Sales and Sales Management Blog

October 16, 2008

Working a Networking Event Made Easy–and Effective

Filed under: business,Networking,Personal Marketing,prospecting,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 5:29 am
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Are you one of the millions of small business owners, salespeople, and professionals who have attended networking events held by the chamber of commerce or a business organization and found the experience to be far less than what you had hoped?  Attending networking events requires more than simply showing up-it requires a disciplined approach.

Typically, the frustrations and wasted time arise from two fundamental issues:

  • overblown expectations
  • not having a plan of attack

Networking events, especially those of a general nature organized by the chamber or a general business organization, will not provide you with a plate full of potential prospects.  If you can walk out of a networking event with three or four good potential contacts, you have done well.

Unfortunately, many, especially those who are not networking junkies, attend these functions with the hope of leaving the event with a whole stack of business cards of great prospects.  When their expectations are not met, they conclude that networking isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and decide their time is better spent elsewhere.

In addition, most attendees waste the majority of their networking time.  Rather than an organized plan to maximize their benefit from the event, they simply attend hoping to “run into” prospects.

Yet, if you attend regularly and with realistic expectations, networking can eventually pay great dividends.  There are three “secrets” to making networking pay:

  1. Know Where You’re Going

Knowing who is likely to attend the event you are considering is as important as attending the event.  If you are considering going to an event you have never attended before, try to get a copy of the host organization’s member roster.  By examining the membership directory, you can get a fairly good idea of the type of people you can expect to meet.  If it appears there are a reasonable number of people and businesses of interest, plan on attending.  If you can’t get a copy of their member directory, call the organization and ask-most won’t mind the inquiry and will be happy to give you as much information as they can.

  1. Know Why You’re Going

Go with a definite number of contacts you want to make.  Determine how many good contacts you will need in order to make the investment of time worthwhile.  Depending on your particular product or service, that number may be only one or two-or may be much higher at five or six.  By establishing realistic, objective criteria, you can easily determine whether or not your time was well spent and whether or not you want to attend the event again in the future.

  1. Have a System for Working the Event

For most business owners and salespeople, the real networking event killer isn’t so much who is in attendance or even their own unrealistic expectations, but rather the time they waste during the event.

Working a networking room requires planning and a clear vision of how you will spend your time.  I and many of my clients that I’ve taught the following networking method have found it to be easy and very effective:

Arrive about 15 minutes before the official event start time.  Wear a large, easy to read, high quality, permanent nametag that features your first and last name, not just your first name.  Of course, have lots of business cards.  Business cards should be blank on the back.  Wear clothing with two easy to reach pockets.

Station yourself close to the entry door-close enough that people might mistake you for one of the hosts.  Greet each person as he or she enters.  Nothing more than a greeting-and, hopefully, noticing their company name.  All you want is to hear a name, put a name to a face and to make a quick judgment as to whether they might be a prospect.

When arrivals begin to slow, begin your progression around the room.  Move in one direction-left or right.  Greet the first person or group of people you meet.  This round of conversations should be short-two to three minutes at most.  Your goal is to introduce yourself and learn as much as you can in a very short span of time about the person or persons you’ve just met.  Don’t clutter the conversation with information about yourself-keep everything focused on the person or the persons you are speaking with.  Your goal at this event isn’t to sell it’s to qualify prospects.  This will be your second meeting with many of these people, although you will probably not remember their names.

Since many, if not most, will offer you a business card, you will begin to segregate cards into an interest stack and a non-interest stack.  When you meet someone you believe you’d like to get to know better-a potential prospect, put their business card in your right-hand pocket.  Those you don’t believe are prospects, put in your left-hand pocket.  This system allows you to immediately find the cards of those you want to reconnect with during the event without having to try to remember their name.

If you meet someone you would like to get to know better, before moving on to another group, let them know of your interest in learning more about their business and ask their permission to contact them via phone at a later date.  Once they agree, take one of your business cards and on the blank reverse side, write the day and an hour span of time during which you will call:  ”Thursday, March 12 between 10:30-11:30.”  This day and time will be the same for everyone you meet that you want to call.  It keeps you from having to remember when you will call, but because it is an hour span, you’ll have time to make several calls without concern that you won’t keep your appointment.

Now, move to the next group and continue in this manner for the majority of the event.  About 30 to 45 minutes prior to the end of the event, go into your last phase.  The last phase is taking the few cards in your right-hand pocket and seeking to reconnect with those people.  This will be your third chance to meet them and to put a name and face together.  In addition, since it will be your third meeting, they’ll begin to feel like they know you and they will probably greet you as a friend rather than as new acquaintance.  Just as you are implanting their name and face in your mind through multiple meetings with them during the event, you’re planting your name and face in their mind.

This conversation will be a little more in-depth, but, again, keep the focus on the

other person.  During this conversation, possibly you can move the conversation to the point that instead of a phone call on Thursday, you can invite them to lunch.  If not, prior to moving to the next person, again reiterate the phone call on Thursday and give them another business card with the same information written on the back.

On Thursday, make your phone calls and close for a get to know one another meeting.

This structure allows you to “meet” a prospect three times during the course of the event, set up a definite telephone conversation and help both you and the prospect quickly move from the “just met” stage to acquaintance stage very quickly.  All without having to remember any details during the course of the event.

If you keep your expectations reasonable and focus you time during the event on the few true prospects you meet, you’ll find your time at networking events to be both more enjoyable and profitable.

October 14, 2008

Guest Article: “Managing the Millennials,” by Gregory Stebbins

Filed under: business,Coaching,management,sales,Sales Management,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 3:45 am
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Managing the Millennials          
by Gregory Stebbins  

Independent, tech-savvy, social, and optimistic – why are these “kids” so hard to manage?

The New Millennial’s, people born after about 1981, are now entering the work force en masse. Even seasoned sales managers are having challenges helping these people become productive. They have a different approach to life, which greatly impacts their ability to sell effectively. Understanding them and some key events that took place during their youth will help you get a handle on their outlook on life in general and work in particular.

While they were growing up there was a technology explosion. Their every day reality included video on multiple devices, mobile phone, computers, and iPods. They have been bombarded with marketing messages that are constantly changing. School violence and global terrorism (specifically 9-11) have made them wary about the world and helped them develop a global perspective. For the most part, poverty is something that they have seen on television. Watching their parents get downsized in the 80s and 90s has caused them to question loyalty to the company. Reality television, MySpace, Facebook, Second Life and Google have caused them to believe (and experience!) that information is available for the asking so being “transparent” (putting everything out there for all to see) is the way things should be.

While I often hear comments about their lack of work ethic, those are the same comments that were leveled toward Generation X and Baby Boomers when they first entered the work force. Neuro research now tells us that the prefrontal cortex of our brain continues to mature until about the age of twenty-six. So Millennials may continue to be a little irresponsible until they’ve been on the job for a while. It’s neurological, not attitudinal. So make life a little easier on yourself and cut them some slack.

What is different is their work style, motivations and view of the world, especially the corporate world. These individuals do have loyalty, which is focused on their social network and specific managers and members of the team – not on the company.

Generally they have an ability to find information about anything at a rate that far exceeds expectations of management. What they lack is discernment about the accuracy of the information. If it’s on the Net they tend to believe it must be accurate. They can instantly communicate this information to their social network via Blogs, Instant Messaging (IM), personal Web pages and cell phones. Some companies have found out the hard way that their management mistakes are common knowledge within days, if not hours.

Many of these people had parents who hovered over them during every waking hour, giving birth to the term “Helicopter Parents.” With probably hundreds of possible activities, from soccer to music lessons, Millennials have been over-committed and over-scheduled. They also have been smothered in praise with constant reinforcement about how great they are: blue ribbons for the entire team, there are no losers, etc.  They expect recognition for everything, even the most mundane activities. They may not know their own strengths and weaknesses because there have not been many opportunities for self evaluation or honest, constructive criticism.

This creates your greatest management challenge. How do you help them understand that there are indeed losers as well as winners in the sales world? How do you provide constructive criticism without devastating their psyche?

Keep in mind that these people will tend to look at you as a parental substitute. I know that makes most sales managers more than a little uncomfortable. Nonetheless, since their parents didn’t wean them, you get to do that. And, generally, this is going to be a shock to the Millennial. You’ll need to teach them basic decision making by coaching and guiding them step-by-step, before you tell them, “You decide.” Don’t be surprised if they’re calling you constantly asking the simplest questions.

Here’s a four step process that can be helpful in guiding them in decision-making (this process may take two to six months total):

    1.    The first time they approach you, work with them to think through at least three options. Then make the decision for them. Having them consider options is the first step of developing the ability to reason.

    2.    After this, when they want your input, make sure they come in with the three options already thought about. Then help them understand the consequences of each option. Add in other options if they haven’t considered all of the consequences. Then, you make the decision.

    3.    The third stage is that they come in with three options, understand the consequences and a recommendation for the course of action. Either agree with their course of action or make suggestions. Essentially they will be making the recommendation which you are approving.

    4.    The final stage is to cut them loose and have them handle a situation on their own. However, also have them provide a written report (IM or Text message is OK). The report needs to tell you what the situation was, the options they considered and the decision they made. This step won’t last that long as their need for independence will kick in and they’ll just stop coming to you with every little situation.

Keep in mind that these individuals are going to need much more coaching than their predecessors. The good news is they are used to being coached. After all, many of them have been on soccer teams since they were four or five years old.

Like all previous generations they’ll be coming into the work world thinking that they have all the answers and know how to do the job better than you do. Once we turn about 35, we begin to realize that we don’t have all the answers and things may not be as they seem. Developing mastery at work requires us to listen intently, understand the history of each situation and gather the different perspectives of each of the players involved. However, growing up protected and interacting with others largely through technology, has created a generation whose people savvy is very limited. Their ability to read a person in a face-to-face situation (and almost all selling is face-to-face) will tend to limit their success, especially when selling to people of a different generation. Help them understand the nuances of body language, the uniqueness of each person’s office and what the contents of that office reveals about the customer. (Shameless promotion: Our book, PeopleSavvy for Sales Professionals covers these points in detail.)

In your coaching efforts with Millennials, your focus and approach may need to be different from others you have worked with. You’ll need to provide structure and give information in bite-size pieces. Praise for what they do is important to their self-esteem. If they’ve messed up you’ll need to present it as a development opportunity. Course correction instead of scolding or brow-beating is a better approach.

Millennials generally have short attention spans, so keep your coaching sessions short. If you go beyond about 20 minutes you will lose them. Use technology freely before and after the session; they’ll come in to the session better prepared and will actually appreciate the follow up. If you’re not comfortable using IM, it’s time to learn. Their mobile phone is like a third arm and gives you more access to them than you’ve probably ever had with anyone.

Have frequent coaching sessions. Remember they’ve been sitting in front of video games knowing instantly what their score is and how they compare with others. Waiting to give them feedback at their annual performance review won’t work. In fact, without feedback, they will probably be long gone before that performance review happens.

Provide the rationale behind your coaching. This generation is hungry to learn and if they feel they’re learning from you, they will be loyal-to you. If they feel like their skills aren’t being developed, they’ll leave.

In some ways you’ll need to teach them patience. They’re used to instant gratification. On the plus side, their impatience for results can be a bonus in the sales world. On the negative, they can be easily frustrated when they don’t get immediate results.

Work/life balance is important to Millennials. One of the biggest challenges to Baby Boomer managers is that Millennials don’t want the same life style. Many Baby Boomers were brought up in sales to believe that if you were working from 6 AM to 6 PM, you were still only working half days. Millennials want “time and flexibility” often before financial compensation and benefits. No other generation has had “time and flexibility” in their top three drivers.

And finally, transparency or confidentiality is often mismatched between Millennial and manager. It is not unusual that a private discussion between a manager and employee becomes public. You’ll need to teach your Millennials why discretion is important, and it may be difficult for them to understand. If your entire life is on the Web for anyone to see-even pictures in a drunken stupor at a college party-they just won’t understand why someone wants to keep something private or would be embarrassed about it being public. Be patient and explain why it’s to their benefit. In other words, you may need to sell them on the idea.

Smart managers that focus on developing Millennial’s people savvy and who understand flexible work roles and effective virtual teams while leveraging technology will help them become a valuable asset sooner rather than later. Managers who meet the challenges of working with, not against, this generation will reap the rewards that come with shorter ramp times and more rapidly gaining some very valuable sales professionals

 

. Sales Psychology Expert Gregory Stebbins has helped over 20,000 sales professionals become the point of differentiation while their competitors struggle with how to differentiate their product and service. In his book PeopleSavvy for Sales Professionals, he unveils for the first time his simple but groundbreaking plan to win your customers’ trust and business forever. Visit his website at http://www.peoplesavvy.com

October 13, 2008

Attitude, Expectations, and Reality

Filed under: business,Economy,motivation,prospecting,sales,selling,success — Paul McCord @ 5:14 am
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“I have to work harder than before, but even so, my sales this month will be better than last October’s.”

“My prospects and clients are certainly feeling the pinch of the economy and they’re fearful.  But I also closed the biggest sale of my career last week.”

“Despite the news and the hype of the last two or three weeks, I’ve only seen a slight decrease in our sales.  Our salespeople have to be much more selective in qualifying prospects and they have to spend more time building value into the sale, but our customers are still buying, they’re still getting the financing they need, and their companies are still profitable.  It’s tough, but not nearly as bad as what you’d believe if you just listened to the news.”

“Seems like everybody wants to just sit and wait it out and see what happens.  Everyone is afraid.  No one knows what to do at this point, so our sales have fallen off the chart the past couple of weeks.  I really don’t want our GM to talk to the salespeople because there’s a sound of panic in his voice.”

“I’m finding it more difficult every day to make sales calls.  No one wants to make a decision and even some who would be willing to go forward aren’t sure they can get the funds to do so.”

“I’m working hard.  I’m willing to talk to people I would have passed over just a couple of months ago.  I’m spending a lot of time talking but I’m not getting anywhere.  I’ve even found myself reverting back to doing some pretty hard sell stuff trying to get something going.”

The above are comments about selling during the last two weeks from several of my clients from various parts of the country, each in a different industry.

Like many others, I’ve spoken to many salespeople and managers over the past couple of weeks who blame the economy on poor sales.  Their words indicate they are struggling, their voice indicates defeat. When we talk about strategies to overcome sales resistance and to find and connect with quality prospects, they complain that I’m not being realistic, that I just don’t understand their situation, that in their industry in today’s economy it isn’t rational to expect to maintain their sales volume or their pricing structure.

Yet I have other clients in the same industries as those who claim it unrealistic to expect to maintain their sales volumes, who are still selling at or near their previous levels-one who signed the biggest contract of her career just last week.

Which ‘reality’ is reality? Is it the reality of those whose voice communicates defeat and hopelessness–or is reality really reflected by those who although they say the market is tough are producing at or near their pre-crisis levels?

I believe that both realities are, in fact, reality.  More correctly, I believe that the ‘reality’ of defeat and hopeless is a self-fulfilling prophesy, whereas the ‘reality’ of “it’s tough but the sales are still there” reflects the actual marketplace.

Let me explain why I believe that.

When we begin discussing the specifics of their activity, those who foresee doom and gloom and whose sales have plummeted, have:

  • Spent less time prospecting than they did prior to the economic ‘crisis’
  • They are less selective in whom they speak with, hoping against hope to find someone interested
  • Their conversations are more hard sell than they had been previous to acquiring their current attitude of desperation and depression
  • They expect the prospect to refuse to make a decision at this time

Not surprisingly, they get exactly what they expect.  By making fewer contacts with less qualified prospects and then trying to strong arm a sale, they are seeing their sales fall drastically.  They are getting the exact results they not only expect but have set themselves up to get.

On the other hand, when I speak to those who are doing well in this market I find that they:

  • Have increased their prospecting activity
  • Are more selective in qualifying their prospects
  • Are spending more time working with prospects to understand their needs and issues to build more value into the sale than they had previously
  • Are taking additional time and care to build relationships prior to seeking to sign a contract
  • Understand that although the market is more difficult, there are still more quality prospects in the market than they can take care of-their job is to find them

Yes, these men and women are working longer and harder than they have in quite some time.  But they aren’t seeing the drastic decrease in business many others are.  And, yes, they expect to be successful.  But that expectation is balanced with a serious dose of reality that says they must work both harder and smarter-they must invest more time and effort and be much more selective in how and where they spend their time.

The current paralysis that a great many are seeing in the marketplace is only two or three weeks old.  It is very likely-a foregone conclusion-that the market will get tighter before it begins to get better.  But for a few, the current market driven by fear-for both prospects and clients-isn’t hindering their production.  Not because they’re lucky or because they have some magic formula, but because they haven’t allowed the ‘reality’ of the ‘crisis’ to stop them from selling.

They have to spend more time prospecting.  They have to work harder.  They are having to develop new skills and new strategies.  But they aren’t letting the perceived ‘reality’ of the negative and hopeless create their reality.

You need not accept the defeatist ‘reality’ either. You will have to invest more time and be more selective in finding and connecting with quality prospects-but they are out there.  You will have to invest more time in building solid relationships and building more value into each sale.  You may well have to invest in training and coaching to learn more effective prospecting and sales methods and strategies.  It isn’t easy and it takes commitment, innovation, and perseverance-but it works.  Just ask those who are finding the current market to be just as lucrative as the market was before the ‘crisis.’

October 11, 2008

Speak Your Way to Sales Success

Filed under: branding,business,career development,marketing,prospecting,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 5:10 am
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Salespeople and business owners often overlook one of the most effective and quick ways to both establish themselves as experts in their field and generate a pipeline of quality prospects.

Most salespeople and small business owners are all too familiar with cold-calling; purchasing leads; sending out mass direct mail and email pieces; and using print, radio and TV advertising and other common methods of lead generation.  However, becoming a niche expert and taking that expertise on the road in the form of speaking to groups and organizations is seldom considered.

The natural fear of public speaking is a deterrent for many, but most salespeople simply have not considered the possibility.  When we think of a speaker, most of us envision someone with grand ideas speaking to the most crucial events of the day-or maybe someone who has lead an extraordinary life, regaling the audience with tales of high adventure.  If we do think of business experts as speakers, we tend to think of names such as Jack Welch, Tom Hopkins, Zig Ziglar or some other high-profile guru who commands tens of thousands of dollars per appearance.

Those sorts of people may be the most visible, but they are, in fact, the tiny minority of speakers.  Literally tens of thousands of organizations in the US need speakers on a regular weekly or monthly basis.  A large percentage of these organizations are actively looking for businesspeople that have a message that will appeal to the majority of their members-and you could be that speaker.

You need not be expounding on the evils of the Democratic takeover of Congress, or the how badly the Republicans have governed, or the great coming economic downfall of civilization as we know it.  You do not have to be a stand-up comedian or a storyteller on the level of Garrison Keillor.

Speaking for local groups and originations only requires you to have information that is relevant and interesting.  A realtor client of mine became an expert in the minutiae of every neighborhood in her city and began speaking to groups about the transitions taking place in the city-which neighborhoods are on the verge of taking off, and which in decline.  Her presentation is laced with statistics but also stories and history, with fact and prediction. Within a matter of several months, she became the “go to” person when members of audiences she had spoken to began to think about buying or selling their home, because she is recognized as the expert on where to move, where to build and where to avoid.

Another client of mine, a business insurance broker, began speaking about the issues that businesses in his city face in terms of risk.  His presentation centers on crime, employee theft, and upcoming city ordinances that may affect business, and other, unexciting aspects of risk management.  Although he is a likable and entertaining man, his presentation is hardly worthy of an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.  Nevertheless, he has information that is of interest to other businesspeople.  Moreover, he, like the realtor, has become known as expert in his field.  Businesspeople come to him first because of their perception of his extraordinary knowledge of both business risk and how to manage it and the local issues facing businesses.

Neither of these people is exceptional in the sense that they have led extraordinary lives or have mythical business prowess.  In fact, the business agent has only been in the insurance business for a couple of years.  However, both recognized the power of getting in front of groups and presenting themselves as experts.  Their average audience is fewer than 40 people.  Their average talk is less than 20 minutes, and each speaks less than four times a month.  Nevertheless, if they speak three times per month to an average audience of 35 people, they are in front of about 1,200 per year as “the” expert in their field.  Moreover, many of these people are potential prospects.

How do you become the expert?  First, find something about your business that will be of interest to a broad range of potential customers.  Concentrate on areas that could give your audience information on potential risks or opportunities that could expand or enhance their life, open new doors, or increase or protect their wealth.  Once you have found an interesting niche, connect it to your local market.  The realtor deals only with local issues and demographics, but the insurance broker mixes general risk statistics with local business-related issues.  He takes mundane national statistics and brings them home, to a more personal level.

Do your homework on both your subject and your public-speaking skills.  Hone your presentation so that you are confident and do not have to speak with notes.  Work in front of a mirror until you have managed to eliminate all of your nervous movements.  Go over your presentation-both verbally in front of a mirror and in your mind as you drive-until it becomes second nature.  Check and recheck facts and figures. 

Join the Toastmasters.  Most of us probably think of the Toastmasters as simply an organization that will improve our public speaking skills.  It certainly will.  However, it will improve your leadership skills also, not to mention your interpersonal skills in general.  Most every community has at least one Toastmasters club within reasonable distance.  In addition, in a city of any reasonable size, you’ll probably have several options of meeting days and times as there will probably be several clubs from which to choose.

Then, once you have mastery over your subject and yourself, get the word out to groups, organizations and associations that cater to your prospects.  Send a self-promotion package and follow up with a phone call.  As you begin to set speaking engagements, more will follow.

Keep your material fresh and up-to-date.  Look and act like a professional.  Within months, you’ll have gained the reputation of an expert, the image of the guru, and the self-confidence to match.

There are few opportunities to influence potential prospects as powerfully as you can through speaking to them in a forum where you’re “endorsed” by an organization or association they belong to.  Becoming the objective educator and expert has far more power and lasting impact than any marketing or advertising you can possibly do.

October 9, 2008

Guest Article: “Identify and Overcome the Four Curses of Sales Success!” by Dave Anderson

Filed under: career development,sales,selling,success — Paul McCord @ 5:22 am
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Identify and Overcome the Four Curses of Sales Success!
By Dave Anderson

There are certainly more than four curses of success but these four are perhaps the most devastating. Up until this point you can claim to be unaware of these curses and plead ignorance as a reason for falling prey to one or more of them. But once you are aware of them any future deviation cannot be blamed on ignorance. Instead, you must consider your failure as a confession of stupidity!

1. Abandoning the basics.

Thinking you’ve outgrown the basics or that they somehow don’t apply to you anymore is a surefire way to turn your up times into a sudden descent.

2. Getting cocky.

Cockiness is one of the most reprehensible and alienating traits of successful people. You become cocky when you feel superior to those you work with and look down on them; when you gloat and brag about your success; when your pride blocks your growth and causes you to go into denial when someone suggests a way you could improve. When you’re ready to “write it down; build the manual and document the formula” people will secretly anticipate and cheer your fall. And normally, they won’t have to wait too long.

3. A diminished work ethic.

The Law of Laziness declares that, “As prosperity rises the work ethic diminishes.” Keep in mind that the price you must pay for continued success is never paid in full. It is a lifelong installment plan and once you default, your decline is not far behind.

4. Becoming selfish.

Successful people often catch the “Disease of Me” and start to think that the sales department should revolve around their own ego-driven universe. In their selfishness, they turn increasingly inward rather than stepping up and fulfilling the vital role of a sales leader, which is turn more outward and add more value to the people around you.

Three Tips to Overcome the Four Curses

1. Compete against yourself more than with others.

The truest measure of your success is not whether or not you’re better than everyone else, but if you are better than YOU used to be! You can be better than everyone else and still be WORSE than you used to be, which is no reason to beat your chest in pride!

Remember: Your objective is not to become successful and then let your pat on the back turn into a massage. Rather, your objective should be to strive to reach your maximum potential. As long as you continue to grow, you will never reach your maximum potential. It is an endless journey. But it’s the journey that keeps you moving; stretching; learning; hungry and humble.

2. Don’t financially overreact to the good times.

When you’re making good money, pay yourself first and save a few bucks. Don’t fall into the trap that tells you that you’ll never see another poor day. Overextending yourself during the good times can create an inner stress that distracts you and your fear of loss can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, sending you into a downward spiral.

3. Maintain an attitude of gratitude.

The secret of “never being satisfied” is to always be grateful for what you have while you strive for what you want. It is not an excuse to dismiss or disregard your current blessings. (Remember: the more you’re grateful for, the more you’ll have to be grateful for. But when you’re ungrateful for what you have, you’ll soon have even less to be grateful for.)

Peak performance author, columnist, trainer, speaker and radio show host for sales, management and leadership, Dave Anderson walks the talk as a leader. He has led some of the most successful retail automotive dealership in the country—the most recent dealer group he led had over $300,000,000 in annual sales—and now gives 150 presentations, workshops and speeches annually on sales and leadership development around the globe. Dave is president of the Dave Anderson’s Learn To Lead and LearnToLead.com, a cutting edge web site providing hundreds of free training resources to thousands of subscribers in over 30 countries.

October 8, 2008

Terriers and Hounds

Filed under: recruiting/hiring,sales,Sales Management,selling,success — Paul McCord @ 8:20 am
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I had an interesting discussion yesterday with a couple of managers for a large automobile dealership about what type of personality a great salesperson should have.

As I had expected, both mangers said they wanted to hire salespeople who were ‘enthusiastic,’ ‘passionate,’ ‘vocal,’ and ‘outgoing.’  When we began to examine what these characteristics meant to them, they gave examples of loud, aggressive, conversation dominating individuals.  Their definition leaned toward men and women who talked a lot-but often said nothing.  Who were always the first to answer a question whether they knew what they were talking about or not.  Who wanted attention whether they deserved it or not.

They wanted terriers. If you’ve had a terrier you understand their personality-bouncing, high energy, curious, very active-short attention span.  Terriers are smart dogs, but they tend to lack discipline.  They can be taught but with difficulty as they tend to believe they know best, or at least are determined to do things their way whether their master likes it or not.  They are often very friendly dogs, but tend to be quite vocal–very often too vocal, what people describe as yappy.

When I suggested that although terriers often made good salespeople, hounds often prove to be better producers, they objected.  They didn’t see the hound personality as a ‘sales’ personality.  Their view of the hound was lazy, disinterested, far too quiet.

I admitted that on the surface that’s what one sees in a hound.  Hounds tend to be much slower, lumbering even.  Unlike the terrier, you aren’t going to find them scurrying all over the place looking for something to get into.  They are much more methodical, even tempered, and laidback than the terrier. If the only time you ever saw a hound was when they weren’t hunting, you’d think they had the energy of a sloth, the curiosity of a rock, and the personality of dirt.

You’d be wrong.

Look deeper into the hound and what you find is an extremely smart animal who is fully committed to doing one thing-hunting.  Hounds are some of the most proficient hunters in the animal kingdom.  They have incredible stamina; will stay on the trail of their prey for as long as it takes to track them down; and they have the skills and commitment to track and backtrack to keep their quarry in their sites until they have finally treed them.

No, hounds don’t tend to be the life of the party, they don’t tend to be boisterous, they don’t tend to draw attention to themselves.  Instead, they replace ‘enthusiasm’ with determination, ‘outgoing’ with grit, visible ‘passion’ with a real love for the hunt.  Instead of the ceaseless yapping that is often viewed as enthusiasm and passion, they speak when they have something of import to say.  Slow and unassuming much of the time, their personality is transformed when the hunt begins.  They morph from quiet and comfortable to aggressive, disciplined, hunters in a spit second.

Are all those with outgoing personalities and an inability to shut their mouth terriers?  No, of course not.  And neither are all who appear to be hounds, hounds.

However, highly successful salespeople come from more than a single breed. Many sales assessments are designed to find terriers, ignoring the hounds.  Fortunately, however, many assessments have discovered that there is more than a single successful breed within the sales industry.

If you’re looking for top producing salespeople, don’t automatically discard the hounds you find as the gentlemen I spoke with yesterday do (just as an interesting side note, of the four sales managers I spoke to within the company, only two were terriers).  Every organization could use a few good hounds that may not make your sales meetings lively; they’ll just bring in the business.

October 7, 2008

Guest Article: “Top 10 Tips to Stay in Control When Your Market Feels Out of Control,” by Paul Cherry

Filed under: sales — Paul McCord @ 5:09 am
Tags: , ,

Top 10 Tips To Stay In Control When Your Market Feels Out Of Control
By Paul Cherry

When the economy seems unstable, businesspeople can feel shaky. Hysteria sets in, sending sales people, managers and CEOs running for cover, making panic moves that cause more problems than they solve. Avoid making costly mistakes by learning how to implement the top 10 tips to stay in control when your market feels out of control:

1. Stay focused on your most profitable business. Is there something you’re leaving on the table with your customers that you should be providing? Start asking those tough questions to help you become a more effective strategist for them. Your most successful customers already have faith in you, so reinforce the value they see in your solutions. What additional tasks or solutions can you explore or provide for them to make you their partner, not just their vendor?

2. Go deeper, broader, and as high as you can within your established accounts. Companies change because their people change. As soon as you think you’ve gotten yourself entrenched within an account, you’d be wise to start networking. For instance, two years ago, things were going great with my biggest and best account. I felt like I had it made because I had open-door access to that firm’s top management brass. But what a difference six months can make! Within that time period, the entire senior management team was wiped out, and a new team was formed. With “new regime syndrome” spreading like the flu, I got swept out with the old team. I could have avoided that if I’d formed more relationships at that company while things were going well, but I let myself get too comfortable. This brings us to another way to make it through hard times:

3. Be willing to relinquish and look beyond what you’re comfortable with. For example, back in 1998, I worked with a plastic injection molding company that was getting squeezed by the big auto manufacturers. They saw the pain these manufacturers were beginning to inflict on their suppliers, and made the decision early to change course and actively pursue new market opportunities. 90% of this company’s business came from the auto industry in 1998, but today, 70% of their business is with the lucrative medical device industry. Meanwhile, more than half of the suppliers serving the auto manufacturing industry in 1998 are out of business today because they decided to stay the course.

4. Go after the big fish. Or in some cases, the big salami. Take Boar’s Head Brand Provisions Company. Why is it that this small deli meat manufacturer can sell lunchmeat for four times what their biggest competitor charges? It’s because Boar’s Head Brand has a well defined value proposition. When they meet with high level executives, they don’t talk lunchmeat; rather, they drive home how they’re going to increase profit margins, reduce overhead, and bring about greater productivity. (Oh yeah, it also doesn’t hurt that they have quality products.) How comfortable are you in engaging your customers on solutions, rather than your product? Some of the best salespeople don’t even get around to discussing their product!

5. When customers/prospects try to get you to come down on price, discuss value. Sidestep their price-squeezing tactics, tell them to put price aside for the moment, and ask your customers and prospects how they define and determine real value. Other criteria will automatically come up, minimizing your chances of getting cornered on price.

6. Don’t get too cozy with purchasing agents and buyers. Remember, they get judged and rewarded for performance on getting the lowest price. A purchasing agent may be your best pal, but when it comes to business, you’re better off keeping them at a distance.

7. Stand up to bullies, even when they’re your customers. Some customers just don’t deserve your business; they end up costing you more in time and resources than they give back in business and profits. If you have customers who are bullies, confront them. If you can’t win with the bully because they’re their own worst enemy, or because their values are so out of sync with your own, walk away and invest your time on customers who appreciate the value you can bring to them.

8. Streamline the use of your time. For the next 8 weeks, stop using so much time on some of your daily routines; that is, stuff you no longer really think about, but just do out of habit. Take a good look at your daily routine, and you’ll probably find that you can save time with at least 10% of your daily tasks. For example, you could skip the morning newspaper and just scan the latest headlines online. Which of those face-to-face chats could be done on the phone instead? Is there one weekly meeting that you can delegate, put off, or just plain not do at all? When your boss asks you to do an administrative task during active selling hours, diplomatically work out terms that will satisfy both parties. Learn to say no nicely, or delegate it to someone else on your staff; they just might enjoy learning a new skill or facing a fresh challenge. Now you’re free to focus that time on generating revenue. With the average person putting in 50-hour work weeks, that’s five hours per week, or one hour a day, that you could put to better use by working on your established relationships or prospecting for new ones. By doing so, you’ll be able to:

9. Work smarter, not harder. Stick by your commitments to yourself and your loved ones. Call it a day at a humane, respectable time each and every day. When it comes to your work life, think of yourself as a farmer planting seeds: there’ll always be tomorrow to keep harvesting. Make sure you always get home and spend quality time with those you love. There’ll be no regrets. With Social Security in danger of being sucked dry in the next 20 years, it may not even matter; you could be working hard into your 70s. There’s plenty of time; savor it.

10. Don’t forget to recharge your emotional and creative batteries. If you’re not staying immersed in a hobby or activity to keep your batteries charged, go find one! Disconnect from work in an activity you genuinely enjoy, one where you can get lost in the moment, with even the thought of work totally on the back burner on “Low,” if not “Off.” There’s nothing like feeling refreshed and recharged to help you function better both at home and at work. One of my hobbies is whitewater kayaking. I get into the zone when I surf a hydraulic or river wave. There’s no time to being thinking about, say, that customer who drives me nuts with his unreasonable demands. When I return to work, I have a new attitude and I’m ready to tackle the daily challenges. There’s plenty of time, really; it’s just a matter of prioritizing.

The real key to your success is the belief you have in yourself and the willingness to say “I can.” Psychologists claim that 90% of the time, we are our own biggest barrier to success. Be willing to take risks (within reason) in order to grow and succeed, and confidence will mushroom.

Paul Cherry is principal assessor, trainer and motivational coach. He has more than 19 years of experience in sales, management, executive leadership and performance improvement strategies.  His expertise is in aligning individual behaviors with organizational strategies and values. To date he worked with over 1,200 organizations from leading Fortune 500 companies to small and medium sized companies in every major industry.  Paul has authored more than 125 articles and has written the AMACOM book, Questions That Sell: The Powerful Process for Discovering What Your Customer Really Wants. He teaches at Lehigh University in the areas of leadership, critical thinking and business ethics.  Visit his website at www.pbresults.com

October 6, 2008

Unabashed Self Promotion

Filed under: sales,Sales Resources,sales training,selling — Paul McCord @ 5:15 am
Tags: , , , ,

I am honored and pleased that two of my articles were chosen as “Article of the Week” in September by Top 10 Sales Articles, and one, Why Decision Makers Hate Cold Calls, has been selected as the Article of the Month. My other article that was selected as an Article of the Week winner during September was Never a Cold Call, Always and Introduction. In addition, Jonathan Farrington, Moderator at Top 10 Sales Articles, informed me that I am the first and only author whose material has been selected twice in the same month as a weekly winner.

If you’re not familiar with Top 10 Sales Articles you should be. The site has a team of sales experts such as Farrington, Dr. Greg Stebbins, Lee Salz and others who judge sales and sales management articles from the top sales article sites on the net such as Eyes On Sales, Salesopedia, Sales Gravy, The Sideroad, and several other sites.

Competition is stiff with articles from such training luminaries as Tony Alessandra, Jill Konrath, Colleen Stanley, Charles H. Green, Harvey MacKay, Jeff Thull, Kelley Robertson, Dave Stein, Linda Richardson, Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, and dozens of other great trainers and sales experts.

To win article of the week twice in a single month is a great honor—and to win article of the month even more so.

You can find some of the best sales and management training material published during the week at Top 10 Sales Articles. Every Sunday afternoon a new set of the 10 best articles published during the previous week are featured, as well as the article of the week winner from the ten nominated articles from the prior week. Check it out—better yet, stick in your RSS reader or bookmark it and make it a regular part of your reading.

October 3, 2008

After the Initial Meeting with Your Prospect: Where Do You Go From Here?

Filed under: sales,Sales Process,selling — Paul McCord @ 6:17 am
Tags: , ,

As Carle was walking back to her car after her first meeting with Ann, the COO for a small manufacturing company, she was worrying about her next call to Ann.  The meeting seemed to have gone well-Ann seemed to be genuinely interested, there seemed to be real potential for a sale, but she didn’t feel that there was a definite direction to go from here. What should be her next move?  When should she get back with Ann?  What was she going to say?  What could she do to move the sale along?  What sale exactly?

Carle’s dilemma is one faced by thousands of salespeople everyday.   They work hard to find and connect with a prospect, have a really good initial meeting-and then don’t know where to go from there.

If you find that you also have meetings that seem to go well but when you walk out you’re not sure how to proceed, there is a simple three prong solution that should be incorporated into every one of your sales calls:

1.  Qualify your prospect.  Carle thinks there’s a sale for her with Ann-but she really doesn’t know what it is.  She didn’t qualify her prospect.  She should have taken the time to dig to further to find out if Ann’s company is a true prospect.  Do they really have a need, issue, or want Carle can help resolve?  If so, what is it specifically?  If she can solve the issue in a manner that makes sense, does Ann’s company have the resources and desire to implement the solution?  What are the implications for the company if they don’t resolve the issue?

2.  Identify a specific next step.  Identify the next logical step in the process.  Is it constructing a proposal?  Gathering more information?  Giving a demonstration?  Inviting Ann for a plant tour?  Unless you identify what needs to be done next, you’ll walk out wondering where you go from here, and more importantly, wondering how you’ll reconnect with Ann.

3.  Gain agreement on implementing the next step.  Knowing the next step isn’t good enough-your prospect has to understand and agree to what is to happen next.  You should never walk out of a meeting without both you and your prospect in agreement about when you will contact her next and why.

Your initial meeting should naturally flow into the next step of the process. Neither you nor your prospect should ever walk out of a meeting wondering where things will go from there.  Each step of the process should lead to an agreed upon next step until the sale is finalized, you determine you cannot solve the prospect’s issues, or  the prospect determines your solution is not right for them.

If you’re not doing so already, make sure you qualify your prospect; identify a real need, problem or want you can address; and then have your prospect agree on a logical next step and you’ll never again have to walk out of a meeting wondering where to go next or how you’ll reconnect with your prospect.

October 1, 2008

Guest Article: “Un-spin Your Competitor’s Propaganda,” by Dave Stein

Filed under: branding,business,Communication,marketing,sales — Paul McCord @ 7:38 am
Tags: , , , , ,

Un-spin Your Competitor’s Propaganda
By Dave Stein

Did you ever feel that you are living in a world of spin and hype? With damage control consultants, corporate spin doctors and whole companies out there whose job it is to reconstruct a corporate image, it’s hard to tell “where the truth lies.”

Here are some considerations for getting to the bottom of a competitor’s press release or interview:

1.Why are they announcing now? Press releases and conferences don’t happen by chance. In order to start to get at the truth, you’ll need to question the timing and ask, why now? Perhaps the company is attempting to preempt their opponent. Or are they were caught off guard and are trying to make up for lost ground.

2.Do you hear (or read) new words, concepts or phrases? That’s generally a sign that someone is jockeying for a leadership, first-out-of-the-gate position. The use of generally accepted terms signifies a me-too position, often by someone who is behind the curve and attempting to justify why.

3.If there is a problem, whom are they blaming for it? If it’s your company, you have just been declared the enemy. What is the real reason for the problemﾗthe one they aren’t discussing? There may lay a source of competitive advantage for you.

4.Who might be offended or threatened by any statements made? You always want to imagine who might be threatened or offended by a statement, whether it is written or verbal. Is the person or company taking “a shot” at someone? If so, that is at least part of their agenda. The person or company who is the target of the statement may not be clear at first. Listen and read between the lines.

5.Does the person name names? If so, they may be the enemy. A proven way to spin an attack is to praise your opponent, then diminish what they are doing in the eyes of the audience. “I think ABC Corporation really has done a terrific job building market share. We believe that the quality of our products will have an impact of the success of our customers, which will enable us to achieve our growth objectives during the coming year.” Translation: Take a serious look at the quality of their products.

6.In an interview, do they answer questions directly or avoid the answer? Here’s an example: A chemical company executive is asked, “Have there been any other toxic chemical spills that have not been reported to the authorities?” The answer, “Our company has the best record in the industry regarding compliance with government regulations and has been recognized by the Green Fund fifteen times.” What they say is often their message. What they don’t say often indicates where their exposure lies.

7.What does the person say when they are interrupted? Will they allow themselves to be driven off course? Or do they persist and continue to drive forward, even overpowering the interrupter. If that’s the case, what they are saying at that moment is likely the real message.

8.Is their body language incongruent with what they are saying? Learn how to read body language. As experienced and coached as President Clinton was, he still managed to touch his nose an inordinate number of times during his televised testimony about Monica Lewinsky.

9.Are questions planted or is the interviewer free to ask what they please? Whether you like him or not, part of the success of Bill O’Reilly’s TV show is his assertion that he will accept no guests who require adherence to pre-determined interviewing questions or subjects that the interviewer must stay away from. That is opposite from prime-time news and interview shows on network television.

Before founding his sales consultancy, The Stein Advantage, Inc., in 1997, Dave Stein served for more than 20 years in various corporate executive sales and marketing roles. Now, through his coaching, speaking, and training, Dave provides companies with substantial diagnostic and remedial expertise enabling them, among other capabilities, to readily overcome tough competitors, refocus their selling efforts resulting in new levels of credibility and differentiation with high-level executive buyers, and to hire the right sales professionals, all leading to greater and more consistent revenues. Dave is the author of the Amazon best-selling business book: How Winners Sell: 21 Proven Strategies to Outsell Your Competition and Win the Big Sale, (Dearborn Trade Press, May 2004). For more information go to his website, www.HowWinnersSell.com

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