say things that we don’t really mean, don’t we? Not that any of us lie intentionally, but our conviction behind what we say can sometimes be tested. As a sales leader, I get to converse with customers, prospects, employees, peers, superiors and competitors. That’s kind of neat I think. I’ve heard it all. Not really, every time that is said, something new always comes along!

Just listen:

10. “Your prices are 30% higher than your competitors.” (Really?)

9. “I make the decisions here. You can communicate through me.” (The buck only stopped at Harry Truman from my experience.)

8. “I’m waiting for signatures on the contract.” (I hate that word “wait” – see earlier post. While it’s true the sales exec might be waiting, it’s not true that the contracts will come back signed!)

7. “These changes will be good for you!” (I’ve been on both sides of this one. Sometimes but not always true – it depends on the changes and it depends on you!)

6. “Trust me!” (If you have to ask for it, it means you haven’t earned it.)

5. “There are no right or wrong answers to these questions.” (Then why are you asking them?)

4. “We’ll get back to you by the end of the week.” (This is less than a half truth and more than a half lie, more than 50% of the time it never happens!)

3. “These leads are no good.” (Ok, you know what comes next….)

2. “Sales can’t convert on our leads.” (Ugh.)

And finally, “half-truth” number one…..drum roll please!

1. “We’re from headquarters and we are here to help.” (Oh-oh, run!)

Tell us what “half-truth’s” are your favorites!

The “Give’th and Take’th” Approach for Sales Pro’s

As a sales pro, you have undoubtedly had more than a couple of opportunities stay stagnant in your pipeline. You can’t get that opportunity up the sales ladder and it’s causing you sleepless nights. We’ve all been there. I especially appreciate one technique that gets a sales opportunity up the ladder, or off of your ladder, and sales forecast, right away. Use this technique, and you’ll impress management and your pocketbook!

Let’s set the surroundings first. You have met several times with your prospect. Sincere interest has been shown on both sides. You have conducted great discovery sessions with your prospect and you both agree that there is a need for your product/service. You have presented the proposal, a strong cost-benefit analysis and/or return-on-investment analysis, and the deal sits. And sits. And sits. Your primary point of contact goes silent on you. “What the heck went wrong?” you ask. Absolutely frustrating, isn’t it?!

As a sales leader, I might have the following questions for you:

• How well do you have the decision-making landscape covered, i.e. who has influence and/or need and where? Where are your relationships?
• How well do you have the competitive landscape covered, i.e. against your prospect’s needs, who is strongest?
• How formidable is your “compelling reason to buy” from the prospect’s perspective?

As a sales pro, you might try the following:

As buyers of goods and services, whether we are consumer or business buyers, we possess a certain psychology and buying process. Our buying process shapes up this way:

• I/we have no problem and no need (BLISSFUL)
• I/we might have a problem and maybe a need (AWARE)
• I/we do have a problem and a definite need (ACTIVE)
• I/we determine best solutions to my problem and need (SEARCHING)
• I/ we select my best provider(s) (FINDER)
• I/we negotiate my best financial arrangement (NEGOTIATE)

If your opportunity is languishing in your 30/60/90 day pipeline, have you asked yourself a true and tried question, “Where is my prospect in their buying process?” Are they AWARE, are they a FINDER? Where are they? If the deal is slipping, you have likely misaligned your sales process to their buying process.

Try this to understand if you have or have not misaligned customer-buying and sales process. I call it the “Give’th and Take’th” approach. It goes something like this:

“Mr/Ms Buying Prospect, I have worked hard to put the best proposal in front of you that I possibly could assemble for you. I am concerned that I have had no feedback from you for XX weeks/days. I am concerned that either I have not presented enough information to you or that there may be no real apparent need for my product/service. If I do not receive a response from you in the next XX days, I will put our opportunity to work together in the “do not call file”. Please call me if you’d like to resume discussion.” You have “Given”, now you are about to “Take”.

This technique can be a great barometer of where you are with the prospect’s buying process. And it works with the enterprise client, SMB and the consumer. If the decision-making team is ACTIVE or further in their search process, you will get a response. No one wants a potential provider to “go away!” If there is no response, your sales process likely developed a bit ahead of the prospect’s buying process. You will need to re-align your sales strategy.

So when your next opportunity starts to slip in your pipeline, try the “Give’th and Take’th Approach”! I know, you’re thinking, “I would never tell a prospect that I am taking them off my list.” But remember that people often want what they do not have. If they are in the ACTIVE stage or further, they don’t want potential partners leaving the stage. Sometimes our buyers get so busy with other priorities that you opportunity loses visibility. They won’t leave you if there is a true need. If they do, it means you have a heckuva lot more selling to do, and you don’t need them hanging around in your sales forecast!!

The Customer is Always Right?

We have all grown up with this mantra placed on our sales and service mantels, haven’t we? This is rightfully so, because a customer is a customer, not always a prospect for your offering. A customer might be defined as an entity that has bought from you previously that you now continue to serve. Period. A prospect might be defined as an entity (either customer, former customer or not) who is a candidate for a new product or service from which they may benefit. But many of us in sales sometimes confuse a customer with a prospect. I like to proclaim that while the customer is always right, THE PROSPECT IS ALWAYS WRONG! But in the heat of the sales chase, I often hear the sales person say, “Well the customer said show me xyz and I showed them xyz……”. Ugh. They forget they are selling to a prospect, not a customer.

While your prospect may be a current or former customer and deserves the appropriate care with regard to the product and/or services they have already purchased from you, they must be seen as a prospect for the new product or service you think may benefit the client. And THE PROSPECT IS ALWAYS WRONG!

I like the slogan of one famous merchant who promotes, “An educated consumer is our best consumer.” As a sales pro, that proclamation scares me. It means they see no need for our profession. They have just replaced toll-takers with FastPass! (I’m sorry, bad analogy for sales pros, but you get the picture!) What do sales pro’s do anyway? We teach, educate, evangelize, question, question and question even more to understand the reasons behind pain, challenge and/or opportunity. Then we match our products/services to those needs, show a benefit and close. This is the work of a sales pro.

If the prospect knew what they wanted and what would serve them best from my shop (my definition of a commodity), I would eliminate my sales force and set up a 1-800 order-taking line. I would probably even forget about the 800 number and set up ecommerce on my web site. It is much less expensive. Why do I need a highly paid sales force if my prospects understand their needs and my products enough to make a successful match? I don’t, all I need is a web site.

I know, I get it. Sometimes the prospect is demanding and wants answers based on the research they have done. We feel compelled to respond instantly with answers, not with sales techniques that will provide the prospect with the best product/service at the best cost. In this day and time, the prospect can gain an upper-hand on the research they have at hand, i.e. thank you internet. (This is a good thing!) But they can never truly understand your products or services and how they can solve problems and challenges unless your company provides such detail on their web site, that they no longer need you. Check your company web site now and then!!

The sales pro is an expert at uncovering the prospect’s needs, understanding his/her own product offerings and making matches to create benefits. The sales pro then closes on these benefits. The prospect is not an expert in this field. Never! And don’t let them think they are! The next time a prospect says, “I want to talk about xyz…..”, what’s your next response?

Why Is It That Hardly Anyone Grew Up Wanting To Be A Salesperson?

Isn’t it the truth? When you were eight years old and your friends were playing “cops and robbers”, were you on the sideline saying, “No thanks, I want to be in sales management one day – let’s do role plays instead!” We’ve all played “doctor/nurse”, “fireman”, “postman”, “scientist” etc. but who ever played “sales guy/gal”? Well, maybe in the school store, but that’s order-taking!

In school, there are few courses to support and extend our discipline. Most I have seen have a title like “Sales and Marketing 101”. Sales is not marketing and marketing is not sales. I have a son who is a sophomore in college. When I asked him to read this blog he told me, “I have no idea what you’re talking about in your posts, but I like the layout!” No one teaches the art and science of selling, not in K-12, undergraduate, post-graduate, or god forbid doctorate. Why? Should they?

Here are some of my thoughts why few of us grew up wanting to be sales people:

Sales people build poor perception in others. I am not so sure. Lawyers have been accused of building poor perception in others, but how many of your friends wanted law school badly out of college?

Nobody likes a quota hanging over their head. Maybe, but doesn’t every profession have a productivity quota over their heads? Scientists must accomplish so much research. Consultants must have a certain number of billable hours.

Let’s try some more potential reasons:

Hollywood and TV don’t glamorize the profession. Right on. Doctors, lawyers, cops, soldiers and even dogs (Lassie etc. etc.) get all the glory when you are a kid growing up watching TV, movies and/or reading books and magazines. Heck, I remember only one exposure to the sales profession in a book required for 7th Grade Literature, Death of a Salesman. It scared the heck out of me! And I’m sure it did the same for you! My next exposure to the sales profession from the entertainment media was not until 1992’s “Glen Gary Glen Ross”. I was two years into my sales career at the time. It didn’t scare me, it depressed me. Not until my third viewing did I come to find it absolutely hysterical. It almost drove me from the profession. I put that movie on top of a Willy Loman sandwich and I went looking for a new career. I’m glad I did not find one!

Schools don’t teach the profession. Right on. Where else can a child or teen or young adult learn about, wonder about and explore our profession? I am not sure why it is not taught, but I have some ideas. Any professors/faculty out there care to weigh in? Is it because the profession is not deemed worthy (that perception thing again)? Is it because few appreciate the “science” of selling? Is it because very few sales pro’s go back into the academic community to build content and teach it? Is it because of a perceived lack of demand? Since when does student demand dictate a class schedule anyway? My sophomore son can’t register for half of his desired classes because they are full!

My vote is to teach the profession starting in high school and then into college. What is missed here is that one of the problems in this world is that not enough people of the world know how to sell. And I don’t mean it’s important to be able to sell a widget. I mean that it’s important for people from all walks of life to do the things good sales pro’s do all the time. It’s important to listen, to effectively build relationships, to persuade rather than force a view point. It’s important to be able to find solutions to problems, to evangelize a new concept, to win a new friend. It’s just too darned important to be left from our school’s curriculum. Forget about Hollywood, that’s a story for another day! What are your thoughts?

It’s the Oscars – Should Successful Sales Pro’s Own an Academy Award??

Is the successful Sales Pro also an actor or actress? Hmmm.

I have never acted. I would be horrible at it. I wouldn’t like it. But I can sell and I appreciate the acting profession. I don’t know it, but I appreciate its place in society.

So, don’t we, as successful Sales Pro’s, need to be able to play actor or actress from time to time? I say yes, absolutely!

The world is full of different personalities. If you have a pipeline of 30 opportunities, I guarantee you that you have at least 100 different personalities on the decision-making end of those opportunities. Should you maintain your presence, style, process and charm with each one of these personalities? You better not!

Good sales pro’s alter their approach, delivery and even personality based on the prospect before them. It is why there are so many good programs out there like Myers Briggs and the DISC profile. These great programs help you to sort out the different personality types and how to interact with them.

I call it “dancing” with the prospect. I have also heard “pace-setting” and “rapport-building”. If you are dancing with one who likes to “take charge”, you better follow. If you are dancing with one who is “calculating”, you better know your steps. The roles you must play on the dance floor are numerous. You need to adapt as a successful sales pro. If you maintain your persona and style at every opportunity, your win rate will diminish. Guaranteed!

When it comes to inside sales vs. outside sales, the opportunities here are vastly different. How do you show your persona and style in these different settings? Most research will suggest that your prospect reacts to three different attributes in your presence:

• The spoken word
• Voice inflection
• Body language

Guess what gets hardly any attention? The spoken word. Guess what gets most attention? Your body language! Two of the most successful sales pro’s I know had this shared characteristic: when the prospect was talking, they leaned forward in their chairs, put a hand up to the chin, squinted the eyes a bit and looked as if they were “The Thinker”. Really cool to watch. And their intent was genuine.

For outside sales pro’s, and it is why you are “outside” sales people, you have this skill to master, body language.

An aside: as an outside sales professional, I sometimes look at these web-based collaborative selling tools as a threat to our profession. We do our best work in the face of a prospect, not across a computer. Having been on both ends of a web-meeting, I think they suck to be blunt. Is the world changing and should we? Sure, but there is no substitute, ever, ever, ever, for face to face contact with another human being no matter your intent, desire, objective, need etc. Body language is first and foremost in the mind of the prospect. Always will be.

For inside sales pro’s, you must rely on voice inflection. Your prospect will read the positive and/or negative inflection in your voice before they ever register the spoken word. Remember that voice inflection does not necessarily mean a high at every spoken word. We all see right through that. But at the points where you think you’ve matched your product/service features to the prospect’s needs, pronounce the benefit with huge inflection. You’ll get the sale and an Academy Award!

So why do I love selling but cannot act? How can these skills live together? I can act in the sales situation because the desire is genuine, to build a new relationship, to make a new friend, to try to find a way to solve the business challenge. I do not suggest that acting is insincere but Academy Award acting as we know it is for a different purpose. Just ensure that your desires are sincere for your client, you and your company! You will be very successful if you can adapt your approach to the prospect!

"You Know It's Going Well When....."

You know the sales call is going well when the prospect:

• Starts asking you questions
• Writes down what they are hearing (my favorite indicator of a deal headed the right way)
• Maintains an upright and/or forward posture in their chair
• Keeps you for at least an hour
• Does most of the talking
• Invites others from the organization to participate in the meeting

You know the sales call is going really well when the prospect:

• Buys you the lunch
• Asks for your boss’s name to send a thank you note
• Tells you how your product/service will get them a promotion
• Invites you to their daughter’s wedding

Things are not going so well when you:

• Suffer dry-mouth from too much talking
• Start pulling out the marketing collateral
• Are asked to leave your manager in the lobby
• Discover an urgent need to find the restroom
• Have no clue what the prospect just said
• Spilled coffee on your white shirt on the car-ride to the appointment
• Get “30 minutes to tell us why you should be our choice”

The story you have just read is based on actual occurrences. Names and places were changed to protect the innocent! What other indicators do you use to tell you if your work is being well-received?