Sales Blog for Sales and Sales Management

Old Dogs - I may or may not be talking directly to you if you don't consider yourself an 'old dog'.  I am talking to you if you've adopted the perspective of 'I've been doing this a long time' and you no longer feel the need to learn new 'sales tricks'.

Sales Tricks - this really isn't about sales tricks.  It is about learning why what you do works or it is about remembering why what you do works.

Case in point - do this exercise - connect the nine dots using four lines.  Rules - you can't back track on a line, the lines must be straight and you cannot lift your writing implement off of the paper to start a new line.  (Will provide answer below)

Second case in point hits close to home.  My long time friend and once mentor has written a book with one of his heros, Art Linkletter.  It's called How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life.  I just started reading so I'm not sure what to get out of the book yet, but I did read the introductions by Art and Mark. Mark reminded me why I got into this business 16 years ago and why I need to pull my head out of my butt and stop worrying about getting old and tired.  I'm sure that, if you've been in your business long enough, you know what I'm talking about.  If  you've been in business ten years or less, then your day is coming.  

The most important concept in the introduction is this:  Growing older is not the same as getting old.  Simply put:  Make sure you continue to grow as you age. This one concept caused me to pull my head out, kick myself in the butt and ask myself, 'what the hell have you been thinking?'  My last thought when I finished the introduction was, 'Once again thanks, Mark, for having such a great impact on my life.'

You see, I met Mark several years ago in Cincinnati, and for a time of 3 to 4 years, we stayed in touch and I considered him a mentor.  I was with him driving from Louisville to Cincinnati when he discussed the idea of 'Chicken Soup for the Soul'.  He couldn't get Campbell's Soup to play so he did it on his own, and well, you know the rest of the story.

The rest of my story today is this. Take time to learn new stuff or relearn the old stuff.  Bottom line is to keep yearning, learning and you'll keep earning.

Here is the solution to the puzzle that I'm sure you have seen before but have forgotten.

 

 

 

I work with CEOs that are afraid of what the current economic environment will do to top line sales revenue.  Certainly they can get more creative with expenses, but eventually that will have a negative impact on leveraging  new opportunities.  It doesn't take talent to cut expenses;  it is a math formula.  However, it does take talent and creativity to drive new business sales when markets are like they are today.  That is where we come in.

At Anthony Cole Training Group,  we use an assessment built and constantly perfected by Objective Management Group.  The assessment and the resulting findings provides information about sales strengths, sales weaknesses and sale skills as they relate to 21 core sales competencies.  My question today, and in 2 additional blog posts, will be:  How are you addressing these core competencies in your sales development program (either individually or corporately?)  If you are reading this as a participant of one or our training programs, then this information will have a tone of familiarity, so you will be able to relate to the content.  However, you may have been more recently focused on technique rather than the core issues that may be hindering your sales success.  I encourage you to read these posts and identify how they can be additive to your current program.  If you are not one of our participants, feel free to go to our website and take the sales grader to find out how you are doing against best practices in sales.  Here are the first 7 core competencies:

1. Has written goals: this is where your courage and passion come from. Without written goals you won't have the passion or commitment necessary to ask the tough questions, continue to prospect when the market is tough and to consistently ask for introductions
2. Follows a written goal plan: Often people have goals that are written, but then fail this next critical step - establish a written goal plan. Without a plan your goals lack clarity and therefore the activity required to accomplish your goals is unclear as well. And when the required activities are unclear then they won't get executed.
3. Positive attitude: This isn't about looking through rose colored glasses. This is about keeping your head about you when all those around you are losing theirs. It is easy to get caught up the water cooler talk and the complaining about the company, economy, or what the competition is doing. Ignore the talk and focus on what you have to do to be successful.
4. Take responsibility: Excuses are like opinions - everyone or most everyone has them and, unfortunately in selling, we use them when we fail to accomplish our goals. The easy thing to do is to blame something or someone for our shortcomings. If you've been in sales long enough you know that something is always going to happen to make selling difficult for you, but if you are committed to your own personal goals, then you won't let anything get in the way.
5. Strong self confidence: This is critical to succeed. You certainly can't expect yourself to perform well if you don't feel fully confident in what you are doing, what you are representing and what you are saying to the market. But what drives all of this is how you feel about yourself. You must have the confidence to maintain your ‘posture' when you are faced with difficult selling situations. Keep in mind that external gimmicks and crutches won't support you when things are tough. You must consider yourself a ‘10' and maintain that assessment of yourself no matter what happens in your roles.
6. Supportive beliefs: What you believe dictates what you do. If you believe that the economy is too tough to sell in, then you'll be right and won't sell anything. If you believe that people don't want to talk about spending additional dollars in a tight budget environment, then you will have trouble scheduling appointments. You get the point?
7. Control emotions: You must focus on executing your sales system and be prepared for curve balls, and ‘tough' questions. If you anticipate ‘what can go wrong' then when something does come at you that ordinarily would be considered unusual then you will be prepared to handle the situation. If you haven't thought through your phone call, or sales call or presentation, then you will be vulnerable to surprises. When these surprises happen, instead of continuing to execute without ‘panic', you will ‘choke' and deviate from your tried and true sales methods and approach. The symptoms of losing control of emotions are during review of a meeting your self-dialog contains words and phrases like: "should have, shouldn't have, could have, why didn't I, I can't believe that". These are indicative of losing control of emotions.

The best thing to do is to pick just one of these that seem to be the area where you need the most work.  Tackle that one first.  Not the one that is easy, but the one that will have the most positive dramatic impact on your business.  And if you need me call me @ 513 791 3458.

Last Thursday,  Linda's cousin, Fred Costa, Jr., was laid to rest next to his mom in a cemetery on the west side of Cincinnati;  he was 41.  Fred was running in the NYC Marathon when he collapsed at mile marker 22.  Ironically, or thankfully, there was a picture taken of him as he passed mile marker 20.  His arms were raised, energizer bunny ears on his head and smile on his face.  This was his tenth marathon and his first NYC.  Fred was not a salesman in the traditional sense, but I would find out over a two week period that Fred did indeed sell.

Fred was a teacher by education and a marathoner by decision.  When his mom, Gloria, fell into a coma several years prior, he decided to run for her, becoming a team member for the Leukemia "Team in Training' to fight cancer.  As I was to learn, Fred was everywhere and everyone loved him, respected him and cared for him dearly.  The Saturday after his collapse, the local Team in Training chapter held a fundraiser run in his honor.  The run would be 4.2 miles; the 4.2 miles that Fred never got a chance to run in NYC.  Obviously, he sold himself, his courage, his goals and his commitment to his other team members and members of his small community.

Fred received his masters at Xavier this year and planned to become a ‘sports' administrator.  He loved sports and he wanted to get involved in the management of sporting events like the olympics, super bowls, conference championships, and running events.  It didn't matter.  He just wanted to be part of the sports world.  In the meantime, he was a teacher at the Prince of Peace school located just outside Hyde Park here in Cincinnati.  The day before his burial, the school gathered in his honor and children at the school read stories, poems and dedications about Coach Costa.  Not a dry eye in the house I understand.  Obviously, Coach Costa sold the kids on the idea that they could achieve what they deeply desired to achieve, what they were committed to and to what they would dedicate themselves.

As we would find out, some of his immediate family, as well as most of his extended family, had no idea the reach that Fred had in this community. At the run in his honor, somewhere between 200 and 250 people showed up to run. The event was covered and broadcast by local networks.  At the viewing on Wednesday, you had to wait in line to get into the funeral home.  The viewing lasted from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM. , and on Thursday at church, it was standing room only.  The words spoken by his sisters, one of his teammates in Team in Training, and the priest held the attendance spellbound and silent as they each talked about Fred's contribution to his nieces and nephews, the school and the running community.  None of us had any idea.

For a guy that seemed to be introverted, uneasy in conversation, and seemingly going through life trying to find himself, he sold hundreds of us ,even in his passing, that we were in the midst of a wonderful man whose time on this earth ended way to soon.  Fred, I wish I had known you better. God speed.

Sales lessons come in many disguises.  This one is about hitting sales goals with a ‘no excuse' attitude about doing whatever it takes to execute your required sales activity.

During basketball season when I was in high school, I had to work on our farm on Saturdays from 7:00 AM until basketball practice, which was about 2:00 in the afternoon.  My sister, Tresa, worked with me. We had to build blueberry crates that we used to ship pints of blueberries across the country.  On a normal day, Tresa and I would make about 800 to 1,000 crates.  On a short day, when I had practice, our goal was about 700.

One day, we had a little fight. Tresa got mad, went to the house and told my dad.  He came over to the barn where I was working, reamed me a good one and then, for good measure, told me that if I planned on going to basketball practice that afternoon, I had better plan on still building 700 crates without the help of my sister.  I could have gotten mad at Tresa, but admittedly it was my fault; however, the real issue was that I couldn't miss practice or I wouldn't start in the next game.  So instead of sitting there fuming and playing the blame game and thinking dad was unfair, I started hammering nails into those wooden crates like a machine.

I finished my 700 by 1:30, went to practice and started the game on Tuesday.

You see, it all comes down to what motivates you to do the things you have to do to succeed.  Certainly, my goal wasn't to make the 700 crates.  It was to make practice so I could start and nothing, not even my own stupidity of having a fight with my sister, was going to get in the way.

What have you let get in your way this year?

• 1. Decisions by your company to change pricing, policies or products?
• 2. A competitor going to the low cost provider strategy and doing a land grab?
• 3. The economy blues where you now have an easy excuse not to prospect for new business?
• 4. A sales manager who is taking a bullet for the team by telling the president that she shouldn't expect to hit the sales goals?
• 5. A too understanding spouse who says, ‘that's ok we'll take a nice vacation in 2010?

Whatever the reasons, you have a choice. Buy into the excuse making or ignore it and focus on your commitments.  If you focus on your commitments chances are you'll be the lone ranger because your competition is laying around making excuses, instead of making sales, leaving the market open for you to go and grab.

At the end of the day, all you have is your reputation. Will your reputation be one of an excuse maker or one of a person that fulfills their obligations?  It's your choice.

I landed at the Bradley International Airport outside of Hartford Connecticut when I was 18.  I flew out of there a couple of days ago, 35 years later, after one of our sales training sessions with an insurance company's  salesforce.  I can't believe the changes. Though I didn't remember all the details of the airport, I do remember it being small and unremarkable.  Today it is a bright, vibrant and a much-expanded hub of air transportation; the improvements are mark able.

As I sat there having lunch, I wondered how much I had changed over that same time-period.  Certainly, the physical changes were obvious.  When I was 18, I was there as a recruit to play football for the University of Connecticut.  Today, I'm a 53 year old consultant to companies that are trying to change / improve their sales force, align sales efforts, and build systems and resources that support extra-ordinary sales growth.  Money isn't the measure of everything that happens, but it is one way to keep score and to track how far you have come.  35 years ago, if you had told me that someday I would own a company with 8 employees and generating 2 million dollars a year, I would have thought you were nuts.  My goal at that time was to graduate and become a college football coach.  How did I go from football coach to entrepreneur?   The following list isn't meant to be all inclusive answer to that question, but maybe it will give you some idea of what it takes to change from an average doing ok sales person, to one that is considered extra-ordinary and best in class.

1. Goal setting - you have to establish non-negotiable goals that extend who you are
2. Commitment - you have to demonstrate your commitment with consistent behaviors
3. Persistence - nothing that you want will be easy, you have to persist beyond obstacles
4. Passion - I love what I'm doing. If you don't love what you are doing get out
5. Learning - you can't stop learning. If you do you'll stop earning and growing

Certainly, you can make a living and probably do ok, but is that why you chose professional selling as a career, to be average and ok?  Challenge yourself in the following ways:

1. Set new goals for yourself that are way beyond what you think is possible
2. Commit to write down your goals, share them with others and then execute activities consistent with those goals.
3. Persist - Do not let yourself or others convince you that you are too old, too young or already good enough to take on a challenge of getting better.
4. Re-ignite the passion that you had the first day you started. Think that you have nothing and you have everything to gain and prove. Start over again as if you had to prove something.
5. Read a book at least every other week. Learn something new about yourself, your business and about selling. Expand your knowledge and skill to become best in class.

Again this isn't the end all and you may actually be thinking is it worth the effort?  I can't tell you the answer to that and only once you accepted this challenge will you know your return on investment.

Shawn Johnson wins the gold medal in balance beam!  She gets the picture on the Wheaties Box.  Nastia comes in second - no cereal box contract.  Same as in selling, there isn't a cereal box contract when you come in 2^nd.

Not only isn't there a cereal box contract, but there also isn't:

1. Revenue
2. Margin contribution or profit
3. Commission
4. Increase in market share
5. Improvement in status among your competitors

Don't delude yourself into thinking that 2^nd is ok because it isn't.  Thinking so only lowers your standard for success for your next sales opportunity.  Thinking that ‘at least they know what we can do' is a good thing is anything but; all it demonstrates is that you didn't come to the table to get the deal done.

Coming in second means nothing more than you were the top one to lose the opportunity.   Yes, lessons learned are good, but commissions aren't tied to lessons, and lessons don't become lessons learned if you fail to learn why you didn't get the deal.

This isn't school yard soccer or baseball where parents wipe the noses of crying kids that lose the big game and tell them ‘it's ok, winning isn't everything'.  This is the big leagues where winning does count and it does mean everything.

Therefore, the next time you want to find comfort in doing a good job and working hard, remember the famous line from the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation:

Audrey Griswold:  "he worked really hard grandpa"

Grandpa Art Smith:  "So do washing machines."

     I present all of my material, not counting my disaster in ‘Selling Sure Is Funny' post, standing up.  Often, if given the right environment somewhere in my presentation to sell sales training and development, I will find a way to stand up.  Normally this requires either a flip chart or a white board.  Either one works.

     When you blow out the birthday candles, how do you normally do that, sitting or standing?  I have to believe that our family is representative of most other families and, except for my son, Anthony, who is in a wheelchair, we blow out candles standing up. I'm not sure why.  But it did get me thinking about presentations to close a sale.

     You should present standing up.  It is show time.  After all that time of asking questions and listening, now is the time to demonstrate that you are extra-ordinary.  You are in command.  You are the expert.  You know what to do and you will now divulge to your audience, the prospect, why they should buy from you. 

1. Standing gives you the appearance of confidence.  Do you want to buy from someone with confidence?
2. Standing up is different.  Do you want to be judged just like all the others who present or do you want your prospect to think, ‘well now, this one is different'?
3. By standing up your voice will change to a deeper tone which will grab people's attention.  Do you not love listening to James Earl Jones?
4. Standing up changes your posture in the room.  You will no longer be viewed as a potential vendor but more like someone in authority within their own company.  Is that a good thing?
5. And, if you crash and burn, it's easier to run out the door.

     Call to action:  Prior to your next sales presentation, conduct a dry run of the meeting in front of staff or peers.  Ask them to prepare for the meeting as if they were the prospect.  And make sure that, as part of this dry run, you strategically plan when you will stand, why you will stand and what impact that you are hoping to achieve as a result.

     If you truly want to be different and have a significant impact while presenting, stand for what you believe in:  yourself, your product and your company.

 

You want to become ‘sales buff?'  If yes, then you have to make sure you understand what it takes to be buff and what happens if you are buffalo.

If you exercise at all, or if you've seen someone that really works out a lot, then you know the term ‘buff'.  To get buff you have to constantly improve in at least three areas:  your food intake, your cardio vascular fitness and your muscular definition.  You work on those three items and you end up with those well defined muscles .

Click here to find out if you are buff or buffalo in your professional sales career.

I attended my Mom and Dad's memorial service in May.  Today I want to talk about Dad.  When I returned home, I had with me a box of some of my Dad's earthly possessions. He wasn't a wealthy man in material things, but quite a rich man when it came to friends and people that he touched in many ways.  He was as they say ‘old school'.  He believed in the flag, honor, hard work, love, God, and providing for his family the best that he could.  He was a high school drop out, but a man of great intellect and knowledge, not taught in traditional school systems.  In my world of developing and assessing sales people, my guess is that Dad would have been a superstar, and he would have had a long career.  This is what he knew how to do:

• Work hard - he told me time and time again - when all else fails, hard work works.
• Develop relationships - Dad didn't just have people that he met, he had friends. He had life long friends, as was evidenced by the number of people that I had never met who attended his memorial service. And the testimonials I heard validated that Dad was constantly meeting new people and making new relationships.
• Get to the point - Dad could sort through the BS in a hurry and he would call someone on it the moment he heard it or sensed it. He didn't have much tolerance for those who tried to snowball him. With Dad, you told him the truth up front and once you had his trust, only you could lose it and once lost, it was very hard to regain.
• He knew how to communicate what he wanted, and what it was going to take to make the relationship work. He was honored as a man that kept his word, promised a lot and delivered more.
• He was committed to his work, his fun and his family. Day in and day out my Dad did everything possible to succeed and achieve the objectives of the farm that we grew up on. He provided the best possible lifestyle for our family, even putting himself in debt to do so, and made sure that we had moments of complete and fulfilling joy through hunting, fishing and being outdoors.
• His passion for excellence was legendary (not always so pleasant an experience when something wasn't done to his expectations)
• Never made excuses. Rain was not a reason for not getting crops in the barn. It was never too early, too late, too dark or too hot. You worked until the work was done and not a minute before.

As I think about my dad and these qualities,  I'd say that he would have been a fine salesman and a great sales leader.  If you think about his ‘old school' qualities, I think you'll agree that they would serve you well today.

Selling to sell is a formula for failure. Selling is fun, and if you are good at it, it can be financially rewarding. However, you must have good reasons to sell if you truly want to have fun and be financially rewarded. There are billboards in Cincinnati that state: "Some people think nursing is a job, they don't work at Childrens' Hospital."

If you approach selling as a job, you might want to consider another job that pays you well and doesn't require that you deal with rejection, get paid on performance, and is subject to the many whims of today's consumer. If, on the other hand, you pursuit sales because you have a passion for successfully accomplishing personal goals, or because you are committed to doing everything possible to help others achieve what they dream about achieving, then you have a chance to really be successful at selling.

Selling requires passion, commitment, and a strong sense of responsibility to yourself, your family, your community and, most importantly, a strong moral obligation to do the right thing for the prospect/client, even when it makes them and you uncomfortable. If you don't have these elements, if you don't have this sense of responsibility, if you are not willing to accept full responsibility to everything that happens, good or bad, then selling isn't your cup of tea. Go find a job.