Sales Management Archives - Page 4 of 4

Think BACk: Confidence Is About More Than Just YOU!

Want more confidence? Don’t we all?
“We chose John Doe’s product over his competitors’ because he really believes in himself!”, said no buyer ever. Make no mistake, self-confidence is important. However, focusing on it alone starts you in the middle of a 3 phase process. Begin by building your own confidence in your company and what you offer. Only then should you move on to believing in yourself. Finally, with the first two confidence pieces locked in place, work on your customer’s confidence.
Phase 1: Believe in what you offer.
Be positive! Think positive! We all get tired of hearing it from our managers. You probably don’t want to feel good about your job, it’s just not possible to force it on yourself. Ask yourself, instead, if you’ve given your own product a chance. Are you really sold on what you sell? A good model to use is David Hoffield’s “Six Why’s” in his book, “The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal“. Be a customer for moment and attempt to answer the following questions about you product or service:

Why change what I’m doing?
Why now?
Why your industry solution?
Why you and your company?
Why your product or service?
Why spend the money?

No. Your own company’s training is rarely provides enough objective information to answer adequately answer these questions. In training, they are attempting to sell you, a non-customer, on SELLING their product, not on BUYING it. Having an objective view on your product may not be as uplifting to your personally. To your customer, you have just become more trustworthy and a lot more valuable. Sorry, your product will never be ideal for every customer. Still, you may find that a specific customer type (often more specific than what your company tells you) that really connects with the benefits you offer.
Phase 2: Believe in yourself
Confidence in yourself is trickier than you think. Customers are turned off by reps who skip Phase 1 and believe in their product simply because it’s THEIR product. I call this the “Trust me” approach. Ironically, it makes customers more suspicious. No, this mistake is not restricted to used car salesman. Do not start or end your personal development with this Phase of confidence. Explaining why you have the best solution shows your customer a baseline level of respect. Customizing your offering to their needs shows them more. Finally, allowing them to question your product and have an opposing view shows them even more respect.
This is when your true confidence shows through. When a customer sees that you can handle hearing negative feedback they may open up to telling you how they really feel. Those opinions are exactly what you need to address in order to make a sale. Many of my non-sales friends say they lack confidence to do this job. Yet, ask them about their favorite TV show, favorite beer, restaurant, etc. and they will sell you like a pro!
You may also require some soul searching. Do you have self-limiting beliefs? If so, think back to the work you did in Phase 1. Even if you determined your solution is just good and not great, don’t you have an obligation to present it to your customer? Again, allow yourself to risk being questioned by being direct and frank about your product’s benefits. You want to HEAR their objections – not avoid them. For your customer, the sales process is about solving their problem, not passing judgement, good or bad, on you.
Phase 3: Inspire you customers to believe in themselves.
Often a strong conviction in your product and yourself is all you need to make the sale. Sometimes, more effort is required. Most customers do not have the thick skin that sales people develop. Even high-level executives may secretly fear rejection of their ideas at the hands of their superiors, co-workers, and customers. This is when you step in and remind them their company gave them the authority to choose and why other stakeholders stand to also benefit from your product.
It’s easy to overlook that our decision-makers can play the role of salesman themselves throughout their day. I’ve heard well-respected physicians confess apprehension at making firm treatment recommendations to patients. In essence, they need to be convinced to use their own authority. One caution with this approach, is to avoid being overly complimentary and insincere. Encouraging a client to make decisions above their pay grade will backfire – for both of you.
Can you admit your product isn’t perfect? Can you admit you don’t know everything? If so, you’re on the right track. Confidence for the sake of protecting one’s ego or towing the company line helps no one. Remember, your customer makes the purchase – not you, and definitely not your manager.
Regards,
Meaning2work
Ps. To check out David Hoffield’s book on Amazon, <a href=”http://The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal“>click here. I found it to be a refreshing research-based way to look at selling.
Pss. If you’re wondering what think BACk means. Be A Customer. Get it? B.A.C.? I knew you’d get it!

Think BACk: Did You Really Just Ask That Question?

BACk is short for “Be A Customer”. Thinking BACk entails thinking like your customer would.
“Telling is not selling! You need to ask questions!”
Sound familiar? The above statement summarizes about 90% of the sales training I’ve ever experienced. Situation questions, problem questions, implication questions, and of course, the elusive need-payoff questions. Thank you Neil Rackham and your fabled “Spin Selling” for transforming me from a glorified product presenter to a would-be problem solver! No sarcasm here. Neil’s approach has probably saved customers countless hours of sitting through unfocused and ineffective sales presentations.
It’s unfortunate that the undying impatience and goal fixation we have in sales causes us to oversimplify and overplay every new idea. If asking questions results in more sales, shouldn’t asking more questions result in even more sales? And out we go to our sales calls armed with questions, questions, and more questions!
Stop what you’re doing!
It’s time to question the concept of asking questions. I propose that every question we ask precipitates at least one question in our customer’s mind. Most likely, that question is, “Why do you want to know this information?”. When the grocery clerk asks you paper or plastic, you probably don’t even think. You just answer. That’s because you know why he’s asking. Now imagine if, while you’re rummaging through your wallet, the clerk asks, “Boxers or briefs?” Failing to address the importance of why they asking is one mistake sales people make with questions. Additionally, we ask too many irrelevant and selfish-minded questions and fail to consider their impact value as statements.
Why are you asking me this question?
Think of the struggle you undertake every day just to get your customer’s attention. When you finally connect, don’t make the mistake of taking their time for granted. You may have won the appointment, but you still have to prove why your conversation is important. Understand that, as your questions get more complex, more effort is required from your listener to respond. If your customer seems confused or unhappy in response to a question, you may want to explain why the answer is relevant to matching your product to their needs.
Of course, this approach requires you to know what information is needed and how to ask for it. If you know that, in order to be a good candidate for your product, your customer needs to provide details, A through D, ask for exactly that information. And, be prepared to explain why you need it. The last thing you need is for your customer to assume you want the information for selfish reasons.
Have a conversation not an interrogation.
Early in my sales career, I used to fear having personal conversations with customers. What if we never get to talk about my product? What will I do? In response, I forced myself to ask sales questions, even when I didn’t really need the answer. What I lacked was a deeper knowledge of my product and my customer. This insight allows you to make your personal conversations more productive and your product conversations more personal. Ideally they are one in the same. Achieving this oneness between the personal and business conversation allows you to have an actual conversation. You know, one in which your attention is in the moment and focused on your prospect, not on what you’re going to say next.
This is precisely why asking clients about their “top five initiatives for the year” or “three biggest challenges” go over well in sales training but not in real life. Sure, if someone honestly answered, you would get good information. If your the customer, you gain virtually nothing from answering it. Sorry high level account managers, the CEO of the hospital system probably doesn’t think the bed pans you sell warrant an explanation of his five year growth plan. Feeling interrogated tells your customer they are wasting precious time for your benefit.
Your Question Makes A Statement.
If you don’t think so, try asking your spouse, “When are you going to lose weight?” It’s great that you know the problems your product can solve. Just be aware, the executive you’re about to call on may not be keen on admitting that they even have a problem. Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, in their book, “The Challenger Sale”, advocate an approach using new information to shock customers into acknowledging new problems. While a wake up call may be in order for some of your customers, keep in mind that the book has been out since 2011. Customers may be getting wise to it’s tactics. If you can take control of the conversation in a respectful way and it serves their interests as well as yours, go for it! Just keep in mind you will never control your customer.
The problem with sales techniques is they are, by definition, techniques. They’re an artificial way to manipulate a conversation. In order to execute any sales tactic in a conversation, you must devote extra energy. Try being real instead. If you need to know something in order to assist your customer, by all means, ask. When you honestly want to help them it will show through in your demeanor. Conversely, acting in the role of sales person forces the customer to act in the role of customer. Neither actor gets as much done as two real people talking.
Regards,
Meaning2work

5 Reasons Why A Day In Sales Is Like A Trip to A Public Restroom

5 Reasons why a day in sales is like a trip to a public restroom:
1. You may not WANT to begin the process – you MUST. Otherwise, something imminently bad will happen.
2. When others sense what you’re doing they quickly make efforts to get away from you.
3. Sometimes you must strain and push to get what you want accomplished.
4. You never look forward to doing it, but, being done provides a definite sense of relief.
5. Afterward, it’s essential to wash your hands of the whole activity and go about the rest of your life.
The moral of the story? In this job, people will often think you are full of $h!t. Rest assured, if you’ work hard enough, you can always prove them wrong!

Calling All Sales People: Do You Feel Safe?

“Your Fired!” It’s a phrase that we go to great lengths never to hear. How safe is your job in sales? According to Simon Sinek in his bestselling book, “Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t“, good managers make their employees feel safe. In other words, their teams feel free to do their jobs, speak honestly, and ask for helpwhen they struggle.
Accord to Sinek, managers need to create a “Circle of Safety” for their teams. In such an environment, underperformance is not met with reprimand but instead with true concern for the employee’s struggles. Imagine if, when your sales numbers are waning, your boss calls and says “It looks like you might be having a rough time. How can I help?” When delivered in earnest, this message engenders trust. Your manager is on your side wanting to help you. Instead, most of us get a variation on “Why aren’t you selling more?” or “Why are you making me look bad?” Just in case you are wondering, a “How can I help” followed by a “Why aren’t you selling more” is not a genuine offer of safety.
Here are some of my favorite safety-killing sales manager statements:
“My expectation is…”, “The company’s expectation is…”
You name the sales metric. It doesn’t matter. Sales people need to know how to complete the task, why they are doing it, and what will happen if they don’t. Their managers need the courage to elaborate. Sometimes the difference between realistic and unrealistic request is an explanation of how it will be accomplished within the framework of a sales person’s busy day. An explanation reassures the employee, “I respect you, your time, and what you want to accomplish.”
The second component is “why”. Does accomplishing this task help me sell more product and make my job more secure? Or, does it simply benefit my manager or someone higher up the chain? Fear and tension arise when salespeople are continually asked to do things that serve them no direct benefit. These tasks, however small, add up and siphon away their time to do what is ultimately asked of them-to sell. Therefore sales people appreciate knowing the consequences of not doing something, especially if it results in lower sales.
“I can’t protect you if…”
The very phrase, “I can’t protect you” implies that you, the sales person, already have no protection. Consider the reprimand, “If you continue to turn your expense report in a day late, I can’t protect you from what might happen.” Conditional protection is not protection. Would you say to your child, “If you don’t get good grades, I cannot protect you from sexual predators?”
Should making a mistake on a company report, like in the movie Office Space, result in a career-altering reprimand? The proper response would be to ask the employee why they are struggling, listen to their answer, and ask how they can help. Why should reps be asked to do anything that takes away from their selling time with no return on investment?
He or She “left the company.”
When an employee leaves your company, are you given an explanation? I didn’t think so. I know corporate HR execs and attorneys will emphasize employee privacy and corporate liability as the reason for this secrecy. Not being a legal expert, I do know that laws can be interpreted in many ways and even changed once in a while.
Regardless of how restricted companies truly are in sharing the circumstances around people leaving the company, we cannot deny the consequences. From a sales person’s perspective, having someone leave your company draws immediate concern. Did she find a better job? Am I wasting my time staying here? How bad were his sales numbers? Could this happen to me? Hiding any information from employees only serves to make it appear more important. Can you fault sales people for wondering what happened to John or teammates?
“We need to talk about your numbers.”
Safe? I’ve worked for managers that would tell you that the purpose of a sales quota is to prevent you from feeling safe at all. Whether or not sales people require aggressive sales quotas is a discussion for another day. The fact remains, they have them. Is there any way to avoid this reality? Not in sales! Again, think about what the effect is on you. Do you spend more time covering yourself vs. doing actual selling? All of us need food to survive, can you imagine someone consistently reminding you of this? The problem is not that we are being asked to do something challenging. Rather, it’s that management looks at sales people as investments and not people. The minute our revenue outlook goes south, they look to offload us for a better bet.
To be fair, our managers may also feel a distinct lack of safety in their roles. Sadly, our profession has, for years, built itself into a perform or die culture. Think back to the best leaders that you’ve worked with in the past. Chances are, they made you feel secure enough to take a risk and try something new. After all, don’t we grow by taking chances and risking failure?
Before you dismiss the idea of safety as idealistic, nonproductive nonsense, check out the examples in Sinek’s book. He cites several examples of companies who are treat their employees like they’re more important than the revenue they generate and make handsome money doing it. To dive deeper into the concept of safety and leadership, be sure to check out the book on Amazon.
Sincerely,
Meaning2work