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!