Sitting at home last night there came a knock upon my door. A young man who looked to be in his early 20's and dressed in polo shirt with company logo, a pair of khaki shorts, work boots and some "official" looking ID badge and a tool belt with some electronic device was waiting on the other side. "Hello Sir, you wouldn't be the home owner would you?" Okay, stop right there, you NEVER ask a negative question to start a conversation, instead you say "Hello, I am speaking with all of the homeowners in your community tonight, are you one of the homeowners?" A little tweak but an important one. Now back to the story... I told him I am indeed one of the home owners and he goes right into his pitch. It's hard and it's fast and it's aggressive. And it is very familiar because I used the same pitch when I sold security systems back in 1997. So I know what's coming and (unfortunately) I know what kind of company he works for, a boiler room. A Turn and burn straight commission company that works their reps to the bone and only gives them a week of "sales" training, which mostly involves memorizing a "pitch" and then a list of rebuttals for when the customer says no. The likelihood that he will still be working there in 6 months is less than 25%. So I said "I understand that you need to get 7 no's to get to yes but I'm not interested." before I could finish he started to say "not trying to get through 7 No's sir we did some work for your neighbor (probably a lie) and we are setting appointments." So I told him "look I'm trying to be nice. There are people in this neighborhood that would call the cops on you for soliciting." To which he quickly replied "But I'm not selling anything sir." So here is the problem with these companies. They teach these kids that this methodology is not only effective, but it is acceptable. I told him he was soliciting and very indignantly he said "No, I'm not." To which I replied, "if you like I can call the cops you can tell THEM you're not soliciting." A look of fear washed over his face and he said "Okay man, okay." and walked on to my neighbors house. I really hated doing that but he has yet to learn one of the Key factors to sales, "know when to back off."
The Security sales job I mentioned earlier had a mantra "porched or paperwork." Which meant that you walked out of their home with a signed order or they threw you out for being a jackass. Great business model right? Not surprisingly, this company has been out of business for several years. and You don't see ADT and companies like that selling franchises to just anyone to go sell their products anymore. For more examples of this process and what not to do please watch the movie "Boiler Room" and the Baltimore Classic "Pushing Tin."
I think what is truly sad about this methodology is that a significant sector of the home improvement industry still really enjoys using it. They think bullying customers into working with them is a smart practice because they know there is very little chance they will still be in business in 5 years and they have even less chance of getting repeat business.
So what can we learn from this story.
Train your salespeople to care about the customer and what they need
Build your business on trust and a quality product at a fair price.
If you know someone getting ready to graduate from High school or working their way through college tell them "don't take this job." Believe me, they will thank you later.
Thanks for reading today
Mike S.
BTW, be sure to read my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Networking "Notworking?" Here are Some Reason's Why
I meet a lot of people. Whether they are clients, business partners, or people with common interests and goals. I am in the business of meeting people. Actually, I am in the Telecom business, but 80% of what I do is meet people & build relationships. So when I talk to people that tell me that "networking doesn't work" or it's " a big waste of time" I say they aren't doing it right. What I find more surprising are the number of people that take weeks at a time to respond to a message I send them through social media & when they do finally get back to me, they tell me "sorry Mike, I rarely log in to that."
I'm sorry? You don't log in? You don't check messages? "Well yeah Mike, I get so much spam from people trying to sell me stuff that I just ignore it." Okay, we are all adults here. I understand wanting to ignore message from people you aren't interested in talking too but SERIOUSLY? You just ignore all of it? First off, most social media gives you the option to receive email alerts when someone makes a post relevant to you. When people send you a message, it can also be sent to the email box of your choice. I have people tell me "I'm just too busy to check in multiple times a day." This objection I can understand (somewhat). If Sales isn't your only role in the company I can understand that being logged in all day long to to see what updates come across may not be the best use of your time. I will say, that EVERYONE has time either at lunch or after normal business hours to check in and see what's going on.
My personal opinion is that Social Media is like your own personal newspaper, with all of the articles directed right at you. Whatever your industry or interests, you surround yourself with people that have similar interest and may even be in the same industry. It is one of THE best ways to keep up to date with what is going on. In addition to that, building a network isn't simply connecting to people to claim that you have the biggest network, you must engage these people. Drop a note to say hello. Compliment them on a new profile pic or a new promotion or job change. Maybe they just finished earning a new degree. By staying in contact with your network you keep yourself relevant and it helps keep you and your company on the mind of your customers and contacts, so that they can refer you to others.
So here is the summary, You're not too busy. You need customers just like the rest of us. Keep relevant by reviewing your social media streams once a day. Be proactive in contacting people. You will stand out and differentiate yourself
Thanks for reading today
Mike Shelah
BTW please check out my fundraising blog
www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
I'm sorry? You don't log in? You don't check messages? "Well yeah Mike, I get so much spam from people trying to sell me stuff that I just ignore it." Okay, we are all adults here. I understand wanting to ignore message from people you aren't interested in talking too but SERIOUSLY? You just ignore all of it? First off, most social media gives you the option to receive email alerts when someone makes a post relevant to you. When people send you a message, it can also be sent to the email box of your choice. I have people tell me "I'm just too busy to check in multiple times a day." This objection I can understand (somewhat). If Sales isn't your only role in the company I can understand that being logged in all day long to to see what updates come across may not be the best use of your time. I will say, that EVERYONE has time either at lunch or after normal business hours to check in and see what's going on.
My personal opinion is that Social Media is like your own personal newspaper, with all of the articles directed right at you. Whatever your industry or interests, you surround yourself with people that have similar interest and may even be in the same industry. It is one of THE best ways to keep up to date with what is going on. In addition to that, building a network isn't simply connecting to people to claim that you have the biggest network, you must engage these people. Drop a note to say hello. Compliment them on a new profile pic or a new promotion or job change. Maybe they just finished earning a new degree. By staying in contact with your network you keep yourself relevant and it helps keep you and your company on the mind of your customers and contacts, so that they can refer you to others.
So here is the summary, You're not too busy. You need customers just like the rest of us. Keep relevant by reviewing your social media streams once a day. Be proactive in contacting people. You will stand out and differentiate yourself
Thanks for reading today
Mike Shelah
BTW please check out my fundraising blog
www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
Monday, July 11, 2011
"Not as Advertised"
I think we all can identify with this situation. You see an add in the paper for a "great deal" and when you rush to the store you find out there are a bunch "qualifications" that go along with getting the product for that price or you find out that the product for sale really doesn't match what you thought it would be. This is really a common occurrence and MOST of the time it is because we didn't read the fine print or we didn't ask the right questions. This scenario is all too common in sales and it usually is poor communication from the customer, poor communication from the salesperson, or both. The really bad part is this poor lack of communication can help your competition.
So you go to meet with a client you ask a bunch of questions, they answer, you build a proposal, they seem to like it and then you get that phone call that they went with your competitor and YOU KNOW that their product/solution is inferior to yours or just does not do what the customer told you they need it to do. So what happened? Quite a few things could have gone wrong here.
First, it is very possible that the customer had an agenda that they did not share with you. Meaning they already picked out their vendor of choice but "the boss" or some other "3rd party" (that you will never be allowed to speak with or meet) told them to get 2 other quotes just to be sure. Or this same "boss" has a friend in the industry and they came along after you did all of your work. This scenario is very annoying, but also very real. If you are blindsided like this, a good way to verify is simply say to the customer "Thank you for getting back to me, I understand you chose my competition, which one did you chose and where did you feel their product was a better fit than ours?" Now, here is where being a good listener is very important. If indeed they went with your competition, this is your only chance left to win the business. If they give solid well thought reasons for why, then wish them luck and tell them you will gladly assist them in the future, should they need help again. If they tell you that your competition was less money it is in your best interest to see that quote. Many times if your competition beat you on price they changed the design and it no longer matches what you originally discussed with the customer. If you built a good relationship with them then this should be an easy objection to overcome. If they are close-minded to the idea, either you didn't do a good enough job of connecting with the customer or they feel they are past the point of no return and no longer want to be bothered. Now here is the worst scenario. You get to speak with the customer and they told you they went with the competition and when you ask why, their answer is VERY vague. They won't really say why. They WILL go so far as to say it's really none of your business or that information isn't pertinent, AH HA! We have a hidden agenda! Move on, no more good can be done here.
So, if we put our conspiracy theories aside for a moment we can get back to relevant sales items. If you ever played the "telephone game" as a kid you know how quickly a statement can be interpreted and then misinterpreted and distorted in such a way that the original message is almost completely lost. So when you meet with a potential customer a great question to ask is "who started this initiative?" Are you meeting with the person heading up the the project? Are you meeting with someone who solely is gathering information? What other vendors have they spoken to? What is their relationship to them? Who are the people involved in making the decision & can you present to these people and answer their individual questions? Now, it is very common that you wont get these questions answered. If that is the case you haven't built enough trust with the client or they have no intent of doing business with you. Either way you have more work to do.
When it comes to communication, you must be sure that you understand what the customer is saying. whenever possible, paraphrase what the customer just told you and ask for agreement. Not only are you verifying that you understand the customers needs, but often times you are getting the customer to answer "yes" and any old school sales trainer will tell you that getting the customer into the habit of saying "yes" is a good thing." The flip side is, that when you explain something from your industry to a customer you need to verify engagement. Did the customer understand what you said, not just the actual words but the concept behind those words? If they say yes but the look on their face says otherwise it's important to go at the topics with another question or another direction so you don't make the customer feel uncomfortable or that you think they are stupid. What else does their body language tell you? Are their arms crossed, meaning they are defensive? Are their hands balled into fists meaning they really don't like this? Are they looking around the room because they are disinterested? Diffuse the situation. If it's obvious that they don't want to be there, you really aren't talking to the right person, get them to introduce you to the person that will handle the process, let them off the hook.
So Here is the summary: make sure you have the right person, make sure you and the customer are "on the same page" regarding needs and goals. Understand that sometimes your won't get the final person, so just make do. And lastly, understand that customers will flatly refuse to let you in because they have no intention of doing business with you. Once you figure this out, GET OUT! Find a good customer to talk to.
Thanks for reading today
Mike Shelah
BTW please check out my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
So you go to meet with a client you ask a bunch of questions, they answer, you build a proposal, they seem to like it and then you get that phone call that they went with your competitor and YOU KNOW that their product/solution is inferior to yours or just does not do what the customer told you they need it to do. So what happened? Quite a few things could have gone wrong here.
First, it is very possible that the customer had an agenda that they did not share with you. Meaning they already picked out their vendor of choice but "the boss" or some other "3rd party" (that you will never be allowed to speak with or meet) told them to get 2 other quotes just to be sure. Or this same "boss" has a friend in the industry and they came along after you did all of your work. This scenario is very annoying, but also very real. If you are blindsided like this, a good way to verify is simply say to the customer "Thank you for getting back to me, I understand you chose my competition, which one did you chose and where did you feel their product was a better fit than ours?" Now, here is where being a good listener is very important. If indeed they went with your competition, this is your only chance left to win the business. If they give solid well thought reasons for why, then wish them luck and tell them you will gladly assist them in the future, should they need help again. If they tell you that your competition was less money it is in your best interest to see that quote. Many times if your competition beat you on price they changed the design and it no longer matches what you originally discussed with the customer. If you built a good relationship with them then this should be an easy objection to overcome. If they are close-minded to the idea, either you didn't do a good enough job of connecting with the customer or they feel they are past the point of no return and no longer want to be bothered. Now here is the worst scenario. You get to speak with the customer and they told you they went with the competition and when you ask why, their answer is VERY vague. They won't really say why. They WILL go so far as to say it's really none of your business or that information isn't pertinent, AH HA! We have a hidden agenda! Move on, no more good can be done here.
So, if we put our conspiracy theories aside for a moment we can get back to relevant sales items. If you ever played the "telephone game" as a kid you know how quickly a statement can be interpreted and then misinterpreted and distorted in such a way that the original message is almost completely lost. So when you meet with a potential customer a great question to ask is "who started this initiative?" Are you meeting with the person heading up the the project? Are you meeting with someone who solely is gathering information? What other vendors have they spoken to? What is their relationship to them? Who are the people involved in making the decision & can you present to these people and answer their individual questions? Now, it is very common that you wont get these questions answered. If that is the case you haven't built enough trust with the client or they have no intent of doing business with you. Either way you have more work to do.
When it comes to communication, you must be sure that you understand what the customer is saying. whenever possible, paraphrase what the customer just told you and ask for agreement. Not only are you verifying that you understand the customers needs, but often times you are getting the customer to answer "yes" and any old school sales trainer will tell you that getting the customer into the habit of saying "yes" is a good thing." The flip side is, that when you explain something from your industry to a customer you need to verify engagement. Did the customer understand what you said, not just the actual words but the concept behind those words? If they say yes but the look on their face says otherwise it's important to go at the topics with another question or another direction so you don't make the customer feel uncomfortable or that you think they are stupid. What else does their body language tell you? Are their arms crossed, meaning they are defensive? Are their hands balled into fists meaning they really don't like this? Are they looking around the room because they are disinterested? Diffuse the situation. If it's obvious that they don't want to be there, you really aren't talking to the right person, get them to introduce you to the person that will handle the process, let them off the hook.
So Here is the summary: make sure you have the right person, make sure you and the customer are "on the same page" regarding needs and goals. Understand that sometimes your won't get the final person, so just make do. And lastly, understand that customers will flatly refuse to let you in because they have no intention of doing business with you. Once you figure this out, GET OUT! Find a good customer to talk to.
Thanks for reading today
Mike Shelah
BTW please check out my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The Gatekeeper isn't Evil, You're Just Doing a Terrible Job Explaining Yourself
I wrote a piece last week and had several people bring up the topic of the gatekeeper and how to "get by" them or how to "make them your best friend." I am here to tell you that the answer is quite simple. If you don't get by the person who answers the phone then you are doing a poor job of presenting who you are and why you are calling. It's ALL YOUR FAULT! So lets go over some of the things you need to do for effective calling. I want to be very clear that these are not magic bullets and no concept works 100% of the time but these concepts will get you a 1000 times farther than what you currently do.
First: be honest. Simple, I know, but often overlooked. When the receptionist asks who you are, tell them. I am "name" with " company name" and then be quiet. Listen to their next question. "What is the purpose of your call?" Here is where most people fail. They try to bully the receptionist or they come up with some crazy story. All bad ideas. Now I know many of you are saying "but Mike, if I tell them that I am a salesperson, they will hang up on me." Then don't tell them that. I said be honest not stupid. "But Mike what do I tell them when they ask why I'm calling?" That depends on why you called them and leads to my next step.
Second: target your calls. Opening the yellow pages or buying a calling list does you almost no good if you don't research who you are calling to determine how you are connected. If you look long enough you can find some common ground. I use LinkedIn for this research all the time. Do we have a mutual contact? Did we go to the same school? Are we from the same town? Are we members of the same social or professional groups? If you can't find some common ground with this person, then find out if they have a pending event. They are moving. They just opened a new office. They are planning to hire 10 new employee's. They just let go of 25% of their work force. All of these actions are cause for doing business.
If you cant target your calls because you can't find any common ground at least identify that you have the right contact name for your product or service. So when the receptionist asks "what is the nature of your call" your response should be " Actually I need your help. I was given "name" as the person to speak with regarding "your product or service" is that correct?" they will either say yes and transfer you or they will ask you "is this a sales call?" You should respond by saying " I actually wanted to introduce myself and see what projects are coming up in the next 6 months that we could help with." you'd be amazed how effective this can be.
Here's the summary: Be honest, know who your calling, ask for help.
Thanks for reading today
BTW, please check out my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
First: be honest. Simple, I know, but often overlooked. When the receptionist asks who you are, tell them. I am "name" with " company name" and then be quiet. Listen to their next question. "What is the purpose of your call?" Here is where most people fail. They try to bully the receptionist or they come up with some crazy story. All bad ideas. Now I know many of you are saying "but Mike, if I tell them that I am a salesperson, they will hang up on me." Then don't tell them that. I said be honest not stupid. "But Mike what do I tell them when they ask why I'm calling?" That depends on why you called them and leads to my next step.
Second: target your calls. Opening the yellow pages or buying a calling list does you almost no good if you don't research who you are calling to determine how you are connected. If you look long enough you can find some common ground. I use LinkedIn for this research all the time. Do we have a mutual contact? Did we go to the same school? Are we from the same town? Are we members of the same social or professional groups? If you can't find some common ground with this person, then find out if they have a pending event. They are moving. They just opened a new office. They are planning to hire 10 new employee's. They just let go of 25% of their work force. All of these actions are cause for doing business.
If you cant target your calls because you can't find any common ground at least identify that you have the right contact name for your product or service. So when the receptionist asks "what is the nature of your call" your response should be " Actually I need your help. I was given "name" as the person to speak with regarding "your product or service" is that correct?" they will either say yes and transfer you or they will ask you "is this a sales call?" You should respond by saying " I actually wanted to introduce myself and see what projects are coming up in the next 6 months that we could help with." you'd be amazed how effective this can be.
Here's the summary: Be honest, know who your calling, ask for help.
Thanks for reading today
BTW, please check out my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Don't Be a Sales Idiot
My friend Ryan Brooks (Prinicipal at Valley IT Services) posted on Facebook the other day that a sales person called him and when he told them "I am not interested" the person hung up. So lets talk about how many things are fundamentally wrong with this concept.
First: customer or salesperson, hanging up on someone is rude and unprofessional. There are certainly instances when this could be appropriate but very rarely is this the case. The #1 reason people will often hang up is because the other person made a valid point and they cannot articulate an answer for now. When cold calling was a big part of my prospecting I would hear from people all the time "I'm not interested." Many sales people will often respond "what is it you are not interested in?" To which the potential customer says "whatever it is you are selling." So this is a classic example of the customer not wanting to deal with the person on the other end of the phone. A more effective response would be "I don't have time to give you my complete attention right now but if you call me back on THIS DAY at THIS TIME, I will take 5 minutes to listen and understand." There are 3 possible outcomes from this: the smart salesperson agrees and sets up the follow up call. The stupid sales person continues to pitch and the customer hangs up or the soft sales person agrees and never makes that call.
Second: I alluded to this in my first point and will go into greater detail here. If you as the salesperson have someone on the telephone and they seem to be listening but not agreeing, you need to ask intelligent questions. When the customer say's they are not interested, don't just ask why. Ask some pointed questions, here's a short list:
1 " I'm sorry: I was told that you are the correct person to discuss this solution with. If I have the wrong person would you please point me in the right direction."
If they tell you they are the correct person then proceed with:
2. "Is it fair to say that you are happy with your current vendor and that is why you don't want to meet?" If the answer is yes then follow up with:
3. "I appreciate your honesty, If you don't mind me asking who is your current vendor and how long have you been with them?"
This is your opportunity to become an excellent listener and it also becomes key to understand your competition. Do you know this vendor? Is there anything relevant going on with this vendor (merger acquisition, etc) that can have relevance to your opportunity to help them.
After this you should have a real conversation going with the customer. Keep it above board and keep the conversation in the interest of the client. If now is not the time to meet, then ask the client when to follow up and then mark it in your calendar
I want to be real clear, this is not a bullet proof solution. Largely because for every idiot salesperson, there is also at least one idiot potential customer. It is also important to recognize a couple key factors:
First: you may have called this person on a bad day. Try again in a couple weeks and act like you never had the conversation. If they are still a Jerk, you need to do 1 of 2 things, drop them from your prospect list or find another company contact (preferably a referral).
So in summary: if you are a salesperson or a client, being professional is always the proper way to go. Even if the person on the other end is being an idiot.
Thanks for reading today
Mike Shelah
BTW, please check out my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
First: customer or salesperson, hanging up on someone is rude and unprofessional. There are certainly instances when this could be appropriate but very rarely is this the case. The #1 reason people will often hang up is because the other person made a valid point and they cannot articulate an answer for now. When cold calling was a big part of my prospecting I would hear from people all the time "I'm not interested." Many sales people will often respond "what is it you are not interested in?" To which the potential customer says "whatever it is you are selling." So this is a classic example of the customer not wanting to deal with the person on the other end of the phone. A more effective response would be "I don't have time to give you my complete attention right now but if you call me back on THIS DAY at THIS TIME, I will take 5 minutes to listen and understand." There are 3 possible outcomes from this: the smart salesperson agrees and sets up the follow up call. The stupid sales person continues to pitch and the customer hangs up or the soft sales person agrees and never makes that call.
Second: I alluded to this in my first point and will go into greater detail here. If you as the salesperson have someone on the telephone and they seem to be listening but not agreeing, you need to ask intelligent questions. When the customer say's they are not interested, don't just ask why. Ask some pointed questions, here's a short list:
1 " I'm sorry: I was told that you are the correct person to discuss this solution with. If I have the wrong person would you please point me in the right direction."
If they tell you they are the correct person then proceed with:
2. "Is it fair to say that you are happy with your current vendor and that is why you don't want to meet?" If the answer is yes then follow up with:
3. "I appreciate your honesty, If you don't mind me asking who is your current vendor and how long have you been with them?"
This is your opportunity to become an excellent listener and it also becomes key to understand your competition. Do you know this vendor? Is there anything relevant going on with this vendor (merger acquisition, etc) that can have relevance to your opportunity to help them.
After this you should have a real conversation going with the customer. Keep it above board and keep the conversation in the interest of the client. If now is not the time to meet, then ask the client when to follow up and then mark it in your calendar
I want to be real clear, this is not a bullet proof solution. Largely because for every idiot salesperson, there is also at least one idiot potential customer. It is also important to recognize a couple key factors:
First: you may have called this person on a bad day. Try again in a couple weeks and act like you never had the conversation. If they are still a Jerk, you need to do 1 of 2 things, drop them from your prospect list or find another company contact (preferably a referral).
So in summary: if you are a salesperson or a client, being professional is always the proper way to go. Even if the person on the other end is being an idiot.
Thanks for reading today
Mike Shelah
BTW, please check out my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
I Don't Think of Myself as a Salesperson
"I don't think of myself as a salesperson." I hear salespeople say this all of the time. They think that if they position themselves as a "consultant" or even better a "small business owner" or "entrepreneur" that it somehow better validates their role in business more than being "just a salesperson." I have a truly heartbreaking announcement to make to those people:
"YOU ARE ALL SALESPEOPLE!!!!!!!!"
If your primary or one of your primary roles in your company is to "meet with potential and/or existing clients, develop & propose solutions and then reach an agreement for a contract" you are a salesperson. The fact that you may also then implement those solutions and continue to manage the project until it is completed does not invalidate your sales role at the beginning.
I am writing this today because: first I know lots of sales people (myself included) and second I know lots of people that hate salespeople.
Even in a bad economy there are always sales jobs to be had, and the better you are at sales the more opportunities you have. There is a lot of risk and, as a result, a lot of reward in sales. Many of the truly successful people you know are either in sales now or started in sales and moved up the chain of command from there.
Good sales require:
Leadership
Industry Knowledge
The ability to listen and comprehend a customer's needs.
The ability to admit mistakes when you makes them.
The ability to fix mistakes, regardless of who made them.
The problem with sales (and the main reason so many people hate us) is that there are a lot of untrained idiots out there who really have no idea how to sell but were hired as a "warm body" to keep headcount at the proper level and "who knows maybe this one can sell." Very few people are born with the ability to sell. The rest of us have to start out and learn from training, reading and our mistakes. So you get sales people who sell by lying. You get salespeople who sell by omitting information. You get salespeople who sell by flat out cheating. Sound familiar? That is why people hate us so much.
Frankly, it's a big part of the reason that I really don't cold call anymore. If I call on 100 people who dont know me. Maybe 1 or 2 of them will give me an opportunity to do business with them. The other 98 told me to get out, used profanity or called security because "there's no soliciting in this building sir." People like to say that as a convenient way to avoid talking to you but according to www.dictionary.com to "solicit" means " to make a request, application, or entreaty to (a person for business, support, etc)." Now I could be wrong but I think the simple act of having a storefront or an office where you meet with clients/customers is the same thing? I really get a good laugh when I see an office with a "no soliciting" sign on the front door but I also know that they have multiple salespeople as direct employee's. "Don't bother me, I am too busy teaching my sales people how to overcome no soliciting signs." it's laughable
Then I have people say to me "well if we need you we will call you." Really? And how will you go about calling me? You didn't take my business card and you certainly didn't bother to write down my name and number? Look, I get it, stupid sales people are annoying. They generally don't know their product and they really don't know where to get answers, they are trying to swoop in and make a quick buck. They tend to be completely unprofessional or you get the opposite where they "overdo it:" and show up in a fancy suit and go out of their way to impress you when they should instead listen to you and build a relationship.
I actually know two people who I used to consider friends that both own marketing companies and don't consider themselves salespeople. In both cases they didn't like the fact that I called someone they knew and when I spoke to that person mentioned I was friends with them. Not they were customers, not we have worked together, FRIENDS. They thought this inappropriate and that if I wanted to contact theses people I should have asked them first......
I'm gonna let that sink in for a minute. The very notion that a "salesman" told someone they know that he is friends with them was so repulsive to them that both of them decided to no longer be friends with me.
My advice to you people: take a long hard look in the mirror, know what your looking at? A salesperson, get over it.
Thanks for reading today,
Mike Shelah
BTW, be sure to read my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
"YOU ARE ALL SALESPEOPLE!!!!!!!!"
If your primary or one of your primary roles in your company is to "meet with potential and/or existing clients, develop & propose solutions and then reach an agreement for a contract" you are a salesperson. The fact that you may also then implement those solutions and continue to manage the project until it is completed does not invalidate your sales role at the beginning.
I am writing this today because: first I know lots of sales people (myself included) and second I know lots of people that hate salespeople.
Even in a bad economy there are always sales jobs to be had, and the better you are at sales the more opportunities you have. There is a lot of risk and, as a result, a lot of reward in sales. Many of the truly successful people you know are either in sales now or started in sales and moved up the chain of command from there.
Good sales require:
Leadership
Industry Knowledge
The ability to listen and comprehend a customer's needs.
The ability to admit mistakes when you makes them.
The ability to fix mistakes, regardless of who made them.
The problem with sales (and the main reason so many people hate us) is that there are a lot of untrained idiots out there who really have no idea how to sell but were hired as a "warm body" to keep headcount at the proper level and "who knows maybe this one can sell." Very few people are born with the ability to sell. The rest of us have to start out and learn from training, reading and our mistakes. So you get sales people who sell by lying. You get salespeople who sell by omitting information. You get salespeople who sell by flat out cheating. Sound familiar? That is why people hate us so much.
Frankly, it's a big part of the reason that I really don't cold call anymore. If I call on 100 people who dont know me. Maybe 1 or 2 of them will give me an opportunity to do business with them. The other 98 told me to get out, used profanity or called security because "there's no soliciting in this building sir." People like to say that as a convenient way to avoid talking to you but according to www.dictionary.com to "solicit" means " to make a request, application, or entreaty to (a person for business, support, etc)." Now I could be wrong but I think the simple act of having a storefront or an office where you meet with clients/customers is the same thing? I really get a good laugh when I see an office with a "no soliciting" sign on the front door but I also know that they have multiple salespeople as direct employee's. "Don't bother me, I am too busy teaching my sales people how to overcome no soliciting signs." it's laughable
Then I have people say to me "well if we need you we will call you." Really? And how will you go about calling me? You didn't take my business card and you certainly didn't bother to write down my name and number? Look, I get it, stupid sales people are annoying. They generally don't know their product and they really don't know where to get answers, they are trying to swoop in and make a quick buck. They tend to be completely unprofessional or you get the opposite where they "overdo it:" and show up in a fancy suit and go out of their way to impress you when they should instead listen to you and build a relationship.
I actually know two people who I used to consider friends that both own marketing companies and don't consider themselves salespeople. In both cases they didn't like the fact that I called someone they knew and when I spoke to that person mentioned I was friends with them. Not they were customers, not we have worked together, FRIENDS. They thought this inappropriate and that if I wanted to contact theses people I should have asked them first......
I'm gonna let that sink in for a minute. The very notion that a "salesman" told someone they know that he is friends with them was so repulsive to them that both of them decided to no longer be friends with me.
My advice to you people: take a long hard look in the mirror, know what your looking at? A salesperson, get over it.
Thanks for reading today,
Mike Shelah
BTW, be sure to read my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
What is Your Perspective on Perspective?
People that know me personally, know that I am a strong advocate for Autism because of my son. Being the parent of an autistic child is a struggle that cannot be quantified for people that don't have one. We have made some good friends with other autistic parents as a result. Today, I saw that one of those families not only has an autistic son, but also lost a son to cancer several years ago, he would have been 11 years old today..... Wow! You hear something like that and suddenly you think that maybe your life isn't quite as bad as you were just griping about. Perspective has an unusual way of sobering a person. I bring up this topic because perspective in the sales process is so crucial yet, so few sales reps really go for attaining it with the potential client.
Just about every sales authority has touted "the customer doesn't care how much you know until they know you care."
You can attain this by coming to grips with the customers perspective. You as a sales person have the arduous task of finding new customers and getting existing customers to buy more. If you have a soul, hopefully you do so with fulfilling their needs as your intention. So you meet the client, you listen to their needs, you answer questions, you paraphrase what they just said and ask for agreement, you summarize, you analyze and you tell them you will be back with a proposal in "x" number of days. You stand up, shake their hand and walk out feeling good about the opportunity, because you know that you have a product that fills their need/fixes their problem and it is within their budget. On the return appointment day, you return with your fancy proposal, maybe you have a PowerPoint to show them, maybe you bring a sales engineer or sales manager to reinforce and corroborate what you are saying. At the end on the meeting they even tell you they like your proposal and they will be in touch in a week. A week goes by, maybe two weeks. you don't hear from them. You try to call, your try to email, you even try stopping by and they are just not available. Finally it has been two months since your last meeting. After numerous attempts to contact the customer, they finally answer the phone and in a very irritated voice say "look we went with another company." If they haven't hung up on you at this point you ask "Who did you go with and what was the deciding factor?" they respond "that's not important," or "that's none of your business," and then, they hang up. Hey! What the hell just happened there?
You conducted yourself professionally? check
Your solution was a legitimate fit? check
You followed up when they told you? check
So what went wrong? There is a very real possibility that you didn't have the whole picture. Now, that may seem like an obvious statement, but consider these factors:
The person you met with, are they the only decision maker or were others involved in the decision?
If others were involved, did you meet them to understand their role in the project?
Did you ask up front what other vendors they are considering and is one of them the incumbent?
If the incumbent is involved, why are they considering change and what would it take to leave the incumbent?
What is the role of the person you met with? Have they met resistance to their decisions before?
Do they currently like their job, or are they just hanging in there until the next one comes along?
Have they made decisions before that have backfired on the company?
Have they been with the company 10 weeks or 10 years?
Do they have a friend in the industry that does what you do?
As you can see, there are a lot of tough questions that are often not asked. These question help you determine the customers perception. I can tell you sight unseen, if you meet with a company and the CEO's nephew is a sales rep for your competition, he is probably getting the business, unless you do an ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL job AND the nephew is a complete idiot. Even then you can still lose. Don't waste valuable sales time on opportunities you have no chance winning.
That's my perspective, I welcome yours
Thanks for reading today,
Mike S.
BTW, please read my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
Just about every sales authority has touted "the customer doesn't care how much you know until they know you care."
You can attain this by coming to grips with the customers perspective. You as a sales person have the arduous task of finding new customers and getting existing customers to buy more. If you have a soul, hopefully you do so with fulfilling their needs as your intention. So you meet the client, you listen to their needs, you answer questions, you paraphrase what they just said and ask for agreement, you summarize, you analyze and you tell them you will be back with a proposal in "x" number of days. You stand up, shake their hand and walk out feeling good about the opportunity, because you know that you have a product that fills their need/fixes their problem and it is within their budget. On the return appointment day, you return with your fancy proposal, maybe you have a PowerPoint to show them, maybe you bring a sales engineer or sales manager to reinforce and corroborate what you are saying. At the end on the meeting they even tell you they like your proposal and they will be in touch in a week. A week goes by, maybe two weeks. you don't hear from them. You try to call, your try to email, you even try stopping by and they are just not available. Finally it has been two months since your last meeting. After numerous attempts to contact the customer, they finally answer the phone and in a very irritated voice say "look we went with another company." If they haven't hung up on you at this point you ask "Who did you go with and what was the deciding factor?" they respond "that's not important," or "that's none of your business," and then, they hang up. Hey! What the hell just happened there?
You conducted yourself professionally? check
Your solution was a legitimate fit? check
You followed up when they told you? check
So what went wrong? There is a very real possibility that you didn't have the whole picture. Now, that may seem like an obvious statement, but consider these factors:
The person you met with, are they the only decision maker or were others involved in the decision?
If others were involved, did you meet them to understand their role in the project?
Did you ask up front what other vendors they are considering and is one of them the incumbent?
If the incumbent is involved, why are they considering change and what would it take to leave the incumbent?
What is the role of the person you met with? Have they met resistance to their decisions before?
Do they currently like their job, or are they just hanging in there until the next one comes along?
Have they made decisions before that have backfired on the company?
Have they been with the company 10 weeks or 10 years?
Do they have a friend in the industry that does what you do?
As you can see, there are a lot of tough questions that are often not asked. These question help you determine the customers perception. I can tell you sight unseen, if you meet with a company and the CEO's nephew is a sales rep for your competition, he is probably getting the business, unless you do an ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL job AND the nephew is a complete idiot. Even then you can still lose. Don't waste valuable sales time on opportunities you have no chance winning.
That's my perspective, I welcome yours
Thanks for reading today,
Mike S.
BTW, please read my fundraising blog www.40milesforautism.blogspot.com
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