The One Essential Trait of a Great Salesperson

 

I have written at length about the things a good salesperson must do to remain at the top of their game: making lists, constantly improving product knowledge, being excited about what you're selling, and on and on.  But perfecting all of these traits will not make anyone a great salesperson.  
Before getting into sales, I was a teacher.  And, as a teacher, I believed one thing absolutely: if a student didn't understand what I was explaining, it was NOT the student's fault.  It was mine.  I always marveled at the teacher who blamed the students for not understanding the subject matter they were teaching.  
All while I was teaching, I was watching the students' eyes.  If I saw blankness, I knew I was on the wrong track and needed to change direction.
A great salesperson gets into the shoes of their customers--literally.  A great salesperson is not "pushing their product".  A great salesperson is ultimately a teacher trying to understand the needs of the student (the "customer") and only then working with the customer to make sure the product solves the problem. 
The route to greatness is to really understand your customer.  You are the teacher, they are the student.  And if your "pitch" elicits blank stares, you are going down the wrong road and need to evaluate yourself.  You have a product and you need to be able to explain how it benefits them.  And if they don't believe it benefits them (if the stares remain blank), then blame yourself and fix the pitch or move on.
A few years ago, I was tutoring a young man for his High School Equivalency test.  He was struggling with math, but loved go-cart racing.  So I started from that position: "you have a one mile track, your go-cart goes 10 miles per hour.  How long will it take to go 1 mile."  He answered in seconds.  And, as we changed the track length and the speed of the go-cart, each time he computed the answer instantly.  I got into his shoes and he succeeded.
So, you're dealing with a Facility Manager of a manufacturing plant. What are his issues?  How can you help solve these issues?  
You've heard this before: "don't sell products, sell solutions".  But you can't sell solutions if you don't know what the problems that your customer is facing.  
So, now change the scope of your list: who is my customer; what does he do in the company; what are his issues; what are the company's problems; how can my product help them.  Get to deeply understand your customer, like understanding the young man who didn't think he understood math, but did, in fact, when it was related to go-cart racing.  
This need to know your customer is required no matter what you're selling.  Homeowner says "I need a new refrigerator."  How you respond is critical.  "What is it you like about your current fridge?" "What things would you like in a new one?"  And the response tells you everything: "Oh, I want the freezer drawer on the bottom and I want double doors and I want it counter deep".  Now you're getting somewhere and your customer appreciates your concern.
You're selling oil water separators and the plant manager has a problem with equipment leaking oil.  You need to get into the plant and understand the problem, and only then can you recommend a solution. Does the separator need to manage the whole facility, or can it be placed close to the leaking equipment?  Can one large separator solve the problem, or a few smaller ones which are easier to install and may be less expensive?
I'm familiar with a company that manufactures a product that measures the permeability of packaging materials.  This is a very sophisticated, technical sale. There is absolutely no way to sell this product without understand how important packaging is to particular customers.  Potential customers may be more or less interested in the permeability of their packaging. And who in the company is responsible for testing packaging permeability?  So many questions that the salesperson must answer before even talking to the customer for the first time.
Get into your customer's shoes.  Be empathetic to their problems. Make sure you're talking to the right person.
And only then can you propose a solution.
The salesperson who sits in an office and never visits the customer will never understand (read "empathize") their needs or the urgency of their requests.
Real sales is "eyeball to eyeball": looking into your customer's eyes, recognizing their needs and then, and only then, proposing a solution.  The questions are: how can you save the customer money and how can you solve the particular problem the customer has?

A self-absorbed salesperson is an oxymoron.  A self-absorbed salesperson cannot succeed.  A great salesperson must put the customer first, not the sale.  
The importance of empathy for the online salesperson will be the subject of my next post.

Golf Pro Tom Patri on "Unforced Errors"

 

Tom Patri, Professional Golf Pro

Many golf and tennis sports announcers refer to what they call “unforced errors”. Unforced errors are errors that are made in just about any sport that would not be made under normal circumstances. A basketball player coming down the court unchallenged misses a layup.  In tennis, if your opponent hits a nice shot to your forehand and you bang it into the net. You should have made the shot.
In golf, if you hit a tee shot into the middle of the fairway, 100 yards from the green, and you slice it into the woods, that’s an unforced error.
A recent article I read by golf pro, Tom Patri, discusses how to eliminate five “unforced errors” in golf.  Eliminating unforced errors can apply to the sales profession as well.  As Patri says “Through the years, I've watched a number of shots carelessly thrown away—not due to a player’s skill level—but due to one’s inability to either manage their emotions, the course, or both.”
Over the years, I have seen this very thing in our sales profession.  Unforced errors result in lost sales and these lost sales may happen, not because of a salesperson’s skill level, but because of one’s inability to manage the course (product knowledge), managing one’s emotions, and understanding the customer's needs.
The first example in Patri’s article is the golfer who hits a poor shot and makes an unforced error by trying to hit a great shot to recover from the bad one. As Patri says, "You didn't get in this position because you were in control of your ball. What makes you think you can thread the needle in your recovery shot? Play back to safety."  We, as salespeople, need to understand ourselves, our motivations, our customer's requirements, and always play within ourselves. 
You've just left a sales call and you realize that you started off totally wrongly.  Maybe you made assumptions about the customer’s likes and dislikes, or needs, or issues and now the customer is angry or just withdrawn.
Don't try to correct the situation by putting yourself in a worse position.  Play back to safety.  Make a new appointment.  Start over.  Admit your error, apologize and get back into play.  The customer will respect you for that.
I once played in a music group and when the lead singer and guitarist started the set by playing all the wrong chords, he then blamed it on the fact that it was a new guitar and he wasn't used to it.  We were all embarrassed by his unforced error and the fact that he didn't just apologize and start over.  Trying to explain what you did wrong is not an apology.  Never try to explain your error.  Apologize and fix it.
I have stated in several previous blog posts: when your gut tells you that things aren’t going right, believe your gut.  And then fix it.  Get back into play.  Don’t stick your head in the sand and hope it all works out.  Admit your error, fix the issue, apologize and get the sale.
In Part II, we'll talk about how emotions can cause unforced errors.

Sales is a Performance Art With No Applause

Performance arts are wonderful.  You rehearse for weeks; you have a dress rehearsal to prepare for the performance; then you perform--perhaps many times--in front of a (hopefully) approving audience that gives you a standing ovation after the final curtain.
Sales is a performance art, but the audience never applauds.  A scowl is more often the reaction of your performance.  Sales is a solo art.  The sales performance is primarily you and the customer, or customers.  The sales rep is the artist and, just as with an artist, the sales "performance" is lonely since there's no applause. It's very easy to get down on yourself, especially if the sales aren't coming and the reward doesn't equal the effort that you're putting into it.
So what do you do when you hit a dry spell?  What happens if the sales don't equal the effort that you're putting into it?  What happens when your boss starts asking you where the orders are?
Like any performing artist who doesn't get the applause they expected, the first job is to look within yourself for some of the answers. 
Are you doing everything you can do to get those sales?  
Is your product knowledge up to date? 
Is your pitch honest and clear? 
Do you really believe in your product(s)?
Do you believe in yourself and your abilities?
If you don't believe in yourself and your product, you will never convince the customer to believe.
Once you've answered those questions, honestly, you know where you need to focus. 
All sales start with a belief in yourself and your product.  (In a recent interview, even Liza Minnelli confessed that had to learn to believe in herself and the song before she could sing it successfully.)
All sales start with an intimate knowledge of your products. 
If you're deficient in either of these--believing in yourself and your product--fix it. 
When you're confident in yourself and excited about your products, you're unbeatable.

Why Email is the Worst Way to Communicate!I

You've heard the saying many times: "free is not free".  There's a cost to everything.  Well, the same can be said for email.  Email is free and there's horrible cost related to the free email: inundation. We are inundated by emails.  They get lost in the shuffle.  You know the conversation: "did you get that email I sent you?"  "What email? I get 100 emails a day.  How do you expect me to pick your out from the bunch?"  And some folks get many more than 100--probably hundreds.
According to statistica.com the forecast is that, by 2025, more than 376 billion emails will be sent globally every single day.
So, as a salesperson, do you think you have a chance finding and communicating with customers by email?  The future for communicating by email is almost gone, and will only get worse.
What are the alternatives?  What do I say to someone who says "they aren't responding to my emails."  
Call.  What a shock.  Pick up your cell phone and call.  But when you do that, you better have your pitch prepared.  There are two ways a call gets answered: by voice mail or by the customer directly.  And you'd better be ready to have a good 30 seconds prepared or you'll never hear from them again.  I know sales reps who just say: "This is John Jones.  Please give me a call back."  Not.
Get a pitch, a good pitch.  Try it out on spouses and friends.  You have to state your name, return phone, company, and the reason why the customer should return your call--and make it a good, strong reason.  "I represent a manufacturer of industrial air compressors and we have stock and can ship immediately.  It's an excellent product and outperforms the competition.  I can't wait to hear from you.  Remember, high quality and in stock."
Get back on the phone.  It's worked for decades and it beats email.
If you have the customer's cell phone, try texting.  Use this carefully.  Always give the customer an option to opt out and always put your name in the first line and use the customer's first name in your intro. 
And use your text for a good old pitch.  "Joe.  This is Ed Maxwell. Sorry for texting you but I really need to tell you about the line of industrial air compressors we represent.  And they're in stock! Just reply STOP if you don't want to discuss this, but I'd really like 5 minutes of your time.  Give me a call."
Use LinkedIn.  Find your customer's profile.  Try to connect with them.  Send them an email--again with your pitch.  Never forget your pitch--sometimes called a Value Proposition.  (See my blog post on Value Proposition.)
The bottom line--email is dead.  Be creative, use another way.

  

 

Urgency: Without Sales, Everything Stops

Customers don't want to wait.  When they need one of your products or services, they typically need it right away.  The salesperson's job is to understand that urgency.  The longer the customer waits for you to get back to them, or provide them with the information they need, the more likely that the order will be lost to the salesperson who recognizes the urgency.
Understanding a customer means understanding the customer's needs.  The need may be a quotation so that the product can be budgeted.  The need may be a drawing or specification so that the engineer can spec your product into the project.
Everyone reports to someone up the chain of command.  It's important for the sales rep to understand that when someone asks you for something, it's because someone up the ladder wants the information--urgently.  Without the quote, without the specifications, without the lead time information, the order gets lost to someone who recognizes the urgency.
In this time of supply chain delays, it's up to the sales rep to stay in touch with the customer--to keep the customer informed about the timing for whatever their current needs are.
The corollary to Urgency is Communication.  Remember, again, everyone answers to someone up the corporate ladder.  The more you communicate with your customer, the better the your contact looks to the bosses.
The underlying principle that will allow you to stay in communication with your customer, is to make follow-up lists.  I have written a couple of blogs about making lists.  The links are here.  
Also, I highly recommend sales guru Brian G. Burns' YouTube channel "The Brutal Truth".  The link to his videos is here.  Brian can also be found on LinkedIn.
Remember, if you don't understand the urgency of the sales environment, someone else will. Losing an order or a customer to someone who recognizes the customer's needs is an unnecessary way to lose--a customer or an order.

 

Do Not Be A Lazy Salesperson

The digital age and COVID have created the so-called "lazy salesperson".  The serious salesperson prospects a customer by learning the structure of the customer's company, what their function is in the supply chain, who the major players are in the company, and how they make decisions on what product they purchase. The lazy salesperson uses LinkedIn or some sort of blanket email to try to get the customer's attention--sort of like throwing a fishing line in the pond without any hook or bait.  And the recipients of this lazy approach have their "Deleted" and "Junk" folders full of these non-specific emails.

What separates the lazy salesperson from the successful salesperson is their "pre-sale" research.  Often the best way to find out how a company is organized, and who the players are, is through their website.  Once you find out what the management structure is--then you go to LinkedIn to find if there is something more to be learned.

Once you have done all your research into the company you're going to approach, you must determine what your pitch is going to be.  (Check out my blog on creating the Value Proposition.) One pitch does NOT fit all potential customers.  The pitch has to be tailored to the specific needs of the customer you're approaching.

So, the first step in getting out of the "lazy salesperson" mode is to research your customers. There are so many resources these days (their website, LinkedIn, Manta.com) to find out who owns the company and how the company is structured. Use search engines like Google, Bing or Duck Duck Go, to check out any news on the company (Make sure the news is current)).  Don't try to connect to a customer through LinkedIn unless you've exhausted all the options: phone, Zoom meeting, email, phone, phone, phone.  And the email has to be specific to the customer, not generic.  Who likes getting a "Get Well" card that is unsigned and unspecific--just a generic get well card off the rack?  I certainly don't.  So your approach to a customer cannot be generic.  It has to be specific.

We just can't be jumping into our cars to make cold calls any more.  Gas prices, COVID and remote working have changed the selling environment.  The old adage, "Sell Smarter not Harder" applies more than ever in these times.

My next series of posts will discuss the ways of getting to the customer without getting into your car.  

Selling in a Covid World: The New Normal

The all too familiar image of the Covid 19 virus

Today I needed to check out new windows for my house.  I called a window company and they sent a salesman (who happened to be the company's owner).  The reason the owner came was because it's difficult in these times to get folks to go our and risk getting infected by this awful virus.

But we were all careful, all keeping more than 6' distancing and covering our mouths and noses with masks.  Plenty of hand sanitizer was used as well.

There is an old saying: "it all starts with the sale".  If we don't sell, the manufacturers don't manufacture.  And the corresponding old saying is: "when sales stop, everything stops".  

I visited a new car dealer recently and, once again, everything was handled with distancing and masks.  This is the new normal.  You don't go to the car dealer any more and jump into a car for a test drive.  You make an appointment and the dealer sanitizes the car and you take it out alone.

Every type of sales job will require looking at how to accomplish the sales task with new rules: Masks, distancing, and sanitizing (MDS).

Do not apologize for how you handle your job.  Your customer may not wear a mask, but you should.  Don't let peer pressure convince you otherwise.

Inform the customer that you will be following all CDC and state requirements: masks, distancing, sanitizing.  

Unfortunately, we can't stop the sales process.  But we can take great care to make the sales process safe.  Be very clear about how you will handle yourself and don't compromise.  And, by all means, don't apologize.  Masks reduce potential infection by at least 50%.  Wear a mask.

Sell, but sell safely.

Next up--Virtual Selling during Covid.

The Value Proposition: the centerpiece of a sales presentation

I recently gave a networking workshop.  My focus was the "elevator speech"--the speech that you give when someone asks you what you do for a living; the speech that the listener gives you thirty seconds to deliver and rolls their eyes when you never get to the point.  The centerpiece of the elevator speech is the Value Proposition.
Wikipedia defines a value proposition as "a promise of value to be delivered, communicated, and acknowledged.  It is also a belief from the customer about how value will be delivered, experienced and acquired.  A value proposition can apply to an entire organization, or parts thereof, or customers accounts, or products or services."
The value proposition of the products or service that you sell are the things that distinguish them and separate them from the competition--what is often called the features and benefits.  The value proposition can also be the benefits that you bring to the sales process or the organization that you represent.  The value proposition is a statement summarizing why someone should use your product or service over anyone else's.  It is absolutely essential that you think about this and internalize it and practice it and use it every chance you get.  It doesn't need to be long--in fact it should be short and to the point and represent the soul of who you are and what you're selling.  Some examples:
Uber, the car service:  1. Pickup in less than 5 minutes; 2. Lower prices than a taxi; 3. An app to track your car's approach; 4. Cashless transaction; 5. A rating system that guarantees security.  "Tap the app, get a ride."
Slack, the messaging service: "A Messaging App for Teams who put robots on Mars." And "All your tools in one place."
Evernote, an online note storing app: "Remember everything."  "Provides the ability to organize all your notes in one place so you never forget a great idea."

What is the essence or the soul of your business or service?  Once you have determined that, put it into as few words as possible and internalize it and use it until it becomes a part of you.
Every business should have a value and every employee should understand and buy into that value; every person should have a value and should be able to vocalize that value and believe in that value.
This idea is worth thinking about--long and hard.  What is your value?  What is your company's value? What is their product's value? 
People tend to believe in a person or product that has value.  People tend to buy a product or service from a person who believes deeply in what they're selling and can express that value briefly and confidently and from the heart.

Customer Centered Selling: Four Important Steps

Customers must be at the heart of any sales process.  I have discussed in previous blogs about relational selling versus transactional selling.  Transactional selling is not customer centered, by definition.  For a transactional salesperson getting the order is more important than doing right for the customer; meeting sales goals supersedes making the customer happy.  Relational selling is customer centered. Relational salespeople know that they will live with the results of the sale and therefore they make sure the customer is well-served.
Everything these days is becoming "customer centered".  Netflix "learns" what you like to watch and features the programs similar to ones that you have watched in the past.  Amazon "learns" your buying history and "suggests" things that you might like.  The future of selling is knowing your customer better than your competition does and being able to use that knowledge to service them better, to make sure your customer gets the solution that is best for their needs.
Four things to do before making your first sales call on a new customer or even your second and third call on an old customer:
1.  Look up the company on Manta (www.manta.com).  This will give you an overview of the company's ownership and number of employees.
2.  Go to the company's website.  If there's an "About" tab, click on it.  Learn everything you can about the company--websites are great sources of insight into the company's culture, no matter how large or small the organization.
3.  Go to LinkedIn and look up the company's president and any of the people that you're meeting with.  LinkedIn gives tremendous insight into a person's interest, if they are keeping up their profiles.
4.  Check other social media outlets to get even more insight.  Does the company have a Twitter feed? A Facebook page? 
Putting yourself into a selling situation without knowing everything you can about the customer you're trying to sell is like coming up to bat with a broomstick.  You may hit the ball, but you've reduced your odds by a whole lot.
Do your homework.  Get to know your customer before making your pitch and tailor the pitch to his needs.  

No More Excuses: Write it Down!!! Keep a Bullet Journal

In my 44 years in sales, I can't tell you how many times I've asked someone if they did something and the response was: "I forgot".  The simplest way to solve this problem of forgetting seems to be the one that people resist like the plague:  keep a list; write it down; look at the list every day.

There is a movement becoming hugely successful in the U.S. almost overnight, called "Bullet Journals".   "Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future" is their value proposition.  Ryder Carroll is the inventor of this enormously popular organization scheme.  While the concept is simple (using pen and notebook), the critical component of this idea is that you have to spend time reflecting on the journal--what are your current tasks; where are you headed.  Writing things down is not the end point; reflection on what you wrote is the end point.  Hundreds of thousands of people are using Carroll's method.  Check it out:  www.bulletjournal.com.

I use a system called Evernote (www.evernote.com)

I can forward emails right to Evernote that I need to see later, put reminders on these emails or notes; create notes and reminders and take notes, typed and handwritten, right onto the app.  I have been using Evernote as my "bullet journal" for years.  But putting something somewhere is meaningless if you don't spend time reflecting on your notes: what got done (delete it)? what got delayed (change the reminder to a new date)?  what needs to be done by someone else (forward it)?  

Don't try to test your memory.  Write things down; make lists; keep a bullet journal--and then go back over it every day and cross off what you did and move what you didn't do to the next day.

Write it down; and look at the list every day and stop using the excuse "I forgot".  

And for each item in the journal, ask yourself: "what is the next step; where do I go from here with this task or project?"

Eleven Extra Steps: Lessons from Louis Rudd

Louis Rudd on his journey across the Antarctic

Battling wind gusts up to 60 mph, dragging a sled weighing hundreds of pounds, Louis Rudd and Colin O'Brady, separately and alone, with no outside help, crossed the Antarctic recently.  O'Brady won the "race", completing the journey in 54 days; 56 days for Rudd. The trip was 925 miles covering approximately 16 miles a day.  Some days they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces.  The amazing thing is that they are the only two to survive this journey and they did it at the same time.  But that is not the lesson here.
For a lot of us, every day seems like a journey across the Antarctic--pulling 400 pound sleds and battling 60 mph winds.  Walking 15 miles a day means pushing forward one step at a time, 30 steps a minute, counting every step, struggling for every step.  And when Rudd was exhausted for the day, when he couldn't take another step, he took eleven more steps.
Why eleven?  It was once calculated, Rudd explained, that if the famous English explorer, Robert Falcon Scott and his team, had taken 11 more steps each day of their expedition in the early 1900's, they would have survived.
When you're tired, and you need to get one more quote done, make one more sales call, answer one more customer service question, satisfy one more customer's urgent request--remember:  Eleven More Steps.  Success demands Eleven More Steps.  There is no easy way.  Hook up your 400 pound sled and drag it Eleven More Steps.

Unforced Errors, Part I

Many golf and tennis sports announcers refer to what they call “unforced errors”.  Unforced errors are errors that are made by tennis players or golfers that should not be made under normal circumstances. In tennis, if your opponent hits a nice shot to your forehand and you bang it into the net, that’s an unforced error. You should have made the shot. In golf, if you hit a tee shot into the middle of the fairway, 100 yards from the green, and you slice it into the woods, that’s an unforced error.
A recent article I read by golf pro, Tom Patri, discusses how to eliminate five “unforced errors” in golf.  Eliminating unforced errors applies to the sales profession as well.  As Patri says “Through the years, I've watched a number of shots carelessly thrown away—not due to a player’s skill level—but due to one’s inability to either manage their emotions, the course, or both.”
Over the years, I have seen this very thing in our sales profession.  Unforced errors result in lost sales and these lost sales may happen, not because of a salesperson’s skill level, but because of one’s inability to manage the course (product knowledge), one’s emotions, and the sales process.
The first example in Patri’s article is the golfer who hits a poor shot and makes an unforced error by trying to hit a great shot to recover from the bad one. As Patri says, "You didn't get in this position because you were in control of your ball. What makes you think you can thread the needle in your recovery shot? Play back to safety."  We, as salespeople, need to understand ourselves and our motivations and always play within ourselves. 
You've just left a sales call and you realize that you started off totally wrongly.  Maybe you made assumptions about the customer’s likes and dislikes, or needs, or issues. Don't try to correct the situation by putting yourself in a worse position.  Play back to safety.  Make a new appointment.  Start over.  Admit your error and get back into play. 
I once played in a music group when the lead singer and guitarist started the set by playing all the wrong chords and then blamed it on the fact that it was a new guitar and he wasn't used to it.  We were all embarrassed by his unforced error and the fact that he didn't just apologize and start over.
I have stated in several previous blog posts: when your gut tells you that things aren’t going right, believe your gut.  And then fix it.  Get back into play.  Don’t stick your head in the sand and hope it all works out.  Admit your error, fix the issue and get the sale.
In Part II, we'll talk about how emotions can cause unforced errors.

No one is bigger than the team!

Belichick and Brady in discussion

According to reporting by ESPN, Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady got into a little back and forth argument.  Belichick was complaining, according to the report, about Brady’s sloppiness in a recent game—poor completion record, a couple of interceptions, etc.  And of course, Brady is a superstar with five SuperBowl rings and wasn’t having any of it.  Belichick is reported to have told Brady “No one is bigger than the team”.

What a lesson for all of us: no one is bigger than the team.  No matter what team we’re on—a sports team, a business team, a sales team, an educational team—we’re all on a team of some sort.  In fact,  we may be on several teams.

It’s very easy, especially when we’re successful, to think that it’s all about us—I did that, I accomplished that, it’s all about me.  But it never is.  A lot of people help all of us get where we are.  A lot of people sacrifice many things to allow us to succeed: our spouses, our parents, our children, our bosses, our employees, the folks sitting behind the desk making our lives a little easier.

It’s time to start each day by telling ourselves “I am not bigger than the team”.  And it’s time to start thanking the team for what they do to help us achieve our goals.