Without Sales, Everything Stops!

There comes a time in every salesperson's career (or more accurately many times), when sales dry up. Manufacturers don't care why the sales have stopped; they don't listen to our excuses (buyers on vacations, economic downturn, etc, etc).  They are are solely concerned about backlog and layoffs of key workers--and the blame for this downturn is always placed on sales.  "If you did your jobs better, we wouldn't be experiencing this downturn. Get off your rear ends and sell something."
So what do we sales folks do when the hammer comes down: "we need more sales or we have to lay off manufacturing personnel"?
To get out of this situation, we need to go back to basics:
1.  Start with your existing and past customers.  Is what you sold them in need of replacement? Do they need more of what your sold them--has their business grown? Has your product added technology that would benefit your customer? So, take your list of customers and start calling them--existing customers are the best source of future business.
2.  Next, get a list of customers you lost. There are a lot of reasons the customer who gave the order to someone else may no longer be happy with their decision.  Call them; ask the question.  That five minutes may be well spent.
3.  Get out of your comfort zone!  Sales people love to keep going back to the customers who make them comfortable--who accept them and like them.  This is one reason why sales dry up.  New customers and new markets for your products breathe life into your sales.  Find new customers who are in the same business as your existing customers and go see them.  Find new markets for your products and get out to see those new potential customers.  Use Google; use manta.com; use linkedin.com--use technology to find these new customers.  If your existing customers can't provide enough sales to keep the production lines running, then you have to find new customers and new markets.  You can't protect your customers if they can't give you enough sales to make your bosses happy.
4.  Never, ever use the excuse that it's the other sales folks who are not pulling their weight.  It's on you.  Take responsibility.  Don't wait for others to pick up the slack.  It seems unfair, but sales is responsible for keeping the production line running. "Without sales, everything stops."  Do not take your job lightly.  People depend on you doing your job.  Take what you do very seriously and do the absolute best you can--families depend on you--and not just your own.

Start by Making Your Bed

Admiral William H McRaven

In a commencement address to University of Texas students, Admiral McRaven offered Ten Life Lessons he said he learned by being a Navy SEAL.
"Lesson Number One: If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed."Why is this task so important?  Because if you start the first task of the day by being organized and orderly, that sets the mood for the rest of the day.  Making a bed well takes a little time and more discipline than most people realize.  Try it and see if it makes a difference.  This may not work if your spouse happens to be still sleeping.  But the underlying message is to start the day by organizing yourself.  It may mean simply sitting at the breakfast table and making a list of your tasks for the day.
"Lesson Number Two: If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle."I have written many times that we cannot be successful in sales by ourselves.  We need to seek help, always,  because other people see things that we don't and those things help to close sales.
"Lesson Number Three: If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers."We are often influenced by things that don't matter and we don't pay attention to the little things that do matter.  Take your blinders off and really look at the little things around you; look into a person's heart.  Successful sales people need to understand people and their needs: look into their hearts.
"Lesson Number Four:  If you want to change the world, get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.We, in the sales profession, often feel "entitled" to that order--we deserve it because we worked harder than the other guy.  Well, McRaven says, get over it and move on.  The other guy got it and you need to check your ego at the door.
"Lesson Number Five: If you want to change the world, don't be afraid of the circuses."We live in a crazy world.  People make ordering decisions for reasons that we'll never understand. Unexplained failure--the loss of an order for reasons that don't make any sense--will happen over and over.  Get over it and move on.
"Lesson Number Six: If you want to change the world, sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first."The meaning of this lesson is not obvious.  In our sales world, "sliding down the obstacle head first" means that sometimes you have to accomplish the selling task by taking a totally different approach to the customer--think outside the box.  This is why it's good to talk to people and get input. Someone may show you a different way--headfirst.
"Lesson Number Seven: If you want to change the world, don't back down from the sharks."We all know who the sharks are--they're our competitors who, sometimes, will do anything to derail the sale we're trying to make.  The lesson here is not to back down.  Don't become a shark yourself, but aggressiveness in the pursuit of a sale is not a fault.  As I have said to my sales folks often: GTO (Get the Order).  That's the game we have to play.
"Lesson Number Eight: If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in your darkest moment."Everyone experiences dark moments.  In our world, it's often the loss of a big order that everyone was looking for.  It is at this moment that you go into the "debrief" mode that I've written about several times.  Understand what got you into this place and make sure you figure out how not to get there again--get help, talk to people, don't go through it alone.
"Lesson Number Nine: If you want to change the world, start singing when you're up to your neck in mud."There's another way to put this: "never let them see you sweat." In our sales world, we have to be optimistic no matter what happens.  I like to use the example of a successful baseball player: a successful major league baseball player gets an average of 3 hits for every 10 at bats and may experience 20 or more at bats with no hits.  A pitcher may have a horrible inning, but he has to come back and pitch again in the next inning.  When you're up to your neck in mud, sing.  Try it.
"Lesson Number Ten: If you want to change the world, don't ever, ever ring the bell.""Ringing a bell" for a SEAL is quitting.  A salesperson, like a Navy SEAL, like a baseball player, should never give up.  Keep swinging; keep fighting; keep finding new customers and taking care of old customers--just don't ring the bell.

Great Salespeople are Great Leaders

Sinone Askew, first black woman appointed West Point Captain of Cadets

“Some cadets that are really high performing, they just go about their own business,” said Colonel Ryan, of the department of behavioral sciences and leadership at West Point. “She is just a leader in every sense of the word, figuring out how she can connect people together and serve others.” New York Times, Emily Cochrane, August 14, 2017
We could say the same thing about some really good salespeople--they "are really high performing, they just go about their own business." But great salespeople are leaders--figuring out how to connect customer with solutions.
Simone Askew was interviewed on CBS News and asked how she got to the top--against all odds. Her response was that she couldn't get there by herself. She needed help--other people--mentors, colleagues, friends--to get there. Askew said: "Allow yourself to be a vessel. Throughout my cadet career I've just really focused on being poured into, seeking advice, seeking development, leadership mentors wherever I could. Just truly be a vessel and be poured into."
We all make a big mistake when we think we can succeed without help. Really successful salespeople reach out to others to give them insights and intelligence that will overcome the barriers to sales.
And what keeps us from asking for help? Pride. As I have said in earlier posts, humility is a key to sales success. Our egos are a huge barriers to success in sales.
Don't be afraid to reach out and ask for help to close that order, or to prepare for that sales presentation.  Dare to be great by daring to be humble.  

Bring all possible resources to bear when you go after that new prospect or try to close that big sale.

Anatomy of the Lost Order II

The late Peter Drucker, Mangement Cunsultant

If you Google "Peter Drucker" (world famous management consultant and author of many books) you will find hundreds of great quotations.  His most famous one was "Doing the right thing is more important than doing the thing right."  For purposes of this post, we're going to examine his quotation: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast, technology for lunch, and products for dinner, and soon thereafter, everything else too."
Culture is a "top down" thing; it determines the way we look at ourselves and our jobs.  Let me give an example.  A company that I'm familiar with demands that its salespeople "sell" a minimum of three units a month.  The boss doesn't care how it gets done, just that it gets done.  You can see how this culture (if you can call it that) eats strategy, technology and products right up.  Everything takes a back seat to the sale--to the transaction.  (Remember Transaction Man?)
But, if you know you're competing against Transaction Man (a salesperson so desperate to get the order to make a quota that he'll give the product away at very little margin), you know how to beat him.
Rebekah Iliff discusses this in the July 31, 2017 issue of INC magazine.
Relationships build companies, not transactions.  "Making an emotional connection with the buyer is what matters."  The culture that we're promoting is a relationship driven culture, not a transaction driven culture.
To beat Transaction Man to the order you have to work harder to build a relationship with the customer.  You have to understand that all Transaction Man has to sell is price--he has to get the order.  Therefore you have to find a connection with the buyer that goes beyond price.  Iliff's suggestions:
1.  "Make an emotional connection with the customer."  This will demand some homework.  Use LinkedIn and Facebook to understand his personality; use Google and Manta to understand his company.  Do your homework before making that first sales call.  Remember, you have to beat Transaction Man and it better be something other than price that sells your product.
2.  Understand that the customer has to be comfortable that you have to demonstrate that you know more about your product than Transaction Man.  Don't be afraid to get help in this area.  Be humble, ask your colleagues for help.  Overconfident Man loses to Transaction Man every time.
3.  "Set clear expectations and follow them."  Make sure the customer understands that what you're offering transcends price; you're putting yourself and your company into the mix.
4.  "Communicate til you're blue in the face."  Never, ever say--"this order is in the bag."  Overconfident Man loses to Transaction Man every time.
Be Humble and Assume Nothing.  Your culture is relationships, not transactions. Relational culture beats transactional culture.
PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE, HUMILITY, RELATIONSHIP BUILDING.  These are the things that beat someone who is just using pricing to get an order.

Anatomy of a Lost Order

Understanding how an order was lost demands brutal honesty--and honest self examination--something salespeople are often reluctant to expose.  The Harvard Business Review did a survey of 230 buyers, asking them to grade the salespeople who come to them to sell their products.  The results are shocking: the buyers rated only 12% of salespeople as "excellent"; 23% as "good"; 38% as "average"; and 27% as "poor".  There was no corresponding interview of salespeople to ask them how they rated themselves, but I suspect 80% of us think we're "excellent" and 20% think we're "good".  Ego is important when you have a job that involves so much rejection, but ego is a deal killer in the buyer's office.
What are buyers looking for?
1.  They want to TRUST the salesperson; they want to feel that the salesperson is being honest about his product and what it can do--and being honest about what it can't do.
2.  They want a salesperson who can converse intelligently.  This is huge!  How does a 30 year old salesperson converse intelligently with a 55 year old buyer--one who's heard it all?  This demands a well-rounded salesperson: one who reads the newspaper, reads books, knows "stuff"--not just his product.  This demands a salesperson who reads about and understand the customer's business, who looks around the customer's office and sees the customer's interests and can talk about lots of things.
3.  The buyer wants to understand how the salesperson's product is going to help his company and how the salesperson's company is going to be there to help solve aftermarket problems.
4.  The buyer doesn't want to feel like he's being forced to order.  I've known lots of salespeople who push the issue--"my kid's going to college, I need the commission.  Come on, give me the order."  This is not a good strategy.  Giving you the order puts the buyer at risk (what if he made a mistake with your product). You have to make him feel comfortable with giving you the order.
5.  Make a personal connection with the buyer and make sure he understands that you will be there for him if there are any problems with the order.
6.  Be humble.  Buyers hate arrogance.  If your product was the best in the world, they wouldn't need salespeople; if your company were the best in the world, they wouldn't need you.  You, the salesperson, are simply a channel to get your product into the customer's hands to help him solve a problem.  Be the best channel you can be.
TRUST, HONESTY, HUMILITY, COMFORT, CONNECTION--these are the traits that make you "excellent".
When you analyze why you lost that order, you have to ask yourself if you communicated these traits to the buyer.  Ask honestly and brutally.

You Lost the Sale: Don't Get Mad, Get Smart

Gregory Peck in "Twelve O'Clock High" (1949)

The centerpiece of the World War II move, "Twelve O'Clock High", is a debriefing that takes place after a mission.  The navigator was three minutes off on his bomb release and missed the target, and, of course, there was hell to pay at the debriefing.  The consequences of that kind of mistake are enormous--much greater than losing an order.  (Although some bosses may disagree.)  I wrote about the importance of the "debrief" in a previous posting.
Now I want to discuss the importance of analyzing the lost sale--of understanding how it was lost and how to prevent future losses.
We often just want to forget that we lost that big order; even more, we don't want anyone to know that we lost it--most of all our bosses or our colleagues.
Baseball players don't have the luxury of ignoring mistakes.  Their strike outs or errors are shown on the JumboTron for all to see and criticize.  When a sales person loses an order, it's easy to hide it--usually--unless you've bragged about getting it before you actually got it (see my post on Overconfidence).  But, did you ever notice that a major league batter often heads down to the clubhouse after a bad at bat to look at the video to analyze what he did wrong.  That's what I'm talking about here.
In the military, there is no detail that is too small to be brought up on the debriefing.  In the "lost order" category, there is no detail too small to be discussed with your boss or colleagues.  You're all in this together and you need to find a solution to the lost order.  George Santayana famously said: "Those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it."
The answers to these questions must be brutally honest:
1.  Was the order lost because of price?  Really?  Orders are rarely lost because of price, so the answer is not the obvious one.
2.  Did you lose it because of poor follow up?  Read my post on follow up.
3.  Did your competitor introduce some features that your product doesn't have?
4.  Did your competitor have a better relationship with the customer?  Really? Then check out my posts on Transactional and Relational Sales.  Relationships are critical to sales success.
5.  Are you sure you were absolutely clear about the capabilities of your product and your company?  Did you spend the time to present your company and your products and service capabilities?
6.  Have you talked to the customer and asked who won the order and what the reasons that he chose the competitor rather than you--have you "debriefed" the customer?
7.  Can you meet with the customer and discuss the reasons that he chose the competition and not you?
Often, our attitude is--"okay, I lost it, now let's move on to the next one."  Well, you're going to lose the next one if you don't understand how you lost the last one. Don't be afraid to dissect the lost order--even to the point of interviewing the customer who went with the competition.  Don't get mad, GET SMART!

How to Get to Carnegie Hall

We sales folks never think that our jobs require practice.  Practice is what musicians do; it's what actors do; it's what athletes do--not what sales people do.
I was speaking recently with my good friend, Sal, a small business owner.  Sal is a volunteer firefighter and he was talking with me about how, once a month, firefighters are required to operate every piece of equipment--including doing things as simple as extending ladders.  Even firefighters who have been doing their jobs for decades are required to go through the practice--no one is excluded.
So what does this have to do with us sales folks?
I have spoken over and over again in my blogs about the need for preparation.  NEVER go into a meeting without an agenda.
But I'm going to suggest something more.  I'm going to suggest that you actually practice your sales pitch. Practice it on your wife; your kids; your boss; your colleagues.
Sales people who thinks that they're too good or too smart to practice are misleading themselves.  When I ride with a regional sales manager or another sales person, I like to go over the proposed sales pitch--practice it over and over.  In fact, one of the regional managers that I rode with used to debate with me: he would take the part of the customer or he would take the part of the competitive product sales person.   We were constantly discussing the merits of our product and debating the merits or failings of the competitive products.
Sales people NEED to practice their craft.
I have a major sales presentation in a couple of weeks.  My plan is to have the three presenters meet the morning before the meeting and prepare very carefully.  I refuse to go into a meeting without thorough preparation--without practicing.
How do we keep robots from taking our jobs?  By being better--PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.  As I said in my previous post, overconfidence is a deal killer.  Practice requires humility; it requires you to admit that you can get better.  And every one of us can get better.  Be humble; practice your craft.

Over-Confidence is the Mortal Enemy of a Salesperson

"Don't worry, I got this."  "Don't worry, this customer is in my pocket." "Sam wouldn't do anything until he checks with me."
I cringe when I hear those words from a salesperson.  Your customer has one purpose in mind--if he wants to keep his job--to make the best deal for his company.  So, while you're out patting yourself on the back because you feel that your customer is in your back pocket, think again.
The cardinal rule of a good salesperson is NEVER to think he has the order in his pocket; NEVER to think the customer will call before he decides to go with the competition.
Fear of losing the order is a great trait to have as a salesperson.  As long as you fear that you will lose the order, you will stay with it until the check clears.
One thing that customers don't like very much is that constant call asking if they placed the order yet.  So there's a thin line between being a pest and being over-confident.
You need to call, but you need to be offering something new when you call.  You need to develop a follow up strategy (just like a post sale strategy) that keeps you communicating with the customer so that your voice is the one that rings in his head (in a good way) when it's time to place the order.
For example, lead time update is always a good reason to call; any product updates is also a good excuse.  The point is, have a reason to call both before and after the sale.
Never assume the order.

Oops. What happened? He promised me the order.

Inc. Magazine had a very insightful article recently about a step that is often missed in the sales process.  ("The One Sales Step that Most Sales People Miss", by David Finkel).  You get the order, you go back to your office and celebrate with your colleagues.  Next day the customer calls you (if you're lucky) and tells you he gave the order to your competitor or that he decided he didn't need the product after all.  This has happened to every salesperson at least once.  What happened?  He promised you the order.

What could have happened was that your competitor was more aggressive than you.  He got a second look.  He went back and back again and made a better deal. You tell your boss that your "greedy" competitor took the order by "dumping the price". And you know that's not what happened.  You know he took the order by one-upping you.  He was last in and he could have taken it by just promising better service or by showing the customer he wanted the order more.

When a customer says you have the order, that is NOT the order--a promise to place the order is not the order.My wife, who spent her carreer in credit and collections, says an order is not an order until the customer's check has cleared.  I can't tell you how many times a salesperson has called me and said "I got it--I got the order".  And my response is always--you don't have the order.  You have a promise of an order.  So many things can happen after the customer promises you the order: your competitor one-ups you; your manufacturer can't deliver when the customer wants the order; your customer credit doesn't pass; etc. etc.

The lesson is simple: stay close to your customer all the way from the promise to the delivery to the payment.  Then, and only then, can you celebrate.

Finkel suggests a "post sell plan":  Make sure the customer is comfortable with his decision by making them feel good that they made the right decision.  Make sure there's no room for buyer's remorse or for testing the market with other suppliers. And make sure the customer knows what the process from now until shipment is.

To quote Finkel: "By strategically and systematically building in a 'post sale' step into your sales process, you'll keep more of the business that you would otherwise have lost through buyer's remorse" and other reasons.

Stay close to your customer until the product is paid for.  Then celebrate.

Collaboration

General Stanley McChrystal, with Chris Russell, has just published a book entitled "One Mission".  It is a discussion of teams and teamwork and how teams are more effective than individuals because teams bring the power of multiple brains to a task.  But we are sales people, and sales people are loners.  We don't want to involve others because that will effect our sales dollars and maybe our commissions--and bosses will think less of us because we can't close without help.
The facts show that success comes from collaboration--so how do we reconcile our need, as salespeople, to go it alone and the fact that we can be more successful if we collaborate in our efforts?
Fortunately, technology comes to our rescue here.  There are lots of "apps" that allow us to collaborate and still go our ways as independent salespeople.
The hottest new app for collaboration is "Slack" (www.slack.com).  Someone described it as a text messaging system on steroids.
Matt Mansfield, in his Small Business Trends blog states: "Integration is what catapults Slack into a category all its own. The solution enables you to centralize all your notifications, from sales to tech support, social media and more, into one searchable place where your team can discuss and take action on each."
So, instead of scrolling through your text messages to find that note that you sent your sales manager, you use Slack to keep track of all messages on all subjects.
Three things that are very very important--Slack is free for small businesses: Slack is very customizable so that you tailor it to your business; and Slack is available for all platforms--smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops, Android and IOS.
Slack is organized by "Channels", so that you can have a separate Channel for different parts of your business, including Private Channels for management, you can share files, send notifications to your team--all the stuff that is difficult to do with texting.
Check it out.  Collaboration is the secret to future success in sales with the world moving so fast; Slack is a free and easy way to collaborate.  Much better than email, and more effective than texting.

Take the Blinders Off When Making a Sales Call

I was stunned when I read this LinkedIn post from Joshua Wamser, President of Industrial Compressor Solutions:  "During your interview, I was there. You didn't notice me, because I was dressed like a service technician. You walked past myself and another potential coworker 3 times without ever saying hi. You were very cordial to the people you believed to be in charge though. None of us are better than anyone else. Say hi, smile, wave, or engage everyone you can." This is a classic example of how to lose a sale--of not being aware of your surroundings; of not understanding who your customer is; of not doing basic research before your sales call. So, a salesperson makes a call on Industrial Compressor Solutions and ignores the president and talks to the guys in the polo shirts or suits--thinking that they're the decision makers. Anyone who has been reading this blog knows that this has violated several sales commandments. If any salesperson walks into a customer's facility without understanding who the players are then he needs to go back to Sales 101. And this goes for any kind of salesperson. Have you ever been in a situation in which there have been two customers together, one male and one female, and the sales person addresses the male, thinking the female is NOT the decision maker? Underestimating the influence of one or the other person while making a pitch is a sure way to lose the sale. I have a customer who are a wife and husband team and the wife is the president of the company. I can't tell you how many times I have watched sales folks address the husband and ignore the wife--and LOSE the sale. When you're making a sales pitch, make sure you understand who the players are and their roles in the decision making process. If you don't know, ask. Take your blinders off or risk losing the sale--it's that simple.

Getting Organized--the Old Way

ScanCard Organizer 

Back in the 80's, before Facebook, Twitter, email, texting, and cell phones, I used an organizing system called ScanCard. Good old paper and pencil.  Notes written on a card and inserted into a "control panel" for easy viewing.  The original owner sold the company and computers and cell phones made scan cards too "old style".   The system went out of use.
Recently, one of my colleagues reminded me of this system.  He was overwhelmed by all his emails, texts, phone calls, sales calls--with no way to organize at the things he had to do for customers.  He remembered the card system I used to use.  He thought that this would be a good way to organize himself.  You can use a note pad, but then you have to find the page you wrote the notes on--you have to remember that you were supposed to do something for someone, you spend a lot of time reading over old pages to find what you're looking for.
So I Googled "ScanCard" and found the system has been revived and was now owned by the original owner's son.
With the ScanCard system, you see it all in a glance: emails that have to be followed up on, texts that need your attention, calls that have to be returned--everything is there to be looked at every day.
Keep the cards by your side making notes as you read your emails, as you watch TV, during customer visits--all your notes go into the binder for easy viewing.
I have stepped back into the 80's and ordered the ScanCard system once again.  Sometimes things that are old are better than things that are new.  (I speak from personal experience.)
You can find the system here:

Reply to All ...... DON"T

From The New Yorker Twitter

Have you ever "Replied to All" and found out your comment went to someone you didn't realize was part of the email?  And then you had to apologize to that person?  Everyone has.
Sending emails to multiple recipients is very very common. Some of my emails will have 40 or 50 people in the "To: field".
And if I "Reply to All", then all 40 or 50 people get my comments.
And then all hell breaks loose.  Email after email, response after response, now barrages your Inbox. "Yeah, great idea", says one.  "Right on" says another.  None of these responses contributes to anyone's knowledge.  The responses are nonsense.
But there is a solution: BCC.
Hidden in your "Compose Email" window, usually over on the right side of the screen, are two links:  CC and BCC.  You have to click BCC with your mouse to get it front and center in your email composition page.
BCC means "blind copy".  This means that the person receiving your email will not see the other people who received your email and if the recipient Replies to All their email will only go back to you and not to everyone else you sent it to. The only names and email addresses the recipient sees are yours and his.
If you want recipients to know you sent this to a Group, then state it in the email body: "This email has been sent to all field salespeople".  Don't put all the names in the To: or CC: fields.
And if all your sales staff are in a group called "Field Sales" and you send it to this group in the To: field, everyone is copied in a Reply to All.  If you put the Group in the BCC field, problem solved.  (So many sales managers list every salesperson in the To: field when sending out emails.  Put the list into the BCC field and just state in your email that this is being sent to all field sales staff.  Simple, right?  If you want to make sure your group list is correct, send the list out every once in a while to have it checked by the recipients.  How many group lists contain employees who have left or been fired?  Keep your groups clean to prevent competitive information from getting out.)
Use BCC when sending emails to many people and everyone will love you for it.   Use BCC when you don't want the recipient to know who else you copied on the email.
Use BCC.
If you want cooperation and comments, don't use email.  There are better methods that I will discuss next week.