NZ Sales Manager Issue 45

NZ SALES NOVEMBER 10 2010 / Issue 45

Interview with

Sandy Geyer sales star

– a South African perspective

Developing

Sales Capability

Solving the prospecting dilemma

Using

Powerpoint Make sure you

have the

Power NZ’s e-mag for sales leaders

CONTENTS NOVEMBER 3 rd / Issue 45

4

4

THIS WEEK'S MUST READ WE INTERVIEW SANDY GEYER Salesperson, author, trainer, speaker and business owner, Sandy Geyer talks to NZSM.

8

DEVELOPING SALES CAPACITY New Zealand's biggest opportunity for economic prosperity.

8

14

NZSM CALENDAR

15

SALES TRAINING DIRECTORY

16

TWO MINUTE TOP-UP SOLVING THE PROSPECTING DILEMMA Making your prospect want to talk to you

18

RESOURCE CORNER FLIP THE FUNNEL

16

19

Quick Fix It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell.

20

THE CLOSE

From the Editor

ABOUT / Short and sharp, New Zealand Sales Manager is a free e-magazine

M

delivering thought provoking and

any sales people learn to sell by trial and error.

enlightening articles, and industry

Without being given the tools and skills, the road

news and information to forward-

to success can be a slow and challenging journey.

None more so than for Sandy Geyer, who we interview in our lead article. Sandy is the Managing Director of educational publishing company Allcopy Publishers Pty Ltd in South Africa, and specialist training company Mind Action Mentors in New Zealand.

Sandy is not afraid to succeed in all areas of her life and her knowledge, passion and enthusiasm for sales and leadership are evident for anyone who meets her. The story of her journey of learning how to sell is amusing, and probably more adventurous than most, but at the same time is somewhat familiar. Sandy’s reflections on what made her successful in sales, and her thoughts on how sales people view themselves

thinking sales managers, business owners and sales professionals.

EDITOR / Paul Newsom ART DIRECTOR / Jodi Olsson GROUP EDITOR / Trudi Caffell CONTENT ENQUIRIES / Phone Paul on 04 586 4733 or email pauln@nzsalesmanager.co.nz ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES / Phone Alastair on 021 866 036 or email alastairn@espiremedia.com ADDRESS / NZ Sales Manager, C/- Espire Media, PO Box 137162, Parnell, Auckland 1151, New Zealand WEBSITE / www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

in New Zealand and South Africa makes this an insightful and valuable read.

Happy Selling!

Paul

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TH I S W E E K ’ S M UST R E A D

We Interview:

Sandy Geyer S

andy Geyer is a sales person, sales manager, business owner, speaker, trainer and author. As MD of an educational publishing company, a property investment company and a specialist training company, Sandy moved from South Africa to Hamilton to expand her business. We caught up with Sandy to find out just how she became a successful salesperson herself, and some of her thoughts on the contrast in selling in New Zealand compared to South Africa.

NZSM: Tell us about your first ever job in sales, Sandy SG: I haven’t told many people about my first job as a door to door sales person selling encyclopaedias. For the first four days of being with the company each new sales person was drilled with a pre-written script that was to be recited word for word every time a door opened. I didn’t get the chance to accurately measure the success of this type of training as I was attacked on the street on my second day by a threatening looking man who clearly wasn’t interested in my vibrant personality. The attacker may have come off second best though. I was very shaken up but he left the scene bleeding profusely from a very deep bite wound on his forearm and in need of medical assistance.

Fortunately I had been well trained in self defence tactics from years of defending myself against my older brother.

However, when the team leader of my sales group offered me a puff of his marijuana joint to calm my nerves I decided NZSM / november 3rd 2010 / 4

I was definitely on the wrong career path. Within the sales role I did feel awfully like the human equivalent of junk mail though and this perception was strengthened by the overwhelming number of doors slammed in my face.

NZSM: Wow, a pretty tough baptism into sales! Where did that take you?

SG: During the next phase of my career as an air hostess I committed the cardinal sin of the “trolley dollies” by falling pregnant with my first child. I was rewarded with the job from hell at the airline booking office where I was confined to live out my bulging belly days with the nickname of the “pregnant fairy”. Those were the days before direct internet bookings were possible and a relentless stream of calls came in to one tiny office from travel agents all around the country all day long. The switchboard looked pretty scary and just complicated as the airplane cockpit to me but I was rigorously trained

for two full days before being let loose on my own.

Sadly I never achieved any job satisfaction but I was very competent at placing the many rude, hysterical and downright abusive calls through to the relevant people from the start.

NZSM: So you have been attacked as a junk mail messenger, and dealt with all the abusive calls, yet you still went and got another sales job?

SG: Yes, my next job was in corporate sales for a copier company and what really astonished me was that along with a portfolio of important clients I received almost no training. Although the company was one of the leading copier companies in the world they seemed to assume that self motivation and mobilisation was the key to successful selling and only assisted us with numerous glossy brochures to distribute enthusiastically yet often

unprofessionally along our call path. With my limited and somewhat dangerous selling skills it surely would have cost them a lot less to just post them!

NZSM: So what did you do about your ‘dangerous selling skills?’

SG: It took me years of reading sales books and articles, doing the wrong things and watching successful sales staff closely to work out how to sell effectively. When my brother and I started our educational textbooks publishing company in 1996 we focused completely on selling to get our products into the market.

Whilst competitive companies developed impressive looking brochures, mailing systems and attended conferences, we steadily grew our sales team and ensured that they personally walked into every school to discuss

"In my experience the benefit of genuine selling skills are completely underrated and often marketing functions are confused with, or actively replace selling functions. Marketing is really important but it doesn’t replace selling."

the benefits of our books with each subject teacher. This was no easy task I might add as the school secretaries were pretty difficult to get past. I remain convinced that there is a “bull dog” school out there somewhere that trains secretaries in “brick wall” tactics.

NZSM: How else do you differentiate from your competitors with your personal selling skills?

SG: In my experience the benefit of genuine selling skills are completely underrated and often marketing functions are confused with, or actively replace selling functions. Marketing is really important but it doesn’t replace selling. I heard someone say once that unless your brand is Coca Cola no one really takes notice. That might be a bit harsh but the statement does encourage us to remember that when we are giving client information we shouldn’t focus too much on who we are, what we do and what we look like. Our clients only

really want to know what we can do for them and our logos, corporate colours and brochures simply aren’t going to cut it on their own.

NZSM: And how did you get past ‘the bull dogs’?

SG: I learned that it was better to work with them than against them. They believed that they ran the schools and if we treated them as such they would eventually work with us. In many cases their non approachable attitude was due to the overload of sales people calling on them and we needed to remain consistent and professional in our approach for them to eventually let us through to the teachers. I used to call on schools with my sales reps around the country and one of these reps had perfected an approach I had never thought of.

One particularly difficult secretary sat in an office with a “window” in front of her at the entrance to the school. This 5 / NOVEMBER 3rd 2010 / NZSM

rep showed me how she would crawl under the window, out of sight of the secretary and make her way into the school, straight to the teachers. Although not a technique I had taught her I had to admire her creativity and tenacity and we still do a lot of business with that school.

NZSM: You have employed several sales people in your business. What sets the top sales people apart from the rest?

SG: It’s all in their attitude and work ethic. I have top performing reps from completely different backgrounds and various personality types and skills. They approach the job differently but still stick with the basics of selling. With commitment to the basics, accountability and consistency anyone can sell effectively.

NZSM: So you have been in New Zealand for two years, how is selling different here compared to South Africa?

SG: The sales process just takes longer. In South Africa people can be less open and friendly to an approach but they will make a buying decision more quickly once engaged. In New Zealand customers tend to be far friendlier but it actually takes longer to build the level of trust needed to facilitate a successful buying process. As

"Understanding that failure is a learning process.

If landing on your face teaches you something then it’s a valuable experience. Sometimes a crash is a result of something within our control and sometimes not.

Feeling sorry for ourselves is a natural response but it’s what we do after that that really counts and in my experience, eventually separates the achievers from the non achievers."

appearances can be deceiving it takes one some time to realise this and work accordingly. I have also noticed that New Zealanders shy away from selling more which can negatively affect their business growth or survival. In many cases selling is the life blood of companies and it needs to be happening on some level.

NZSM: Are there any differences in the way sales people are viewed in New Zealand compared to South Africa?

SG: I don’t think there are any major differences between the countries in terms of how sales people are viewed by others. There is quite a big difference in terms of how salespeople view themselves though. New Zealanders come across as almost apologetic about being in a sales role and seem to be quite open about the fact that they don’t like to have to sell. In South Africa though, if you don’t work you don’t eat so survival of the fittest is a necessary business philosophy. South Africans have therefore learned to be more tenacious about risking and overcoming rejection. Of course this is a generalisation and only according to my personal experiences.

NZSM: You have taken more than your fair share of hard knocks - what’s your secret to picking yourself up, dusting yourself down and starting again?

SG: Understanding that failure is a learning process. If landing on your face teaches you something then it’s a valuable experience. Sometimes a crash is a result of something within our control and sometimes not. Feeling sorry for ourselves is a natural response but it’s what we do after that that really counts and in my experience, eventually separates the achievers from the non achievers.

NZSM: Do you have a favourite motivational quote?

SG: I have two: "Kyk noord en vok voort" it’s in Afrikaans and a bit rude but it’s the one I am famous for amongst my family, friends and colleagues and revert back to when all else fails. It roughly translates to "Keep your eyes front and just keep going!” & "Learn from the mistakes of others, you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself" Eleanor Roosevelt I love this quote for two reasons. Firstly because it suggests that you can learn so much from others which I have found to be so valuable. Secondly because it points out that failing is a necessary evil and is going to happen so we may as well use it to our advantage. ■ Find out more about Sandy at www.mindactionmentors.com

NZSM / november 3rd 2010 / 6

MID STRENGTH FULL FLAVOUR FULL LIFE

Paul Newsom Paul Newsom is the editor of NZ Sales Manager and helps sales professionals and sales managers to compete and win in complex sales. You can visit Paul’s website at www.salespartners.co.nz

Developing $

Sales

Capability New Zealand’s Biggest Opportunity for Economic Prosperity

By Paul Newsom

W

hile the economy struggles to recover, businesses worldwide are hoping that things soon get back to normal. However, the new normal will be different to the old normal, and businesses that grow quickly will be building capability in their organisations to take advantage of the opportunities that this will present.

However, the biggest opportunity for growth seems to be being overlooked by many. The opportunity is to improve our capability in how we sell and market our products and services, both domestically and internationally.

An Economic Perspective ‘New Zealand’s long-term trend of productivity underperformance is the biggest economic challenge facing policy-makers and both the public and private sectors in New Zealand’ said John Whitehead, Secretary to the NZSM / november 3rd 2010 / 8

Treasury in April 2008.

When the current recession is over, New Zealand’s lowly OECD ranking in terms of GDP per capita (22 of 30) will not have improved. New Zealand needs to improve its productivity, however the biggest opportunity to improve productivity and grow the economy is not on the Governments agenda, and needs to be.

Improving productivity While the statistics on productivity and the need to improve productivity are widely commented on and agreed by the economists, the means by which we can improve productivity is perhaps not so clear.

We need to grow our way to economic prosperity, yet as a farming nation it is clear that we can not 'produce' our way to a resurgent economy. Planting more trees and milking more cows will not change the picture.

Recognising the need for growth, The Government is now developing an economic strategy to match Australia’s GDP per capita by 2025, with the following priorities: • • •

• •

Develop a growth-enhancing tax system Drive better performance across the public sector Encourage innovation and help firms grow by connecting them with scientists and improving access to capital and world markets Reforming regulations to make it easier for businesses to grow, invest, and create jobs Boosting infrastructure, particularly in roads, broadband and electricity

Source NZ Institute Considering that Australia’s GDP is about 20 per cent above the OECD average, and New Zealand is about 20 per cent below the average, and this is a moving target, matching Australia in the next 15 years will be a big challenge for the country.

The most recent Proudfoot Consulting Global Productivity Report 2008*, identifies four levers of productivity which firms should use to address the critical barriers to improved productivity. The levers are a focus on: • Effective management, • The development of the workforce, • Clearer communication, • Targetted training. (*Twelve countries were included in the survey, including Australia, but excluding New Zealand) I interpret this to mean that to improve productivity, we need to build the capability of management and the workforce through effective training with a focus on communication. This makes a lot of sense, and while I agree the elements of the Government economic strategy are important, I struggle to connect this to the levers of productivity.

The biggest opportunity for growth... lies in how we sell and market the products and services of the Nation, both domestically and internationally.

The Opportunity The biggest opportunity for growth however lies in how we sell and market the products and services of the Nation, both domestically and internationally. To improve productivity, we first need to improve our sales capability.

Interestingly the Proudfoot Global Productivity Report 2007 identifies the top three routes to ensure profitable growth in the near term as expanding into new markets, selling more to existing customers and finding new customers in existing markets. The economic climate over the past two years has clearly changed the short term focus, but in the longer term, profitable growth will come from these routes.

So how good are we at selling?

According to the 2006 New Zealand census, there are 226, 854 people employed in sales or closely sales related jobs in New Zealand which represents 11.4 per cent of the workforce. This compares to seven percent in the UK,

and approximately 8.5 per cent in the USA. At 93,840 employees, the sales assistant is the largest category of occupation in New Zealand.

So how good are we at selling? We are not good enough, and here are three reasons why: 1. Kiwis don’t like to be sold to, and we don’t like selling in case we are perceived to be one of those sales people that we don’t like. New Zealand is predominantly a nation of people who don’t like selling.

Contrast this with the culture of countries like America, South Africa and Australia where they are more comfortable with the notion of being a sales person.

Like most other countries in the world, selling is not viewed as a profession or a career in New Zealand, and does not have a recognised career path as many other professions do. The stereotypical perception of a sales person that still prevails is of someone 9 / NOVEMBER 3rd 2010 / NZSM

who puts on the ‘hard sell’, is highly persuasive and manipulative and not to be trusted. However the fact is that the modern sales person requires high level interpersonal skills and business acumen if they are to be consistently successful in today’s complex and sophisticated markets.

Changing our mindset and attitude towards what selling is in 2010, is vital if we are to get better at selling.

while in the USA, fewer than 100 employees is small, and fewer than 500 is medium. SME’s in other countries are large enough to employ a small sales team with the specialist skills required to succeed, and these teams are led by a sales manager. In New Zealand, sales people often have no leadership when they report to a business owner who is not a sales professional themselves.

Other countries have a high number of SME’s too, however in New Zealand an SME employs fewer than 20 people, in the European Union fewer than 50 employees is small, and fewer than 250 is medium,

3. There is no culture of ongoing learning and development in the sales industry, and insufficient investment by employers and the sales people themselves in developing sales capability and competency. The common, but scarce, mentality of ‘I train my people then they leave,’ is understandable.

Indeed, high staff turnover rates are identified as the top barrier in the retail sector that prevents companies improving productivity. However we have to get over it, or find ways around it. It is being shown that the Generation Y people now entering the workforce are more loyal if they are given personal development and training opportunities, and recognition for their achievements.

The Proudfoot Global Productivity Report 2008, also compares the number of training days by industry and by country. As is often the case with these reports, sales is not a category.

Of interest is that a category high 86 per cent of managers said their top plan to drive productivity gains is to invest in skills, development and training of the workforce.

Workers in South Africa get the most training at 16 days per person per year. The UK is the lowest at 7. 6 days.

Australia is just under 10 days. By industry, the retail average is nine days. I doubt there are many retailers in New Zealand who provide their workforce with nine days training per person, per year.

Productivity improvement requires change.

To seize the opportunity to improve the economic performance of this country, we need to change our attitude towards building the capability and competency of sales management and the sales workforce in our largest sector of employment.

2. Over 96 per cent of businesses in New Zealand are Small to Medium Enterprises (SME). The vast majority are started by people because of their love of the product or service, not because they love selling it. They open a florists shop because they love flowers and are creative with flowers, not because they love selling flowers, or they like designing and building boxes, but not selling boxes. This limits the growth of these businesses.

NZSM / november 3rd 2010 / 10

A look at how other countries in the world are changing to tackle this same problem highlights how quickly New Zealand will fall further behind unless the attitude to developing sales capability is changed, by the government, by employers and by the sales people themselves.

American imperative to get sales right In America, The University Sales Education Foundation has produced a documentary called ‘The NEW Selling of America’. This has reportedly been screened into 50 per cent of the homes in the USA. The documentary begins by reflecting on the changing state of world business and markets. In the 1960’s, the USA was the powerhouse of the world economy. Today, it has lost its manufacturing clout to Asia, and progressively India.

Industry experts comment on the realisation that sales is

the engine of the economy, and that they now must get sales right if they are to remain competitive. They say the imperative is to develop the one remaining competitive advantage America has, and professionalise sales.

Sales people in America are regarded more highly than in any other country - selling is closer to being a profession than in any other country. Yet experts still see selling as the biggest opportunity for America.

The University Sales Education Foundation is working with industry to effect this change. There are now 26 Universities in the USA offering sales programmes. And while sceptics might say academic degrees don’t help anyone to sell, I remind you that the role of the sales person has changed, and that on the evidence of the documentary, the qualifications have a high practical and workplace content.

Productivity improvement requires change.

UK retailers invest in their people In the UK, retailer Wm Morrison announced in July that they have 24,000 graduates with the new Level 2 Certificate in Retail. In the largest vocational training programme in the UK, 100, 000 Wm Morrison employees are expected to achieve the qualification by 2011.

Norman Pickavance, group Human Resources Director of Wm Morrison Supermarkets was quoted in the Guardian on 6 July: ‘This commitment to training is one of the key factors in our success as a business. Getting it right can have a huge impact. Large companies have an obligation to get more people involved in gaining skills – we have to make this agenda more important for the economy and more relevant to modern business.’

Skillsmart, the Sector Skills Council for retail in the UK, comment on their website that the UK is beginning to realise that vocational qualifications are the way to improve economic performance.

At their recent Retail Employer conference, Charlie Mayfield, CEO of John Lewis Partnership said: “We can’t cut our

way to once again become a prosperous economy; we can actually only grow our way into that position. We need to be making the business case for skills. This is not a nice-to-do activity. You need to look at the costs and the opportunities, and you need to craft a business case for doing this.”

This year, iconic retailer Harrods have become the first retailer in Britain to offer an honours degree in sales. The programme lasts two years, and is run in partnership with Anglia Ruskin University. Funded by Harrods the staff receive a free degree, and lectures take place at the store, during normal working hours. This prototype is expected to be copied by many other businesses.

The Guardian, 21 June 2010, quotes Arkin Salih, Harrods’ Learning and Development Manager: "We're not shy to admit that we're a business, we're here to sell, and it'll be great to see our sales go up as a result of offering the degree in sales. But, at the same time, the fact that this scheme is accredited gives the training legitimacy. It will hugely boost staff development, and bolsters the reputation of sales as a career. We have staff with spectacular people skills who are master craftsmen at making a sale – we want this degree to nurture that talent, and promote it in other staff, too."

11 / november 3rd 2010 / NZSM

Salih says he came up with the idea of offering the degree because "a lot of firms restrict the availability of accredited courses to managers, but I realised that, as a retailer, our sales team are our frontline. They're the ones serving our customers, and they, too, deserve some formal career development and really good training."

Positive things are happening It will take time to develop our capability in sales, and grow our way to economic prosperity. After all, we need to change the ‘snake oil salesman’ stereotype of selling that has been created by sales people themselves through decades of questionable, unethical and at times downright dishonest practices. This won’t happen overnight.

The good news is that there are positive things happening in New Zealand.

1. Recognised sales qualifications For the past 12 months, the Industry Training Organisation, The Retail Institute, has been working on the introduction of recognised NZQA

2. NZTE Capability Development Scheme The new NZTE initiative to offer up to 50 per cent discount from management training, strategy and coaching, through approved providers is very encouraging. It is great to see sales and marketing included. It should be one of the most highly used services.

3. National Personal and Professional Development network for sales people.

A new national personal and professional development network for sales people has been formed in New Zealand.. Called "Rev" which is an acronym for the organisations aim of bringing Respect, Encouragement and Vision to sales professionals in New Zealand, founder Richard Liew says, ‘Our purpose is to help New Zealand build more world beating businesses by creating a world leading sales profession. We advocate the highest standards of professionalism and the Rev NZSM / november 3rd 2010 / 12

qualifications in sales. By sales, we are referring to people employed full time in a job that requires personal selling either face to face of by phone, whether it be in retail or B2B field sales. It is envisaged that a level 3 & 4 Certificate in Sales Skills will be available during 2011, and proposed that a higher level certificate or diploma will also be developed depending on funding.

The fact that the Retail Institute is struggling to fund and resource the development and introduction of these qualifications highlights the lack of recognition of the opportunity by the government.

AUT University offers New Zealand’s first undergraduate business degree with a major in sales.

The sales major was co-developed with a group that comprises some of the largest companies in New Zealand. Senior executives from Vodafone New Zealand, New Zealand Post, ANZ Bank and AMP came together to help create a qualification that meets the requirements of business.

Code of Professional Selling underpins the network. It is hoped that through the co-operation of the leaders in the sales industry in New Zealand we can provide some much needed direction and leadership to the sales profession.”

Sales people are the front line with the customer, selling is the engine of the economy, and sales people both deserve to be, and need to be, provided with training and capability development opportunities by the government, their employers, and through their own initiatives, all supported by industry organisations.

Developing the sales capability of the nation is the biggest opportunity for economic growth and to gain competitive advantage for New Zealand as a nation, at an industry and business level, and for individual sales people. This needs to be recognised now, and action taken. After all, if you are in business, you are in the business of selling. 

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NZSM CALENDAR NOVEMBER 2010 2 November

Sales Dynamics

Negotiating Skills (Day 1)

Auckland

Wellington

Sales STAR

Scotwork

www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/9-

www.scotwork.co.nz

sales-dynamics

3 November

11 November

Negotiating Skills (Day 2)

Consultative Selling

Wellington

Auckland

Scotwork

Sales STAR

www.scotwork.co.nz

www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/5consultative-selling

4 November Negotiating Skills (Day 3)

18 November

Wellington

Foundations for Sales Success

Scotwork

Auckland

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Zealmark Group Ltd www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz/profile_Foundations_of_

Foundations for Sales Success

sales_Success.php

Auckland Zealmark Group Ltd

22 November

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Business to Business Sales Skills

sales_Success.php

Auckland Zealmark Group Ltd

Sales Mindset & Motivation

www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz/profile_Business_to_Business.

Auckland

php

Sales STAR www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/7-sales-

23 November

mindset-motivation

Negotiating Skills (Day 1) Auckland

5 November

Scotwork

Business to Business Sales Skills

www.scotwork.co.nz

Auckland Zealmark Group Ltd

24 November

www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz/profile_Business_to_Business.

Negotiating Skills (Day 2)

php

Auckland Scotwork www.scotwork.co.nz 25 November Negotiating Skills (Day 3) Auckland Scotwork www.scotwork.co.nz

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www.salespartners.co.nz

0800 TEAM4U Barry Watson Auckland

www.teamsuccess.co.nz

The Foresight Institute Phone: Contact: Office:

09 478 4066 Jamie Ford Auckland www.foresight.co.nz

Win More Tenders

The Sales Academy Phone: Contact: Office:

021 816 372 Tony Hillyard Wellington

www.thesalesacademy.co.nz

Top Achievers Phone: Contact: Office:

021 217 1633 Jean Barr Auckland

www.topachieverssalestraining. co.nz

Tweet Twins Social Media Phone: 09 525 0411 Contact: Jenny Wilmshurst Office: Auckland www.tweettwins.wordpress.com

Zealmark Group Phone: Contact: Office:

09 573 1418 Grant Shields Auckland

www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz

T W O M I N UT E T O P U P Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert and author of the award winning book “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment. To find out more about the author, read her latest articles, or to subscribe to her newsletter visit www.klagroup.com

Solving

the Prospecting

Dilemma Making your prospect want to talk to you

By Kendra Lee

But even that isn’t enough any more.

Business owners and executives are busy people with too many responsibilities, too little time, and too few staff to pick up the slack. They don’t have time for a conversation unless it will help them do their job more efficiently and effectively.

W

hen you approach a new prospect, what do you have to offer? Whether you’re sending an email or cold calling, you need to grab the attention of your contact and make them want to talk with you. But too often sellers spew on about their product or lead off with a trap question that screams sales person.

The solution to this prospecting dilemma used to be to start your discussion as a business conversation rather than a traditional semi-scripted cold call. You based it on needs you uncovered in research before ever approaching your prospect.

NZSM / november 3rd 2010 / 16

Too often the prospecting business discussion is one designed to gather a prospect’s needs and covertly qualify if an opportunity exists. While you begin the conversation discussing the business issue you uncovered in your research, it quickly deteriorates into a series of questions that feel much like a sales call.

Your contact ends the conversation without agreeing to a first appointment and you don’t know why. You never mentioned your product and you were only talking about them. So what happened? It used to work.

What changed?

If you want to catch your prospects’ attention, you must go beyond even the business discussion. You have to have something important to talk with them about, something that feels almost life changing for them.

Here’s how it works: 1. Know your purpose. In your first call or email, your purpose isn’t to close for an appointment. I know you’re shocked, but it isn’t. Rather, it’s simply to have a conversation to get to know each other, begin building a relationship, and see if you should have a meeting.

While you’re feeling the pressure to fill your pipeline this moment, many of the people you’ll speak with won’t be ready to make any immediate changes. But, if you leave a positive impression as a thoughtful, intelligent person who may be able to help their business in the future, they’ll want to stay in touch.

That gives you a lead for 3, 6 or 9 months from now.

Better still, they’ll probably call you because they’ll remember your discussion.

distinguishes you. Determine the business issue you could assist with, then offer your expertise on what they should be thinking about to address that point.

Don’t hold back because you think a prospect should pay for your advice. Few companies you speak with will be able to implement your suggestions without your company’s help. Let go of that concern and open up. Share the great knowledge you have.

If you have ideas about how a company could better control their IT costs, tell them. Some will be recommendations that directly connect to your offerings, but others should not. If, for example, during your discussion you believe that some basic training would help their office manager to administer better system back-ups, tell them. You can sell them a full-scale business recovery solution later.

2. Offer to share your expertise freely. Research is important but it’s how you apply it that is truly

Guide them with ideas they can implement right now while positioning what you can assist with in the future.

3. Make them think about the possibilities. As you share, discuss what you’ve seen other companies do to address a similar problem. Think about your clients, the challenges they’re facing and what they’re doing about those problems.

Suddenly training the office manager may not be enough. They may want your recommendation on how they can protect their business during hurricane season, or secure their data, or better manage their whole IT infrastructure. They won’t want to wait 3 or 6 months to talk again. They’ll want to pick your brain some more and consider ways to eliminate the issues they’ve been living with now that they know they don’t have to.

Show prospects the possibilities of what they could be doing to improve productivity, cut costs, or address that need you uncovered in your research.

Share one or two simple-to-implement ideas, as well as one or two more complex, suggestions. Base your ideas on how you’ve observed your clients address those matters in their organizations, or how they have implemented your solutions to change their businesses.

The executives you’re calling are so busy they haven’t had time to consider other possibilities. They’re surviving with the issues when they may not have to.

4. Help them re-examine their status quo. By not pushing prospects into a change with your first call, you’re freeing them up to rethink their status quo.

Your conversation of suggestions and possibilities allows them to take time out and think for a moment about what could be.

I know, you’re thinking that this sounds like a deeper conversation than you usually conduct in a cold call. And, you’re concerned that you interrupted the person. They’d never stay on the phone for this type of discussion.

But, it works.

It works because you’ve grabbed your prospect’s attention and made them want to talk with you. After a conversation like this, they either want to schedule time for a deeper conversation, or they want to hear from you again sometime soon.

You can solve your prospecting dilemma by elevating your conversation to one based on your expertise and ideas.

Before you know it, not only will your pipeline increase, but your relationship database of potential new prospects will be overflowing, too.  17 / NOVEMBER 3rd 2010 / NZSM

RESOURCE CORNER

Flip the

Funnel Author: Joseph Jaffey Publisher: Behavioural Science Research Press $39.97 from Fishpond.co.nz

C

ompanies continue to disproportionately spend their budgets into the 'wrong' end of the funnel - the mass media or awareness side.

What we haven't paid enough attention to is the 'right' end of the funnel - the word-of-mouth component that essentially acts as a multiplier for future business.

The economic impact of an active, engaged and loyal customer is tremendous. And the same is true of the opposite scenario, namely the impact of angry customers and negative word-of-mouth or referrals.

It is this thinking that Jaffe

NZSM / november 3rd 2010 / 18

has channelled to challenge marketers to 'flip the funnel' once and for all. With a renewed focus and energy on customer experience, it is possible to grow your sales, while decreasing your budget - in other words, getting more from less.

Engaging a few customers to spread the word to many.

Using this new 'flipped funnel' model, together with a set of new rules of customer service and a revolutionary customer referral and activation process you'll learn how to transform your existing customers into your best salespeople.. ď §

Quick Fix

It's not what you sell, it's how you sell

Using Powerpoint – make sure you have the power If you use Powerpoint for your sales presentations, stop and think about whether the slides are driving you, or you are driving the slides. Powerpoint is a great tool when used in the right way, yet it is regularly used incorrectly for presentations.

Too often the entire presentation content is written onto the slides. The talk is then little more than reading out the slides, and so the slides drive the speaker. This results in the audience giving their

attention to trying to pick out the information they need from the slides, rather than being focussed on you, the presenter.

It should work the other way round. The audience attention should be on you, the presenter, and the slides used to reinforce the key point you are making.

So don’t create your presentation by writing it out in Powerpoint. Write your presentation in full in words or use a mind map, then put together a few Powerpoint slides to visually support the key points you are making. Then you will have the power, and the attention of the audience..

WIN A LASER POINTER PEN FOR YOUR QUICK FIX! If you have a favorite ‘quick fix’ that you would like to share with our readers (without giving your winning secrets away!) then email the editor at pauln@nzsalesmanager.co.nz. You will be in to win a high-powered laser pointer pen, courtesy of the great guys at Brand Storming Promotions.

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Learn from the mistakes of others, you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself -Eleanor Roosevelt

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20 / november 3rd 2010 / NZSM