Sales and Sales Management Blog

January 12, 2012

Are You Too Fat and Happy to be Successful?

Filed under: attitude,career development,motivation,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 10:24 am
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It may surprise you to learn that I speak to a number of sellers and sales leaders every month who although they mouth the right words, their actions say they’re fat and happy and way too contented to become successful.

What I hear most often in today’s economy, of course, is the complaint of not enough business, no one is buying, the competition is cutting prices to the bare bone or some other form of the statement that business is tough and in order to be successful you have to be sharp, aggressive and willing to put in long, tough hours.

But that’s not the only message I’m hearing.  A few times a month I’ll hear how a seller or company is doing just fine, that although business is down from before the recession, they feel they are doing better than most and they’re still making money.  From others I’ll hear that although their income is down and a new home or new car isn’t in the cards, they’re still doing OK, meaning they’re quite  evcomfortable.

I’m always curious when I hear a seller or a company express comfort and/or satisfaction with their situation when, at the same time, they’re admitting that sales are down, income or profits aren’t where they were, and they don’t expect to see a significant change in the next year or even two.

Really?

Comfortable?

Satisfied?

No sense of loss or itching desire to get back where they were?

Inevitably I find that they either have reached the peak where they have no desire to exert the energy to move beyond or they have accepted the recession as the new norm and believe that their current level of success is all they can expect in this new reality.

Seldom do I get this response from the top sellers and the top companies.  Most often this attitude is expressed by average and even below average sellers and companies, ones that were probably looking for the path of least resistance even prior to the economic downturn.

My experience from years of working with and speaking with thousands of top sellers and top companies is they are never satisfied.  And when they find themselves moving backwards—even if the cause is something out of their hands such as a major economic downturn—they fight even harder to get back to where they were and then beyond.

Once you have reached a point where you’re fat and happy, you’ve peaked; you’ve reached a point where you will not—you cannot—become more successful.

Success demands discontent with where one is at.  It requires a level of dissatisfaction and discomfort.  For top sellers and companies success is an ever elusive goal that can never be reached—and it isn’t quelled and extinguished by an outside force such as a recession.  In fact, those outside forces that seek to kill their desire to succeed only fuel their fire.

Have you reached a point where you’re comfortable and can relax knowing you’re successful?  I hope not, for if you have, you’ve probably reached your peak, and if you have, where can you go from there other than back down?

January 9, 2012

Four Signs It Is Time to Throw in the Towel

Filed under: attitude,career development,sales,Sales Failure,selling — Paul McCord @ 1:03 pm
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A question I’m asked more often now than in the past is “how do I know if it’s time to look for another career?”  With the economy in dire straits it is more difficult to sell now than in the past.

For many sellers who began selling prior to the current economic morass, when selling was pretty easy and many sellers were gobbling up the sales and commissions, they’re having to radically change their thinking as they discover selling isn’t as easy as they thought.

Those who began selling only since 2007, today’s economy is the only selling environment they know.  In a sense, that’s a real advantage.

Although it would seem reasonable to assume that most of the sellers who entered the field prior to 2007 would have adjusted to the new reality by now, I find that many still haven’t and are still having a difficult time trying to get mentally and emotionally adjusted to the fact that what they did in the past isn’t working today.

And, of course, many of the newer sellers are struggling with the traditional problems of learning how to sell which are compounded by having to compete in a very tight and cut throat market.

Thus, I find myself addressing the how to know when to quit question more today than in the past.

I wish I could give a more cut and dried answer, but in reality there are so many factors involved in that decision that for many a cut and dried answer would do more harm than good.  Are the seller’s struggles things that he or she can take responsibility for–or do they lay outside their ability to control?  If the issues are ones they have some control over, are they willing and committed to addressing them?  If they are, do they have the time to do or has their time literally run out?

These and many other questions need to be addressed to really come to a decision on whether it is time to give up a career in selling—for a great many sellers.

However, for many others I think the answer really can be and should be cut and dried.  If any of these five issues apply, you need to make a quick exit, stage left:

  • No Passion or the Passion is Gone:  If there’s no passion for selling or if the passion that had once been there is gone, it’s time to hit the streets.  I’m not talking about a passion  particular products or services (if you’ve lost that passion but still are passionate about selling, all you need do is find a company whose products or services you can get passionate about).  I’m speaking here of a general passion for selling, a desire to provide the goods and/or services that will solve buyer’s issues or wants.
  • A Dread of Doing the Selling:  I’ve known men and women in selling positions who loved the ancillary work of creating selling materials, putting together lists, attending sales meetings, putting together proposals, and attending networking events but who dreaded and hated the actual selling.  For them the fun was in the busy work while the actual work of selling was despised.  If you hate the actual selling, get out and get out quick.
  • Unwillingness to Invest the Time and Money to Become a Professional:  The unfortunate truth is that few companies provide every bit of training a seller needs.  Companies by nature are more interested in providing product training than sales training.  Product training and sales training are not the same, although many sellers and companies want to think they are.

    Professional selling has nothing to do with the stereotypical fast talking huckster and everything to do with being skilled in understanding human nature, having strong analytical and problem solving skills, being an excellent communicator who is more attuned to listening than talking, and having the process that will enable you to work with a prospect to analyze and then solve their issues.

    It is the seller’s responsibility to acquire these skills and since few companies provide all of the needed training, the seller must be willing to invest their time and money in becoming the best seller possible.  If you’re not willing to make the time and financial commitment to become the highest skilled seller possible, a new, less demanding career would be an excellent choice.

  • No Commitment to Succeed:  Having a passion for selling does not necessarily translate into a commitment to succeed.  Selling is a tough business.  It certainly isn’t a 40 hour a week business.  For most sellers the selling part is the easy part, it’s the finding and connecting with high quality prospects and then the follow-up and problem solving that’s the hard part.

    Selling takes a great deal of energy, both physical and emotional.  It also demands a level of commitment that few other positions demand.  In a word, whether you’re a top seller making a million or more a year or an average producer making 6o or 70 thousand, selling is hard work.

    For a great many the time demands and the physical and emotional energy needed is simply too much to ask.  They want the rewards without having to make the investment.  They either can’t or aren’t willing to take the passion and put it into motion.  And frankly, unfulfilled passion is more of a tragedy than having no passion at all.

  • Undivided Focus on Money:  Selling can be extremely lucrative.  On the other hand, many, many sellers starve because they don’t have the commitment, passion and dedication.  Unfortunately for some, money becomes the only focus in the sale.  They don’t care about the prospect, the company they are selling for—and in many cases for themselves as they are willing to sell their soul to the Devil in order to get a few bucks with a “whatever it takes” mentality.

    If the only reason you’re in sales is money, get out as you’ll eventually find that you either hate what you do or, more likely, decide that the end justifies the means and you’ll do whatever it takes to pry the dollars out of the prospect’s hand.

    Selling is a high potential income SERVICE business and when the service becomes secondary to the income, ethics and honesty have a way of becoming secondary also.

Do any of these ring a bell?  If they do, it’s time to get out.

If they don’t and you’re still questioning whether or not it’s time to throw in the towel, I advise you to get with someone you trust—a mentor, coach, or maybe your manager—and work through to discover the issues you’re facing and whether or not you can and if you are willing to take the necessary steps to overcoming them.

Selling is tough and you need to be tough to succeed.  But if you’re struggling and are wondering if it is time for a new career, do yourself a favor and make an honest analysis of the situation before you make your decision.  If you decide to stay, you’ll know where your issues lie and what to do about them.  If you decide to leave, you’ll know you made the right decision and won’t be wondering for years to come what might have been if you’d stuck it out.

 

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January 4, 2012

Having a Tough Time Getting Started? You Need a Ritual

Filed under: attitude,career development,motivation,sales,selling,success — Paul McCord @ 3:47 pm
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Do you, like many others, have a difficult time getting yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically prepared to begin certain tasks?  Some have a hard time getting “in the mood” to make cold calls while others have trouble getting themselves geared up for a face-to-face meeting.

Certainly we can force ourselves to make the cold call even though we’re not prepared or we can make ourselves go through the motions of the job interview or sales presentation even though we know we’re neither mentally or emotionally in the right frame of mind.

And what usually happens when we simply go through the motions in order to fulfill an obligation or check off a task to be done?

Most of the time the cold call is crap, we don’t get a second interview, or the sales call was a total bust.

Many a cold caller confronts the phone every day with the same lack of focus, the same mental and emotional dread of what is about to happen.  And they fail time after time.

Many a job seeker goes into job interview after job interview unfocused, stomach churning, brow sweating—and comes out feeling that they couldn’t have made a worse impression if they had tried.

Thousands of sellers hit the streets to make presentations and go into them with nerves on end, thoughts blurred, tongue tied and they know they’ve lost the sale before they’re half way through.

These are not incompetent or lazy folks.  These are not cold callers who have no idea of what they going to say, or job applicants that are in over their head, or sellers who don’t know their products and markets.

Most of the time these are simply men and women who haven’t learned how to slow the process down, to de-stress themselves before the event, to create some action that signals their mind and body to focus for a very specific purpose.

Simply, these are men and women who haven’t learned the power of ritual.

What is a ritual?  Put simply a ritual is a specific action that when performed prior to an event has a calming effect on the individual and helps them focus for the task at hand.

Let me give a couple of examples:

Mike Adams is a pitcher for the Texas Rangers.  Pitching is a high stress occupation that demands a great deal of mental and emotional focus and control.  During a game a pitcher will have to find a way to be able to control his emotions and focus his undivided attention on throwing a baseball accurately anywhere from a few to over 100 times a game.  To make things a bit more difficult, after every pitch there is a break in the pitcher’s action as the ball is fielded, thrown back to the pitcher, and the team gets set for the next pitch.  You focus 100% of your mental and emotional energy on making a great pitch, then you have nothing of consequence going on for a minute or two, and then once again you have to find a way to focus 100% of your mental and emotional energy on making a great pitch.  Try to do that time after time without losing your focus every now and then.

Any way you look at it, that’s a tough, tough job.

How does Adams maintain his high level of focus over an extended period of time?  He does it by using a simple ritual to get his mind and body ready to focus only on making the next pitch.  Mike’s ritual is that after each pitch, after the catcher or an infielder has thrown him the ball, he lifts his cap off and then perches it lightly on top of his head.  He leaves the cap that way while he is waiting for the batter and the fielders to get ready.  Once things are settled and it is time for him to make his next pitch he will lift the cap up and adjust it on his head in its final position.  That adjustment is his ritual signal to his mind and body to focus, to concentrate on the job at hand, to block out everything else and focus only on making the pitch.

Such a simple action, but one that he has practiced to the point that the action alone automatically puts him in the frame of mind and prepares his body to give attention to only making the best pitch possible.

Now Mike is not alone.  If you pay attention during the baseball season you’ll find that many pitchers use their cap in one way or another as a ritual action to settle their mind and body into the work at hand.  Likewise, many batters will use the bat or their batting gloves to do the same.

But it isn’t only athletes that use rituals.  Back many years ago, when smoking wasn’t yet a social criminal offense, I had a salesperson, Wes, who was a heavy smoker.  On occasion I’d do ride alongs with him and I eventually came to recognize the ritual he went through before going in to meet with a prospect or client.

As we were pulling up to the office building where Wes’ sales prospect was located, he’d inevitably light a cigarette.  He would take two or three puffs of the cigarette, open his door and get out, close the door, take one final puff and then forcefully throw the cigarette down, take the toe of his shoe and smash the cigarette butt into the ground putting it out.  That forceful grinding of the cigarette butt was his ritual action telling his mind and body what was about to happen and to get ready.  Like Mike’s adjusting of the cap, Wes’ action was very simple, so simple that it could be easily ignored by an observer.  But it was there—and was important for Wes to go through that motion to prepare himself for the minutes ahead.

I’ve known a great many sellers who had some form of ritual action they performed, whether in preparation for hitting the phones, making presentations, giving large group presentations and speeches, or putting sales proposals together.  For that matter, I’ve known a couple of salespeople who seemed to have to go through some kind of ritual before doing anything,

I’ve also noticed that humans aren’t the only ones who rely on ritual behavior.  Our Golden Retriever, Lola, goes through a ritual every time she is greeted by someone.  When she approaches someone or when someone approaches her, before she allows herself to be touched she must reach her front legs out as far as she can and she then bends down and out in a huge stretch.  Once she has stretched, she’s ready to greet the person and get petted.  If anyone else walks up, before they touch her, she has to go through her stretch once more.  I’m not really sure what her stretch does for her, but it is certainly a ritual she has to go through before she’s ready to be greeted.

Although simple, rituals really work.  If you’re having a difficult time with a particular task such as cold calling, conducting face to face meetings, public speaking, or any other task that you do often and need to find a way to help you really relax and focus, try creating a ritual that once ingrained will automatically put you in the right mental and emotional frame to perform at your peak.

December 28, 2011

Focus Your Time on Selling, Not on Busy Work

Filed under: career development,sales,selling,success,time management — Paul McCord @ 11:06 am
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Like many salespeople and small business owners, I find staying focused during prime selling hours to be difficult. As a sales trainer, coach, and consultant, my days are filled with activities that try to pull me away from selling. Yet, like every other company, selling is the life blood of my business—its what keeps the doors open and the company healthy and growing.

Interruptions, minor emergencies, emails, phone calls, and a myriad of other issues and concerns are constantly trying to draw my attention away from my primary business activity—selling.

Listen, I have only certain hours during the day that are my prime selling hours. If I lose those hours, I lose revenue; I lose precious time that no matter how hard I work, I can never regain. Consequently, it is important I keep my focus on true sales activities between 8am and 5pm.

Nevertheless, there are things that must be done and some of those things simply won’t wait until non-selling hours.

So what did I do?

My solution has been to set aside four ½-hour times during the day when I will address non-selling issues. Twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon I set aside my selling and marketing activities in order to return calls, handle ‘emergencies,’ and the other ‘busy’ work of my business.

Of course, if a real emergency arises, it takes precedence over all else. But real emergencies are rare.

This process has allowed me to concentrate on selling and prospecting without worrying that other aspects of my business will suffer. Anything that comes up will be addressed shortly—but without interrupting my selling time.

It takes discipline to get into the habit of leaving things lie for a little while. But those things that used to find ways to cut my selling time in half—or more–are now much controllable.

Follow Paul on Twitter @paul_mccord

December 23, 2011

Lessons in Group Dynamics from Lola

Filed under: career development,management,sales,Sales Management,team development — Paul McCord @ 12:48 pm
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Mr. B.J.

I’ve always been fascinated with how new members of groups try to find a way to fit in with the existing group members.  I’ve spent years observing—and participating at times as a new and other times as an established member of the group—how the new folks try to fit in as well as how the existing members try to either find a place for or keep out someone new.

Over the past several months I’ve had the pleasure of watching this group dynamic play out in my own home—and most interestingly the subject of the attempt to fit in is Lola, our newest dog.  Lola has taught me a great deal about what works and what doesn’t work when trying to fit into new surroundings and with a well established group.

Ms. Chloe

Some Background Prior to Lola’s arrival, our household consisted of Debbie, my wife, Mr. B.J., a six year old miniature Dachshund, Ms. Chloe, a seven year old miniature Yorkie, and myself.  As we acquired both dogs as puppies when they were only about 8 weeks old, our little family unit has been together undisturbed for six years.

Some readers may remember how B.J. and Chloe would work the neighborhood looking for treat handouts from our neighbors.  Since we have moved to a new home that is located only a block away from a very busy five lane street, B.J. and Chloe no longer have the freedom to canvas the neighborhood and are confined to our house and the backyard.  Although they have adopted well to being restricted to just our property, with the more limited room to roam, Mr. B.J. has become more protective of his turf.

Lola

B.J. and Chloe are extremely close.  Since B.J. joined the family as an 8 week old puppy, he and Chloe have only been apart from one another on a very few occasions.  When they are apart from one another it is obvious that they miss each other—at times to the point of refusing to eat or do anything until they are reunited with the other.

Along Comes Lola Last April Debbie and I decided to go to Nashville on vacation.  Since there were some places in Memphis and Dallas Debbie wanted to visit also, we decided to drive instead of fly.

We were staying in the loft of an old 19th century barn that had been converted into a one bedroom apartment.  The barn was on a 10 or so acre property where the large main house had been turned into a bed and breakfast.  The property abutted a larger property whose barn was on the fence separating the two properties.

When we arrived we discovered that the owners of the bed and breakfast had rescued a beautiful 5 year old Golden Retriever named Lola from her unfortunate circumstances next door.  The owners of the other property had acquired Lola as a puppy 5 years earlier for their son.  It turned out that the son didn’t like nor want the dog, so instead of finding a more suitable home for her, the folks simply put Lola in a fenced in area next to their barn.  There she stayed—without access to the barn—for five years, being fed and visited only on occasion.  She endured hot, humid summers and freezing cold winters outside with no cover, no companionship, and nothing to comfort her.

When the owners of the bed and breakfast realized the situation, they asked Lola’s owners if they could take her.  They rescued her and gave her a home in their barn.  They gave her plenty of food, took her to the vet where they discovered she had heart worms which they began treating, and gave her daily attention.  But they knew they couldn’t keep her; they had to find a good home for her.

And then Debbie and I showed up.  It took Debbie about 30 seconds to realize that since we drove and could, therefore, take her home with us, Lola had a new home.

During the week that we were there we spent a good amount of time with Lola.  She proved to be a great, sweet dog despite her 5 years of solitary confinement out in the elements.

Lola Comes Home On our trip back home our attention turned to concern about how Mr. B.J. and Ms. Chloe would react to Lola.  Would they accept her after they realized that she was staying and not just visiting?  Since Lola hadn’t been around other dogs how would she react?  Were we about to introduce total chaos to our stable and well established household?

We arrived home late in the afternoon.  Debbie stayed in the car with Lola while I went into the house and had my reunion with the dogs.  We then switched and I stayed with Lola while Debbie went in and greeted the dogs.  Both dogs were excited to see us as we knew they would be . . .

then their little world was turned upside down.

Lola came into the backyard.

As expected, Mr. B.J. became very defensive of his territory.

Chloe was curious—but apprehensive.

Lola was excited to come face to face other dogs.

B.J. growled and yelled.  His antics didn’t seem to faze Lola.

Lola immediately decided that Chloe was her new BFF and tried to smother her with attention which Chloe didn’t like.

As we were afraid would happen, Lola got off on the wrong foot.

Rejection Starting that evening and for the next several weeks Lola tried her best to fit in with B.J. and Chloe.

When they played, she tried to join in.  She was summarily rejected.

At breakfast and dinner she tried to share their food.  She was quickly put in her place.

She tried to use their pillows and blankets and was told in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t allowed.

Her only companionship was Debbie and I, but she never gave up trying to break into the B.J./Chloe clique.

Submission Within a couple of weeks she decided the best route to acceptance was submission.  She took her behavior cues from B.J. and Chloe—and those cues were basically, “stay away.”

She would meekly approach one and they would either snap at her or turn and walk away.

She would try to lie on the floor next to one and would get a paw in the face for her trouble; she would then head off to find a place by herself.

When one of the dogs would bark at her, she’d roll over and whimper.  One would think that Mr. B.J. was the one who weighted 90 lbs. and Lola was the one who weighted 13 lbs.

Lola Stands Her Ground Slowly Lola tired of the treatment she was receiving from B.J. and Chloe and began to assert herself.

Instead of meekly approaching them, she began to confidently insert herself into their play.

At breakfast and dinner when B.J. growled, she growled back.

When she wanted to lay on one of their mats or curl up with one of their blankets and they objected, she ignored their threats.

When B.J. barred his teeth, she barred hers.  They never fought for she discovered that in truth Mr. B.J. is a classic bully—he’ll yell, scream and threaten, but when stood up to, he goes turtle and begins to cry.

Acceptance As Lola began to assert herself and demand to have her place in the home, Mr. B.J. and Ms. Chloe began to accept her as a part of the family.

The more Lola claimed her rightful place, the more respect and acceptance she received.

Lola has been with us for 9 months.  She still isn’t as close to B.J. and Chloe as B.J. and Chloe are to one another—and, of course, she never will be.  But she finally demanded and received her place in the home.

B.J. isn’t as patient with her as he is with Chloe.  Chloe still refuses to be Lola’s BFF.

Lola still is learning how to relate to other dogs.  She tries hard but is still clumsy and often tries too hard.

But a great deal of progress has been made.

Lessons Learned So what does this dog story mean to humans?

I’ve seen this same situation worked out in sales forces when a new salesperson joins an established group of sellers.

The same dynamics take place.  The established group tries to ostracize the newcomer either out of fear or jealousy while the newcomer tries to figure out how to fit into the group.

Most of the time the newcomer tries to win acceptance through acquiesce—hoping that by meekness and being as unobtrusive as possible the group will find a place for them.  Most often they experience the same result that Lola experienced—they remain an outcast.

A good number of these newcomers will eventually tire of outcast treatment and begin to assert themselves at which time the group seems to begin the acceptance process.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen far too many newcomers simply accept their outcast status.  They never learn how to assert themselves and demand acceptance.  A great many good sellers will end up leaving the company because they don’t feel that they fit in.

Managers: understand how important it is that you help your new sellers fit into the existing group.  Find one of the leaders of the group and seek to get their help in bringing new sellers into the group.  Make sure you keep an eye on how new sellers fit in and encourage them to assert themselves and to insist on taking their rightful place within the group.

Sellers: ultimately it is your responsibility to work your way into the group that you are joining.  Understand that there will likely be some resistance to accepting you.  Likewise, understand that if you allow yourself to be dominated and pushed aside, that very likely will happen.  You must stand up and demand to be let in—yet at the same time you certainly cannot come across as egotistical or a jerk.

Many managers ignore the problem their new sellers face when joining an established sales team.  How the new seller fits in will have a significant impact on both their sales efforts and their longevity with the company.

December 6, 2011

Eating with the Big Dogs–Taking the Next Big Step in Your Sales Career

Filed under: career development,goals,motivation,sales,selling,success — Paul McCord @ 11:56 am
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Last summer I received an email from Beth, a pharmaceutical salesperson with slightly more than two years of experience, asking me what she should be doing in order to take the next big step in her career.  She is a slightly above average seller in her company—actually one of the better sophomore performers.  Since joining the company she has taken her manager’s advice and only compared her performance and numbers against the other salespeople with less than three years experience (her manager told her not to try to compare herself to the more experienced sellers as she would likely become discouraged).

I sent her an email asking a number of questions, one of which was what her short-term and long-term goals were.  She responded that her short-term goal was to be the top seller in her company in her “class,” and her long-term goal was to become one of the top 5% producers in the company.

In response to my question as to what she was currently doing to improve her sales she responded that she was taking advantage of all the training her company provided, was an avid reader of sales books, and constantly talking to her colleagues about what they found worked and what didn’t.  As we continued to communicate it became obvious that she considered her colleagues to be the other sellers in the company that were either selling at the same volume or had about the same amount of experience.

Although of excellent quality, unfortunately the vast majority of training her company provided was product training, not sales training.  Consequently, Beth was becoming extremely proficient at discussing her products but wasn’t getting the training she needed in the various aspect of selling.  In a very real sense she was more of a walking product brochure than a salesperson.

My recommendations to Beth were threefold:

  1. Start Eating with the Big Dogs:  Rather than hang out and discuss ideas with others in the company who are at or below her production level, she needed to be interacting and learning from the top producers in the company.  The only thing others at her level can teach her is how to stay at the production level she is currently at—worse, those below her can only teach her how to fail.  If she wants to grow she needs to learn from those who are where she wants to be. I encouraged her to start inviting those big producers to lunch.  She should look at them as mentors and teachers—and as colleagues.  Spend as much time as she could learning everything she can.  Listen to them on the phone; hitch a ride as they make sales calls if possible; find out what they read and who they value as teachers and mentors.  Emulate success, not mediocrity.
  2. Take Control of Her Training:  Since the company is primarily concerned with investing their money training their sales staff on their products, she will have to take control of her sales education.  She’ll have to invest her time and money in learning how to be a top notch seller. Beth’s situation is hardly unique.  In fact, a great many companies—probably the vast majority–neglect sales training in favor of product training.  Many companies (and sellers) mistakenly believe they are the same thing.  Not only are they not the same thing, neither is very effective without the other. At first Beth wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about spending her money attending on-line and live training seminars and workshops.  After all, she argued, her company should be paying since her skills were going to be used to sell their products.  True, I agreed—except her skills were going to be with her for life, not just while she was selling for the company she currently works for.  Her product knowledge is to a large extent company specific, her sales skills will be universal and benefiting her for life.  With that explanation she agreed—reluctantly—to make the investment in herself.
  3. Compete Against The Best, Not the Easiest:  I encouraged her to stop comparing her production and progress only against those with the same amount of experience but to compare herself against the best in her company and her industry.  If she wants to be a top dog she has to compare herself against the top dogs—even if at the moment that comparison isn’t comfortable. If she is only competing against others at her level she is giving herself a false trophy.  Her goal isn’t to be one of the best mediocre producers but rather to be one of the top producers in her company—and ultimately her industry.  With that in mind, certainly she can take some pride in the steps she makes, but she really can’t allow herself to bask in glory just because she out sold a bunch of other middle of the road sellers.  She has to keep her eye on the ultimate goal and only compare herself against that goal. Does that mean she’ll be ever frustrated—and possibly become discouraged and quit as her manager suggested—by comparing herself against a goal she isn’t close to achieving?  Not at all.  She should be able to see her progress as she continues to close in on that goal.  Like a long-distance runner, she might click off the landmarks as she passes them, but she must know how she stacks up with where she wants to be and keep her eye on the ultimate goal.

It has been almost a half year since my interaction with Beth.  I received a call from her last week.  She has implemented all three suggestions.  She feels she still has a lot of sales training to go through.  She still hasn’t made her goal of being in the top 5% of her company’s sales force.  But she has progressed from being in the top 40% to closing this year in the top 25%–with a very realistic opportunity of being in the top 10% next year.

Beth ain’t there yet—but she’s making great progress very quickly.  She says that so far the biggest impact has been eating with the big dogs—she had no idea how differently they did things than the way she and her fellow mediocre sellers did them.  The sales training is paying off.  Knowing how she stacks up against the big dogs gives her new motivation to make big steps, not just the little ones that she previously thought were reachable.

If you’re looking to take the next big step in your career do the same as Beth—start eating with the big dogs and leave the other average sellers behind; take control of your own sales training; and compare yourself with the big producers, not just the ones you think you can compete with easily.  It will make a difference—and like Beth, you might find the difference comes pretty quickly.

September 28, 2011

Seller, Do You Know Who You Are and What You Should Be Marketing?

Filed under: career development,marketing,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 11:55 am
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Although I’ve addressed this issue before I think it should be dealt with again as I continually see a great many sellers make the mistake of marketing the company they are selling for rather than marketing themselves.

There is a tendency for many salespeople, especially if they work for a well-known company, to place the emphasis of their marketing on the company they sell for rather than focusing on themselves.  They identify their sales efforts with Wells Fargo or Merrill Lynch or GE  more clearly than they identify themselves. 

However, despite what we tend to think, and certainly, what the company believes, the prospect usually isn’t buying GE, IBM, or UBS.  They’re buying the seller and the seller’s trustworthiness and integrity.  The relationship in most cases isn’t between the company and the customer; it is between two human beings—the client and the salesperson.   

Companies continually market their name, whatever that name may be.  Whether it’s Caterpillar, Ford, or HP, the company markets itself because it wants to establish its brand, its name recognition and its image in the mind of the prospect. 

Sellers should be no different.   

No matter whom you sell for, if part or all of your income is produced through commissions or bonuses based on your sales, you are self-employed.  You are your own sales company– you are simply currently leasing yourself to sell for a single client company.  The company you sell for today may not be the company you are selling for this time next year. 

In addition, your competition isn’t that major company in your industry.  You don’t compete against Citibank or NY Life.  Glaxo isn’t your competitor.  The individual salespeople who sell for Citibank, NY Life and Glaxo are your competition.   Selling in a relationship driven industry requires you to develop and nurture relationships.  Sales are made on a personal level, not by the magazine ads or the direct mail piece.  Sales are ultimately made by you, not the company or its name.   

This isn’t to say that your company’s name may not help create interest or give you some upfront credibility.  Nevertheless, that interest and credibility is insufficient to close a sale.  Furthermore, it typically isn’t even enough to secure an appointment.   

That Merrill Lynch salesperson is digging for prospects and sales just as you are.  That Glaxo rep is trying to get into the same offices and sell the same people you are. 

Furthermore, if you’re selling against Microsoft today, you just might be selling for Microsoft tomorrow. 

In reality, you only have one thing of value to market—yourself.  Prospects buy from the men and women they trust and who solve the prospect’s problems and issues, not the ones they like or the ones with the big name company behind them. 

Examine your marketing carefully.  Who are you marketing?  If it isn’t you, then change everything about your marketing to focus the primary identity on you, not the company you’re selling for (that’s the focus identity, not the marketing message).   

If you are already marketing yourself instead of the company you sell for, examine your materials for their effectiveness and image. 

If you’ve done your job well, every contact you make, every client you sell, and every dollar you spend on marketing will go with you if you ever decide to lease your selling services to another company.  However, if you’ve marketed the company you are selling for instead of yourself, you may find you’re leaving your hard-earned clients, contacts and reputation behind, loyal to the company, not to you, forcing you to build your sales company from scratch once again.

August 18, 2011

Guest Article: “The Triangle” by Robert Terson

Filed under: career development — Paul McCord @ 3:34 pm

The Triangle
by Robert Terson

I was taught the Triangle in 1969 by Bob Trudeau while undergoing sales training.  Where Trudeau learned about it I know not, but he believed in it passionately and 42 years later I can say it meant more to my success as a salesman than any other tidbit of information.  We all tell a story in our own imitable style, and if today Trudeau listened to my rendition of the Triangle, no doubt he’d hear an altered version; but I hope he’d be pleased that I’ve passed on the Triangle to hundreds of people, in speeches, sales seminars, and airplanes flew to and from work.  I’d reach for pen and paper, draw a triangle, label each side, and tell my story.  The triangle is a sturdy geometric figure, if all three sides are solidly connected; otherwise all you have is a wobbly structure which eventually will crumble into a pile of naught.

Mental Attitude
The first side is Mental Attitude.  You must possess a positive mental attitude made out of titanium.  Anyone can be up when she’s winning, when everything is running like a well-oiled machine and success is the norm; show me a salesperson who is alert and grinning, enthusiastic, ready to forge ahead and make that next call after she’s gotten her teeth kicked in for a month-and-a-half and I’ll show you a Champion.

Work Habits
The second side is Work Habits.  I don’t care how talented you are, if you possess the selling acumen of Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, and Tom Hopkins combined—no one defiles Mother Law of Averages and gets away with it long term.  You must always do the work.  For a salesperson, that means making the calls, giving presentations.  There is no compromise.  Given the choice of a salesperson who gives six presentations a week and closes 60%, or one who gives ten presentations a week and closes 40%, I’ll take the latter any day ending in “Y.”

Salesmanship
Side three is Salesmanship.  If anyone knows your business better than you, best take a hard look in the mirror and ask why.  If anyone knows the intricacies of selling techniques better than you, time to challenge yourself again.  There are no excuses, no alibis.  It’s your business, your choice of making a living; you must know every aspect of your business—backwards, forwards, and sideways.  You must know selling techniques to the subtlest detail.

The Triangle is the lever and fulcrum of successful selling.  Archimedes said, “Give me a lever long enough, and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”  If your Triangle is sturdy enough, you’ll move the world.  Everything you need to know, all the answers, fall under the purview of one of its three sides.

You can count on the Triangle; it’ll never let you down.  You also can count on utter failure unless all three sides are functioning in a robust manner.  It’s sort of like love and marriage: “…you can’t have one without the other[s]…”

Draw a large triangle and label its three sides.  Frame it and place it where you’ll see it every day.

Are you ready to move the world?

Robert Terson spent 40 years fearlessly selling advertising to small businesspeople; his passionate purpose as an author and speaker is to enlighten and inspire you to be a far better salesperson than you are now.  You can learn more about and from him at SellingFearlessly.com

August 13, 2011

Ancestory.sales: Do You Know Where You Came From?

Filed under: career development,motivation,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 9:54 am
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McCord Family Crest

I really haven’t been too into researching my family tree, but recently I decided to do a bit of research and made some interesting discoveries about both my father’s and my mother’s families.

I always believed my father’s family came from Ireland—part of the potato famine exodus.  Wrong.  We came almost directly from Scotland with a very brief, less than one generation, stopover in Belfast.  I discovered that in 1689 my great-grandfather 9 generations ago, who was the chieftain of a clan on the Isle Skye, was killed at the Battle of Killiecrankie Pass in Scotland while fighting for Charles II even though he and the clan were strict Scot Presbyterians.  Who could have guessed that? 

I discovered that my great-grandfather 7 generations ago was an original founder of Derry Township Pennsylvania (Hershey, PA today—Mmm, chocolate!).  Lancaster County Pennsylvania?  Really?  Would never have thought that.

The family eventually moved to Tennessee and then onto southern Illinois for several generations.  Ah, McCord wanderlust from Scotland to Ireland to Pennsylvania to Tennessee to Illinois—now that’s a family trait I recognize since we then migrated to Ohio to Kansas back to Ohio for a bit and then on to Texas.

I discovered we have a family coat of arms (and from the looks of it, it appears my ancestors who designed it were as artistically challenged as are the current generation of McCord’s). We have a family motto: “One Way, One Heart” (certainly the implied unity of the family didn’t transfer down to the 20th and 21st centuries).  We even have a tartan design of our own—you could be wearing my family’s plaid right this minute.

On my mother’s side I discovered the Dunn’s were really from England–like they were supposed to be.  But again to my surprise, I discovered that my great-grandfather 8 generations ago, Hugh Dunn, was one of the four founders of Piscataway, New Jersey in 1666.  Later one was the mayor of Lockland, Ohio during part of the Civil War. 

Wow, original founders of Derry Township, PA on one side and Piscataway, New Jersey on the other.  Real honest to goodness American pioneers.  We must have lost that spirit since it doesn’t look like any of us has helped found another town in the last 350 years.

I found direct ancestors who had been killed by Indians when their settlement was raided, at least two who had fought in the Revolutionary War, another had been killed in the French and Indian War, and others who had been farmers, foremen for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, wagon makers, lawyers, and weavers.

I felt like Steve Martin’s character in The Jerk when while at work one day he opened the just delivered phonebook and there on page 73 he found his name.  With great pride he proclaimed, “I’m somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday!  This is the kind of spontaneous publicity – your name in print – that makes people.  I’m in print!!”   I felt like I had ancestors; that I came from someplace—finally, I’m somebody now.

All of this warm and fuzzy discovery got me to thinking about all the salespeople that I’d met over the years that felt that they weren’t really anybody—that there wasn’t anything that grounded them in an honorable and noble profession.  These were men and women who simply woke up one morning and found themselves in the unfortunate position of selling for a living while wishing they had a “real” job, one that demanded respect and honor like Marketing and HR and Finance—positions that business schools recognize and educators write real thick textbooks that cost lots of money and are as boring as hell about but that give the jobs a sense of dignity and a respected place within the business hierarchy. 

The more I thought about this assumed lack of a family history, the more I realized that we sellers have an incredible history filled with some of the greatest minds and most important people that ever walked the land.

I suspect that there’s been a good share of scoundrels in both the McCord and Dunn families over the centuries.  And we all know there’s been more than a fair share of them selling all kinds of stuff over the last thousands of years.  I’m sure the first flimflam man appeared about the same time the first real transaction between humans took place.  For all I know the first transaction would have made a modern day scammer proud.

But we sellers do come from a long, long line of great sales men and women.  We can’t review thousands of years of sales history, but let me point out just a couple of my favorite sellers:

Moses:  Moses may have invented the concept of identifying prospect pain points and then helping to resolve that pain—very effectively bringing to Pharaoh’s attention the intensity of the pain that Pharaoh didn’t realize he and his country were feeling prior to Moses pointing it out through a series of attention getting demonstrations.  Although it took a bit of time, Moses was quite successful in getting Pharaoh to buy the idea that if he let the Israelites go the pain would stop. Shortly after Pharaoh’s wise decision, Moses had to successfully deal with Pharaoh’s unfortunate case of buyer’s remorse.

Winston Churchill:  The world today might be a very different place if Winston Churchill hadn’t sold his countrymen—and the rest of the free world—on the idea that they could defeat Nazi Germany.  Shortly after Chamberlin’s massively disastrous trip to meet Hitler, Germany attacked Poland with the consequent chain reaction that turned into World War II.  In relatively short order Britain was on the verge of falling to the Germans, having been pushed by them back to the home island–and they weren’t  doing much better in Africa.  Despite what appeared to be certain defeat, Churchill’s defiance and determination helped inspire the british people to hold on against overwhelming odds.    He sold his countrymen on the idea that they could win when few thought it even remotely possible that they could survive for much longer—and by doing so changed the course of history (with a bit of help from a few other countries).

Lamar Hunt:  What, you don’t think of Lamar Hunt as a salesperson?  Well, he was such an accomplished salesperson that he changed the whole nature of professional sports—almost singlehandedly.  He didn’t set out to change it all.  All he wanted was an NFL franchise for Dallas.  But the NFL wouldn’t give him one.  So what did he do?  He sold a few other men on a new organization he envisioned—the American Football League which began play in 1960.  Hunt wasn’t willing to take ‘no’ for an answer.  Instead of just accepting no, he decided to find a way to turn no into yes.  And he certainly did—and eventually made the guys who had said no wish they’d said yes because he ended up costing them a fortune (and then later making them an even bigger fortune).  Hunt not only sold the franchises, he convinced the owners of those franchises that they could compete with the NFL—which they did by quickly drafting and signing Billy Cannon, the 1959 Heisman Trophy winner.  Within short order they had signed half of the top college crop of 1959 to play for them instead of the NFL.  Then they had the audacity to steal NFL stars too.  Then wonder of wonders they signed a TV contract to televise games which guaranteed the league’s success.  Finally, after years of costing the NFL a ton of money, robbing them of great talent, and simply outplaying them in salesmanship and marketing, Hunt turned his new league into a merger with the NFL, creating unimagined fortunes for the owners and the players.  If you’re a fan of professional football as it is today (actually any professional sport), you owe it to Lamar Hunt’s ability to sell dreams.  On the other hand, if you hate the way professional sports are managed and played today–you may not a big Lamar Hunt fan.

Mary Kay Ash:  Mary Kay was a lady that didn’t know how to quit—and she helped give tens of thousands of other women a sense of freedom and honor when they represented the Mary Kay Cosmetics line at parties and one-on-one with their friends and neighbors.  Mary Kay had a unique view of business.  Although her company was incredibly successful and profitable, she always measured the company’s performance based on her own P&L formula—People and Love.  Millions of women grew to love Mary Kay because of the freedom and dignity she helped them achieve, the great products she sold, and the emphasis she placed on people rather than on profits.  Not surprisingly, by working so hard to help others succeed, her own success was far beyond anything she could have dreamt.  Mary Kay was a humble lady from humble beginnings who changed the lives of millions.  And she was one of us.

Paul Harvey:  It is said that Paul Harvey was the most listened to voice in radio history—and one of the most trusted.  Harvey was also one of the most successful at selling—if he sold your product on his show, you were virtually guaranteed record sales.  I’ve known of Paul Harvey since I can remember—even as a little kid I remember hearing him on the radio in the car—who could forget his voice?  Everything he sold he made sound so doggone good that you wanted to buy it even if you didn’t need it or didn’t even know what to do with it after you bought it. When he read the news you didn’t question if it really happened the way he said it did—you knew it did or if it didn’t, it damn well should have.  I have a Bose radio because of him.  I know I bought other things because of Harvey, I just don’t remember what they were—but they were good because after all Paul Harvey endorsed them and said they were good.  He was just a voice on the radio, but one that could make your company overnight if he believed in it.

George Washington:  Washington was, of course, a surveyor, planter, statesman, General, President, and brewer.  But his most important job was that of salesman.  If he hadn’t been as great a salesman as he was, there probably wouldn’t be a United States of America today.  He sold his men on sticking around and fulfilling their obligations during the Revolutionary War.  Sure, he lost lots of men who just walked off and went back home.  He had to institute some pretty tough penalties for any caught deserting.  But it was his ability to sell his men on staying and fighting, for sacrificing for a dream of freedom and independence that really won the freedom of America.  And we all know it was a tough sale—and not just because of no money, no food, no shoes.  Yes, he had to overcome the effects of the great physical sacrifice his men had to endure, but he also had to overcome the incredible mental and emotional impact losing almost every engagement his army entered had on both him and his men.  The Continental Army didn’t win many battles—it just won some key ones.  No shoes, no money, no food, not many winning battles—and he still sold his men on sticking around and fighting.  I’m proud to be a salesman with him as an example.

In fact, I’m proud to be a salesman who can look on these great sellers—and many, many more like them—as examples and mentors.  Just like my McCord and Dunn lineage, I have a professional family tree that anchors me in time and space that fills me with pride and a sense of honor.  I don’t need some stuffy university to tell me that selling is important (although at long last many schools now have sales and sales management as a recognized course of study leading to a degree) or a slick business magazine dedicating a section to sales just as it does to other business disciplines (don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen anytime soon).

I can look back at my sales family tree and recognize the massive changes in society and history that my sales ancestors have brought about.  And I can strive to carry on that tradition. 

Don’t ever think that sales is the red-headed stepchild of business even if many supposed experts, gurus and educators choose to stroke their egos by acting as though it is. It isn’t.  As a matter of fact, it is the foundation of business—and society–that all the other disciplines owe their existence to.  Always remember that you can very comfortably and successfully live without those business schools, professors, gurus, and business magazines–but they could’t exist for a minute without you.

July 22, 2011

Are Your Roadblocks to Success Really Real?

Filed under: attitude,career development,sales,Sales Failure,selling,small business,success — Paul McCord @ 12:10 pm
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Ray is a seller for a software company that I have been working with for a few weeks.  Although he is a strong seller, he wants to develop more effective prospecting strategies so he can bang on the phone a less while increasing his sales.  We’ve been working on increasing the quality and quantity of the referrals he gets from his clients.

We began by reviewing his then current method of trying to get referrals.  It was no surprise that he used the typical, “do a good job and ask for referrals” method.  It was also no surprise to learn that he didn’t get many high quality referrals.  Mostly he just got names and phone numbers of companies that were either poor prospects or not prospects at all.

He did get a referred sale here and there, just enough to keep him asking, but not enough to really make a difference in his production.

He agreed with me when I explained why the “process” he was using to get referrals didn’t work very well.  He recognized all the problems—clients uncomfortable with the request, clients not having time to think about who to refer, clients not knowing who to refer, him feeling uncomfortable asking as he knew he was making his clients uncomfortable by putting them on the spot.

He also agreed with me when I showed him a much more effective and natural way to work with his clients to generate high quality introductions to prospects that he knew he wanted to be introduced to.

We did some role playing.  We made a list of possible introductions he could get from his clients.  We reviewed all the steps he needed to take and all the potential issues and problems that could arise.

Ray was ready to begin talking to some clients and getting some quality introductions.

Off he went—and quickly back he came.

He had gone to talk to a client he had just finished selling and installing the software and training the staff.  The client was a plumbing company.  The software was a package of accounting and payroll modules.

The sale had gone well.  The software was doing exactly what it should.  The client and his staff were happy.

Ray had identified a great prospect who he really wanted his client to introduce him to—another plumbing company in town.  His identified prospect was one Ray had been trying to connect with for months but couldn’t get the owner to take his calls or acknowledge his letters or emails.  He was getting nowhere—but he also believed this was a great prospect for him.

His plumbing client was going to be the key to getting in.

That is until he went to see his client.

When Ray was visiting with his client, he thought about all the reasons his client wouldn’t give him an introduction to the other plumber—that other plumber was a competitor after all and that other plumber was bigger than Ray’s client; why would the client want to give the competitor anything that would help them?  In addition, Ray knew that his client was bidding on a big project and that other plumbing company was probably bidding on it too.  There were just too many reasons for his client to turn him down, Ray reasoned.

Knowing that he was off to get his first introduction commitment, I called Ray that afternoon to get a report.  I was dismayed with what I heard.

Why again, I asked, did Ray believe his client knew the other plumber and were friends?

Because there was a picture in the client’s office of the client and the other plumber each holding a huge Bass and were both smiling and obviously comparing them.

Ah, I reminded him, they really were friends.

Anything else?

Yes, Ray said, his client used to work for the other plumber.  In fact, they still do some jobs together where the other plumber will sub-contract Ray’s client when needed.

Ah, they’re friends and they work closely together.  In fact, Ray’s client makes money off the other company.  Sounds like cut throat competitors to me.

So why did he determine it would be useless to ask his client for an introduction to the other company?

Well, Ray said, they’re competitors.  Why would his client want to give a competitor an advantage?

What advantage, I asked?  Did his software package improve his client’s quality as a plumber?

Well, no, not really, Ray answered.

Did the package give him an advantage when competing for business?

Sorta, Ray said, in the sense that it made his company more efficient.

Efficient enough to blow his competition out of the water?

No.

If his competition had the same package would it blow Ray’s client out of the water?

No.

So, I asked, what’s the problem?  Give me one good reason why his client wouldn’t recommend to a friend and someone he works closely with something that might help him save time and money if the chances are that that something really isn’t going to hurt him?

Ray couldn’t, of course, come up with a good reason.

He went back, asked for and got the introduction—and eventually a new client

So often when they can’t find them out there naturally, sellers put roadblocks in their way themselves.

Ray was so concerned about getting a negative response that he thought of all kinds of reasons why his client would say ‘no’ instead of why the client would say ‘yes,’ and that predetermined ‘no’ almost cost him a sale.

How about you?  What are the predetermined reasons you can’t pick up the phone and call that great prospect?  What are the predetermined reasons you can’t close that sale?  What are the predetermined reasons you can’t get that job?

Don’t be Ray—don’t defeat yourself before you even try.  A great many of those roadblocks that keep us from success have been put there not by others but by ourselves.  What roadblocks have you created?  Find them and get rid of them.  Life is hard enough without you defeating yourself.

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