Sales Blog for Sales and Sales Management

 

During a recent sales meeting that I was in, the sales reps began describing the current status of their sales opportunities. One of the reps, John, decided to tell the group about a deal that he had just 'closed'.

Now, before I finish that story, I must tell you this one.

Last Tuesday, I was talking to my friend, Whitey K., about the trip my wife and I had taken through the Florida Keys.  As part of that discussion, I related to Whitey my tarpon fishing story.

Me: We hired a guide and went tarpon fishing.
Whitey:  Catch anything?
Me: As a matter of fact, I caught a 5 foot, 125 pound tarpon.
Whitey: What was that like?
Me:  It took 20 minutes to 'leader the fish' and I was thinking "this isn't so tough."  Our captain, Captain Dan, said, 'You're not done yet. It'll be at least another ten minutes before you get that fish in the boat."  Just then, the fish took off 300 feet of line and made a couple of big jumps out of the water.  I immediately started trying to reel back in all the line I had just lost.
Whitey:  So how long did it take?
Me:  35 minutes and at least 20 trips around the boat! I nearly fell into the water but I finally got the fish back to the boat.
Whitey: That's cool! Did you get a picture?
Me:  Uhmm, not really.
Whitey: How come? Didn't you have a camera?
Me: No, we had a camera. I, uh, we, uh... never really got the fish in the boat. You see,  tarpons are catch and release.  They're not good to eat. They're considered a sport fish and so it's catch and release.
Whitey: So you got it close to the boat and the captain held it to get a picture and take the hook out?
Me: No, not really. You see, what happened is that I finally got the fish next to the boat and Captain Dan reached for it once but couldn't quite reach it. Then just as we were getting it along side of the boat the second time, it jumped out of the water, snapped its head, broke the line and got away.
Whitey: Then how do you know it was 5 feet long? 
Me:  We were estimating. 
Whitey: And because you didn't get it in the boat, you couldn't weigh it.
Me:  Uhm, that's right.
Whitey: (one full minute of uncontrollable laughter...)
Me: What are you laughing at?
Whitey:  Let me make sure I have this right.  You didn't get the fish in the boat, you didn't measure it, you didn't weigh it and you don't have any pictures.
Me: Uh, yeah, that's about right.  (I start to laugh.)
Whitey:  Well, now that is some fish story!

Now, going back to the first story without going into all the details, here is a summary of John's 'closed deal'.

  - They really liked the presentation.
  - They really liked us.
  - They are certain that, unless the current provider comes in with an
     unexpected great deal, we will get the business.
  - The prospect will certainly recommend that the company go with us.
  - If we show them a contract for 15 months instead of 18 months, that
     would be great.
  - They are going to check with one more reference, but they don't 
    anticipate a problem.
  - I'm supposed to call them next week for final details and to schedule a time
    to get the contract signed.
  - The deal, if sold, is a million dollar sale.
  - The deal, if sold, is supposed to transact on August 1, 2010.
  - No deposit.
  - No contract signed
  - Supposed to talk next week.
  - The decision maker wasn't in the room.

I don't know about you, but to me, this sounds like one heck of a "fish story!"

               *************************************** 

Are you landing your "fish" and closing the deals? Click here for a FREE checklist to help you qualify your prospects and "reel them in"!!

 

In our sales training classes, we spend a great deal of time on the appropriate "attitude" required to be successful in selling. With the right attitude, you can count on consistently executing the required conduct and sales techniques to be successful.  I once heard another sales development expert explain that "sales technique is just a change in language.  You already have a sales language; it just may not be as effective as it could be."  (If you want additional information on "attitude", you can find more posts in our blogs.) 

Today, and for the next 4 days, I am going to focus on 5 really important sales concepts.  You can also call them "techniques" but sometimes problems occur when someone tries to duplicate the exact technique that a trainer uses.  For example, if your facilitator is from the northeast part of a country where the communication style is a little more direct, faster paced and some would describe as "aggressive", but you are a mid-westerner, then you may find yourself failing to bond well with prospects, not because of what you have said, but more because of how you said it.  So, for that reason, we'll focus on the concepts and let you develop your technique. However, with that in mind, don't let your "record collection" or "need for approval" get in the way of executing the concepts. (There I go again- back to attitude)

Today's lesson:  Be unique.

You have your elevator speech, your 15-second commercial, your value proposition, your positioning statement, etc.  It doesn't matter what you call it.  The concept is this:  Have a concise way to describe to someone what you do when you first meet him or her.  Here's the problem.  Everyone in selling has been taught the elevator speech, the 15 second commercial, the value proposition and the positioning statement, etc.  You know it's supposed to describe what you do: 

"I help companies like yours manage their insurance risk." 

"I sell customized clothing to busy executives."

"I own a CPA and tax consulting practice specializing in the needs of companies that generate between 5 and 10 million dollars in revenue".

Sound familiar?  That's the problem.  There is nothing unique about the approach from any one of these statements. Here's the rule about the concept:

What you say should cause the person with whom you are talking to respond either verbally or mentally in one of three ways.  You have to give the prospect a compelling reason to keep listening. When you deliver whatever it is, they should respond with either:

1. "That's me".
2. "How do you do that?"
3. "Tell me more."

Examples:

Insurance:  "I provide people buckets of money in the right amount, at the right cost and at the right time." (How do you do that?)

Banking:  "My clients are companies that discovered that working with a bank should be more than just a place to get money or leave money." (Tell me more.)

Accounting:  "I'm in the business of helping small businesses that are sick and tired of sending the government more money and keeping less." (That's me!)

The idea is to think about what people or companies have chosen to do business with you or your company or why they buy the product and service that they have bought from you. What problem was it that they wanted to go away or solve?  Or what benefit were they looking for that they weren't getting?  Take that information and create your "unique sales approach" (usa).

The technique:  Before you deliver your "usa", you may want to start by telling the person that you are talking to that it is easier to describe what you do by asking a couple of questions. "In a nut shell, what I do is...(deliver your usa)" and close by asking, "May I ask you a question?"

By the way, I work with presidents and CEOs that have at least 10 sales people, generate more than 10 million dollars a year in revenue and want more consistent and predictable sales revenue growth.  If you know anyone that might say, "that's me", send them my way.

Thanks in advance.

Ok, so we are almost through the first month of the New Year; what have you done for yourself lately in sales? Did you move your rocks? Did you do your "to do's"? Did you do what you intend to do?

Over the years, I've discovered that when sales people tell me that they have prospecting on their "to do" list, what they really are saying is that they ‘intend' to prospect.

When sales people tell me that they are going to call a prospect and get a decision, they do call and they intend on getting a decision, but they really aren't committed to the intention.

Finally, when sales people tell me that this is the year that they are going to self manage themselves to extraordinary performance , what they are really telling me is that they are going to get ready to get ready and not move any rocks that are consistent with successful selling.

As harsh as this may seem, I would ask you:  Does this look or sound anything like you've done in the past? If so, then join me and the multitudes of others that struggle with prioritizing their time so that the rocks get moved, the "to do's" get done and the intentions get ignored.  Let me tell you that I will be the first in line this year to correct this problem, because I may be one of the biggest offenders.

Don't get me wrong, I get my work done, but too many times I find myself behind the eight ball and running short on shots when it comes time to completing what I stated I would.

Perfect example: last Tuesday, prospecting was on my rock list.  When did I get to it?  Friday at 2:30; I had success.  I scheduled three appointments and moved the rocks a little further up the hill. But what would I have done if an emergency, a real one, had shown up on Friday?  I would have put myself in a position to make the lame excuse - "I had an emergency and couldn't get it done".  The reality was that I put other stuff first on Tuesday and made myself vulnerable to failure on Friday.

Lesson #1 - Be a slave to the schedule.

Lesson #2 - Rocks are rocks - these are non-negotiable objectives of your business.  When you state something as a rock, then nothing short of an absolute catastrophe gets in the way.

Lessons #3 - "To do" lists are for the most part horse pucks.  How do I know?  Because the stuff on the list doesn't get done.  Make sure you clearly identify "to do" from intention.

Lesson #4 - Intentions are just that, things you intend "to do" and would be nice "to do" and might bring you some self satisfaction, but in reality, have nothing "to do", with moving rocks.  Chances are, if you never do what you intend "to do", your world doesn't change as much as doing your "to do" list.

Lesson #5 - You will continue to screw this up unless you find a way to hold yourself to high standards of accountability.  I am holding huddles with my staff weekly and my COO and co-owner every week to make sure the rocks get moved and the "to do's" get done.

This was one of my "to do's" today, it's done, gotta go.

If you do nothing else fun today, do this: Click this link, men's brain, and get ready to laugh.  When the email was sent to me, the subject line read, "This explains it all".  I don't know if it explains it all, but it explains a lot.  And, as usual, I take something that I read, hear or watch and translate it to sales or sales skills, selling or something to do with sales development.

So, once you see the video, you will understand where I'm going with this; but if you choose not to, the gist of the message is that men and women's brains operate differently.  Mark Gungor, the speaker in the video, describes this in terms of ‘boxes'.  Men have boxes and women have wires.  This where they think from, act from and make decisions from.  (You really need to watch the video.)

So, now I'm in my ‘thinking-about-my-blog-post' box and I've come up with ‘sales' boxes.  I'll start with just these three and see where we go from there.  These three boxes represent what we call in our sales training program "The 3 Habits of Highly Successful Sales People".

Box 1:  Relationships.  This is the box that all sales people must have.  If you don't, then chances are you will always struggle with your ability to drive new business from new people or companies.  Best practices suggest that you, as a sales professional, should spend somewhere between 25% and 33% of your time in this box developing new business

Box 2:  Qualifying.  This is the box where selling really takes place. You will notice that if we talk about a ‘closing' box, it will be a very small box.  The qualifying box is the box that requires your best skills in maintaining rapport, asking questions and listening.  You must also develop a child- like curiosity and your favorite words and or phrases while in this box must be:  Why, and, tell me more, how long, what happens if, when you, I don't suppose, suppose we could, do you want to fix...  This is a box that you must spend time in mastering these skills as well as executing these skills.

Box 3:  Decisions.  This is a box that you should have lined with wallpaper that looks like money because this is where you get paid.  Until someone makes a decision and you get paid for your work, you will find yourself in another box called ‘unachieved personal goals'.  Most, if not all, of your goals require freedom: freedom of time and freedom to choose.  Both of those freedoms normally require that you have cash flow or financial independents.  You must understand that when you are in this box, you must not leave easily.  Do not let people get you out of this box by telling you that they want to think it over, crunch some numbers or compare.  No, this is a box that you have to make sure you are committed to staying in once you are in there with a prospect presenting a solution.  They may want to leave this box and go to their ‘think it over' box.  That is not an option you should let them have.

I find that I can stay in my blog box for about 15 to 20 minutes as I share my thoughts with you.  After that, I have another box calling me.  It's Box 1.

I am confident that there are many ways to stop a conversation dead in its tracks, especially when you are trying to sell someone, qualify someone, or motivate someone to buy your product, service or idea.  I was listening to David Kurlan of Objective Management Group the other day.  He was conducting a live webinar on the most effective way to reach prospects.  In his presentation, he discussed five words that are critical to successful phone solicitation:

1. Hi (north of the Mason Dixon line)
2. Hey (south of the Mason Dixon line)
3. It's (rather than this is)
4. Bob (or rather your name if it isn't Bob) or, Bob Smith (Both your first and last name)
5. Carol (or rather the prospects first name if it isn't Carol)

This got me thinking about 5 words or phrases that will stop a conversation.  Again, I know there must be more than five, so when you read this please comment on this posting, let us know the rest of the show-stopping, sales-busting words or phrases that you can think of.

1. No or no I can't
2. You are wrong
3. That isn't possible
4. I agree but
5. What I would like to do

Any one of these comments on their own will cause your audience to immediately shut down.  Once that happens, you might as well forget about selling anything to anyone, at least in the immediate near future.  Instead you might want to consider:

1. What might work is...
2. I'm not sure I see your perspective; I think I heard you say...
3. Nothing is impossible, so this might be hard to...
4. I agree, given your previous position and ...
5. It may not make sense, but what has worked for others is to ...

Nothing is guaranteed, so I won't stake my life on these responses. I will tell you that when I've realized my poor judgment in words, and learned that I need a better way to say what I'm thinking and feeling, then I normally get better results. 

Let me know your thoughts.

A good friend and I were on the golf course in Nashville, Tennessee working a booth at the General Agents and Managers Association conference (A life Insurance Group - GAMA) being held at Opryland.    The meeting was over and we decided that before we headed back to Cincinnati, we should swing the clubs at Gaylord Springs Golf Links.  We were the only ones on the course that day, as it was a bit chilly and a bit rainy, but not cold or wet enough to keep us from playing. We finished the front nine and as we looked at the 10^th fairway we planned our strategy.  We both agreed that the best strategy was to keep the ball left; we certainly didn't want to go right as that would put our ball out of bounds and possibly in the Cumberland River that ran adjacent to the fairway.

I approached my ball, took a nice easy swing (yea right), and proceeded to land the ball in the river.  Whitey took his turn after having a good chuckle at my expense and proceeded to put his in the river as well.  We picked up our bags, and as we headed down the fairway to play our third shots he turned to me and said, "That execution thing is way over-rated.  It is all about the strategy."

Obviously, he was joking, but many people look at strategy as what drives success.  Without strategy you have nothing.   Well to quote, or semi-quote, General Patton, "I'd rather have an average plan executed today than a perfect plan executed tomorrow", now that I can agree with.

Too many people spend time getting ready to get ready.  They take way too much time planning their strategy waiting to get their ducks in a row.  Well I can tell you having grown up in and around farms in the early part of my life that ducks don't line up all that easy, and they certainly don't line up and go where you want to them to go.  You try and push them or guide them one way or another and you'll have ducks all over the yard.  But if you lead them with some incentive - food - they will line up and follow you.  So the key is to know is the secret to execution.  The ‘one' thing that will get you started. Don't wait on all the right things to line up or show up.  You'll find yourself sitting around looking at great strategy without any results.

My idea of a good plan is a plan that gets executed and gets you the results that you are looking for.  It could be as simple as a one card business plan that you keep in your pocket, or it could be as complicated as a business plan associated with a large financial institution.  It really doesn't matter.  What does matter is your plan of execution.

The PLAN of execution is what takes courage.  It is determines if, in fact, your strategic plan or business plan is really going to get executed.  I cannot begin to tell you how many strategic or business plans that I've read that had very little in the way of ‘this is what we will execute'.  Most plans have a

• Marketing strategy
• A budget
• A sales plan

Rarely do I see and execution plan.  You know, that information that tells us exactly what the sales person is going to do day in and day out.   How they will track their activities and how they will eventually report their success or failure to execute.  And, there is hardly ever any mention of consequences of process or discipline identified if a sales person fails to execute.

Why?  Well there can be a couple of reasons: lack of understanding, lack of coaching, lack of introduction to an effective business plan.  But ultimately the problem is lack of courage; the courage to put yourself out there on the skinny branches and announce to the world ‘this is what I will do'.  Not what I want to do or think I will do but what I will do.

It takes courage to clearly identify those activities that you will execute and to tie those activities to standards of execution.  Most people shy from that type of accountability.  They fear failure or success.  They hide behind the tried and true defense of ‘that is micro-managing'. 

You want more success? You want your sales people to have more success then make sure that there is a plan of execution in place with the strategy.

Too many times salespeople fail to close business simply because they didn't muster the courage required in the beginning of the sales cycle - when they were prospecting.  Instead of calling at the top of the organization or as Anthony Parinello describes this person "VITO - Very Important Top Officer" the timid sales person calls somewhere below that level where the only qualifying capabilities of the HR director or Risk Manager is to say ‘no'.

You want to close more business more quickly at higher margins do the following:

1. Always call at the level where the person as the authority to say yes to your proposal. Even if you get shifted down to another level you can always get back to your initial contact
2. In those situations where you do your best to call at the top and can't get there, but the prospect is on your top ten list, then make sure your inside coach will get you to the decision maker before presenting
3. When preparing for your closing meeting make sure you always - ALWAYS - send an ‘as we agreed to letter', follow the letter with a phone call and then, before you present to the decision maker, review everything discussed so far, the purpose of the meeting (make a decision) and close your review by asking, ‘what's changed'.

For more great information on calling on the right people follow this link to Dave Kurlan's blog: sales development blog.

The blues have it. It was a fight well fought; now it's time to go to work.  The reds don't have it.  It was also a fight well fought; now it's time to go to work.  You won a sale, a fight well fought; now go sell something else.  You lost an opportunity, a fight well fought; now go sell something else.

You see the message is always the same.  The outcome is the outcome.  If you win, celebrate, congratulate yourself and those that helped you win and move on; there is work to do.  Leverage the momentum and keep moving. When you win, now it's time to execute on the win.  You have to fulfill the promise. There isn't any entitlement.  There isn't any gloating over the opponent that lost.  There isn't time to waste thinking about how now you've got it made.  In the movie The Candidate, Robert Redford wins his election bid.  His question when it was all done?  What do we do now?

When you lose an opportunity, the most important thing to think is SW³N.

• Some Will
• Some Won't
• So What
• Next

There isn't time or value in a pity party.  Do a quick debrief and get on with the next activity in your life - prospecting for someone else to pitch.  That is the name of the sales game.  We keep track of wins and losses because that is how we measure our success, our development and our effectiveness.  We need to know how well we stack up against ourselves because that is what we can control.  We cannot control what a competitor says or does, and try as you may, you can't control whether a prospect decides to buy from you or not.  So move on!

Executing your strategy, your activities and your business plan is what matters day in and day out.  You look at the sales results to help you determine if you are on track to hit your personal goals, but you really can't control how the prospects ‘vote'.  So move on - execute.  Stay the course, deliver the message, ask people for their business, get a decision and move on.

Isn't there an element of relief now that the decision has been made?  Certainly, there is, and the same holds true in the sales business.  Things will always get better once the decision is made because now you can move on and execute.  Waiting around for the prospect to say yes is a tiresome exercise, and in the meantime, you fail to execute those items that bring you ultimate success.

If you won - congratulations - Let's all move on.

If you lost - congratulations - you probably learned something, you can cross something off your list and now you are free to move on.  So move on, go sell.

 

It is Election Day and arguably the single most important Presidential Election of our lifetime. In the spirit of making decisions that make a difference, here are 5 decisions to make that will impact your sales success:

 

1.  to have clear and extra-ordinary goals. There is something inspiring about having goals and making them extra-ordinary. As Walt Disney said, ‘dream the big dream, there is nothing in small dreams that stir the blood.'
2.  to be a leader within your peer group and be the dominate player in your market. Too many times I hear, ‘we are not the dominate player in our market'. So, what does that have to do with you deciding that you will be the dominant player in your market place? All of you have the product selection, the support and the resources to be the dominant player. Vote for yourself to be that kind of player.
3.  to get decisions from prospects. In other words, get them to vote. Today you can't go to the polls and say, ‘let me think about it'. No, all the thinking has been done. Today you take action and decision making takes place. You can do the same thing with prospects. Ask them to do all of their thinking before you show up so that they are armed with questions, you are prepared to answer them and when done, people can decide. Yes or no is ok, but vote.
4.  for prospecting. You have to understand that you can't get people to choose you unless you are out their campaigning for yourself. Establish your brand by getting into the market. Let people know who you are even if you don't get the appointment. If you call them and let them know who you are the first time, then the second call gets easier.
5.  to qualify who you will work with. Not everyone is someone that fits your vision, mission and goals. Not everyone in the market place qualifies to pick you as someone they want to work with or represent them. You can't approach the market place hoping that you can serve all the people all of the time, it just isn't going to happen. Decide who you are best suited to represent and then do that to the best of your ability.

Thanks for listening to my stump speech today.  Go VOTE!

Effective and successful selling requires excellent technique.  One must excel at asking questions and listening.  One must have skill at telling stories and using metaphors and analogies to make a point,  Certainly, one must be expert at dealing with stalls, questions and objections; however, what drives a sales person's ability to execute these techniques and skills will be hard to find in a traditional sales training setting from traditional sales trainers.  As Curly said in the movie City Slickers:  "One thing, just one thing, you stick to that and the rest...

The one thing that drives consistent execution in sales is courage.  In our sales training classes, we talk about commitment, desire, outlook and taking responsibility.  Those components help drive courage.  If you think about each one of those, you would soon discover that they are not very trainable.  As a salesperson, that is what you have to bring to the dance if you want to get good at dancing, or in this case selling;  I can't teach it here and I don't try to teach courage in my sessions.  What I can do is give you some insight as to what having courage can and will do.  In the end, what matters the most about any discussion around courage is:  Start.  Just start.

1. Start by making the decision that courage has to be part of your make up and that you will be courageous in your thinking, decisions and activities. Become a warrior for what you stand for and what you want to achieve
2. Start by identifying what is it that you really want out of being a sales professional. Did you get into this business to be average? Would you rather be extra-ordinary? Then start thinking that way.
3. Start by stopping. What I mean is decide what you will stop doing. This too takes courage because often we do things because they make us comfortable instead of difficult and uncomfortable sales activities that make us money. Not that you stop providing great service, but do you have to do that? Get your need for approval met by selling to more people, more quickly at higher margins. You'll receive all the reward and recognition that you need.
4. Start by leading others instead of standing in line with those willing to just get along. Don't buy into the bad economy or poor product excuses and stop hanging around the water cooler talking about company decisions. Start taking responsibility for your results and start being the leader on the leader board.
5. Start having fierce conversations. Read the book by Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations. She will tell you that the first fierce conversation is with yourself. Once you get your head straight and get honest with yourself, commit yourself to have fierce and tough discussions with others. Not in-your-face aggressive or mean discussions, just tough discussions about what is or isn't happening, and what has to happen to move a sale forward or to stop where you are.

 

                Courage, as they say, comes in a can.  I CAN.