NZ Sales Manager Issue 10

SEPT 17TH 2008 / Issue 10

Overcoming

Call Reluctance -S trategies for Managing Call Reluctant Reps

Show Me The Numbers

– Does Sales Training Really Work?

The Power Of Giving

SEPT 17 th / Issue 10

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Overcoming Call Reluctance Strategies for managing call reluctant reps.

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THIS WEEKS MUST READ

SHOW ME THE NUMBERS Does Sales Training really deliver bottom line results?

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TWO MINUTE TOP-UP DON’T BE AFRAID TO GIVE A LITTLE Nicky Bowden explains why givers gain when it comes to selling.

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NZSM CALENDAR

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BOOK REVIEW

E-MYTH MASTERY 7 Essential disciplines for building a world class company by Michael Gerber.

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ALES TRAINING S DIRECTORY

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THE CLOSE

11 NZSM / SEPt 17TH 2008 /

U

s Kiwi’s have a reputation for being innovative and self sufficient “Do-ItYourself-ers.”

Indeed this reputation for resourcefulness and resoluteness is an important part of what it means to be Kiwi both at home and abroad, and has enabled us to claim a disproportionately high number of world firsts in a range of fields.

ABOUT / Short, sharp and to the point, New Zealand Sales Manager is a free fortnightly e-magazine delivering thought provoking and enlightening articles, and industry news and information to forward-thinking sales managers, business owners and sales professionals.

EDITOR / Richard Liew DESIGNER / Jodi Olsson ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES /

From Burt Munro and “the worlds fastest Indian”, to Sir Ernest Rutherford the father of nuclear science, to Sir Ed Hillary knocking off Mt Everest, we’re not short on stubborn Kiwi battlers.

+64-9-361 1375 or email richardl@nzsalesmanager.co.nz CONTENT ENQUIRIES / +64-9-361 1375 or email

Being a few little islands down the bottom of the world, where only those settlers hardy enough to “tough it out” dared venture, has undoubtedly had lasting repercussions on the Kiwi psyche.

richardl@nzsalesmanager.co.nz

But could it be that our DIY mentality might also be the very thing holding us back when it comes to building more large and successful, New Zealand owned businesses?

+64-9-361 1375

ADDRESS / NZ Sales Manager Magazine,127a Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland, NZ. WEBSITE / www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

Because to “do it yourself” also means there are some things that you don’t do: Don’t look for or ask for help Don’t admit you don’t have all the answers Don’t show any signs of weakness or that you might need a hand Don’t accept help or advice from anyone else The biggest problem with trying to build a large, successful business is that you cannot “do it yourself”.

An interesting challenge when we live in a country that values “doing it yourself” above all else.

If New Zealand is to start producing more large and successful businesses which take it to the world, rather than the other way round, we must first understand that we cannot build anything bigger than ourselves without the help, effort and support of many.

But if “doing it yourself” is your number one driver, it’s never going to be particularly inspiring for anyone else is it?

Got any thoughts on this topic or articles in this week’s issue? We’d love to know what you think.

Email your comments to richardl@nzsalesmanager. co.nz and we’ll share the best ones in future issues.

NZSM / SEPt 17TH 2008 /

Overcoming Call Reluctance

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Richard Gee offers advice on overcoming a key issue for sales managers

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Personality is very important in the first 30 seconds of the sale, and it helps to build relationships and win over customers. Call reluctant salespeople with no personality are never going to make it.

This is commonly called ‘Overcoming Call Reluctance’ and some of the ways to handle it include:

Have a careful think about the type of salesperson you want – are they the hunter, the farmer, the relationship builder, the prospector, the major accounts representative?

common problem for sales managers is to encourage sales reps to get out and spend more time face-to-face, and also to encourage new sales representatives to get out to meet customers, particularly if they’ve had a few bad experiences.

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Personality

First of all, examine the personality of your call reluctant salesperson. Are they outgoing, are they friendly, are they able to portray confidence in the first 30 seconds, and if not, should they really be a sales member of your team?

What is best for your kind of industry will be determined by your stages of growth. A new company starting up will probably want a prospector or a new account hunting type representative, while an existing company will need a mix of relationship building to retain existing customers, plus also the odd hunter or prospector to chase for new business.

NZSM / SEPt 17TH 2008 /

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Selling Style

Review the style of selling that your sales team and your reluctant salesperson are actually using – how well planned are they; are they selling by objectives; are they following up on previous visit objectives; are they disciplined, well organised and good time managers?

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Rep Visits

When was the last time you went out and visited your sales rep in front of customers, to actually see the application and use of their skills?

A good sales manager spends at least half a day per month with each one of their sales reps just doing normal everyday calls to see how they handle themselves and represent the company.

During this sales interview, the sales manager is there to assist the sales rep and not to take over the sale or to rescue it if it looks like they’re going to lose it. This last activity is very hard for most sales managers who are very good salespeople, but you have to lose the sale to be able to teach the sales rep how to improve.

When you’re out reviewing and training with a sales rep, make sure that you ask for the objective of the call prior to going into the customer, and then review the objective at completion.

During the call you should watch for: • Use of skill • Use of planning • The application of the listening technique • Product knowledge and service knowledge If any of these are needing improvement, that’s where you work with your sales rep.

It is often said that there are many types of sales representative, however I could classify them into two general camps: • Those that can sell and close the sale, and are weak on administration.

• Those that are very good on administration, and very weak on closing the sale.

The ideal sales representative is probably the former, where you can tidy up the administration, or people who lean towards more sales skills when closing the sale.

Call reluctance is something that can be trained to overcome. If you have a representative who is call reluctant review the above list and see how you can be successful in fixing the problem.

A good sales manager watches the sales team for signs of too much time being spent in the office or on preparation or on administration, and not enough time being spent face-to-face with customers.

Richard Gee has been training sales people and sales managers in New Zealand for over 25 years.

Visit his website at www.geewiz.co.nz NZSM / SEPt 17TH 2008 /

Show Me The Numbers!

Does sales training really deliver bottom line results?

By Liam Venter

I

t’s not a given. It’s an important question that deserves a considered response. Wanting it to be true and saying it with enough force and conviction just doesn’t

make it so!

Logic says yes, and anecdotal evidence says yes and no.

I have seen sales actually drop after inappropriate sales training.

Note I elected to use the phrase ‘inappropriate’ rather than ‘bad’ sales training.

Surprisingly there has been extremely little ‘scientific’ assessment of whether sales training works.

To do a successful study you would need to first define what “success” is.

• • • • •

Is it happier more confident sales people?

Is it lower staff turnover?

Is it lower cost of staff management?

Is it better sales reporting and forecasting?

Is it an increase in sales?

You would also need to design how you are going to quantify and measure each of the above.

To do the experiment you would need at the minimum three large groups of sales people performing near identical sales roles in the same environment (preferably the same company).

constant in each of the three groups for the duration of the trial. One group would be your ‘control group’ and the other group would be your group to be ‘trained’ and a further group would be a ‘placebo’ group.

• •

The hardest part of doing this study is that you would need to be able to keep all key environmental factors

The Control Group would have no sales training intervention The Placebo Group would get the same amount of interventionist attention as the ‘trained group’ but would not receive sales training.

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And the Trained Group would be subjected to the training in question.

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I would expect sales to increase slightly in the ‘placebo’ group and hope to see a marked increase in the ‘trained’ group.

Neil Rackham the father of ‘SPIN selling’ measured what works in a sales call/meeting - but he didn’t measure if you can train people to do what works in sales meetings.

There is lots of anecdotal evidence by way of reports to suggest sales training works. But you need to examine who is preparing these reports with some scepticism.

As a sales trainer I would like to say it works. However my belief is that a lot of sales training simply does not deliver results for many reasons:

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Training inappropriate to sales mode required (eg, Hunter vs Farmer) Training in appropriate to environment (eg, retail sales vs B2B selling) Training inappropriate to required sales environment style (eg, relationship selling vs feature selling vs consultative selling)

Even when you acknowledge that you can train people to do the right things to achieve the desired results they can also be very quickly de-trained by their work place environments, support structures, bonus and commission schemes, etc.

For this reason it’s important that the workplace environment is evaluated and adapted to support the sales methodologies taught – this is a key reason why it is imperative that sales managers also attend the same sales training as their staff.

Liam Venter is an Auckland based sales trainer and owner of SalesFish sales training.

Visit his website at www.salesfish.co.nz.

NZSM / SEPt 17TH 2008 /

Don’t Be Afraid To Give A Little [ Nicky Bowden explains why giver’s gain when it comes to selling

Ok, yes there are a few who will. But majority of the time people will see that you know what you are talking about and that your expertise is worth something.

There may even be a bit of a guilt factor in there that “these people have been so helpful, I couldn’t possibly shop anywhere else”.

So what are some examples of valuable low cost giveaways?

G

ive something to your customers that is of high value to them and low cost to you. Well that sounds simple enough doesn’t it? It is amazing how many clients, we have, who say “oh no, we couldn’t possibly give that away”.

I disagree, but let me explain why.

If you can provide something for nothing to people, they do appreciate the gift. If you can give away information then your gift is valuable to your potential customers, you become an expert in their eyes and it has cost you nothing.

It might cost you a little bit to draw up a design of what a potential customers new car, boat, lounge room, wedding ring or ball dress may look like, but you provide a visual and I would bet that if they like what they see they would buy from you rather than any competition.

Clients say to me – that will take us too long to do, cost us a few dollars each one or the big one… “But people will use our design or information and use it to purchase elsewhere cheaper.”

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Designing a replica of what your product could do for the potential client eg, painting the house, sign-writing the car, design of jewellery, draft websites, their room plan with your furniture in it etc.

Information is valuable especially if you are a service provider, articles, newsletters, coaching tips or free reports Samples of your product or service whether it be of your bread, of your consulting, your chiropractic consultation

Do note that I don’t believe that a quote is a giveaway. A quote is just part and parcel of doing business.

So next time you think that a potential customer doesn’t really understand what it is you do or can offer, why don’t you come up with a way that they could get a taster.

Something that is of high value to them but low cost to you. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

Nicky Bowden is the principal and founder of Adconomy.

You can visit her website at www.adconomy.co.nz.

NZSM / SEPt 17TH 2008 /

WED 17 SEPT

NZSM

CALENDAR SAT 20 SEPT

MON 22 SEPT Negotiation David Forman Wellington Essential Selling Skills (Healthcare only) Pro-formance Driven Auckland

SUN 21 SEPT FRI 26 SEPT

SAT 27 SEPT

Basic Sales Skills NZIM Northern Auckland Sales Development David Forman Wellington Serious Selling Geewiz Christchurch

TUE 23 SEPT Negotiation David Forman Wellington Essential Selling Skills (Healthcare only) Pro-formance Driven Auckland Sales Skills Level 1 EMA Northern Auckland Sales Basics Geewiz Auckland

MON 29 SEPT

THU 18 SEPT

FRI 19 SEPT

Sales Development David Forman Wellington

Sales Development David Forman Auckland

Motivation & Attitude Geewiz Christchurch

Sales Development David Forman Dunedin

Fundamentals of Selling Workshop Top Achievers Sales Training Wellington

Sales Leadership Skills Top Achievers Sales Training Auckland

WED 24 SEPT

THU 25 SEPT

Fundamentals of Selling Workshop

Top Achievers Sales Training Christchurch Negotiation David Forman Wellington Essential Selling Skills (Healthcare only) Pro-formance Driven Auckland Sales Basics Geewiz Auckland

Cold Calling Top Achievers Sales Training Auckland

TUE 30 SEPT

WED 1 OCT

MON 6 OCT

TUE 7 OCT

Fundamentals of Selling Workshop Top Achievers Sales Training Christchurch

SUN 28 SEPT THU 2 OCT

FRI 3 OCT

SAT 4 OCT

Business Acumen University of Auckland Auckland

SUN 5 OCT WED 8 OCT Time Management Geewiz Auckland

TUE 14 OCT Time Management Geewiz Auckland Negotiation David Forman Auckland Sales Development David Forman Auckland

THU 9 OCT Consultative Sales Skills NZIM Northern Auckland Sales Development David Forman Auckland Sales Development David Forman Dunedin Motivation & Attitude Geewiz Christchurch

WED 15 OCT Negotiation David Forman Auckland Sales Development David Forman Auckland

FRI 10 OCT

MON 13 OCT

SAT 11 OCT

Negotiation David Forman Auckland

Consultative Sales Skills NZIM Northern Auckland Sales Development David Forman Dunedin Account Management Skills NZIM Northern Auckland

Sales Development David Forman Auckland

SUN 12 OCT THU 16 OCT Sales Development David Forman Auckland Negotiation Skills NZIM Northern Auckland Presentation Skills University of Auckland Auckland

FRI 17 OCT

SAT 18 OCT

Sales Development David Forman Auckland Negotiation Skills NZIM Northern Auckland Presentation Skills University of Auckland Auckland

SUN 19 OCT

NZSM / SEPt 17TH 2008 / 10

BOOK REVIEW

E-Myth Mastery – The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building A World Class Company

By Michael F. Gerber

T

he bestselling author of phenomenally successful and continually vital The E-Myth Revisited presents the next big step in entrepreneurial management and leadership with E-Myth Mastery.

Gerber begins by engaging the reader in understanding why the entrepreneur is so critical to the success of any enterprise, no matter how small or large it may be, and why the mindset of an entrepreneur is so integral to the operating reality of the organization, of the small business, and the enterprise.

He covers seven essential skills: -

Leadership Marketing Money Management Lead Conversion Lead Generation Client Fulfilment

This is the book that will show you the difference between being an entrepreneur versus doing a job, how to get money when the bank won’t give it to you, how to expand your customer base when big business moves in down the street, how to develop the best people when you can’t afford to pay them competitive wages, how to increase the predictability of what your business is able to promise, and then how to keep that promise, every single time, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

Mastery is a business development program that helps you turn your company into a world-class operation...into a turnkey money machine!

NZSM / SEPt 17TH 2008 / 11

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If you’re interested in ‘balancing’ work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable.”

Donald Trump

NZSM / SEPt 17TH 2008 / 13