So You Think No One's Watching.....

Inc. Magazine published an article entitled "8 Small Things People Use to Judge Your Personality" by Travis Bradberry.
The article hits the nail right on the head.  We think no one's watching us--but they are.  And they're using our actions to judge whether they're going to do business with us--whether they're going to buy the product we're selling.  Remember, you have competition and often the competitor is selling something very similar to your product.  So how does the customer tell which one to buy?  The customer uses clues; often clues that we're unaware that he's using; often clues that even the customer is unaware of.  I know these 8 items are important because I've used them to judge people myself.  (Note, the words in quotes are directly from Inc Magazine. The comments after the quotes are my own.)

The first one is a real insight into a person's overall personality:
1.   "How Do You Treat Waiters and Receptionists?"  You're out to lunch with a customer and the waiter brings the wrong meal to you or to your customer.  Are you sensitive to the mistake ("everyone makes them") or do you fly off the handle? The receptionist doesn't get your name and you have to repeat it three times.  Do you get angry?  Your customer is watching--and judging and making his mind up about whether you're going to get his business.  Everyone watches how you treat other people and judges you based on how you react.  I could expand this to "how do you treat your colleagues, your employees, and others".  More than anything, how you treat others in public is a window into your soul. 

 2.  "How Often Do You Check Your Phone?"  I have mentioned this often in the blog.  You think you're being sneaky--looking at your phone on your lap; you think no one's paying attention--they are and it could lose you the order. Check out my blog post: "Checking your smartphone"

3.  "Repetitive, Nervous Habits."  The best way to approach a sales call is to sit still, listen, take notes and ask questions. Fidgeting with your hair, clicking your pen, glancing at your phone--all bad.  Be aware of your nervous habits and get rid of them.

4.  "How Long Do You Take To Ask Questions?"  This little issue can drive a customer crazy.  And this goes to an issue I've mentioned several times in this blog: have an agenda and prepare your questions.  Taking a long time to ask a question = poor preparation and poor product knowledge.  That's the message you're giving to the customer when you hem and haw: I don't know my product and I don't understand your business. Check out my blog post: "Owning the Agenda"

5.  "Your Handshake".  In a previous blog post I discussed the importance of body language.  Standing straight and tall and offering a strong handshake will start the sales call off right. Check out my blog post: "New Year's Resolution"

6.  "Tardiness."  Being early for an appointment shows respect; being late shows lack of respect.  We have all had the experience of sitting in a doctor's office and waiting, waiting, waiting.  The message that I get when that happens is that the doctor has no respect for me or my time.  Well, that is the message you are sending when you're late for a sales call.  If you're going to be late for traffic or such, call.  Or better, plan ahead so you're early; take account of possible traffic issues. Check out my blog post on Respect.

7.  "Handwriting."  Cursive writing is not even being taught any more so I don't feel that this applies to a sales person.

8.  "Eye Contact."  This relates to item 5 above--body language. Standing straight and tall, offering a firm handshake, making eye contact, turning off your phone--all indicate a person who wants the order.  The customer reads eye contact with "truth". It's very difficult to look someone in the eye and not tell the truth.  Check out my blog post on body language.

Examine yourself--honestly--and change the things that need to be changed to make yourself a successful sales person, a successful employee, a successful person.

What Do Winners Do?

Joe Maddon, Manager, Chicago Cubs

In a recent interview with Joe Maddon, Manager of the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, and Theo Epstein, President of the Cubs, they pointed to a couple of things that they did differently and that contributed to their success.  Most notable, and the thing that really jumped out at me, was that they scouted out their opponents before every game.
Normally, baseball scouts are out looking for new talent.  Not Cubs' scouts.  Cubs' scouts were analyzing the next opponent's hitters: what do they swing at?  where is their sweet spot--where do we not pitch?  Their strategy was to secure a team of strong hitters and scout the opponents' hitting weaknesses so that their pitchers started with an advantage.
Bill Belichick, head coach for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, had a similar strategy.  He had a room full of assistants looking at every single play of an opponent's previous games, analyzing minute changes in everything, from the angle of the quarterback's head, to the slight movement of the right guard--all to find out the opponent's weaknesses.
I have said over and over again in my blog that product knowledge is a critical component of sales success.  And that is true.  But just as critical is knowledge of your opponent--understand your competitors and their weaknesses and strategies.
What motivates a customer to make a decision in favor of your product can be very subtle.  Bill Belichick and Joe Maddon understand that fact.  Everyone who wants to be successful in sales must also understand that fact.
Take the time to know who you are competing against; take the time to understand your competitors' product--because taking that time could mean the difference between success and failure, between winning and losing.

The "Triple Double"

Oklahome City Thunder's Russell Westbrook

A "triple-double"  happens when a basketball player reaches double digits in three of five skills--usually points, rebounds, block, steals and assists--all in the same game.  The most common way to achieve a triple-double is through points, rebounds and assists.  The most triple-doubles in one NBA season is 42--by Russell Westbrook.
Why do I bring this athletic feat into a conversation about selling?
Because, in order to accomplish a triple-double, a player needs three essential skills: knowledge of the game, knowledge of his competitor, and passion.  And these exact skills are the same required for a good sales person.
In a recent interview with Westbrook, when asked how he manages to achieve so many triple-doubles, he stated that, during the game, his only friend is the basketball.    It's all about the ball.
In fact, during the 2017 playoffs, for the first time in NBA playoff history, he got a triple-double in the first half of the game!
Remember, a triple-double is not just scoring points; this involves assists and rebounds--it involves teamwork; it involves being in the game at every mimute; it involves knowing and understanding the game.
And what is the triple-double for us sales folks?  Product knowledge, customer knowledge, and passion.  With all three of these components, we succeed.  They are essential components to success:
Know your product and your competitors' product inside and out;
Know your customer and his needs and how you can resolve his issues;
Passion: believe in yourself and your product and company.

Can A Robot Do My Sales Job???

 

 Everywhere we look today, robots are taking our jobs.  Back in 2012, travel agents began to be made obsolete because airlines installed new ticketing systems that allowed travelers to buy tickets online and make their own travel arrangements.  In the 1980's there were almost 50,000 travel agents in the U.S.  Now that number is less than 15,000.
Cars are being assembled by robots and driven by computers. 
Where is this all going?
First of all, by "robot", I don't necessarily mean a robot like the one pictured above.  I am referring to general automation of any job, from online ordering to self driving cars to actual walking, talking robots.  I am referring to having your job automated in some way--making you obsolete.
So, what exactly is "selling" and how can it be automated and should we sales folks feel threatened?
This is a huge subject with lots of examples of what not to do.  Once upon a time there was a huge, big box, computer-selling store called Circuit City.  People went to the store, determined what they wanted, and then went home and ordered it online.  And Circuit City went out of business.
The underlying cause of the problem is Failure To Adapt to current conditions.
Another example is McDonald's.  During the past few years, burger restaurants like Five Guys, and Burger Fi have risen to tremendous popularity.  McDonald's had the kitchens, the personnel, the hamburger supply chain, but they failed to adapt and now they are losing their market share to these boutique burger joints.
Using the Einstein post from last week, we need to spend 55 minutes thinking about what our personal strengths (and weaknesses) are and make sure we are playing to those strengths (and eliminate the weaknesses).
Circuit City would be around today (like Best Buy, for example) if they had recognized the trend to online purchasing and made their stores into showrooms and allowed purchase online.  McDonald's could have chosen to make some of their stores into boutique, made-to-order burger restaurants.
As sales people, we have to adapt to future trends.  We need to understand automation and how it will impact our jobs and we need to use it to enhance our abilities; we need to be specialists in our products--no matter what that product is, and be the absolute best at what we do. 
What is it that automation cannot duplicate? Real product knowledge, the ability to apply that knowledge to the customer's problem, and PASSION for your product.
If you are not committed to your product, to your industry, to your customer--if you are not passionate, the computer will win.
And do not ignore the benefits of online purchasing.  Embrace it.  Understand it.  And make sure your customer knows that what you give him can't be automated:
knowledge of your product,
knowledge of your customer's problem and how to solve it,
service after the sale,
and PASSION.

Asking the Right Questions

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein, the Nobel prize winning physicist, famously said  'If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions because once I know the proper question, I can solve the problem.'
Put another way for sales folks, I'd rephrase Einstein: "if I had an hour to prepare for a sales call, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the questions I'd ask and 5 minutes thinking about what the answers should be."
In order to develop a line of questioning for a particular customer, a good sales person needs to really understand the customer, his company, and how your product fits into the mix.
So, how do I approach a customer, even an old customer?
1.  I Google the company to see if there have been any changes in ownership.  We're in an environment where the buying and selling of companies has become common.  One of my old time customers was recently bought by a corporation who also owns one of my competitors.  I need to know that going in.  It helps me frame my questions.
2.  I go to www.linkedin.com and I search for the person that I'm meeting with.  You will see insights into the person that you can't even imagine.  And, if the customer's information on LinkedIn is up to date, that means he's approachable.  If you don't have a LinkedIn account, get one.  It's essential to successful sales.
3.  I go to Facebook.com or Twitter and search for the customer.  I do NOT friend him, I just try to get an insight--similar to looking around a customer's office to understand his interests and hobbies.  Make sure you have the right person when you do this, or you could be led down the wrong path.  LinkedIn gives you an business insight, Facebook gives you a personal one.
4.  Now I'm ready to start framing the questions I'm going to ask to show how my product fits into the customer's and his company's needs.
NEXT, "Framing the Questions"

Asking for Help

In my experience, employees often do not ask for help because they consider the issue is not important enough or are afraid they would display lack of product knowledge.  I found this blog post today and it is entirely accurate and should be read by all:

Today's blog post is by Christine Harrington, The Savvy Sales Lady. She is a facilitator for Peak Performance Mindset Workshop and a personal sales coach. Christine helps sales professionals develop their beliefs to improve their sales performance.

“Did you ask for help?”

A long pause ensued over the phone. Then I heard a sigh. “No, I never ask for help,” came the weak reply.

“Really? Why?” I asked.

“Well….” Another pause. “It’s a sign of weakness.”

“How did you come up with that belief?”

“I suppose as a child. My father always said, ‘Never ask for help.’ If you don’t know how to do something, then don’t do it.’”

Sadly, this sentiment seems common among clients in my sales coaching practice. This particular client was new on the job, new to sales, and had not been properly trained. The client acknowledged she needed help, but felt she was disappointing her boss by asking.

Is asking for help a sign of weakness or is it a strength? What’s your belief?

If you struggle with asking for help on the job, chances are your belief system is saying

• Asking for help makes you look vulnerable.
• People feel put out when you ask for help.
• Successful people never ask for help.
• You like helping others, but you don’t like it when others help you.

However, not asking for help can keep you stuck and can wreck your career."

Ms. Harrington is exactly correct.  Asking for help shows strength and a willingness to learn from people who have been around the corner and have made mistakes.  Asking for help should be a positive experience.  The most frustrating thing for me is for my salespeople to make the same mistakes I did--which could have been prevented by Asking for Help!

"Owning" the Agenda

First and foremost, I believe that every single meeting or activity, whether it's a sales call, or a sales meeting, or a board meeting, or even a daily activity like writing a blog, should have an agenda.
And every agenda should have a "mission" or purpose.  And every item in the agenda should have its mission or purpose as well.
And why such a big deal about the agenda? 
The person with the agenda is the person who controls the meeting.  If you, as a salesperson, go on a sales call with an agenda and present the agenda to the customer, you "own" the meeting.
And this is true for any meeting.  Every meeting should have a mission or purpose and that purpose is the title of the agenda; and every item on the agenda should have a purpose: to achieve the mission.
This is a fact: the person with the agenda OWNS the meeting and taking control of the meeting gives everyone in the room confidence that you know what you're talking about.
One warning, however:  make sure you anticipate all the issues that your agenda will raise and be able to answer questions related to the agenda.
In summary:
1. Make an agenda for every meeting;
2. Make sure every item on the agenda focuses on the mission of the meeting;
3. Make sure everyone at the meeting has a copy of your agenda--even ahead of time so they know you are in control;
4. Stay focused on the agenda.  If the meeting moves away, get back to the items as soon as reasonable;
5. Summarize the meeting before everyone leaves;
6. Send an email summary to everyone in attendance as soon as possible after the meeting ("minutes").
OWN THE AGENDA; OWN THE MEETING; GET THE ORDER.

Focus Focus Focus

Julan Edelman's Superbowl Catch

112 million people watched the "Catch" by Julian Edelman.  It was amazing; and no matter who you were rooting for, it was still amazing.  But what is the lesson that we can learn from this great catch?
The lesson is that there is an absolute requirement to focus completely on the task at hand.  There is no room in the sales cycle for distraction.  The customer deserves your complete 100% attention. 
It is easy to get distracted from the task on hand in this age of emails and texts.  Your customer deserves your focus, your boss deserves your focus. 
And what is the major downside of loss of focus:
1. Mistakes.  If you're not focused on the project at hand, you make mistakes.  Mistakes are costly.
2. Opening the door to your competitor.  There is always someone else who is after the same order you're after.  Once you lose focus, you give a chance for the other salesperson to get in the door.
Focus won the superbowl; focus will win the order.  Get all distractions off the table; turn off things that are taking your attention away from the task at hand. Make the "catch"--focus on the order; focus on the customer.  Don't lose sight of the football and don't let the competitors steal the ball away!

Give Something, Get Something

The idea of "give something, get something" is a sales technique that I have mentioned in a previous blog post.  Sales leads are GOLD.   Leads can come in from several sources--some good and some not so good.  The absolutely best source of leads is someone you've just sold your product to.  And every single salesperson can use this method:Ask your customer if there is someone he knows who can use the product you just sold.
Referrals, referrals, referrals in sales is like location, location, location in real estate.
Happy customers are the best sources of leads.  Do NOT be embarrassed to ask. You ask for the order and you ask for a referral--this is a one-two punch that needs to be in every salesperson's bag.  It should be automatic.
However, it is very easily forgotten in the excitement of getting the order. The absolute first thought when you get an order should be: "where is the next order coming from?"  And the answer is:  "from the customer who just gave you the last order."
Don't be afraid to ask for a referral.  Make it an integral part of thanking the customer:  "Thank you for the order.  Can you suggest someone else who may be in the market for my product?"
Ask.

HUNGER!!!

Millionaire Motivator Tony Robbins

From millionaire motivator Tony Robbins:  "When people ask what it takes to succeed, the one answer I give them is 'hunger,'" Robbins says in an interview with Alexandra Middleton. "Hunger is that part of you that says, 'I will not stop. I will not give up,'" Robbins says.
Robbins is absolutely correct.  When I look back on my sales career, the little voice that said, every day, "don't stop", "don't give up" is what kept me on top of my game.

How do you get there--how do you achieve that drive that makes you keep going and doesn't allow you to give up even when the odds are not in your favor?
A true salesperson is not driven by money.  A true salesperson is driven by the need to close the sale.  The goal line is the purchase order and every bone and fiber of a good salesperson's body is focused on the goal line--closing the order.  Getting that order is no different than sinking a three-pointer at the buzzer or kicking a field goal to win the game.  If you have that hunger, then you will succeed.  If you don't, then you really need to dig deep inside yourself to find it. 
NASA flight director, Gene Kranz, famously stated (in the movie Apollo 13) "Failure is not an option." 
You need to take that same attitude into your sales life every single day: "don't stop, don't give up, failure is not an option". 

Prospecting For New Business

Ever since starting this blog, I have been using primarily my own ideas generated from 42 years of selling.  Today I read a sales blog that I thought was right on the mark and decided to share it. It really makes sense:

01/25/2017

Ten Keys to Prospecting Success

Today’s post is by Mark Hunter, CSP, “The Sales Hunter.” Mark is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results and High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.

Ask salespeople what their number one issue is and they’ll say, “getting good prospects.” It’s simple fact – you can’t close a sale until you have someone to sell to.  
So what does it take to prospect successfully? Having worked with thousands of salespeople and written the book High-Profit Prospecting, I boiled it down to what I call the Ten Keys to Prospecting:

1. Have a dedicated time on your calendar to prospect and don’t allow interruptions. This is absolutely essential! The most successful salespeople are those who commit time to prospecting and stick to it. Saying you’ll start prospecting as soon as you’ve taken care of everything else is not a strategy – it’s an escape tactic to avoid prospecting!
   
2. Don’t start what you can’t finish. Prospecting is about following up. Reaching out to a bunch of people and not following up with repeat contacts is never going to result in any type of success.
   
3. Believe 110 percent you can help others. If you don’t believe in you, why should anyone else believe in you? Top performing salespeople are successful regardless of what they sell. They know their objective is to help others, and what they sell is merely the means to do that.
   
4. Qualify quickly. Nothing is worse than having “prospects” in your pipeline that are taking up your time but never become customers. I’m a firm believer in having a prospecting pipeline that is fast moving, allowing you to spend more time with fewer prospects. Yes, that’s the exact opposite of what many sales managers are pushing. We have to think quality, not quantity!
   
5. Have a prospecting process and stick to it. My rule is you won’t know if your process works unless you’ve executed it for a period of time that is two times the length of your average buying cycle. For example, if it takes three months to move someone from a lead to a customer, then you need to run your process for at least six months before you’ll know if it is working. Too many salespeople give up on their plan far too soon.
   
6. Don’t rely on social media as your primary means to generate leads. Social media is great, but don’t over-rely on it. Use it as one of your sources. Social media has a long lead time, and too many salespeople starve to death because they’ve put too much emphasis into social media, thinking it’s all they have to do. Use it to create awareness and confidence. The leads you get are purely a bonus.
   
7. Follow up promptly. Sounds simple, but more opportunities are lost due to the failure of the salesperson to follow up fast when leads/prospects give an indication of wanting to move forward. Countless opportunities are lost because the salesperson is afraid they’ll be seen as a stalker. If stalking helps me close more deals, sign me up!
   
8. Use the telephone. Don’t fall for the myth, “The telephone doesn’t work because nobody answers it.” Sure, the telephone isn’t as effective as it used to be, but don’t give up on it. The telephone allows you to have conversations with leads and prospects, allowing you to qualify them more quickly and ultimately help them far beyond what they initially expected.
   
9. Don’t rely only on the marketing department for leads. It’s always great to have leads supplied, but top performers know they have an obligation to get leads and prospects. Relying on the marketing department is merely an excuse for not taking control of yourself.
   
10. Make the prospecting process about the other person. It’s not what you sell; it’s the outcome you can help the prospect with that will get you the high-value prospects you need. If all you’re doing is telling others what you do and what your product features are, you’ll be doomed to failure.

Have you bought my new book High-Profit Prospecting? You need to, as it’s full of proven strategies to help you succeed.

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck): To Kill a Mockingbird

 Harper Lee, in her book "To Kill a Mockingbird" wrote a line for Atticus Finch the lawyer: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." 
This idea has been worked and overworked.  "You don't know someone until you walk a mile in his shoes" is another way to put it.
But this is more than a phrase--it's a deeply deeply true statement.  You can't understand your customers' motivations, you can't understand your manager's motivations, you can't understand what your boss is looking for--nothing makes sense unless you can truly get out of your skin and get into the other person's skin.  This is a very demanding idea.
Salespeople are typically driven by their egos--by necessity since we have to take so much rejection. 
But ego is something we have to let go of because it stands in the way of getting into our customer's mind.
What are your customer's needs, personally and corporately.  How does he "sell" your product to his bosses and make himself look valuable in their eyes.  Selling should not be transactional--it should be solutional--a solution for the customer, for his company, for you, the salesperson.  Leave your ego (and your cell phone) at the door and try to truly understand what the customer, what your customer's boss, what your boss, and what the people around you, want.
Walk a mile in their shoes.

Networking and Interacting

I just returned from a national sales meeting and something that jumped out at me regarding the younger breed of sales people was the fact that groups of folks from different divisions and different companies stuck together: ate together, drank together; talked together.
The problem with that is that you never find out what's going on in other parts of the company or the other parts of the world or even another division of the company you work for.
The purpose of a sales meeting to network with other divisions and other geographies.  Knowledge is power and the knowledge you gain from talking to people from other places or other companies or other parts of the same company is invaluable.
And this goes for sales people working within one company--the sales people selling refrigerators need to talk to the tool people or the clothing people in a department store.  
Networking is critical to sales success.  And that means networking within your department, within your company, within your division and within your industry.
Get out from your little circle, meet people in your industry and other industries because you can learn a lot if you do.
Sales can be a lonely job, but by building a network of people who are not your competitors in your market can be very very valuable.  There is more to be learned in the sales job than just your product; you need to see how other people do things and apply them to your area.  Talk to people and ask them what they do and how they do it.  Never stop learning.