The Lazy Salesman
The Lazy Salesman in Jan 2002, The Worst
Customers I Ever Had, Fill the Funnel, Negotiation, Collecting NOs, Thinking
Time, Number 76 of my Selling Manifesto, Change Now!, Sales Job Interviews,
Fail, Cluetrain, Action, The Perfect Customer, Integrity, Closing, Objection
Handling, Summarising, Objectives, Rapport, Networking, Decisiveness,
Qualifying.
The Lazy Salesman in Feb 2002, Thinking Aloud, Positioning, Honesty, Move On,
Practising what I Preach?, Doing the Business – Networking, Issues and Personal
Wins, Small Acorns, 4:2 Rule, Conscious Competence, Question, Listen, and
Summarise, Sales Teams, Hunters and Farmers, The Competition, The Truth about
Selling!, What’s in it for Me? (WIIFM), The Best Salespeople I know,
Presenting, Calling High, Networking Again, Birthday – Ghost Story, Little
Things make a Big Difference, Difficult Customers, Prospecting, Hot (Cheesy)
Tips, What Irritates me as a Client.
The Lazy Salesman in March 2002; Who Wouldn’t I Work For?, Sex Sells, End Users, Cheesy Closes,
High Risk or Low Risk, High Level Contacts, The Hook, Contact K.I.T., Pricing,
Risk, Contracts, Selling Something You Don’t Believe In, Corporate DNA, Good
News, Rejection, Calling High Level Contacts, Good Days and Bad Days, In the
Client’s Shoes (The Observers learn the most), Advance not Continuation.
The Lazy Salesman in April 2002; Wait and They Did Come!!,
Persist or Walk Away, Prospecting from Cold, Wait and They will come!, Stamina,
Involve the Audience, One Thing Each Day, Luck, Good Selling Organisations, Be
your Word, Be Honest with Yourself, More Corporate DNA and Zipf’s Law, Smile,
Exceed Expectation, Shut Up Tony, Cardbox, Grassroots Selling, Persist and Have
a Dream, Pick an Onerous Task, Guilt,
Style, Good Will, Mind Expanding Questions!, Tenacity and Lunch, Recovering
Lost Momentum, Competing Customers, Selling Pranks.
The Lazy Salesman in May 2002: Contact, Resource Availability
Close, Hardware Store, SPACER, My own Call Reluctance, Greetings and
Handshakes, How much to you care?, Advancing after a Good Meeting, What Goes
Around Comes Around, Concept to Cash, The Perfect Supplier, Follow-Up, All Talk
and No Product, Elio the Photographer, Battles and Wars, Dissatisfied Customer,
Crooks, Exhibition Leads, Small Acorns Conversations, The P.A font of all
Knowledge, Practising What I Preach, Don’t Let Things Drift, Human Touch,
Dreams Really Do Come True, Find Your Market.
The Lazy Salesman
in June 2002: Lost
Leaders, Loss
Leaders, My Sales Call Reluctance, Can you talk?, Cover your
bases, Selling Should be Effortless,
9 out of 10 people just aren’t interested, Selling
Picks and Shovels, Tony the Café Owner, Playing 2 games of chess, Selling Ratios,
Professionals Sort, Amateurs Convince, Onerous Tasks, Marketing
your website, Internet Marketing, Struggling On, Time,
where does it go to?, Prospecting is Non-Urgent and Important,
Sell
Better or Qualify Out!, Easy to do business
with, Is Selling Manipulating?, Big Coincidence, Revenge
Referrals, Engaging,
Can you help
me?, Trial
Close.
And talking
of Loss Leaders, what about all the Lost
Leaders!
All those Sales
Managers who just manage the numbers and the not the salespeople.
All those Sales
Managers who encourage their salespeople to go for deals they’re going to lose,
or deals that are small and difficult and don’t do anyone any favours.
If I could change
one thing in selling in companies, it would be to have Sales Managers who show leadership,
encouragement and wisdom to their sales teams.
I can train
salespeople as much as I like, but if they go back into a culture that doesn’t
encourage, support or remind about the new skills then it fades fast.
On the other hand
if a salesperson goes into a team of buzzing salespeople with the right
culture, they’ll go with the flow.
It’s largely up
to a sales manager to create that flow.
Often they don’t,
not always their fault because the company demands forecasting and process.
I’ve always
believed in loss leaders.
Giving something
away of value to the client in order to gain more business (and goodwill!)
Some people are
reticent to do this, they think it sets a precedence of discounting.
I disagree and
tend to favour the approach of letting people try something out, hook them, and
if they’re interested for more then let’s agree something.
You have to hook
them first.
It’s no good in
my business say, of having a high daily rate you charge clients, if the initial
price frightens them off.
I’m witnessing
this right now with sales training tools.
Companies are
very interested in the material out there but are not willing to pay the high
rate and cost per head.
So they don’t
even get to the negotiating table.
For me to break
into a new company, one way is to offer a free training hour, half day, or day,
and if they like it, this is the price for future training.
Simple
really. I get a chance. If they like it and see the value they ask
for more.
It’s really about
spreading a virus. Something different
needs to happen initially for the virus to spread, but once is has spread it’s
difficult to contain.
I aim to do this
with my selling. Get in somewhere,
culture the virus with good work and value to the client, and then watch it
spread.
Quite often, loss
leaders don’t have to cost the supplier that much. It’s about perceived value by the client.
If I’m solidly
booked up for 6 months, then offering a day for free may be a big write-off.
Even then, I may
have to do this to gain future business, beyond the 6 months.
I was always
frustrated when working for large corporates that they wouldn’t, or made it
difficult to give stuff away, even low cost/ high value stuff, but now I have
me own company (me), I haven’t changed my stance.
I strongly
believe in using loss leaders and goodwill to build a relationship with
clients.
Just did my SPQ
Gold test on Sales Call Reluctance, to see what
holds me back from making those calls.
I’ve done the
test 3 times now. In 1993, 1999, and
just now 2002.
Just plotted the
3 results and had a look at the trends.
Firstly, my
Motivation has zoomed up. If it’s to be
believed it’s unbelievable!
Fear of closing
and not upsetting the client has dropped as well as seeing the role of sales as
being a good thing.
Fear of selling
to family and friends has dropped. I can
understand this because moving here to
My Goal Level,
setting the right goals and being goal focused has also rocketed up over the
years.
The ones that are
equal or have gone worse are fear of using the phone (not sure I believe that
one, but I’ll sleep on it) and I’m still highly Goal Diffused (too may irons in
the fire).
I’m a bit of a
worrier, surprisingly I over-prepare a bit, and I like to look good to the
exclusion of actually selling (Hyper-Pro).
Looking good,
very good, especially Motivation at 100!
With my profile,
anyone would hire me, as long as they reduced the number of irons I have in the
fire.
When phoning
someone, even someone you know, always ask them if they can talk to you, or if
it’s a good time to talk, or have you got a moment to talk..
There’s a fear
they may say it’s not a good time to talk and never talk to you again!
But often people
are the middle of something and don’t want to be talked at by you, and they
probably won’t be listening, if they’re busy.
Nearly everyone
gives you a time when it’s best to call them again.
Try not to let
them call you back, because then they might not.
Just agree to
when you can call them, or as a fallback, email them.
One of the key
point of Miller Heiman “Strategic
Selling” is to “Red Flag” the information you don’t know, and the people you’ve
not met.
Mainly because it
could return to hit you later.
I’m in a
situation where a person hasn’t covered their bases with me and a client, and
as a result it’s costing them business.
They’ve delivered
good work, but their main contact has moved on, and they haven’t spoken to the
other parts of the organisation, so now when the other parts are looking for
suppliers they resent that this guy hasn’t contacted them.
It’s a reminder
to me with one of my clients that even though I have contact with a lot of the
people, there’s 2 new appointees I haven’t contacted yet, and you never know,
they could also have it in for me for not contacting them!
I’ll be on the
phone and email tomorrow to them!!
It’s not as
though I have to sell to them or convince them of anything.
Just a courtesy
call to let them know what’s happening.
They’ll
appreciate it, and as long as they remain neutral or better, that’s fine.
So thank you guy
who I can’t name, for teaching my by your action (or lack of it) what I should
be doing myself.
I just looked at
your website, and it’s a joke between what you preach and what you actually do
yourself.
It should be
effortless, shouldn’t it?
If it isn’t
effortless then find out what the problem is.
Is it the
product?
Are you trying
too much to convince people rather than sort them out into those who are
interested and those who aren’t.
Are you working
too hard and going for difficult business.
Do you have a
fear about selling that is using up energy?
Are you failing
to delegate?
Are you using
your time badly having useless meetings?
In other words
are you failing to qualify or advance in the meeting?
Are you
forgetting to seek referrals and warm contacts?
Have you not
taken the time to work out how you articulate on the other person’s terms what
it is you offer them and why they can benefit from it?
Are not listening
enough and over-selling too much and using up energy?
Are you failing
to market, promote and automate what it is you do?
Just a few checks
for you (and me!).
Nine out of ten
people just aren’t interested in what you have to offer.
So move on.
That’s a bit like
collecting NOs. 9 NOs to get a YES.
It interesting to
realise that someone who has written that 9 people just aren’t interested,
shows up that it’s often not about convincing but sorting.
Moving on quickly
to find someone who is interested.
It’s a stark
reminder that you may have to make ten phone calls before you find someone to
progress business with, although I think the rate is much better if you call
people you know.
Looking for
markets to get into?
What about
selling picks and shovels to the gold diggers.
Instead of going
for the gold, make your fortune by feeding off the gold rush.
There’s plenty of
money to be made servicing a gold rush.
I guess more
money was made service the dotcom growth and crash than with the actual dotcom
thing itself.
I’m sure many
sharebrokers, on-line share sites, Cisco et al, would agree.
So have a think
about what trends you can feed off the back off rather than directly from.
3G mobiles is a
problem looking for a solution.
There’s going to
be a worldwide shortage of highly skilled people, and low skill people.
Web design and
small business LAN support are things I know I need.
What is it that
will help the Telcos grow again, when they start to grow again?
Selling Picks and
Shovels
Tony is a Chinese
guy who runs/owns a café in the Malvern Central shopping centre, one of those
open ones in the middle.
Tony greats
everyone and remembers, who you are, when you last came in, what you like to
eat and drink, how you’re related.
He comes up to
your table to say hello, and genuinely takes an interest in everyone.
What a
salesperson.
Sitting in on
training, and the trainer said,
“It’s like
playing a game of chess when dealing with a client”
And someone
whispered to the person next to them,
“More like
playing 2 games of chess, one with the client and the other internally”
And I thought,
how brilliant, that’s so true of selling, when working for a company, you are
dealing with the client, and at the same time your own people.
And selling
internally is usually 80% of selling, and the more difficult part.
I’ve always found
the client the easy bit.
It’s selling it
to the company so that they run with it, that’s the hard bit.
All the politics
and paperwork, and people covering their arses.
It really is like
playing 2 simultaneous games, or better still, like playing one game with your
client, who’s move you copy and play with the company.
The problem is,
your client makes a move you respond with a move, and copy your clients move as
the first move you make with the company, and the company responds differently,
so already you’re out of synch between the moves with the client and the moves
with your company.
Ever been in that
situation? And guess what? You’re playing by the rules (of chess), but
two completely different games!
You need to get
the ratios right in order to make sales.
What ratios work
in you line of business.
Generally it’s
10:3:1
10 Suspect leading
to 3 Prospects leading to 1 sale.
In telesales it
can be 100:25:4:1
100 Calls,
leading to 25 contacts, leading to 4 positive outcomes, leading to 1 sale.
Looking at it
carefully, it shows you how many contacts you need to be making in order to get
a sale.
Same as
yesterday, Professionals Sort, Amateurs Convince.
I find that very
profound.
Taken from Robert
Allen’s Multiple Streams of Internet Income,
“Professionals
Sort, Amateurs Convince!”
Brilliant.
Largely because
it matches my selling philosophy, so it must be right.
I tend to move
on, rather than try and convince people.
Plenty of fish in
the sea.
A third will
always buy from you, a third will never buy from you, and a third may buy from
you
So get rid of one
third, look after the other third, and have think about the third third!
Or to put it
another way. Move on!
The skill is to
know when to go back and staying in touch.
Just because
people aren’t convinced now, they may be more interested in the future, and
will normally welcome a call in the future provided you time it right and
aren’t pestering them.
One tip I heard a
while ago, is to call someone up you had a meeting with a while ago, and tell
them you were going through you old diary and were wondering how they’re doing!
Seems to work!
It seems to be
working.
I’ve made lots of
calls today because I have a presentation to write.
So instead of
writing the presentation, I keep putting it off and making calls that I’ve been
putting off.
So at least the
calls are being made but the presentation isn’t.
In order to do
the presentation, I have to do some tax returns, so that’s the presentation
solved.
The only final
problem is the tax returns. I can’t
think of anything more onerous than tax returns!
Continuing on
from yesterday, there’s no point in having a great website if no-one visits it.
Marketing you
website is very important.
Continuing to
read Robert Allen’s book Multiple Streams of
Internet Income.
He points out the
difference between Traditional Marketing and Internet Marketing.
Considering the success of Dell which is largely
based on Internet Marketing, it’s worth at least thinking about.
|
Traditional Marketing
|
Internet Marketing
|
I am really
struggling today to get anything done.
Just one of those
days when I drift.
Maybe being away
for so long has taken it out of me.
The challenge for
the rest of the day is to do at least one thing that is useful.
One thing that I
can look back on and say,
“Well done Tony,
today was worth it.”
I think I know
what it is.
Generate some
more business from the business I already have.
One simple email
should achieve that.
If I get one more
course as result of today, then today is worth it, because if I got a course
every day then I’d be doing very well.
Yet another day
drifts by and I get nothing done.
Or seem to get
nothing done.
I spent 4 hours
updating some training material.
That was all of
the morning.
And I don’t know
where the afternoon and evening went to.
Damn. I have blown most of the week and I feel like
I’ve achieved nothing.
Actually, one
casual remark today by someone else, suggests that there’s more business coming
in.
So today’s
patience and investment of time has in fact probably paid off.
It just doesn’t
feel that way as I look at a pile of presentations to prepare, expenses and
taxes to do, and all that PC and laptop clean up and back-up that needs doing.
I find myself
with a relatively quiet June, and a very busy July, August, September.
This means I
should be prospecting in June for work in October, November, December.
The prospecting
is Non-Urgent but Important.
And it’s the
Non-Urgent and Important stuff which makes the biggest difference to our lives.
The Urgent and
Important needs doing now. The other two
types don’t.
But having the
foresight to prospect for future months is one thing, but actually doing it
when there are so many other distracting things, is difficult.
It’s a real
challenge to prospect now, for the future.
Fill the Funnel
at the top.
Maybe that’s what
I should do. Put all the things I have
to do in the 4 quadrants and see what it looks like.
I’m beginning to
realise that you have 2 choices in selling.
Where on the
scale do you lie between being good at selling and good at finding and
qualifying business?
I realise that
maybe I’m not that good at “selling” but I’m pretty good at knowing where business
is, qualifying, and moving on if it’s not there.
In the type of
work I do now, the world is my oyster, so I can afford to keep moving on until
something happens.
I don’t have to
be that good at convincing people they have a need. If they can’t see it, or think I can’t
satisfy it, then move on Tony.
I network well in
order to make up for my shortcomings.
Who knows who
knows who?
I think it comes
down to either having a product and then finding the market, or find the market
and craft a product.
Not everyone is
in a position to do that, but if you can find a market seeking a product, and
you develop the product, then it becomes a feeding frenzy.
I think also when
I’ve found someone who’s interested, I’m good at building that relationship and
growing the business.
So which way do
you want it to be?
Which are you
good at?
Selling,
developing and growing the need, or finding people with the need.
I’ll opt for the
latter.
Are you or your company easy to do business with?
Or do you make it difficult for customers to work with you.
Are you satisfying what they want or trying to fit them into what you
offer and your processes.
I keep hearing the same thing time and time again, that sometimes people
want to buy and they choose the supplier that is easy to do business with.
Especially with car sales.
Women tell me time and time again that car salesmen sell to their male
partners and not them even when women are making the buying decision.
Many car salespeople have a process you have to fit round even if you’re
ready to buy or want information.
These organisations will only learn when something better comes along and
puts them out of business.
It just shows how much potential there is just in the car sales.
Many I.T companies I’ve worked with and for seem so difficult to do
business with.
This may be because they have big and complex and large numbers of sales
items.
But I’m not so sure
If people want to spend money with you, make it easy for them to spend.
Easy choosing, easy ordering, easy changing, easy return, lots of follow
up, and added value.
That why Amazon is so popular.
It’s easy to do business with them, and they add so much value and
flexibility to choosing and changing the item.
Mind you, they’ve not made big profits yet!
But think about what you can improve that won’t cost much or anything to
change.
Some people are really against being sold to.
They resent people calling them at home and get angry when it happens.
They think they are being intruded upon and having their time wasted.
They generally see selling as manipulation.
Is Selling Manipulating?
It depends on the salesperson and the industry.
I’ve heard it said that selling is presenting the details/features of a
product or showing.
Letting the customer make their own mind up.
I’m not sure about this because when you ask people to name their
favourite salesperson, it’s usually someone they’ve built a relationship with.
Someone who’s doing more than details and showing.
It’s a paradox that many people don’t want to be sold to, but actually
like being sold to!
I guess the thought of it is worse than the actual experience.
Maybe they have a reaction to what they perceive selling to be.
I’m training this week, a group on selling skills.
One of the key areas I’ve emphasised is the power of networking.
As a semi-joking aside, I said to the group,
“Of course, if you can think of anyone who would be interested in this
type of training then please let me know”
After the course today, one of the attendees comes to me and says he can
think of a bank that would be very interested in this type of training, as he
used to work with them.
He gave the bank name, and some possible contacts.
Just one problem.
Of all the organisations he could have told me about, he happens to pick
the one that I’m starting to train in a few weeks time!
He’s given me the very name of the people I’m about to train!!
Damn.
At least it shows he can identify a good prospect and I’m on track to be
training the right sort of customer who has a need and is interested.
Just check referrals that someone is giving you are not just to fob you off and act as revenge on someone they don’t like!
Someone today told me that when he was a customer, he used to send
salespeople who saw him (especially salespeople he didn’t like) to fellow
clients he didn’t like!!
I never thought of that!
Someone would send me to their worst enemies as revenge!
I’m so impressed today by some of the retailers I’ve met.
The guy who drove me to the airport in
They all do at United Parking in
The taxi driver in
He was engaging.
Newspaper shop owner who commented on me buying Fast Company magazine.
He engaged me.
In fact he’s the only magazine seller in months including
They all engaged me.
They were all interesting, and interested.
There’s nothing like asking clients or anyone if they can help you.
People love to help.
Loved to be asked for their advice and contacts.
Especially if you declare it up front that you’re seeking their help,
instead of engaging them in conversation and then hitting them with it.
So if you call someone for their help, declare it up front.
Trial closes are fun!
They’re “If….Then” statements.
“If we can show you way of saving 10% on overall costs then would you be
interested?”
“If we can reduce your staff attrition rate by 15% then would you
consider implementing our system?”
“You said you’re dissatisfied with our level of service. If we can improve and better our current
level of service would you stay with us?”
Why are trial closes fun?
Because clients can say some throwaway line, like,
“If only you weren’t so expensive.”
“If only this service was free.”
You can reply back with a twinkle in your eye,
“If this service was free then you’d be interested?”
If they say yes, then you can say,
“So you’re interested, but it’s just a matter of price.”
So even though they were messing around, so can you and turn it into fun.
But behind it you know you’ve both started to negotiate.