Sales and Sales Management Blog

October 20, 2009

Guest Article: “Listen to What Your Prospect is Saying to You,” by Wendy Weiss

Filed under: Communication,prospecting,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 9:28 am
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Listen to What Your Prospect is Saying to You
by Wendy Weiss

I just hung up the telephone after an annoying conversation with someone who called to inquire if I would be interested in a joint venture. You see, yesterday I had received an email from Jane, the marketing director, describing their program and asking if I would be interested in promoting the program to my list. I took a look at their web site and it looked like they could have something of value to offer. While the program Jane wrote about in her email did not seem like a great fit, I am interested in finding joint venture partners that would add value for my subscribers, so I replied to the email:

“Hello Jane,

“Thank you for your email.

“I am not sure that we have an ideal fit for my list with this program, however I am looking for joint venture partners to work with.

“My list is entrepreneurs, business owners, sales professionals, service professionals and network marketers. I currently have 9600+ subscribers.”

We agreed via email to have a telephone conversation.

At the beginning of our conversation, I reiterated that I was not sure that their current program was right for my list. However, I was interested in finding potential joint venture partners. I asked what other types of programs they offered.

Jane responded by asking me about the market that I serve. Since I’d already given her that information in my email (”my list is entrepreneurs, business owners, sales professionals, service professionals and network marketers”), that was a bad first question. I pointed out to her that she already had that information.

Next, Jane began to give me details of their program offering. I let her talk for a minute or so, then said, “Jane, I just told you that I did not think this program is a fit for my list and asked you about other programs you plan to offer in the future. Why are you telling me about this program? It’s not a fit.”

She then offered to tell me about their principal, Mr. X, and his background and credentials. As I never promote any programs or products to my list unless I am familiar with them, I agreed to hear her out. Jane told me that, “Mr. X was a renowned and award-winning author and expert in his field. He had helped thousands of business owners with his unique and amazing programs…” I interrupted the hype and told her I didn’t see a fit, but I thanked her for her time. End of conversation.

So, what are our lessons learned today?

Jane sounded “on script.” That is, she’d been given a script, and a hypey one at that, and she was hell-bent on delivering it no matter what. She paid no attention to the information in my email, hence her first bad question. She didn’t listen to or question me when I told her that I was not interested in the program she was promoting but wanted to talk about other possibilities. She could have asked me, “What types of programs are you looking for?” or “What types of programs would be of value to your list?” Unfortunately, she did not.

While I am a true believer in scripting, that is not the way to use a script. While you always want to craft your presentation so that you are prepared, you also must listen to what your prospect says to you. Sometimes, despite all of your preparation, you may not have exactly the right script. Occasionally, you will come across a prospect who asks questions or offers objections that you have never before encountered, so you don’t have an ideal way to deal with them. Even so, you need to respond to your prospect appropriately. If you ignore their questions or statements (the way Jane did), you will end up with a prospect who is seriously annoyed (as I was).

If you encounter a question or an objection that you have never before heard, listen to your prospect and respond to what they are saying to the best of your ability. You may not be perfect, but that’s ok. After you hang up, write down exactly what your prospect said to stump you so that you don’t forget it. If you thought you had a good response, then write that down too so that you don’t forget it. Otherwise, go looking for better responses. Talk to your manager, colleagues, coach, read books, attend teleseminars or seminars – do what you need to do so that you don’t ever get stumped by that particular question or objection again.

You must pay attention to what your prospect says to you. In the above instance, if this was the only program that Mr. X produces, and the only program that Jane was interested in promoting, then I was not a qualified prospect for them. I very clearly told Jane in my email that, “I am not sure that we have an ideal fit for my list with this program…”  If she had nothing else to offer me, she should have responded to my email, told me that was their only program and thanked me for my interest. She would have saved us both time and aggravation.

Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™, is an author, speaker, sales trainer, and sales coach. She is recognized as one of the leading authorities on lead generation, cold calling and new business development and she helps clients speed up their sales cycle, reach more prospects directly and generate more sales revenue. Her clients include Avon Products, ADP, Sprint and thousands of entrepreneurs throughout the country.  Visit her website

September 29, 2009

Questions, Objections, or Dead Ends?

Filed under: Client Relationships,cold calling,Communication,sales,Sales Failure,selling — Paul McCord @ 10:22 am
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How do you handle cold calls when you get them at home or the office?  Although I haven’t bought anything from anyone who initiated their contact with me through a cold call in years and years, I accept almost every cold call that comes into my office.  No, I have no intention of purchasing whatever the product or service they are selling is, but I’m curious to find out how the seller on the phone is going to try to gain my attention and what they will do with it once they have it.

One of the things I’ve noticed is how many sellers seem to be unable to distinguish between a question, an objection, and a statement ending the conversation.

My observation from dealing with hundreds of sellers on the phone—and please don’t assume this is a cold caller issue alone as a great many sellers make these mistakes whether on the phone or in-person although they seem to be more prevalent in phone conversations—is they cannot distinguish between a straightforward question about their product or service, an objection to purchasing, and a direct statement ending the conversation.

This doesn’t mean that all sellers handle these situations in the same manner, but there does seem to be two primary schools of thought—two primary reactions—in how to deal with questions, objections, and conversation ending statements.

The “OK, I’m outta here” school:  The first method of handling these situations seems to be to simply fold up the selling tent and end the sales interview immediately upon getting what is perceived to be any resistance what-so-ever. 

Ask a couple of honest questions about the product or service and the seller seems to become discouraged and simply gives up.  State an objection to purchasing and they are ready to get off the phone.  Make a direct statement indicating you want to end the conversation and they can’t get off the phone fast enough.

They do not differentiate between probing questions to discover more information about their offering, an objection to making a purchase that could possibly be dealt with, and a desire to end the sales interview.  To them, they all indicate resistance and resistance means “no sale.”

The “I can’t hear you” school:  The opposite method of handling these situations is to also treat them all the same, but this time instead of rolling over and giving up, the seller presses on, ignoring the questions, ignoring the statements, forcing the prospect to either acquiesce to the sale or to finally hang up on the caller.

These are the sellers who have been trained that a ‘no’ never means no.  An objection is something to be ignored because it is nothing but a delaying tactic.  A statement seeking to end the conversation is nothing but an objection and objections are to be ignored because they are nothing but delaying tactics.  If you’re a really a good salesperson, you ‘lead’ the prospect to make the decision that is right for them, which is, of course, to make the purchase.

Why are these sellers so oblivious to the obvious differences between a question an objection and a desire to end the conversation?  Why do some see everything as resistance and others never see resistance?

Certainly, a great deal of this has to do with the sales training—or lack thereof—these sellers have received. 

Those who give up easily have probably had little or no sales training.  Product training, maybe; but I doubt they’ve had much training in how to sell.

Those who push forward no matter what have been trained very well—trained to ignore, to push, to bully, to demand until the prospect either buys or finds a way to end the conversation which probably means resorting to cussing out the seller or hanging up on them.  These sellers have been taught well in the sense that their trainers have instilled the desired behavior in them, but they certainly haven’t been taught to be professional sellers.

I think both of these groups of sellers suffer from more than just their training or lack thereof.  I think there are a number of sellers that suffer from a serious lack of communication skills.  They don’t listen.  They can’t assimilate what the prospect is communicating.  They really don’t know how to respond to what they perceive to be unwelcome or unexpected responses. Their focus is only on getting the sale which means for some what they say is the only thing of importance, what the prospect says is nothing but a distraction; while for others once they’ve made their case, they have nowhere else to go.

Communication has always been at the heart of selling and is becoming ever more critical as our prospects have more and more alternatives to acquire the information and guidance they need to analyze their problems and issues and to develop solutions to those problems and issues.  Our prospects now have as much information at their fingertips as we sellers can ever provide them.  An increasing number are deciding they don’t need a salesperson at all—ever.

If we sellers want to be relevant to prospects, we better learn the communication skills that have always been one of the hallmarks of the top sellers.

August 31, 2009

Questions are the Answer

Filed under: Communication,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 9:42 am
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“Everyone says to ask questions but how do I discover my prospect’s needs or problems without sounding like I’m interrogating her?”  I hear some version of that question on a regular basis.  The idea that questions are the key to uncovering opportunities is well established but many sellers have difficulty in applying the principle and some question whether questions are even the appropriate technique.

In a short article such as this we can’t delve into the topic of questioning in depth but we can address the basic issue of the overall role of questions as a tool in the needs analysis phase of a sale. (If you’d really like some in-depth discussion of questions in selling I’d refer you to Secrets of Question Based Selling by Thomas Freese, OPEN Question Selling by Jeff and Val Gee, or Questions that Sell by Paul Cherry.)

Even if we’ve done extensive research and believe we have uncovered an issue or a problem that our prospect may or may not know about but that they need to address, we have to speak with our prospects to discover what their needs and issues are; how important those issues, problems or needs are to them; and whether or not they are interested in investing time and money in solving the issue.

The above is the “needs analysis” phase of qualifying a prospect.  We can’t sell if there’s no need or want of our product or service.  Consequently, we either have to discover or create a need or want for what we sell.

That’s where questioning comes in.  For many sellers, that’s where the worry about sounding like a CIA interrogator comes in.  How can we use questions to discover needs or problems without making our prospect feel that if they don’t answer correctly we’ll pull out the rubber hose?

We’ve all been taught the difference between closed-end and open-ended questions. We’ve been given instructions on when to use which type question.  Some trainers have given us formulas; others have given us specific questions to ask.

It’s these detailed guidelines that seem to get many sellers in trouble–that gets their questions to resemble Gestapo tactics rather than a discussion with a prospect.

So how do you use questions without intimidating or badgering? 

The answer is actually quite simple—don’t interrogate your prospects.  Instead of trying to figure out whether to ask an open-end or closed-end question here or which specific question to ask now, just ask the natural questions you’d ask your friends if you were trying to understand their problems.

Certainly there are different uses for different types of questions.  Certainly there are times when an open-ended question will be more productive than asking a close-ended question.  But ultimately, the goal isn’t to ask the correct question type but to communicate with your prospect. 

Communication is an art.  We all can and need to improve our communication skills. 

That being said, I’ve found that if I am sincerely interested in understanding my prospect’s needs, my questions come naturally. They’re the same questions—delivered in the same tone of voice—I’d ask a friend or my spouse if I were trying to understand their situation, and those questions and that tone of voice is hardly that of an interrogator.

Rather than being perceived as an unwanted interrogation, my questions are viewed as a sincere desire to understand, to communicate, to help.  Rather than putting my prospect on the defensive, my questions usually cause the prospect to willingly open up more. 

If you find you’re uncomfortable with using questions for fear that you’re putting your prospect on the defensive or you’re coming across as a prosecutor cross-examining an unwilling witness, don’t give up on using questions because questions are the answer to understanding your prospect’s needs and how you can help; instead, give up on trying to use formulas or control the conversation and simply approach your prospect as a friend who has a problem you want to understand.  Ask the natural questions that come to mind and you’ll find your prospect will not only open up more easily, they will be more open to listening when it’s your turn to offer a solution.

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July 15, 2009

Boost Your Sales: “Sales Presentations: Those Butterflies Can Fly In Formation,” by Jonathan Farrington

Filed under: Communication,marketing,Presentation Skills,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 7:02 am
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Sales Presentations: Those Butterflies Can Fly In Formation
by Jonathan Farrington

All professional salespeople have to be involved in a presentation at some time in their sales career, but when it comes to the enthusiasm that sales professionals have for making a presentation, they broadly fall into four categories:

The Avoider: An Avoider does everything possible to escape from having to stand in front of an audience.

The Register: A Register is also extremely hesitant of speaking in public. They may not be able to avoid speaking as part of their job, but they never encourage it.

The Acceptor: The Acceptor will give presentations as part of the job, but does not seek opportunities to do so.

The Seeker: A Seeker actively looks for opportunities to speak. They understand that anxiety can be a stimulant that fuels enthusiasm during a presentation.

Becoming a Seeker is a prerequisite for sales success! So, how do we get those butterflies flying in formation?

The first thing to remember is that anxiety and nerves mean you are alive — and without them, your resulting presentation would be like you: dead!

What you need to do is learn to control your anxiety and use it to fuel your enthusiasm.

Identifying Fears

To control your anxiety, you must identify what it is that you are afraid of. Is it forgetting your lines? Is it the audience size? Once you have established what exactly you are afraid of, and then establish whether or not you can control it.

Imagine you are the captain of an airliner. Do you fear flying? Of course not (although you may fear crashing), because you are in complete control of not only the aircraft, but also the crew and the passengers.

You have a flight plan, and before you take off, you know the payload, weather conditions for the flight, arrival time, departure time, etc. However, what is most significant is that you are familiar with flying, and you are comfortable with all of that responsibility, because you have flown so many times before and you know virtually everything there is to know about that aircraft.

Therein lies the secret: The more presentations we deliver, the more accomplished we become. However, we must know what we are talking about — we must know our subject matter inside out. Otherwise our audience will find us out.

Let’s consider the areas that you can control:

Your audience: After all, you invited them.

Your material: You designed it.

Your resources: You chose to utilize them.

Yourself: You’re no puppet.

If there are any areas you’ve identified that you can’t control, forget them — it’ll probably never happen.

Controlling Nerves and Reducing Anxiety

Organize: Give yourself plenty of time to prepare; know what is going to happen and when. Take the time to rehearse your presentation, preferably with someone you know well. Get them to offer you objective and constructive criticism.

Visualize: Get into the habit of visualizing how the presentation will go; that way, the environment will feel familiar even if it’s your first time. Imagine the end of your presentation and your audience smiling with appreciation.

Make notes: Make bullet-point notes on individual postcards to prompt you (not lengthy scripts). You may not need them, but they will give you that “comfort zone.” Do remember to number them, though, just in case you accidentally shuffle them.

Relaxation: Before your presentation, take some time for yourself to relax, breathe deeply, go out into the fresh air, and clear your head. Do not allow your mind to mentally rehearse the entire presentation, because you need simply to concentrate on your opening lines. Once you have successfully navigated your way through the first couple of minutes, you will begin to relax. A strong opening is crucial.

Warming up: Clear your throat, practice your smile and drink some water to ensure you are hydrated, etc.

Dress appropriately and check your posture: If you look the part, everyone will assume you know what you are talking about anyway!

Become mobile: It will keep your audience awake.

Use eye contact and smile: They can’t fail to pay attention.

And finally — practice, practice, practice! With time and experience, even the most timid presentation-avoider can become an avid seeker.

Jonathan Farrington is a globally recognised business coach, mentor, author and consultant. He is the CEO of Top Sales Associates, Chairman of The Sales Corporation and Managing Partner of The JF Consultancy, all based in London & Paris. You can read his hugely popular daily blog here

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Jonathan has very graciously offered his Professional Presentations e-book as a gift to the Boost Your Sales readers.  Click on the link, download the ebook, learn, and start giving great presentations.

July 14, 2009

Boost Your Sales: “Sales Presentations–Nine Ways to Jazz Them Up,” by Jim Meisenheimer

Filed under: Client Relationships,Presentation Skills,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 10:17 am
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Sales Presentations—Nine Ways to Jazz Them Up
by Jim Meisenheimer

Most salespeople are strong conversationalists when sitting down and talking with customers. When asked to deliver a presentation standing up, the dynamics can change dramatically for you if you’re not prepared. You can easily make every stand-up presentation a conversation with your audience, regardless of size. Here’s how.

The two most memorable parts of a stand-up presentation are the beginning and the end. The four easiest and most powerful ways to begin and end your presentations include:

1. Start with an exciting quotation that you can link to your presentation.

2. Begin your presentation with a compelling statement. Seven years ago, I gave a sales presentation titled, The 12 Best Ways To Increase Sales, Earn More Money, And Have More Fun. I began my presentation with, “There’s not a single thing I can do for you today, to show you how to increase sales, earn more money, and have more fun. Not one thing ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to share 12 creative ideas with you today.”

3. Start your sales presentation with a rhetorical question that creates a transition into your presentation.

4. One of the best audience grabbers is to start your sales presentation with a short story. Beginning your presentation with a success story that involves someone in your audience is even more powerful.

The next time you’re preparing how to begin and how to end one of your sales presentations consider one of these proven approaches.

Now, here are nine ways to jazz up your stand-up presentation skills. These nine tips will take your public speaking skills to a new level. Here they are:

1. Always prepare and rehearse the first 25 words and the last 25 words of every presentation. Practice your spontaneity until it sounds spontaneous.

2. Start with your expectations. Tell them specifically what the take-aways will be early in your presentation.

3. Never read your presentation. Never. No exceptions. It’s the quickest way put your audience to sleep.

4. Show that you’re alive by being animated. Remember it’s easier to be yourself than trying to impersonate someone else.

5. Pay attention to your hands. Nothing will make you look more awkward than unnatural hand movements.

6. Keep slides to a minimum. They should emphasize and reinforce your key points – not tell your entire story.

7. Use large type, so everyone in the room can clearly see what’s on the screen. Darken the screen as often as you can. You want the audience looking at you – not at the screen.

To darken the screen hit the letter “B” on the keyboard. Hit the letter “B” again to turn the screen on.

8. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Actually, mistakes make you human. Have fun, sharpen your sense of humor, and be sure to tell stories. Your stories are the quickest way for your audience to connect with you.

9. After every presentation ask yourself, “How can I do it better next time?” Then next time, be sure you do it better.

Take it from someone who gives a lot of sales presentations, and had to overcome a fear of public speaking, these nine suggestions really work.

Adopt these as your own and I’ll bet your next stand-up presentation will stand-out!

Jim Meisenheimer publishes The No-Brainer Selling Tips Newsletter, a fresh and high content newsletter dedicated to helping you grow your business and multiply your income. Use this link to sign-up for Jim’s F-R-E-E The Start Selling More Newsletter and to get your copy of his Special Report titled, “The 12 Dumbest Things Salespeople Do.” http://www.startsellingmore.com

June 2, 2009

Boost Your Sales Series: “Are You Losing Them at Hello?” by Jill Konrath

Filed under: cold calling,Communication,prospecting,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 5:51 am
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We welcome Jill Konrath as our guest expert today.  If you use the phone to generate business, don’t miss this article–and take what Jill says to heart.  It will garner you more business.

Tomorrow Trish Bertuzzi is up with “Prospecting Baseball.”

This summer you’ll be exposedto 52 of the top sales and management experts in the world addressing issues that can immediately change you or your sales team’s success.

Come back every weekday–or better yet, save the Sales and Sales Management Blog in your RSS Reader.

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Are You Losing Them at Hello?
By Jill Konrath

In the movie Jerry Maguire, when Tom Cruise is in the midst of his proposal to Dorothy, she stops him with, “You had me at hello.” Every seller dreams of hearing those exact same words when they approach corporate decision makers.

Unfortunately, the opposite usually occurs. Instead of capturing their prospect’s attention, most sellers create resistance with their opening remarks and blow the opportunity.

                    Why do bad things like that happen to good people?
                    In short, weak value propositions.

If you’re running into trouble cracking into corporate accounts, most likely the root cause is your failure to clearly articulate the business outcomes that customers realize from using your products, services or solutions.

A couple weeks ago, I did a new exercise while training a group of sellers. In small groups, they rated common value propositions that sellers could use when prospecting for new customers.

Using a 1-10 (tops) scale, they evaluated value propositions such as these on their effectiveness in initiating change from the status quo: 

____    We offer one-stop shopping for all your (fill in the blank) needs.

____    We’re the industry leader in (fill in the blank) and have been recognized for our exceptional (fill in the blank).

____    We specialize in (fill in the blank) and work with well-known clients such as Microsoft, Best Buy and Kraft.

After serious discussion amongst the sellers, these value propositions received scores between 4-6. Their rationale? They were nice benefit statements about the company, but not quite as punchy as they could have been.

Since my book, Selling to Big Companies, was required reading prior to the session, I assumed these sellers would ace this exercise. Not so! In fact, they were way off.

                         The truth is that all the above value propositions really deserve a
                         score of one.  Not four. Not six. Just a measly score of one.

“C’mon, Jill,” you might be saying. “How can that be? They’re not horrible statements. They’re nice.”

Yes, they are nice. I’ll give you that. But they’re grossly ineffective and that’s why they rated so poorly.

Capturing the Decision Maker’s Attention
While those commonly used value propositions listed above might be important at some point in the decision process, they’re totally and utterly worthless when prospecting.

When it comes to capturing a decision maker’s attention, here’s what you need to think about:

  • Strong value propositions pique curiosity and entice. When prospects hear them, they want to learn more.
  • Strong value propositions create a stark contrast from the status quo. When prospects hear them, they’re willing to consider making a change.

Consider this: If you were on the other end of the phone and a seller called with this message, what would your impression be?

                          “Eric. Jill Konrath calling from Selling to Big Companies. We offer one-
                           stop shopping for all your sales training needs – everything from lead
                          generation to closing. We use state-of-the-art methodologies to
                          ensure our training sticks.”

Does it entice you? Not one iota. Does it get you to consider switching sales training vendors? Not likely. Does it make you want to invest lots of money that’s currently allocated elsewhere? Not on your life.

Statements about your company and what it does are NOT value propositions. Period. They are not value propositions.

                                   If you want to get decision makers “at hello”, you need to clearly
                                   articulate the results the customers can expect from using your
                                   product, service or solution. That’s results, spelled R-E-S-U-L-T-S.

For example, a few months ago I trained the national accounts team of a well-known media company. All sellers identified one large corporate client with whom they wanted to set up a meeting.

                                   As a result of the workshop, 87% of the sales force landed an 
                                   appointment with their targeted account.

Those outcomes are unheard of in my business. Virtually every Vice President of Sales will want to learn more.

That’s the power of a strong value proposition. Even decision makers who weren’t considering a change will think it’s worth their time to find out about the sellers offering.

If you really want to “get them at hello,” then make sure you:

Talk results.
Decision makers don’t care about your products or services. They only care about the results they’ll see. Stress that and you’ll catch their attention. Omit those results and you’ve lost them.

Get real.
Refer to actual client successes and include measures or statistics. Success stories from other companies in their industry are especially compelling. By giving specific examples, you really pique their curiosity.

Test your message.
After you’ve planned what to say, ask, “If I were the decision maker, would this message entice me? Would it make me want to spend an hour of my valuable time with this person?”

If your answer isn’t a resounding yes, rework and revise your message till it is enticing. Don’t leave it to chance. Don’t hope that it will work. Your job is to make it so compelling that your decision makers “get it at hello.”

 

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts and win big contracts. She’s a popular speaker at annual sales meetings, professional conferences and industry events.

For more articles like this, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com. Sign up for the newsletter and get a BONUS Sales Call Planning Guide.

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
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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

September 26, 2008

Bailout, It’s Just a 7 Letter Word–Or Is It?

Filed under: business,Communication,Economy,marketing,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 7:25 am
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Your daughter has grossly overextended herself.  Her credit cards, mortgage and car payments alone are three times her monthly take home pay.  Up until now she’s been able to rob from one to cover the other, but it’s now caught up with her.  She comes to you to confess her excesses and ask for help.

As a parent, you have options.  You can, of course, send her on her way to suffer the consequences of her behavior and out of control spending, knowing it will take years of work and self-denial for her to right herself.

You could just take out your checkbook and start writing checks-her bailout, if you will, knowing the likelihood of ever getting repaid is virtually zero.

Another alternative would be to work with her and her creditors to see if you could negotiate either reduced payments which you will make or a greatly reduced payoff-which you will immediately write a check to the creditor for, again expecting little or no repayment from your daughter, but at least giving her the opportunity to start over.

But you also have another alternative.  You could go to her creditors and let them know that you’re going to stand behind your daughter, but you’re not going to pay off her debts.  Instead, she’ll take her monthly income and make every payment she can and you’ll step in and make those payments she can’t.  You’ll only take up the slack in her cash flow and for only as long as necessary.  She’ll still be on a beans and cornbread diet for years, but her creditors will be paid, her credit history will be intact.

As her parent, which would you choose?

Now, turn it around.  You are no longer her parent; you’re one of the credit card companies who extended her credit.  Which option do you prefer?  I’d assume you’d like to see her parent take option number two-just pay the debt off.  You know you have a debtor who is going to default if something isn’t done.  You don’t want to negotiate a payoff unless you absolutely must because that is going to cost you money.  Even though her parent has promised to underwrite her payments, they have no legal obligation-they could change their mind.  Besides, since you have a great many other credit card holders in the same situation, you really want your money now, not later.

Although simplistic, these are the basic options congress is debating to ‘resolve’ the financial markets mess.  Do we simply take the bad debt, do we try to negotiate it down to the bare bones, or do we underwrite it?  I certainly recognize there’s more to it than this, and not being an economist, I’m not trying to argue for one or the other, or to explain the intricacies of the options.  But the language used to present the plans holds an important lesson for us in sales.

Certainly, Wall Street has made their preference known-take the bad debt.  Buy their paper at as close to face value as possible, saving their balance sheet, allowing them to go back, in essence, to business as usual.

That, of course, isn’t going to happen.  The Paulson/Bernanke proposal is akin to the third choice, negotiating a greatly reduced payoff-with a twist.  As a parent, you would want to negotiate the lowest possible payoff of your daughter’s debt.  You’d want to get out as cheaply as possible.  The twist in the Treasury plan is to hold a ‘discovery auction’ to determine the current fair market value of those debts.  That is the price at which they would be bought-maybe higher, maybe lower than the lowest possible negotiated payoff.  And unlike you when you payoff your daughter’s debt, the Treasury has an asset they would hope to be able to sell at some point in the future and get at least some of the money back.

The Paulson/Bernanke proposal isn’t a straight bailout, although unfortunately for them, it has been presented in the news that way and the major spokesperson for the plan, Paulson, has even used that term on occasion in the past.  Furthermore, the plan’s goal isn’t to save Wall Street companies but to free up the credit markets-to make it possible and attractive for companies to lend money to both business and consumer.  Without access to credit, the rest of the economy will collapse.

Because of how the plan has been reported in the news media, many people view the plan as simply paying off the daughter’s debt, making the creditor whole while draining the parent’s (taxpayers) bank account.  That’s a misperception based on the language used-and used by some of those involved in constructing and presenting the plan.

Bailout.  It’s just a small 7 letter word, one that everyone knows the meaning of.  Synonyms are ‘help,’ ‘escape,’ and ‘rescue.’   Many people are thinking in terms of ‘escape,’ as in Wall Street companies escaping the consequences of their bad investments and those coming to the ‘rescue’ having to payoff that bad debt in return for—-nothing.

Words are more than simply a collection of letters.  They have both positive and negative meanings-and positive and negative connotations.  Bailout, at least in this context, has the most negative meaning and connotation possible for many taxpayers.  Paulson and others have allowed the term to become attached to the plan, even on occasion using the term themselves, thus positioning the plan in the worst possible light.

As salespeople and marketers, we should take careful note of how just one little 7 letter word can completely change the perception of our presentation.

September 17, 2008

Hearing and Seeing is Believing? Hardly.

Filed under: business,Client Relationships,Communication,marketing,sales,selling,small business,trust — Paul McCord @ 6:06 am
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Communication is at the core of what we as salespeople do.  We have to find a prospect and then communicate who we are, what we do, how we can help them solve their problems or meet their wants and needs, and we have to do so in a manner that builds confidence, trust, and respect.

This should be a rational process-communicating factual information; demonstrating our trustworthiness by what we do, what we say, and the advice and guidance we provide the prospect; and putting the good of the prospect first.

As a rational process, we should be able to use logic, facts, and figures.  Our trustworthiness should shine through based the actions our prospect sees.  Our desire to seek what’s best for the prospect should be easily discernable based on the quality of our guidance and recommendations.

If only it were that easy.

Many of us make a critical mistake when we assume that our prospect hears what we’re saying and sees what we’re doing.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.  Prospects see and hear what they want to see and hear.

Nothing demonstrates this more clearly than the current presidential campaign.  There are hundreds of examples of people hearing and seeing what they want to hear and see, not what is actually being said or done.

Although I go on all day with examples, let me give a couple of examples, one from each campaign:

Pigs and Lipstick.  Everyone has seen the clip of Obama discussing the policies of John McCain during a campaign stop where he stated that you could put lipstick on McCain’s (i.e, Bush’s) policies and you’d still have a pig.

Within context it is obvious that Obama wasn’t speaking about Sara Palin.  He was speaking about the policies of John McCain.  But the reactions to this statement are very interesting.

The reactions of the Obama supporters at the event were the exact opposite of what Obama intended by the statement.  They began to laugh uproariously as soon as the word lipstick comes out of Obama’s mouth.  They immediately thought the statement was going to be an attack on Palin–because that’s what they wanted to hear.  They didn’t hear what Obama said; they heard what they wanted to hear.

Likewise, many of those opposed to Obama heard the same thing-an attack on Palin that didn’t exist-again, because that’s what they wanted to hear.

McCain and Economics. McCain has had the same issue arise with his comment that he wasn’t as well versed in economics as some other areas.  He never said he didn’t know anything about economics, he said he didn’t know as much about economics as he did other areas.

As with the Obama statement, the video clip makes it very evident the meaning of his words.

Many who oppose him didn’t hear his statement.  What they heard was that he doesn’t know anything about economics-again, they heard what they wanted to hear.

In both of the above instances there are those who honestly misunderstood the comments.  There are certainly others who intentionally misunderstand them and have twisted them for their own use.

Both men sought to communicate in a relatively straightforward manner.  McCain made a simple assertion that he didn’t know as much about economics as other subjects.  Obama used a common expression that at one time or another most all of us have used.

It can be argued that both men’s speech was ill conceived.  McCain should have known admitting he wasn’t as well versed in economics as other areas would open him up to criticism.  Obama’s use of the lipstick on a pig expression was ill timed due to Palin’s joke at the Republican convention.

But McCain and Obama are trying to communicate with other humans-and doing so with thousands of words everyday.  As such, each will find words coming out their mouths that are less than optimal to advance their respective causes.  Although both have speech writers, both must speak extemporaneously-and that can be dangerous ground for a presidential candidate–or a salesperson.

Each must take great care to phrase their statements precisely, to insure their statements are placed within a context that fully explains them and insulates them from being misunderstood.

We face the same obstacles Obama and McCain face.  We have prospects who hear what they want to hear, not what we say, who see what they want to see, not what we do.

“But,” you say, “they’re dealing in politics where listeners have pre-conceived ideas and agendas.  I’m selling copiers.”

That’s precisely the point.  Our prospects and clients also have pre-conceived ideas.  They also have agendas.  They also hear what they want to hear, see what they want to see.

Just as with McCain and Obama, we must be vigilant in our discussions with prospects and clients.  Fortunately, our job is easier.  McCain and Obama must understand and appeal to their immediate audience while formulating their words for a much larger audience that is present only via the eye of the camera and the microphone of the recorder.

That being said, we, like them, must be intimately tuned into our audience.  We must understand our prospect’s pre-conceived ideas and agendas if we want our words and our actions to communicate what we want to communicate, not what they want to hear or see.

August 26, 2008

Guest Article: “How To Be An Effective Communicator,” by Nido Qubein

Filed under: Communication,Leadership,marketing,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 6:18 am
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How To Be An Effective Communicator
by Nido Qubein

A young man whom I had known since he was in high school stopped by to see me and proudly display his new MBA.

“I know a master’s degree alone doesn’t guarantee success,” he said. “What do you think is the most important quality for someone who wants to become a business leader?”

I answered without hesitation: The ability to communicate.

Individuals who communicate effectively with people at all levels, of both genders, and from a variety of cultures and backgrounds are today’s pacesetters.

In the old-style hierarchical, authoritarian setting, communication is relatively simple. The top person tells the underlings to jump, and the underlings need only ask, “How high?”

In a modern organization, communication requires more finesse. The leader is not a transmitter of commands but a creator of motivational environments.

The workers are not robots responding to switches and levers, but thinking individuals pouring their ingenuity into the corporate purpose.

The corporate ideal is not mechanical stability, but dynamic, innovative, continuous change.

The leader who can’t communicate can’t create the conditions that motivate. The genius who can’t communicate is intellectually impotent. The organization that can’t communicate can’t change, and the corporation that can’t change is dead.

The good news is that anyone can become an effective communicator. The door to effective communication will open to anyone who uses these five keys:

(1) Desire.

Human infants have an inborn desire to communicate, and that desire enables them to pick up words quickly and to enlarge their vocabularies continuously.

That same kind of desire can enable you to enlarge your stock of words and improve your skill in employing them. Demosthenes, the Greek orator, had a desire to achieve eloquence after he was hissed and booed off the platform in Athens.

He cultivated the art of speech writing, then went to the shores of the Aegean Sea, where he strengthened his voice by shouting into the wind for hours at a time.

To improve his diction, he practiced speaking with pebbles in his mouth. To overcome his fear, he practiced with a sword hanging over his head. To clarify his presentation, he studied the techniques of the masters.

Today, more than 2,000 years later, the name Demosthenes is synonymous with oratorical eloquence.

(2) Understanding the Process.

Reduced to basics, communication consists of sending and receiving messages.

Language is the primary conveyer of thoughts and ideas. It turns abstract concepts into words that symbolize those thoughts. Those words take the form of spoken sounds or written symbols.

If the mind can immediately translate the sounds and symbols into mental pictures, communication becomes much more vivid and much more meaningful. If I say “I want a desk for my office,” my listener has only a vague and general idea of what I want. If I say “I want a brown walnut desk,” the listener has a more vivid mental picture.

The more skillful you become at conveying images, the more effective your communication will be.

(3) Master the basic skills.

Some people think the first requisite for good communication is an exhaustive vocabulary. Some people think it’s impossible to communicate well without first absorbing a heavy dose of grammar, then memorizing a dictionary of English usage.

Words are important. Good grammar is important. And yes, it helps to know which words and expressions are considered standard and which are considered substandard among educated people.

But slavish allegiance to the rules of grammar can actually impede communication. People will sometimes go to great lengths to avoid usage that somebody has pronounced “ungrammatical” or “substandard.” In the process, they forget the most important rule of communication: Make it clear and understandable.

The vocabulary you use in every-day speech has probably served you well. You use the words that you understand. Chances are, they’re the words your friends, colleagues and employees understand.

If you try to use words beyond the vocabularies of the people you’re trying to communicate with, you’re not communicating; you’re showing off.

Read the Gettysburgh Address, the Sermon on the Mount or Robert Frost’s poetry. The communications that endure are written in plain, simple language.

(4) Practice

I remember a story that gave me inspiration. A young musician had listened with awe as a piano virtuoso poured all his love and all his skill into a complex selection of great compositions.

“It must be great to have all the practicing behind you and be able to sit down and play like that,” he said.

“Oh,” said the master musician, “I still practice eight hours every day.”

“But why?” asked the astounded young man. “You’re already so good!”

“I want to become superb,” replied the older man.

I teach communication skills to thousands of people each year, through seminars, audio tapes, videotapes and books. Most of the people I reach are content to become good. Few are willing to invest the extra effort to become superb.

To become superb, you have to practice. It isn’t enough to know what it takes to connect with people, to influence their behavior, to create a motivational environment for them, to help them to identify with your message. The techniques of communication have to become part of your daily activity, so that they are as natural to you as swimming is to a duck. The more you practice these techniques, the easier you’ll find it to connect with people, whether you’re dealing with individuals one-on-one or with a group of thousands.

(5) Patience

Nobody becomes a polished, professional communicator on the first try. It takes patience. A few years ago, William White, a journalism and English instructor, edited a book of early writings by Ernest Hemingway. The young Hemingway was a reporter for a Toronto newspaper, and this book was a collection of his articles written between 1920 and 1924.

The writing was good, but it was not superb. It gave a faint foregleam of the masterful storyteller who would emerge in The Old Man and the Sea, but it wasn’t the Hemingway of literary legend.

What was lacking?

Experience. The genius was there all along, but it needed to incubate. The sands of time can abrade or polish. It depends on whether you use your time purposely or let it pass haphazardly.

Acquiring skill as a communicator requires constant, careful, loving attention to the craft.

The cub reporter didn’t transform himself into a successful novelist through one blinding flash of literary insight. Like most people, he progressed from the “good” to the “superb” through hundreds of tiny improvements from day to day.

You can use the five keys to effective communication in many settings, under a variety of circumstances. You can be a virtuoso at inspiring your work force, at negotiating business deals, at marketing your products and at building a positive corporate image. All these are important communication skills. But always remember: Whatever communication task you undertake, your objective is to connect with people.

Nido Qubein is president of High Point University, an accredited undergraduate and graduate institution with 3,000 students from 50 countries and 44 states. He has written numerous books and recorded scores of audio and video learning programs including a bestseller on effective communication published by Nightingale-Conant and Berkley. Qubein’s business savvy led him to help start a bank in 1986 and today he serves on the board and executive committee of a Fortune 500 financial corporation with 115 billion-dollars in assets and 25,000 employees. He is also chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company with 218 stores in 42 states. He serves on the boards of several national organizations including the La-Z-Boy Corporation, one of the world’s largest and most recognized furniture retailers. Learn more about Nido Qubein at www.nidoqubein.com

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