NZ Sales Manager Issue 90

JANUARY | ISSUE 90

The Next Can't Miss Game Changer for Salespeople

NZ’S E-MAG FOR SALES LEADERS | WWW.NZSALESMANAGER.CO.NZ

From the Editor H

appy New Year and I hope you have enjoyed the break and are back recharged and refreshed and ready to go!

I've never been one for making New Year's resolutions - if something needs changing or is not working for you, then I think it best to get onto it here and now rather than wait till the New Year to make it a resolution. Being in beach

or holiday mode is often a great thinking environment, but not the best 'doing' environment for me either. I hope the articles in this first issue for the year help with your thinking on how to make 2015 a huge success. Go well and make it a good one.

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CONTACT/SUBSCRIBE&SHARE W

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pauln@nzsalesmanager.co.nz

www.linkedin.com

SUBSCRIBE AT www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz. It’s free!

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

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ISSN 2230-4762 EDITOR Paul Newsom GROUP EDITOR Richard Liew

CONTENT ENQUIRIES Phone Paul on 021 784 070 or email pauln@nzsalesmanager.co.nz

ADDRESS NZ Sales Manager, C/- Espire Media, PO Box 99758, Newmarket, Auckland 1151, NZ

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Phone Jennifer on 09 522 7257 or email jenniferl@espiremedia.com

ART DIRECTOR Jodi Olsson

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contents

JANUARY THIS MONTH'S MUST READ...............................................................................................................6 THE NEXT CAN'T MISS GAME CHANGER FOR SALESPEOPLE

SELLING IN THE WORLD OF THE BRILLIANT MACHINE.................................................10 DON'T LIKE SELLING?...................................................................................................................14

TWO MINUTE TOP-UP.......................................................................................................................18 TOP 5 TIME MANAGEMENT MISTAKES

QUICK FIX..........................................................................................................................................20 It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell

BOOK REVIEW...................................................................................................................................22 Hire Right, Higher Profits: The Executive's Guide to Building a World-Class Sales Force by Lee B Salz

THE CLOSE.........................................................................................................................................23

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MUSTREAD

The Next Can't Miss Game Changer for Salespeople 06 |

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Another game changer? After so many in the last five years? It's coming - no doubt about it. I'll give you the background and tell you why this incredible tool will be the one to supercharge your sales.

Words by Dave Kurlan

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oday, Social Selling (like blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter and others) is all the rage. Experts are evangelizing these tools, touting their power to connect, and providing training on how to best use them.

Yes, friends, Social Selling certainly works - and can work well - for the people who already have well-established And they're all correct about these tools. Every seller should be audiences and followings. using them, but therein lies the problem. Soon, every seller will be I'm fortunate enough to have using them! Would you like to start blogging? Good luck finding your an award-winning Blog with audience from among the more than two million articles that were a nice loyal readership and posted - not in the last five years, not last year, not last month, not this get lots of organic traffic month to date - but more than two million posts today alone! It's a very from Google searches. A late difficult time to start blogging. start in any Social Selling channel may cause you to Would you like to start sharing articles, become very discouraged.

asking questions, and commenting on LinkedIn or Twitter?

But there is hope! I know of a tool that works better than everything I have mentioned How will your tweets, comments and shares be noticed above the noise from all of the salespeople who have begun to do that? so far. While it doesn't have the power to reach as many Would you like to host webinars, or send a weekly or monthly people in as short a time newsletter? How will you get people to read those when they as Social Selling, or as I are routinely barraged with hundreds of useless emails each prefer to call it, Personal day? Would you like to have your own YouTube channel? There Marketing, it is much more are four billion YouTube views per day - that's a lot of people effective for targeting and watching videos, but how can you possibly get their attention when there are millions of YouTube channels for them to watch? reaching specific prospects. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz |

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Not only that, the communication is in real time, with no latency, lagging, or delayed response times.

Doesn't that bode well for having a real, rather than digital, conversation? Even better, if you are an early, rather than late, adopter of this game-changing approach, you'll be one of the only salespeople using it, and unlike Personal Marketing, there won't be any noise! Are you ready?

As has been the case for the better part of the past 30 years, I am way ahead of the curve on this. Would you like to know about it?

I have become aware of a tool that allows you to reach any prospect, anywhere, at any time, without even knowing their email address, twitter handle, or public LinkedIn page!

There is no limit to the number of characters, length of message, or size of content.

Your prospect can respond to you as easily as you can reach 08 |

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out to them and the technology is readily available to anyone who wants to avail themselves of it. And the best news? It's covered by nearly all of your existing subscriptions and fees.

Doesn't that sound awesome? It gets better. Email, InMail and Twitter messages don't always convey how you wanted to sound and can be easily misunderstood or misinterpreted. Not so with this technology.

Introducing the Tool of the Future: Today, I would like to be the first to introduce you to the sales tool of the future. A Direct Line of Communication to any prospect in the world. You may have seen this tool before, but you may have to use it in a way that is different from how it was intended.

Today, most people use these devices to send text messages, tweets, emails and upload photos and videos. But if you poke around enough, you will find that manufacturers actually included a nicely hidden feature that allows you to punch in about 10 digits and you can actually speak - LIVE - to anyone - anywhere - on demand.

It is SO COOL! And the device will remember those numbers so that you don't have to punch them all in again. Amazing. And for a limited time, I can provide you with a demo of how this works. Go to your device, find the application called PHONE, and tap the following 10 digits in the field provided: 800-221-6337.

Press the green button. You will hear a sound to indicate that you have initiated an attempt to reach me.

There is a very good chance that a live person from Objective Management Group will answer your very first ping. I'm going to provide you with a promo code that will give you direct access to me.

When they answer, say, "Dave Kurlan, please" and the live person will actually reroute your ping directly to me!

And if I'm speaking live with someone else at that moment, I have a digital clone that will answer and you can tell my clone exactly what you wanted to tell me, leave any kind of message you want, and I can actually listen to it later and return your ping. It's truly amazing, friends, and will revolutionize the way selling takes place in the future. I'll bet that you're thinking that this entire article is a joke - that I wrote it with tongue-in-cheek.

Web-based tools are awesome for marketing and generating interest, but most of us have to sell! And trust me when I tell you this: It is a lot easier and much more powerful to sell on the phone, via video conference and face-to-face than it is hiding behind your computer screen.. that's what makes the phone such a perfect and obvious choice for building your pipeline and accelerating sales growth.

Web-based tools are awesome for marketing and generating Wrong. I am dead serious. Do interest, but most of us have to sell! And trust me when I tell you know how many phone calls you this: It is a lot easier and much more powerful to sell on the I received today? One. Nobody phone, via video conference and face-to-face than it is hiding uses the phone anymore and behind your computer screen...•

 www.davekurlan.com

Dave Kurlan is a leading expert on sales force development.

To find out more visit www.davekurlan.com www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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Selling in the World of the Brilliant Machine Words by Linda Richardson

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ou sell with drive and rightly so. But do you sell with heart? I pose this question in the final chapter of my new book, Changing the Sales Conversation. In that chapter I explore the difference between being client-centred and humancentred and why selling with heart and establishing trust are major differentiators today as knowledge becomes commoditized.

They say that there is a continuum from data to information to knowledge to wisdom. Where is your customer along this spectrum?

Where are you? Any client can go to the internet and get infinite amounts of data. In this environment, it is easy to think that that data rules buying decisions. But every sales decision is determined by emotions too.

How attuned are you to the emotional side, the “heart” side of selling?

If you are not you are missing an essential way to maximize your expertise. I am a dedicated fan of the cultural commentator David Brooks. In his New York Times February 4th column he explored how we are heading into an age of brilliant technology in which computers can fill in for people, whether it is driving our cars or beating human pros at chess … Brooks is not alone in sounding this warning.

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Jaron Lanier of Microsoft has written two books about it – You Are Not a Gadget and Who Owns the Future? Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tell us that computers will increasingly perform important parts of even most cognitive jobs, which will make certain human mental skills less important. We are seeing this happening in sales where knowledge has become a commodity and insights are on the agenda of sales organizations.

We know that we must bring insights and produce business outcomes to create value for clients and move them to buy.

But what else is needed to start or build the relationship and win the sale? David Brooks has identified five human traits that he believes will be rewarded in what he calls “the age of brilliant machines”: 1. Enthusiasm (voracious explanatory drive to make sense out of bottomless oceans of information) 2. Extended time horizons and strategic discipline ( ability to provide a conceptual frame to give a broader context − a computer can calculate a thousand options but only a person can do this) 3. Procedural architecture (creating systems in which people can share ideas, i.e. Facebook rather than coming up with ideas themselves) 4. Collaborative Creativity ( grasping the essence of one thing and then the essence of something very different and mashing them together to create something very different – a computer can’t do this). In an IBM survey of 1,500 executives, creativity was identified as the factor most crucial for success.

5. For the past two years the word creative has been the most frequently used buzzword in LinkedIn profiles. Rapidly changing content knowledge is easily accessed. While a computer can feed creativity, a computer can’t be creative.

What I find most significant for those of us in sales is David Brooks’ conclusion that all of the above traits are dependent on emotive traits. He states that is the emotive traits that separate humans from computers and therefore will be rewarded and valued in the world of the “brilliant machine” and “that while humans cannot compete with computers in data and calculations, the best workers will come with heart in hand.” “Heart in hand” has important implications for our profession and how each of us sell.

Selling with heart is a way to connect with clients in meaningful way. It is the key to going beyond being client-centred to humancentred. It is a key to building trust.The word ‘trust’ may not appear on clients’ score cards as they make buying decisions but trust is the constant factor in every decision to buy or not buy.

Research by Robert Putman, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard, documents the decline in trust over the past 50 years.

The question is ‘what are you doing every day with every client to build the trust you need early in the sale to help clients make their buying decisions?’. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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Certainly by delivering on a promise you build trust but that often takes place after the sale. The goal is to build trust earlier and to build it at a deeper level. I see a solid connection between building trust and selling with heart.

To sell with heart, to build trust, ask yourself if you: • Respect your client’s time.

• Respect your client’s knowledge.

• Tolerate differing points of view.

• Change your perception when appropriate.

• Give first by doing something you don’t get paid for.

• Be a giver − always be on the lookout for ways to create value.

• Learn about the client outside of business − children’s names, interests.

Trust is built in smaller moments; it is rarely a heroic act. One negative incident can eradicate trust. Salespeople who sell with heart invest more in their relationships. Unfortunately there are two major obstacles to selling with heart: 1. The temptation to take for granted that you are already selling with heart and, therefore, not making the conscious effort it can require and

2. The mistaken view that “relationship selling” is a Create value for your clients. thing of the past. Of course Take the extra step. you must bring value that helps clients grow their Respond with empathy. business but when delivered Let yourself be vulnerable − share information about yourself, with heart you create a acknowledge if you don’t know something (get the answer ASAP). connection with clients that Show you care − express feelings of enthusiasm, concern is unbeatable. ●

• Bring expertise to add to what your client knows.

• • • • •

 www.lindarichardson.com

Best selling author Linda Richardson helps sales leaders and salespeople build their expertise in content, strategy, and skill to create value for their clients, their organisations, and themselves.

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Don't Like Selling?

Five tips for the reluctant salesperson Words by Bill James

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aybe you are new at sales, you topped the training class – but just cannot make the sales stick. Or you could be a veteran of many sales conquests but more recently you simply cannot get the deals across the line.

Perhaps you spent a small fortune acquiring a franchise and it looked great on paper. You have big plans, high hopes and you are putting in the hours to make it happen. But somehow the results are not coming and the money is not flowing. What’s wrong?

Unfortunately the answer could be you!

Especially for franchisees there are lots of promises about fantastic marketing packages and potential clients coming through the door but the simple truth is that you are now self-employed. No more sick days. No one else to delegate to. It is you that has to make that sale and secure your own money. So here are five tips that will help get you on track if you action them:

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1

Stop thinking of yourself as a ‘Salesman’ (or Saleswoman).

Think about it. The word ‘salesman’ or saleswoman’ does not engender confidence and is not respected, even by you. Ask yourself, do you like being ‘sold’? Guess what – your clients feel the same way.

There is a huge amount of negative connotation around this wording and it brings up an image of someone you may not want to be.

From a small child there is every chance your parents told you that salespeople were pushy and not to be trusted and now you have to become one. This obviously causes a real internal conflict and is, in my opinion, the number one reason why you could find yourself sabotaging your own efforts.

Don’t believe me? Ask yourself these questions: • Do you approach every sales opportunity in the belief it will be a sale?

• Are you secretly dreading ‘that’ question from your client − the one you find so hard to answer?

• Do you find lots of little jobs to do that keep you so busy that you have little time for new business calls?

These issues are even more acute if you’re very technical in nature and you like performing the task but not producing the sale. Why not rename yourself so that you’re comfortable in saying that word when you represent yourself to a potential client. What could you call yourself that sits comfortably with you?

Remember, your role is to help people make the right decision – it is not to sell them something.

Remember, your role is to help people make the right decision – it is not to sell them something. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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Be yourself So many people will put on a persona they think is needed to create a successful sales outcome.

This is simply not the case and could, in fact, be what is costing you business. When you went through all the psychological and personality testing (hopefully) when you applied for the job or franchise opportunity, these assessments showed the real you and indicated that you should be successful in your business.

So why are you hiding this real you now? Clients look for faults and are suspicious when you knock on the door because you are promoting a product. If they sense falseness about you it will raise their alarms and give them good reason not to buy from you. Will your natural personality be what everyone is looking for every time?

Probably not. You will get on with some people better than others.

But the reality is, especially if you are less experienced, you were quite possibly never going to sell to those people anyway. The ones that would be attracted to your natural personality will be put off by a fake overlay so stop doing it.

The reality is that you could be a complete rat bag, but people still buy from complete rat bags – as long as they are honest about being one. Can you image your reaction to someone who’s obviously a rat bag but is pretending to be nice and you can see through it? It would make you want to run in the opposite direction wouldn’t it?

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Show some passion for your subject Again we put on this persona of ‘professionalism’ which means we deliver a very dry presentation. What was the passion that got you involved in the first place? If it was simply that you thought you’d make a lot of money you may possibly have made an error – that’s called a job.

Clients enjoy your enthusiasm and passion for your product. It will take you through the tough times but you’ll also need to show it to your clients so they know that you are passionate about what you are doing.This isn’t easy in cultures where showing emotion is not the norm but the old saying ‘enthusiasm sells’ is as true now as it ever was.

Let your passion and enthusiasm for your subject out and you’ll take your potential client along with you for the ride.

The big problem is that if you do not show some passion and hide in facts and figures, your clients will allocate emotions and motivations to you. What do you think the chances are that they will be positive ones? None!

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Jargon kills sales Occasionally you’ll find someone who’s really caught up in the technical aspects of what you do. But usually they are initially more interested in knowing you understand and care about their needs. If you are technically orientated, it’s easy to hide in the features of your product but this will stop you truly addressing the need of the client.

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Use a low logic approach with your potential client ‘Low logic’ is language that is simple to understand. It is almost like approaching your client underneath the radar. Simply approach Often most products appear to them in a very matter of fact way (with a certain amount of be very similar and have similar emotion) and give them the option to decline your services if they want. pricing and so the difference is your ability to uncover their In this way you don’t raise any alarm bells and make them feel trapped. real concerns and needs and They are much more likely to come along for the ride this way. address those. In this way For example: “Mr Prospect, the simple reality is businesses you’ll make a connection at a like yours can use this product and it has X effect. For you to very personal level which is the be interested it obviously has to meet X, Y, Z needs and also fit key to gaining that commitment within your budget, and I have to be able to show you the real from your potential client. benefits of working with our company.

Loading them up with jargon If I can’t, then it’s only fair that I should head for the door. But if I will simply occupy their head can make all that happen, then your company is definitely at an space and will actually be advantage. I’d like to simply sit down with you and run through these counterproductive. Talking different ideas and see where we go from there, is that fair enough?” everyday language that So be yourself, cut the jargon, and let your passion for the your client can understand product speak for itself. Approach other people the way you and addressing their real like to be approached and you might well find that your sales needs will result in you increase hugely. ● making real progress.

 www.BillJamesSpeaker.com

Bill James is an Auckland based internationally recognised sales speaker and trainer, who specialises in referral and relationship marketing. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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TWOMINUTETOPUP

Top 5 Time Management Mistakes

How many are you guilty of?

Words by Debbie Mayo-Smith

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H

ow can you effectively manage your busy day? Time management is not necessarily working 'harder', but rather, 'smarter'.

Here are five time management mistakes we should all avoid to increase our daily success both on and off the job in less time, and with less stress.

1. STARTING YOUR DAY WITHOUT A PLAN OF ACTION. Time management is doing the right things initially.

2. LOSING BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE. Our lives comprise seven vital areas that need balance. These areas include health, family, financial, intellectual, social, professional, and spiritual. If we neglect any one area, we will eventually sabotage our success.

3. WORKING WITH A MESSY DESK OR WORK AREA. Studies have shown that the person who works with a messy desk spends, on average, one and a half hours per day looking for things or being distracted by things.

4. GETTING INSUFFICIENT SLEEP. Studies show that nearly 75% of us complain on a regular basis that we are tired. Most people get the quantity, but lack the quality of sleep, due to stress overload from the busy day.

5. GIVING UP A LUNCH BREAK. Many do not take a lunch break.

Studies have shown that after doing what we do for several hours we start to 'dull out'. A lunch break, even a short fifteen minute break, gives us a chance to get our batteries charged up again to more effectively handle the afternoon’s challenges. ●

Studies have shown that the person who works with a messy desk spends, on average, one and a half hours per day looking for things or being distracted by things.

 www.successis.co.nz

Debbie Mayo-Smith is an International Motivational Business Speaker, trainer and bestselling author. She is in-demand at conferences and in-house training for her easy practical how-to ways to improve sales, time management and customer service. Visit her website for 500+ free articles and quick tip newsletter at www.successis.co.nz www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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QUICKFIX

Turn the Presentation into a Conversation

W

hile competing for business you might be invited to give a presentation to an exec panel or decision making team. Sure, you should go with the presentation well prepared to last the time that you have been allocated.

However, giving 20 minutes of presentation should not be your plan. Most buyers would rather have a conversation, rather than be talked to. You will be able to differentiate yourself from your competition by the quality of your questions and how you facilitate a discussion, rather than the quality of your slides

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and pitch. So be prepared to involve your audience as early as you can. If they don’t want to engage in discussion, you have your presentation well prepared and ready to use. �

Get world leading free whitepapers and research each month by email!

• Sales Management • Leadership Research • Training & Development Click here

Global Best Practices For Kiwi Business Contact Ross Wilson on 021 152 8400 or email info@growingorganisations.com to discuss how we can help you achieve your sales goals in 2014.

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RESOURCECORNER

Hire Right, Higher Profits: The Executive's Guide to Building a World-Class Sales Force

H

ired and fired... It’s the revolving door on sales teams. Executives hire what they believe to be great salespeople, but the results never come – and the salespeople are let go. This perpetual cycle eradicates profits, makes revenue targets pipe dreams, and has sales leaders pulling out their hair in frustration.

Despite these issues, executives continue to try to "hire great salespeople." That three-word expression is exactly what Hire Right, Higher Profits is all about.

Sales management strategist, Lee Salz begins the book by challenging readers with the $25,000 Revenue Test which most executives fail.

Then, he hits readers between the eyes with the statement "there are no great salespeople" and offers proof of it! He also cautions those executives – who view the competition as their primary sales talent source – of its risks.

But Salz doesn’t stop there! He challenges executives to shift their perspective from hiring salespeople to investing in revenue.

Each salesperson represents a revenue investment made by the company with the core objective of receiving a fast, high return on it – no different than when companies invest in sales strategies,



Available from Amazon

tactics, and ideas to grow revenue. Hire Right, Higher Profits teaches executives how to determine what type of revenue investment is needed, evaluate revenue investment candidates and get a fast, high return on the investment made in their new salespeople. ●

By Lee B Salz

THECLOSE

“To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.”

Thomas J. Watson

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