Making Timely Decisions
By · Comments“I won’t hang onto a marginal salesperson when the economy is bad and I shouldn’t do that even when the economy is good.“ ~ Carrie Davenport, Century Personnel Inc., Carmel, Ind in WSJ 03/02/2010
In pre-collapse economics, when businesses made money by accident, staying true to sound economic and business strategies were put on hold. After all, they were so busy making money, what was the problem? Now, businesses can only make money by design and must continually focus on strategies, tactics, and behaviors that will make and keep their businesses healthy. What a difference a few years makes.
The lessons to be taken from this quote is that business owners have an obligation to hire, develop, and hold accountable their entire team to clearly defined performance expectations. Building a healthy, vibrant, and sustainable business requires an entire team operating as a unit to accomplish great things. There is no room for marginal performers at any level in an organization. When there is a performance problem, it must be corrected or eliminated. And the appropriate action must be timely and decisive.
Keep in mind that simply deciding a team member is not the only role for ownership or leadership in a business:
- Leadership is accountable for hiring, development, and clearly defining expectations and metrics. If there is a disconnect in the effectiveness and consistency of this process, the talent of the leaders need to be called into question.
- The team is accountable for their collaborative, supportive, and mentoring roles with their teammates, as well. A divided or selfish team is not sufficiently in sync and will inhibit the growth of the business. Notwithstanding the functional differences of various roles, every team member must be on the same page as to where the business is going and their respective roles as team members to make certain the business gets there.
- Underperformers deserve the opportunity to get it right or get out. However, it is the role of leadership to provide the motivation and support necessary to give an underperformer a reasonable opportunity to improve.
Today, successful businesses are built on the framework of a sound strategy, a solid community, and a high level of accountability. In the past, it was acceptable to look the other way at underperformers or divisive behaviors. That is not true today. When something is out of place, corrective action must be taken and taken immediately.
Recognize and Embrace Your Passion
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I have had many conversations with people who dream out loud what they really want to do with their life. In nearly every conversation they have something they are passionate about and rather skilled at. Their challenge is in pursuing it and believing they can do it.
Often they begin defining their passion in terms of a job description and struggle to figure out how they can monetize it. That thought process usually creates barriers, not opportunity. I advise them to go through a more strategic and creative thought process that allows them discover the options for turning their passion into a business, a hobby, a cause, or a service.
Instead of dealing with traditional roadblock thinking about your passion, I encourage the following thought process:
- Clarify your true passion.
- Define and articulate how others would benefit from this skill and energy.
- List options and opportunities as to how you might provide this to the world.
- Initially avoid the traditional thoughts about whether this would make money, require money, or fit into something easily described to others.
- Look at the options and decide which one best defines their interest and devise a plan for turning it into something.
- Then define how passionate you are about this opportunity by taking action and “owning it” or do nothing.
This approach takes people out of the “I have a dream, but don’t know whether it would work” mindset and facilitates a “what’s possible” interaction. For an example of this kind of thinking, read the article, “Don’t Miss That Aha Moment.”
When It Comes to Greed – Perception is Reality
By · CommentsWhat exactly is greed anyway?
Who gets to decide what amount of profit is greed?
Yesterday’s blog elicited some interesting commentary. The ones that captured my attention the most were the above questions. I decided to take a stab at continuing the dialogue on greed.
First, greed is subject to interpretation. Usually the person behaving in a greedy way never sees it that way or, has decided that they have earned some type of privilege that allows this behavior. Those that recognize or experience greed are usually the people effected by its behavior. For example, the banks that benefited from the various bailouts keep a tight reign on new loans, and declares record profits and bonuses appear greedy to the outside business world. Banks and those in high finance defend these behaviors as not totally accurate. To the rest, it sure looked like greedy behavior. Perception is reality.
Second, greed is an action that hurts or adversely affects other people. Profit taking or protecting behaviors that mollifies one party at the calamatous detriment to another party is greedy. Partners that stick it to their partners, employees who embezzle from the company, executives who have two sets of business and expenditure rules are all greedy behaviors. Either everyone benefits, plays by the same rules, or is minimally impacted or it is greedy. Perception is reality.
Finally, greed is narcissistic. As greed is subject to interpretation, greed can also be justified. Layoffs can be and often are a downside result of a declining business. However, massive layoffs to simply and swiftly manage to the balance sheet is greedy. There are always creative ways to manage, contain, and control costs; however, in the recent wave of layoffs the behaviors reflected one philosophy, react to a problem with a quick solution to protect the financial health of the firm without looking at the long-term impact to the business or the short-term affect on its people. These layoffs were simply the most expeditious action. The people benefiting from this behavior was the ownership class at the expense of the retained employees and at the pain of those who were tossed aside. Remember, perception is reality.
I don’t know if I have the answer as to what amount of profit taking is not greedy. However, I do know that when profit taking is short-sighted, selfish, inconsistent, causes pain to others, and is not holistic in its process, it is greed. When the participating community (workers, owners, suppliers, customers) do not benefit from their relationship with the organization and there is adverse cost associated with that relationship based on profit taking decisions, the related behavior is greedy. In the end, perception is reality.
NOTE: If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the white paper on this subject, “The Sustainable Business Model™”, please contact me: dave@salescooke.com. I will be happy to forward you the information.
Taking Greed Out of the Business Equation
By · Comments“As trainers and coaches we do bear some responsibility to help build a better future, one less dominated by greed. The world is driven by financial greed and economic dogma – one controls the earth’s resources and the others are its apologists.” ~ Dr. Henry Mintzberg
The necessary shifts in our business mindset are clear, yet complicated. How do we grow our business, make a significant profit for our shareholders while engaging, developing, and inspiring our team to do great things? There is a predisposed conflict inherent in businesses between the investment in it and the siphoning profits out of it; thus, ensuring and maximizing shareholder value while building a sustainable and thriving enterprise.
The power of Dr. Mintzberg’s words resonates: greed does not drive great business, it thwarts it. As an advisor and strategist to business executives, my obligation is to help them develop a sustainable business that maximizes value for all those engaged in the business. These participants include shareholders, employees, suppliers, and customers. The community of any business is greater and more powerful in its totality, than simply catering to the whims and desires of its shareholders. Businesses have an obligation to the community of all its participants to leverage their collective needs, desires, talents, skills, energy, and contribution to build a larger, more cohesive and stable business model.
As businesses begin to rebuild, recover, and grow in the rebirth of the economy, the key to the pace and effectiveness of that recovery depends on the businesses ability to invest in itself and build a collaborative, innovative community. In this formula, greed or the recovery of lost assets or equity will only interrupt the recovery process. Strategically focusing on the power of the community in the business creates a machine that sustains itself and feeds the needs of all its members appropriately.
If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the white paper on this subject, “The Sustainable Business Model™”, please contact me: dave@salescooke.com.
Note: The featured quote was taken from an article featuring Dr. Minztberg. If you have ever had the opportunity to read his books or articles featuring his thoughts, absorb them. Dr. Mintzberg has the corporate dilemma covered. He is rapidly becoming my inspiration and my guide for all things business.
Your Relationships Define You!
By · Comments“Always Remember: Relationships are more important than a job.” — Benjamin McCall
A big component of my revenue philosophy is the power of relationship based, solutions oriented behaviors. Whether we are looking to advance our career, find a position, or close a deal, our effectiveness in building relationships in this process will define our success. In Benjamin McCall’s blog, “It’s about the people, People! A rant on Relationships” he talks about those very things. Relationships are the key to our ability to get where we want as we all need friends, fans, advocates, and advisers to help us be great. And we often don’t realize the many opportunities we have along our journey to build these relationships.
I was guilty of this myself. In a recent guest blog, I referenced my own experiences in learning about the power of effective relationships. When I was focusing on my “career” and working up the corporate ladder I paid very little attention to the relationships and connections I could have been building. When I shifted focus and started engaging in the activities I enjoyed doing and did well, the relationships I developed have carried me. I certainly wish I had those connections from the first half of my professional life.
Remember, our successes are influenced by the way we connect with the people we meet along the way. Our effectiveness in valuing and building strong relationships will make that journey more productive and fulfilling. Enjoy the experience and be receptive to all those relationship building opportunities.
Dear CEO: Now is the Time to Feed Your Growth Machine
By · CommentsThere was a great blog yesterday which emphasized the silly decisions executives make with their sales program when sales are down. In “Note to CEO’s, Stop Strangling Sales,” the author talks about a recent survey and the emerging trends in sales teams based on declining revenues. The list of trends is frightening, in that it demonstrates a defensive mindset with the only part of an organization that needs to be on the offensive:
- lead generation budgets had been frozen or reduced by 67%
- training investments per rep decreased by 13% on average
- new investments in CRM technologies had curtailed
- overall revenue plan attainment in 2009 dropped to 77.9% from 85.9% during the same time period last year
- 85% of firms have raised their quotas for their sales reps
“How the heck do they think that those reps are going to make those numbers without good leads, better training, and new technology?” Good question.
CEO’s, Executives, and Owners: If you want your business to grow you had better get out of the way of your sales team. It is time to revisit the investment conversation for your sales department. However, before you do that, I would expect that you, as leaders, have a better handle on what constitutes good strategic decision making and what constitutes an effective dismantling of the potential growth machine.
Here are the steps that need to occur before you take the ax to any current plans or write a check to invest in a new one:
1. Know where your most effective (profitable, repeatable, scalable) market is.
2. Know what the value proposition is that makes that market the most valuable opportunity for your business.
3. Know what the message, the story, and the strategy is to attack that market like a lion attacks the weak antelope in the pack.
4. Invest in the proper development program that repositions your entire team (executives, managers, marketing and sales) to properly get revenues cranking in this market.
Instead of cutting back, put the tools and the resources to get things in an offensive mode. If your leadership team cannot readily answer the first three questions without doing research, spending money, or taking a long pause, find new leaders–the ones you have are out of touch. It is time to kick your business in gear with people who know what they are doing and know how to do it effectively and efficiently. Invest in growth or your business will be listing on its side awhile longer. As for you, either join in the program or get out of the way. This is not the time for a general who is not in the trenches fighting the battle with his troops.
If you need some direction, call me. This is what I do best and I will get you there.
The Better “Team” Always Wins!
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I had the pleasure of watching a condensed replay of this year’s Super Bowl on the NFL Channel this weekend. Skipping the huddles and the constant TV chatter was awesome. Injected into the mix were the “wired” players and post-game interviews and several instant replay looks of the big game. Quite cool. I may wait to watch future Super Bowls this way.
What caught my attention the most during this replay was the reminder of the importance of a focused, committed, and prepared team. This Super Bowl, like several in recent years, featured the star and his guys vs. the other team. In 2008 it was “Tom Brady and the Patriots vs. The New York Giants“, in 2002 it was “Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf vs. The New England Patriots” and this year it was “Peyton and the Colts against The New Orleans Saints.” Funny how the “star and his guys” always lost to the “other” team. It is as if in the hype, everyone forgets that there are actually 22 starters, a multitude of key role players, and a coaching staff involved in the game, too.
One guy will not win the game by himself. One component of a team cannot win a game without the fully-committed, support of the rest. In all three of these Super Bowl cases, it was obvious to everyone who the winner was going to be. Funny, the other team didn’t know they were supposed to lose. And didn’t play like they were expected to lose.
Business is the same way. There is far too much emphasis on the separation of powers in most organizations. Too many businesses allow their internal teams to operate independently with each other. Functionally and operationally, most businesses are divided into the sales team, the marketing department, the finance group and there is the executive team. The greater the separation and distinctions of the respective roles, the less the organizational team functions. The closer the lines of communication, interaction, and strategic collaboration, the more likely the business will be on a winning track. When these self-important, separated departments face a crises, they are not organizationally equipped or structured to weather the storm.
When I replayed that Super Bowl game the one thing that struck me more than anything–the New Orleans Saints as a team was more prepared to win than the Indianapolis Colts. Their leader was engaged, prepared, calm, emotional, and focused. So were the players.
Businesses can and do struggle with external challenges everyday–clients, competitors, economics, etc. The businesses that are structured as a well-led, well-prepared, cohesive, cross-functional organizational unit are much more prepared and positioned to win than any organization that allows any of its superstars to become the center of attention. Build a strong team in your business — great teams always win!
The Blue-faced Salesperson
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You review your proposal with your customer, go over all the fine details of your wonderful offering, and the customer says, “Looks good. Let me look it over and I will get back to you.” When you hear those magical words, don’t hold your breath. Or, you will end up blue in the face. Do they really get back to you? How many times has your customer actually called you with a response to your proposal?
Avoid being that blue-faced salesperson and start managing your proposal process more effectively. Here are some simple tips to help you avoid this perpetual trap:
- Get out of the proposal business: Effectively qualify your customer in such a way that you both come to an understanding of what they need, why they need it, and how you can help them. Leave behind a simple summary of what your proposal would look like–issues, offering, timing, and loosely estimated costs. Leave that behind for them to ponder. (Pictured is the tool that I use for this.)
- Only write agreements: Everyone desires and requires a formal document as part of the business relationship. Once a client commits that you are the person they will be doing business with, sit down with them and write-up the agreement. Arrange a time to review and sign the formal document and you are on your way. If they cannot commit to making an agreement, they are not yet fully engaged in doing business with you.
- Always know what will happen next: At the end of every meeting, always schedule a follow-up visit. If the customer must take some time to review the proposal (even though I warned you not to submit one), do not leave their office until you have a confirmed follow-up meeting. You need to do this with all your sales calls. Formally established follow-up meetings are the most effective way to professionally manage the sales process.
The most effective way to protect your intellectual property and manage the sales process is to control how you share this information. Your product offering is only valuable if you make it valuable and you establish that your customer values it, too. Waiting for their follow-up to a proposal you gave away without any commitments or obligations is not how you control the process. The result of that process is you find yourself waiting for that follow-up meeting until you are blue in the face. Take control–manage your information and your process more effectively.
The Most Powerful 7%
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According to the experts on communication, words represent only 7% of our total communication. How we express those words, our intonation and inflection and other components make up the other 93%. How many times have we heard, “it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.“ For the most part, that is quite true. However, if you really listen to the words people use, the story those words tell are extremely revealing. Words may be only 7% of the communication package; but, they often tell everything about the person you are talking with.
When I am talking with people I listen very carefully to their words. Words indicate emotion. Words reflect energy. Words can demonstrate frustration, doubt, fear, excitement, joy, and purpose. There are positive words and negative words. People believe they can mask or control their story by saying very little about certain things or create a sense of opportunity by saying a great deal about something else. However, in the end when you listen to the word selection, whether it is extensive or brief, the words always tell the real story.
Next time you are having a conversation with someone, take the time to listen to what their words are saying. Communication is made up of a lot of different components, but their words tell you everything. Those words are sending a very powerful message–pay attention to them.
Photo Credit: Darwin Bell
Whether You Win or Lose, Know Why
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How can you grow your business when you don’t ask your customers why you won or lost?
Knowing why you won a project or converted a prospect into a customer provides valuable information. It gives you the opportunity to learn from your successes and make them repeatable. When your successes have a consistent thread or theme to them, it helps you identify and define your competitive advantage and your value proposition. These successes need to become part of your success model as you learn and gather this valuable information.
Knowing why you lost a project helps you understand what you did not do that either the customer wanted or what your competitors provided. Either way the information your prospect provides helps you understand what you could do better next time and increases the likelihood that you will better position yourself to win the next project.
Whether you win the deal or lose the deal, ask your customers the question “why?” And since you are soliciting an opinion this is not the time to defend your losing position. You are there to learn and understand, not to try to change their minds or defend your proposal. If you lost the project remember, their perception is their reality–accept it.
Finally, do not send your sales representative in to gather this information. This is a face-to-face meeting best conducted by the sales manager or higher. If you would like to include the sales professional in this meeting, go ahead. However, this is not their meeting, it is yours. Get the information, thank them for their time, thank them for the business if you won, and get out. Take this information and use it to your advantage on the next opportunity. This needs to be part of the sales cycle and the sales process.
photo credit: iLuv
As the Executive Leadership of the Big 3 Automakers, otherwise known as Ford, GM and Chrysler, prance into Washington, DC to a carefully choreographed marketing tune, the sound becomes eerily familiar as if one has heard this song before. With much thanks to the power of the Internet, it becomes all too apparent that Ford, for one, has sung this song a few times before. The words and the tune are definitely the same, only the audience is different.
Under such clever titles as “The Ford Revitalization Plan 2002″ and “Ford’s 2006 Way Forward” and finally, the now infamous hit of 2008, “I am sorry I flew in on my jet, how do you like my greenmobile?”, it is obvious that when it comes to rhetoric, The Big 3 has it mastered. When it comes to real action, real change, and real results, they have flunked the class.
Reading the today’s prepared statements for Congress, Ford CEO Alan Mulally clearly is bringing nothing new to the strategic planning process. In fact, it looks as though he simply borrowed text from former CEO Bill Ford in his last two Ford initiatives. Here are the latest versions of Ford’s initiatives. You tell me–what’s new?
1. “Matching production to meet demand” (2008) vs. “realign capacity with market conditions” (2002) or, “align its capacity with expected demand” (2006). After 6 years, you still have not figured out what that means?
2. “Deliver world class products for every market” (2008) vs. “developing products that please customers and benefit society” (2002) or, “differentiate by design and safety innovation and technology like hybrids” (2006). What are you waiting for? Get busy.
3. “Exceeding our customers’ expectations” vs. “executing the fundamentals of our business to build great products” (2002) or, “customer focused and innovative” (2006). Well, if you don’t have a plan, at least there are really cool marketing phrases.
4. “Our automobile business to be profitable by 2011″ (2008) vs. “It will be difficult, and in some cases, painful to turn things around. Butthings will turn around.” (2002) or, “restore profitability…in North America no later than 2008.” (2006) Oops. Looks like you missed this one, again. And, you want me to ‘loan’ you money?
There are a lot more. But, after a while it becomes nauseating. The consistency of the message speaks volumes and the inability to really generate change is indicting. Ford, and the others in the Big 3 club, are awesome with clever catch phrases, really slick press releases, glitchy photo shots in cool cars, etc. But, when it comes to really knowing how to innovate, change, and turnaround a stodgy, risk adverse, entitlement based culture–they cannot get the job done. Send them home with nothing other than the admonishment of all of the other businesses who are really working hard at innovation, change, and survival without their hands out.
Herb Tarlek–A True Sales Role Model
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Let’s get right to the point: Sales is a very generic term with a very bad reputation.
Everyone needs sales. Today, every business is obsessed with sales. And, business owners are pushing their people to go get more sales. That is just what we need today–more pushy salespeople! Think about it. Isn’t that what people hate, detest, and despise about salespeople? Why are businesses feeding the monster that they dislike the most?
Very simple. Most businesses really do not understand what effective sales really is. They send their people off to sales school to be trained to be better sales professionals. After all, a good training program is all anyone needs to learn how to sell, right? Sales results are measured by revenue–isn’t that really the only yardstick? The prevailing logic is that a great sales person is measured solely by the number of deals closed and the size of the sales dollars generated. Then, the best sales people get promoted to manager. That manager becomes the big ‘boss’ of the sales team and directs them to perform just like the manager did when they were in the field. More deals and more dollars. Keep feeding the ugly beast. If only Herb Tarlek were here to see his dream come true. The result, an endless and very ugly cycle of desperate, aggressive, pushy and annoying salespeople.
You want to know what sales is? Sales is the ability to deliver a product or a service to a business or individual that solves a problem or fulfills a need. Look at this definition closely, very closely. There is nothing in here that describes a pushy, buy something from me now, mindset. Want more sales? Start focusing on learning about, understanding, comprehending, and solving your potential clients’ business issues. Business people today are NOT looking to meet more salespeople. They do not have time for them. They ARE looking to find resources that are committed to helping them solve their business challenges. Stop sending salespeople to sales school for the typical sales training methodology focused on closing deals. Find a professional that understands how to build relationships, engage in a consultative learning conversation that solves problems, and has the ability to coach and teach the sales team to stop “selling” and start “solving.”
Why Petsmart isn’t “Dogging” it (Part 2)
By · CommentsPetSmart’s success model–The right people in the right culture with emphasis on the customer. In yesterday’s blog I discussed how PetSmart Chairman and CEO, Phil Francis, viewed the impact his employees had on the PetSmart business. Motivated and talented people are critical to a sustainable business model. Today, I want to focus on how Mr. Francis emphasized the role that culture plays in retaining their employees and their culture.
In his talk last week at the Phoenix’s Enterprise Network monthly breakfast, Mr. Francis proudly opened with a story of how an employee of two weeks working at a store in the middle of Kansas was able to talk about PetSmarts corporate commitment–D.O.G. He was pleased to experience the energy, knowledge, and commitment that this new employee had in relation to the foundational company strategy. That this employee was able to embrace it and understand it reflects the emphasis placed on the strategy and vision throughout the organization.
But, there is more to this message. That the customer is truly the center of this core strategy demonstrates a corporate culture that truly values the customer. The three components of D.O.G are: Delight the customer, Operational Excellence, and Grow Services. So, while employees new and experienced know, understand, and live their company commitment, it is even better that this vision reflects a corporate culture that nurtures customer centric and service oriented behaviors. That PetSmart is succeeding in growing their business is no surprise. After all, they are doing all the right things through their people, their culture, and their customer focused strategies. As business owners, we can all learn a lesson from PetSmart.
Why Petsmart isn’t “Dogging” it (Part 1)
By · CommentsLooking for a great executive leadership role model? Check out Petsmart. Spend some time listening to Phil Francis, PetSmart Chairman and CEO and you will get a great understanding of how he values his most important assets–people, customers, and their pets. Last week at the Phoenix’s Enterprise Network monthly breakfast, Mr. Francis discussed his views on attracting and retaining the best employees in today’s competitive market. The next two blogs are going to focus on a couple of his valued key points.
When it comes to employees and customers, there are three things that an employer, owner or manager must recognize as critical to everything:
1. Provide your people a better quality of life. Your team knows their work environment affects their health and well-being. People do not leave an employer because they want more money they stay with their current employer when they have agreat work environment, enjoy what they are doing and, like where they are doing it. If you want to keep your best employees, give them an environment that gives them that quality of life experience.
2. Develop your people. All your employees are motivated to be successful. They are looking for that opportunity to succeed. As a company, you need to continually strive to develop your people to the point where they can take leadership roles in the company. People are looking for opportunities to individual success and they will go the companies that are committed to that.
3. It is your people that bring in the customers. Using the example of the local haircut person, Phil reminded everyone that he follows his barber to wherever he goes. Why? He gets the service he is most comfortable with. In the competition for services, businesses need to recognize that your people are what attracts and keeps your clients coming back. If you are constantly churning service personnel, you are at a competitive disadvantage. Recognize the value that your employees bring as service providers to your clients and leverage that relationship.
To save time, reduce costs, eliminate expense, or through simple ignorance the emphasis on motivating, training, and developing employees have been become an undervalued component in business today. It is no coincidence that PetSmart continues to gain market share in a highly competitive market. They value their employees and it shows in the results. This is something to think about as you develop your budget for next year.
Hey Detroit–You Want our Help? Our Terms!
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This past week there has been a lot of news and commentary about the automotive bailout. With the exception of the Midwest and an aggressive Democratic caucus, there is minimal interest in bailing out the automotive industry. Why? They simply do not deserve it. More importantly, our economy really does not need it. This is a simple case of “management and boards of companies that have shown arrogance since the 1950s that they never needed to change in a fundamental way.” The auto industry has had 35 years to figure out how to compete against the foreign competition—build fuel efficient vehicles, develop high quality vehicles, manage their payrolls, and re-engineer and retool their operations. What did they really do? Nothing or, at the very least, not nearly enough. What makes the automotive industry the exception to the typical business and competitive rules regarding innovation and change in a highly competitive environment? Their inability to adapt or change cannot and should not justify a free pass when every other US business is expected to figure it out.
Even with their hands out, automotive leadership are dictating their terms and demonstrating their unwillingness to accept accountability for this situation. This smacks of arrogance. GM Chairman, Rick Wagoner does not understand “what purpose would be served” by stepping down. UAW Head, Ron Gettlefinger says “the union won’t make anymore concessions.” It is time these parties recognize their responsibility for this situation and agree that massive change is required. It needs to hurt a lot to receive this bailout. If taxpayer dollars are involved, everyone should feel the sting. Besides, if significant change is not associated with this bailout, what have we really learned or accomplished?
Many are arguing that as many as 3 million people may lose their jobs if GM, Ford, and Chrysler fail. Not true. The only people who really would suffer in the advent of a collapse are the people who have always stood in the way of real change in Detroit in the first place—Executive Management and Unions. There are plenty of automotive manufacturers and suppliers with existing US operations ready to expand to pick up the slack if GM, Ford, and Chrysler stop making cars.
Detroit, it is time to accept accountability for your actions. You want bailout money? It has to be on someone else’s terms, not yours. The most directionally appropriate involve, “freezing salaries of auto executives, ensuring taxpayer money isn’t used to pay dividends to shareholders, and ‘very possibly’ a requirement that new management be brought in.” Anything less, would just not be right. Wake up Detroit—it is time for a real change!!
A Simple Automotive Bailout Just Does Not Work!
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In today’s tough times, it is hard to generate an aggressive position with regard to the auto industry. The entire global market is feeling the pain of a significant economic slowdown. And, the devastating impact on those employed by the manufacturers and suppliers should a company like GM or Chrysler actually shut down is significant. That said, it is very, very difficult to understand why we should be forced to bailout a business segment that is in trouble as a direct result of years and years of very poor management and bad business decisions.
The problems now facing the US based auto suppliers should not come as a big surprise. The fact that they are in financial trouble was quite predictable and very avoidable. The ignorance and helplessness that they are demonstrating now, as if they did not see these problems coming, is laughable. As a lifetime Detroiter, proudly a non-automotive employee, I can tell you gross mismanagement, lack of vision, minimal risk taking, arrogance, greed, and entitlement are all core values associated with the automotive industry. This is a generational trait that goes far beyond the scope of what has happened in the past few years. Toyota, Honda, BMW and Mercedes are all experiencing sales pain solely as a result of the current economic contraction. According to GM, Ford and Chrysler, they are in trouble because their legacy costs are high, they cannot get great ‘green’ vehicles in their pipeline in time to meet established requirements, and they do not have the money to retool their plants. While on the surface these seem to be legitimate issues, the real truth is that they have bloated payrolls, have never invested in the future, and have focused all their resources on high profit trucks and SUV’s which are now not selling. How was this unforeseeable? What was their long-range plan if and when it did happen?
As the auto industry is the foundation of our manufacturing sector, keeping these businesses in business is a must. I am hoping that while we must step up and help, we do not simply write a blank check. Ford, GM, and Chrysler must demonstrate that they recognize their accountability for this mess and make the requisite drastic changes. After all, they have had 35 years since the Oil Embargo of 1973 to change their industry and build safe, exciting, and fuel efficient vehicles. I am not in favor of giving them another 35 years of the same old ways with my tax bill. It is time the auto industry got in touch with the rest of the real business world and incorporated fiscal responsibility, true innovation, and long-range vision into their business model. Shortsighted, risk adverse and entitled behaviors got them here. Without a significant culture change, nothing will be different. Get busy Detroit—it is time for real change!
Editor’s Note: After I wrote this blog on Monday 11/10, I found this fantastic article by Paul Ingrassia in the Wall Street Journal. Please read this. I am not alone.
Post Election thoughts…
By · CommentsWhat a very, very exciting, interesting and historic day yesterday. While this is generally a sales or business blog, I cannot help but take a moment to comment with my brief perspectives on yesterday’s events:
–Barack Obama’s win captured an enthusiasm and energy I have never witnessed in an election before. It was long overdue, it was needed, and it was very moving.
–It has been a long, long time since the youth of America got excited about and involved with our political future. I am thrilled. We need the younger generation to become leaders today. The earlier they are engaged and motivated, the more we will develop positive and influential leaders for the future.
–John McCain took direct ownership for failing to win the contest. This was a powerful statement. McCain demonstrated why he is a great citizen and patriot in his concession speech. His holding himself accountable for the results illustrated why he has been an influential and sometime ‘maverick’ Senator.
–Watching Barack and Michelle Obama walk off the stage at the very end of his speech was quite moving. Here were two partners relishing the moment, realizing what they had accomplished, and demonstrating for a brief flash their recognition of the enormity of the accomplishment and of the upcoming challenge. This was the absolute highlight of the day’s activities.
This change has been a long time coming. Whether you are happy with the outcome or in alignment with Obama’s views, it does not matter. The people have clearly spoken. I am excited and motivated to get some positive, non-partisan political activity going in Washington. It is way past due. This is not a time for conservative or liberal posturing. This is a time for decisive, collaborative decisions in a lot of important areas. I think we now have a chance to do that.
After yesterday’s events, I am committed to embracing the leadership of our elected President and am eagerly looking forward to supporting his direction. I have always encouraged people to embrace change and to look for different ways to accomplish great things. I am hoping and trusting that this is another time where it is all good! Time will tell.
Keeping it Positive when the Negative is so Loud!
By · CommentsWho could have anticipated at the beginning of 2008 that we would be in the midst of an epic economic meltdown? Not many. I was thinking back to an event I went to in early March 2008 which featured Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP MorganChase. At that event, he talked about how the mortgage crisis was more or less behind us and we should start to see improvements in the economy by the3rd or 4th Quarter of 2008. Even as recently as eight months ago, Jamie Dimon was expecting positive economic trends at this point in the year. No one has a crystal ball!
My words of encouragement here: Focus on What You Can Control!
There are only two things you can control in this world–your attitude and your effort. Now is the time to remember this mantra. There will be many things that will happen in the next six to nine months that will be well beyond your control. And, if the current economy is a predicator of those events, some will not be positive. Our response to those events and challenges is in our control and our response is what must drive us.
When I find myself frustrated with my business and start to feel things are not swinging in my direction here are the two things that I immediately focus on:
1. Not owning the negative. Chicken Little was well-known as a poster child for the ’sky is falling’ syndrome. I have seen complete organizations freeze in their tracks and stop working because there was a rumor of a merger or layoffs. When you start to focus on the negative, the negative is what you become. The negative becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, negative things will come at you. The challenge is to recognize its potential to stop you cold and force yourself to turn away from it. The best response is to celebrate your successes as you continue to move your business in a sustainable direction–even in the face of adversity.
2. Celebrate the small victories. Finding things to celebrate focuses your time and energy on positives and makes you take your mind off the negative. Consistently celebrating successes gives you no time to engage in negative energy. Small victories are things like good meetings, great feedback from your client, a contact or accomplishing a challenging task. We accomplish many little, yet important things everyday. Congratulate yourself on the great things you are accomplishing and spend zero time or energy on those things that will slow you down. When you energize yourself through your successes you will have little time to focus on bad things. Tell yourself, “I am just too busy being successful here to worry about failure.” When you feel good about winning, you will keep on finding ways to win.
I fondly remember a scene toward the end of the movie Parenthood where Steve Martin is lamenting his wild and turbulent life. In walks his Grandma and she begins talking about the joy and fear and elation of riding the roller coaster at the fair. And, how that experience is much more satisfying and fulfilling than riding the safe and dull merry-go-round. This is a great metaphor for the entrepreneurial experience. We are definitely in the midst of the wildest and craziest roller coaster ride imaginable. We have already decided to take the ride–we might as well embrace, enjoy and celebrate it. Have fun, enjoy and celebrate your journey!
Anyone who reads my blogs or participates in my seminars or coaching programs know that I am passionate about the importance of effective communication skills in the sales process. A recent series of questions that I posted on LinkedIn.com reveals that, as a profession, we are still not learning to do this effectively. A simple question, “What is a bad sales behavior or trait you see too much of and would like eliminated or corrected?” revealed a wide range of responses.
Most of the responses focused on the fact that sales people are simply not utilizing effective communication skills to build the connection, listen to the client, or recognize and understand that there is no real business opportunity. Here are some excerpts from those who submitted responses:
- Sales is about listening, not steamrolling someone with all the reasons you think they should buy.
- They are talking at their audience, not engaging them in a dialog. If they understood the real power of using different types of questions to solicit participation from their prospects, they would not waste valuable time, create better relationships with their customers and close more business.
- Sales people who talk more than listen, and then keep talking.
- Reps should try shutting up and listening a bit more, we have one mouth and two ears for a reason! They should know this and remember it.
- The Show Up and Throw Up technique. Sales people that just fire product/service pitch after service/product pitch at their prospect in hopes that something sticks. Or, The ‘I have the perfect solution for you! by the way, what’s your problem?’ technique.
We all get the idea. If you want to join in on this conversation, please feel free to answer the open question on LinkedIn.com. The bottom line is that people do not have time for sales people who are more interested in selling their stuff than they are about learning about and solving the real problems of their clients. Until we, as sales people, start doing a better job of this, we are going to keep getting branded as pushy, aggressive, talkers that no one has time for. One of the submissions to this post provides a great close: “Selling at its heart IS communication. When a salesperson is listening actively and is truly interested in what is being said, the sales resistance from the client is often diminished and the customer feels understood–creating the environment for a sale to take place. No listening = No sale.” –Paul Comi, Jr. Right on Paul, enough said.
“Damn the Torpedoes, Full Steam Ahead”
By · CommentsOn yesterday’s broadcast of The John Adam Show, host John Adam invited his father, Adam, to inject fresh perspective into today’s business environment. Adam, a very successful local business owner provided a very simple, concise message that needs to be shared. For those entrepreneurs who are looking for some great advice and perspective listen to this.
Why We Do Not Need to Respond to RFP’s
By · CommentsI just stumbled on a great blog by Scott R. Sheaffer, Sales Vitamins entitled “Five Realities of RFP’s.” This article reasonates with one of my previous blogs (”Another Unproductive Sales Activity-Chasing RFP’s”). To Scott Sheaffer’s credit, this is one of the best summaries of the RFP Myth I have come across. While I am going to paraphrase his points, I encourage you to read this post in its entirety.
The Realities of RFPs (Request for Proposal):
1. We cannot win without a relationship.
2. Companies have a pre-defined short list. If you have not been involved in writing specs for the bid, you are not on that list.
3. Toss unexpected RFP’s in the recycle bin.
4. Soliciting companies rarely select a winner on price only. They know what features they want and who has them. Don’t waste your time fixating on price.
5. Myth: Most RFPs have some comment claiming that no, or at most limited, contact is allowed between the soliciting company and bidder. Reality: If you’re on their short list of winners there won’t be any limitations as to how often you can have contact.
Find Out if You’re on the Short List:
1. Submit a preliminary abridged draft proposal with the soliciting company.
2. Request a 30-minute appointment with them to review the draft proposal.
3. Emphasize the importance of this meeting as it relates to thoroughness, accuracy and the investment of resources in the proposal process.
Summary
If they won’t agree to this meeting, then there is a very good chance you are on their designated loser list.
Kudos to Scott for this blog, this is right on target!
Selling Fundamentals — The Relationship
By · CommentsThe following is an excerpt from the book, Cooked Up Sales. (This book is available for purchase at Amazon.com.)
First, the fundamentals
Sales is about relating, learning, and solving. If a salesperson is telling or advocating or pushing, they cannot listen, learn or connect. It doesn’t matter if you’re a great orator. It is not how great your product is. It is not your company or its capabilities that closes the deal. Rather, it is how well you have personally developed an understanding of what the customer is trying to accomplish and how they envision you addressing their needs. In order to effectively accomplish this, a sales professional must be able to focus on the client, the needs, the discovery, and the relationship. In the end, the key is to demonstrate a value based link to your product offering and their very specific needs. Do not push yourself—because it is not about you–but rather pull from them. If you are starting to get tired of hearing yourself talk, it’s already too late—you have probably jeopardized the sale.
Author’s Note:
Cooked Up Sales was written to bring the basics back to selling. This book is short, concise, and focuses on the fundamental key to excellent selling results–relationships that add value. Today, people do not have the time to fool around with pushy sales people or aggressive business tactics. They are looking for business relationships that help them solve a problem or fulfill a need. This book is written around that basic theme. And, it teaches how to maintain a strong, effective business relationship throughout the selling process while simultaneously producing effective sales results.
Watching the endless Presidential Campaign advertisements on television, listening to those negative sound bytes on the radio, and watching these so called leaders debate each other, one thing is quite obvious—they do not have any sales people helping them with their campaigns. The reason I know this–they spend way too much time talking about the “other guy”.
Great sales people do not need to spend time talking about the other guy. That is called “Selling Down.” If you are selling down, that means you do not have much to sell about yourself. If you cannot say something nice about your competition, then do not say anything at all. In reality, you should find something nice to say about your competition–it builds your credibility, demonstrates that you have the confidence in your abilities, and enhances your character in that you do not go out of your way to knock people down. Selling down is a weak sales strategy.
Great sales people know how to “Sell Up.” If you are selling something that you believe in, something that is credible, something that truly has value–the only thing you need to accomplish is to help the buyer recognize how it will add value, solve a problem or, fulfill a need. That requires no time for the competition, it only leaves time to make certain you, as a salesperson, are communicating at the right level with your audience.
My message to the Obama and McCain campaign brain trust–people hate sell down messages. Stop it! If you are fed up with all the negative Presidential Campaign rhetoric–blame the candidates. More correctly, blame their advisors who have no sense of how to sell their story.
It is time to leave the “nest”
By · CommentsI had a great conversation with a trusted colleague this morning. We talked about the transitions owners make when they are first starting out and what happens when their business begins to grow and generate sustainable revenues. While it is not always wise to generalize, the one thing we noted was that owners have a tendency to become internally focused on the operational side of the business as it gets to a certain size and scale. As a young start-up, most owners are in front of clients, are the “feet on the street,” and are making new connections. Then, the business becomes successful and they work in the safety of the “nest.” At some point, most owners start to lose some of the key connections with their newer clients, are less involved with the sales process, and spend much more time managing the daily operations of the business. This is a very risky proposition.
A critical component in any sustainable business is the customer relationship. It is the customer that generates the revenues in your business. Every time they place an order, request service, buy a part, or sign an agreement they are bringing revenue into your business. If you are an owner, the most important connection you can have to sustain your business is with your clients. Your relationship with your clients enables you to connect, to say “thanks,” to obtain feedback, to solve problems, and to help your sales team get more business. While it is very important to know what is going on in the “nest,” remember your clients are paying the bills. Make sure they know how much you appreciate their business.
The other aspect of this activity is that the strength of your relationship with your client minimizes the threat an exiting sales professional puts on your business. It is important that your salespeople have great client relationships. You want your clients to trust in your salespeople to provide the greatest of account management and service. However, the harsh reality is that salespeople do leave. When they do, the strength of the ownership relationship and the business relationship with that client will define the impact of that departure. The best time to protect your client base is when you have a stable sales situation. Build and nurture that relationship often and your revenue stream is much safer and steadier.
Danger, Danger – Congress is in Action!
By · CommentsWhenever Congress gets busy, we should be nervous. Every time this organization, traditionally mired in self-serving, partisan rhetoric, decides they need to take action, all of America should take pause. Right now, we do not need a bunch of leaders who are self-serving, reactive, and shortsighted bureaucrats. Read the full article…
A Leader who gets “It”
By · CommentsLooking for examples of good leadership in a business world filled with poor ones? Take another look at Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase. This is not my first blog extolling his leadership style. As I look at the financial sector and study banks that are in ruins, I am reminded that somehow JP Morgan Chase avoided most of the worst of the mess. Further, Chase has come to the rescue twice to bailout companies that were sinking fast–Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. And, look at what has happened to Citibank in the years since Dimon’s departure. Bottom line, Jamie Dimon is a tough love, direct leader who gets things done.
What still resonates from listening to Jamie Dimon last March as he talked about the economy and JP Morgan Chase, was his passion that decisions and strategies are ‘not measured by share price.’ His commitment is that “everyday we have to find a way to be a better company. Do that and the share price will take care of itself.” In the old economy, the economy that is in the midst of crumbling before us, share price drove everything. In the new economy, sustainable business is about building a better company everyday, and in every way. The days of shortsighted, price per share obsessive behaviors are over. The fact that Chase survived the recent financial meltdown, is a testament that stock price beholden leadership just does not work. Jamie Dimon may be a bit controversial, outspoken, and aggressive; but, he has demonstrated a passion for doing things the right way for the good of the entire organization–sustainable for the long haul.
The prompt for this commentary was triggered by an article in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal discussing winners and losers in this past business year. Jamie Dimon was listed as winner. I couldn’t agree more.
A case against “Anal”ysts of all kinds
By · CommentsThis time of year features the conclusion of our football season. The pros are in the midst of their playoff routine. While college just wrapped up its Mythical National Championship dance. The two upsets yesterday in the NFL remind us of one of the attractions to athletics in the first place. Athletics is the one place where the game has a defined beginning and end. There are rules that are followed and closely monitored. While there are sometimes bad calls, most would agree that every attempt is made to follow and honor the rules. In the end, time runs out and, based on the final score, there is an established winner. The exciting part is that because this game is actually played, there is continually an opportunity for the underdog to upset the favorite. While it is sometimes painful for the fans of the favorite, there exists this American tradition of rooting for the underdog. And, when the underdog wins, it provides a moment of extra exhilaration for all who observed the accomplishment.
Contrast determining the best team in the pros to the college version of declaring the best team. College football shies away from direct competition. In college football, some of the combatants never have to play any of the other capable opponents. In college football, they use intricate mathematical models, computer programs, and a collection of “experts”, call them ‘anal’ysts to determine who are the better teams. Ultimately, it’s the results of the ‘anal’ysts that decide which teams are better than others. Instead of playing the game, giving the underdogs a chance, these ‘anal’ysts take the competition, the risk, and the chance out of the game.
How does this relate to business? Simple. For the past twenty years stock price, stock value, share value, and unlimited ‘anal’yst commentary defined what companies were attractive or competitively viable. Public companies decisions were so strictly influenced by these computer models and ‘anal’yst expectations that good business decisions were put on hold or adjusted for fear of the external commentary. Business, like sports, is not a beauty contest. There are rules and expectations. Strong, well lead teams will often win. Even the underdog can find their way when they come together and work well. The game of business is decided on the street. Not Wall Street but on Main Street. The game is played hard, it is played fast, and winning is rewarded and losing is painful. Winning and viability is defined by customers, employees, owners, and suppliers coming together to get things accomplished. It not determined by some ‘anal’yst with a formula and an opinion.
Whether in college football or business, the ‘anal’yst model just does not work. If you think it does, think again. Our economy is in the tank because we spent so much time focused on the fastest way to get to the bottom line and maximize our profits that we took shortcuts. Shortcuts that pleased our ‘anal’ysts, jeopardized our long term viability. In this new economic model, we need to focus on the competitive behaviors that will strengthen business. Well served customers, talented and motivated employees, patient and knowledgeable shareholders, and strategically aligned suppliers are all components of that mix. Note, that the beauty contest commentary of the competitively challenged anal’ysts are not mentioned. Why? They do not understand the game or the rules.
Our New Leader
By · Comments
At the height of the campaign season, I wrote about my diminished expectations for a real leader emerging from the 2008 elections. Now that the elections are way behind us, except in Minnesota, I must admit I am encouraged by the leadership qualities demonstrated by Barack Obama through the transition process. It started with his election night speech in Chicago, was reinforced in his interview on 60 Minutes, and continued through his actions leading up to tomorrow’s inauguration.
Barack Obama has demonstrated very special leadership qualities. His appointments have been balanced with experience and talent, his thought process has been deliberate and decisive, and his messages have been positive and direct. He is going to experience a very short honeymoon period. He will be faced with expectations for his first 100 days in office that are much higher than many of his predecessors. Yet, facing the enormity of the task, I have admired his approach, his words, and his actions as he prepares for leadership.
Our country has some very serious challenges ahead of it. Besides the economy, there is the war, the rising cost of health care, a declining educational system, the need for improved relations with our foreign allies, and the spector of our mounting debt in the midst of all of this. These challenges require appropriate and decisive actions. These are critical times. Our leaders need our attention, our involvement, our support, and our feedback. To that end, I am committed to supporting President Obama when he takes office. I will stand behind him when he takes action. And, I will let him know when I am not comfortable with his decisions. Regardless, I can assure you, I will be in the game.
This is not a time to be inactive or disengaged with our leaders. Our leaders and our country need its citizens to be actively engaged in the decision making process. These decisions are determining our future. If you want to sit and judge, or play the wait and see game, please get out of the way. That type of behavior only creates obstacles for people who are actually trying to accomplish very important tasks. I encourage all of you to get in the game and start participating now. We are in the midst of a leadership change and the best thing we can do in get engaged with our leaders and help get things done. I believe that Barack Obama has demonstrated the leadership qualities necessary to guide us through this mess. But, I also believe that the only way great things get accomplished is when everyone works together to accomplish them. The time is now. Get busy.
A definite loser–Cutting back on service to save money!
By · Comments“As vacationers and business travelers reduce the time they spend on the road, hotels are quietly trimming amenities and services to save money.” (wsj, 01/22/09) Warning to the hospitality industry, once you start cutting back on the services people value, you begin the erosion of your unique value proposition–your customer service. The one thing that differentiates you from your competitors is that special something, sometimes an unquantifiable service quality that builds loyalty and keeps your valued customers coming back. Eliminating a service, a perk, or a convenience — even something that seems small and insignificant like hand lotion in the rooms– and your loyal customers might start staying elsewhere. Once they leave, they are unlikely to return.
“Hotels are hoping that the cutbacks will go largely unnoticed by guests. They also are dropping rates to keep customers coming back.” Now that makes sense. Cutting back on services to save money and then offering discounts on rates to keep your customers coming. First of all, once your customers notice the cutbacks, the discounts will not fix the problem. All the discounted rates do is reinforce the newly diminished value you have assigned your property. Worse, the changes in service amenities only support that notion.
A blanket note to the hospitality industry–Do not cut back on your services. Reductions in services and discounting rates is what killed the airline industry. The airlines are still trying to figure out how to make money under that formula–and not doing a very good job of either making money or providing good service. My recommendation is to improve your service, enhance your value, promote your differentiation, offer perks to your valued customers and they will come and they will stay. Cutting back on various amenities and service only serve to save money today; but, it will diminish your overall long-term value. Is losing customers worth the risk for saving a few bucks? I trust the answer is “no.”
The lost value of good service
By · CommentsIn yesterday’s blog, I referenced a Wall Street Journal story about hotels cutting back on amenities to save money and the fact that an industry which takes pride in service as a differentiator would risk its customer loyalties by cutting back on those very services that add value. If the past failings, both financial and in customer losses, of the airline industry is indicator, this is a dangerous, downward spiral that is hard to pull out of once it gets started.
I received several comments that responded in very direct agreement to these thoughts. However, one comment took the conversation to another level. The premise of the commentary was the definition of and the level of service in business overall has diminished. I found these comments so compelling and real that I had to share in a separate blog.
The “erosion of service is happening in every aspect of business today. As a consumer, at first I enjoy the so called reduction in price, but once I experience the poor service I feel cheated and used which often leads me to stop using the service or product. If businesses would focus more on quality and customer experience then maybe we can turn around our economy. Unfortunately too many in charge of our corporations today have forgotten what it takes to be successful over the long-term and only care about short term fixes.” Thanks Marshall and right on.
As long as businesses think they can ‘get away’ with the elimination of services or in diminishing their service, they will continue to do so. What they do not realize is that once their customer finds a better offering, be it diminished service at a lower price or better service at the same price or comparable value overall, they are gone. Customers that leave because of the perception of poor value or diminished service rarely return. Are the risks associated with these cost cutting tactics really worth it in the long-term? I doubt it. Protect and promote your service values–it is your one true differentiator.
Cross promotion adds value in a down economy
By · CommentsAn article in the Detroit Free Press talks about how a successful local grocery chain is offering a restaurant discount card to shoppers who spend $100 or more. In a push to encourage people to support local eateries, Hiller’s has created a program known as Hometown First. These are the types of cross promotional activities that create valued partner connections in a down economy. The community oriented nature of this promotion is very, very cool. More importantly, it demonstrates the commitment of a food store like Hiller’s to the business community. This is a great lesson to all businesses. Build strong partners–you never know how they can support you later!
When you examine your business community, what are some of the cross promotional relationships you can develop to try to drive your customers to other businesses and attract their customers to your business? When people buy from you, it is expected that they trust your product and your service. Creating a cross promotional relationship with another business or business segment has the same effect as a referral. In today’s economy, everyone could use more referrals. Give it some thought.
An important time to listen to your customers
By · CommentsOne of my favorite and reliable blog sites by Bill Caskey featured 
a very interesting commentary about customer service, including this cartoon. In today’s economic environment, customer service is viewed by business owners as an expense and by customers as that extra value that makes a difference. When you cut back on service, what does that do to your customer relationship?
Now is the time to connect with your clients and listen to what they are saying about you, your business, and their perception of the value you bring to the market. According to Caskey, “if your market is saying your price is too high, then you’re doing a lousy job of communicating your value. You’d better change.” Right on point.
Take this one step further. Sometimes the value we think we are providing is different than what the customer actually values. Not only is it important to communicate our value, it is essential that we understand that value from the customer’s perspective. That is why it is so critical in these highly challenged times to know what your customers value in your business relationship with them. This is the time to connect and learn by getting in front of your customers and listen to what they are saying.
Before you cut back on that service and benefit that you think you can quietly eliminate, you had better make sure you know how your customer feels about it. Cutting expenses through layoffs and the elimination of services may result in lost customers. When your revenue drops even further, what is your next course of action? It is better to connect with and listen to your customers’ perception of value and your organization’s effectiveness in providing it before you eliminate the one thing that they really value.
For GM to change, their leadership must exit first!
By · CommentsWe hardly picked up any words of wisdom from White House adviser David Axelrod regarding the automotive industry on Meet the Press today. In discussing the automotive companies, Axelrod says, “we’re going to need a major restructuring of these companies. How that restructuring comes is something that has to be determined. But it’s going to be something that’s going to require sacrifice not just from the autoworkers, but also from creditors, from shareholders and the executives who run the company, and everyone’s going to have to get together here to build companies that can compete in the future.” Mostly correct, not entirely true, highly impossible.
What is really needed is a significant change in leadership. Leadership is the only component that has not changed, to date:
First, there is nothing that suppliers can give as GM has already bled them to death with their target pricing tactics or taking the 30 days net discounts even though they are paying net 60, or more. The suppliers are already stretched thin by GM’s purchasing strategies.
Second, while the legacy costs associated with the unions are a point of contention. It is hard to criticize the unions for the recent concessions they have made that make them more competitive in real costs to non-union foreign based workers. With the exception of the elimination of the jobs bank, there is not a lot left to give.
Finally, the recent retirement of Bob Lutz and the move of Tony Cervone to United Airlines, signals that the gravy train days of the executives at GM are obviously over. It is about time. But it is quite overdue.
Conclusion? It is time the entire executive suite be given a layoff in much the same way layoffs are given to the common employee–no golden parachute, normal severance package, and nothing else. As, President and CEO since 2000, Rick Wagoner has been the unproductive force behind GM’s losses in market share, stock price and profits. Wagoner did not take any real or corrective action until he sensed that he could convince Congress to fork over taxpayer money to save his job and his company. Then and now he seems to be real busy and real aggressive in proposing change. For Wagoner, these actions are way too little and way too late in the game. The best course of action for our government is to empty the executive suite and ask Jack Welch and Warren Buffet to build a team of experts to get GM in order. In the meantime, get Rick Wagoner out of GM–he does not deserve a second chance.
What are your thoughts? What do you feel about Rick Wagoner’s performance and whether he deserves to keep his job?
The Game has Changed, Do You Know the Rules?
By · CommentsThe Five Agreements that Create Conformity in a Nonconforming Environment
There is a constant, evolutionary change in motion in our economy. The recent economic events of this past year demonstrate that these changes, while potentially unavoidable, are often unpredictable. As businesses strive to chart a reliable and steady course to sustainable growth, the continuous influences of change require them to be innovative, adaptive, and agile. How a business learns to maintain its core values while being flexible and nimble defines its ability to be a sustainable enterprise.
The key components to building and maintaining a sustainable enterprise in the face of constant evolutionary change are:
1. Effectively engaging the customer and enhancing the customer experience
2. Proactively enrolling the participation of all stakeholders in the strategic and implementation process
3. Establishing an organizational culture that is single mindedly focused on one goal, one result
4. Developing a leadership environment that motivates, nurtures and promotes
5. Leveraging the online tools to collaborate, connect, and communicate effectively
Strategic Resource Group, LLC provides two excellent resources for businesses to examine the strength of their organization to respond to this rapidly changing and dynamic environment:
1. Our Strategic Planning Workbook is specifically designed for successful implementation planning in 
conjunction with our “The Game Has Changed, Do You Know the Rules?” workshop. Business is about change. Understanding how to manage that change and readily embrace the benefits of that change is the key to sustainability. Creating a culture that builds leadership, values relationships, and embraces a single- minded purpose is how a business weathers the storm and adapts in the face of adversity. In this workbook, we provide a step-by-step process, to engage your team in this process of examination and change. We also assist your team in creating an environment that challenges the existing rules and redefines initiatives, ensuring a vibrant and sustaining enterprise. This workbook can be also used as a planning tool for those who want to explore the current situation in their organization independent of the workshop.
2. Our “The Game Has Changed, Do You Know the Rules?” Workshop. In this workshop we apply the content and the information assembled from the workbook. By creating an interactive and collaborative environment, we get your team communicating, solving, strategizing, and acting on the Five Agreements. This program is NOT designed to make participants comfortable! In this environment, challenging the rules and avoiding the traditional is what it takes to make and build a vibrant enterprise. Participants go on a hard ride. In the end, they walk away with a fresh and challenging perspective and are empowered with the confidence and the ability to take action.
Video:The Game has Changed, Do You know the Rules?
Other Training: Who Says Sales Has to be This Hard?
Customer Service Effects Revenues
By · CommentsCustomer service, or the lack of it, will have direct and immediate effect on your revenues. It seems that there are a lot of companies protecting their bottom line at the risk of customer satisfaction. In today’s economic environment, people are very careful how they spend their money. When they do, they want to enjoy the experience. When the experience stinks, they will not be back.
Customer service has always been one of the most essential business issues. In tough economic times it is even more important. Business Week featured an article “When Service Means Survival” that discusses how “keeping customers happy is more critical than ever.” Customers have choices and your business had better deliver what they are expecting when they come to your business. BW also features a list of their Top 25 customer service champs– a great place to benchmark your business against.
Yesterday I experienced the two ends of the spectrum in customer service in less than two hours. I had dinner in Scottsdale, AZ at Macayo’s Mexican Restaurant. I generally eat here regularly; but, like everyone else I have cut back. I really enjoy the outdoor patio and the food. Last night the service was terrible. My order was delivered wrong, I had to help myself to a second serving of chips, and when I needed the attention of my server, I had to actually go into the restaurant and track her down just to get her attention. Not a very good experience at all. Will I be back? Maybe. I can assure you I will think about it twice. And, if I find a Mexican restaurant that features some of the things I liked about this one, I will not be back. Take note that I am at least looking for alternatives–not a good sign if you are trying to build consumer loyalty.
I went to FedEx Kinko’s, excuse me FedEx Office (a huge branding error and a different discussion) in Scottsdale. It was a little later in the night and not very busy. I walked in expecting to have to drop off my order for my Social Media Workbooks. Instead, the clerk started working on copying and binding them right away. In fact, he got busy on it so quickly that I realized that with a 15 minute wait I was going to walk out of there with my order. Great. I will not have to come back to pick it up. My experience was one of pleasant surprise and tremendous satisfaction. I will be back. (Note, this is not the first time I have had a great experience at this Scottsdale location.)
Lessons learned. It takes only one bad experience to lose a customer. When you lose them, they are gone! Can your business risk lost revenues? If the answer is “no”, you had better start paying very close attention to your service–it is the key to sustaining revenues.
Missing some accountability
By · CommentsAccording to Wikipedia, accountability is “the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies”. It’s way past appropriate to hear someone take accountability for the collapse of their company under their leadership in the midst of this mess. Or, at least have a board hold one of these failed leaders to a higher level of accountability by showing someone out the door. This blame the economy excuse simply does not resonate anymore.
I came across a quote attributed to Alex Rodriguez in an interview where, in admitting to steroid use, he justified it because he felt the need to live up to the expectation of a $250 million contract. Really? So it is the contract’s fault? Sounds like we are supposed to understand a justification defense instead of an accountability statement. I do not need to know why he used steroids. I do not even care that he used the steroids. It would have been more a demonstration of his accountability if he had said, I did something very wrong, very inappropriate, and something that was very contradictory for a responsible athlete. That would have represented his accountability.
An example of accountability is found in the Saturday Wall Street Journal. This article talks about how the marines took accountability for the crash of a jet in a San Diego neighborhood in December 2008. The marines launched an investigation and openly, publicly criticized 12 marines responsible for their actions that would have helped avoid the crash that killed four people from one family. Essentially these people’s military careers are over. They were held accountable and the marines accepted accountability for this event. End of story.
Not to confuse the economy with the real life and death tragedy of the San Diego crash; however, there are lives being affected every day in the midst of this economic meltdown and no none has yet to take accountability for their irresponsible, greedy, short sided policies and actions that facilitated this mess. To quote Peggy Noonan in her article, “nowhere did we see a board come out and say: ‘This is what happened, these are the decisions these particular people made, and this was the result. They are no longer a part of our organization.” It is only appropriate that those who directed this mess be held accountable. We are definitely missing some accountability here. It is about time somebody was held accountable.
When your team is in fear
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In this economic environment fear, an emotional response to threats and danger, has gripped a great deal of people. Businesses are fearful about the future. Revenues are down, spending is constrained, layoffs have become a real possibility and many businesses wonder if they are going to make it through this severe down cycle. What about the employees in these businesses? Their friends, co-workers, relatives, and neighbors have all lost jobs. They know that things cannot continue the way they are or they may lose their jobs. Fear has gripped our economy.
As a leader in your business this produces a bigger challenge. For your business to move past these challenges, your team needs to be motivated and stimulated. Fear has a tendency to freeze people in their tracks. This was no more highlighted to me when I was copied on an email between two people, one of which had been recently terminated and was personally feeling the sting of the event. While the comments were less than motivating or empathetic, its tone spoke to the mindset of many of those currently employed who are simply trying not to lose their jobs:
“You have to approach this without a chip on your shoulder. When I visited you in October, you had sent this book [The Five Dysfunctions of a Team] to your boss asking him to read about how he could change and re-vamp the attitude of his company. Not a cool thing to do in these economic times. While you probably did nothing wrong, these are not times to challenge the President of your company. Whether we like it or not, they are looking for cut backs and it sucks. And, we just need to keep our mouths to the grindstone and work forward. You have to realize that no company really gives a shit about what you think, because they don’t. They just merely want you to peacefully do the job they ask of you.”
When people are simply doing their jobs without any motivation or sense of empowerment to innovate or stimulate change in an organization, that business is at an even greater risk than getting blasted by the economy. As leaders in these times, we must encourage and empower and motivate our teams to find ways to enhance and improve the business. While we are immediately and centrally focused on the revenues and cost side of the business spectrum right now, we cannot lose sight that the ideas or solutions that will save our business is probably not in cost savings. Rather, it will be found in your passionate, motivated, and innovative team working together to turn things around. Great results emanate from motivated and focused teams working together to accomplish great things.
Is your team living in fear? If so, pull them together and get them working together on something other than simply trying to save their job. Playing not to lose is playing defensively. In football, the defense rarely scores. Get your team on the offense. That is where your business has a much better chance of scoring and winning.
Another look at “Fear”
By · CommentsIn yesterday’s blog I touched on the impact of fear on an organization and how, as leaders, we need to help our team feel empowered and energized to be a component of change and improvement, instead of allowing them to be fearful of the current events and the potential impact on their jobs.
In a very defining blog by Marcia Ruben, she discusses the impact of fear in our own decision making process. In it Ruben says, “The decisions and actions I take when I am in the grip of fear do not move me forward. In fact, they move me backwards. If your reactions are like mine, your actions as a leader could create what I call a Frozen Tangle-an organization paralyzed with fear with little or no creative actions.”
Fear based decisions are not productive decisions. As discussed yesterday, fear is an “emotional response to threats and danger.” As leaders, we cannot make sound strategic decisions when gripped by fear. In this environment our ability to lead without fear will define our business and the focus and the motivation of our team. Instead of focusing in fear– the fear of failure or, the fear of making a bad decision– focus on the outcomes desired and the best paths to drive your business in that direction. Focus on the outcome and the positive net effect that outcome will have on your business. When you do that you are now focusing on something productive and positive. That is the focus you need to have. Reacting and responding to your fears, freezes you and your business and your team. Take the lead and focus on positive outcomes and positive, forward thinking strategies. Your business will move forward and productively into the future.
Left out of the Stimulus Package-Real Jobs!
By · CommentsIt is interesting that small business, that sector that has actually created real jobs in the past few years have received less than 1% of the stimulus package funds. With all attention and big stimulus money given to the big companies as part of the economic stimulus, it is big business who have been shedding jobs not creating them. While the small businesses that have created jobs are struggling to survive and cannot access a line of credit are left ignored at the feeding trough.
Lost in this stimulus package–real stimulus and real job creation. Big companies cater to their investors first. Investors are only looking for immediate improvements in profits. There is no real opportunity for job creation until the investors and the analysts are satisfied that the earnings picture for them has improved. There are no jobs on the horizon for big corporate America. The stimulus for real job creation through these big companies will not occur for at least 12 months. Need an indicator of this behavior, look at how ineffective TARP has been at pumping money into the economy. It has been a miserable failure. These banks are using the capital to stabilize their business not to stimulate loans. The economic stimulus will have the same near term results. Businesses will use this money to creatively shore up their balance sheets and generate sales without adding jobs.
Real job creation comes from job stimulation. Small businesses are more adept at innovation, growth and change. Pump a little money their way and they can and will create jobs. But, a little money is certainly a great deal more than the measly 1% built into the package. That is plain insulting. Small business was obviously not something our Congressional leaders or President Obama even looked at as they were writing fat checks. Once again our government has focused on wasting money on the big guys, with all the lobbyist influence and their short-sighted, investor driven behaviors. While the true innovative and job creating machine, the small businesses in this country, are left out in the cold.
Wake up President Obama and Congress–Small business grows jobs!! Send serious stimulus money to the small businesses in this country where it will have a real and immediate effect.
Hard to ignore the statistics. Over 4.4 million job losses this recession, 742,200 in March, 651,ooo in February and no end in sight. Put that figure next to the all the money tossed about lately–$173 billion floated to AIG, the $30 billion that GM has tapped in to, or the whopping $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) or President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package. Contrasting the two sets of statistics makes me wonder what the hell is going on?
To anyone who reads this blog, please help me answer these questions:
1. Why are we throwing big money at bad debt while we are blindly and willingly allowing the American worker to lose their jobs at record pace?
2. Does anyone in our government realize that until people who actually purchase things has a job in order to buy stuff, we will not have an economic recovery?
The math is all off. We are propping up corporations and protecting investors while the people who really do spend money and need their money to live are losing their incomes. Here are my suggestions:
1. Investors do not deserve protection from bad investments. It is called “risk” for a reason. Sometimes when you take on “risk” the results are less than desirable. We have created a welfare state for the investor class. How ironic.
2. The government needs to provide more stimulus for the innovations of small business. They are the real job creators. Interesting to note that two hours after I posted a blog on this subject, President Obama added $16 billion to small businesses as stimulus.
3. If your business has been so poorly managed, for example GM losing $82 billion in four years, to the point where you need government aid. Uncle Sam is here for you. Three conditions: First, the entire Executive Team and the Board of Directors must be replaced; Second, all employment contracts are null and void–Mr. Executive, you get the severance package everyone else gets; Third, we will help you decide who replaces these people.
I wonder if anyone would want a bailout then?
This year the joke is on the American Worker struggling to keep their jobs and pay their bills. It is too bad these people are being punished for the irresponsible behaviors of others. It is worse, because our government “of the people” and “by the people” is ignoring “the people” that make our economic engine go! Here’s hoping that next year we can all look at this and smile–I am concerned we won’t be laughing yet.
Your Branding Message
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In the introductory conversation, the information shared and the interest created will have a significant influence on the future of that relationship. We have all heard it many, many times before, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” This video clip explores the importance of including a branding statement in that introductory conversation to create interest and provide some understanding of your value proposition as a contact and a future professional resource.
Now that I have your attention-it won’t work. Every time I have someone present to me the “we can save you money on…” pitch as part of their introductory conversation I cringe. Then, I look for the owner of the company because they really need my help. Yes, nearly everyone is looking to save money. That does not mean that by simply saving them money, they will give you the business. If you are the low cost producer and you can save people money, why isn’t everyone buying from you? It is because the purchasing decision involves much more than simply saving money or lowering costs.
Here is what happens when you pitch the “lower your cost” or “save you money” solution:
1. Your prospect hears cheap. Yes, they may be looking to save money. No, they are not looking to buy something cheap that will have an adverse effect on their business in some other way. When you tout cheap you bring risk into the sales formula and most business owners today are risk adverse.
2. You are diluting your value proposition. Your current customers are buying from you for a reason other than “low cost” or “cheap”. Instead of saying “we can save you money”, you need to be saying “we provide businesses with …” and define your value proposition. Businesses are very interested in solutions that add value.
3. You are making brash assumptions that are actually a turn off to your prospect. In today’s business environment people are looking to connect with individuals who have ideas, connections, or solutions for their business. They are not looking for pushy salespeople. When you pitch like a salesperson, they now think of you for what you sell not how you can be a great resource for them. Can you afford to pitch lots of prospects without building connections? I know I can’t. Find a story that defines your business acumen and your potential value proposition for their business other than price. You will build a better and stronger professional connection.
At all costs avoid the “save you money” pitch. It is tired, worn out, and very outdated. People are looking for resources and solutions to their real business issues. Simply saving money is important, though not tantamount. Put value into your sales conversation it is much more productive.
You are not supposed to fail!
By · CommentsIf you have not had the opportunity to observe the phenomenon associated with Susan Boyle, you need to. Here is a person who least looked the part as a potential reality show music star until she started singing. And then, 
“wow!” The most amazing part of her performance was that she didn’t know that she was supposed to fail. As a result, her fearless, incredible, moving and powerful performance belied talent that no one could have predicted of her as she walked onto the stage.
In our life we constantly have choices. Do we really envision our success or are we most likely afraid of failing? Educators taught us by emphasizing the importance of getting the right answers thus, inadvertently conditioning us to be afraid of getting the wrong ones. Our parents spent more time telling us “no” than they did “yes”. Many of our life choices have been safe and responsible because we were encouraged to simply get a job and work hard. By becoming “Dilberts” we have become a risk adverse society that limits individualism and personal innovation. Playing it safe is entirely different than living the dream.
Enter Susan Boyle. A woman who fearlessly does not realize she is supposed to fail. Now, it is your turn. In this challenging and changing environment it is time for you to take control of you! As you enter into your daily chores envision your success. Believe in what your value is. Take steps everyday to be who and what you have decided you want to be and therefore, are. Do not let anyone derail you from your mission, vision, and goals for they may not be able to envision the potential in your dreams. Surround yourself with people who see you for your value and your greatness. Those are the ones who will stimulate you, motivate you, and drive you. Remember, you bring something special to this world and worrying about failing is not part of the success formula. Remember, you are not supposed to fail. You are special–go make it happen!
Social Media, Now What?
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Mark your calendars for this very exciting and informative seminar. There will be a valuable workshop offering at this event. Please be sure to attend!
Not Your Typical “Sales Book”
By · CommentsCooked Up Sales – Another Great Selling Recipe
Great sales is quite simple–build powerful relationships based on trust and become a valued business resource. Focus on those two priorities and you will be successful. Cooked Up Sales provides a clear and concise methodology designed to provide you with the insight and the tools to effectively build relationships, understand how to really identify what your clients need, and how to create and deliver valuable solutions.
The joy that comes from connecting with people, building long lasting professional relationships, solving problems, and being a valued consultative resource is what really makes effective selling enjoyable. This book is for people who are interested in learning how to create business relationships, solve problems, connect with your resources and, along the way, enjoy the successes associated with these activities.
Readers of this book:
- Discover the selling power of building effective relationships
- Understand that selling is all about listening, learning, understanding and solving
- Recognize the negative effects that pure, traditional sales behaviors have on the selling process
- Realize that the best solution is not what we want to sell, but is what the customer really needs for their business
- Are entertained and enlightened by the personal experiences injected throughout the book
Price: $19.95 plus S+H
What the experts think:
“Congratulations David! Your book, Cooked Up Sales, is a winner. You have effectively created a very simple to understand, yet powerful sales process for the small business entrepreneur and the early career sales professional. So many people misunderstand sales, and have no clue how to build a process that works for them, that they keep the failure rate of start-ups needlessly high. I believe with your book you have helped your readers get past their own fears and doubts about being able to even be successful, into developing the critical processes necessary for their companies to build the performance they only dreamed of the day they opened. Well done!”
Michael D. Goodman, Executive Director, International Sales Pros Association, LLC
“Every entrepreneur and small business owner is selling something and most of us wish we were better at it. Forget spending thousands of dollars on sales training…Cooked Up Sales gives you all the ingredients you need. In plain English, Dave explains the entire sales process – everything from how to qualify a prospect to closing a deal and managing the relationship beyond. Read this book and start selling the right way NOW!”
John Adam Kowalski, CEO/President, Pivot Productions and Executive Producer/Host, The John Adam Show
“Dave is an expert at the business of sales and sales process. Sales executives and business owners are always looking for a leg up on the competition. Cooked Up Sales delivers that advantage. It is a quick read full of insightful examples and sales process tips. Following Dave’s recipes will result in a bountiful sales dinner indeed.”
Andrew Bourne, CEO/Serial Entrepreneur, WayPoint Technologies Inc
“’The Sales Cooke’ does it again! All too often, businessmen and businesswomen are inundated with a plethora of business self help books designed to catch your attention and your pocketbook! As you know, choices abound with the ‘must have’ strategies and tools all positioned to be THE very best thing to solve all of life’s problems. Sound familiar? You bet it does. Enter ‘The Sales Cooke.’ David Cooke has taken a very straight-forward, non-nonsense approach to Sales and the Sales cycle. His clever use of analogies is simple, understandable not to mention easy to execute. Mr. Cooke draws his strength from the school of ‘hard knocks’ thereby providing relevancy for the reader and those serious about trying a simple approach toward Sales. This is one ‘recipe’ you don’t want to overlook.”
Mark Yadach, Chief Operating Officer, The Shenton Group, LLC
“Too many authors try to makes sales more complicated than it really is. Cooked Up Sales is a refreshing return to basics that provides some excellent insight into managing the sales process, building relationships and understanding your customers. All of this leads to a roadmap for creating and communicating compelling win-win solutions that get you to “yes”.”
Paul Sim, CEO, Gap View Enterprises
The World of “Should”
By · CommentsI was attracted to a blog topic this morning about the fact that “we don’t live in a world of should”. When I read this blog, I felt that there was more potential in developing that concept. As a results oriented person, “should” is a word I work very hard at keeping out of my vocabulary. As Lance Haun says in his blog, “do or do not. There is no try.” I couldn’t agree more. With “should”, it goes deeper than that.
When we use the word should, we are recognizing a need to do something. By using “should”, it is as if someone else is responsible for taking action. I don’t buy that. If you observe a “should” you have now become accountable for being part of the action to change it. If you believe someone “should” dress differently, communicate better, treat people better, work harder, or raise the quality of their work, you have simply passed judgement. I do not have time for judgement related observations, I am too focused on results. If it is important enough for you to pass judgement, you are now accountable for taking action. As the person who identifies a need, you now need to take action to fix, correct or improve it. If you are not willing to create change or help make improvements to a situation, take the “should” commentary out of your vocabulary and stop passing judgement. Listen to yourself when you use the word “should”. My bet is that it is often linked to what you think someone else needs to be doing.
Why don’t you simply replace that “should” with the word “need”. Need is more action oriented. When you determine a need for someone, they cannot get there without your coaching or insight. “Need” has a hint of accountability and it certainly is not judgemental. Think about it.
Your Business Has a Personality
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Your business has a personality–it is known as your team and the culture they represent. Lost in the shuffle over the last eighteen months of layoffs, cutbacks, and re-organizations is the fact that with these dramatic changes, your business has lost something important–its persona.
The impact of these changes are reflected in sudden shifts in customer satisfaction, losses in client retention, increased competitive threats, and a decrease in employee morale and performance. These shifts occur every time a person leaves the organization and they take a piece of your business with them. The greater the number in size of the departures, the larger the chunks that are removed.
As you begin the process of rebuilding and reclaiming your business, remember to re-capture the personality of your business. Your team works best as a team when that personality is developed and protected. Feed the culture, encourage a team mindset, and bring stability back to the organization. Activities around employee development, simple recognition and rewards, and celebrating small victories all contribute to a positive, nurturing environment. If you have experienced some level of reduction or churn, you have lost valuable intellectual property that has hurt your culture and is manifesting itself in diminished performance. You owe it to your team and your customers to rebuild the personality of your business. It is never too costly to invest in the well-being of your team. Now, more than ever, it is one of the most important activities you can engage in. I am confident the performance and the results will improve because of it.
The Essence of Your Company
By · CommentsAs businesses continue to shed jobs to maintain a healthy bottom line, there is an element t
o these activities that most financially inspired leaders are missing — the long- term and very real cost of these layoffs. The short-term benefit is theoretically a healthier bottom line. The long-term cost is the impact on intellectual property and corporate culture. And, twelve months from now when these companies start to hire again they will spend time, money, and resources training the new people to do what the terminated and eliminated people already knew how to do. I would like to challenge all business owners to take a broader view at the real essence of the corporation and creatively look past the mere financial components and short-term thinking.
While in Detroit last week, I had an opportunity to reconnect with one of my colleagues, Leslie Kusek. In talking Detroit, layoffs and job losses are always part of the conversation. Leslie nailed it for me when we were talking about the impact of these job losses on the corporation. The impact is more than financial. It is cultural. As Leslie rightly described, “corporate culture is the essence of a company“. One of the fundamental keys to corporate sustainability is corporate culture. Massive layoffs and job reductions will have long-term financial downsides. More importantly, the real and immediate downside is the impact these actions have on the essence of the company — its culture.
Corporate culture is:
- That common thread that connects your people to your clients, your market, and your industry.
- That component from which your unique value proposition is derived and sustained.
- How your team gets motivated and focused on the mission, values and goals.
Anyone can look at a balance sheet and reduce head count to stabilize the financials. Numbers are not creative or innovative; they are just numbers. It takes a real leader to recognize how to creatively make those decisions with an eye toward maintaining the essence of the company — the corporate culture. Before you take another knife to soul of your company, think about both the immediate and long-term impacts these decisions will have on your business and focus on how to save the company while protecting the essence of the business. And, if you get stuck, call me and I will walk you through it.
Persuasive Selling
By · CommentsI have not been one to spend a whole lot of time emphasizing the art of persuasion in selling. It has been my experience that persuasion training as part of sales training often crosses the line into manipulation training. According to Wikipedia persuasion is “guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action.” While manipulation is “a means of gaining control over others by methods which might be considered unfair” or unscrupulous (my word). It seems that too often the sales methodology is to “do what it takes” to get someone to buy something. That does not feel like a persuasion technique–it feels more forceful or manipulative. As a result of the fine line in this behavioral discussion, I rarely talk about persuasion in my sales coaching or training.
That said, I ran across a blog that I enjoyed for the way it defined the key components of persuasion. Kept to the strictest teachings of this blog, I could easily encourage people to add to their sales toolkit the art of persuasion. The author, Alexandra Levit wrote this insightful blog, “Want to Learn the Art of Persuasian? Consult Aristotle“. I found it informative for the simple reason that she broke effective persuasion into four components that very closely align with my relationship and solution based selling mindset. The four keys to persuasive behaviors are:
- Show credibility: Credibility and rapport are the foundation for effective relationship building activities. You cannot build trust in a relationship without credibility.
- Find ways to identify with your audience: As explained in this blog, “identify” means learn and understand, so that you can better communicate and position yourself. Most salespeople miss this one by a mile. They are so busy working their agenda that they fail to really learn and connect with their clients. Listen and learn is how you truly “identify” with your clients.
- Use logic: Persuasion requires sound reasoning. Persuasion is not emotion based. Clients are looking to solve problems not simply buy your stuff. Thinking that they need what you are selling is not logical. Demonstrating how your offering solves a direct and specific problem with a clear and defined value is logical and very productive.
- Incite positive emotions: The words that Levit uses are “confidence”, “emulation” and “friendship”. Personally I would avoid the friendship goal as I am not looking to be liked– I am looking to be trusted. That said, generating positive emotions and energy creates a great deal of confidence and trust.
As a sales professional it is important to remember that persuasion is not part of a game to get someone to do something in your favor. It is however, a valuable tool that can help you better connect and communicate with your clients to build strong and productive business relationships.
“We don’t support that anymore…”
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Where's my replacement parts?
Another fine example of the lost art of customer service. My wireless carrier is not carrying the Palm 700W anymore. I am not sure of the reason, nor do I really care. I bought the product when they were carrying it and I have been utilizing Verizon for the replacement parts necessary to keep it running. Since this phone is not being carried by Verizon anymore, the replacements parts, like the battery, are not being carried either. Now what? To solve my problem, I have two options:
1. Hope I can find a battery at battery store, like Batteries Plus. Or,
2. Buy a new phone.
Wonder what Verizon is hoping I am going to do? Buy a new phone? Wrong. I can tell you what I am NOT going to do–I am not going to buy a new phone from Verizon. I will buy a new phone when I am ready. And, if Verizon’s policies make me buy a new phone when I am not ready, it is time to take my business somewhere else.
Customer Service Lesson: When you sell someone a product, you are obligated to service it. This is like buying a car and then going to the auto dealer only to find out that I can’t get parts for the repair. It simply does not happen. I expect my suppliers to support my purchasing decisions by providing me the service I need, when I need it. If they cannot do that, they do not deserve my business. Obviously the “dollar gods” are doing the thinking here. What I am thinking is that they may have lost a customer.
The Consumer’s Dilemma
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As we watch the US automotive fiasco unfold before our very eyes, the consumer is faced with a new set of very interesting choices. Do I buy from a foreign owned company? Do I buy from a government owned company? Or, do I support a struggling US based company trying to turn the business around without the benefits of a “controlled bankruptcy” and government funds? Respectively the choices are Chrysler, GM and Ford. While President Obama recently defended and supported the many benefits and necessities of the Chrysler and GM aid saying, “General Motors will reemerge from financial turmoil a ’strong company’ and that permitting it and Chrysler LLC to collapse could have triggered an economic depression,” I am just not there. And even if that was the right decision, what about Ford?
Quite frankly, even though I am technically going to be an owner of the new GM (Government Motors), I feel that as consumers we must strive to find value in the Ford product line-up. At least, we need to be looking to buy Ford first. Why? It is quite simple. How Ford has worked itself through this economic disaster, without any type of bankruptcy or federal money, represents the foundation of our free enterprise, capitalist society. As a result, their road is tougher and riskier. According to Paul Ingrassia in a recent Wall Street Journal article, “while General Motors and Chrysler will emerge from the government restructuring wringer with significantly reduced debt, Ford will still likely be obliged to repay its lenders. This could put Ford at a competitive disadvantage — an unfortunate irony for the one Detroit car company that has gotten the decisions mostly right in the last few years.” For that reason alone, we as consumers, need to take a long look at Ford. If Ford does not offer the products you desire, that is Ford’s problem. But, we need to give Ford a chance. I think they have earned it.
Manufacturing Reality in the US
By · CommentsThe future of manufacturing in the US – is it really a strategic requirement?
In the shadows of the recent activities to preserve and protect the US Automotive industry, specifically the government’s intervention in saving Chrysler and Government Motors (the new GM), the question regarding the criticality of US manufacturing is an interesting one. First, let’s quickly review the harsh realities:
1. Economics: As global manufacturing capacity continues to increase as it has since last June, any effort to protect a manufacturing oriented industry is probably a wasted effort. The fact that capacity continues to increase, prices will continue to fall. With a decrease in prices, higher wage countries like the US, will have an increased difficulty in maintaining and protecting its manufacturing base. Unless costs like wages, land, and overall operations are significantly reduced, the US manufacturing sector cannot be cost competitive especially in an era of significant capacity.
2. Evolution: According to the research of Walt Rostow there are five stages of economic development. The fourth stage describes an economy that produces a wide range of goods and services and a diminished reliance on imports. Transition to the fifth stage, the economy is focused on the mass consumption with durable industries flourish and the service sector becomes more prevalent. I would argue that our economy has started to move past the stage where manufacturing is at the core of our economy. Our economic cycle cannot sustain a manufacturing focus.
The Solution: The key to the American ideal has always been our ability to innovate. When we go to such great lengths to protect a truly global and very mature domestic industry with the capacity and the economies to produce vehicles cheaper elsewhere, we are losing sight of the real issue, our own reluctance to truly evolve. This is exemplified by an educational system that is deficient in educating our future innovators and risk-takers, by our financial institutions which have fostered and embraced a culture of immediate and unrealistic return on investment and a government which is focused on preserving aging institutions, like the US auto industry, at the expense of rewarding and funding technological innovations like high speed rail systems and alternative energy programs.
This reminds me of the campaign pledges made in the state of Michigan in the 2006 gubenatorial campaign where incumbent Governor Jennifer Granholm pledged to the workers that she would keep manufacturing jobs in Michigan. It is what the workers wanted to hear. It is not what they needed to be told.
There comes a stage in every economic cycle where the economy must evolve, or die. Michigan is the bell weather of our reality. Where is Michigan today? With record unemployment and massive losses in housing equity it is in a state of economic disaster. I am not saying that could happen to the entire US economy. However, the myopic preservation of manufacturing jobs can be that detrimental to effective evolution in a struggling economy.
Protect US manufacturing at all costs? I think not.
Invest and reward in those who innovate and take risks? Money well spent.
Stop Selling Me Your “Junk”
By · CommentsReality check: Just because it is valuable to you, do not expect it will be of value to me! 
Too many salespeople and business owners get all excited about the wonderful things associated with their product. When I ask them about the benefit of their offering they can excitedly list a litany of all the fantastic features and benefits and competitive advantages they provide. So what?
I understand that they are passionate about what they offer. I am thrilled that they have found so many points to get excited about. In reality, I do not share the same enthusiasm or interest. As a potential customer, I am more interested in what this product can do for ME!
“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure“. I can only find value in the “junk” that will help me with my needs, challenges, and issues. Remember, people only purchase something for one of four reasons: It saves them money, it makes them money, it solves a problem, or it fulfills a need. Until you understand what their buying motivations are, all you are promoting is your passion and excitement over your “junk”.
In the early phases of my client engagements they talk to me about getting customers and prospects to make decisions. They talk about how their product can save their clients time, money, payroll, people, customers, etc. What my clients have not realized yet is that they do not know or understand the view from their customers perspective. Until you know (meaning they have specifically and directly told you because you asked great questions) what your potential customers are looking for, you have no way to position your junk as having any value. Remember, what you are selling may be very valuable to you. Until your customers recognize the value it provides them, you are simply and passionately raving about your “junk”. Take the time to learn about your customers motivations, interests and needs and then you can simply share with them this wonderful little treasure you have discovered that can help them. Done right, your customers will see the value for themselves.
Two other resources with perspective on this topic:
Mobile Mentor: Driven to Success
By · Comments
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Tough Road Ahead? Simply Lower the Standards
By · CommentsOne of the more obvious causes of our economic mess is the creative changes applied to the banking rules and standards. According to Adam Davidson, “banks were lending money to people who couldn’t afford it so they could buy houses that should never have been built. The banks then turned the mortgages on those houses into ever-more complex financial instruments that are now nearly impossible to value. Then the banks sold all that bad debt all around the world and made sure they got into every nook and cranny of the global economy.” The path to prosperity–a new home, better returns, quicker profits–were all stymied by the old rules that governed our economy. In the name of progress we deregulated those systems and created a new standard that lowered the requirements, the rules, and the overall governance of our economic system.
It seems like we haven’t really learned anything yet. Government Motors (the ‘new’ GM) fearful about the real and impending doom it faced as a result of generations of gross mismanagement, takes a shortcut and coaxes what will be $100 billion out of the federal government to get it through a managed bankruptcy. Once again the rules are changed to make businesses less accountable and to lower the standards for competition and executive oversight.
Finally, this past weekend featured the last of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes. There has not been a Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. It has been over 30 years since there has been a Triple Crown winner prompting legendary horse trainer D. Wayne Lukas to call for a change in the standards to make the Triple Crown more competitive (read achievable).
Why change the rules? When there wasn’t a winner from 1948 until 1973 were people clamoring for a change in the rules? No. The standard was set and accepted and passionately chased. Just like much of everything in our society today, the standards seem too high, too hard, too improbable, so let’s just lower them or change them.
We are starting to establish a dangerous precedent for our society. If things get too tough, too competitive, too long to achieve, we simply want to change the game–block foreign competition, protect jobs from going overseas, prevent the import of a better educated worker, create new accounting standards, etc. Face it, this is a global economy and the competition is fierce. You want to win at this game, work harder, be more innovative, change your game–don’t simply take shortcuts or try to change the rules. It is time for our society to step up and toughen up. Put some accountability, responsibility, and innovation in your life and your business at today’s standards and you will be amazed at the results.
Let’s Solve these Problems Together!
By · CommentsIt seems there is a trend these days to find someone or something to blame for the various occurrences in our lives. 
Whether it be the current economic mess, the failures in our business or place of work, the collapse of the US auto industry, the problems at our kids’ school or just about any sporting event. When something goes wrong, someone is to blame. Blowhard pundits and broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh have made a career out of criticizing everyone who disagrees with his view of the world. They often make it quite clear they are absolutely not the one we blame for the problem. Worse, they are rarely the ones who want to figure out and put into real action what needs to be done to fix, correct or improve the situation. These people are not really helping they are simply inciting. As a society we cannot fix any problem without taking real corrective action. True leadership is making a commitment to effectively guide people to accomplish great things. We are a society looking for leaders. We are not looking for more people to remind us of all things we need to blame people for.
Recently I posted a blog on the word “should“. I noticed that often people would use the word “should” as a way of assigning responsibility to someone else for fixing or correcting a problem or an issue. I have noticed that in many of my blogs and commentaries I do a great job of pointing out the problem: mismanaged business, poor sales behaviors, everything that is wrong with customer service and support, and even more things that really stink about the whole auto mess. I have done a great job of identifying the problem. I have been pretty effective at trying to assign blame. And, I have come very close to telling others what they “should” do to correct these issues. I have only scratched the surface at how we fix these problems or create answers to avoid them in the future. That is not enough. We need real solutions to these very real problems and challenges.
I am committed to utilizing this site as a better forum for solutions and ideas. A forum where we discuss the challenges that we face and find ways to start to create fixes for our problems. We do not need any more people telling us that someone is to blame for this mess, we already know that there is always someone to blame–even if we are wrong. What businesses and individuals and families and owners are looking for is answers to the many things that are not working for them today.
I need your help, your comments and your involvement on this blog. Let’s start solving some problems together. Instead of simply reading this blog, join me in the conversation and in finding solutions. Respond, ask questions, disagree, offer opinions and ideas, engage in a written conversation. That is what true blogging is all about. If this blog is to become a forum for ideas and problem solving it requires the engagement of many. Get in the game and start sharing. It will help us all!!!
Before Shifting Into “Sales Mode”
By · CommentsBefore shifting into sales mode, ask yourself “do I have enough information?”Learn mode is that critical spot before sales mode. It is that point where a great sales professional actually takes the time and has the real interest to identify what the prospect or client wants and needs. In fact a great sales professional understands what the client wants at a three deep level. 
What is a three deep understanding of your clients needs?
Three deep means that you know what they need, why they need it and what they envision the solution or product will do for them in their business. Going three deep provides you with perspective, knowledge, and a clearer understanding of their expectations and request. Taking the time to explore this information provides clarity and removes a lot of interpretation. The clearer your understanding and the better you understand what they want and need, reduces the potential for surprises and mistakes. Next time, before you shift into sales mode and start pitching and quoting your solution, ask yourself “do I really know enough to give my client what they want?” If you go three deep you will.
Successful Selling is Not in Your Head
By · CommentsWhat you need to know about sales is not in your head. Effective sales behaviors are based on 
establishing credibility, building effective relationships, and understanding how to solve problems for your customers. None of those behaviors requires knowing how to make the right moves, remembering the steps or tricks you learned at sales school, or coming up with the right lines to get the customer to say “yes.” Successful sales behaviors and the positive aspects of those behaviors are associated with a sincere and real commitment to engaging with and connecting to your clients and prospects. That type of behavior is instrinsic and real, it is not an act or a game or in a script to memorize and mimic.
Great sales behaviors emanate from the heart, not the head. If you want to be a successful sales professional in this new economic environment, forget the scripts and the moves and all the sales cliche’s. Get real, be sincere, build relationships and solve problems. In short, stop pitching and start solving! You need to have an honest commitment to building a credible relationship with your clients and have a sincere interest in helping them solve their problems, even if that solution does not exist in your bag of tricks. Otherwise you are simply acting out a script or following a process or methodology that most everyone in today’s environment has no interest participating in. Do yourself a favor, internalize your core values and your real commitments to your clients and use that as your sales model. And quit trying to work the playbook in your head. It will be much more beneficial for everyone.
Everyone is Looking for a “Deal”
By · CommentsWhen money is tight, people have tendency to look for “added value” and “deals” to justify or incent them to spend money. This strains business owners as they cope with the concept that they have to adjust their pricing downward, add discounts or incentives, or throw something extra in to simply entice the buyers to purchase. The strains put on businesses resulting from this shrinkage in disposable income and discretionary spending are apparent everywhere.
How does a business create interest and value and increase sales without giving away the store or diminishing the brand?
1. Do not discount your pricing: Most businesses react to tough times and economic challenges by lowering or discounting their prices. When they do that, they diminish their brand and they put themselves in a situation where they will eventually need to raise prices anyway. Hold pricing firm and get creative elsewhere.
2. Thank and reward your loyal customers: Offer loyalty cards or special incentives to your most loyal customers. Most businesses make 80% of their revenue with the top 20% of the customer list. Reward your top 20% customers with added incentives to keep purchasing from you. Even if you start your loyalty program now, find some way to retroactively calculate loyalty points that can be redeemed and leveraged today. This is a great way to say “thanks” and provides them with an incentive to stay with you versus switching to a cheaper source.
3. Keep the customers you want: This goes back to loyalty and value. Everyone has great customers and bad customers, profitable business and unprofitable business. Keep your good and profitable clients. This does not necessarily mean discounts. This means negotiate a program with them that is a win-win for both businesses. In this environment, businesses are looking for resources who are committed to helping them deal with their challenges. Find out what some of you clients’ challenges are and uncover how you can help them. Add or link that solution to your offering going forward. This enhances your value and better connects you to your valued clients.
4. Be real: You cannot expect to maintain the same level of volume during this economy. More customers, or even the same customers, and heavily discounted prices is not going to help you. Keep in mind that the economy has shrunk by about 40%. Adjust your expectations and build from there. Remember, the “road to hell is paved with volume.”
In summary, the challenge for all business owners is to find ways to be creative with their offerings and with their client relationships. Focus on the business drivers of your clients. Engaging them at their point of pain and frustration and searching for ideas and solutions that assist them is where you need to start. Too often we focus on what we need to “sell.” In today’s environment it is not about us, we need to think of the motivations and needs of our clients. When we start there, the opportunity to generate revenue for our business is enhanced.
The “Story” Around Your Unique Value Proposition
By · CommentsIt is hard not to be a fan of Kyle Lacy when he continues to provide such on-point insights. In today’s blog he declared that “All that matters is your story. You are going to be creating a story based on a marketing process but we might come to the point where it doesn’t matter what you want your story to be… your customers are going to create a story anyway. Experience is the key to the future of marketing and customer communication. They (your customer) are going to be talking NOT about your sales or PR release but how they personally experienced your product or service.” Great point.
In a previous video blog, I talked about the truly unique value proposition. In it I discussed the four dimensions of the unique value proposition. The four dimensions are: What you are Selling; What they are Buying; What are the Benefits; What is the Impact (The “Wow”). Too many businesses today are feverishly pitching their products and the related benefits without really understanding or positioning the impact or the “wow” factor. To capture the “wow” requires an understanding of the product offering from the customer’s perspective and experience. It is NOT what we think the benefits of our product or service are, it is the “story” that our customers tell based on their experience that truly defines our unique value proposition. Capturing that story helps us better position ourselves as a valued resource in the market. Failure to capture that information keeps us pitching stuff that no one has time or interest in. You are free to choose your path and sales strategy–the same old song or a great new story. As for me, I plan on going for the great “story.”
“I don’t get Twitter!”
By · Comments“I don’t get Twitter.” I hear this quite often. Many people don’t get Twitter. What they often see at the very moment they are looking at Twitter, is a lot of noise. Or, as Julia Angwin so succinctly put it in her WSJ article “When I first joined Twitter, I felt like I was in a noisy bar where everyone was shouting and nobody was listening.” When you first look at Twitter, it does seem like a lot of people are talking and no one is listening. And there are some pretty stupid and spam-like things being said. However, when you pay attention to Twitter, you will realize that the people who “get” Twitter are also responding to information from and with others by “retweeting” or commenting directly on that information. The art of any social media program is fundamentally connected to the conversation! Twitter is no exception.
My motivation for this post was a blog I read yesterday. I was disappointed to read that the reader gave up on Twitter before giving it a chance simply because they did not understand what Twitter really was. The following excerpt says it all. “Monday through Friday, I twittered business facts that were helpful hints to most readers, or so I was told. I got great professional feedback. Life was good. And then I noticed an interesting fact…my wonderful readers…became inundated with feed and weren’t able to read my helpful hints.”
Yes, Twitter provides people an opportunity to share information. More importantly, Twitter allows people to use the exchange of information and ideas to build relationships, engage in building a network or a brand, and create community through this interaction. Engaging in a one-way broadcast of information, tips, and ideas is not interactive or relationship building. In the end, that type of behavior is strictly personal promotion. Do people like that information? Yes. Will they embrace that type of one dimensional activity on Twitter? No. What this blogger, or ex-Twitterer, experienced wasn’t fans who couldn’t find the tweets, this blogger had fans who moved on to build better, stronger, conversation based or interactive oriented relationships.
Building a community of followers on Twitter requires the ability to exchange and share ideas and information. It also requires that you engage people in conversation about their thoughts and ideas. And it is going to take a lot more time and effort than one week of diligently Twittering. Next time you find that you just don’t “get” Twitter, contact me, I will help you understand it better.
Look for my next post: How I use Twitter
A Lesson in Voice Mail Etiquette
By · CommentsIt seems that more and more people these days are screening their voice mails at the office. 
Call people on their cell phones or send them an e-mail to their blackberry and you probably will get an immediate response. Call someone at their desk and I am positive they are watching the phone ring. I call a great deal of people and the percentage of answers has been consistently dropping. How could someone always not be able to answer their phone? Nobody is that busy or that important!
I must disclose that I am not much of a fan for leaving voice mails. I would rather dial until I get a live voice. Besides, very few voice mails get returned anyway. But, please do not say you are “going to call [me] back as soon as possible” when it is your likely commitment to never call me back. At least put in a caveat that says, “I only return the calls of people I know or my clients.” At least then, I know your rules. If you say you return voice messages, then return them.
I appreciate it when someone returns my calls. Even if it is to say “not interested”, I am grateful and respectful of the time taken to contact me. When I hear “no”, I move on. When I hear nothing, I find it offensive and rude. I expect my calls to be returned. I return the calls of everyone who calls me. The purpose of voice mail is not to use it to screen calls, but to allow technology to capture a message from someone interested in doing business with you.
Not getting a returned voice message is never personal. While I am always trying to figure out a resourceful way to pierce the voice mail wall, once the unprofessionalism of the unreturned voice mail comes into play, I treat making contact as the ultimate victory. After all, making contact with someone even though they are not taking or returning my calls becomes the ultimate game, in some respects.
Then there is the harsh reality. Once I realize that there will be no returned calls, I conclude that this lack of professionalism is a great indicator of company that I do not want to do business with anyway. More importantly, it is a company that I steer my clients and contacts away from, as well.
As a sales professional, I come across many business opportunities daily. I love bringing business opportunities to my clients and contacts. Even businesses who are not my customers sometimes get referrals. The only group of people who never get referrals, recommendations, or a positive acknowledgement from me are the companies whose employees do not return my calls. In the end, the cost of engaging in this self-important, unprofessional behavior is the loss of a business relationship that could steer opportunities in your direction. Is screening your phone calls and not returning voice mails really worth the potential costs of lost revenues and referrals? Think about it.
Are you following the leader or are you acting like one?
By · CommentsWhen it comes to politics in Washington, D.C. it does not matter who is in control, the majority side punishes the minority and aggressively pushes their agenda. And, ever mindful of their situation, the minority takes the opposite side, simply in hopes of finding popular footing and potential future power there. Whether the majority comes from the right, or the left, or the agenda is liberal or conservative it does not matter. What goes on in Washington, D.C. demonstrates what happens to people when power becomes the ultimate goal. 
Instead of working to build a better America, our leaders in Congress spend their time pushing their agendas when in control and obstructing progress when not. This is not leadership. This is not representation. This is not governance of any kind. Worse, this behavior which has gotten progressively worse over the last 30 years is dividing our country. Even our citizens have adopted this behavior. People cannot even talk about the issues without labeling the other side or blaming the counter opinion as having little or no merit.
Politics is the art of compromise. It is the process of deciding who gets what, when, where, why and how. The annals of our congressional history are filled with great orators and their debates over policy. I am quite sure that there is not much in the way of structured debate or collaborative discourse in our Congress that will make oratorical history these days. I am embarrassed for our leaders and even more so for those of us who act like them.
It is time to step up and act like leaders in the absence of their leadership. In the business world we would not and could not survive in this combative environment. Here are a few examples of business behaviors that drive results:
- In sales the key to a great client relationship is listening to the customer to understand their needs, their vision, their issues and their drivers. Once engaged and knowledgeable a great salesperson is positioned to provide a solution that best fits the customers needs.
- Senior management leadership requires a connection to and a vision for their business. To lead their team, executives must be empathetic, aware, in touch, and a visionary. Great leaders motivate people to do great things. They do not motivate obstructionist behaviors. If businesses were run by seizing power and always having control they could succeed in the short run, but would always fail in the long run.
- One of the great components of social media is the ability to communicate and collaborate. Engaging people in conversation to learn and understand is one of the enjoyable benefits of social media. For the uninspired and unaware, social media is a place to generate one-way broadcasts about themselves and their business. No one cares for those behaviors in social media. The forums that grow and generate followers are those that encourage collaboration and idea sharing. Fancy that.
I am not here to thrust myself on the debate as to which political platform is right or wrong. In fact, under the current extremist approaches of either platform, they are both wrong. Politics and policy is a matter of compromise and dialogue and constructive debate. It is not a time for demagoguery or obstructionism or blameful tactics. Businesses cannot survive, societies cannot survive and, our government cannot survive this type of devisive activity. Monitor your conversations and your actions. Are you following the leader or are you acting like one?
What Type of Manager Are You?
By · CommentsI was inspired this morning by an interview in the Wall Street Journal, “What Managers Really Do.” This is essentially an interview of Dr. Henry Mintzberg, a management studies professor at McGill University. What inspired me most was the simple way he defined and clarified the role of a manager. Here are the main points:
1. The Myth of Manager as Orchestra Conductor: While it would be nice to expect that a manager can write music and conduct an orchestra as Peter Drucker once said, Mintzberg opines that there are so many expectations for a manager it would be impossible to expect them to do them all perfectly. As everyone has flaws, the best we can expect of a manager is that, under pressure, a manager’s flaws “are not fatal” to the organization. This takes a lot of unnecessary pressure off of all managers–you do not have to be perfect. You do have to be effective, efficient, and respond to the big challenges with appropriate leadership. Recognizing your strengths and weaknesses and leveraging the former without losing control of the latter is tantamount to your effectiveness as a manager.
2. The Three Planes of Managing: According to Mintzberg, “you have a choice of managing through information, or through people, or through managing action.” In essence managing through action is the first plane, managing through people is the next plane and managing through information is the third plane. Mintzberg issues a cautionary challenge for managers who manage solely through information saying “we have much too much managing through information–what I call ‘deeming.’…That’s the worst of managing through information.”
I agree. Effective management, especially as it relates to sales management, requires action and people focused leadership. An effective manager engages people into action, while training, coaching and motivating excellence, with an accessible, “roll up the sleeves” management style. An effective manager cannot manage people from behind a desk, screening phone calls, and being one or two steps removed from the action. Take a look at your management behaviors–how close are you to the real action?
A Motivated Customer
By · CommentsThere are four reasons why someone buys something from you:
1. It makes them money
2. It saves them money
3. It solves a problem
4. It fulfills a need
As you go through your learning activities–building the relationship, establishing rapport and credibility with your clients, you must discover and know what their motivation is for buying from you. This requires you knowing how they envision your product or service supports that motivation. If you don’t know what that is, you don’t know enough to close the deal.
An effective sales professional takes the time to learn about what drives and motivates their customers and prospects. Through effective listening and learning and more listening, the customer will begin to identify their issues, challenges and needs in their business (B2B sales) or their life (consumer selling). Once this information has been effectively and diligently collected, the true sales professional can effectively focus their conversation on how their product offering fulfills the specific motivational need. One cannot sell to what they want the motivation or the benefit to be. You can only sell to the motivational behaviors of the buyer. Understanding what that is requires taking the time to learn and identify what the customer’s motivational needs are first.
That Annoying Sales Chatter
By · CommentsYou walk into your prospect’s office and look around at the golf photos, see the trophy fish, the college affiliation, the family photos and other various mementos and want to reference that stuff as a place to build a relationship and establish credibility. STOP! Many sales training programs say this is a potential place to start building a relationship. True. But, this is not always the time to do it. 
In fact, depending upon the mood, the priorities, and the personality of your audience, it could be the worst time to do it. Do not simply dive in to the small talk routine. Some people just do not have time for it. Regardless, talking about the stuff on display in the office is cheesy and cliche. You have no idea how that person is going to receive your small talk!
Take your cues from your client. How they come into that meeting should tell you everything about your agenda and your approach. It is that risky engagement into obvious small talk, i.e. golf, sports, the photos of the kids, etc. that gets most sales people into trouble. You do not want the customer to see you as a typical sales person. I do not like to just jump straight into business mode if I don’t have to; but, I am very cognizant of how my audience is responding to my soft talk.
Be very sensitive to the fact that small talk may be what you want to do, it may not be what your customer wants to do. I pay close attention to the verbal and non-verbal cues from my audience and proceed very cautiously from there into the world of “small talk.” Regardless, I keep all that non-business related talk short and sweet. There is a more appropriate time for that, which is after you have established your professional credibility.
My Networking Rules
By · CommentsThis is an open letter to all those potential connections who are looking to meet and build relationships at future networking events…
Dear Networker:
Let’s start out with the harsh and painful truth–not everyone is worthy of receiving my referrals. A referral is the sharing of a personal contact with someone you know under the general assumption this connection will benefit one another. This activity is not something I engage in casually and I only refer people that I have gotten to know and trust.
Contacts within my database fall into several layers and only the very top layers deserve access to my personal contacts. After all, my reputation is impacted by the outcome of the referral.
Here is a basic idea of the quality of various contacts I have in my database at this time.
- No personal connection: This is a contact obtained from an ad, phone book or found business card.
- Poor connection: This person abruptly handed me their own business card, gave their lousy 30-second elevator pitch and proceeded to pounce on some other unfortunate attendee at some networking event.
- Undefined connection: I briefly spoke to this person at an event or have started to briefly interact with them. There is no way to gauge the potential for a professional or referral relationship without some more specific follow-up.
- Unreliable connection: I have had an extensive conversation with this person over multiple networking events or at one focused sitting. Unfortunately, this person is inconsistent with their follow-ups and does not readily respond to voice messages or emails. Plus, their business interests and needs contain aspects that I do not understand or can relate to.
- Potential connection: I have maintained contact with this person through meetings, phone calls, emails and social networking and learned more about them through regular interactions. This person is reliable, professional and seems to understand the value of effective networking. I am building a nice relationship with them.
- Referral level professional connection: I have established a solid relationship with this contact and have successfully and effectively exchanged or shared quality referrals.
- Trusted professional connection: This is a person I have developed a high level of trust and confidence in. In fact, I would probably lend my car to this person if they asked.
Not everyone can become a level 7 connection. However, recognizing the various levels of the relationship building process, we should all be thinking about how we can add value and be of value in our networking activities. With the increase in networking activities and events, the bad lower level connections seem to be the rule, not the exception.
Building a referral level professional relationship is not about simply meeting with me and trying to pitch me on how I can help you grow your business. It requires establishing a level of trust and building a relationship that would motivate me to feel comfortable about introducing you to my valued contacts. I meet a lot of people. I enjoy making a connection with every single one of them. That does not mean that everytime I exchange a business card or even have a cup of coffee with you means we are now referral buddies. It takes more than that.
Building a referral level professional connection means that you demonstrate the type of professionalism that my clients and contacts expect of me. If you can’t earn it, you can’t have it. Don’t mistake my participation at a networking event to be an indicator that I am an open referral source. I am not. I pick and choose these high-level relationships quite carefully. The people I could potentially refer you to are my level six and level seven connections. They are very, very valuable to me. I am not going to risk what I worked so hard to build on anyone that I do not know and trust, first.
Next time you go to a networking event, look for people who you can build solid referral level professional connections with. Finding and building referral sources is not a prospecting-like numbers game. It is a matter of quality, not quantity. You only need a handful of great connections. If you do not have enough, chances are you have been behaving like a low level connection. Change your approach, improve your strategy and raise your professionalism. The results will improve.
The Discipline and Value of CRM
By · CommentsDear SalesCooke: How do you suggest getting a sales team to embrace CRM discipline and integrity? Daily use and keeping contacts, notes, and knowledge share regarding accounts etc? –Clifford, Scottsdale
Great question. Any well defined CRM program is a very effective tool for:
- Monitoring the sales process and critical issues of key target opportunities
- Tracking the ongoing activities of the team in staying connected with their accounts and prospects
- Providing a wide range of creative communication, marketing and informational tools to a well managed database.
Unfortunately, many sales people see all this database management “stuff” as additional work and usually do not embrace it very well. Besides, who wants their activities monitored and managed on a regular basis? Not many people, especially sales folks.
I find a well managed CRM to be an incredible and very valuable tool. I also, recognize that for a CRM program to work effectively the commitment must be organizational. If you want a disciplined CRM with a high level of informational integrity here is the answer:
1. Make it a mandatory organization wide system: Everyone in the company needs to use the CRM tool to communicate and document all customer related communication, strategy, and activity.
2. Make it cultural: As the organization embraces the system, the culture of the company becomes dependent upon the system as the source of information and documentation. Once part of the organization, it becomes part of the culture.
3. There are no user exceptions: There is no room for leaders or managers to be exempt from using a CRM. Either the company is using it or, they are not. True leadership is by example, not by exception. If the leadership of the organization is exempt from their using the system, the CRM cannot be part of the process or the culture.
The real answer to your question starts with leadership. It has been my experience that CRM discipline and integrity starts at the top. When the leaders proactively utilize the CRM tools, so does the team. When the leaders don’t embrace the tools, the team doesn’t either. Anyone can mandate a process. However, it will only be embraced if it is the rule without exeption. Once exeptions are created, many employees, especially sales folks, will find ways to be exempt, as well. Want your CRM system to work? Make it part of your program and your routine and your process—lead by example.
Get real…quit looking for a “job”
By · CommentsJust released today, “the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits declined 4,000 to 570,000 last week, but claims still remain at elevated levels.” (Wall Street Journal 09/03/09) People are still being laid off. And those who have been laid off are still looking for jobs. This does not add up. What is more confusing is I run across at least one or two legitimate business opportunities every day. These opportunities do not pay a salary, they do not provide benefits; but, they have the potential to provide income and much more for someone who recognizes the opportunity.
Nothing frustrates me more than these businesses who continue to lay-off their most valued resource, their people. It represents a mindless, simplistic financial answer. Anyone can eliminate a job to balance the books. It takes creativity and innovation to find a way to deploy these valued resources, known as people with families, to use these down times to re-invent or create or devise a different path or direction or product or service for the company. Instead of deploying them to innovate and create and grow, they cut them off and turn them out.
Unfortunately, too many unemployed seemed to be equally as incapable to innovate or create during their transition. I continue to post opportunities regarding start-up companies I am working which have both huge potential and risk. With all the people out of work, I would expect some interest. I get none. (Maybe it’s me.) What I get is “I need a job with a salary.” What you need is money coming in to pay your bills. What you need is to find an opportunity that generates revenue.
Please explain to me how working on a “risky” opportunity today that will enable you to make money in a month is NOT as good an opportunity as searching for a job for the next three months, with no guarantee that you will have a job by then.
If you are looking for work, I am very sorry that you are in that situation–it stinks. If you are looking for a job and you feel you must have a “job”, please do one of these things:
1. Invent a job: I have a dear friend who was determined to get a “job.” In their job search efforts, they contacted a business in their industry that had no competitive presence in their geographic market. This person convinced them that there was an opportunity for this business to expand into this market. They even wrote up a sales plan and presented it. Got the job. Correction, invented the job. That’s being innovative and creative.
2. Leverage your experience to create something: Many job seekers recognize the potential to do something great in their industry. They have contacts, relationships, strategic partners and ideas. Put it together to create something. Another friend had numerous executive-level contacts in a particular industry. This industry is not hiring. However, they did have some issues with underselling products. This person has another contact with access to significant experience building e-commerce sales models. Seeing the opportunity this person put their contacts together and are now building an e-commerce sales model for these nonperforming products. Brilliant. Innovation and creativity is the theme.
3. Listen for the opportunity: Instead of thinking of all the reasons why you need a “job” as an excuse to dismiss a legitimate business opportunity, explore the potential for the legitimate opportunities that are out there. They do exist. I see them every day. The reason you do not see them is you are too busy looking for a “job.” Be creative, be innovative, look for the potential in these opportunities. Of course there is risk. There is risk that you could get laid off from the next job, as well.
I am frustrated and disappointed with the way businesses have been treating people. They have a higher level of accountability than this. Employees are not numbers. However, I am almost as frustrated by the people in transition who are convinced a job is their security and their future. Just because your former employer was not very innovative or creative does not mean you need to act the way. Give it a shot, create or take a chance–you have nothing to lose. More importantly, through your success you have everything to gain, including control of your future.
Knowing What Questions to Ask
By · CommentsKnowing what constitutes a great question and learning how to ask the right questions at the right time is a learning challenge for many salespeople, especially those who are historically prone to talking more than listening. As a sales coach and strategist, I spend a lot of time teaching my clients’ teams about the importance of listening and learning. We focus on the use of insightful, open-ended questions to engage in an effective learning conversation with clients. One of the biggest challenges is helping my “pupils” discover a natural flow and personality style to their questions. Knowing not only what questions to ask, but how to ask them in a sincere and truly interested manner is part of the process.
Interestingly enough, it may not be the questions we need to ask our clients that will help us organize these conversations; but, it is the questions we ask of ourselves that help us understand what we don’t already know or understand well enough to be prepared for that client meeting. In a recent blog, “Sales Questions to Ask Yourself“, Maura Schreier-Fleming talks about the process of asking yourself questions as a planning and preparation component. In this blog, the author identifies questions salespeople need to ask of themselves in order to gauge their knowledge and to help with their sales preparation. This serves as a great reminder regarding all the various aspects about our clients’ business that we need to evaluate and understand and be prepared for on a regular basis. In this blog the areas that we, as sales professionals, need to ask of ourselves in this preparation and planning process are:
1. Who else from my company is talking to my customers and what are they saying? Do you know who else has interaction with your clients? Do you know what they have been saying?
2. “What if” questions, i.e., “what if” my primary contact unexpectedly left the company, “what if” they are unhappy about a recent delivery or service call, etc. How prepared are you to respond to the unexpected?
3. Why did my customers buy from me in the first place? This is not what you think you know; but, what did they tell you? If you haven’t asked, you need to ask and find out exactly why they decided to do business with you.
4. What are the competitors saying to your customer? What aspects of those conversations are interesting or intriguing to your clients? How will I respond to this information?
Besides listening more and talking less, the biggest challenge for most sales people is strategy and preparation. Instead of taking windshield time to talk on the phone, take some of that time to ask yourself some questions about your clients. How well do you “know” everything you need to know about them as it relates to you and, how prepared are you to manage those unexpected challenges? Do not get caught unprepared for what you could have planned for. Ask yourself some tough questions to get yourself ready and organized.
A Valuable, Cost-Effective Resource
By · CommentsSay you had a trusted friend with 25 years of sales experience willing to give you three hours of his time to help you with your sales challenges…and all it would cost you was lunch…would you accept that offer?
I have an even simpler, more accessible solution….“Cooked Up Sales – Another Great Selling Recipe”
This is not your traditional “how to” sales book. Cooked Up Sales provides you with the recipes for:
- Building effective customer relationships
- Presenting the solutions that motivate your customers to buy
- Effectively qualifying “real” sales opportunities
- Simplifying the sales process into a real-life application model
- Transforms “pushy” sales people into a professional resource
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This is not your typical sales book—no tricky or tacky phrases, no complicated step-by-step process, and nothing insincere or cheesy to memorize. This is a simple, concise, and easily applied recipe for selling success featuring real life sales and sales management experiences of the author, The Sales Cooke.
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“‘The Sales Cooke’ has taken a very straight-forward, no-nonsense approach to sales and the sales cycle. His clever use of analogies is simple, understandable, not to mention easy to execute. This is one ‘recipe’ you don’t want to overlook.”
“Too many authors try to makes sales more complicated than it really is. Cooked Up Sales is a refreshing return to basics that provides some excellent insight into managing the sales process, building relationships and understanding your customers. All of this leads to a roadmap for creating and communicating compelling win-win solutions that get you to ‘yes’.”
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First things First — Relationship Building Fundamentals
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The following is an excerpt from the book “Cooked Up Sales“:
“Sales is about relating, learning, solving and informing. Let’s take a moment and imagine you are on a first date. If your dat
e comes on really strong, with an overly assertive personality type or, worse yet, overly pushy, you’re hardly motivated to listen, learn or connect. Fundamental relationships require that unique ability to give and take, talk and listen, share and comprehend, and to be genuinely interested and engaged.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a great talker, cleverly persistent or even supremely focused and determined. Bad fundamentals in establishing a relationship will prevent you from building strong, lasting business relationships, period!
The truth is, it doesn’t matter how great your product is, or how wonderful your company sounds. These are not the reasons your client will choose to buy or want to continue to buy after that initial sale.
What does matter and what will affect your ongoing rapport, is how well you have personally developed an understanding of what the customer is trying to accomplish and how they envision your ability to address their needs.”
“Cooked Up Sales” is a refreshingly concise sales book founded on the principals of effective relationhsip development and solutions oriented behaviors as the key to productive selling activities. For more information on “Cooked Up Sales” and the author, Dave Cooke “The Sales Cooke” please click on the links or engage us in discussion on the “Cooked Up Sales Fan Page.”
The Objective of the Sales Call is Not What You “Want”
By · CommentsWhen working clients on planning the sales call, the conversation often starts out something like this:
SalesCooke: “What’ s the objective of your sales call?”
Client: “I want to talk to them about…“ STOP!
Let’s talk about sales call planning. The objective of any sales call is to continue your learning process. What you “want” is not important. What you would like to accomplish is. And, what you need to learn and understand is even more important. Every sales call is an opportunity to build a better relationship and learn more about your clients. Plan your sales calls as learning exercises and avoid going in with an objective to convince, convert, or advocate. Those type of words all have “tell” and “talk to” tendencies associated with them. Tactics your customer is never very receptive to.
Your role as sales professional is to discover unknown obstacles, issues, and motivations that facilitate a path for your customer prospect to want and need you. Beating them down or checking in to find out when you are going to “get the order”, is not part of that process. Discover how to create what you want into a learning exercise that helps you discover what you need to know.
Some examples:
- “I want to figure out how to get them to make a decision on this proposal.”
- Learning mode: “I need to understand what is getting in the way of their making a decision on this proposal.” Note, if you have read any of my other posts or my book, you would know how to avoid this question in the first place)
_________________________
- “I want to know why they decided to stay with their current supplier when I could have saved them money, etc.”
- Learning mode: “I need to understand their motivations and criteria for not making a change.” Or, “I need to find out what they are getting from their current supplier that they felt like they would not receive from me.”
_________________________
- “I want to know how I can do business with them.”
- Learning mode: “I need to uncover the issues or challenges they are having in their business that I may learn about in order that I may discover ways to help them with these problems.”
Note, all of the “wants” have been converted into learning exercises. The agenda has been shifted from an aggressive, controversial style to an inquiring, inquisitive style. It is a very subtle, but effective difference. When you go into a sales call with the objective of “selling”, you end up making little or no progress and you run the risk of putting your client on the defensive. When you go into a meeting with an objective to learn and discover the conversation is different, the customer’s receptiveness to your conversation changes, and the results are positively impacted. Avoid an agenda that focuses on what you “want” and take a tactic that challenges you to discover what else you need to learn and understand.
The “Professional Visitor”
By · CommentsWhen I was first in sales in New York City, one of my competitors had a very consistent and reliable sales routine. Every Monday he would work his Midtown Manhattan “milk route.” This meant that every Monday, he would stop by all of competitors’ accounts to see “how things were going.” He was so reliable and consistent, that I even knew what time to expect him at my customers. The conversation often went something like this:
“I just stopped by to see how things were going. Do you need anything from me today? Anything I can help you with? … Okay, I will check-in with you later.”
Does this sound familiar? When you make your follow-up prospecting calls, are you just “checking in“, “following up“, or “stopping by“? If you answered “yes”, you may have become a “professional visitor.” We were trained that persistence is one of the tenets to help you win over those tough-to-close clients. Actually, that is potentially quite true. However, in order for your persistence to pay off, you need to be building on your relationship, adding value to the client and gathering information on each of your visits. Simply, “stopping by” or “checking in” is not much of a sales call.
Here are some things I would bring to your next sales visit with a prospect:
1. Food: Everyone appreciates a dozen bagels or doughnuts or muffins. If you do this, make sure you drop them off in time for a regular or special meeting that you are aware of. Hint: Deliver and leave. You can chat with them next time. Also, this only works about once or twice a year.
2. Information: Find topical information to talk to them about. For example, you may have read an article in the paper about their industry, their market, or one of their clients. It would be a great conversation starter to ask them if they read the article and find out how that story relates to their business. It demonstrates real interest and provides you an opportunity to learn more about the prospect’s business.
3. Common Challenges: Many of our prospects and customers are facing the same challenges we face. It can be a very effective relationship builder and an opportunity to uncover innovative selling strategies to talk with your customers about some of your similar challenges. For example, “we seem to be getting beat up over price lately. How about you? Is your company getting hit by pricing challenges? How do you deal with that?” Who knows what this would lead to or what the discoveries would be. It certainly would be a change from the old routine of checking in.
In summary, the issue we face with making these routine and necessary calls is using them to help us move along the sales process. Sales is a about building relationships that add value and solve problems. Simply being a “professional visitor” that checks-in once in a while is not productive relationship building or value added activity. You need to make certain that every call provides you an opportunity to connect, learn, share, and engage with your prospects. Be creative and innovative by bringing something to the call that you can talk with them about.
Never go in Without a Name
By · CommentsCold calling as a prospecting activity is something that requires focused commitment and skill. Effective cold calling requires abilities that go beyond the simple, numerically driven tasks of “banging on doors” or “dialing for dollars.” There is an art form to cold calling that makes those activities effective and efficient. 
Around nine years ago, I participated in a two-day training program on cold calling. The instructor was Dave Hibbard. On the second afternoon of our two-day training, our sales team took to the streets and put our newly developed skills to work. We made cold calls. We divided the geography around our training location into segments and banged on doors. In one three hour “test”, our team:
- Got past the gatekeeper and met with someone over 80% of the time we “knocked on the door”
- We uncovered a business opportunity over 20% of those calls
Aside from the many unique techniques that are too much to detail in this blog, there was one crucial component that I never forgot about this experience. Whenever you make a cold call, always know the name of the person you want to see. If you do not have the name when you walk-up, the gatekeeper will tag you as a salesperson and you will likely not get through. Part of the preparation or the organization required to make contact with your targeted audience is knowing who you want to talk to. Do your research, ask around, and plan your activities and approach. When you have a contact name, you have a more legitimate presence other than “cold calling.” The chances of you speaking with your contact go up significantly.
To learn more about effective cold calling techniques, contact me: dave@salescooke.com
Ten Reasons That Long Awaited Order Is Not Coming!
By · CommentsAt every sales meeting there is always one salesperson, sometimes more, who shows up with the same game plan for the week. Sadly, it is often the same game plan week after week. Usually, the dialogue goes something like this:
“I am going to meet with Mr. Prospect and pick-up that order I have been working on for the last three months. He told me to check with him again this week.”
There are a multitude of reasons why this salesperson is still chasing this deal. Unfortunately, he is chasing an order that is probably not coming. Here are the Top Ten Reasons Why That Long Awaited Order Is Not Coming!
10. Your prospect has your best proposal. They are not done shopping it around with the competitors yet.
9. Just because the customer said “yes” when you asked if you could provide a proposal does not mean they were looking to make any changes in suppliers.
8. You told them you could save them money. Unfortunately, that was not their interest or need. Worse, you didn’t really save them any money.
7. The person you delivered the quote to was not the decision maker. And, their boss, the one who is, hates your company.
6. There was no budget for this program. However, they needed some numbers to put it into next year’s budget.
5. The project was not approved in next year’s business plan. You are really out of luck now!
4. You remember that person at the presentation who didn’t say much, was kind of weird, and you ignored most of the time? The final decision was theirs. You did not get that vote!
3. Your prospect cannot figure out how your solution really addresses what they were looking for.
2. You are so busy trying to get a status update on the order that you don’t realize they said “no” to you three sales calls ago.
1. They stopped taking your calls because no one wants to hear “just checking to see where you are with the order” every week.
The path to closing business opportunities starts with relationship building behaviors, effective qualifying tactics, and solutions oriented discussions. Before any proposals or quotes are completed the scope, decision makers, decision making process, timing, budget, and probable solutions are all very well defined. Done properly, a proposal is a formality or an agreement. Chasing down an order weeks after providing a quote reflects that the preliminary and effective sales work was not effectively completed. Obtaining orders with those types of behaviors are low percentage deals. You are probably out of luck. Move on and work the next opportunity better.
A Change in the Sales Landscape
By · CommentsFor those who do not realize it yet, there is a new sales methodology developing out there. And customers are welcoming it. Our customers are all aware of the typical old sales tactics. They have been exposed to them over and over. Frankly, they know these old sales moves and scripts better than we do. That is why it is becoming more difficult to close those deals using those methods. However, there are plenty of salespeople who are having no trouble making sales. The reason–their approach and their methods.
I read a great blog today about the “New Authenticity” in sales. According to Scott Sheaffer, we have been traditionally “coached in how to manipulate the customer.” Today, “service and personal credibility with our customers versus arm wrestling and psychological sales tactics” are the expected tactics.
Right on. Sales is made up of three fundamental principles:
1. Build great relationships with your customers.
2. Identify what their issues, challenges, and needs are.
3. Be the trusted resource for helping them find the solution to that problem.
Traditional sales methodologies associated with getting people to buy from you have been replaced by the “New Authenticity” of being a professional resource for your customers. Change your mindset, your style and your training approach. There is a new, refreshing, and more productive sales model out there. It works. It is more rewarding. And your customers are embracing it.
Building Networking Relationships
By · CommentsBuilding effective relationships at a networking event are important. This video provides four simple steps to make the relationship building activity more productive and effective.
Honesty and What Your Customers Need to Know
By · CommentsIn a recent post, I talked about the changing landscape of sales and how the tired, old sales methodologies simply will not work in today’s business environment. Scott Shaeffer refers to this as the “New Authenticity” which emphasizes “service and personal credibility” as keys to this changing landscape.
In recent discussions on these thoughts, I was reminded about the importance of honesty with our customers and a past and valuable lesson once provided by a customer.
A sales partner of mine had a very difficult time telling customers what they needed to know. In his mind, he had to spin things so they always appeared “positive.” In this one case, the spinning actually made him appear as though he was not being completely honest. This situation affected his integrity with the customer to the point where the customer eventually “fired”him, but not me. The reason I didn’t suffer the same consequence, is I told the customer what he needed to know, not what I thought he wanted to hear . Specifically, my customer said:
“New is news. Whether it is good news or bad news is up to me to decide. It is your job to report the news.”
As we continue to focus on “customer service and credibilty” remember to be honest with your customers. Do not try to manage your answers and your information to make them happy, tell them what they need to know in order to accomplish their objectives. Building trust and integrity requires honesty. If your are creatively manipulating your message, you are not being honest and that will eventually cost you.
Sales Down? Skip the Training, Hire a Coach
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My business is all about strategy and education. My business provides organizations with a definitive strategy and implementation model that will enable businesses to grow effectively and efficiently. Note, I do not call myself a trainer or a consultant. I avoid these words as both of them imply the application of some standardized methodology that is not as closely engaged to the process of a customized strategy, implementation or results model. My clients bring me in to help them get things done. My methodology and philosophy for effective revenue growth is melded into their business to create a new and powerful sales program. We are in the program together.
A key component of this process is coaching. Buried deep in the Wikipedia definition is this explanation that
“coaching is a recognized discipline used by many professionals engaged in people development.”
In a recent blog, Coaching Results Speak Louder Than Words, there were some excellent points about the powers and benefits of coaching in sales organizations. The author, ForceLogix CEO Patrick Stakenas, makes some great points about the impact of coaching in producing high performing sales teams. Here are two thoughts I would like to focus on:
1. The coaching of sales individuals and leveraging the experiences of existing talent to improve the performance of the entire sales organization has become a requirement.
2. Winning sales organizations are providing a methodical approach to defining, analyzing and managing sales performance indicators.
The emphasis here is on leveraging the experience and the methodologies that make effective sales programs high performing programs. There is a distinct difference between coaching and training. Training is similar to a clinic where people learn and practice sales tactics. Training is facilitated in order to indoctrinate a sales team on a process methodology that they are to learn and embrace, even memorize. In training, you practice the methodology over and over again until you are conditioned to do it effectively, maybe even perfectly.
Coaching is like watching game film. Every sales call is a coaching opportunity. Great coaching takes place when the sales team applies and practices their skills and reports their results and experiences. It is this approach that facilitates the learning process and helps individuals improve and define their skills and abilities. While training provides the fundamental learning of how to understand what to do, effective coaching utilizes those real life results and experiences as learning opportunities. It is those learning experiences that coaches can use to re-inforce the processes more effectively, provide guidance for better technique, or more readily adopt tactics that can enhance performance. Effective coaching is an art that requires insight, experience, and the ability to utilize everyone’s experiences as learning tools.
The next time you are looking for a program for your sales team, skip the classroom stuff. They have had enough of that already. Turn your program over to a coach who has the commitment, the experience, and the passion to help them apply the right skills and abilities to be effective selling professionals.
A sales meeting is not the place to focus on activity reporting. It turns these meetings into forums where sales people embellish their opportunities and results simply to look busy enough to keep their manager off their backs. Besides, activity reports could best be derived from the information stored in the company CRM.
What managers need to focus on at the sales meetings are a short, concise reporting on the metrics that matter. Sales Cooke discusses the metrics that matter and what the measurements of success are as it relates to these metrics. Forget the activity reports, focus on the metrics that matter.
The Magic of the Swiss Army Knife
By · CommentsEver seen a Swiss Army Knife? It has a bizarre variety of tools. However, if you are like most people, you have only used the knife because that’s what you are familiar and comfortable with. Prior to the massive shifts in the economy 
we ran our business much like we use the Swiss Army Knife–we use the tools we are most familiar and comfortable with.
In today’s economy we are beginning to discover and use tools in our business that we are not too familiar with but know they are there. It is like magically discovering the use for some of those interesting components on the Swiss Army Knife. Be innovative, be creative, and be inventive. Utilize a different tool, try an unfamiliar approach, or discover effective new approaches. Now is the time to discover the tools we have had at our disposal, but never chose to use them before. Who knows, you may even realize that there is a lot more magic to that Swiss Army Knife than simply the knife.
Turning those Sales Figures Around
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If it were only this easy to fix your sales results. We are nearing the end of 2009. Or, we are just starting to get ready for 2010. Here are my thoughts on what we need to do to make sure the year ends and begins on a positive note!
1. Forecast for 2010 Now! If you have not already done so, your forecast for 2010 needs be finalized now.
2. Fill Your Funnel. Once you finalize your forecast, you need to have 4X the monthly forecast for January in your funnel by the end of November. December is a lost month. You must actively prospect for January during the early parts of this holiday season.
3. Meet with Your Top Customers. 80% of your revenue comes from your top 20% of your customers. You must meet with each of them now. Find out what their needs, challenges, and issues are. Find out what their forecast for 2010 is. If you hear talk that concerns you, the time to address it is now. Find out how you can help them.
4. Establish specific goals for the rest of the year. Nothing is better than momentum. As much as I would like to write off 2009 and jump into 2010, the best thing I could do right now is get a couple of big customers before the end of the year. There are realistically only six actual weeks left to 2009. Whatever your forecast is for January or for 2010, you need to push yourself to exceed that monthly figure by 150% over the next six weeks. Momentum is a great confidence booster. Get after it.
5. Hold off on the parties until you accomplish something. When you commit that “I cannot celebrate the Holidays until…” you have challenged yourself. The holidays have a tendency to distract us from our mission. If we have not hit our numbers yet, what right do we have to celebrate. Give yourself a push and make something happen. Then, open up your celebration calendar. Until then, focus.
This has not been the best of years for many. However, if we simply write it off or slide into next year, we run the risk of carrying this bad mojo forward. Change it up. Dig in. Push hard into 2010, it will be worth it.
Getting in Front of Your Cold Call Target
By · CommentsThe biggest challenge to a cold call is getting past the gatekeeper. Accomplishing this is relatively simple if you know some of the fundamental rules. SalesCooke discusses three techniques for getting past the gatekeeper and putting you in front of the person you want to see.
The Warning Signs in Front of You
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In every sales call, our customers give us signals. The cues can be verbal or non-verbal. Sometimes they are so physically obvious it is impossible to ignore. Yet, too many people miss even the obvious.
When you sit down in a meeting with your customers, are you paying attention to the potential warning signs they are sending? Are they engaged? Are they in a hurry? Are they really focused and listening? Are they interested?
While waiting for a meeting in a coffee shop recently, I observed a person making a power point presentation from their laptop to another individual. The presenter was passionately engaged in a non-stop, one-way conversation. Unfortunately, the presenter was completely unaware of the total disengagement of their polite, but bored, audience. It was obvious by body language that there was little real interest in this presentation on the part of the audience. Had the presenter been more in tune to the signals and cues from the other participant, this presentation would have had an entirely different flavor. Unfortunately, the presenter was so focused on their presentation and their agenda that they completely ignored all the indicators from a disinterested and unengaged audience. I am not sure how the meeting ended. But, I am willing to predict that it did not end up the way the presenter had hoped.
Focus on the signals and signs your customers provide you. They are great sources of information and indicators of potential hazards to avoid. Your agenda is important, provided everyone is engaged, interested, involved, listening, and participating in the discussion. When you get those signals, slow down, adjust your agenda, and find other ways to make the meeting productive for all involved. This will help you avoid a potentially serious crash down the road.
photo courtesy of Jiva79
New Age Prospecting
By · Comments“Sales Cooke: Once I get in front of my prospects and customers, I am very good at the relationship building and qualifying components of your sales program. My biggest challenge is actually getting meetings with my best decision makers. How do I do that?” — Ellen C., St. Louis, MO
Today’s economic climate has put many in an unfriendly selling environment. With fewer people buying, it seems there are more people selling. As such, traditional prospecting tools such as cold calling and networking events are not producing the results they use to. The simple reason, too many people pushing their wants and needs to sell something to disinterested, non-prospective buyers.
The strategy for prospecting in this environment is very similar to what I encourage people looking for a job to do: utilize your resources to build connections with the right people. There are planning steps that will help you here:
- Know who your best connections or decision makers are. In every sales relationship there is always one person that is your best resource for getting connected with a potential customer, i.e. engineer, CFO, head of operations, marketing director, etc.
- Know the companies, by name, that are on your ideal target list. The companies on your target list are companies you desire to do business with because they can best benefit from utilizing your products and services. And these companies that you have a high likelihood of converting to customers once you connect in.
- Know why these target companies fit your selling demographic. It is one thing to create a bunch of targets. It is another proposition to have a sound strategic reason for wanting to sell to them. Pick companies for which you can articulate why you want to sell to them and why you believe you have a reasonable chance of making a sale.
What you have created is a well defined, specific list to provide your trusted resources. Armed with the specifics of a contact title and company name your contacts are equipped with effective and specific referral information. These two simple pieces of information makes your referral partners role much easier by providing them with very specific targets, as opposed to a broad, generic description mose referral partners are given. Want prospects? Know “who” you want to talk with, at “what” companies, and “how” this fits your sales objectives. It is that simple.
Defining Fundamental Sales Behaviors
By · CommentsIf you had to define an effective sales professional, what terms, words, or adjectives would you use to describe one?
I have been suffering from writer’s block lately and have not contributed much in the blog department. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of talking sales, my favorite subject, at the Arizona Entrepreneur Conference in Phoenix. There are several valuable excerpts from this presentation. This is the first of several that I look forward to sharing. Enjoy. I look forward to your comments.
Finding a Solution vs. Being Right
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I caught a recent video of Simon & Garfunkel singing their masterpiece song, “Sounds of Silence.” And the powerful words just jumped out at me. This is probably one of my absolute favorite lyrics in a song. Amazing that a song written over 40 years ago still resonates.
“people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening…hear my words that I might teach you, take my arms that I might reach you…but my words, like silent raindrops fell”
In a country desperately looking for its voice, these words eminate so powerfully. In a nation so desperate to be heard, I am amazed at the willful, inability of its people to come together in one voice. While everyone has different levels of pain and a diversity of opinions, we can all agree that there are issues in our nation that require change. Unfortunately we are more focused on what we think is the right solution based on our narrow, proprietary view and less on how we can agree on what is wrong and collaborate to find a solution.
The key to resolving any problem is taking personal ownership for learning and understanding from all perspectives the issue, first. Only through a broad understanding of the issues and an appreciation of all perspectives can we begin to collaborate the discovery of a solution. The key to providing leadership in solving any issue is a willingness to listen, learn, and compromise. Collaboration and compromise require the open sharing of ideas to find common ground, not the forceful defense of an idea that few can agree to.
Next time you are in a situation where there is disagreement, avoid the temptation to declare what is right. First, work on finding the common ground that defines what everyone can agree on. Then, using an open and collaborative approach discuss the open issues that are causing the conflict and solve for those issues.
Being right is only valuable if you are king; then it doesn’t matter what the problem is. When in an environment that respects the free sharing of ideas and values, conflict can only be resolved through effective communication skills like listening, learning, understanding and collaborating.
As a free, powerful,and educated nation, we could find our one voice. However, it will take the willingness of many to let everyone’s voice be heard before we decide what is right, not who is right. Set an example and look for the solution and avoid the temptation to take a stand on the premise that you are right. What if you’re not?
Performance Agreements
By · CommentsWelcome to 2010. This is the first work week of the new decade. Many of us are celebrating this new year as a very new beginning. Like you, I am looking ahead to a great year and am thrilled to put 2009 in the rear view mirror.
Shortly many managers will be sitting with their team and going through another annual ritual known as the performance appraisal. The performance appraisal is one of those activities where we look back on the previous year’s activities and assess how we did, what we did well, what we could do better and our plans for improvements and results for the upcoming year.
I am not a fan of these annual critiques. First, it is a forced conversation that involves a very subjective evaluation. Second, it seemed to be the only time that my manager ever really discussed performance and objectives. Third, the goals and expectations of me were not my goals, they were company goals. Finally, I was the only one being evaluated.
This year try a new approach- performance agreements. Sit down with your individual team members and talk about this year. Instead of focusing on your assessment of them, focus on how the two of you can collaborate to accomplish great things going forward. Here is the process for an effective performance agreement that focuses on what your individual team members are looking to accomplish and how you, as their manager, can help them accomplish it:
- What are your goals and aspirations for this year? Whenever possible, these need to be measurable and tangible goals.
- Why are these goals important to you? This helps you better understand what motivates and drives them.
- How are you going to accomplish this? This helps you create a road map with them.
- What do you expect and require of me and the company? We all have expectations. You need to be held accountable, too.
- Create a business plan. Develop a plan that the two of you agree on. Include the expectations that you have of each other. Include in this plan and process for regularly meeting and evaluating how things are going. This is how you empower and engage your team members to accomplish great things. And it helps you focus your efforts, as their manager, on the activities that are critical to both of you.
Do yourself and your team a big favor: skip the silly process of performance evaluations. Focus on the real important issues like looking ahead and accomplishing great things. This is going to be a great year. The sooner you engage in motivating, supporting, and guiding your team on the mission,vision, values, and goals that you both agree on, the sooner your business results will improve.
Your Daily Sales Guide
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The latest book by the Sales Cooke, “Your Daily Sales Guide – 50 Effective Selling Tips“, is scheduled for release on February 1, 2010.
This is the next in his series of great relationship based, solutions oriented selling guides. “Cooked Up Sales – Another Great Selling Recipe” provided the recipe for a perfect sales model. “Your Daily Sales Guide – 50 Effective Selling Tips” brings the special ingredients into the mix.
SPECIAL OFFER!!
Order your pre-release copy of “Your Daily Sales Guide – 50 Effective Selling Tips” today for only $10 plus S&H. To obtain your pre-release, autographed copy of “Your Daily Sales Guide – 50 Effective Selling Tips” order below:
To learn more about this book or the other great products offered through the Sales Cooke please go to our website at www.salescooke.com. 
What Does That Mean?
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Every product and service sold has a litany of features and benefits associated with it. As sales professionals, we use those terms in our pitches to describe these offerings. So when our customers use one of these adjectives to describe what they are looking for {i.e., convenient, flexible, customer-friendly, innovative, cost-effective, open, affordable, reliable, etc.} we jump to the instant conclusion that we have what they need.
- Do you realize that everyone in your industry uses the same words to describe their product offering?
- Do you recognize these are very generic terms, subject to interpretation?
Next time your customer describes what they are looking for in a solution and they use one of these very generic descriptors ask them one very direct question:
You mentioned {fill in the blank} to describe one of your needs, what does that mean to you?
The answer provides you the place to engage in a powerful learning exercise that will help you define what your customers really need and how they define it. This is where you can truly understand how their vision and needs actually match up to your product offering.
The Three Most Important Questions
By · CommentsOne of the big challenges most businesses face is the effective development and communication of their unique value proposition. The ones that are most effective are the ones that are not developed inside the office. The most effective value proposition for your business is the one that is developed by your customers. This video discusses the three most important questions you can ask your customer to truly understand your unique value proposition.
Knowing What Your Customers Need
By · CommentsWhen do we know when a customer needs us? Careful now, this is a trick question.
Our customers need us when they declare they have a problem or an issue. Until then, we are merely confident we may be able to help them. We may even be positive we can provide them a solution to their issue. But, until they declare that they have a situation that requires a solution, we know nothing and we can do very little to help them.
What is the best way to position ourselves to help the customer in need? Simply put, ask the open-ended, probing questions that encourage them to talk about their business, their vision and goals, and the obstacles that are preventing them from getting there. These obstacles are the most critical issues that your customer is focused on.
When you identify the issue, what is the next step? If your sales solution is on their needs list, you get busy helping them discover how you can help them. If not, you help them by connecting them with the best person or organization to fix their most critical issues. Either way, once you know what their challenges are, you get busy doing what you do best–provide value to your clients by connecting them with the solutions they need for their business. Remember, these are not the issues you want or believe they have. These are the issues that you know your customer has, because they told you.
Sales Cooke’s Recipe Tip: Avoid wasting your customer’s time trying to convince them they need you and your solution–help them discover what their real issues are and not what your agenda is.
How Soon Chrysler Forgets
By · CommentsIt was the Fall of 1980 and the US Auto Industry was in one of its many slumps. I was looking to buy a new car. As a recently married, college graduate I certainly was not the hottest prospect for a sales guy. To my disappointment and amazement, the GM and Ford guys treated me like a “tire kicker” and didn’t even try to show me their latest “POS” in my price range. I don’t even remember what they were.
The visit to the Chrysler lot was different. My wife and I were treated warmly, qualified effectively, and introduced to a very sporty Plymouth Horizon TC-3, which we purchased. The experience at all three dealerships left a permanent impression on me. For the next 25 years I only purchased Chrysler and never even bothered with looking at the other two brands. I always bought American. As a proud Detroiter, I felt that was my obligation. Only when my favorite dealership opened a Nissan store did I stray with a few of my purchases for my wife and children. I was always at the wheel of Chrysler or Dodge product.
Fast forward to 2009. Like everyone, I hit a financial speed bump. My wife lost her job and my business was off. My Chrysler 300-C was coming off lease and I wanted to purchase it. It was my favorite vehicle of all time. Though I had a spotless, perfect record with Chrysler Financial, they were not able to approve my purchase as a result of my ‘09 issues. Note, we are not talking crazy, out-of-whack issues. We are talking about issues that make a conservative, financially distressed lender unfriendly to a borrower. Needless to say, the loan didn’t materialize.
As I reflect on the series of events I am amazed at what transpired. A loyal, valued, and responsible customer of nearly 30 years bangs on the door and wants to continue doing business. A distressed, twice government-aided company (with my tax money, no less) turns me down. How am I to feel? What type of message is the Government, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial sending to its citizens when good people are treated this way?
I bought a Chrysler in 1980 when no one else would. I bought American when most of America was not. And I was attempting to continue a 30-year business relationship in a period when both me and my supplier were in financial distress of sorts. The Goverment bailed out Chrysler. Then Chrysler slapped me in the face. This is what happens when bad business behaviors are rewarded. Buy a Chrysler? Never! Bail them out again? Not in my lifetime! This was no way to treat a customer. All consumers need to think twice before supporting a business like Chrysler. I encourage you to buy something else!
How Good is Your Game?
By · CommentsI was reminded of a recent conversation I had with US Representative Harry E. Mitchell (AZ). I was intrigued by his background as a former educator and his experience at various level of local, state, and national politics. In our discussion, he provided me a great anology for his experiences at the different political levels:
“Moving from local to national level politics is a lot like the transition from high school, to college, and to pro football. As you move up to each level the game is played faster and they hit a lot harder.”
There is a lesson for us in that quote, too. How good is your game? Are you playing your game to the business level that you need to?
Whatever your business goals, your function or role in your organization, and the vision you have for your professional career, you have to play your game at the level of your targeted audience. If your game is not up to the level of those you desire to do business with, you had better improve your game.
To improve your game study the people you want to do business with. What are their behaviors, attitudes, appearance, priorities, habits, needs, etc? Then examine your communication style, your message, your organizational skills, your value proposition, and your appearance (yes, it matters). Are you properly prepared to play the game at their level? If not, get busy and make the adjustments. In today’s economy, things are moving quite quickly and everyone is looking for solutions from their professional resources. Make sure your game is up to their level and you will be much more effective.
Sales Cooke Recipe Tip: Businesses only have time for professionals who can add value. You have to be ready to play the game at its highest level if you desire to succeed in this environment.
Scouting for Sales Pros
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There was a question posted on LinkedIn regarding how would you qualify a potential sales candidate if there was no work history or resume available. This question got me thinking about how businesses go through the qualifying process, including having a resume and the like. It seems that more and more the first qualifier is a personality assessment of some sort. Here are my thoughts, starting with my feelings about the various personality or profile assessments.
I would have to admit that I am not an assessment freak. I would probably use those tools after I allowed my own well-developed instincts make the initial review. As a society, our communication skills are eroding by the minute as we rely on tools to do most of our communication work for us. Our children text instead of talk, people use emails in place of business conversations, we let our phone calls go to voice mail, and we let personality assessments dictate what we know about people before we even speak with them. None of these tools facilitates the use of interactive communication as a relationship building or learning resource. It may be a productive tool, it need not be the first step in the qualifying process.
My first step would be to engage a person in a conversation and listen to how they communicate with me. Sales behaviors are people centric. Great sales behaviors are demonstrated by a logical and concise methodology of communication. When I listen to people who communicate strategically, show a genuine interest in understanding and learning about those they are talking with, and ask insightful and thought provoking questions, I know I have a person who has the aptitude and skills to sell. After I have learned and observed their communication and relationship style I would move on to other exploratory measures. However, I would not eliminate someone simply because my profile assessment test failed them first.
Imagine if our customers started giving us assessment tests before they would allow us to meet with them–what would that do to the sales profession? Work on a great communication methodology first. It is where all great sales and business relationships start.
The Sales Manager Mindset
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From Paul Castain on his
LinkedIn Group-Sales Playbook was the question:
“Where do you think Sales Management has ‘missed the boat?’ We’ve all worked with or heard of a Sales Manager who “just doesn’t get it”. What are some mistakes you’ve seen that others can learn from?
My biggest frustration with sales managers is that they all seem to think that their job is about “directing traffic”–this involves merely accountability and reporting activities. There are not enough sales managers who really understand how to get their hands dirty. They manage from their desk and through sales meetings. This is not effective management. A great sales manager is:
1. Responsible and engaged in the development of each of their reports
2. Is a teammate that actively participates in sales calls
3. Assists in the development of strategies and ideas to help close business
4. Proactively provides and finds resources to assist the sales people
Anyone can direct traffic from their office. A great sales manager lives by example to truly guide, develop, and motivate a sales team.
After I posted the above comments on LinkedIn, I ran across a great newsletter by Jon Gordon on Five Ways to Motivate Your Team. In conjunction with my comments, this article provides another way to explore the obligations and responsibility sales managers have in regards to managing, directing, and motivating their teams:
1. Lead with Optimism: Now, more than ever, is a time for positive leadership. Now is the time to uplift, encourage and inspire your teams.
2. Jump into the Trenches: Now is not a time to be barricaded in your office. Now is a time to be in the trenches with your people, leading, working, and building a successful future.
3. Fill the Void: The more you communicate, the more you foster trust, and the more loyalty is built. Talk to your team members often, and let them know where they stand.
4. Share a Positive Vision: Vision helps you and your team see the road ahead and it gives you something meaningful and valuable to strive towards. Share your dream and improve your organization with it.
5. Teach Your People to Be Heroes, Not Victims:Remind them [your team] that they have a high locus of control—in other words, they have a significant influence over how things turn out.
Whether a teacher, a motivator, a resource or a leader, it is apparent from both definitions that an effective manager is fully engaged in the trenches with their team. Look at your behaviors, where are you and what message are you sending your team?
Cartoon credit: Eric Blumthal of Count5
What Defines Effective Salespeople?
By · CommentsA recent slide show on Inc.com discussed six characteristics of a great salesperson. I found the slide show informative and somewhat insightful. What captured my attention the most was the words used to define a great salesperson:
- Passion for the Product
- Great Listening Skills
- Understanding Early Adopters
- Perfect Execution
- Being Trusted by the Customer
- Bottom Line: Can They Get the Order?
The words that caught my attention were: passion, listening, understanding, execution, trust, and bottom line. At the end of the day, great salespeople are usually defined by the same general characteristics. The ones in this group fit those descriptors.
If every great salesperson has these qualities, what differentiates great from the ordinary?
Of the six descriptors, the two that stand out as differentiators more than any other: Execution and bottom line. The entire sales profession suffers from the ability to listen, understand, and build trust. As a credit to our profession, we have never been more sensitive to our weaknesses in these areas. We are getting better at it. A sales professional with passion is a no brainer. There is not a sales professional in the world who does not have passion. If they don’t, they are a bad hire waiting to be eliminated. What’s left: execution and bottom line.
When it comes to high performing sales professionals, nobody is better than them at efficiently and effectively creating a sales process that gets the job done. High performers have the ability to install a methodology to build relationships, solve problems, close deals and add value. And they waste no time getting it done. If you are attempting to identify a high-performer from a collection of other sales professionals, ask them how they organize, manage and define their activities and their strategy. Their answer will tell you everything you need to know.
“I Never Saw it Coming”
By · CommentsWe all have had those experiences where something happens in our life and seemingly catches us by surprise. Worse, while we are lamenting the calamity our friends, colleagues, co-workers, or family all carefully explain to you “they saw it coming.” Before you read any further take a look at the link to this video. This is the wreck that we all are surprised by, that everyone around you saw coming.
I have worked with a lot of business owners, managers and employees discussing various challenges and issues. Those that are receptive to the honest advice, council, and influence of others make adjustments in their professional or personal life and often avoid the bus that is about to hit them. However, there is another group that is so determined to keep on marching on the path that they are on, that they never see the bus that is about to hit them.
My message in this blog is directed to business owners and senior level managers: your people have gone through a great deal this year. They have seen co-workers they like lose their jobs, co-workers they despise keep theirs, they have lost benefits, perks, and income, plus, they have been asked to take on more work than ever before. They want to be successful, appreciated and motivated. And your best ones will find a better environment the first time the economic situation enables them to do so.
Can your business afford to get hit by a busload of unhappy, disengaged team members? Can you manage the increased loss of intellectual property in the form of experienced people walking out the door? Will your customers accept another service miscue because you are busy training another replacement?
Your business is built on the spirit and the talent and the energy of your team. Remember that. Before they expect it, find a way to reward, thank, or recognize your team. It does not need to be anything elaborate or complicated. Simply providing a measured way of saying “thanks” and saying it regularly, or saying “nice work” when it is deserved goes a long way to changing the course of that bus that is about to hit you. Trust me, I have seen the scenes from this video played out all too often in many businesses. Forget to give your team the recognition it needs and deserves right now and you will get hit by the bus you never saw coming.
Overcoming Stubbornness
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One of the prevalent themes in recent blog posts has been “overcoming objections.” Traditional sales training focuses all too much time and energy on overcoming objections. What they need to be focusing on is overcoming stubbornness. If you find yourself constantly overcoming objections it is likely you have either pitched something your customer does not want or need, or you failed to connect your value to their drivers, or you did not hear “no”, or you are simply not communicating effectively. Regardless, those situations are avoidable provided you weren’t so interested in selling something, first. In this economy, all the sales training in the world is not going to help you convince a customer to buy something they do not want, need, or value. And the operate phrase here is what they want, need or value.
What you want is not important. What the customer needs is. In order to be effective at getting at what they want or need requires understanding your customer’s issues and perspectives. I came across a great blog by sales productivity insider Nancy Bleeke that puts the customer vs. salesperson perspective into a great light. Simply by focusing on what we think we see and hear only from our viewpoint, we are only looking at half the equation. The customer also has a perspective. How well do you know or care about their perspective or what they see and think? How empathetic or sensitive are you to their issues, needs, and challenges? If you are having trouble closing deals and are constantly having to overcoming objections, chances are quite high you have not really invested in learning, understanding, and internalizing what the customer’s perspective is. Quit trying to make deals. Focus on solving problems–your customer’s problems, not your sales problems.
Photo credit RadRobot
Your Sales Call is a Learning Call When…
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Taking the time to learn and understand everything you can about your client is one of the biggest challenges we face as sales professionals. In this video, I talk about my learning methods and how I transform into learn mode in the sales process.
“The Sales Cooke” pursues his passion by presenting unique and interactive programs designed to productively increase revenues, effectively improve customer relationships and integrate team and organizational behaviors into the sales equation. His approach brings refreshing insight and enthusiasm into the current trends and complexities of a growing global business environment.
He has authored of two powerful books, “Cooked Up Sales” and “Your Daily Sales Guide”, which emphasizes his philosophies on the power of relationship building and solution selling behaviors.
Persuasive Selling is Dead
By · Comments“...the future of salesmanship and innovation alike will increasingly depend on giving people easier ways of selling themselves on whatever it is you’re selling. It’s not enough to be persuasive; you’ve got to make it easier for people to persuade themselves.” ~ Michael Schrage
This quote was taken from today’s edition of BNET Insight. The author, Sean Silverthorne, captured the essence of today’s successful selling model. The key behaviors in your model is to find ways that enable the customer to identify for themselves what they need. Sometimes they don’t know how to articulate it, sometimes they don’t know how to describe it, and sometimes they don’t even know they want or need it. It is your job to facilitate that process, first.
“To effectively sell in this new environment you must know how your customers want to be communicated with and how to utilize effective conversational skills to help them discover and articulate what they want and need.” ~ SalesCooke
I would call this resource selling. Pursuasive selling is dead. Understanding how to be a valued and trusted resource is the sales model people are embracing. Next time you want to go in and pitch your product be mindful of how your customer wants to be communicated with: they are not interested in what you are selling and they want to discover or articulate what they need. Let them talk, share and communicate. It will be much more productive for both you and your customer.
The Selling Professional — 2010 Version
By · CommentsMy most recent post, “Persuasive Selling is Dead” generated an unusually high number of positive comments. There is obviously an ongoing struggle here. Most people agree with the premise of the effective sales professional, yet too few are able to successfully apply these highly productive skills.
“Why do so many sales professionals continue to engage in unproductive, annoying tactics and behaviors?”
The answer lies squarely on the business owner for not really understanding what constitutes effective selling behaviors, not hiring the best sales types, and for not providing a foundational learning environment for the effective development of the salespeople on their team. There have also been significant shifts in the market that creates a greater productivity gap between what was tolerated in sales and what is expected from sales professionals today. The opportunity for change and improvement in the development of the selling professional of 2010 lies in the following critical activities:
- Analyze the performance of all of your salespeople. Define what you expect of your sales professional. If they have the skills, the results, and the commitment to be the professional you expect keep and develop them–eliminate those who are not.
- Developing the sales professional to the skills of good selling behaviors. Don’t confuse sales development activities with product training, they are not the same. And sales development is fundamentally the more difficult of the two.
- Sales development is not “hit and miss”. Effective sales development requires a specific program of principles, skills and behaviors centered on daily activity and a focused, consistent effort. Effective sales development is not simply a class or a course, it is an ongoing and sustained program.
- Sales development takes time and commitment and experience. Effective sales development requires the experience and guidance of a mentor or expert who is able and committed to provide continuous tutelage. Doctors and lawyers spend years training and practicing for their careers. To become a sales professional also takes years of consistent education and effort.
- Successful sales development requires an ongoing financial and resource investment. If you don’t make the investment in developing your salespeople, who will? People don’t learn sales in school, it is an education you must provide. If you will make the investment in your salespeople, you will absolutely receive the reward.
(Note: The foundation for these suggestions were contributed by Timothy B. Huffaker, President, The Business Performance Group in his previously recognized article “Are Your Sales People Professionals?“)
More on Effective Listening
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When communicating with salespeople, I always ask them “what are the keys to effective sales success?” Since they have all been to sales school, their answer usually focuses around listening, asking questions, and building relationships. When I inquire further as to what that means, I receive a wide range of answers that usually miss the mark. I write about listening more than anything else because I find it is the most critical, yet most poorly applied technique in sales.
Effective listening is not listening for an opportunity for you to sell something. Effective listening requires the commitment to explore, understand, and know how you can be a professional resource to your customers, your clients, and your connections.
Here is a segment taken from an insightful blog on effective listening. The message is quite clear. Perhaps hearing this from someone else other than me may help you break those bad habits.
“Because it’s one thing to listen. And it’s quite another to know what you’re listening for. It’s even beyond ‘active’ listening…We call this the ‘passion conversation.’ That’s what we’re listening for. Not the conversation about your product, but the conversation about people’s lives and how you might be lucky enough to fit into it. Because you can do something with those conversations. Not just try to get people to talk louder and more about you. That strategy will fail every time…Be open to what you’re listening for. Don’t monitor the conversation, learn from it beyond what your competition is learning from it. Listen in a way that will help you reframe how and what you do and why you’re doing it.” ~ Spike
I think I have said enough about listening, unless you continue to not listen. The questions, the answers, the passion, the energy, the emotions, and the conversation are all components of the learning process associated with effective listening. Spend more time paying attention to them and what they are saying and less on you and what you want. After all, you are there to learn from them, learn about them, and understand exactly how you can be a resource for them. That is a lot of listening.
Photo credit: luckyfish
When Prospects Ignore You
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“”What’s your favorite tactic for dealing with silent prospects? Few things are more annoying than dealing with a prospect that simply goes silent. Cold is one thing. Silent is downright rude! What are your tips for enticing silent prospects to get back into communication mode?”
Interesting question. When a prospect goes silent, it is an indicator of one of two things. They have gotten pulled into another project or activity that is preventing them from engaging you; or, they have lost interest and simply have not figured out how to tell you “no.”
When a client goes silent, especially for an extended period of time, I usually give them the opportunity to re-engage. Often I send them a carefully crafted email that, in effect, says “when we last talked we agreed to…I have not been able to move forward without your feedback or input. Please advise how you would like me to proceed from this point.” Their response to my email tells me everything I need to know about this opportunity. Usually, I get an immediate response with some type of explanation, or they continue their “ignore” behavior. Either way I am getting the information I was looking for. An explanation tells me where they are and what their thoughts are at that time. And an ignore also gives me an answer, so I make plans to move on. Note, I still stay in contact with an ignore; but, I recognize that this is likely a “lost” opportunity and I focus my efforts on the active projects I can win, not chasing ones I probably cannot close. Keep your engage inquiry clear, simple, and bit empathetic and you will get an answer. You may not get the answer you like; but, you will get an answer to your question.
