THE SALES BLOG

What are you waiting for?

I often hear salespeople say that they are "waiting" for some event to occur before they call their prospect. Most of the time the event that they are waiting for is the passage of time. They say things like "I am waiting to call them in August," or  "I am waiting to call them next quarter."

Many salespeople believe that their prospect recognizes that they have allowed time to pass, and, as such, now has an improved opinion of the salesperson for having waited before re-approaching the prospect. This is especially true when the prospect has requested that the salesperson call at some time in the future. Nothing could be further from the truth (in most cases, the prospect doesn't even remember being called).

Waiting is not a sales activity.

The main reason that salespeople decide to wait is simply that they don't have another way to create value for the prospect. Our challenge as sales professionals is to generate interest in our product or service, and that is easier to do if you can create value for the prospect. "Waiting" does in fact create value for the prospect . . . they have one fewer salesperson calling them. But waiting does not create real value for either the client or for your company.

What can you do to create value for your prospect now? What kind of sales activities can you add to your arsenal of tools that generate value for your prospects and generate interest in you and your company? If you don't have tools and techniques that create both value and interest, you need to go create them.

What are you waiting for?

Top 100 Sales Blogs

Happy to be included on this list of the top 100 blogs to increase your sales skills at www.constructionmanagementdegree.org.

Sales Blog Makes Top 15 Sales Blogger and Twitter User List

Thanks to Tom Blue at BTS 411 for including me in the list of Top 15 Sales Bloggers and Twitter Users. I am pleased to be included on the list with such a great group of people who think and write about sales.

The Sales Success Ladder: Two - Optimism

Optimism is a forward-looking, hopeful approach that is helpful for anyone's general well-being. But it is a foundational success skill for sales people.

Imagine a job in which you are required to go create value for your company by acquiring new customers, as well as creating value for these prospective customers by providing them with your company's products or services. Imagine leading and managing that value creation process. That sounds super cool, I know. 

But what if all of the best customers you could potentially acquire already had a provider of your product or services? What if, instead of greeting you and your offerings with open arms, your first response from these prospective customers was, more frequently than not, a resounding "No." What if I added the additional duty of continuing to call and develop these prospective customers even when the chance for acquiring some of them was relatively low (and in some cases, the chance was effectively non-existent)?

Would you pick up the phone and dial the next prospect if you believed it wouldn't make a difference? Would you again (and again) call the prospect that has already told you no so many times that you have lost count?

A sales person has to believe.

They have to believe that they can make a difference. They have to believe that the next call will be the call that moves the sale forward. They have to believe that, eventually, something will change for the prospective client and that that change will result in a sale. They have to believe that they can create enough value to change the prospect's mind.

I once heard the great Harvey Mackay tell a story about his first job in sales. Frustrated with all of the rejection he was receiving from prospects, he asked an old, grizzled sales vet when the vet would stop calling on a prospect. The old vet replied: "Which one of us dies first?"

A salesperson has to be optimistic; they cannot behave or succeed otherwise. They have to believe they can win, against even the longest of odds. And those sales people that succeed go out and compete filled with optimism and knowing they will, eventually, win.

Oftentimes, it isn't easy to remain optimistic. To do so sometimes requires some hard-headed self-discipline.

Afterword

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The Sales Success Ladder Intro

The Sales Success Ladder: One - Self Discipline

The Sales Success Ladder: One - Self Discipline

The foundational attribute or skill necessary to succeed in any endeavor is self-discipline, and this is doubly true of sales. Self-discipline is the ability to keep the promises one makes to one's self. It is impossible to keep one's promises to others if you can't keep the promises you make to yourself; in actuality, the promises you make to others really are promises you make to yourself. 

I chose the image of a ringing alarm clock for this attribute or skill because it demonstrates self-discipline. The alarm clock is a useful metaphor for the commitment to rise early and get busy doing what needs to be done to succeed. Do you need to workout to be your best? Do you need to read something relevant to your work? Do you need to research your calls? Do you need to turn the television off and focus on self-development? When the alarm goes off, do you hit the snooze button or do you hit the ground running?

As to discipline and sales, I have witnessed the magic of disciplined sales people succeeding because of their discipline alone, despite having no natural sales attributes or abilities.They made their prospecting calls every day. They made their sales calls every day. They did what needed to be done every day without fail. Some of them were horrible sales people when in front of the prospect  But, they were always in front of the prospect. They produced week after week; singles, doubles, and the occasional home run.

I have also had the displeasure of watching (and managing) sales people with massive natural talent fail only because they lacked self-discipline. Despite the ability to gain rapport instantly, being exceedingly attractive, and being able to discover ways to create value for prospects, they lacked the discipline to sit down and make their prospecting calls. They missed their activity quota every week. The were rarely in front of prospects. You know some of these reps; they have such great ability to sell, they sell their way into keeping their jobs despite abysmal performance (for awhile, anyway). 

So, how do you develop self-discipline? The easy answer is you make commitments to yourself and  keeping those commitments. Start by writing your commitments down, and then taking action to keep those commitments, no matter how large or how small.Your success depends upon it!

Afterword

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The Sales Success Ladder Intro

The Sales Success Ladder: Introduction

There are 20 foundational attributes and/or skills that a B2B sales person must possess in order to succeed. I think of these attributes and skills as a ladder, each one being a prerequisite to those that follow. To climb the ladder, you have to focus on each attribute or skill until you have enough mastery that you can climb a step higher (but even as you climb, you will need the supporting steps).

The first ten of these attributes are required to succeed in any endeavor, and they are absolutely necessary before a sales person has any chance of succeeding in sales. The next ten are attributes that a B2B sales person must have in order to succeed.

The artwork accompanying this series was provided by my friend and visual facilitator from South Africa, Roy Blumenthal. After this series is published here, it will be published as an e-book with Roy's artistic interpretation.

Weekend Reading for May 1st, 2009

I have always been a fan of Ben Stein, particularly his biographical writings and his personal development books. His piece in this week's New York Times is wonderful! If you wonder how some of us stay optimistic and retain the ability to sell through the economic downturn, this piece will stop your wondering:

Ben Stein in the New York Times: The Sales Profession: Attention Must Still Be Paid

The Money Quote I:

Sales — when done right — is more than a job. It is an art. It is a high-wire act. It is, as Arthur Miller immortally said, being out there “on a smile and a shoe shine.” It is learning the product you are selling, learning it so well that you can describe it while doing a pirouette of smiles for the customer and talking about the latest football scores. It is knowing human nature so well that you can align the attributes of your product or service cleanly with the needs and wants of your customers.

At its best, selling is taking a doubt and turning it, jujitsu style, into a powerful push. Selling is making the customer feel better about spending money — or investing it — than he would have felt by keeping his wallet zipped.

I have special memories of people who have sold brilliantly.

The Money Quote II:

Lawyers and doctors and dentists and politicians and accountants and actors — all of us sell something, every day and every time we meet someone. For me, it all goes back to Shoe Giant, 47 years ago, and I wish that every 17-year-old I know could have that experience. It takes some ability at sales to believe in your own future, no matter what that future may be.

We are, all of us, in sales in some way or another. Which brings me to my second submission for this weekend by Social Media expert Chris Brogan (who, by the way, is about the most helpful and approachable person you will find on the Internet - and you will have no trouble finding him). 

Chris Brogan on The Sales Marketing Organization

The Money Quote:

Not social media. Not marketing. Not even PR. I wanted to start from the mindset of this: “what if every aspect of our efforts was dedicated to helping people sell?” On the other angle, “what if every aspect of our efforts was dedicated to helping customers buy?”

I submit that Chris's business helps customers buy when he helps people sell more effectively; it's two sides of the same coin.

This calls to mind my favorite Drucker quote: "Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two--and only two--basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business."

Why isn't every part of your business considered part of sales and marketing? Why isn't every part of the business aligned around the idea that the everyone is involved in creating customers? What can you do to change it?

Afterword

Please share your comments by posting below. Per The Sales Blog's Comments Policy, please make them brief, civil and relevant to this post.

Read More:

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #6 Make a List of Dream Clients

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #5 Have a Presence

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #4 Love a Good Fight

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: # 3 Differentiate

100 Ways to Succed in Sales: #2 Use Every Method of Prospecting

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #1 Prospect Daily

There is no right or wrong, only effective and ineffective

Last week I posted on my admitted agnosticism as to sales processes. Process becomes a problem when it turns in to right and wrong. What happens when we start to divide activities in to right and wrong,is that we cut ourselves off from possibilities. Or worse still, we believe there are no possibilities to explore or discover. Great discoveries occur when someone goes off the map.

What if, instead of looking at sales as a linear process, we looked at is an option-rich, creative  endeavor with many paths that might, if successfully pursued, lead us to the outcome we desire? 

Instead of thinking of things in term of right and wrong, let's start thinking of things as effective and ineffective, leaving open the possibility that what is effective in one case might be ineffective in another. Equally what is ineffective in one case might be effective in another. Why not keep all of the options available? It isn't going to be linear, and it isn't going to be a straight line (just like sales).

Instead of thinking of actions as right and wrong, what if we thought of these actions as effective and ineffective? How would this change the way we approach our prospective customers? Would it lead to new options that might allow us to advance the sale more quickly or more effectively?

Will you need to upgrade your skill sets as a sales professional to pull this off? You bet you will.

Afterword

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Why I am Sales Process Agnostic (and you should be too)

Weekend Reading for April 25th, 2009

As the recession drags on interminably, we sales professionals need to consider when we might expect a recovery and what that recovery might look like. Then, we must act accordingly.

David Wessel in the Wall Street Journal: Long Odds? Three Scenarios for the Economy's Path

Money Quote: "Bottom line: The odds favor a long slog." As much as we might hope for a U shaped recovery and rocketing growth, that scenario seems unlikely. If it is in fact a long slog, how do we act accordingly, knowing that we face a continued declien in spending, tightening budgets, and continued pricing and margin pressure?

Jill Konrath at Selling to Big Companies is hosting a Sales Stimulus Webinar series. One of her webinars features Jeb Blount. Read Jeb''s short article: Sales Stimulus: Seven Rules for Outselling the Recession I agree with much of what Jeb suggests here, especially tips 3 (upgrading your skill sets), 4 (focusing on fundamentals, and 5 (moving faster).

In the same spirit as Blount's third tip (upgrading your skill set), Gavin Ingham suggests that you Read for 15 Minutes. Gavin says: "

When I give motivational speeches and talks at conferences I often ask the audience, “So, hands up if you’re reading a book on sales, business or personal development at the moment.” In an audience of hundreds, usually only a handful raise their hands.

When I then ask, “Hands up if you’ve read a book on sales, personal development or business in the last month” the response is usually little better. Often I finish up by asking, “OK, so hands up if you’ve never read a book on sales, business or personal development” and the response is overwhelming with the vast majority of the audience raising their hands.

Sharpening your mindset, your skills and your competitive edge has always been important but with today’s challenging lifestyles and in today’s difficult economy it is essential. If you want to get and stay ahead of the game you need to read. Everything you could ever want to know about pretty much anything is written down and available for you to read, digest and use to get the results that you want in your life but so few people take advantage of this.

I recommend quadrupling the commitment from 15 minutes to a full hour each day.

John Baldoni writes on John Madden's retirement in Five Things John Madden Teaches about Leadership, but I believe his thesis is just as easily applied to the sales profession, especially the fact that Madden was intimately knowledgeable about the game, but also his ability to tell stories. All of his points are excellent, but this is my favorite:

Tell stories. Madden imbued his broadcast narratives with heart. Digressing momentarily from the action, Madden would spin picaresque anecdotes of players and coaches that gave viewers insight into players as characters who were sometimes funny, odd, even tragic but always very human. He also punctuated his calls with old fashioned expressions like "boom" and "pow," a style that annoyed some but also heightened his everyman aura. Bosses who tell stories are those who can communicate a sense of humanity to the job that encourages followership.

Afterword

Please share your comments by posting below. Per The Sales Blog's Comments Policy, please make them brief, civil and relevant to this post.

Read More:

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #6 Make a List of Dream Clients

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #5 Have a Presence

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #4 Love a Good Fight

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: # 3 Differentiate

100 Ways to Succed in Sales: #2 Use Every Method of Prospecting

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #1 Prospect Daily

Why I am Sales Process Agnostic (and why you should be too)

Let's start with the disclaimer. I am not saying that you should not have a sales process! That would be stupid and criminal. Having a plan with defined milestones makes perfect sense, and if you don't have a defined process you are not as successful as you could be. Period.

With that said, I don't believe in blind devotion to a sales process. In business-to-business sales, there are far too many variables to define a process that goes from A to B to C in a nice, linear fashion. When you can't get to B, sometimes D is the best choice. And sometimes using the defined process makes no sense at all. In sales, there is only effective and ineffective.

I couldn't resist following along with Geoffery James and Neil Rackham's B2B sales simulation (here). Go take the simulation and come back . . . the rest of the post is a spoiler.

I take issue with the simulation because it offers you three choices for an entry strategy into a the fictitious account, calling directly, researching the company first, or visiting the company. The simulation suggests that the correct answer is to "research the company" before calling. And this is absolutely correct . . . sometimes (choosing to call the decision-maker directly or to visit the prospect leads you to a dead end with the gatekeeper). The simulation believe the sales process is linear. It is not.

I know this is a very simple simulation used to prove a simple point; but it proves my point on agnosticism as perfectly. Almost always, there are multiple entry points into any prospect. There are some sales professionals that can and will be effective leveraging all of the entry points, and some sales professionals that can open the prospect in ways that other sales professionals cannot. I might be able to call the decision-maker directly, and another sales rep might be able to convince the gatekeeper to give them entry.

The key, as Rackham has suggested in SPIN Selling, is to find some way to advance the sale. The next action to advance the sale can vary widely and dramatically from prospect to prospect, which requires a thoughtful and creative sales professional to both discover the best opportunity to advance the sale, as well as gaining the commitment to do so.

Is it best to find problems at lower level before approaching the decision-maker so that you can add value to the first meeting? Sometimes. Is it better to gain access to the stakeholders by calling as high up the organizational chart as possible? Sometimes.

Are you effective enough to gain entry using all three of the choices James and Rackham lay out? Are you flexible enough in your beliefs about the sales process to believe that others might be successful with an approach with which you might not be successful? 

Afterword

Please share your comments by posting below. Per The Sales Blog's Comments Policy, please make them brief, civil and relevant to this post.

Read More:

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #6 Make a List of Dream Clients

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #5 Have a Presence

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #4 Love a Good Fight

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: # 3 Differentiate

100 Ways to Succed in Sales: #2 Use Every Method of Prospecting

100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #1 Prospect Daily