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.
I came out of a
building a few months ago, that Philip Morris were located in.
It set me
thinking about what companies I wouldn’t work for or do work with.
I wouldn’t want
to work with cigarette companies. But
Philip Morris own other companies such as Kraft who I may want to work with, so
that’s a bit of a dilemma already. Also,
we seem to live in a victim culture whereby people can sue a cigarette company
for damage from smoking, when the risk has been know for 40 years. If people know the risks then isn’t it ok for
companies to sell what they sell?
Check out the
lyrics from The Proclaimers latest album
Persevere.
Everybody’s a Victim
Seems we’re going that way
Everybody’s a Victim
We’re becoming like the USA
I demand recompense
For sitting on the fence
Throughout my adult life
You’ve got to put my parents in jail
For raising me in Fife
It doesn’t matter what I do
You have to say it’s alright
And I need you to send somebody around
To tuck me in at night
Well it’s not my fault
That I’m positive
I just stuck a needle in my arm
And nobody told me
That sixty a day
Would do me any harm
My liver’s shrivelling like a leaf
But it’s not the whiskey that doo’s it
Call me irresponsible
And I’m really going to lose it
Wear a ribbon for this
Hug a stranger for that
Light a candle to the dead
And soon you’ll forget
That you ever had
A brain inside your head
We value everything the same
We turn it into farce
So we don’t know a crises
Till it kicks us up the arse
I also wonder
about pharmaceutical companies. I have
serious doubts about the validity of drug testing, especially with long term
effects, and the practises of many of these companies. It seems that the objective is to pass the
tests and not to produce safe drugs (if such a thing exists).
What about alcohol
companies? I’d like to think, especially
if there’s plenty of other work around that I wouldn’t work for or with all
these types of companies.
But life is
sometimes a compromise and there’s grey rather than Black and White.
I’ve heard
several stories recently of female pharmaceutical sales reps, dressing
provocatively to promote their drugs.
I’m not sure
about this one. Many women have an
attraction they can use, but how and should it be used.
I was struck by
watching Woody Allen last night being interviewed by Parky, and talking about
much of his comedy being based on the crazy attraction men have to women, and
the irrational behaviour it promotes.
I believe that
salespeople should play to their strengths, but where do you draw the line?
I think if you’ve
got it, then use it, but if you want to be taken seriously or beyond the
strength that you’re using then don’t overdo it.
After all, what
do you call an exchange of money for looking sexy?
Prostitution?
Lap Dancing?
Marriage??
Never ever deal
with end users!
After all they’re
only the ones who are going to use your product or service!!
I half joke about
this but I’ve never had so much trouble as when I’ve dealt with end-users
rather than the manager or decision maker.
It’s sad really,
because all Salespeople should spend at least half a day doing the job of the
people who are going to receive the excellent product or service you’re selling
them.
Come to think of
it, all Salespeople should have to use the product/service they sell, on
themselves. Amazing how few companies
use the product/service they sell.
Typing
Pools. Most of my selling disasters for
some reason have nearly always involved the typing pool. They hardly exist now (thank God!) but I
still break into a cold sweat at the thought of one Typing Pool leader and one
typing pool who I demonstrated and then piloted Word Processing with. Oh and now come to think of it Data
Entry. What is it about end-users and
their keyboards.
Qualify out I
say!!
I finally found
my old training notes from 1984 when I was first trained to be a Salesman.
When Closing was
all the rage.
Just a reminder
how not to do it.
The Order Blank Close – You ask The Punter questions which are
filling in your blank order form and then you at the end ask them to “Okay” it
(never sign it). Est Voila. Selling Success!!
The Alternate Close – Black or White, Today or Tomorrow, Cash
or Cheque.
Puppy Dog Close – Give them the Puppy Dog for a week and
they fall in love with it. This had
recently been used successfully on me with pictures of my 4 month old
daughter. Bastards.
The Balance Sheet Close – Look at the pros and cons of the
decision, and you help them to make lots of pros.
Negative Yes Close – Ask all the negative reasons why not
and handle all the objections.
Similar Situation Close – Either tell a positive or negative
story of someone who bought or hesitated and what happened to them.
Call Back Close – You call them back under some guise or
other and re-summarise and close!
The Lost
Secondary Question Close – You hide the major closing question
behind a minor second closing question.
Apparently!!
I must find some
more Cheesy closes. Don’t use them. I don’t think selling nowadays is largely
about closing, especially in large complex sales.
You do need to
ask clients things and agree things which advance the sale, but that should be
a natural part of the process, and not some magical closing technique.
I was going to
write about not putting all your eggs in one basket with one customer and/or
deal. Spread the risk when you can. But it also reminded me of an article in the
Financial Times 2 years ago. I must find
it.
If you are in a
situation of competing against only one other supplier, then take a low risk
strategy, because your chances are 50/50.
If you’re
competing with 4 or more suppliers then do something risky, something that
makes you stand out from the pack. With
a 1 in 5 chance you have nothing to lose.
Sure you may bomb out but that’s more than likely to happen anyway. So do something which either really improves
your chances or really decreases your chances.
The mathematics
are compelling, if I can find the article!
If you can have
just one high level contact, then you’ve made it.
Why?
Because not only
can you then gain a “Licence to Hunt” which is permission from the Senior
Client to go and see anyone else in the organisation, but also you can use this
contact to call other senior clients, even if they’re not referred by this
person.
An example. Local Authority Directors of Finance. They meet regularly in their counties, and
sometimes on a wider basis. If you can
get to see one, then you can call another up saying,
“I met with David
the other day, and I thought that what we discussed may be of interest to you
as well, would you like to meet?”
Get the picture?
Also, it’s lonely
being a CEO so often they talk to other CEOs, so get to one and you might be
able to get to another just by name dropping.
Be careful
though.
Quite why you
need to go an see a senior director you have to consider carefully.
It’s all a bit
shit or bust, and is there a really good reason for them to see you and for you
to see them? What will it achieve?
Give them a
decision to make and check if they’re serious by giving you more of their time.
Seek out their
council and opinion.
Educate
them. Tell them something they didn’t
know.
Don’t try and
engage them in their area of expertise.
You’ll look like
a hairdresser.
Sometimes you
need to hook the client initially.
What is it that
will make them consider what you have to offer?
I used to work on
savings that were so generous they’d have to consider at least opening up the
dialogue.
It went something
like this.
“Chris, would you
be interested in saving $200k per annum?”
“Of course Tony”
“So if I can
deliver $200k worth of savings you’d be interested?”
“Yes Tony.”
“What if it was
less than $200k per annum?”
“Well it depends
how much.”
“What if it was
$100k per annum?”
“Maybe.”
They’ve already
got hooked on the idea of making savings, so now it’s a matter of negotiation
between what they want and what I can deliver.
It’s a fine skill
judging what saving is large enough to hook, but not ridiculously large, and a
value that’s not high enough to hook and won’t give you another chance.
Stay in
contact. Stay in touch.
I have a number
of people that should have contacted me over the last 6 months.
I’ve either met
them or emailed them.
They will lose
serious amounts of business if they carry on this way.
They will lose
business that I could give them, and if they’re like this with other people
then I don’t know how they stay in business.
Maybe it’s just me and they’re good at qualifying and have qualified me
out!!
I can’t believe
that so many of these people who profess to be professionals don’t stay in
touch. I can think of one particular
person who trains salespeople. I met him
briefly, I left a message on his mobile as he asked me to do, and I emailed
him. He is delivering sales training to a large organisation. I am now in a position with this organisation
where I could do serious damage to his business. And all because he clearly doesn’t practise
what he preaches. Not only this
organisation, but I’ve been asked to put together a training matrix for another
large organisation. I’m looking for
people to deliver training. I’ve seen this guys course agenda, I’ve heard good
reports, but if he won’t contact me, should I include him in future business I
find?
And he’s not the
only one. There are several people I’ve
had good meetings with who are supposed to be coming back to me and haven’t. In the end it’s their loss.
And the moral of
the story. K.I.T.
Keep in
touch. And do what you say you’re going
to do. People have better memories than
you think and are still waiting several years later for you to keep your
promise.
That reminds me,
there’s a few people from last week who I said I’d send some information to!!!
I’ve always
believed that you’ve got to speculate to accumulate, and now that I’m
effectively running my own business, it’s interesting to practise what I
preach.
Firstly, I don’t
carry high costs and I’m not being extravagant (yet!) with my business
overheads, so I can price at the time that I have available.
In selling, I’ve
always given things away, or at least when I’ve been able to. Create goodwill. They don’t have to be expensive things just
things of value. Also if you’re breaking
into new markets, say training as I’ve been doing over the last 4 years, I see
no problem with quoting a low price pilot and then making clear what the
on-going price is higher after the pilot.
I had a meeting
recently with a supplier of sales materials who also runs sales training, and
they insist on keeping the list price so that “the customer appreciates the
value of the course”. I’m sure the customer
can “appreciate” the value of the course whatever the price and work it out for
themselves, I just think that an element of goodwill goes a long way and shows
the kind of person you are, your flexibility and that you’re prepared to
negotiate.
That doesn’t mean
I can be taken advantage of but that I’m prepared to talk business.
One of my great
selling strengths (and lord knows I have enough weaknesses) is knowing what to
price at. I somehow am very good at
working out what cost savings would hook a customer and make them sit up and
listen. I’m also good a working out what
sort of budget they have and what price will sound reasonable. Sometimes I may get it wrong and underprice,
though, I’ve never come away thinking I
should have charged more, because generally I always get follow up business by
behaving reasonably (not weakly) and there’s always room to agree how long the
pricing lasts for and to explain any increase in prices.
At the end of the
day it’s about revenue, cash flow, and profit.
As long as you have an acute sense of cash flow, and of not making a
loss then that will serve you and the client well.
Of course there’s
the old trick of charging more which makes them think you’re more valuable and
have more value. Not sure about this one,
but I’ll let you know.
It reminds me of
one of my English teachers relating a story of him selling eggs in one basket
at 90cents a dozen, the second basket at $1 a dozen and the third basket at $1
10 cents a dozen. Most people bought the
$1 eggs. If he was asked “What’s the
difference in the eggs?” He replied,
“Nothing, they’re
all the same.”
But people still
bought from the middle basket!
That says it all
about pricing.
It never fails to amaze me, how many people play the risk game, without the risk either being fully assessed or understood. So why do they bother?
Risk is simple. What are the chances of it going wrong, and how much will it cost to put it right.
But oh no. You have to write a 30 page risk assessment document which nobody reads but makes them feel better in case it does go wrong. I’m sick to death of having to do risk assessments which nobody reads or truly acts upon. They don’t guess or estimate the chances of something going wrong they look at list price.
I’ll give you an example. Performance Guarantee. An absolute no no as far as most I.T company sees it. You can’t guarantee performance. That’s not the issue is it? The issue is how much does it cost to guarantee performance. If it costs peanuts then give a performance guarantee.
I was in the this situation a few years ago, where the cost of improving processor performance was peanuts. Now had we got the disc sizing wrong that would have been quite expensive. But why to the mangers see value lost rather than actual loss. Why not delight the customer and give a performance guarantee if it costs very little to cover the guarantee?
So many so called “Risk” Experts. So many Risk Assessment Forms which mean nothing. So little common sense.
Personally, and this is my view, I don’t think contracts are worth the paper they’re written on. As far as I’m concerned contracts are not binding.
If they were then we wouldn’t have courts because one law would suit all.
The law is open to interpretation no matter what contract has been signed.
I’m no lawyer but from my own observation, a clever lawyer will pick a hole in a contract and a judge (or jury) will deem what they see as fair, taking into account what was signed, what they believe is the law, and what they see as “fair”
Why do I say this? Because I’ve seen 119 customers each sign a contract for a product, be relatively happy with it, and if they weren’t they sorted it out, and the 120th customer took my company to court. The judge overruled the contract they’d signed. Great! The customer won and overturned a contract they’d agreed to. Bully for them, but it cuts both ways, what it means is no contract is contractually binding, let the judge decide! And in the midst of the court case which took a few years to settle, I continued to do business with the client whilst my colleagues were in court!
Should you sign contracts then? Of course. It’s an indication of what you both agree to and at least it acts as a discussion document for how the product or service should be delivered. Involve the legal people early so you don’t get the blame later.
But it really is of such secondary importance. Why?
Because if they’re going to get you they’ll get you. Contract or not. As far as I’m concerned no contract is watertight that there can’t be found a way round it. Therefore I think it’s more important to have spirit of discussion and dialogue so that even if something does go wrong it can be satisfactorily negotiated and agreed and settled without the need for contracts and law. Of course that’s said when things are going well! What about when they go sour. I should know, I’ve been divorced, and boy do things turn sour. It’s very difficult then for both parties to not listen to just what their lawyers are telling them. And let’s face it lawyers in an adversarial legal system will give you best case advice. The problem is that usually lawyers give each party different “best situation advice” and if you listen to them you end up in court and it’s heads or tails. I don’t say that lawyers deliberately antagonise. They’re doing their job for their client.
Just don’t make the contract the most important thing, and the thing that takes up the most time.
The relationship is the most important thing. And if you have a good relationship with a client then it shouldn’t resort to contractual issues. I know, I know, you need a framework and something legal, but blah blah. Most if not all work I’ve done, whilst a contract has been signed in some of them, has never been resorted to.
Remember, if they want to get you, they’ll get you, so concentrate on the relationship.
I’ve often been
asked would I sell something I don’t believe in.
The answer
nowadays is YES!
Integrity is my
highest belief, so how do I match that with selling something I don’t believe
in?
Firstly, I think
it’s easier to sell something you don’t believe in, than something you do
believe in!
Crazy logic? I’ve never been more frustrated in selling,
than selling something I really really believe in and know it’s good for the
client, only to have them reject it.
It’s so frustrating! Are they
stupid or something.
Selling something
you don’t believe in has no emotional attachment.
If they like it
good, if they don’t, good. You win
either way.
But more
important is, who are you to judge what is right for someone. Let them judge for themselves. It’s patronising to think you know what’s
best. Different people choose different
things. We don’t all buy the same
things, so in fact the client may be very pleased to buy what you have, and
they feel it’s good value for money, even if you don’t. You present the facts honestly and let them
decide.
Do we all buy the
same mortgages, do we all buy the same car, do we all go to the same place on
holiday? No. Let the customer choose. You present the facts.
Have I done deals
I regret? Yes. Would I do them again? Some of them no. But others, I wouldn’t have done if I were
the client but they did do, and they were pleased with the deal.
It’s a difficult
one.
Does the company
you work for or sell to have corporate DNA?
Does it function
in a particular way?
Has it always
functioned in the same way?
Has it always
functioned in the same way from beyond the grave?
Is it the same as
it’s always been since it’s founding fathers?
I’m beginning to
realise that organisations seem to function based upon the founding person,
whether they’re alive or dead.
Something to
consider. What is the culture of the
company you work for?
What is the
culture of the company you want to sell to?
In fact I
realised this yesterday. I called the
Sales Director of a company. He was very
abrupt with me. I of course used a
referral but he said he’d never hear of him!
Just my luck. I asked him who I
could talk to about sales training and he guided me to a guy in
I realised
actually that I have been dealing with this company in various guises for over
15 years, and I haven’t had one pleasant experience with them. Their CEO and founder is aggressive and the
DNA in the company certainly flows from him no matter where I am in the world
When will I ever
learn! Move on Tony. Plenty of pleasant companies to deal with.
I’d like to think
that I could one day change the culture of a company but I’m beginning to
wonder. Maybe find the companies that
suit me and work with them, both working for and with.
There’s nothing
like good news to motivate you to create more good news.
I had lots of
good news yesterday and it made me feel like I could jump through brick walls.
Amazing what
simple creatures we are that a bit of good news changes our perspective.
It also is sign
of hard work paying off. Sometimes it
takes a bit of time for the good things to return back from something we did a
few weeks or months ago.
So how to you get
Good News?
Get lucky. Create Some.
Hard Work.
And whilst I’m on
this subject, Good News isn’t the marketing crap that is written about “Good
News Sales Wins” which is always a pile of misrepresented bullshit written to satisfy.
Fear of
Rejection.
That’s what
selling is all about isn’t it.
Fear of being rejected
by a person or people.
Fear of your
proposal being rejected.
How to overcome
rejection?
There’s a number
of ways.
Shear volume is
one way. See the No’s as a journey to a
Yes.
Collect 9 No’s
and Win a Yes, if that’s your hit rate.
Qualify. Make damn sure that the person you’re dealing
with will say yes because you know beforehand.
Time. Take your time to build the relationship, so
that no doesn’t really come into it.
This is the
biggest danger because the biggest waste of a salesperson’s time are the deals
they lose. Getting a No quickly is
therefore a good thing because you’re not wasting your time. Move On!
Looking Good is
another way of looking at it. We want to
look good, like anyone else gives a shit on how we look! So how come it bothers us so much. All the great successes in life looked bad at
some time, they just bounced back, learnt from it, persisted and turned it into
success.
Most if not all
success is based on learning from failure and taking risks.
Rejection is part
of taking risks.
I look back on my
life so far and I don’t have many regrets but one of them is I didn’t ask
enough girls often enough!
Fear of
Rejection!
I just realised
something today in making two calls to high level contacts.
It’s difficult to
get past the P.A to speak to them and if you leave a message would they call
you back. Now this of course isn’t
new. The person that blocks is usually
called the gatekeeper which I think is patronising.
When the
switchboard or P.A asks who you are and which company, name the person who
recommended you. “I’m Tony Goodson, and Jane Bingham suggested I call
Jim.” Even if the switch or P.A doesn’t
know Jane Bingham at least the message gets through to the person you’re trying
to contact that someone they know has recommended this person.
Make sure you
have a direct recommendation you can quote the name of the person you are
contacting will recognise. I had to go
back to square one on senior name because I realised the person I was calling
wouldn’t recognise the recommender.
I have to keep
reminding myself to do the work with recommendations and referrers and not the
person I’m calling. If I’ve done the work right calling people will be like a
friend of friend, and I find that quite easy.
And let’s not
forget that all I’m looking for from this friend of a friend is more people to
contact.
My greatest
successes is when the Senior person tell me who I can speak to in their
organisation.
I can then call
people in an organisation and say that senior person has suggested I call them
and meet up!
It’s called a
Licence to Hunt, a Shotgun Licence which is one of the things you’re looking
for from senior executrices. Permission
to talk to anyone in the organisation.
I’ve said this
before but when interviewing a Salesperson, I want to know about their bad
things, not their good things (which they exaggerate anyway).
I want to know
about their bounce back. Recovery, Tenacity.
The biggest deal they ever lost.
Selling is about
highs and lows and the ability to deal with the lows and bounce back.
Recover.
I’ve lost
momentum today. I had momentum last
week.
So do I do a few
of the other things that need doing, course design, web, bills, paperwork,
emails.
Or do I pick the
phone up.
The best way I
think is to let it go today and see what happens.
In fact as I
learnt from Peter Dixon (Dicko), you don’t have good days and bad days, just
good hours and bad hours. So maybe the
next hour will be different.
I think the best
way forward is to do some easy phone calls.
The easiest one. Or at least the
ones I consider the easiest.
As long as I have
something to show for at the end of the day.
Content, advance, progress.
But sometimes
it’s just a day in the Doldrums.
Literally. I’m always struck by
Jim Clark of Netscape, Silicon Graphics fame being stuck sailing into the
Doldrums and that’s where he did his best thinking. Check out his semi-biography The New New Thing –
Michael Lewis.
Thinking
Day. Rest Day, Creative Day.
Put yourself in
the clients shoes.
In fact better
still, be the client.
The most
effective role-plays I run are when the person learning to sell, role plays
their own client. Many attendees find
this hard to grasp and fight it. They
seem to want complex scenario role-plays to find out amazing things from
role-playing clients.
They just don’t
get it.
What better way
to understand your client than by being your client and brief someone else to
call on you. You as client get to hear
what they sound like. In other words
what you may sound like when you go to see them
This idea of
playing both roles yourself and then maybe stepping away to look at both
parties from a third position is a standard part of some therapy and Neuro
Linguistic Programming (which is derived from therapy)
Never
underestimate the power of putting yourself in the client role just to see what
happens and if any new things occur.
And of course
it’s the third party observer that learns the most because they see both
parties from a detached and relatively objective view. It’s very easy as observer to see what’s
happening and realise what you’d do differently.
The Observers
learn the most.
It’s important to
get an advance with each meeting and phone call and not just a continuation.
There’s a danger
of just continuing with clients by sending info or having meeting after meeting
and nothing happens. I should know, I
had one client with very pleasant meetings that went on for 5 years and no
business ever happened.
An advance may
be;
I was thinking
about this today as I made some calls.
It sure is difficult on the phone to get an advance, other than making
sure you have a meeting. Referrals seems
to be the best other advance.
It’s a fine line
between qualifying for your own purposes on the phone and pushing for a meeting.
I reckon as long
as you have enough prospects to go at you don’t need to push too hard.
Move on until
something gives.