NOVEMBER 2012
№ 17
positive sales BEHAVIORS JASON FORREST
STRONG
Sales Funnel In 2013 p. 20
shares how you can change your behaviors to change your sales results p. 6
What Audiences HATE Most p. 46
Everyone Wants to Move Forward Now, you can learn HOW YOU CAN is a book of HOW . . . specifically how to improve your personal performance and achievement. In this groundbreaking new book, renown peak performance expert John Von Achen walks you through a proven methodology guaranteed to help you reach your maximum potential. There is no hype in this book, no filler and no excuses. Only solutions for how YOU CAN produce better results in everything you are doing.
Meet the Author One word describes John Von Achen, RESULTS! John Von Achen is one of the most respected thought leaders and peak performance experts in the world today. He has become a legend when it comes to helping individuals and organizations achieve their maximum growth, performance and profitability. Known as an inspiring, forward thinking business leader, John Von Achen has consistently provided his clients “real world” solutions they can transfer into immediate results.
Learn more at www.youcan2012.com/
Founder of SOLDLAB.com and SOLD Magazine John Von Achen Editor-in-Chief Helen Bereschinova Copy Editor Oleg Vetoshnikov Designer Lubov Karmanova Cover story: Jason Forrest Contributors: Bob Apollo, Tim J. M. Rohrer, Jeff Koser, Mark Gibson, Desiree Moore, Julie Thomas, Michael Schatzki, Howard Lax, Joshua Paul COLUMNISTS: Mark Holmes, Kelley Robertson, John Brubaker, Dan Waldschmidt, Michael Goldberg, Jeff and Chad Koser, David Steel, Gavin Ingham, Arnold Sanow, Phil Waknell, Peter Temple, Greg Williams, Maura L. Schreier-Fleming, Stan Billue, Shep Hyken Owned and Operated by CENTE MEDIA, LLC. 1800 Pembrook Dr Ste 300 Orlando, Florida 32810
CONTENTS 06 Buckets of Behaviors for Increased Confidence 11 Fearless Selling. The Power of Confidence 14 Cranky Sales Manager. Motivation Makeover: 10 Tips to Tune Up Your Attitude 16 The Coach Approach. 10 Practices to Enhance Your Value as a Sales Professional
06
18 Selling on the Edge. Dream A Little, Won’t You?
20 3 Key Steps to Building a Stronger Sales Funnel for 2013 23 The Steel Method. Driving Revenue Through the Use of Social Media 26 Chasing Zebras. Selling to Zebras. The Untold Story… For salespeople Chapters 17-20 28 Ringside with Michael. How to Be a Complete Failure at Sales
30 The Rhythm of the Sales Process 33 Buy the numbers
30
4|
35 Sales Shift: Make Quantum Leaps In Your Sales Results. How to Build Amazing Client Relationships 38 Up Your Charm IQ. Avoid connection crushers
November 2012
November 2012 43 40 Ten Presentation Rules for Sales People to Improve Engagement 43 4 Qualities of Amazing Public Speakers 46 Visually Speaking. Thinking Visual Support? Five Things Audiences Hate Most! 48 Presentation 2.0. Imagination
50 Successful Negotiation: Communication, Not Confrontation 53 Using Silence in a Negotiation 54 Advice from the Master Negotiator. Body Language & Negotiation Strategies That Motivate & Exude Confidence
50
56 SOLD Q&A. Ask the Sales Pro
58
58 "Bad is Stronger than Good" – Lessons for Customer Loyalty and Experience 62 6 Social Business Strategies to Improve Customer Retention Within 6 Months 64 Create Customer Amazement TM. Creating Value and Confidence Leads to Customer Amazement 66 Success Secrets from a Sales Super Star. Customer Service and Loyalty
www.soldlab.com
|5
6|
November 2012
“If you are able to read, but choose not to, you may as well be illiterate.” Just the same, if you’ve been trained in all the best sales techniques and behaviors and choose not to implement them, you may as well be untrained. I like to think of our sales knowledge as residing in three buckets – the first bucket contains what we know and do regularly; the second contains what we know but only do sometimes; and the third contains what we don’t know, and therefore don’t do. The more we can move positive behaviors into the first bucket, the better off we are.
Y
our results come directly from your behaviors. My associate, Jeanne Conger, says “A sale is a trailing indicator of prior activities.” That means that if you increase positive activities, you get better results. Easy, right? Well maybe I should say it’s simple, but not necessarily easy. And that’s because it’s easier not to change what we do. It’s easier to do the same things day after day and get in a rut, blaming our lack of progress on everything but our behaviors. Rather than fall into finger pointing and excuses, it’s time to take ownership of our careers and lives. It’s time to take the attitude that whether we succeed or fail, it’s all on us. The fact of the matter is that people buy in any economy. Sure, we have a smaller market to sell to, but the best sales professionals earn what they’re worth in any market. At a recent training, sales coaches raved about a team member who is poised to end the year around a $375,000 income, while many of her peers won’t break six figures. This sales professional doesn’t have the best situation, she has the best sales
www.soldlab.com
techniques and mindsets. She has confidence in her sales process and approaches each prospect with the attitude that if they don’t buy from her, they’re making a mistake.
Bucket One So let’s talk about that first bucket – the one filled with the positive behaviors you know and do regularly. Your current performance is equal to the level at which you are currently performing these behaviors and techniques. Want to increase your confidence, and therefore, your performance? Increase the level at which you perform the items currently in this bucket. Here are some tips:
Practice Practice your sales scripts, sales presentations, and brand stories on your spouses, peers, and sales coaches (managers). Practice isn’t about canning something, it’s about consistency – being able to perform at a high level so that every customer gets the richest buying experience possible – beyond what they will get from any competitor.
|7
Think about Elton John or Lady Gaga, who practice until each note and motion becomes instinct. It’s the work that happens behind the scenes that helps make sure that each performance is phenomenal. Your part of that behind-the-scenes work helps eliminate variables; increase confidence; and perfect a repeatable process. Practicing a process and then adding one’s own personal spin makes for excellence. Elton John has performed enough to know that he can get on stage and deliver at the same level he did last time. And then do it again the next night. Average salespeople practice until they can get it right sometimes, but true sales professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.
Get Feedback We should revere feedback like we revere our first love. There is nothing more useful for improving ourselves and earning what we’re worth than getting (and really receiving) constructive criticism from those who are in a position to help us improve. So put your ego down and ask for help. Spouses, especially those outside your industry, can give a fresh perspective since they’re not inundated with the language and news surrounding your business/ industry. They’re not limited by the paradigms that plague us. Sales coaches are probably the best source of feedback. But they’re also the ones it’s most intimidating to ask for help from. You asking for feedback isn’t going to make them aware of something they don’t know, it will just give them an opportunity to share what they see and help you earn more money. And they’ll really respect you for it. Who doesn’t want a team member who’s willing to acknowledge their weaknesses and ask for help in strengthening them?
To get better at tennis or chess, you have to play against those who are more skilled than yourself. The same goes for sales
Play Up To get better at tennis or chess, you have to play against those who are more skilled than yourself. The same goes for sales. Chances are, there are people on your team with strengths where you have weaknesses. If you’re trying to improve your product presentation and know someone around you is strong in that area, seek him or her out. Take them through your process just as you would a prospect and see what feedback they have.
8|
Chances are they’ll be honored that you see them as an expert. Or if you struggle with getting down to the real reasons people are in the market, seek a team member out who is great at asking questions that uncover prospects’ true desires. Do the same for your teammates! Teaching your skills and strengths to others only helps you sharpen your own.
November 2012
Shadow and Be Shadowed I believe shadowing is one of the most useful and least tapped into self-improvement strategies around. The value of it dawned on me when I was a national sales trainer for a Fortune 500 company. A sales pro asked if I could come out to her sales office and shadow her the next time I was in town. So I spent three hours with her – coaching her on the sales process that had worked for me when I was in her shoes. So she calls me two weeks later and says, “When can you come out again? I just made three grand off of what you taught me. I want to learn more.” She attributed three grand to shadowing! The best sales coaches know their players. They know their strengths, weaknesses, and all the behaviors that lead to positive results. Ask them to shadow you to find out what you could be doing differently and who you could learn from. Your fellow sales professionals may be a bit more reluctant to share their knowledge, but seek out the ones who are secure in their skills and revel in teaching. They’ll enjoy passing along their knowledge. And if they’re reluctant, don’t be afraid to sell them on the idea. One of the best ways to sharpen their skills is to teach them.
Bucket Two The next category of behaviors and techniques – bucket two – is a funny one. It’s the one filled with all the behaviors we’ve been trained on but either don’t believe in or just don’t want to do. Maybe we’re not convinced they’ll work or maybe they just seem too hard. The tragedy of this bucket is that it’s like that whole reading thing. It’s filled with stuff we know but don’t implement… so we may as well not know it at all. There is nothing sadder to me than untapped potential. Here are some tips to increase the items in this bucket for better performance and therefore, better income:
from your inventory and do it again. Slowly move items from bucket two to bucket one.
Follow Through Once you’ve made a point of sharpening your bucket one techniques and moving bucket two techniques into bucket one, keep an eye on your lists. Ask yourself if any items have slipped back into bucket two. If so, focus on them again until they’re part of your instinct; so much so that they happen as naturally as saying hello to your prospects.
Bucket Three You can’t try what you don’t know, right? That’s why there’s bucket three – the land of unlimited knowledge. This is where you learn and implement new strategies and techniques. For this, you may want to attend seminars, read books, and shadow your team’s top performers. When you see a proven technique, incorporate it into your own daily behaviors. Then practice, practice, practice. One of the things I love about sales is that success is linear. Your income is a direct result of the level at which you perform. Increase your confidence in each behavior and your performance will improve as well. And as your performance increases, so does your income. Write down how much you are earning at your current level of performance. Now write down what you think you can earn if you add at least one technique a month from your category two and three buckets to your daily routine. That's your future training trophy. Here’s to earning what you’re worth! by Jason Forrest One of Training magazine's Top Young Trainers of 2012, Jason Forrest is an expert at creating high-performance sales cultures through complete training programs. He incorporates experiential learning to increase sales, implement cultural ac-
Make an inventory List all of your bucket two behaviors and techniques. Each week, focus on incorporating one of those techniques into your daily tool belt. Do this until the technique is a habit – a part of your daily routine. Then move it to bucket one. Once it’s there, you can practice and perfect it with spouses, peers, and sales coaches. Then choose another
www.soldlab.com
countability, and transform companies into sales organizations. Forrest is the author of Creating Urgency in a Non-Urgent Housing Market and 40-Day Sales Dare for New Home Sales. Consulting for many of the leading homebuilders in the United States, Canada, and Australia, he is a regular speaker at professional builder association events and national conferences and a member of the National Speakers Association’s Million Dollar Speakers Group. www.forrestpg.com
|9
Fearless Selling
The Power of Confidence by Kelley Robertson Top performing sales people in any industry typically possess a high level of self-confidence and this confidence helps them present solutions more effectively, better connect with prospects and close more sales. However, when you consider the amount of rejection that many sales people encounter, the fact that many salespeople lack self-confidence is not surprising. Improving your self-confidence begins with letting go of your personal baggage. Mental baggage is a collection of all the situations we have experienced or encountered during our lifetimes. We carry all this baggage around in our heads and draw from it when appropriate situations present themselves. Perhaps you tried to join a school sports team when you were a child. Your athletic abilities in that particular sport were average; for that reason you
www.soldlab.com
were unable to make the team. You filed away this experience in your subconscious until a similar situation to it came along. You immediately recalled the previous performance and outcome, and told yourself that you were not capable of meeting the current challenge. Consequently, you did not make the effort required to meet it. We all carry around this mental baggage. It influences us in everything we do, both in our business and personal lives. How it affects us when we sell is very simple. Mental baggage may consist of customers who have been rude, abrupt, or angry toward you. It can include the rejection you faced when making cold calls. Baggage can include situations from earlier in our work careers or even from our childhoods. As time progresses, this mental baggage weighs heavier and heavier and we continue to drag it into every sales situation. Over time our attitude turns sour,
| 11
Fearless Selling
Pay attention to your successes and use these to help you improve your results
we become pessimistic and jaded, and we get frustrated with challenging customers and prospects. Our productivity drops, our performance slides, and our job security may even be threatened. We become increasingly bitter toward our chosen occupation, the customers we serve, and life in general. Our mental baggage is a weight on our shoulders. How do you prevent this from happening? First, carrying around mental baggage is a natural part of being a human being. It is the way we view and deal with our baggage that makes the real difference in our lives. If we look at each experience and consider how we can learn from it, our baggage will have less hold over us. I recall the first paid keynote presentation I gave more than ten years ago. I was well prepared, but not in the appropriate manner. The room was an awkward shape and the stage was positioned quite high, something I had not dealt with previously. I was uncomfortable during my presentation and I knew my delivery was affected. Instead of focusing on this after my session, I chose to concentrate on what I learned from the experience and what I would do differently if faced with a similar situation again. When you encounter a sales situation that does not turn out the way you expect, rather than focus on
12 |
the negative and beating yourself up over it, ask yourself three questions: What did I do well? What did I miss or forget to do? What will I do differently if faced with a similar situation in the future? These three questions will help you learn and grow from each situation and will help improve your future results. Plus, by first focusing on the positive aspects of the sales interaction, you will give yourself a mental boost. Pay attention to your successes and use these to help you improve your results. It is also important to recognize that some of our baggage is outdated. We may be relying on information that is several years old. This happened to me at the beginning of my career. When I was twenty-three I was working for a restaurant chain as an assistant manager. I was promoted to general manager and lasted about year before I was demoted back to an assistant manager. I had proved unable to perform to the company's expectations. I ended up leaving the company shortly afterwards. For several years I hesitated anytime an opportunity for a
November 2012
promotion presented itself because I hadn’t been sure I could do it. Finally it dawned on me exactly what I had learned from that experience. I was not the only person responsible for that particular failure and my leadership and managerial skills had improved significantly since that demotion. However, it took me five years to realize it! Many years ago I read that as much as 80 percent of our self-talk is negative! And this inner dialogue affects our confidence and performance. Replacing this negative inner dialogue with new information – information that is positive can change our results and improve our self-confidence. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this is through the use of affirmations. Here’s a simple example… When faced with a task that you don’t particularly enjoy (i.e. cold calling) verbally state positive affirmations like, “ I excel at cold calling”, “ I connect with prospects easily and naturally”, “ I enjoy making calls” and “ I am an excellent cold caller.” You may scoff at this idea especially if you are old enough to remember the skit on Saturday Night Live where the character (Stuart Smalley) looked at himself
in the mirror and said things like "I'm good enough. I'm smart enough. And doggone it, people like me." However, research has shown that the sub-conscious mind does not differentiate between fact and reality. This means you can replace negative thoughts with positive ones, and in the process, change your results. It doesn’t happen immediately but the more you practice and inject sincerity and genuine belief into your statements, the more your subconscious will begin to believe the statements. And, the more your behavior will change accordingly. Improving your self-confidence is not a quick-fix task. It takes constant effort and focus. However, it is important to recognize that you have the ability to make this happen..
Kelley Robertson, author of The Secrets of Power Selling helps people master their sales conversations so they can win more business. Kelley conducts sales training workshops and speaks regularly at sales meetings and conferences. Contact him at 905-633-7750 or Kelley@Fearless-Selling.ca.
http://bit.ly/wv0mFu
www.soldlab.com
| 13
Cranky Sales Manager
Motivation Makeover: 10 Tips to Tune Up Your Attitude by Mark Holmes Sooner or later, the doldrums are going to get to you. It is inevitable. Something, or several somethings will occur that can turn your best attitude, gloomy. Could be from a lost sales opportunity, a competitor, your boss, the economy… the list is endless.
caught up at the end and busted through the tape just inches ahead of me. Many years later, that same boy went on to a spectacular professional golf career. His name, Payne Stewart. Etched indelibly onto my mind, even today, is to never coast, never give less than my best – never.
Here are ten tips I’ve collected over the years. Give them a try if your attitude could stand a quick motivation makeover:
Stop complaining – it doesn’t fix or change a thing. It is far more effective to attack your challenge with unrelenting resolve and possible solutions. Lou Holtz said, “The guy who complains about the way the ball bounces is usually the guy who dropped it.”
Begin each day with the intent to make it a great day. Having a great day happens when we put in the right ingredients from the outset: positive thoughts, hope, faith, seeing the brighter side of things, determination and kindness. Go all-out for your goals. Never quit even when others tell you it can’t be done. Don’t listen to other salespeople who say, “you’ll never sell that customer!” Pursue the outcome you most desire. When you get stuck keep moving. As someone noted, “It’s easier to steer a bicycle when you’re pedaling.” Never give any less than your personal best. In grade school I lost a foot race to a boy with a slight limp. When I had a comfortable lead I tried to coast to the finish. But, the boy with a limp
Discipline and consistency are two qualities that will get you to the top 14 |
Discipline yourself to do what you need to do even when you don’t feel like doing it. Discipline and consistency are two qualities that will get you to the top. Remember, most often you’ll get what you deserve, not what you hope or wish for. The farmer knows that it is far more productive to have a crooked furrow than an unplowed field. You reap what you sow, later than you sow, and you reap more than you sow. Stop presumptive negative thinking. When you assume negative outcomes most of the time it will drag your demeanor down into a mental rut. Mark Twain said, “I’ve known lots of problems in life most of which never happened.” Don’t use your God-given thinking machine to dwell on the problems or negatives that could happen. Instead, dwell on how you can wisely attack the challenge head-on, positively. Shield yourself from having bad days. One study found that 75 percent of Americans consider every third day, a bad day. This amounts to a whopping four bad months over an entire year! Everyone has a bad day now and again. But, bad days don’t have to spill over and impact your attitude when selling to customers. Try this instead: separate
November 2012
whatever is causing your bad day, from the rest of your day. Have a place set apart in your mind where you can sequester those thoughts; dealing with them at another time. Ignite your personal enthusiasm. Author Charles Swindoll said, “Enthusiasm builds a bonfire in the steam room of our souls.” Choose to sell from the depths of your soul, where you really live, really think, really believe – and it will touch the emotions in your customers and prospects. Nothing is more convincing than a salesperson who is enthusiastic about the advantages of his product or service, and knows how to get that enthusiasm across. Stop giving in to bouts of call reluctance. Deal squarely and aggressively with call reluctance because it is nothing more than a form of quitting. And quitting mentally leads to sales underperformance, or failure. Coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant said, “The first time you quit it’s hard. The second time it’s easier. The third time you quit you don’t even think about it.”
www.soldlab.com
Work on your personal grit and gumption. Strive to get better than you were last year, last quarter, last month, last week. As Adrian Rogers points out, “When you cease being better you cease being good.” Personal determination, drive and discipline are more critical to sales success today than ever before. How long has it been since you’ve really worked on your personal grit and gumption? Seize today by the throat; every single minute of it is yours to use wisely. Replace fears with faith. Replace any defeat, with determination and diligence to win the next sale. Today will never repeat itself so make the best of it.
Mark Holmes helps salespeople close tough sales. Since 1986 he has trained, coached and spoken to sales teams and audiences on the most effective ways to produce bigger results. He helps salespeople believe they can do better than ever, then shows them how. Connect: mark@Salesonomics.com Learn more: www.Salesonomics.com
| 15
The Coach Approach
10
Practices to Enhance Your Value as a Sales Professional by John Brubaker
A lost tourist was walking down the street in mid-town Manhattan and stopped on the corner to ask an elderly street musician for directions, enquiring “Excuse me but could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?” The elderly man looked him dead in the eye and replied “There’s only one way to Carnegie Hall…. practice my friend, lots and lots of practice.” While their miscommunication was funny, there is certain wisdom in the street musician’s answer. Practice isn’t just the way to Carnegie Hall it’s the path to greatness in anything. It’s the way to exceed your quota, win the incentives, achieve the promotion, and reach the President’s Club. Simply put we become better at that which we repeatedly practice. Pro’s in any field have invested dramatically more time in practicing their craft. It is what separates the best, from the rest. Management consultant Malcolm Gladwell’s research indicates that regardless of your profession it takes ten years or 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at anything. For the sales professional, this means we can improve our prospecting skills, communication skills, closing skills and our overall value by practicing our craft and engaging in professional development. Whether you are new to the field of sales or just want to improve your skillset, here are my top ten practices to launch you and your career to the expert level. Leaders are readers! Read every1 thing you can find on the art and science of selling, networking, communicating, presenting, and closing. Subscribe to Sold Lab, invest in books, and search the web for topics as: effective prospecting, building rapport, resolving objections, appealing to buying motives, consultative selling, generating referrals and time management. Emulate Success. Shadow another suc2 cessful sales representative you admire or go on sales calls with a sales manager. These techniques allow you to take notes, observe and learn from a seasoned pro with a track record for success in the business. When the sales calls are finished, ask them questions and ask for feedback on your efforts.
16 |
Teach and Volunteer. The best way to learn something better is to teach it to others. Right under your nose, in your community exist opportunities for sharing your knowledge of the sales profession. Your local library, career center, civic groups such as Rotary or Kiwanis and professional associations are wonderful audiences for teaching sales skills, practicing your presentation, and honing your ability to communicate with impact. Share and compare. Share your knowl4 edge within an online community of like-minded peers via an internet listserve (Ex. Sales groups on LinkedIn). You can discuss your sales experiences with other professionals; compare answers, scenarios and humorous stories. (You will also be networking at the same time.) Membership has its privileges. 5 Join professional organizations and societies that promote the profession of sales with ethics and integrity. Find out what NASP, SMEI, AAISP, CPSA and SMT stand for, join them and attend their conferences. Even better, offer to present a workshop or seminar at their conferences to share your knowledge with others. Get a touch of grey… grey hair that is. 6 Find a mentor you can trust. This is a great way to develop a learning partnership with a seasoned veteran who has been through the ups and downs of the industry and whose opinion you value. Perhaps a local retired executive, an author, a sales trainer, a professor, or some other talented member of the community whom you respect and admire. Eat to Compete. Hold a monthly lunch 7 get together with other sales professionals (from different industries so you’re not in direct competition) to discuss your three most challenging sales scenarios. Bring your best questions and answers and be prepared to share them. Inside of six months your group will have dozens of great ideas and best practices you’ve gleaned from each other. You can’t win a championship 8 without training. Attend trainings,
3
November 2012
seminars, local and national conferences. Seek out opportunities to enhance your life-long learning by both attending and presenting at sales workshops. Build your own training manual. 9 Compile a collection of your favorite sales strategies, training methods, funny cartoons, quotes, photographs, signs, and stories. You can use this as an informational document to share with colleagues and new hires, and also as a reference resource of best-practices that is always right your fingertips. BONUS: As you build this manual, one day this working document could turn into your first book, e-book, or workshop manual. Create a “success resume”. Your per10 sonal success resume is a document of experiences and credentials that will make prospects want to enlist your services. Answer this question: What talents, skills and experiences will my future clients want from me? Once you identify these possibilities, go make them happen, so that your bio and resume will reflect the very best of who you are, what you do and the unique value you (and only you) bring to the table. Invest time in practicing your craft, because when you invest time in professional development
you get a return on your investment. Now more than ever, the business world needs you to connect your unique talents to it in amazing ways. By recognizing and appreciating this fact you will magnify your results, enhance your job satisfaction and deliver incredible one of a kind value to the audience you serve. Now all you have to do is practice my friend, lots and lots of practice.
John Brubaker is a nationally renowned performance consultant, speaker and author. Using a multidisciplinary approach, Brubaker helps organizations and individuals develop their competitive edge. Brubaker is the author of The Coach Approach: Success Strategies Out Of The Locker Room Into The Board Room and co-author of the book Leadership: Helping Others To Succeed. John is also the host of Maximum Success: The Coach Bru Show on 1510 NBC Sports Radio Boston. He is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and he also earned a master’s degree in personnel psychology from FDU. Brubaker has completed his doctoral coursework in Sport Psychology at Temple University. www.coachbru.com
The Coach Approach Success Strategies From The Locker Room To The Board Room “The lessons and insights in The Coach Approach may be rooted in sports but they apply to just about every aspect of leadership in business. Through behind the scenes experiences with his teams John shows you how to take your organization to the next level. If you’re interested in winning, you will love this book. If you’re committed to winning, you need this book.” Patrick Sweeney, President of Caliper and New York Times Best-Selling Author of Succeed on Your Own Terms
“The Coach Approach is the one book on leadership and teambuilding I’d have if I could have just one.” Don Meyer, the winningest coach in NCAA men’s college basketball
www.soldlab.com
| 17
Selling on the Edge
Dream A Little, Won’t You? by Dan Waldschmidt Ever notice how you offend some people when you want more for yourself. You make some people angry when you decide to escape the ordinary and dream of defying the impossible. But nothing changes without a dream. Without you dreaming. Whether you are leading a company, trying to coax your industry out of the "dark ages", or just attempting to close new customers, it takes big dreams to pull off impossible tasks. If you aren't dreaming big, you aren't doing big things.
Success starts with the arrogance of a dream. After all, what makes you any different than the "nondreamers" around you? You probably don't have any more money than they do. Chances are you don't have a higher college degree than them. You aren't any luckier, smarter, or well connected. At face value there is no reason to believe that you are any more likely to succeed than everyone else. So why should you try? That's the unspoken question that lingers. That's what goes through your head sometimes. That's what you'll hear from those around you if you appear too eager to try something new.
But you know the secret behind dreaming big dreams. Nothing ever gets done until you try. Success isn't the dream. It's the inspiration behind how hard you work to make that dream come true. It's not the finish line. It's the fuel that drives you.
What looks like arrogance is just vulnerability with an outer crust of ambition and resolve. It's you knowing that the odds are not in the favor and still trying. It's the courage to look past your own fear and pain and loss and failure and guilt – and do something different. And that's pretty damn impressive. That, by itself, makes you luckier. Stronger.
Nothing ever gets done until you try Tougher. Smarter. But it doesn't mean that people like you any more. It doesn't mean that those around you start supporting you any more than they did before. You're everything that they aren't but want to be. You remind them of what they could have been. Of what they could still be if they were willing to be vulnerable. That doesn't make you better than them. It just means that you are willing to try something that might lead to you getting hurt. It means that in the quietness of the night you are holding out hope for a better future. Some might call it arrogance. You know it by a different definition – courage. So dream on.
Since birth, Dan Waldschmidt has been refusing to accept business as usual. Sure, he had a lawn mowing business at 12, but he turned his into a money-making machine (though he opted not to tell his mom about his increased profits). He ran track like plenty of other kids, but he pushed himself to break his high school's mile record. He got the usual entry-level job right out of college, but then he changed the sales process, earned millions of dollars for the company, and became CEO by the time he was 25. These days, Dan is a business strategist. A conversation changer. Dan and his team help executives arrive at business-changing breakthrough ideas by moving past outdated conventional wisdom, social peer pressure, and the selfish behaviors that stop them from being high performers. The Wall Street Journal calls his blog, Edgy Conversations, one of the Top 7 blogs sales blogs anywhere on the internet and hundreds of his articles on unconventional business strategy have been published. So read the blog, check out his resources, send him an email, ask him for help. Whatever you do, don't just sit on the sidelines! Learn more at: www.danwaldschmidt.com
18 |
November 2012
Get your copy of John’s latest audio book
free
3 Key Steps to Building a Stronger Sales Funnel for 2013
20 |
November 2012
We’re already into the last quarter of 2012. If you’re in a complex sales environment with lengthy decision-making processes, this year’s final revenue number is probably going to depend on how effectively you can close the opportunities that are already visible to you in your funnel.
B
ut what about next year? What could and should you be doing today to lay the foundations for a stronger sales funnel in 2013? I’d like to suggest 3 simple, effective steps that you can take right now to ensure that you enter 2013 (and maybe even finish 2012) in great shape.
Stop wasting time targeting companies that are never likely to become customers Let’s start at the top of the funnel. There’s no point wasting energy and resources targeting companies that are never likely to become customers. But before you can do this, you need to ensure that sales and marketing jointly agree what an ideal prospect would look like. You’ve simply got to get this written down. There is no alternative. If it isn’t documented, you have no agreement. And please don’t restrict your thinking to the boring old (and increasingly irrelevant) demographics of size, sector and location. Your ideal prospects are increasingly defined by the way they are structured, the way they behave, and the situations they are facing. If you don’t believe this, I’m going to suggest that you simply haven’t looked hard enough. Take the first step by getting sales and marketing together to document their shared agreement about the common characteristics of your ideal prospects in each of the markets you serve. You can start here.
Make sure you distinguish between interesting, important and urgent issues
www.soldlab.com
Traditional solution selling teaches you to uncover problems. But it says very little about the need to distinguish between interesting, important and urgent issues, or about how to elevate either interesting or important issues into important ones. Simply put, interesting needs get you considered, important needs get you evaluated, but only urgent needs get you bought. Sales people waste an incredible amount of time chasing opportunities that will never turn into sales because there is no urgency. Many also waste a huge amount of resources (often those of other people in their company) chasing issues that another vendor has got a demonstrably better solution for. Just because an opportunity has a pulse doesn’t mean it’s worth chasing. This doesn’t mean, by the way, that you shouldn’t be marketing to interesting or important needs just to get the conversation going. But you need to equip your sales people – early on – to work out if there is a path to identifying an urgent issue that you can solve better than any other option available to the prospect. Time to get your smartest sales and marketing heads together again. What are the key issues in your markets, and which are most likely to result in a buying decision?
Redefine your funnel around the buying decision process How do you define your sales funnel today? What are the key stages, and – even more important – what are the key milestones or gates that an opportunity has to pass through before it can be promoted to the next level. If your stages are largely or exclusively based on sales activity, it’s another opportunity to think again. Monitoring sales activity has been
| 21
Interesting needs get you considered, important needs get you evaluated, but only urgent needs get you bought repeatedly shown to be a woefully inaccurate method of determining the true state of an opportunity. Many of my clients have already turned to measuring and monitoring their pipelines on the basis of where the buyer is in their decision making process, and have defined milestones that are based on observable evidence of the true state of the buying journey. It’s harder to do than using sales activity, but way, way more accurate when it comes to projecting if and when an opportunity is likely to close. If you’re still tracking sales activity-related stages, it’s yet another signal that you need to get your smartest sales and marketing folks together again. What are they key stages that your prospects typically go through in their search for a solution, and what are the key milestones? It might look something like: Something changes Acknowledgement of an issue Agree the need to change if an affordable solution can be found Identification of decision making group (whether formal or informal) Definition of decision criteria and process Selection of preferred option Submission of finally negotiated proposal for internal approval Decision to proceed
22 |
Customer validation Even if you think you’ve understood your ideal customer profiles, their interesting, important and urgent issues, and the key phases they go through when making buying decisions, it’s still only a working hypothesis. You need to test your understanding in conversation with a representative cross-section of customers. But if you validate and then apply these 3 steps, you’ll go a long way towards identifying attracting, engaging, qualifying and converting more of the right sort of prospects in 2013. by Bob Apollo
Bob Apollo is the Managing Partner of UK-based Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners. He helps B2B companies to accelerate their revenue growth by designing and implementing repeatable, scalable and highly-aligned sales and marketing processes that enable them to systematically identify, attract, engage, qualify and convert more of the right sort of prospects. To find out more, visit www.inflexion-point.com, email bob. apollo@inflexion-point.com or call +44 7802 313300. You might also like to take Inflexion-Point's 10-minute B2B sales and marketing self-assessment by visiting www.inflexion-point.com/self-assessment
November 2012
The Steel Method
Driving Revenue Through the Use of Social Media by David Steel Are you wondering how to increase your revenue? Do you feel that your company has done everything it can through traditional and online marketing campaigns? Is now the time to branch out even more than you have already? Social media is a valuable tool in driving revenue to any business. If you aren’t using it yet, you should be! I tell my prospective clients this every day. It’s an ideal way for businesses to build relationships with potential customers on a much larger scale than other marketing strategies. Unfortunately, not all companies have the right people or resources in place, to understand all the nuances of social media in order to benefit from its use. Hiring the right people, with the right skills to implement the most successful strategies can be costly. That’s why my clients hire me instead to develop the ideal strategy and to implement it quickly and efficiently on their behalf. However, I’m often debunking the theory that social media is a quick route to added revenue because clients assume they will see an immediate increase in sales. For the record, social media is a long-term plan for building relationships with existing customers or potential clients. Although possible, it’s not meant to be for the quick sale, it’s geared toward building relationships and networking online. Other marketing campaigns are better
www.soldlab.com
suited for a rapid sales increase and if used in conjunction with social media to enrich their efforts.
Realistic Expectations from Social Media Realistic expectations are the key to successfully using social media to drive revenue. To avoid disappointment consider the following things when implementing a strategy for it: It takes time and effort with Twitter, Facebook and other social sites you decide to use to see success. You’ll need to be constantly interacting with your followers and taking part in the conversations going on, so you’ll learn how your fans think and feel about your products or services. They’ll let you know, believe me. I’d recommend scheduling time each day to participate on these sites. Make it a part of your day and really embrace the interaction. You won’t be doing direct selling from social media. The focus should be on helping your followers solve a problem or sharing a new concept. In this way, they come to trust you, and will naturally become curious about your business. This building of trust should eventually lead to sales down the road. Remember, this is part of realistic thinking about the use of social media to bring in revenue.
| 23
The Steel Method Remain patient. Building a following doesn’t happen overnight. It takes some time to realize your goal. In addition, be yourself online. You want to be approachable and not present some fake persona.
Social Media Strategies So, now that we’ve set some expectations, it’s time to talk about strategies for using social media. These include keeping existing customers, building relationships with new customers, learning from your customers, providing value to your followers, becoming a thought leader, offering customer service, and being honest instead of constantly sounding like a sales pitch. It’s also extremely important to capture the attention of your followers, and to use multiple social networks. Keeping Existing Customers Satisfied: The first thing to work on is keeping existing customers satisfied. Why is this? Your existing customers are you base for word-of-mouth advertising. They can testify how reputably you do business. Social media allows you a unique setting for interacting with these existing customers. You can listen to their views, needs and suggestions to improve how you do business. Through a social network, you can provide incentives to purchase more goods with deals only available to your followers. For example, offer deals like free shipping for fans of your Facebook page. Or even better, give your fans a sneak peak or an opportunity to prepurchase new products or services that will soon be available to create more hype. Building Relationships with New Clients – Relationships are the key to successful social networking and where social media is quite useful. Where else can you interact with so many people as easily as through social networking? You can really get to know new customers or potential customers and what they’re looking for from your business, so you’re better able to sell to them in the end. The key is to build the relationship by providing useful information without any mention of sales. Even if this does not lead to a purchase, it may make people respect you enough to suggest your business to a friend or someone else who will buy from you. Referrals are a great way to improve your bottom line! Learning from Your Customers – We’re never too old to learn, so why not learn from your customers? This is strategy is often underutilized in social networking campaigns. Sure, companies pay big bucks to people to advise them on how to best present or
24 |
improve their products. But social media can do this for free just by giving companies a platform for learning their customers' needs, wants and opinions. The followers will openly share on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites but if they don’t, just ask them. I guarantee you will get responses and valuable feedback in the process. Providing Value to Your Followers – Always add value to the conversation with your followers. Don’t just haphazardly throw a social networking campaign together. This won’t provide the type of value your followers are looking for and may actually turn them away. Carefully plan what information you’ll put on your social media site, whether it is in a blog, video, audio or other format. Make sure it answers questions or generates ideas that your followers want and need. Becoming a Thought Leader – You’ll start becoming a thought leader in part by building a commanding online presence. Don’t shy away from sharing your innovative ideas. Yes, they may be a bit out there to some but to others, they will be fascinating and exactly what they want out of their social media experience. Controversial opinions can inspire people to trust you and your brand, and establish you as an authority in your field. It also builds upon the trust you’ve established because your followers will know you’re up front. Offering Customer Service – One ideal use of social media is offering customer service to those customers who have issues or need help. There are some rather big-name companies leading the way in this area. With customers becoming more vocal all the time in social networking sites on which brands they buy or don't buy, companies need to seize the opportunity to interact with them anyway they can. Customer service is a great avenue for doing this. You not only can communicate with your customers over their issues, you have a chance to immediately own and correct any mistakes your company has made in transactions with them. This is better than losing a customer because no one is around to help them as with some inferior businesses. Be Honest – Honesty is the best policy. Don’t paint a picture that isn’t real. You need to make truthful statements about your products or services. In addition, honestly explain how they will help your followers. This will go a long way with earning people's trust. Don't Constantly Sound Like a Sales Pitch – If you constantly sound like a sales pitch, people can’t get close to you. You’ll turn off the very people
November 2012
you are trying to attract. Engaging in normal, everyday conversation with your followers will make them more comfortable and they’ll continue engaging in conversation with you on the social networking sites. Capture the Attention of Your Followers – Always strive to capture the attention of your followers. Entice them to read the information you offer with interesting headlines or statements. Tease their imaginations with innovative ideas. Use images on Pinterest and Facebook to grab their attention and make them curious enough to come back again, look and comment. A little creativity can go a long way. Use Multiple Social Networks – Increase your audience by participating in as many social networks as you can. Not everyone is on Twitter or Facebook, that’s okay; they might prefer Pinterest or Google+. Using multiple social networks can engage different groups and on the lesser-known sites it may be easier to capture people's attention. Why not tap into a market your competitors may have ignored?
tomer base and increased revenue. Get to know your public better, whether they are your existing, potential, or future customers and I guarantee the return on your investment will be worth it. Today, competition is vicious in most business sectors. Everyone is out for a share of the revenue. If social media will help you standout, isn't it worth a try? Just remember the tips I’ve given you and you’ll be successful in the end. And never be afraid to ask for help, that’s why I’m here! For nearly two decades, marketing visionary David Steel has taught companies how to engage customers and prospects to drive sales. After founding his first company at the age of 20 and successfully growing and selling it to a Fortune 150 firm, David founded “Sneeze.it” one of today’s fastest growing social media businesses dedicated to helping companies build online revenue streams and integrating social media into an organization’s sales process. David is a renowned keynote speaker, motivator, trainer, and strategist. He is widely recognized for his
The Right Strategy
ability to help organizations to monetize social networks.
With the right expectations and a strategy in place, I think, in time, you’ll see an improvement in your cus-
David’s latest book – Sneeze It is due out later this year.
www.soldlab.com
Contact David for more information 800-223-4342
| 25
Chasing Zebras
Selling to Zebras
The Untold Story… For salespeople Chapters 17-20 by Jeff Koser | Chad Koser
Selling to Zebras The Untold Story… For salespeople Jeff Koser Chad Koser
-Find Your Stripes!
Chapters Chapter 17 – Sales is not a democracy Chapter 18 – Self Pity Chapter 19 – Sports-to-business analogy Chapter 20 – Goals of business Zebra
Chapter 17
Did you miss the previous chapters? If so, they are available through SOLD; previous issues. http://www.soldlab.com/archive
Kent motions me to the door. As I gather together my things, he says, “We’ll leave you with one final thought to reflect on, Kurt. It is the entire process that provides the value. We start with the creation of the business Zebra. After that, all of our business-development efforts target Zebras. But, the real value for us and our customers happens when we achieve the endgame – Force Success, thus ensuring the fulfillment of the promises and commitments Power will make to secure approval of the project.” “Wow, this is powerful,” I say, exhaling as I step out of the room. “This is far enough for today, Kurt, don’t you think?” Kent asks, truly concerned about my ability to absorb everything I have seen and also, I suspect, because he has other material he needs to cover with his team.
OR purchase the eBook directly from Amazon.com
Link to remaining chapters
Chapter 17 – Sales is not a democracy Chapter 18 – Self Pity Chapter 19 – Sports-to-business analogy Chapter 20 – Goals of business Zebra
Now that Kurt has been completely “Zebrafied” it’s time to initiate and execute a plan for his team. Read the next chapters and see how Kurt plans to balance home and work. And “force success” upon himself.
Jeff Koser is president and owner of Selling
Chad Koser is the co-
to Zebras, a sales acceleration software company.
author of Selling to Zebras.
The software implements the successful ZEBRAsel-
Chad established a reputation
ling methodology and helps clients to bridge the gap
for exceeding sales targets
between low or plateaued sales and dramatic sales
by successfully applying the
improvement. Jeff has more than thirty years of
ZEBRAselling methodology in
experience in consulting, executive sales manage-
multiple organizations over the
ment, business strategy and sales enablement. He is the lead author of
past decade including Baan Supply Chain Solutions,
the award-winning book, Selling to Zebras, HOW TO CLOSE UP TO 90% of
VoiceStream Wireless (now T-Mobile) and GE Medical
the BUSINESS YOU PURSUE, FASTER, MORE EASILY and MORE PROFIT-
Systems Ultrasound. He has also worked with Selling
ABLY and the recently published, Selling to Zebras The Untold Story, for
to Zebras customers to successfully implement the
salespeople. Learn more at www.sellingtozebras.com
methodology in their organizations.
26 |
November 2012
info@sellingtozebras.com
Ringside with Michael
How to Be a Complete Failure at Sales by Michael Goldberg Being bad at prospecting and selling sometimes seems at least as difficult as being good at it. It actually takes a lot of work to be a sales agent and yet be bad at sales. Think about it. You have to be bad at so many things so consistently: time management, prospecting, product knowledge, business etiquette, customer service, follow-up, relationship building, and organization. That's a lot of bad habits you've got to form. Hey, some agents just have a knack for being bad at sales. They just make it look so easy. If you are looking to join their ranks, use these quick tips to get on the fast track to nowhere!
a drag. If you really must thank somebody, just send 'em an e-mail and be done with it. Talk to your clients only when you want something. Why else would you talk to them? Do not keeps tabs on your clients as they experience changes in job, business, marital status, health, income level, family, and lifestyle. You can be sure they will confide in another agent who will relieve you of their business. Let someone else be the hero.
Leave your business cards at home. If you do use business cards, be sure they are dog-eared and dirty. But really, why do you even need them? You might as well leave your cards in your office, home, or car. If anyone is really interested in contacting you, let them take the initiative. They can always Google you.
Avoid calling prospects. Why call people that don't want to be called to talk about stuff they don't want to buy? They'll just insult you, right? If you have to do it, put it off for another day when at all possible. So what if some agents are successful at cold calling? Chalk it up to luck; there's certainly nothing systematic about it. It's not like they have some magical script that gets them on the prospect's good side.
Don't send thank-you notes. No one does that anymore, so why be old-fashioned? Plus, buying stationery is a pain and writing notes with a pen is
Don’t develop a plan. As we all know, life's more fun when you fly by the seat of your pants. Taking the time to make a to-do list or to follow
28 |
November 2012
a set routine gets boring. Writing business plans? Marketing plans? What a waste of time! There are things that are a lot more fun that you can be doing. Enjoy the moment! Get in the habit of not returning phone calls. All these callers can drive you nuts. And it's not like having a client service system is going to double your revenue, right? If it's all that important, they'll call back. What's great about this technique is eventually people will stop calling and the problem will pretty much resolve itself. Don't ask for referrals. Referrals may well be one of the best ways to get more clients, but isn't it scary to put yourself on the line like that? It'll seem like you're begging. And you don't want to bother your clients. If they like you just trust that they'll refer others without your involvement. Avoid professional development. Aren't you done with school, already? Besides, there's always someone who knows more than you that you can call if you need to. Leave the self-help CDs and classic business books to the top producers. The same goes for getting a good mentor or coach. You already know what to do, right? Don't follow up on sales opportunities. If prospects, clients, or referral sources were interested in working with you, they would get in touch with you. No reason to express interest in working with them or getting to know them better. And whatever you do, don't look to build rapport or solve their problems. Never give referrals to well-respected business people you know. They might get the wrong idea and refer your business right back. Referring others business is one of
the best ways to build relationships, gain credibility, and create ongoing referral streams. Who has that kind of time? Don’t perfect your presentation. Bring plenty of brochures and paperwork to overwhelm your audience. The more marketing collateral that describes your company's history, mission, vision, core values, recognition, reputation, clients, testimonials and financial status, the better. It's always a nice touch to deliver a lengthy PowerPoint presentation describing every aspect of your company, as well as its products and services. (Remember to look at the slides rather than your audience!) A thick three-ring binder works well too. Don't worry about beingcharismatic or developing your public speaking skills either. People like you the way you are. Especially your competition. Don't ask for the business. It's almost always obvious why you're there anyway, so why state the obvious? Don't find out what the client's needs or reactions to your presentation are. It's much better to leave the sales meeting not knowing what the prospect thinks, wants, or expects as next steps. That is, if there are next steps. Tomorrow is another day. Sell hard. Everyone is a prospect–they just don't know it yet. Introduce yourself as a sales agent to everyone you come in contact with, particularly in social situations. Let them know what you are selling and how much they need you. Tell them how you can lower your fees and guarantee your work. In fact, practice your selling scripts on your family and friends first. They always appreciate it. Certainly, you can think of more ways to be bad in sales but you get the gist. But I guarantee that if you follow these tips, you'll be a complete failure in no time.
Michael Goldberg has helped thousands of sales producers generate hundreds of thousands of dollars to their bottom line. His expertise is in the areas of networking, referrals, recruiting – and believe it or not – amateur boxing! Michael has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences and has been referenced in the Harvard Business Review and the Wall Street Journal. Clients include MetLife, New England Financial, Mass. Mutual, Northwestern Mutual, Jackson National, Thrivent Financial, Securian Financial, Chubb & Son, Aflac, Prudential, and New York Life. Michael is an award winning adjunct instructor at Rutgers University and donates time to speak at networking groups focused on job search. Knock-Out Networking! is available in bookstores and online now! Michael runs a popular group coaching program called Training Camp that forces sales producers to get in “fighting shape” to see more people, write more business, build great relationships, and fight the good fight! Weigh in at www.MichaelNetworks.com!
www.soldlab.com
| 29
The Rhythm of the Sales Process 30 |
November 2012
"W
hat are you going to have?" Dick asked over his menu. We had convened at the local barbecue joint which neither of us had yet tried. Dick had declared that one could tell the worthiness of a barbecue place by the human attributes assigned to the pig on the sign. This restaurant was called The Dancing Pig and the sign featured a fat, pink, dress-wearing pig standing on her back legs and spinning a hula hoop around her middle. Based on Dick's definition, this was barbecue heaven. "A pulled chicken sandwich," I replied as I reached for my water glass. "Chicken? I didn't notice any dancing chickens on the sign," Dick scolded. The waitress came over, pulled a pencil out of her bobbed hair and stood expectantly as Dick continued to peruse the menu. "Do you have any water besides tap water?" Dick wondered. "What other water would there be?" the waitress replied. "Never mind. I'll have a pulled pork sandwich with okra on the side." After placing my order, I pulled my notebook out of my briefcase, handed Dick my worksheet and waited for him to start asking me questions. The year was 1992 and I was an Account Manager at Magic 96 radio. We were at The Dancing Pig for a sales projection meeting. Dick jumped right in, "What's going on with Taylor Marina?" " I originally met with them on the 7th and did a needs analysis. After getting a homework assignment, I re-convened with them on the 14th. Then,
www.soldlab.com
I put together a proposal based on the information I learned during those two meetings. I called back yesterday to get a meeting to present my ideas and haven't heard back, yet," I answered quickly. "Sounds good," Dick nodded thoughtfully. "What about Sutton Ford?" Before I could answer, the waitress came back with plates of food. She looked at me and said, "You were the chicken?" " I ordered the chicken," I said "but, I didn't intend it as a metaphor." I thought it was clever and Dick had a big grin on his face, but all I got from the waitress was a blank stare. After adding the necessary amount of hot sauce and papering myself with napkins, I was ready to answer Dick's question. "That's a different story," I began. "Mr. Sutton wasn't available to meet with me so I met with Jim Halpurn – the new car sales manager. I wasn't able to do my usual in-depth CNA because he didn't have a lot of time. I showed him several ideas that had worked for other car dealers. He asked me to put together something and send it over. I did put a presentation together and then called for a meeting." "Then what happened," Dick prodded. "He called me back and told me to just send over our pricing and he would see if he could work us in during 1st quarter," I finished. " I see on your projections that you've put Sutton Ford down here for $15,000 at 50% for the quarter," Dick noted. "Based on what you just told me you should put them down at 0%." "Zero? Why?" I gasped. What Dick then spent the rest of the lunch telling me was the best sales lesson I learned in 1992. The sales process is rhythmic. A buyer and a seller come together to discuss the buyer's needs/ wants/desires and the seller listens. For the purpose of clarification, the seller asks questions and the buyer, wishing to be clear, answers the questions. As the process continues, the buyer recognizes the credibility and trustworthiness of the selle
| 31
send the information that Halpurn had requested and b) how to get a meeting with Mr. Sutton. The following day, I called Mr. Halpurn and told him that I was getting ready to send the pricing he had requested but I just wanted to confirm that I was in compliance with company policy. Then, I described the policy that requires us to send pricing through the mail only after a) we had met with the decision maker and b) interest in buying our product had been expressed either verbally or in writing. Then I just waited quietly. (Now, before you get upset and tell me that it's unethical to misrepresent company policies in order to move the sales process forward, let me just tell you this: The day after my lunch with Dick, I decided that it was going to be my personal policy to never send pricing in the mail to someone who wasn't the decision maker and if interest in buying had not been expressed. I asked Dick if it was okay for someone working for his company to have such a policy and he said "yes". That made it company policy.) Of course, Halpurn had to admit that he was not the decision maker. But, here's the beautiful part. I asked him if he could help me out with scheduling a meeting with Mr. Sutton. After he said "yes", I told him not to worry about it. I would call Mr. Sutton – saving him the trouble of doing my work for me – and let him know that Mr. Halpurn had suggested we get together. So, that's what I did and I got the meeting with Mr. Sutton because how could he not meet with someone recommended by his #1 guy? The lesson I learned from Dick Harlow that day two decades ago is still valid today. Be aware of where you are in the sales process and act accordingly. Make sure there is belief in your product and that you've established value before sending your prices.. by Tim J. M. Rohrer
The sales process is rhythmic and begins to more openly share ideas, thoughts and proposals. At the appropriate time, the seller offers a solution and the buyer decides whether the solution makes sense – fiscally, operationally, etc. When the process lacks this sort of rhythm and momentum building, rarely will a sale be made. In fact, it's not unusual for a buyer to cut the process short because he has already made a decision not to buy. What Dick knew in 1992 and I did not, was that when a buyer asks for your pricing before they've expressed any belief in the value of your product they are doing it to have a reason to say "no". Dick told me not to send our pricing until I was able to get a meeting with Mr. Sutton – the only person who could say "yes". He warned that if I sent prices to Mr. Halpurn the answer would be "no" because Halpurn was only allowed to say "no". Furthermore, once I had sent the prices and Halpurn had said "no" there was no other place for the sales process to go. I would look foolish trying to get a meeting with Mr. Sutton at that point – if his #1 guy had already told me "no". I was disappointed with this directive and almost sent the prices to Halpurn, anyway. Instead, I decided to trust Dick and think of a) reasons why I couldn't
32 |
Tim J. M. Rohrer is a recognized leader in sales, sales management & sales training. Available for speaking engagements – timrohrer@comcast.net
November 2012
Buy the numbers A metrics-driven sales pitch will help you sell with confidence Whether you’re a professional athlete or a professional salesperson, nothing builds confidence like knowing your value. But unlike most salespeople, athletes understand that their value is determined primarily by cold, hard data. Look at the NFL draft. Teams pay exorbitant salaries to top draft picks based upon an agreed upon set of significant statistics. Sure, subjective criteria such as character and maturity play a role in how a player is perceived by prospective teams. But a player’s placement in the draft and resulting monetary value are determined by objective quantitative data such as performance statistics, body measurements and a Wonderlic score. Salespeople would be wise to take note. Hard data related to business issues that matter to the prospect are the most effective proof of value. With data, prospects are not asked to believe unsubstantiated sales claims. They are given evidence to support a value-based purchase decision.
As a salesperson, this is uncomfortable territory. It can be difficult to prove such claims and attempting to justify them can leave a salesperson sounding – and feeling – defensive. This is not a strong position to be in and it can seriously undermine confidence during a sales call. Relationship selling is another traditional sales approach.
It is much easier to be calm and self-assured when you know that you have the numbers to back up your sales claims.
Traditional approaches can be confidence killers It may not be intuitive that a new sales approach would increase confidence. After all, there is comfort in doing what you know. But traditional sales approaches leave salespeople vulnerable to competition and non-decision in a way that datadriven sales strategies do not. Consider this traditional approach: Selling features and benefits such as “an enhanced user experience” or “superior customer service.” For a prospect, this approach can raise more questions than it answers: Whose opinions do these statements reflect? Are they just empty marketing claims? Are these benefits critical to my organization? And what is a justifiable premium to pay for them?
www.soldlab.com
| 33
The new contact will need a better reason to buy than “your company has always chosen us as your provider.” Unfortunately in today’s economy, the people with whom a relationship has been forged may no longer have the power to buy, or they might not even be there when it comes time to sell into the company again. Between increased job mobility and corporate downsizing, that’s just a fact of life. The new contact will need a better reason to buy than “your company has always chosen us as your provider.” Also, there’s too much competition today to think that a good relationship will outweigh advantages that the customer may be able to obtain elsewhere. The bottom line is that today, relying on relationship selling puts the salesperson in a weak position. That is not a confidence builder.
Know the numbers that matter As stated earlier, knowing the value that you offer is a real confidence-builder. But it’s critical that the numbers used to justify value are numbers that matter to the prospect on high-priority issues. Consider the NFL draft again. If you’re a left tackle, arm length is critical. If you’re a punter, it’s not. So while a punter with 35” arms won’t be drafted any higher than his short-armed peers, it may mean the difference between being taken in the first or later rounds for a left tackle because this number matters to teams. In sales, the numbers that matter most to prospects relate to financials. These include metrics such as return on investment, percent increase
34 |
in productivity, net present value, economic value add, payback period and the like. Positioning goods and services this way takes advantage of metrics that executive-level prospects understand, value and use to make decisions on a daily basis. Other effective ways to use metrics are to: compare and contrast the proposed good or service against an existing or competitive solution show how a product or service can help a prospect break into a new market or compete more effectively in existing markets (competitive differentiation) show how the product or service has already helped other similar companies achieve positive results (only innovators and early adopters buy without casestudy proof) When sales contentions are supported by financially relevant data in clear, articulate presentations, prospects sit up and take notice. This is because information is presented in terms they understand and value and because the competition is almost certainly not talking in these terms. This makes for a sales presentation that stands apart from the rest. A data-driven sales discussion is powerful and persuasive. As a result, it’s a great confidencebuilder. It is much easier to be calm and self-assured when you know that you have the numbers to back up your sales claims. In fact, it’s like going into the draft as a left tackle with great stats and 35” arms. by Jeff Koser
Jeff Koser is president and owner of Selling to Zebras, a sales acceleration software company. The software helps clients to bridge the gap between low or plateaued sales and dramatic sales improvement. Jeff has more than thirty years of experience in consulting, executive sales management, business strategy and sales enablement. He is the lead author of the award-winning book, Selling to Zebras, HOW TO CLOSE UP TO 90% of the BUSINESS YOU PURSUE, FASTER, MORE EASILY and MORE PROFITABLY and the recently published, Selling to Zebras The Untold Story, for salespeople. Learn more at www.sellingtozebras.com.
November 2012
Sales Shift: Make Quantum Leaps In Your Sales Results
How to Build
Client Relationships by Gavin Ingham
If you want to build stronger and more amazing client relationships you need rapport. But the problem is that rapport is perhaps one of the most over-hyped and badly explained concepts in sales. This is mainly due to a misunderstanding of what rapport really is and why we actually need it when selling. In personal development, rapport is often taught as being all about making friends. This might be fine for training and personal development courses that are aimed at individuals but this is not what is needed in modern selling. Firstly, buyers today are savvy and they are not going to extend the olive branch of friendship easily. If they notice that you are trying too hard to be friends they may well exploit this “weakness” by trading “friendship” for concessions. Secondly, when surveys have asked buyers about this precise issue, a large percentage of buyers say that they would not do business with a friend anyway. Rapport, due perhaps to the preferences and needs of sales trainers themselves, is often taught as a separate subject from sales in its own right. I do not believe this to be correct. If you could get the sale without getting rapport, does rapport serve any purpose? The answer, of course, is, “No”. The best way to think of rapport is as the oil (lubricant) for your sales engine. It aids communication with your client and allows the sales process to proceed smoothly. It is not an objective in its own right. So what is business rapport if it’s not friendship? And how does it serve us? Well, it’s simple really, business rapport consists of two things...
www.soldlab.com
TRUST + CREDIBILITY If you have trust and you have credibility then you have the rapport that you require to sell like a sales superstar. Here are a few quick tips for building rapport...
Be genuinely interested. Showing a genuine interest in your clients is one surefire way of building long-lasting rapport. Note that I said genuine. Not pretend interest, not smarmy interest, not sycophantic interest; genuine interest. When you take the time and care to be genuinely interested in your clients you will experience a far greater level of rapport with a wider variety of clients and prospects and this, in turn, will result in more clients and more sales.
Listen to understand. Listening demonstrates to people that you like, care and see value in them and what they have to say. Listening to understand means truly being interested and trying to fully get what your client means, what is important to them and what they need. Not, what you want them to say.
Ask great questions. People like to talk but they often don’t get the chance to, particularly when they’re with salespeople. One way to really give people the opportunity to talk is to ask great questions. Questions designed to uncover what your client is thinking, feeling and
| 35
Sales Shift: Make Quantum Leaps In Your Sales Results needing. Not ones designed to back them into a corner. Despite protestations to the contrary, most salespeople ask mainly poor questions. Most don’t believe me until I prove it to them. Do yourself a favour and audit the questions you ask habitually in sales situations. It will be worth it.
Dress appropriately. Many (most) people still judge people based on how they look and how they dress.
People who are in rapport tend to mirror each other verbally as well as physically
36 |
The first impression that your client gets of you will have a massive impact upon how you are perceived, how your client views you and how rapidly you build rapport. Dressing “appropriately” for a sales situation can massively aid in building business rapport with your clients and prospective clients, particularly in those all important early moments of the sales process.
Subtly mirror body language. People who get along well together unconsciously copy (or mirror) the movements, postures and facial expressions of the person or persons that they are in rapport with. Your aim is not to copy but to subtly mirror your prospect’s body language. To become good at this you need to become a student of human behaviour. Spend time watching the body language of others. Practise mirroring and matching when you meet people.
Be aware of voice pace, pitch & tone. Another area of non-verbal communication which dramatically impacts the quality of your
November 2012
communication and therefore your ability to build rapport is your voice. Not just what you say but how you say it. People who are in rapport tend to mirror each other verbally as well as physically.  Moving even one degree closer to the pace, pitch and tone of your client can make a significant impact upon the quality of rapport that you have and therefore improving your sales efforts.
Smile! Smile! Smile! As a salesperson you need to learn to smile. Smiling pulls people in. It attracts people. It warms people up. It builds rapport.
Do your research. People like people who like them. People like people who care about them. People like people who value them and what is important to them. Doing your research on your prospect and their company is a good way of demonstrating that you like and care about them and their business. It shows, through your actions, that you are prepared to put the effort into your relationship with them.
Be the one to make the effort! Some people are easier to get on with than others, a lot easier. In fact, some people are just down right difficult to get on with, aren’t they? And that’s their choice... Problem is, as a salesperson, it is your job to make the effort to build rapport with everyone, even difficult people! It’s your job to build bridges between you and your clients. It’s your job to flex your behaviours to build rapport. To be a sales superstar, you have to find a way of reaching and building business rapport with all of your potential clients. Have a think about what you do consistently and how you can change and improve to build better rapport and stronger relationships with your clients. Copyright Gavin Ingham, Sales Author & Speaker, www.gaviningham.com, 2012.
Gavin Ingham, Sales Author & Speaker, www.gaviningham.com, 2012.
Free sales tips, strategies & tools. Join Gavin Ingham's sales success newsletter www.gaviningham.com /gavins-success-newsletter/.
www.soldlab.com
| 37
Up Your Charm IQ
Avoid connection crushers by Arnold Sanow Stick and stones can break my bones, but words can break my heart. ~ Robert Fulghum When verbal garbage gets dumped, it causes a cesspool of negative reactions. Put-downs, sarcasm, accusations, and other verbal barbs stir up energy as egos jockey for respect. Verbal attacks usually deploy self-defense mechanisms and obliterate positive connections. Certain words or phrases block connections cold, and make us steamed simultaneously! (They kick up a whirlwind of emotion, just like in weather patterns, when cold and warm conditions combine to form a tornado!) Connection crushing communication usually brings out the beast, rather than the best in others. This includes: (From the book, “Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere … 8 keys to creating enduring connections with customers, co-workers … even kids” by Arnold Sanow and Sandra Strauss.
Connection-Crushing Communication Blaming and accusations “If you hadn’t screwed up, we wouldn’t be in this mess!” “How could you ever . . .?” Sarcastic remarks Profanity Discriminatory remarks or insults about age, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation Denial statements “It can’t be that terrible!” “You’re telling a bunch of lies!” “You shouldn’t say those things.” “You’re wrong!” “That’s not true.” “ I don’t believe you.” Name-calling, put-downs and anything that makes someone else feel inferior or stupid: “ I told you so!” “How many times have I told you (or gone over this)?”
38 |
“What an absolutely stupid thing to say!” “ I can’t believe how unprofessional you looked!” “What an idiot! How could you do such a thing?” “Can’t you ever do anything right?” Ultimatums and threats “If you don’t, then . . .” “You better or else!“ Demands “Do it now!” “Do as I say!” “That’s the end of it. I don’t want to hear another word!” Gross generalizations and exaggerations “You never do what I ask! “ “You always say that!“ “Everything is always such a crisis with you.” “All you ever do is complain!” “You’re always late! “I’ve told you a million times to clean up your room! “Why don’t you ever . . .?” Emotionally loaded responses “Here we go again!” “Oh, brother, I can’t believe you!” “ I know exactly what you’re thinking!” “That’s not how it happened!” Impatient remarks “Not now! “Keep it short.” “Hurry up!” Especially for parents: Unfortunately like verbal DNA, the least favorite phrases of childhood are often passed down to the next generation, only to get on the nerves of their offspring. This cycle continues, as they in turn, repeat the same unproductive and disempowering statements. Here’s a sampling: “How many times do I have to tell you . . .?” “If you do that one more time, I’m going to . . .” “What did I just say?” “When I was your age, I always . . . “ (Beware! If you use this phrase, just watch their eyes roll!)
November 2012
Most of these responses invite escalation or discourage communication – they cause resistance, resentment, and reactivity. Although it might be very tempting to litter your language with “zappers,” it’s better to refrain from engaging in any verbal artillery. Verbal blows cause massive damage to relationships and crush your chances for keeping quality connections. To create good connections, make a commitment to consistently choose your words wisely.
Avoid going to extremes Using extreme statements (never, always, everyone, all, everything) are exaggerations and bound to trigger some extreme reactions; they’re unfair and accusatory. The attacked instantly begin scrolling through their experiences, recalling when their actions proved otherwise, and hurl back the facts in self-defense. Unfair judgments generally fire up defenses! Focus on the desired action by requesting information, “When can I expect the final report?” Ask questions, i.e. “What needs to happen on Tuesday evenings?” instead of blasting accusations, i.e. “You never remember to take the trash out!” Nudging with a sim-
ple one-word reminder, “Trash” also makes the point. Nudge rather than nag! When inflammatory, extreme remarks are unfairly lobbed your way, reverse them with a question that refutes their unfair claim. Let’s say, you’ve been accused of never being on time. You know that statement is simply not true. It’s fair to repeat the statement as a means of discounting its validity, “I’m never on time?” Spoken in a dubious tone, with facial expressions to match your disbelief, makes the point. This repositions you in a fair light and demonstrates that you do indeed act responsibly; your actions speak louder than words.
Arnold Sanow, MBA, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) is a customer and workplace relationship expert who speaks and consults. He is the author/co-author of 6 books to include, “Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” and “Present with Power, Punch and Pizzazz.” He was recently named by Successful Meetings Magazine as one of the top 5 “best bang for the buck” speakers in the USA. www.arnoldsanow.com – speaker@arnoldsanow.com – 703-255-3133
“Arnold’s program was perfect. He was terrific with lots of humor, relevant information, and effective examples. Overall A+.” ~ Lorelei Long, HR Manager, Mayer, Brown, Rowe Law Firm
When You’re Looking For:
✓More Than Just Another Rah-Rah Rally ✓More Substance and Less Hype ✓More Humor, Interactivity, and Content ✓Specific Strategies and Solutions You Can Use ... NOW! Arnold Sanow, MBA, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) will deliver a customized, entertaining, information-packed, interactive and non-boring presentation with plenty of “walk away” information that can be used … Immediately! Arnold has delivered over 2,500 paid presentations to more than 500 different Companies, Governmental Agencies and Associations. Over 90% have hired him again. He is the author/co-author of 5 books to include, “Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere”, the “Charisma Card Deck,” and “Marketing Boot Camp”. He is a frequent guest in the media (USA Today, Wall Street Journal, CBS evening News) and a former adjunct Professor at Georgetown University.
www.arnoldsanow.com • speaker@arnoldsanow.com
703-255-3133
www.soldlab.com
| 39
Ten Presentation Rules for Sales People to Improve Engagement 40 |
November 2012
I spent Wednesday this week with the Duarte organization in Mountain View, CA. in a one day, Resonate story development Workshop.
T
his was an excellent workshop that helped me identify the core elements of my story. I came away from it with the basis for a story that will resonate with a much broader audience and that I expect will improve my engagement and the outcome of meetings.
Getting your ideas to Resonate with the Audience I have been using ideas from Nancy Duarte's book Resonate for about a year, but the workshop brought my story to life. The techniques learned will change the way I present myself and my services in future. I am applying my brain in idle moments around how these ideas can be applied to any communication, not just presentations.
My Story Map created in the Resonate Workshop
10 Rules for More Engaging Sales Presentations The course was presented by Michael Pacchione and it was about story; we created our own story, step by
www.soldlab.com
step as the day progressed, but we talked a lot about presentations, because presentations without a story are boring. The first rule for this eclectic but important list of ten presentation rules for salespeople is Nancy Duarte's Golden Rule. Never give a presentation you wouldn't want to sit through yourself. Such good advice, most presentations are boring because they lack story, or the sales person, product or the company is the hero of the story, instead of the buyer. Presentations turn into an ordeal when they fail to engage the customer's imagination and emotion, usually because they are all about you and your stuff.
1
2 of
Spend the time prior to a meeting researching the client's company, instead customizing their presentation, you
will sell more. This is a new rule based on feedback from Laura Olsen on a blog post comment from http://www.tinyurl.com/leave-the-laptopbehind
| 41
If a salesperson gives a Powerpoint presentation in the first meeting, they won't get a second one. Bullets Kill – One idea per slide and no 4 bullets, Edward Tufte
3
Simple hand drawn images and a story work way better than complex PowerPoint geometry with bullets, boxes and drop shadows.
5
Create a STAR Moment. This is another one from Nancy Duarte. A STAR moment is and acronym for Something They'll Always Remember. This takes a bit of thought and may need props and preparation, but if you want to differentiate and you are in a beauty pageant where everyone looks just like you, it might be worth doing. Here is an example of a STAR Moment in the Jamie Oliver Ted video... it's a great talk and the STAR moment is about 13 minutes in.
8
You are the presentation, the client wants to know what you know and how you can help them, the  medium is secondary.
9
This image of an elephant and Mahout is central to the story Dan told about change and is from Dan Heath's Switch presentation. It took 10 minutes to draw on my touch mouse. Guy Kawasak I rule. Maximum 10 slides, Maximum 20 minutes, Minimum 30 point text. Seth Godin's 5 rules
6
7
No more than six words on a slide. EVER. There is no presentation so complex that this rule needs to be broken. No cheesy images. Use professional stock photo images. No dissolves, spins or other transitions. (Prez I users take note) Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds and music from CDs and leverage the Proustian effect this can have. If people start bouncing up and down to the Grateful Dead, you’ve kept them from falling asleep, and you’ve reminded them that this isn’t a typical meeting you’re running. Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides. They don’t work without you there.
42 |
Know what you want the outcome of the meeting to be, know who's going to be there and their issues/interest areas prior to the meeting. According to extensive research conducted by the Corporate Executive Board, published in The Challenger Sale, 53% of the contribution to customer loyalty comes from the sales experience itself....not from your presentation. Do not present when a conversation is
10 possible - unless you are specifically asked by
the client to present and you know what the outcome of a successful presentation will be. by Mark Gibson 30 years in sales, sales management, business development, marketing, consulting and sales training in the technology business in Australia, EMEA and 12 years in Silicon Valley. Creating clarity in communicating value for Inbound Lead Generation and at moments of truth in front of customers.
November 2012
4 Qualities of Amazing Public Speakers Whether you are an experienced public speaker or just flirting with the idea of sharing your message with the world, you probably know that giving a great presentation involves much more than just reading from cue cards.
T
he good news? Learning about the essential qualities of other great presenters is an easy way to become one yourself. The following four essential qualities of all public speakers, in particular, will ensure you are delivering presentations that will influence, inspire, and make a meaningful impact on your audience.
1
Introspection & Self-Awareness
To be an effective speaker, you must first understand who you are as a speaker – and as a person. What are your strongest interpersonal qualities? How do you best connect with others? What qualities do you need to work on? The most effective speakers are constant-
www.soldlab.com
ly working to capitalize on their strengths – whether that’s great storytelling or a talent for getting the audience to participate – and also to improve upon their weaknesses. Tapping into your most powerful interpersonal qualities is an excellent way to make yourself accessible, engaging, and unique. To start, make a list of your best traits and the areas in which you excel. Then, think about how each of these traits is expressed when speaking or presenting in front of others. For example, if you’re great at explaining complex concepts in simple terms or if you have a dynamic, engaging personality, make sure you’re incorporating and highlighting these qualities throughout your presentation. (Need help identify-
| 43
ing your interpersonal strengths? StrengthsFinder 2.0 is an excellent resource.)
2
The Ability to Tell a Story
The best communicators understand the value in sharing information openly, honestly, and generously
Audiences show up for information, but they stay for the stories. Told well, stories can be the key to a compelling presentation that excites, energizes, and truly engages the people sitting in front of you. As my friends and mentors at Story Leaders™ have told me: “Others may not think what we think, but through a So, consider sharing a story of struggle or triumph or your personal path – ideally at the start of your speech. Don’t be afraid to reveal information about yourself and demonstrate your vulnerabilities – this will capture people in a way that fact and informationsharing alone never will.
3
Generosity
Simon Sinek changed the lives of many thousands of people when he shared his brilliant TED talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.” What stands out about this presentation above all is the generosity with which Sinek shares information. He holds nothing back and instead, gives everything to his audience, including his secret to success in business and in life: “Start with why,” he says. “Tell people why you do what you do before you tell them what you do or how you do it.” Simple. Brilliant. And in return for sharing this insight, he has built an undying, committed tribe. The best communicators understand the value in sharing information openly, honestly, and generously. The more you give, the more an audience can connect with you and the more they will take away. To do this effectively, you will have to truly understand your audience: Who are they? How do they learn? Would they respond better to a high-energy motivational speech, for example, or one that is more subtle? The better you know your audience, the more likely you will deliver the information in a way that is meaningful to them. And then show a true
44 |
commitment to your audience by revealing everything and holding nothing back.
4
Confidence
Finally, when you’re speaking and presenting in front of others, confidence is key. An unsure or timid presentation will not capture or engage an audience, and it certainly won’t motivate a tribe. But, of course, for many of us, public speaking and anxiety tend to go hand in hand. If you find yourself feeling intimidated before a presentation, consider this: Your nerves do not show. What you’re feeling is primarily internal, and others can’t sense your fear if you don’t let on. Also, your audience is rooting for you – they want a great presentation, so they want you to succeed. Finally, and most importantly, you are in control of your nerves. If you have practiced your speech again and again, as any great speaker must, the confidence will flow naturally. In addition, mental visualization exercises, such as envisioning applause as you near the end of your speech, and physical exercises such as deep breathing and stretching, can also relieve stress so that you can deliver a powerful, engaging presentation uninhibited. Brilliant public speaking is not an easy task. But with some practice, and with these key principles in mind, you can master it, without question. by Desiree Moore
Desiree Moore is the founder and creator of Greenhorn Bold. Her mission is to help entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and small business owners master speaking and presentation skills, whether in one-on-one conversation, on camera, or in front of live audiences. She works closely with her clients to ensure they connect and communicate with others in ways that truly resonate, and that will attract, influence, and inspire. Desiree can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/greenhornbold and Twitter at @greenhornbold.
November 2012
NOW Practices for Professional Selling
Visually Speaking
Thinking Visual Support? Five Things Audiences Hate Most! by Peter Temple In spite of a large negative backlash about the use of PowerPoint or Keynote in corporate presentations, there is a place for visual support. The problem stems from its improper use. Too often the screen becomes the center of the presentation – the speaker defers to the screen, but it should be the other way around. Think of the screen as a prop that you can “pull out of a hat” when you need it. When you don’t need it, just use the “B” key on your keyboard (or the appropriate button on your remote control) to black it out. When it’s on, though, there are certain things you need to be aware of – things your audience will score you really badly for if you go astray. This list comes from a recent survey conducted over the internet (other surveys I’ve seen say much the same thing):
1
The speaker read the slides!
This is the number one “turn-off” for audiences – by far! It’s a result of using full sentences on the screen. I’ll never forget a training program I delivered in a small town in British Columbia. I was filling in at the last minute for a training session on project management. I had two days to learn all the material. With only a few hours to go, I opened up the PowerPoint file. It consisted of screens and screens of numbered points, but they were all full sentences. I knew that was a problem, but due to the time constraints, I couldn’t make changes to the entire file. “Well,” I thought to myself, “I’ve been a speaker for a couple of years – I’ll be able to handle it.” However, all during the day, every time a screen came up, I found myself reading the text. It was a no-win situation. I knew they were reading the screen and not paying attention to me. The screen ended up taking center stage, and I found myself trying to guide my audience through it. Audiences dislike that with a passion.
46 |
Audiences can read for themselves. They don’t like been read to.
2
The text was so small, I couldn’t read it!
3
Slides were too hard to see because of the color choice.
4
The speaker used distracting moving (or flying) text or graphics!
Your slides must be readable by the back row. Big text, strong graphics and pictures – the simpler, the better. Your audience won’t retain more than a few major points in your presentation. They certainly aren’t going to remember a whole screen full of information. Remember the KISS principle (Keep It Simple). Here’s the “Rule of 66.” Six lines per text screen (plus title), with six words per line max. Anymore and you have a cluttered slide, with more information and detail than your audience can absorb, or see (depending on the size of the text). Text should not be under 24 pts; 36 pt is better.
Your visuals must be designed for maximum contrast, Here’s the key: light on dark. That’s light text on a dark background. Why dark backgrounds? Because projectors throw a lot of white light on a screen, which is highly reflective. Anything subtle will “wash out.” Viewing a screen with a white background can be like looking into the headlight of a freight train. The light from the projector is actually bouncing off the screen right back into your eyes! With a rear screen situation, it’s simply blasting through the screen to similar effect. The bright white background makes the little dark text difficult to read. It’s much easier to read white or yellow text on a dark background.
Some people put mayonnaise on everything, whether it needs it or not. In a similar manner, effects are fun to develop, but if they don’t further the point you’re making, they’re clutter, and hugely distracting – they’ll smother the wonderful flavor of
November 2012
Viewing a screen with a white background can be like looking into the headlight of a freight train
your message. Getting your point across is tough enough without annoying the audience and getting them completely off the topic at hand. On the other hand, movement attracts the eye. If there is a particular point you want to make by attracting the audience’s attention to a specific area of the screen, then plan your animation for that object or event. In a similar manner, the eye sees lighter elements first. So, you can help your cause if the most important elements are lighter in shading than others.
5
The speaker used overly complex diagrams or charts.
I often see people using 3D effects on graphs to give their bars depth. But the depth doesn’t necessarily add to the understanding of the graph. In fact, it clouds the meaning and clutters up the screen. Make the bars and information pertaining to them as clear and easy to understand as possible. Get rid of anything on the screen that isn’t absolutely necessary to make your point. Make sure you design your graphs to skew the message as much
www.soldlab.com
as possible to the point you’re trying to make. Make the point obvious.
Stand Back & Review Once you have a slide completed, stop and take an objective look at it. Review it for all the points above and think about the overall look of it. Is it simple to understand? Does it match or complement what you say? Does if flow in a logical manner? Is it cluttered? Does everything on it add to the point you want to make or is something unnecessary? If so, remove it. I can’t say it enough: Less is More!
Peter Temple has been a writer/ producer/director in the corporate world for over 35 years. He has designed and written countless presentations and speeches and now helps executives, managers, and salespeople use technology effectively in presentations. For more articles and video about using speeches and presentations effectively, go to: www.presentationsforbusiness.com
| 47
Presentation 2.0
Imagination by Phil Waknell for SOLD Magazine
“Imagination is more important than knowledge” ~ Albert Einstein. Too many sales presentations concentrate on transferring knowledge to the customer – this feature, that function, this spec… Yet people forget most of what they hear, and most of what they see. They remember the stories you tell, and how you make them feel. So what could be more powerful than stories that you make them feel? That’s where the power of imagination comes in. This is the most powerful aspect of storytelling, although it is the hardest to master. For example, you might tell your prospect a story about a similar customer who signed with your company and is delighted by your service, but you don’t actually want them to think too much about that other company: you want them to imagine what your service can do for them. This involves visualization. If you can get your customer to imagine how positive the future would look if they chose your product/service/widget, then you are more than halfway to a sale. Begin by working out, based on what you know about your customer, what they would need to imagine to make them want to sign with you. In my line of business, this is often a large round of applause followed by glowing reviews of their talk. But let me take the example of an entrepreneur looking for help to produce a killer investor pitch, in order to raise funds. What will she need to imagine? Perhaps shaking hands with an investor after agreeing a deal? Raising a glass of champagne to celebrate their fund-raising? Or walking into their brand-new premises, rented thanks to the capital they raised? Different people would be most susceptible to different visualizations – I know entrepreneurs whom I would associate with each of these examples. Let’s assume I feel the ‘entering new premises’ visualization would be the most appropriate in this case. What will it take to get my prospect’s mind to drift off and wonder about their dream new offices? I approach this as a three-step process, almost like cooking.
48 |
Step 1: Prepare the ingredients. First I need to get my prospect thinking about office space, so I will need to drop this into the conversation and bring it to the front of her mind. I’ll get her to talk about how insufficient her current offices are, and what she would look for in a new location. This makes her begin to visualize the ideal new office space, as a symbol of having successfully raised funds.
Step 2: Add your special sauce. Here I will drop in one or two stories about start-ups whom I’ve helped to raise funds in the past, concentrating on their fantastic new offices and how they felt when they moved in.
Step 3: Serve. The last all-important step is to provoke her imagination, and the easiest way to do this is simply to ask. “Imagine walking into your new offices, surrounded by all your new employees,” or “Can you imagine how fantastic you will feel when you turn that shiny new key and open the door wide?” With these three simple steps, you can get any customer to imagine a bright future, and to associate you and your products or services with that bright future. It’s the most powerful form of storytelling, but it doesn’t happen by accident. It needs to be carefully planned. “The world is governed by imagination,” said Napoleon. A good salesperson governs their customers’ imagination, and that is the greatest short-cut to a sale. Next month: a special feature on great visual aids As Partner at Ideas on Stage, the leading presentation design and training firm,
Phil Waknell trains executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities and salespeople to create and deliver memorable presentations, and speaks regularly at corporations and business schools about the need for a new way of presenting. He also shares ideas on his popular blog www.philpresents.com.
November 2012
http://ideasonstage.com
sales@ideasonstage.com
Successful Negotiation: Communication, Not Confrontation
50 |
November 2012
How many times have we as sales professionals gone into a negotiation believing someone – the procurement officer, perhaps – has more power to influence the outcome? And how often do we then instinctive yield to that person because of those assumptions? The truth is perception can become reality and, in turn, get in the way of our own success. When done properly, negotiating can be advantageous rather than adversarial. And when done well, this critical part of the sales process can strengthen the customers’ experience and lead to long-term relationships.
T
he process of negotiation involves a mutual discussion and arrangement and ultimately agreement of the terms, deliverables and cost of a business transaction, contract or relationship. One key to a successful negotiation is timing. It is critical to know when to negotiate. The negotiation process should start only after you have “sold” your product. That means that the sales person must confirm that the buyer is convinced that your product or service can address a critical business issue with enough impact or value to justify the decision. The second key to a successful negotiation is to leverage the knowledge you have gained during the sales process. This knowledge is key to determining what your prospect will define as a winning outcome and how you can help them satisfy those requirements. Without that knowledge, you are guessing at best. Once the client is, in essence, sold – it is time to get to the details regarding the exact deliverables, terms
www.soldlab.com
and investment required. Successful negotiation is multifaceted and not simply focused on one area such as price. With an understanding of the needs and requirements of each of those categories, sales people can effectively begin to develop a strategy to arrive at a winning outcome for both parties. There are three basic tactics to consider in developing this strategy.
Tactic #1 – Trade-offs Trade-offs should be used as your primary strategy. A trade-off is the process of exchanging one item for another of equal value. As you consider the areas that we are negotiating – price, terms and deliverables – you may be able to trade an item from one category for another. How will you know what things to trade-off? First, you must know what is important to the customer. Then, you must know what options you can offer. This information comes during the sales process. It also comes from your manager and company policies
| 51
and practices. You should trade-off those things that meet the customer's needs and that differ from your proposal. You should also get something of equal value in return if the negotiation is to remain “balanced”. Examples of trade-offs include: More favorable payment terms for a reduced price Additional terms, such as reference account, for a better payment term A reduction in deliverables for a reduction in price
Tactic #2 – Embellishments Trade-offs cannot be used if you are unwilling or unable to meet a specific customer want. In these situations, an embellishment may make sense. An embellishment allows you to "sweeten the deal" for the customer by offering something additional to the initial proposal that makes it more acceptable while maintaining the range of the original balance. For instance, you may throw in deliverables that have little cost to you but are of a large value to the prospect. An example of how this might sound in the conversation is: “If I am able to offer an additional training seat for this software package, would you be willing to commit to the full number of user licenses?”
Tactic #3 – Compromise A compromise can be used when a trade-off cannot be made and both parties have to "give up a little" on an aspect of the proposal in which the customer has the need. It involves finding the middle ground in the same category. Splitting the difference on price, payment terms, or a specific deliverable could be examples. In my own experience, I once had a large multinational client whose standard payment terms were 75 days. Ours was due upon receipt. Through compromise, we were able to bring that gap down to 45 days – which ultimately was agreed to by both parties.
52 |
Approach negotiating as problem-solving and you’ll be better prepared to respond instead of react and keep the conversation focused on the issue instead of specific styles. A few other points to remember when negotiating with prospects include to: Understand the “need” behind your prospect’s position – with that understanding you may be able to propose a creative solution to their need that hasn’t yet been discussed Know your empowerment level to avoid losing credibility (and perhaps the deal) by committing to things that are outside of your span of control Maintain a high level of rapport every step of the way Know your “walk-away” position and identify any show stoppers in the negotiation early in the process Some people believe that in order for one party to win, the other must lose. But there’s a way to reach a win-win situation in which everyone experiences a positive outcome. These strategies and tactics will go a long way in our preparation, strategy and willingness to become a more effective negotiator. After all, our goal is not only win this particular deal, but to gain a customer for life! To learn more about how to negotiate to win, take advantage of the ValueSelling Essentials Negotiating course. Visit our website or click here www.valueselling.com by Julie Thomas
Julie Thomas, President and CEO of ValueSelling Associates, is a noted speaker, author and consultant. In a career spanning more than 24 years, she credits her mastery of the ValueSelling Framework® for her own meteoric rise through the ranks of sales, sales management and corporate leadership positions.
November 2012
Using Silence in a Negotiation
S
ilence can be a very effective negotiating tactic indeed. It acts like a black hole, just waiting there for someone to fall into. If the person you are negotiating with is silent, will you rush in to fill the gap? Even perhaps making concessions just to make sure that there is some noise in the room? This article will help you to use silence effectively when you are negotiating and also show you how to defend against it. First, you need to understand how you feel about silence? Dealing with silence can be tough. In our society, we are not really comfortable with silence, so you need to evaluate your own reaction to it. Here's a little test that you can take. Call up a friend and tell them that you want to do an experiment. You are both going to look at your watches and stay silent for a full 15 seconds. Try it. You both know what the plan is and yet you will be surprised at how hard it is to still stay silent. Silence comes in two forms. One is silence contests. Silence contests are good if you start them, but not so good if the other side starts them. The tricky thing about a silence contest initiated by the other side is that they don’t announce, "OK, I'm going to start a silence contest." It's just that they say something or ask a question and then there is silence. And the silence continues and it continues and before you know it, there is a silence contest going on. You need to watch for this and decide how you are going to react. Some people say that the first person to talk loses. I'm not so sure that that is the best way to look at it because, if you buy into that idea, it puts huge pressure on you to win the silence contest, perhaps even at the expense of more important things in the negotiation. So once I recognize that the other side has started a silence contest, I usually go into denial. I might say something like, "now that I've had a chance to think about that", or "well, that's an interesting idea and here is what I propose," or something like that. It sends the message that we just had a thoughtful moment rather than a silence contest. I will also do the same thing if I was the one who started the silence contest and it isn't working and the other person is not talking. That way, I deny
www.soldlab.com
that I was even using the silence contest tactic. The extreme situation that I have encountered was when I was on a sales call for my negotiation training seminars with a buyer who, midway through our conversation, stopped talking and simply wouldn't say anything, no matter what I said. Since I wasn't getting anywhere, I decided to call his bluff. So I put my stuff away, politely thanked him for his time and walked out the door. He caught up with me in the hall and said that he really did want to talk to me. We went back into his office and continued in a much more reasonable manner. The second way to use silence, which I use all the time, is to go slowly and leave lots of gaps for the other side to rush into. Put in an extra long pause........make sure........that you don't.......answer........ your own question........ Wait and hold your breath.........while the other person........ is thinking about making a concession.........and just starting to talk about it. Have that little hesitation........before answering their question........so that maybe they will rush in.......... and answer it themselves. Just leave bits and pieces of silence lying around throughout the negotiation and watch to see whether people will jump into them. So train yourself to recognize silence tactics when others use them and to avoid the traps. And develop the skill to use silence effectively as part of your negotiating style. You will be amazed at how often it will work dramatically in your favor. © Michael Schatzki – 2005. All rights reserved by Michael Schatzk I
Michael Schatzk I is a master negotiator who, for over 20 years, has provided negotiation training and coaching for thousands of people in the U.S. and globally. More than 75% of Mike's programs are for satisfied, repeat customers. The Negotiation Dynamics® system really works. Mike can be reached at (888) 766-3530 or at www.negotiationdynamics.com.
| 53
Advice from the Master Negotiator Body Language & Negotiation Strategies That Motivate & Exude Confidence by Greg Williams When you’re in different environments, what body language and negotiation strategies do you use to motivate yourself and those with whom you deal? Are you even aware of what motivates you and in what environments you’re motivated by wanting to relieve pain or experience pleasure? Are you aware of your level of confidence in such situations? My motto is, “you’re always negotiating” and you do so even with yourself. Whether you’re in a negotiation, or just in an environment in which you need to display confidence, you need to understand at a gut level what will motivate and instill in you the level of confidence required for any situation. After all, you’re always selling yourself and your abilities. Sometimes, you’re motivated to get away from a situation (negative motivation); at other times, you’re motivated to move towards a better position (positive motivation). The differences in the source of motivation may be a nuance, but what lies in that source is the key that moves you in one direction versus another. It also shapes your self-confidence. The following are a few negotiation and body language strategies you can employ to identify environments in which you can become self-motivated and self-confident. When you lack motivation, adhering to these thoughts will serve as a mindblaster to send you soaring into the persona you wish to project.
1
Be an actor:
In life, we play roles. Sometimes we play the role of someone that is ‘large and in charge’, while other times we cast the image of someone that is ‘meek and weak’. In either situation, our self-confidence and source of motivation are at the cornerstone through which we feel compelled to project the appropriate image. In essence, our actions are based on how we perceive the situation and how we think we should position ourselves. If we’re communicating with a perceived superior, we cast a different demeanor than when we’re com-
54 |
municating with a perceived subordinate. So why not act the way you’d like to be perceived. If you need to project the image of someone oozing with confidence, even though that’s not how you really feel, act the part. The mind really doesn’t know what reality is; that’s evident by the fact that we have dreams that appear real. When you’re in a situation that requires a certain action, motivate yourself to call on the confidence that’s needed to act the part that best suits the way you wish to be perceived.
2
Be prepared by planning ahead:
3
Self-perspective:
4
Speak with confidence:
No one can prepare for every situation he might encounter, but to the degree that we know what might occur, we can prepare for it. Planning allows you to be prepared for situations that you might incur and, it gives you time to think about how you might react and respond in certain situations. The better prepared you are, the more confident you will become and thus more motivated to meet the situation you may encounter.
Know what motivates you. When you look in the mirror, who/what do you see? The picture staring back at you can be perceived as being strong, weak, healthy, sick, invigorating, or lack-luster. The point is it’s your perspective of you. That means you can shape it to be what you’d like to project. I’m not suggesting you play mental games with your mind to the degree that you’re way outside of the prism through which others view you, but you do have control of who you are. Maintain a ‘can do’ attitude about yourself and give yourself permission to be uplifted by you!
Have you observed someone speaking and felt that he lacked confidence or belief in what he was saying. What caused you to sense such a perspective? I suggest, subliminally, you thought he’s
November 2012
not connecting with me because he appears … fill in the blank. When we convey our sentiments, a large majority of what way say is conveyed via our body language. Thus, if our body language is not aligned with the words we’re using, a mixed message is sent (e.g. looking down while attempting to convey something that’s happy and beneficial to the person with whom you’re speaking). If you speak with confidence, you’ll be perceived as being more believable, more trustworthy and as someone with more credibility. In order to be perceived as speaking with confidence, stand or sit erect with your shoulders back. If delivering a message that should be perceived as being positive, smile while doing so and speak at a pace that exudes excitement. Do the opposite if you’re delivering a message that should be perceived in a more demure manner. When it comes to possessing and displaying confidence, allow your thoughts to motivate you to success. There will be times when you make the wrong decision and things won’t work out the way you thought they would. In such times, learn from
those mishaps. Tell yourself, I’m getting better. Then, move on. Don’t wallow in the mire. No one situation is intractable. Put it behind you and focus on positive outcomes that will occur in the future. Positive outcomes will not always occur, but if you have the choice of concentrating on a negative versus positive outcome, why not focus on the positive. As has been stated by more knowledgeable people than myself, whether you think you’re right or you think you’re wrong, you’re right. The way you view yourself is the way you’ll project your persona. If you motivate yourself and project your persona with confidence, you’ll be more successful in life and for you … everything will be right with the world. Remember, you’re always negotiating.
Greg Williams, a member of National Speakers Association, is a people-oriented business professional, with an extensive background in Public Speaking, Training, and delivering Keynotes, in the subject areas of: Motivation, Negotiation, Interviewing Strategies & Techniques, Strategies to becoming Successful, The plight of small, minority businesses in turbulent economic times. Learn more about Greg at www.TheMasterNegotiator.com
The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert wants to know …
Would you like to be more successful in life? Do you want to earn more money, gain more respect, and be perceived as someone with prestige? Are you someone that wants to achieve more in life? If you answered yes to any of the questions above … YOU need to become a better negotiator and discover how to read body language. Uncover how you can use negotiation tactics and strategies to get more out of every negotiation, while reading body language to enhance the process. For a Free negotiation assessment and insight into how you can become a better negotiator, contact… Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert at … www.TheMasterNegotiator.com (609) 369-2100 Scan with Smart Phone to watch – “Seven Steps To Negotiating Successfully”
www.soldlab.com
http://tiny.cc/qwqn4
| 55
SOLD Q&A
Ask the Sales Pro
Maura Schreier-Fleming, sales strategist and consultant answers your sales questions. What sales issue are you facing that you want some direction? Ask Maura. by Maura Schreier-Fleming
What is the toughest part in sales?
What are some examples of the iPad as a sales enablement tool?
The toughest part of sales is dealing with the disappointments. Customers sometimes make bad buying decisions. The bad decisions are when they don't buy from you! Because you're sometimes going to lose to competition, all salespeople need to have a network of supporters. Those supporters will be there for you when things turn out differently than they want. These supporters understand you. They know when to listen. They know when to offer advice. They know when you need some tough love and they know when to tell you that your prospect was an idiot for not buying from you. The time to get this network of supporters together is before you have a setback in sales. Some sales professionals are lucky because their sales manager is one of their biggest champions and is there when things go wrong. Others aren't as lucky. Since the toughest part of sales is dealing with disappointment, the best way to be prepared is to try to avoid it. Be organized. Improve your listening skills. Show your prospects why you are the best solution and why doing nothing isn't an option. You'll reduce the disappointments you'll experience in sales.
First, let me say that I love my iPad. It's an easy to use tool for note taking during a sales call. I can take photos with it that I can insert in proposals. I have a loaded Keynote presentation that I deliver to prospects that has an overview of my work. I deliver my presentations using Keynote and my iPad. Making your sales presentation visual is a big help to communication and will shorten your sales cycle. Every sales professional should be reading business and sales related books. The iPad makes that easy. You just download books and read them. It's much easier than carrying around a bunch of books. I use an app that makes expense organization easy. You can use a CRM ap to access your clients' information. I just developed a sales app for a client that is designed for a 1 sales call close. We've incorporated the questioning strategy that guides the customer to understand his key issues and why he should buy now. Along with the client testimonial videos that are easily launched on the iPad, it's a powerful selling too. Last, but not least, I love that I don't have to take my iPad out of my bag to go through airport security.
Maura Schreier-Fleming, is an international speaker and sales consultant. She works with business and sales professionals on their persuasion and communication skills. Her books include Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results and Monday Morning Sales Tips. She writes the women in business blog for Allbusiness.com and is a sales coach for them. She's been quoted in the New York Times, Selling Power and Entrepreneur. Clients include UPS, Fujitsu, Capital One, Ebby, the Houston Texans, and Conoco. She was Mobil Oil's first female lubrication engineer in the U.S. and sold $9 million of industrial lubricants when hydraulic oil was under $2.50/gallon. Website: www.Bestatselling.com
56 |
November 2012
Subscribe to
RECHARGE! MAGAZINE
it’s free Yes, that’s right . . . you can subscribe to RECHARGE! magazine right now for FREE, and each month receive relevant and practical insights from the world’s most prominent peak performance experts and forward thinkers. They will share with you their wisdom and best practices for moving forward in today’s challenging environment. www.recharge365.com/subscribe
"Bad is Stronger than Good" Lessons for Customer Loyalty and Experience
58 |
November 2012
It seems that your mother’s admonishment that “if you have nothing good to say, don’t say anything at all,” may have been counterintuitive and running against the grain of human nature and neuroscience. “Bad is stronger than good” (the phrase is borrowed from an article by the same name by Baumeister et al., 2001) is a core concept in behavioral economics and has significant implications for anyone managing and measuring loyalty and the customer experience, not just child rearing.
P
eople, it seems, have a “negativity bias.” In a nutshell, this means we receive negative or bad information more quickly, process that information more thoroughly, and remember and respond to that information more swiftly and consistently than is the case for positive or good information. (Experiments confirm that this negativity bias appears in other species as well, leading to the hypotheses that it is part of the “survival of the fittest” selection criteria driving evolution, i.e. the need to process and respond to information about risks and threats is more essential to survival than good information.)
The Impact of Bad Experiences Drawing on this premise from behavioral economics, there are a number of logical corollaries that are important to managing loyalty and the customer experience. First, customer behavior is far more likely to be affected by (and to be affected more dramatically by) bad experiences than by good experiences. In other words, bad experiences and problems will more likely and more quickly trigger customer defection and churn than positive experiences will deepen loyalty. We all have heard some variation on the following rule of thumb: people who have had bad experiences or a problem are X times more likely to tell someone
www.soldlab.com
else than people who have had good experiences. It seems that all of us are hard wired to share negative information more than positive information. This leads to another set of corollaries: customer will spread negative word of mouth (WOM) more quickly, frequently and extensively than they share positive WOM. Yet a third corollary can affect new customer acquisition: since we are more receptive to bad information than good information, negative WOM is far more likely to be heard, processed, remembered and acted on by prospects than positive WOM. In other words, the adverse impact on a company from bad customer experiences, performance failures, problems and complaints are very likely to “outweigh” the gains from customer success stories in terms of Customer defection vs. retention Negative WOM vs. positive WOM Lost opportunities with prospects vs. new customer acquisition
Managing and Measuring the “Bad” and the “Good” (To Avoid the “Ugly”) Bad and good are not simply mirror images of the same things in greater/lesser quantity that can be captured with linear measurements. This means that it is critical for marketers and researchers to
| 59
The dissatisfiers often are basic performance expectations that customers take for granted differentiate between positive drivers of loyalty or satisfaction with an experience and negative drivers of dissatisfaction. Because bad is stronger than good, behavioral economics tells us, even yells at us, to address the downside, negative drivers or dissatisfiers as the first priority before turning to those upside drivers of loyalty. If the ship has holes and is taking on water, in other words, rearranging the deck chairs and sprucing up the buffet isn’t going to help. The dissatisfiers often are basic performance expectations that customers take for granted. Every company and industry has such “table stakes” types of issues: accurate financial statements; clean hotel rooms; 100% system uptime for electricity, cable, Internet and similar services; timely ordering and both accurate and timely serving of food; products that “work” as expected; and so on. Poor performance on these basic expectations is a deadly dissatisfier. While customers will defect and spread negative WOM for such failures to meet expectations on these types of issues, exceeding expectations or trying to delight customers on the basic table stakes doesn’t earn the company any points: customers aren’t impressed or WOWed when statements are correct, the sheets are clean or the lights go on when they throw the switch. The enhancers or positive drivers, by contrast, are those performance attributes that set a company apart, the potential differentiators that go beyond the basic expectations and which can be used to reinforce loyalty or deliver great customer experiences. These positive drivers are the attributes on which WOWing the customer yields a real
60 |
November 2012
and positive payoff. Some attributes might be both negative and positive drivers on which less/more of the exact same items can motivate both dissatisfaction and delight, as often is the case with price, for example.
And About that Measurement . . . Measuring the downside risk separate from the upside potential is critical not just because the drivers may be different, but because the magnitudes or impacts differ. Negativity bias extends to the relative impact or importance of bad and good drivers. People are “loss averse.” An extension of negativity bias, loss aversion indicates that people attach more importance to avoiding losses, negative experiences or pain than they do to winning, positive experiences or getting pleasure. (One rule of thumb is that people attach at least twice as much value to avoiding a negative as gaining a positive.) Even when an attribute is both a negative and positive driver, a single linear regression line (or any single measurement, for that matter) can’t capture the differences between the potential bad/downside and good/upside impact. Another problem with regression-based approaches (and for those of you both less and more stats savvy than I am, I apologize for this digression) is that they are “additive” and “compensatory”. In other words, they treat positive and negative coefficients like numerical weights on a balance scale, and the side with more “weight” tips the scale in its direction. But behavioral economics and negativity bias tell us this is a mathematical myth: the negative weights carry more impact than the positive. To go back to some of our earlier analogies: if
the statement is wrong; the room is dirty; the lights don’t go on; or the ship is sinking, no amount of positive drivers can “compensate” or counter balance the failure on the fundamentals. (For this and other reasons, we recommend using Shapley Values for key drivers, a game-theory non-linear, noncompensatory approach that also reduces problems of multicollinearity, but here I am wading even further afield into stats.)
Bringing it all Together What does this mean for companies trying to understand, measure and manage customer loyalty and experiences? Positive and negative drivers should be measured separately because The upside enhancers and downside dissatisfiers differ (but may overlap) and Have widely differing impact on customer behavior; therefore, Negative drivers that can undermine the customer relationship and lead to disappointing experiences should be given priority over and managed separate from the drivers of loyalty and satisfaction with touchpoint experiences. Marketers shouldn’t stop looking for opportunities to strengthen customer relationships, deepen loyalty and deliver high-impact customer experiences. But they must be ever cognizant of the need to make “plugging the holes,” improving performance on attributes that undermine loyalty and lead to disappointing experiences, their top priority. I wonder if I can blame my cynicism on negativity bias and a heightened sense of survival instinct? by Howard Lax
Vice President, GfK Customer Loyalty. Building upon a diversified background in market research, marketing, consulting and education, Howard
Lax leads research and related consulting engagements
centered on Customer Loyalty and Experience. Howard has deep experience in the financial services, tech and hospitality sectors, while working across the spectrum of industries with both B-2-B and B-2-C clients. Before joining GfK, Howard was a Senior Consultant in the Customer Loyalty practice at HarrisInteractive, where he also led the financial services practice. Previously Howard was Vice President in the Customer Strategies practice at Opinion Research Corporation and Director, Market and Customer Information, at Freddie Mac in McLean, VA. Before Freddie Mac, Howard was Vice President at Claritas in Alexandria, VA, where he directed the firm‘s market research activities and the marketing of information products and services. Howard first entered the market research industry in the 1980s with Trans Data Corporation. Initially joining the firm as a project manager, he moved on to become Director of Research, SVP and COO. He has taught at the college and graduate school levels, most recently teaching marketing in the MBA program at Rider University. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the Graduate School & University Center of the City University of New York and earned his B.A. at Union College.
www.soldlab.com
| 61
6 Social Business Strategies to Improve Customer Retention Within 6 Months Customer retention holds a special place in most organizations' strategic plans. While companies devote hours of staff time and reams of paper to business development, customer retention is rarely discussed until there is a crisis.
A
lthough it is often taken for granted, there is no other single issue that gets executives' attention faster than losing customers. It is often that case that senior management puts other priorities on hold until they get answers regarding what it says about the brand, operations, and product. Your organization will never be able to eradicate customer churn. However, knowing the significant impact that losing customers has on an organiza-
tion’s financials, there are concrete steps businesses can take to use their online customer community to measurably increase customer retention.
How Can Your Customer Community Increase Customer Retention Strategy #1: Show that Your Organization is Listening Social listening is great. You can learn a lot about your market, your position, and your customers. To keep your customers, you need to take it a step
Your online customer community is an extension of your product strategy 62 |
November 2012
further and create a dialog. Demonstrate that you hear the business problems and product needs that customers discuss in your online community. Don’t hide when customers request new functionality or services. Use it as an opportunity to educate customers on how to use your solution and how your company selects new features for your product.
your customers. Interview and survey customers to learn about their problems, then update your online community to solve those problems. Aligning your organization more closely with your market's problems will both increase sales and keep existing customers.
Strategy #2: Be More proactive
The goal of an online customer community is to bring customers, employees, and partners together for the success of your customers. Use both your online community activity and offline interactions to internalize your customers’ goals. Identify both where your customers are having success with your products and services and where they are struggling. Then, map out the content, discussions, and processes that you can initiate in your online customer community to highlight successes, plug holes, and help customers find even more success with your company.
Use the reports and analytics functionality in your online community software to deliver proactive assistance and helpful information to your customer base. Identify at-risk customers and address concerns before customers have to reach out to your support team.
Strategy #3: Stay Closer to Customers Develop partnerships with your customers using the wide array of engagement opportunities in your online customer community. These can include asking them to lead a group, respond to a discussion, contribute to a blog, and participate in an event. Elevating your customers’ brands and successes within your community can garner a very positive response. Build trust and connection by deemphasizing the “Me Customer, You Provider” elements of the relationship. Over time, you and your customers will better understand the symbiotic nature of the partnership and actively seek out win/win opportunities.
Strategy #4: Produce More Exclusive Content Your online customer community is an extension of your product strategy. By offering customeronly content around how to solve real business problems using your products and services, you create a key differentiator for your organization. Start a how-to web video series, increase your blog content, or create educational content based on customer interviews. Even when customers are frustrated with your product or services, they’ll be less likely to end the relationship for fear of losing the stream of useful content and connections.
Strategy #6: Help Customers Find More Success
Customer Community Takeaway Customer retention is an understated top priority for most organizations. Keeping your customers will depend on: If your customers are successful with your products and services The strength of the relationship How effectively you provide unique value By combining your products and services with an online customer community you are able to solve your customer’s most urgent, pervasive problems in a unique and adaptable way. by Joshua Paul
Joshua Paul is the Director of Strategy at Socious, a leading provider of online customer community software to businesses and membership organizations. He has over 14 year of experience working with online strategies and technology including helping compa-
Strategy #5: Be More Invaluable in Customers’ Daily Lives
nies grow using business model innovation, content market-
It is good to step away from your social business strategy a few times a year and make sure that your customer community is solving the right problems for
on online communities, customer engagement, and social
www.soldlab.com
ing, and social media. Josh is a popular blogger and speaker technology. Learn more about using online communities in business at blog.socious.com.
| 63
Create Customer Amazement TM
Creating Value and Confidence Leads to Customer Amazement by Shep Hyken Do you truly believe in the product or service that you offer? Do you offer a money-back guarantee? To what lengths will you go to ensure your customer walks away satisfied? If you are looking for a truly great example of customer service, look no further than Nordstrom’s. The retailer is known for its outstanding service – not only on the front end of the sale, when the purchase is made, but after the sale as well. Nordstrom’s stands behind its products and has a generous return policy, which I have experienced first-hand. About six months after I purchased some fairly expensive blue jeans, they ripped. Although I wouldn’t normally have returned them at that point, my wife encouraged me to do so, to at least make the store aware of the issue. How do you think the salesperson I spoke to handled the problem? You probably won’t be surprised to find out that the jeans were replaced, no questions asked. With such an open return policy, Nordstrom’s must acquire a great number of returned goods. Most likely it has arrangements in place to deal with the returned merchandise, quite possibly absorbing the cost and chalking it up to marketing and customer relations. Most people, however, don’t even think about that – what is important to them is the guarantee of quality. And Nordstrom’s customers are willing to pay a little more for that guarantee. The retailer is not a low-price department store. It carries higher-end merchandise and that, coupled with its policies, creates customer confidence. It is not the highest priced department store – it is competitive in its market – but the level of customer service adds additional value for its shoppers. Other retailers follow a similar model. Zappos. com is not known for low prices, but its value also lies in its service and customer-friendly policies. Customers are willing to pay a bit more because the products are backed by outstanding customer service and a free return policy. It has an outstand-
64 |
ing reputation and thousands of loyal customers. Another company that I have written about offers many lessons in amazing customer service. Simplicity Sofas is, quite simply, a role model of customer amazement. The article I wrote about Simplicity Sofas highlighted why the company, and its owner, Jeff Frank, have become the stuff of customer service legend. Selling furniture directly to the consumer through its website, the company sells a quality product made with quality materials, and it stands behind the furniture it sells. It is able to turn challenging situations into opportunities to display its dedication. Recently, it faced a problem when 100 customers’ orders were delayed. The delay was actually caused by the company’s great success – sales had doubled, and continued to grow. In order to keep up with the demand, Simplicity Sofas had to move to a larger manufacturing facility, and some orders fell behind. One of Simplicity Sofas’ promises to its customers is custom-built furniture delivered within 30 days. The transition to the new factory was a lengthy process, more than three months, and it delayed 100 orders anywhere from six to 12 weeks. The company, which boasted 100 percent positive reviews from more than 2,500 customers while racking up $3 million in sales, could have worried that its amazing reputation was in jeopardy. Could it overcome the delays without negative feedback or orders being canceled? It could, and it did. Owner Jeff Frank says, “On the contrary, many of the company’s strongest customer relationships were established during this time period.” Simplicity Sofas faced its challenge head-on and kept customers happy by doing two things. First, communication – customers received frequent, regular updates on the status of their orders. They were not left to wonder if they were forgotten or their orders were unimportant. They were “in the loop,” and could be confident that they would receive their furniture. Secondly, the
November 2012
Don’t try to be evasive when there is a hiccup in your business plans
company offered incentives, such as partial refunds, to show its appreciation for the customers’ patience and understanding. There is an easy lesson to learn from Simplicity Sofas’ handling of this dilemma. Don’t try to be evasive when there is a hiccup in your business plans. When you face a setback, be open with your customers, reassure them and keep them updated. They will respect you more for it. Other customer service policies that Frank has implemented can be adapted to any business. They will serve to build consumer confidence: Their warranty states, “If you are not happy with our furniture for any reason whatsoever, you may return it for a full refund including all shipping charges for a period of one year after purchase.” It doesn’t get much better than that! Customers are contacted within one business day after receiving their furniture and asked three questions: 1. How do you like the furniture? 2. What do you think of our customer service? 3. Are there any problems that need to be take care of immediately?
www.soldlab.com
Simplicity Sofas’ customers are more than loyal – they have crossed over into customer evangelism. They provide word-of-mouth advertising, they willingly show their furniture to potential customers, and they share their experiences with others. Frank notes that more than 50 percent of customers who see their product in another customer’s home eventually place an order. Simply put, you couldn’t ask for a better example of customer amazement in action. Simplicity Sofas combines a great product with a full warranty and incredible service, and they have the reputation to show for it.
Shep Hyken is a professional speaker and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling business author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For information on Shep’s speaking programs, books, and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Web: www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).
| 65
Success Secrets from a Sales Super Star
Customer Service and Loyalty Stan Billue has been a Student of Sales an average of an hour a day for 35 years. Each month he shares several Success Secrets to assist you to achieve your next level of Success. by Stan Billue Although I’m primarily known as a Sales Trainer, I must share with you that your Customer Service should be a critical part of your overall Sales effort. Too many Companies look at C/S as a necessary evil or even as an after thought rather than appreciating how important it truly is. Most Marketing experts will usually admit that the most expensive part of building and/or running any Business, is Client acquisition. With that being said, we should appreciate that retaining our Customers is paramount. Here are some Tips and Techniques and Do’s and Don’ts to consider. You might have to change a few words or strategies to fit your Product or Service, however I challenge you to see how many of these you can add or improve on. MIND SET: First and foremost we should realize and appreciate that our Customers pay our Salaries. Instead of feeling distain when the Phone rings with another unhappy Customer, we need to put that big smile on our face and welcome the opportunity to satisfy another disgruntled or confused Client. Out attitude can set the tone for a pleasant and satisfying Call for both parties. WORD OF MOUTH: Another critical realization is that we aren’t just trying to make one person happy. Since we know that one dissatisfied Customer can tell dozens of people, we are in reality influencing up to 100 people on this single phone call. ANSWERING THE CALL: Every Call should be answered by the third ring. If you can’t do that, you simply do not have enough personnel on staff. If your system automatically answers your Calls and then places them on hold, please have a series of brief recorded messages to let the Callers know how long their anticipated wait time is or how many Callers are in front of them and possibly offer them
66 |
an option such as visiting your Web Site or leaving a message. OPENING THE CALL: When opening the Call, I highly recommend using wording such as; “Thanks for calling (your Company), this is (your name) and how can we provide you with World class customer service today?” or “Thanks for contacting (your Company), my name is (your name) and how can I put a smile on your face today?” You’ll quickly discover that since you are starting the Call on a more positive note, your Customers will become less aggressive and start to warm up. DISARM IF NEEDED: When you receive a Call from someone who is especially irate, aggressive and/or vicious, you might have to disarm them before trying to help them. You might say something like; “ I understand how upset you are about (their issue) however you aren’t mad at me personally, are you?” This will usually lower their aggressiveness dramatically. DON’T KEEP THEM ON HOLD: If your Rep can’t immediately answer a question or solve a challenge, I urge you to offer to call them back within a short period of time with the solution rather than placing the Caller on hold for 5 or 10 minutes, or even longer. LANGUAGE DURING THE CALL: When your Customer states their challenge, please don’t respond with something like “OK”. Instead, please show some empathy with; “I’m sorry you had that experience” or “ I can certainly understand why you are upset.” In addition, please don’t ever say something like; We can’t do that.” Instead, always rephrase your response with wording such as; “Here’s what we can do for you.”
November 2012
HAVE AND USE SCRIPTS: After a few weeks on the job, you’ll find that you only have to handle 10, 15 or 20 basic complaints, concerns or questions. I urge Management to Script out a Short and Long Version for every situation and then practice, drill and rehearse them until they sound natural and conversational. The last thing any Company needs is a room full of CS Reps adlibbing or winging it. Of course, always start by using the Short Version to see if that will suffice. CONFIRM YOUR ANSWERS: It’s critical to always make sure that the Customer liked your answer. You might think it was great however let’s see if your Customer was satisfied. After handling any situation, we should always ask something like’ “Do you feel better about that now?” or “Have we cleared that up to you satisfaction?”
tract an extra month or two, etc. Always try to impress them and not just satisfy them. Some people like to call it the WOW FACTOR. TURN YOUR C/S INTO A PROFIT CENTER: Once you have solved a challenge for a Customer, there is always a small window of opportunity for them to do something in return for you. This is a perfect time to offer them an ancillary product or service at a discount, or extend their existing contract at a reduced rate or give them a credit or discount if they take advantage of a current promotion while still on the Call. Many, if not all, of the above ideas can dramatically increase your Customer Loyalty which in turn will allow you to dominate your Market.
Stan Billue is known as THE Sales Training Legend as he is credited with
AD VALUE WHEN POSSIBLE: Whenever possible, give your Customer more than they were expecting or hoping for. After you resolve their issue, maybe you can offer them a small discount of their next Order, or free shipping, or extend their con-
creating more 6 and 7 figure a year Income earning Sales Pros than any other living Trainer. You may subscribe to his free monthly Newsletter and weekly Marketing Tip by visiting www.StanBillue.com
Stan Billue
The Sales Training Legend
Stan has trained more 6 and 7 figure a year income earning Sales Pros than any other Trainer.
27 Years in Business Visit www.StanBillue.com for a complete catalog of his bestselling Audio, Video and Printed Training materials.
Make it a “Fanta$tic” Future!
www.soldlab.com
| 67
new
NOW Practices for Professional Selling
www.soldlab.com/subscribe