I N ST I T U T E O F SA L E S M A N AG E M E N T
WINNINGEDGE Number 3 2016 | www.ismm.co.uk | £4.95
WELCOME TO THE ISM
ELEVATE YOUR CAREER RAISING THE VALUE OF SALES
DIRECT SELLING AN ARMY OF ENTREPRENEURS
SALES SPEAK LEARNING FROM
CLASSIC ORATORS
BRIGHT FUTURE
Why key accounts are still, well, key Cover V5 REVISE.indd 2
PASSING MUSTER
Getting face time with prospects
WHO ARE THEY?
How to really know your buyers 27/10/2016 13:46
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26/10/2016 13:28
CONTENTS
CONTENTS 38
WINNINGEDGE NUMBER 3 | 2016 www.ismm.co.uk
2,6 COVER
18
STORY
42
46
52
6
2 WELCOME TO THE ISM
28 DIRECT SELLING
A new dawn for the Institute
How direct selling is increasing in both size and professionalism
4 SALES TALK Institute of Sales Management 9 Eastbourne Terrace London W2 6LG Telephone: +44 (0)20 3626 0271 Email: sales@ismm.co.uk Website: www.ismm.co.uk Chief executive: Jack Mizel Sales director: Lawrence Rosenberg Head of partnerships: Jessica Meade Membership services: Susan Challenger Editorial: Marc Beishon, Tom Nash Design: Del Gentleman Advertising: Jessica Meade Telephone: +44 (0)20 3626 0270 Email: magazine@ismm.co.uk
The latest sales news and research
34 KEY TO SUCCESS
6 WE HAVE LIFT OFF!
Beth Rogers argues that key account management still works
The ISM will raise the value of sales
10 SMARTER SELLING Handling objections, managing change, team building and more
15 ON THE ROAD
Printed by: Ridgeway Press
International Standard Serial No. UK ISSN 1746-6849
1 Contents V3.indd 3
42 SALES TRENDS Grant Leboff on today’s fight for your customers’ face time
16 HIRING MADE SIMPLE
46 CLASSIC SALES SPEAK
In praise of online recruitment
The ancient art of oratory can pep up proposals, says Sarah Hinchliffe
Learn from the ‘Egg Farmer’ fable
50 RELAX AND SELL
18 NETTING PROCURERS
Jon Clare on how hypnosis helps solve salespeople’s problems
It pays to court corporate buyers
20 NEGOTIATING Know the enemy – and yourself
24 MERGER MATTERS The impact of M&A on salespeople
ISMM.CO.UK
Do you really understand who you’re selling to, asks Tim Ussher
The latest tech kit for sales pros
17 PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
© ISMM 2016. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the ISMM. The publishers endeavour to check all facts and figures prior to publication, but are not responsible for errors in material supplied to them for publication. Any article published will automatically be deemed to carry the sole copyright and be the property of the ISMM.
38 KNOW YOUR BUYER
52 TECHNICAL OR SALESY? Hire both types, pleads Iain Harvey
53 CAREER LINES 54 DIRECTORY 56 MEMBER PROFILE WINNING EDGE 1
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EDITORIAL | INSTITUTE OF SALES MANAGEMENT
RAISING THE VALUE OF SALES JACK MIZEL is chief executive officer of the Institute of Sales Management (ISM), having joined the organisation in early 2016. He is widely acknowledged as a thought leader within the sales industry and an exponent of sales excellence. He also believes strongly that sales skills and life skills are synonymous. Educated at Carmel College in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, his first foray into sales, aged 18, was selling double-glazing door-to-door. He then moved into a career in advertising sales, starting at Dominion Press. It is within the media, events and sponsorship sector that for the last 25 years he has inspired, managed and led salespeople, teams and companies. This included the building of Profile Pursuit, which he took from a small private company to a transatlantic contract publishing business, and which was sold for £30m. He is a family man with four children, a lifelong fan of Tottenham Hotspur, and a Grand Master of bridge who often competes internationally.
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JACK MIZEL and LAWRENCE ROSENBERG herald the dawn of a new age of sales professionalism, inspired by a new Institute JACK MIZEL: “Change before you have to”
is one of the most famous quotations from the legendary General Electric CEO, Jack Welch, and a mantra that all successful businesses live by. It is exactly what we’ve done. Our expertise, our passion and our love is sales. It’s the engine that drives business; it’s the team that keeps the balance in the black. Which is why we are now the Institute for Sales Management (ISM). We’ve been championing the interests of sales professionals for over 100 years – becoming the recognised authority for the sales sector – and providing practical support, training and validation for sales teams across the world. And, fundamentally, that is what we will continue to do. Of course, the industry is evolving in both a proactive and reactive way. The sales techniques of ten years ago would struggle to make headway today. Prospects and customers are more informed; the explosion of the Internet and growth in technology means information is only a mouse click away. And, in many cases, they are already progressing down the sales pipe before you engage in a conversation. Even when that engagement starts, they will have checked out a company’s credentials, profiled the salesperson’s LinkedIn profile and know about the competition. Your sales team now needs to be equally well informed – not just about what they do, but about the needs of the customer. It’s not about selling a product or service anymore; it’s about a value proposition and, in many cases, a bespoke solution. Of course, this sophisticated approach comes with its own challenges. Salespeople now need to be multi-talented, not only understanding the sales process, but also being able to
“We’ve been championing the interests of sales professionals for over 100 years – becoming the recognised authority for the sales sector” empathise with the needs of their customers, being able to learn rapidly and then apply that knowledge into closing the sale. But there is a second dimension. Your salespeople need to be able to assimilate – and retain – knowledge about products that are growing increasingly complex. And they need to have a holistic approach to the customer’s needs. In short, your sales team needs to be switched-on, smart and eager to learn. But high calibre staff are in demand – not just by salesforces – but by business as a whole. Even if you recruit the right salespeople, how do you keep them? What is the right level of investment in your staff ? And how do you make them feel like a valued and essential member of your team? The ISM can help. We’re the only professional body approved to deliver Ofqual-regulated sales qualifications levels 1-6, Professional Sales Certification, and a competencies-rich framework for cultivating a salesperson’s skills that leads to a rewarding career path. In short, the ISM is raising the values of sales: to companies, to customers and to employees. And not just within our sector, but globally. In this issue we’ve outlined our thinking into the ‘Three Pillars’ that comprise an effective salesperson: knowledge, presentation and closing (see page 6). These are core skills that can transform lives – not just in a work environment, but on a personal level too. Sales teaches you resilience, endurance and the perseverance to never give up on your goals, no matter what the obstacles. These are skills that will stand you in good stead whatever you do, personally and professionally. ISMM.CO.UK
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INSTITUTE OF SALES MANAGEMENT | EDITORIAL
For those with the right attitude and skills, nurtured and developed in the right way, sales can genuinely be transformative and enable people from all walks of life to thrive and excel. At the ISM we are now working tirelessly to raise the value of sales by helping change its perception to one that is desirable, one that is sought after, and one where salespeople are given the recognition they and their profession deserves. I’m proud of my industry. I’m proud of what we do. And I look forward with confidence to what we at the ISM, and you, can achieve together.
LAWRENCE ROSENBERG: For many
salespeople, especially the great ones, sales is a passion. We are fascinated as much by the perpetual insight gained into the psychology and nature of human beings as we are by the professional, financial and networking possibilities a career in sales promises. Yet, what I love most about sales is the fact that the industry opens its arms to all comers regardless of education, connections or financial resources. Irrespective of any perceived disadvantage, if you approach the role with determination and an insatiable hunger to learn and achieve, then the world is yours. From casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, to Li Ka-shing, the richest man in Asia, to Marc Benioff, the founder of Salesforce, these billionaires may have started out with nothing, but they all went on to create business empires built on the know-how gained from their prior success as accomplished sales superstars. A career in sales does not just present unlimited opportunities for the natural-born go-getter set on conquering the business landscape. Our discipline offers the same options and level-playing field to the graduate unsure about their place in the world, the recently laid-off factory worker forced to transition their role in a fast-evolving economy and even the retiree in need of extra income to supplement a dwindling pension. Knowing that the streets are indeed paved with gold for anyone willing to make the journey continues to inspire my zeal for sales to this day, and with it my enthusiasm for establishing a new governing body, an Institute that supports the adoration so many share for our craft and the ISMM.CO.UK
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practitioners who dedicate their lives to it; an Institute reborn with the goal of ensuring the world knows that sales is not just a skill or expertise, but a true profession. The re-launch of the ISMM as the Institute of Sales Management (ISM) will herald a new age that sees an organisation devoted to acting as a champion of the salesperson, one committed to ensuring that behind all the desire and drive, rests the rock solid foundations of professionalism, a level of proficiency forged by the best training, tools and career development available. It is the ISM’s objective to make world-class knowledge and education accessible to salespeople and companies around the globe so that we can help improve lives, build careers and grow businesses. Ultimately, we all serve the customer, whether they be consumers or corporates. The ISM aims to instil the values and understanding that underpins what great selling is all about, helping clients overcome challenges and rise above the obstacles that get in the way of having the best life experience possible or the most competitive enterprise imaginable. A great salesperson is someone with the thoughtfulness, empathy and patience to listen and detect problems that sometimes the customer may not even be aware exists – and, once identified, solve them! The ISM, like the salesperson and the customers they assist, is evolving, and with advances in genetics, nanotechnology and robotics, we are witnessing a technological revolution that will transform everything. From manufacturing to medicine, no industry will be left unaltered by the disruption, and no person’s life untouched. But what remains constant is that there will always be a salesperson at the tip of the spear, communicating the change and ready with a solution. The future is now and the ISM has arrived. I for one am fired up – and I hope you are too!
LAWRENCE ROSENBERG is group sales director of the Institute of Sales Management (ISM), where he leads the sales function and works with the Institute’s CEO on the development of new providers for the ISM’s training partners programme. With over 25 years of sales experience, he has led salesforces at companies ranging from Silicon Valley-funded tech start-ups through to large media, publishing and events companies, where he has designed and helped implement world-class sales process, training and development. He is author of three books on sales including Chase the Championship, Competitive Persuasion and Sell Magnetic.
“What I love most about sales is the fact that the industry opens its arms to all comers regardless of education, connections or financial resources” WINNING EDGE 3
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SALES TALK INDUSTRY NEWS
STATISTICS
DID YOU KNOW…
94%
Source: Sales Best Practices Study, CSO Insights
94%
94%
91%
BUZZWORDS
VISUAL TRANSPARENCY In a sales context, visual transparency simply means being able to see your customer. According to recent research, seeing a customer motivates salespeople to do their job better. The study, by academics at UCL School of Management and Harvard Business School, found that visual transparency between customers and providers improve service and performance, creating value for both. The research suggests that seeing customers makes salespeople feel more appreciated, more satisfied and more motivated.
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LISTEN CAREFULLY
Sales competencies are vital to progression in any business career
OF WORLD-CLASS SALES PERFORMERS ALIGN SALES AND MARKETING TO WHAT OF WORLD-CLASS THE CUSTOMER SALES PERFORMERS WANTS AND ALLOCATE THE RIGHT NEEDS RESOURCES TO PURSUE LARGE DEALS OF WORLD-CLASS SALES PERFORMERS UNDERSTAND WHY THEIR TOP PERFORMERS ARE SUCCESSFUL
SKILLS
A new study finds that critical competencies demonstrated by salespeople, including negotiation, persuasion and being a good listener, are vital to career progression. In the survey, conducted by YouGov among senior business leaders for sales behaviour and negotiation expert Huthwaite International, leadership and people management skills came out on top. They were cited as important to career advancement by 63% and 61% of respondents respectively, followed by skills that are integral to sales roles, including listening (51%), negotiation (46%) and persuasion (45%). Interestingly, the research also indicates that “sales skills” per se are not regarded as highly, coming second to last in a list from the study on 24%, above only digital awareness on 19%. According to Tony Hughes, CEO at Huthwaite International, this suggests a worrying lack of
understanding in business of the skills involved in successful selling. “This study also demonstrates just how valuable the skills possessed by successful salespeople are. From negotiation and persuasion to listening and asking intelligent questions, sales roles equip people with some of the most important skills needed for their own career advancement,” says Hughes. “But sales still suffers from people mistakenly believing that it’s simply wheeler-dealing or being pushy,” he continues. “Instead, being an effective salesperson requires a broad range of skills. You must ask the right questions to probe and test people’s needs; you must be able to make the connection in the client’s mind as to why your product or service solves a problem they are experiencing; and you must be able to negotiate effectively so that both parties come away from a deal feeling happy with the outcome.”
SALES PERFORMANCE
GLOBAL SALES BEST PRACTICES
Study reveals key differences between world-class sales performers and others World-class sales performers are B2B sales professionals who deliberately establish a process for managing global accounts, implement social media guidelines and use sales analytics to measure and predict sales performance. They outperform their competition by at least 21%, according to a recent global research study. The 13th annual Sales Best Practices Study, conducted by CSO Insights, the independent research arm within sales performance specialist Miller Heiman Group, provides an aspirational benchmark for other sales organisations that are working toward achieving high-performance
results, by analysing best practices globally and identifying those that are most relevant to driving sales performance in today’s complex selling environment. “This year we have seen a noticeable jump in terms of world-class sales performers adopting analytics to measure and predict sales performance,” says Barry Trailer, chief researcher at CSO Insights. “We’re also seeing these companies outdistance all others by formalising their sales professionals’ social activities and taking advantage of social selling to reach key decision makers.” (See also ‘Statistics’, left).
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SALES TALK | INDUSTRY NEWS
Talking Point
SHORT SELLING N EW S RO UND- UP
GOING UNNOTICED
HAPPY HOLIDAYS “41% of British workers feel their efforts at work go unnoticed by their manager or boss most or some of the time. To get noticed, 21% say they must work outside their normal hours of employment. Working extra hours was second only to exceeding targets (28%) as the reason for receiving recognition or praise. Delivering high quality work, good teamwork, and maintaining a positive attitude all ranked lower, while taking on extra training or learning new skills appear overwhelmingly undervalued by UK employers, with just 6% of workers believing their employers recognise this.” Source: One4all Rewards Spotlight Awards
NATIONAL SALES CONFEREN CE
SKILL UP TO SUCCEED
Lord Jones: “Britain needs great salespeople” Former trade minister Lord Digby Jones (left) has made an impassioned plea to UK business to “put its money where its mouth is” and invest in developing salespeople. Building sales skills emerged as the key theme during a day of patriotism and passion at the National Sales Conference (NSC) 2016, the UK’s premier sales event, supported by the ISM and held at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena. In a rousing address, Lord Jones stressed the importance of selling to the UK economy in a post-Brexit world. “It’s salespeople who are creating wealth,” he said. “It’s salespeople who will open up the new markets throughout the world that Britain now needs to drive future prosperity.” Lord Jones’s message was that, with a professional approach, sales skills can be developed. “Sales skills are important – and they’re not the same as marketing skills. A good marketer can create the right environment for a sale, but you have to have someone who can ‘put the ball in the net’.” Lord Jones is a strong advocate of the ISM’s sales qualifications. “Qualifications do three important things,” he said. “First, they provide a universally acknowledged standard; second, they reinforce the message to young people to ‘skill up to earn money’; and third, they show that selling is something you can learn.”
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The Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that employers must add commission to salespeople’s holiday pay, after a European Court of Justice ruling.
IN PRAISE OF IT
A survey by RingCentral, a provider of cloud-based phone systems, finds four out of five UK sales pros believe IT support is vital to making a sale, with 30% of sales directly attributable to software or hardware changes made by their IT team.
PRODUCTIVITY
THE AGE OF DISTRACTION
Productivity tools take sales pros’ eyes off the ball Organisations have invested millions in sales productivity solutions to enhance performance by giving sellers more time to sell – but the investment strategy is not yet paying off. According to research by global technology consultancy Accenture, 59% of global sales executives say they have access to too many sales tools and are bombarded by too much disaggregated customer data to be effective. Another 55% say their sales tools are an obstacle to selling. Consequently, “sales distraction” is hindering business performance, causing more than half (56%) of global organisations to miss annual sales forecasts. The Accenture Strategy report, Selling in the Age of Distraction, examines the challenges impacting on the sales performance of selected global organisations with revenues of more than $1bn. “Many sales executives are inundated with more information than they can effectively use or absorb, and are tied up with unproductive administration,” says Jason Angelos, managing director at Accenture Strategy. “Pivoting from productivity to ‘outcome selling’ – which helps sellers to hone in on the insights and actions that matter most – can help them regain focus and deliver the tailored solutions and experiences customers expect.” n The report is at bit.ly/2e7hJ62
SMALL PROBLEM
Small business owners lack the confidence and competence to sell effectively, finds a survey of 100 small business owners by Sasudi, an online selling platform provider. Three-quarters of the survey’s respondents say they find selling stressful.
STANDARD BEARER
Sales behaviour specialist Huthwaite International has become a founder signatory to the Management Consultancies Association’s Consulting Excellence scheme to promote the professionalism of consultants.
SCOTTISH SPIN
Scotland’s Edinburgh Napier University has appointed Neil Rackham (right), pioneer of SPIN selling, as visiting professor in strategic selling.
HIRING HELP
US behavioural scientists have unveiled SPQ*GOLD/Full Spectrum Advocacy, an online psychological test to help in hiring salespeople. The annual convention of the Southwestern Psychological Association in Dallas, Texas heard that salespeople scoring highly on the new test are eight times more effective at seeking new customers than low scorers.
ON TRACK
ResponseTap, a call-tracking specialist, has integrated with leading CRM software solutions company Salesforce.
ONLINE BOOST
Business automation expert Parker Software says the average conversion for online sales stands at just 2%. It has compiled 50 tips to improve conversion rates. Visit www.parkersoftware.com
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WELCOME TO THE ISM | NEWS
WE HAVE
LIFT OFF
A warm welcome from the Institute of Sales Management (ISM), the world’s new governing body for sales professionals WELCOME TO THE FUTURE “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower” Steve Jobs
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world” Mahatma Gandhi
ACCEPTING THE INVITATION You will have noticed some changes to this issue of Winning Edge – some areas that are different and were outlined in our previous edition by Paul Pybus, where he invited you all to travel with your professional Institute “towards a brighter future”. Obvious changes such as a new logo, highlighting our change in identity to the new Institute of Sales Management (ISM), could seem on the surface to be superficial and inconsequential, but have in fact been arrived at after much discussion and consideration and a re-imagining of the position that we felt the Institute should demonstrate to the world of sales. We used to be the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management (ISMM), of course. Removing the M for “marketing” from the title is more than an exercise in streamlining the name, and of allowing us to re-brand with a newly designed, fresh looking logo. The decision was made as part of an all-encompassing review of the remit and activities of the organisation in light of the current and future requirements of the sales industry around the world. We decided to remove the reference to marketing as a separate entity from sales to ensure a greater emphasis is placed on the function, responsibility, process and importance of the sales element in its own right, along with our ISMM.CO.UK
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commitment to those involved in working within the sales industry. So, we have a new name, the Institute of Sales Management, or ISM, and a new logo. We also have a renewed remit to provide our members with an even greater level of leadership, information, advice, networking opportunities, Ofqual-regulated sales qualifications, education and training – and a greater range of benefits than ever before. As the sales industry and its people move further into the 21st century, embracing new communication and learning methods, utilising social media to share information, and embracing a global economy, so the newly positioned ISM will not only continue to serve its members, but seek to innovate and to lead the profession for which it proudly stands.
“The ISM will seek to innovate and to lead the profession for which it proudly stands”
FRAMEWORK OF EXCELLENCE Central to the new ISM is a core vision that demonstrates a Framework of Excellence for the sales industry. This encompasses all that we do and wish to be, from our position as the global thought leader on all aspects of sales, as the central portal for the worldwide exchange of ideas and information by salespeople to their peers, through to our bespoke education and training offerings.
THE COMPONENTS OF THE FRAMEWORK OF EXCELLENCE l Allowing companies and individuals to understand “what great looks like”. l Inspiring, structuring and guiding all teaching for ISM qualifications. l Professional Sales Certification – a gold standard of recognition, learning, expectation, achievement and outlook.
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NEWS | WELCOME TO THE ISM
PROFESSIONAL SALES CERTIFICATION At the heart of this Framework of Excellence lies our innovation of ISM Professional Sales Certification. There are many employment sectors where workers are required to prove their capability for performing a specific role by undertaking and achieving some form of recognised qualification against a set of exacting professional standards. This process either takes place prior to employment, with prospects gaining the necessary certification or qualification in order to be considered for entry into a position, or by undertaking learning programmes once employed, and usually as a condition of their continued employment. Despite the sales sector having been at the forefront of training and development for the better part of a century, it has not benefited from a cross-sector, gold seal standard of professional recognition – until now. To this end we will be providing four levels of Professional Sales Certification: Associate, Executive, Leader and Master, each specifically designed to benchmark and recognise a sales professional’s current capabilities, skills and knowledge, and then provide appropriate support and guidance as you progress through the different stages of their sales career. Those certified will undertake a sales-related psychometric evaluation, which will provide them with a detailed career path outlining strengths and areas for further development to assist them in identifying the correct, bespoke learning package designed to suit their needs. Professional Sales Certification with the ISM will be a badge of honour for those in the sales industry. It will demonstrate to clients, customers,
PROFESSIONAL SALES CERTIFICATION – MEETING NEEDS l The need for practitioners to demonstrate
their capabilities against professionally recognised processes – as in marketing, finance, law or engineering. l The need to equate and validate the
plethora of training and development options that have evolved around the sales profession. l The need for an impartial, expert industry
body to take a proactive lead in helping individuals build careers and organisations to maximise revenues. l The need for employers to address the
challenges of building, developing and retaining a successful salesforce in the modern marketplace.
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WHAT ARE THE THREE PILLARS? KNOWLEDGE – incorporating product knowledge, market knowledge and understanding the target audience, as well as issues such as self-awareness. PRESENTATION – including interpretation and demonstration, self-presentation, perfecting the pitch. CLOSING – the ability to secure and complete a transaction.
“Professional Sales Certification with the ISM will be a badge of honour for those in the sales industry” employers and the public at large a commitment to personal development and a constant cycle of review and improvement, utilising accredited learning opportunities and adherence to the ISM’s professional code of conduct. Salespeople who are professionally certified by the ISM will benefit from the chance to share a wealth of knowledge and experience – networking with other individuals, accessing a wide range of resources to help in their daily role, and gaining Ofqual-accredited learning to boost their career. Certification will provide individuals with professional recognition and a package of support commensurate with their level of experience, as well as encouraging and enabling communication with other certified sales professionals to share knowledge and successes in an informative, mutually supportive, mentoring environment. They will also be able to access ISM’s vast sales library, providing them with access to the most comprehensive collection of important and relevant sales books written by sales gurus and leaders around the world. THE THREE PILLARS In distilling and reviewing the entire learning and education output of the Institute, many overarching themes appeared throughout the process. With an innovative approach underpinned by many years of experience within the sales field, the ISM’s new CEO, Jack Mizel, grouped these themes into the three key learning areas of knowledge, presentation and closing – each essential to the successful development of a sales professional – labelling them as the ‘Three Pillars’. (See panel, top, for more details). ISMM.CO.UK
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WELCOME TO THE ISM | NEWS
THE ISM PROFESSIONAL SALES CERTIFICATION JOURNEY l A commitment to continual development
will allow for progression through the four levels of Professional Sales Certification. l Each level is designed to recognise an
individual’s current capabilities and support their ongoing career development. Through progression, individuals also become increasingly involved in the development of others. l At each level, those certified will be required
to show evidence of the key competencies embodied in the Three Pillars. l Each level is itself a journey towards the next
level – and towards excellence.
At each level of ISM Professional Sales Certification, salespeople will be required to show evidence that they are meeting the appropriate professional requirements of the Three Pillars. The Three Pillars encompass the range of skills, experience and knowledge required for all successful salespeople and, as such, the wide range of Ofqual-regulated sales qualifications and training opportunities on offer from the ISM will be mapped against them. MEMBER BENEFITS In addition to professional recognition of their sales career and the chance to gain internationally recognised and fully accredited qualifications and training, we will be offering a range of significant benefits, commensurate with membership of the leading global body for the sales industry. We are forging valuable, money-saving partnerships with many hundreds of suppliers and retailers, including respected household names such as Mercedes Benz and Sainsbury’s, providing ISM-certified sales professionals with the
ISM PROFESSIONAL BENEFITS l Ofqual-regulated sales qualifications
through fully accredited providers of training and professional development. l Seminars, webinars and networking. l Winning Edge magazine – the ISM’s leading
publication for sales professionals. l Resource library containing the world’s most
respected sales books ever written. l The ISM’s Framework of Excellence for
ongoing CPD support with expert mentors.
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opportunity to save considerably more money than the cost of their membership. Our newly refurbished website will contain a link to our unique Savings Calculator tool which will enable these professionals to see just how much money they can save against their normal spend on things they really want and need. MISSION STATEMENT As part of the repositioning and rebranding of the Institute, we decided that it was also necessary to revisit our mission statement and to bring it into line with the changes and innovations planned for the new Institute of Sales Management. The new mission statement sets out to demonstrate to our members, and to the world at large, how these innovations and changes will be embraced.
THE ISM’S MISSION STATEMENT l Our mission, as the governing body for the
sales profession, is to provide leadership, education, validation and a framework of excellence necessary to continually improve sales careers and sales methods. We drive innovation for the sales industry in the benchmarking of standards, the recognition and development of individuals, and the promotion of best practice throughout the profession.
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE Over the coming months you will notice, and be made aware of, the many innovations mentioned here. For example, we are currently in the process of reaching out to current members to inform you all of the new levels of ISM Professional Sales Certification and how you can access your appropriate level of information and support. We believe that the developments that we have put into place, and have planned, will only serve to strengthen the ISM. But we’ve not changed for change’s sake. There will still be many familiar features, of course. You’ll shortly be informed of the details of the next BESMA, for example. We’ve just renamed the initials so that these industry-leading awards are now the British Excellence in Sales Management Awards. We hope that you will embrace the exciting innovations and changes now being launched as being beneficial to all – to yourself as a sales professional, but also to your clients, your customers, your employer, and to the sales industry itself that we are committed to serving. WINNING EDGE 9
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SMARTER SELLING
OBJECTION HANDLING
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS ISM corporate partner GatorLeads considers the three most common sales objections
R
80% OF PROSPECTS THAT
ejection is a part of sales, EVENTUALLY BUY but that doesn’t mean any ARE ORIGINALLY salesperson enjoys it. In MARKED AS BAD LEADS fact, it can hinder your performance significantly if you allow it to get under your skin. Here are the three most common objections and how to tackle them. 1. “WE DON’T HAVE THE MONEY”
This is an easy objection to conjure up and you should see this as a sign that you haven’t sold the product to your prospect. They haven’t seen the true value of what you are selling. If you’ve shown them that your product could offer them a good return on investment, they shouldn’t even think of this objection. So, ask them more questions to find out the real reason they aren’t sold. Do they want the product to do more for that amount of money? Would they take a smaller, customised version of the product if it met the budget? Once you find the real reason, you can find a real solution that means their budget objection will soon disappear.
13%
OF CUSTOMERS BELIEVE A SALESPERSON CAN UNDERSTAND THEIR NEEDS
2. “CALL US BACK IN THREE MONTHS”
Often known as “not a good time to buy”, this is where you need to push some urgency into your sales pitch. There are three questions you can ask: l “Why did you look into our product?” This question is so much more powerful than simply asking your prospect, “What do you need?” Buyers don’t want to have to explain their needs to you, they want you to already know what their problem is before you call and how you can solve it. By asking your prospect what prompted them to 10 WINNING EDGE
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look into your product or drove them to your website, you can pinpoint aspects that interest them. From there you can read between the lines to identify what their pain point is. l “What would happen in the next [x] months without something in place to combat [pain point]?” Once you’ve understood what their pain point is and what goals they wish to achieve, you need to focus on why your prospect needs your business now. To do this, get them to identify the negative aspects of what would happen within their own business without your product. Remember, keep asking open-ended questions until you get to the very worst result they could imagine without this product. The more intense the negative consequence, the sooner you’ll get your sale. l “How would [x] help solve this?” Then ask them open-ended questions to highlight the positives they could get from your product or business. By getting them to speak about the positives themselves, you increase the likelihood of them buying into your business. This is because they’ll be reinforcing the key features they need, rather than listening to you telling them why your product is good for them (a pitch that often gets ignored). By finding your prospect’s pain point and letting them personalise your pitch with openended questions, you not only create a sense of urgency, but add value to your product too. If it is genuinely not a good time, you can set an alert on your website to inform you when they next visit it. This will allow you to proactively contact them. Just make sure you know their decision-making process, so you know when the sale is likely to happen.
For more information, email: info@communigator.co.uk, call: 01483 411911, or visit: www.gatorleads.com
3. “I MUST SPEAK TO MY BOSS”
So, you aren’t talking to the key decision-maker. First, find out who the boss is. Take the problems, needs and solution-solvers that you have already discovered and apply them to the key decisionmaker’s objections. Include the original contact too, as they could hold some sway in the decision if you’ve also convinced them. While the reason to buy is not always in your control, you can overcome many sales objections. All it takes is understanding your prospect and their problems. You can use web analytics to help you do this and to pre-empt your call, but often the best way to overcome objections is to show a bit of empathy. ISMM.CO.UK
25/10/2016 17:32
SMARTER SELLING
Ask Anne
S ET T I N G U P AN IN- H O US E T ELES A LES T EAM
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
SHOW THE SHACKLETON SPIRIT Jean Gamester suggests how to lead sales teams through change
O
ne hundred years ago, in early 1916, Ernest Shackleton’s plans lay in tatters. Having set off two years earlier to be the first person to journey across the Antarctic, the Anglo-Irish explorer and his men had lost their ship to crushing ice. They were stranded on an ice floe facing a bleak and uncertain future. Shackleton had to face up to the challenge of keeping his men alive over 18 months in the most inhospitable environment in the world. He successfully led his team to safety, against all the odds, by:
Many companies prefer to set up their own telemarketing team rather than outsource this work. There are many potential benefits of keeping your telemarketing and telesales in-house. For one, your own employees will always know your company best. But there are also challenges. It’s important to ensure your team members are efficient and not wasting their time and your money. Over the next few editions, I will answer questions about the best way of setting up an in-house telesales operation, from the type of equipment you need, to how to recruit good people – and more.
catch prospects at the right time. Your marketing strategy will depend on a good CRM system, so it’s important to get this right. We use Excel at the moment; how would a CRM system improve the way we collect information? Excel is a spreadsheet and better than paper. But it’s difficult to book call-backs (which will come back at the correct time with CRM software) and so productivity will ultimately suffer. For security reasons too, there are more suitable systems than Excel, where you can accidently delete work and lose it forever if you don’t back it up.
“It’s very
I’m planning to employ How do I choose the important to my own telesales team best CRM software keep control of your data through to make appointments for our needs? a proper CRM for our field reps. What Most CRM companies system” kit do I really need to offer an online get started? demonstration so you A basic requirement before can decide which is the you employ anyone is to consider best one for your needs. Watch what kind of database you are going out for Winning Edge’s update of CRM RESETTING HIS OBJECTIVES to use to house your data and for systems in a forthcoming edition. Shackleton’s key success was in accepting that his your team to make calls from. I original goal was unattainable. He then changed his recommend looking at online Is there any other kit that will help objective to ensuring all of his men got back alive. customer relationship management our telesales productivity? The ability of a leader to accept and adapt is key. (CRM) software like Salesforce or Call recording is a very useful tool Callpro. You can normally for training and monitoring your COMMITTING TO HIS PEOPLE purchase a licence for a fee telesales staff. By routinely listening Each individual has their own take on change that is proportionate to the to a selection of calls you can easily and their own journey through the stages of number of users you pinpoint training and coaching denial, anger, depression, acceptance and have, so this software is needs. It’s also very useful for clearing commitment. A leader must provide direction OF SALES TEAMS affordable and efficient. up any complaints against your staff. and nurture in equal measure. Salespeople SUFFER FROM must understand the reason for change, put POOR CRM Should I use online in the context of the purpose of the team, and ANNE BAGNALL is ADOPTION CRM software rather know what the leader expects of them. managing director of than paper? Phonetic, a telemarketing I have come across some LOOKING AFTER HIMSELF company, and also of Pure companies that make calls from Leaders have to take care of themselves if they are to Sales Training, where she paper leads, but I wouldn’t lead others effectively. Shackleton’s resilience was born advises clients on their recommend it. It’s very important to of his ability to forgive himself for the failure of his internal sales departments. She is happy keep control of your data through original mission and rapidly come to terms with the to answer readers’ questions. You can a proper CRM system, logging changed goal of survival. call her on 07876 231868, email information properly and arranging anne@puresalestraining.com or visit JEAN GAMESTER is founder of Semaphora, which helps companies get proper call back times, so you can www.puresalestraining.com the best from their people through leadership, communication and change
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management. Visit: www.semaphora.com
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25/10/2016 17:32
SMARTER SELLING
T he Sales Doctor YOU R P ROB L E M S A N S W ER ED
over?” You will often succeed in getting a name. l Say you’re updating your records (which you are) – “I’m updating our data. Is John Smith still sales director? He’s not, who’s taken over his role? Could you give me his email address and mobile please?” Finally, be aware of the best times to call. If you have the name, but the gatekeeper won’t put you through, call when the gatekeeper is unlikely to be there: before 08:45, between 12:15-13:45, or after 17:30.
Q
I have been in a sales role for about six months and every time I think I’m getting better I get rejected and knocked back down again – and I don’t think I can handle picking myself up again and again. One inevitable part of sales that can never be avoided is rejection. Many people say the person is not rejecting you, but the idea, product or service that you are proposing. I completely disagree with this concept – they are 100% rejecting you. So you need to review the call and think, did I sound boring? Did I sound uninterested? Did I have a good enough opening gambit that engaged the prospect and created some curiosity? Think about it – if the person wasn’t rejecting you, then why do some people take a sales call and some don’t? Is it purely on the product or service that’s being offered? Of course not! It’s imperative that you do not take rejection personally, otherwise sales is not right for you. If you get upset every time someone puts the phone down on you or is rude to you, then you are definitely in the wrong profession. You require rhino skin, yet equally you don’t just keep calling and getting rejected until one person is receptive to you. You dust yourself off, review, tweak and try again. Remember, “perfect practice makes perfect”. Not “practice makes perfect”, which is what most people believe. If you saw me hit 100 golf balls badly in the range and then saw me mess up on a golf course, you’ll understand that if I kept on practising my awful swing I would not get anywhere. But if a professional showed me how to swing properly then it’s worth practising that. It’s only rejection if you label it rejection. So if my objective of the call is to make an appointment and I walk away with the decision-maker’s name and number, then that’s a result. Alternatively, I may make 50 calls, in all of which I decide they have no need for what I’m selling. Now, rather than walk away feeling rejected, I view it as I had to make those 50 calls at some point, and at least I can move on. Failure is not falling down, but staying down. There is no such thing as rejection, only feedback. Change “I failed” to “I’ve learned what never to do again”. Many salespeople view “no” as one step closer to a “yes”. When you get rejected, go back to the prospect and say, “I appreciate we are not doing business at present but, so that I can learn from this, and my company can develop, what could I have done differently to be successful?” Rather than invest your time and energy moaning, use your creativity to think up a solution.
A
Q
I am an excellent salesperson – even if I do say so myself – when I’m talking to the decision-maker. But my biggest problem is actually getting to speak to the right person. I often come up against secretaries, receptionists and PAs who seem to see it as their job to keep their boss from having to talk to anyone, and are fiercely protective. It is extremely frustrating. I know if I actually got the chance to talk to the key person, there’s a good chance I’d make the sale. Any tips on how to get past these jobsworth guardians? These gatekeepers have been trained to stop salespeople getting through. Most salespeople are under the impression they have to speak to them in a certain way, normally with no respect, and that will get past them. This could not be further from the truth. So the first thing is to treat them like human beings, and ask for their help – they’ll normally respond positively. Be as friendly, charming and sincere as you can and you might be surprised. But not always… One very common objection a gatekeeper may give you is, “We have a no name policy”, so if you haven’t got the contact’s name they can’t put you through. The invention of LinkedIn has eliminated 80% of these cases. Failing that, here are some great ways to overcome the no name policy: l Go on their website – there will usually be a name mentioned somewhere in “meet the team” or in the news pages. It might not be the contact you’re after, but you can use that name when you call back. l Make up a name – “Good morning, may I speak to John Smith please?” “We don’t have a John Smith here.” “I have him down as the sales director – who has taken
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TONY MORRIS is director of the Sales Doctor, a London-based sales training company he co-founded with fellow ISM member, Boyd Mayover. He is the author of several sales books including Coffee’s for Closers, The Perfect Sales Meeting and The Perfect Sales Call. For more information email: tony@salesdoctors.co.uk, visit: www.salesdoctors.co.uk, or call: 020 8906 6725.
ISMM.CO.UK
25/10/2016 17:32
SMARTER SELLING
Coat Hanger T H E LI GH T ER S IDE O F S A LES
DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION
There’s grim fascination in the latest stats on driving in the UK
TEAM BUILDING
STEP AWAY FROM THE LEGO!
Do you get that sinking feeling when someone – perhaps your MD, an HR person, or a keen colleague – suggests you “do some team building”? Do you have ghastly visions of yourself kneeling on the floor with a bongo between your knees, playing the drums in a conference room? Or building Lego constructions against the clock in competition with another department? It seems many salespeople have come to equate team building with doing creative or sporty activities with other members of the team. Unfortunately, these types of activities do very little to build a team. Here’s why: l There’s a very large learning gap between doing activities on Dartmoor with your colleagues and working with the same bunch of people back at the office. It is possible to draw parallels and bring out useful learning points, but it takes skilled facilitation to do this effectively and it’s especially difficult to ensure that people take the learning back into the workplace. So why introduce the gap? l Not everybody looks forward to these activities. They may not be fit, confident or sociable enough – in fact, some people would rather die than go through the embarrassment and humiliation. l It’s patronising to assume that your sales team members won’t be able to focus on real work activities, and gain enjoyment and satisfaction from putting in place a solid platform for doing even better work together in future, without the sweetener of so-called “fun and games”. l It’s making the very common mistake of confusing leisure/social/entertainment activities with actual team building. The former have their place, but not all sales team members want to do these things together – and it’s not essential. If you want to build a team, do team building. KATE MERCER is co-founder of Leaders Lab and author of A Buzz in the Building. Visit: www.leaderslab.co.uk
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T
raffic congestion has long been one of the greatest sources of frustration for salespeople, and a recent study shows just how bad things have become. The research, by vehicle supplier OSV, finds: l The average Brit wastes 34 hours every year because of traffic congestion l Road delays exceed public transport delays by 20% l 37% of commuters are abused for parking on residential streets. According to OSV, the average worker clocks up nearly 8,000 miles a year – and the problem of an increasingly choked road network is even worse for salespeople, many of whom drive much more than average. Road delays exceed public transport delays by 20%, meaning that motorists are now spending approximately four years of their life in their car getting to work. As if that figure wasn’t enough to
put a dampener on any salesperson’s day, the study reveals that workers without an allocated business parking space have to add an additional 20 minutes to their daily commuting time, simply to find a place to park. That’s the equivalent of two full days a year, or 110 days in a career. In 2014 The Daily Telegraph reported that Britain had run out of parking, with the number of motorists far exceeding the number of available car spaces. Now, OSV finds 15% of drivers admit to parking in residential streets around their workplaces. The most common reason for this is to avoid paying for parking, but many simply couldn’t find any other option. Of those who admitted to parking where they shouldn’t, one in five had received parking fines in the region of £50-100 in the past 12 months, while more than a third had received abuse or been on the receiving end of negative behaviour from residents.
Touch your own base The UK’s top ten most hated pieces of business jargon New research by Amba Hotels asked 2,000 business travellers, including many sales professionals, to rank their most hated business words and phrases. The top ten came out as: 1. TOUCH BASE OFFLINE – meaning: meet separately after a group meeting 2. BLUE SKY THINKING – meaning: unrealistic thinking without influence 3. PUNCH A PUPPY – meaning: act in a detestable way for business benefit 4. THOUGHT SHOWER – meaning: ideas meeting (or, of course, “brainstorm”)
5. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX – meaning: think creatively 6. IT’S ON MY RADAR – meaning: I’m considering or dealing with it 7. CLOSE OF PLAY – meaning: the end of the day 8. SING FROM THE SAME HYMN SHEET – meaning: all in agreement (or, equally bad, “all on the same page”) 9. PEEL THE ONION – meaning: examine the problem in detail 10. WASH ITS FACE – meaning: to justify or pay for itself.
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25/10/2016 17:32
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WE Nov Dec 16 TEXT.indd 16
27/10/2016 16:19
ON THE MOVE
G A D G E T S F O R D I S C E R N I N G P RO F E S S I O N A L S
WHAT’S MORE
TOOLS FOR THE JOB | GADGETS
NOTEBOOK
THIN RECORD
This is the recent HP Spectre, which is claimed to be the world’s thinnest laptop. Its chassis is as “thin as an AAA battery” at 10.4 mm, but it still packs in Intel’s i5 and i7 processors. It has a 13.3 inch edge to edge display, Bang & Olufsen sound, a carbon fibre bottom and a hidden piston hinge, so is firmly in the premium end. The screen has Corning’s Gorilla protection and gives “superb viewing”. SMARTPHONE
SCANDINAVIAN THRILLER
MOTORING
AUDI REPLACES Q5
APPS
Audi is replacing its Q5 SUV with “an all-new successor” that made its world debut at the Paris Motor Show. The company says that “among the great innovations” are the quattro drive system with ultra technology (which disengages the rear drive when not needed), and air suspension with damper control. It saves 90 kg over the previous model, and is claimed to be at the top of its class in aerodynamics. There’s an optional “virtual cockpit” with a 12.3 inch screen and you can choose from two views – a classic view with large round instruments, and a mode in which the navigation map or lists dominate. You can also set up a Wi-Fi hotspot using a 4G SIM that lets passengers go online with up to eight mobile devices. The engine choice includes a 2.0 TDI producing 190 PS. You should be able to get an order in now.
CamCard is a neat app that allows you to capture business cards on your iOS, Android, Windows or even Blackberry device, and lets you exchange e-cards at meetings, shows etc. You can also manage the card info by adding notes and setting reminders to contact people, and share data and access it from anywhere, as it’s a cloud app. Intsig, the company behind CamCard, has also released a version that works with Salesforce. See www.camcard.com
CARD SHARP
TABLET
WRITE STUFF Lenovo is still setting the pace in convertible tablets and this Yoga Book gives you two panels that open up like a thin notebook – one can display a “halo” keyboard said to “far surpass” the typing experience of a normal tablet, and there’s a dual-use stylus you can use to digitise writing and drawings, and also place paper and use the ink part of the stylus to do the same. It’s not that powerful as it runs an Intel Atom but it can run Windows 10 as well as Android. Prices start at €499.
ISMM.CO.UK
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Have a look at Lumigon’s T3 smartphone, which integrates “minimalistic Scandinavian design” with a steel exterior and features such as a night vision camera and “backtouch” technology that enables you to scroll content from the back of the phone. There’s also a fingerprint reader and secure “vault” data storage. See www.lumigon.com PROJECTOR
WORLD’S BRIGHTEST
AAXA Technologies, which has a big range of “pico” portable projectors, has come up this M5 Mini, which it says is the world’s brightest battery powered projector. It delivers 900 LED lumens of brightness and is powered by a 28 watt lithium ion battery that will keep the projector running for 70 minutes in “eco brightness” mode. You can plug in your smartphone and other sources such as USB sticks, and you can order one for UK delivery at aaxatech.com – and check out the rest of the range.
WINNING EDGE 15
25/10/2016 17:34
OPINION RECRUITMENT
MAKING A CASE FOR ONLINE RECRUITMENT SYSTEMS
R
HIRING M A D E E A SIE R
By Tony Brookes
ecruiting for sales and marketing staff in any sector presents a number of challenges. Whatever the level of employee required, it can be difficult to find good, skilled, suitably qualified people, and to do so cost-effectively. Many organisations are still using traditional advertising and recruitment agencies to find staff and, while these still have their place, they can work out expensive, generally charging in the region of 15-25% of the new employee’s salary. But recruitment today is changing OF SALES STAFF fast, with much greater use of social STRUGGLE TO MAKE media, and the advent of online AN EFFECTIVE recruitment systems is now starting to PITCH SOURCE: CRANFIELD SCHOOL make the process both more effective OF MANAGEMENT and much faster. Two social media networks stand out as the most valueadding routes to social media-based recruitment – LinkedIn and Facebook – although there are others, such as Yammer. While LinkedIn can be a useful tool, and it encourages its users to create keyword-rich, complete profiles, one drawback is that, if a candidate fails to list a specific qualification or skill, it is unlikely that they would appear in the search result, perhaps resulting in a missed opportunity. Many employees have a Facebook account. If TONY BROOKES is sales multiple employees post out an internal vacancy to director for Vacancy Filler their friends with a link to the careers page or to Recruitment Software, which aims to streamline recruitment for both the vacancy itself, the company’s reach can very candidate and recruiter. The quickly extend to a wide audience. Facebook also company was ranked 27 in the helps build contacts through the “build audience” Deloitte Fast 50 of fastest-growing UK technology companies, tab, which allows a business to promote a post or published in December 2015. advert to the wider Facebook network, regardless Visit: www.vacancy-filler.co.uk of being connected with the audience. Another or call: 0844 800 9376.
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method of recruiting via Facebook is the use of external applications to host any vacancies as a list – almost a Facebook careers page. Third-party applications such as Linkup allow a business to show vacancies from a home website through a Facebook page, accessible through a tab at the top of the company Facebook page that can be labelled “jobs”, for example. Online recruitment systems are another viable alternative to using agencies. An online recruitment system is able to post vacancies automatically to a company careers page, job boards and social media to gain maximum exposure for a role. It offers a quick, flexible, automated and comprehensive service to candidates and recruiters alike. Applicants can be quickly reviewed and managed on a continuous basis using integrated email and SMS, so they are engaged with the process at every stage. To ensure a high calibre of candidates, assessment modules, including psychometric tests, allow hiring managers to see how applicants match the requirements of the job in terms of skills and personality, and then produce a shortlist based on the results. In this way, the system can quickly identify and accelerate strong candidates. Finding the right candidate is not the end of the process. Effective on-boarding for new employees is essential. Online recruitment systems can capture important administrative information, such as bank details, next of kin, beneficiary information and so on. They can also be used to save customerspecific and role-specific information, such as uniform sizes for those working in retail, for example. On-boarding modules built into some systems will also go on to complete a contract of employment, which can either be presented to the candidate for sign off electronically or printed off and signed in the traditional way. Optionally, the system can launch a criminal record check at this point. Supporting documents, such as company policies, can also be shared as part of an onboarding package. The captured information, together with the information accumulated through the recruitment process, can then be posted electronically to the company’s HR system. While online recruitment systems can significantly reduce the administration effort needed to on-board successful candidates and thus reduce costs, they can also be used to offer specific sales and marketing on-boarding activities to help candidates understand a company’s products, services, selling processes and overall culture. With recruitment an ongoing challenge for those seeking high calibre sales and marketing staff, it is not surprising that online recruitment systems, together with greater use of social media, are increasingly being considered and adopted. ISMM.CO.UK
25/10/2016 17:35
O
A FABLE FOR OUR TIME
ADVICE
nce upon a time PEO PLE there lived an egg MANAGEMENT farmer. But he was LEARN FROM THE no ordinary egg EGG FARM ER farmer. He had special eggs, and his By Mark Blackmore eggs were special because he had special hens. Indeed, he was a special egg farmer. Now, special hens eat special seeds. Every day, the egg farmer sat in front of each hen and peeled the many layers of coating from each seed. As you can imagine, this took a long time. While he sat there he spoke to the hens, listened to their problems and helped them. The hens felt much happier after spending time with the egg farmer. One day a very clever inventor visited the farm. “I’ve noticed, Mr Egg Farmer, that despite having the finest eggs in the land, you only produce a few eggs. Why is that?” he asked. “Well,” replied the egg farmer, “I have to peel the coating from each seed and this takes many hours. I couldn’t possibly feed any more hens.” “Aha! I thought so!” replied the inventor. “That’s why I’m here. I have invented a seed-peeling machine. With this you will be able to peel more seeds, feed more hens and sell more eggs!” The egg farmer became excited and, despite the machine costing most of his savings, he decided to buy it. With the remainder of his savings he doubled his brood. Now he would not merely be a special egg farmer, but an extraordinary one. Each sunrise thereafter the egg farmer would scatter the seeds, which were now pre-peeled. He didn’t need to sit by each hen anymore, and spent most of his time in the basement cleaning and maintaining his seed machine. But he soon became concerned because, despite doubling the number of hens, the quantity of eggs was no higher than before, and the quality of the eggs was no better than ordinary eggs from the supermarket. The inventor installed many modifications to his machine, but the problem got even worse. Meanwhile, in the barn there was unrest. The hens had many things to tell the egg farmer, but they saw him less than ever before. Besides, it was obvious that he was more interested in the seed machine and their eggs, than he was in them. One evening, there was a fire in the basement of the egg farmer’s cottage. The seed machine was completely ruined. The egg farmer was devastated. Without his machine he could no longer feed all the hens, so he sold those he had recently bought, MARK BLACKMORE is managing director of Lammore leaving him with his original brood. Consulting, which runs sales and Every day, just as before, he sat in front of each management training programmes hen and peeled the many layers of coating from and “kickass conferences”. He is author of The Single Sales Principle the special seeds he had always used for his old and the 8 Myths of Selling. hens. As this took a long time, while he sat there he Visit: www.lammore.com spoke to the hens, listened to their problems, and or call 01423 520814.
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“Don’t over-analyse the past. Get close to your team and influence the future. Manage your people, not your numbers” helped them. The hens felt much happier now that they could spend time with the egg farmer. Then, the strangest thing started to happen. Very quickly, the egg farmer noticed that the eggs had returned to their former quantity and quality. Confused, he spoke to his oldest and wisest hen. “It’s simple really,” she explained. “When the seed machine arrived, what was your intention?” “To produce more seed,” replied the bewildered egg farmer. “For what reason?” asked the hen. “To produce more eggs,” said the farmer. “Exactly. It wasn’t to help us, was it?” observed the hen. “The reason we produce special eggs – and so many of them – isn’t because of the seed. It is because, in peeling the seed, you spend time with us, show you care, and help us when we need you.” The egg farmer realised how short-sighted he had been, and from that day onwards he spent as much time as he could with his hens. The hens produced even more eggs and they were even more special than before. In the end, he realised that he wasn’t an egg farmer, after all. He farmed hens, not eggs. He was in fact, a special hen farmer. THE MORAL OF THE STORY… …is that, as a sales manager, time with your salespeople is likely to be the most valuable you spend. Technology means you can measure your team’s performance better than ever, but is more time spent on your laptop the best way of raising their game? Don’t be distracted by over-analysing the past. Get close to your team and influence the future. Manage your people, not your numbers. WINNING EDGE 17
25/10/2016 17:42
ADVICE | SALES PROCESS
NET PROCURERS FIRST
DAVID FREEDMAN explains why helping corporate buyers will boost your deal-making success
W
hen I first started trying to win new business, in a company and industry far away from anything I’m doing today, an older and wiser colleague gave me some advice. “When anyone from procurement says they want a partnership,” he told me, “what they really mean is: cut your price or kiss the opportunity goodbye.” In 25 years of selling and bidding I have always thought that was an unfair characterisation – procurement people in my experience have always sought to bring value and advantage to their organisations. Those 25 years have also produced a good deal of research into procurement behaviour. And having worked with procurement teams to help with their negotiation skills, we know that sales and procurement people have more in common than we might realise. Neither group is exactly revered by their own corporate hierarchy. A recent Huthwaite International survey found that only 24% of business decision-makers considered salespeople to be heroes in their company. Procurement people have it worse: only 9% of business leaders give them the all-star rating. Earlier research underlined these findings. A survey we conducted of 124 procurement professionals discovered that 68% of them thought that dealing with people within their own company was the biggest problem they 18 WINNING EDGE
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faced (compared with single digit scores for issues like supplier management or technical challenges). And when, in collaboration with the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), we asked people in the UK’s top companies how powerful they thought their procurement colleagues were, over half saw them as no more than an administrative function. One indication of what a company really thought of its own procurement people cropped up when I was asked to sell to a leading IT services company. I found the principal buying category manager for training, and her team, in a windowless office in a basement, behind the post room. So, we’ve plenty of evidence that procurement isn’t appreciated as it should be. Out of this indifference, perhaps, we can fashion something of value for ourselves and the organisations we serve. The issue for the sales community is that procurement can be a very important gateway to our chief mission in life: selling things. How, then, can salespeople work better with procurement departments to improve both their own sales success and procurement’s standing and leverage in the business? INVOLVE THEM EARLY At the meeting that launched the MCA’s Consultancy Buyers’ Forum, two senior chief procurement officers – one from a leading healthcare company and one from a world leading telecoms provider – both said the same thing: “Why do you always leave us till last? Why do you try and avoid us? Are you surprised, after you have sold your ideas to your friends inside our business, that procurement then comes along and tries to take 15% off all your prices? If you don’t build the value for us, why wouldn’t we seek to destroy value for you? Let us in, and let us see your value.” Both of these executives told the forum that in many ways they should be the first people you call on, even when there is no sale in sight. And, of course, they are ISMM.CO.UK
28/10/2016 09:16
SALES PROCESS | ADVICE
right. They might be in the phase of the buying cycle that we call “changes over time”, when a sale is not even yet in progress. Why is this? Because the “user-buyers” (the people inside your clients who actually need to buy and use your IT services, or telecoms equipment or machine tools or consultancy advice) are finding reasons not to buy, and indeed not even to see you – because they are cautious about budget. But their colleagues in procurement never stop reviewing, refining, updating and rationalising their preferred supplier lists. When that userbuyer does eventually go to procurement and asks them to organise a competitive tender or RFP process, you want your name at the front of their brain, and at the top of their list. EDUCATE THEM If you actively engage with the procurement folk, and have some kind of relationship before and during the account lifecycle, you are in a better position to help them see the value (rather than just the cost) of your solution. I think of the case of a medical devices client of ours who took the hospital procurement category manager into an operating theatre where the surgeons were using that supplier’s coronary valves. The doctors explained as they were performing the procedure why they were better for the patients (which in time, of course, is better for the hospital budget). Unsurprisingly, they found fewer price objections from procurement later in the sales process.
“If you actively engage with procurement you are in a better position to help them see the value of your solution” HELP THEM LOOK GOOD Given what we know from the new research, it might be that procurement could do with some better internal public relations. When, rather than delaying the conversation until it becomes mainly price-focused, you take the initiative and talk pre-emptively about return on investment (RoI), don’t just talk in the usual RoI generalities. Use the kind of language that their bosses speak. Give them price proposals that express value in terms of comparative net present value, current cost of capital and discounted cash flow – the kind of measures that will make their finance director or chief financial officer stop and think: “Hang on, our procurement people are really asking the suppliers the right questions and making my job easier.” If you’re the only supplier helping procurement in this way, they will be better disposed towards you. ISMM.CO.UK
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SELL CONSULTATIVELY Anyone with a serious sales career knows that success comes from uncovering needs, finding where they are strongest, and then presenting a solution that satisfies them. But how often do sellers apply this process to procurement? What are their needs, fears and exposures – things that might never appear in black and white in an RFP? If ease of supplier management is important to them, or a particular billing schedule makes a difference to how their bonus is paid, you might be well advised to find this out and think about how your solution matches up. BREAK THEIR RULES, BUT WITH THEIR PERMISSION For a formal RFP or ITT process nowadays, the brief is often written by procurement, not the users, and increasingly there is only a very short open period when you can discuss things with the people you know inside your potential customer – sometimes there’s none at all. Then there’s a semi-open period of competitive dialogue – published Q&As from all the competing vendors, for example. Then, contact is forbidden and everyone must simply answer the questions (sometimes via an online template) and stay at arm’s length. Leaving aside the preparatory relationship-building you have been doing to this point (including, as we have seen, with procurement), does that mean any real opportunity to uncover needs and find areas for differentiation is now at an end? The chances are that the business doesn’t want that to happen. After all, the user-buyer wants the best solution to be sourced more than they want a process to be followed. But if we’re trying to support and assist procurement people, not undermine them, we cannot simply subvert that process. Our research has shown that, in the vast majority of cases, there is no harm in a polite and reasoned approach in which a vendor makes the point to the procurement department that there is still much to discover from the users that will potentially deliver a better solution, and produce more value. The users almost always value this. The key is to do it with permission, not surreptitiously. One word of caution: this is advice that does not apply in most UK and EU public procurement exercises. There, you really must abide by the letter of the law. In our negotiation skills training, we often use the phrase “power is in the head”. Many sellers, when they confront procurement people, would do well to remember that internal perception is just one reason why professional buyers are not as powerful they might believe. And that knowledge – coupled with the exercise of some skill – can be a source of power for you.
DAVID FREEDMAN is head of business development at Huthwaite International, a consultancy specialising in achieving behaviour change for people who sell and negotiate. Visit: www.huthwaite.co.uk
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NEGOTIATING | FEATURE
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
the negotiating battlefield” – or, in layman’s terms, doing your homework thoroughly. Most importantly, it is more than just understanding the other party better – it is about understanding yourself, your motives and your style as well. Really good negotiators understand themselves with stark clarity – they know their own foibles and weaknesses as well as their stronger points. They are able to deploy different persuasion and behavioural styles appropriate to the situation and the other party. As a consequence, they achieve huge successes at the negotiating table. However, in my experience, most negotiators know neither themselves nor the other party in anything like sufficient detail. Unfortunately, these negotiators blunder into their negotiations supremely unaware of their own strengths and weaknesses, let alone the other party’s. The resultant, “Wow, that was tougher than I expected, but at least we got there”, hides the painful truth that they were totally ill-prepared for this negotiation and consequently will almost certainly have lost a “It is more than just understanding huge amount of value. Beneath the veneer of the other party better – it is about simplicity implied by understanding yourself as well” Sun Tzu’s statement, there is a raft of greater detail covering vital areas in negotiation preparation, such as: l Real objectives and business needs l Commercial and financial requirements l The importance, or not, of the relationship l Relative power and the fear of loss l Potential “tradables”, their value and how they can best be used l Different behavioural types and their important implications l Your interests versus positions taken by the other party l Roles and responsibilities in the team l Attitudes and frame of mind before, during and after the negotiation l Effective communication styles l Appropriate persuasion and influence techniques to be deployed l Worst case scenarios, best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) and contingency plans l The impact of culture and values.
SIMON BUZZA provides the next two rules in his new series explaining the 12 key rules of negotiating RULE NUMBER 3: KNOW THE ENEMY AND KNOW YOURSELF “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle” Sun Tzu, from The Art of War There was no greater war leader and strategist than Chinese military general Sun Tzu. His philosophy on how to be a great leader and ensure you win is often quoted in relation to work, management, and life – for good reason. Sun Tzu also states, “Every battle is won before it is fought” – a point we picked up in my Rule No 2 (See Winning Edge May/June 2016). Let’s be clear: although we are not fighting wars, we all negotiate on a daily basis. We negotiate with family members about how to spend our holidays; with friends about how to pick up the bill for dinner; and with contractors about when to come to the house for a delivery or repairs. Doctors negotiate with patients when discussing the choice between medical therapy and surgery or perhaps no intervention at all. Scientists negotiate for resources, time and space to conduct experiments. And buyers and sellers negotiate over products and services. All of us negotiate for salary and job responsibilities. Spare a second for this thought: if we could understand ourselves and the other party a little better, our chances of success in all our dealings would increase dramatically. We call this the preparation phase of any negotiation. You will be a better negotiator if you prepare thoroughly. Simple advice, but worth emphasising. This particular quote from Sun Tzu is a favourite of mine. In the starkest and simplest terms, it lays out what needs to be done during the preparation phase before a negotiation. To continue the military theme, it might be considered as the “intelligence preparation of ISMM.CO.UK
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My advice is to spend half your preparation time on your own position and the other half on the other party’s. And be objective in your analysis: do you really know what you need to? You can, of course, continue to blunder blindly into future negotiations, but beware for, as Sun Tzu went on, “If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.” WINNING EDGE 21
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FEATURE | NEGOTIATING
BE PREPARED: FOCUS EQUALLY ON YOUR OWN AND YOUR OPPONENT’S POSITION
RULE NUMBER 4: CLARIFY AND UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN VALUE BEFORE YOU START Value is the extent to which a product or service is perceived by the other party to meet their needs or desires, measured by their willingness to pay for it. It commonly depends more on their perception of the worth of the product than its intrinsic value. So… if we’ve “delivered value”, we’ve satisfied a need or desire of someone at a price they were willing to pay. We’ve provided someone with a benefit for a reasonable cost – value for money. That sounds straightforward enough. So, why then is value one of the most talked about aspects of sales, purchasing and negotiation, but also one of the least well understood, implemented or used? Because it takes time, effort and emotional intelligence to understand the other party’s perception, drivers and motivation, and is therefore difficult. UNDERSTANDING VALUE The secret to understanding these issues is to prepare and plan carefully (again, see Rule No. 2) and to be able to listen and hear and use your emotional intelligence. Because most negotiators only consider the other party rationally, their research focuses on purely rational issues. However, the key to utilising value effectively is understanding the difference between what people say they want – their explicit wants, such as lower prices – and what they are implicitly asking for, which could be recognition that they’re important, want genuine dialogue and feel the need to be taken seriously. Emotional understanding goes beyond the obvious explicit requests. Only by asking intelligent open questions about the other party’s challenges, needs and desires, and really letting them answer, can we get under the skin of their real drivers. Here are three commonplace, but very different aspects of value to the other party: 1 Financial value – the real financial benefit to the other party of a given proposition 22 WINNING EDGE
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SIMON BUZZA is a Fellow of the ISM and founding partner of NewDawn Partnership, an advisory service that focuses on delivering operational improvements to the buyer and seller interfaces of a business. Visit: www.newdawnpartners.com
2 Operational or business value – such as efficiencies in terms of time and resources, or competitive advantage (all of which have a knock-on financial value too) 3 Personal value – such as enhanced individual performance and reputation. It is often the most important factor in a value proposition, really attracting an individual’s attention. It gets more complicated. Big decisions are rarely made by one individual, but more often by committee, with a host of influencers and advisers. Now, our definition of benefit or value includes the term “…the other party”. But in committee negotiations we have different stakeholders with different goals and needs, and they all have their individual definition and view of value. So, we have some work to do. DEFINING VALUE It might sound crazy, but busy decision-makers don’t care about what you’re selling – the features of your product or service. They only care about what it does for them (“what’s in it for me” or WIIFM). That’s why a value proposition is so important today. It’s a clear statement about the benefits (value) they get from using your product, service or solution. Now have a fresh look at your website, your marketing materials and your proposition – are they feature rich or benefit rich? The most effective value propositions target the two issues customers care about most: l What’s in it for them? Customers focus on their own pain points and aspirations – what they are trying to fix, accomplish or avoid. Value propositions that focus on solutions to those points really resonate with customers. l Why you? What sets you apart from the competition is called differentiation. Try breaking your value proposition down into the following three key areas: Points of relevant and irrelevant parity (POPs) These are the features and benefits that both you and your competitors offer. Relevant POPs – those of interest to your prospects – are the basic entry requirements to the game. Your prospects need to know that you offer them, but emphasising them won’t impress anyone. Points of irrelevance (POIs) All the other features that you alone offer, but which aren’t interesting to your prospects, are quite simply irrelevant – or POIs. Points of differentiation (PODs) These are the features and benefits you alone offer your prospects, and which are important to them. Because they are not available from your competitors, this is where you can win the game. ISMM.CO.UK
25/10/2016 17:44
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26/10/2016 13:28
FEATURE | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS | FEATURE
WHEN TWO BECOME ONE
STEVE HOYLE considers the impact on salespeople when their customer acquires, or is acquired by, another business
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ne of the big business trends today is mergers and acquisitions (M&A), which reached a 15-year high in the UK in 2015. According to data firm Dealogic, the value of UK M&A transactions last year jumped almost 63% to £381bn, involving 3,385 deals – and at a global level Bloomberg estimates buyers splashed out $3.8trn, the highest amount ever. So far, 2016 has been quieter, with economic uncertainty and stock market volatility dampening enthusiasm for deal making. But the lull is unlikely to last for long – and indeed in the US there has been the recent $85bn move by AT&T to acquire Time Warner. M&A seems certain to remain a key feature of the business landscape, although the deals often have mixed success for the firms concerned – but mostly big implications for suppliers. Consider the following scenario: THE BOMBSHELL Paul Lonstram had just finished a half-hour review of his “opportunity win plan” for the Hedgers Pharmaceuticals account when he heard the news. Up until that point his day had gone well; the review sessions were always tough, but he had been well enough prepared as a result of his many years of experience in the industry. In particular, as he had managed the Hedgers account for the last three years, he knew (or was able to convince the panel that he knew) all there was to know about how they purchased things and the processes that they had to go through. The deal was an important one for him personally, and especially for his regional director, as it was one of the top three deals on his “must win” list this quarter, and with a new solution that his company was desperately trying to promote in the market. The news potentially changed all that. It had
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come from Wendy Sophoro, his main sponsor at Hedgers, and historically the chief decisionmaker. She had seemed a little more guarded than usual at the start of the conversation, which was understandable when she informed Paul that Hedgers had just made an internal announcement that it was going to merge with AJB, up until then a key competitor. Wendy had only just found out and a public announcement was going to be made the next day. She assured Paul that it would probably not affect the current project, but she wanted him to know so as not to be surprised when the news came out. M&A = OPPORTUNITIES & THREATS What would you do in such a situation? Having experienced many similar situations, I can tell you what most of today’s account managers do: they are surprised and shocked; they believe the customer when they say that it probably won’t affect the current business; they may alter their forecast a little by sounding a note of caution; and they wait to see how the situation develops. M&A is an ongoing phenomenon and account managers should not be surprised when it occurs in the form of their customer being acquired, acquiring someone else or being part of an agreed merger. The event can be viewed as either a potentially huge problem or a fantastic opportunity – or, in many cases, both. THREATS AHEAD WHEN YOUR CUSTOMER IS ACQUIRED The biggest danger for an account manager probably lies in the period immediately after the announcement of being acquired. Of course, the official press statements from the acquiring company will be positive and talk about a golden future for everyone. Senior management will be emphasising that it’s business as usual, but in reality WINNING EDGE 25
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FEATURE | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
everyone is worrying about their own position – “Do I have a job?”, “Who is my boss?”, “Where am I in the pecking order?”, “Will I enjoy working within this new organisation?”, and so on. Everyone will definitely take their eyes off the ball, which can often be exacerbated as people delay decisions and preserve budgets until they figure out the lie of the land. Despite the right noises, purchasing momentum will be reduced and deals will be lost. Good account managers recognise that they face significant threats, and so they act as early as possible once the acquisition has been announced. They seek to reassure their contacts, provide any information that they have on the acquirer (everyone is going to be curious as to “what they are like”) and, most importantly, recheck all current pipeline projects to ensure that there is a strong explicit business case and, in particular, that there are really compelling events. If it is not possible to act quickly to secure deals in current timescales, then do not be convinced by your historical contacts. There will be new priorities, corporate standards, shifting powerbases, new processes, and new competitors. Many account managers make the mistake of believing that a deal will simply be delayed by a quarter while things “settle down”, only to find that they have been outflanked by a competitor that has treated this as a completely new sale and gone about requalifying, and influencing requirements and decision processes. There’s a reason why one company invests time, effort and money in acquiring another – and it is not to preserve the status quo. Change will occur. OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD WHEN YOUR CUSTOMER IS ACQUIRED Because there is some fundamental change happening at some stage, being acquired can also present great opportunities. In the short term, you can put forward the “not throwing the baby out with the bathwater” argument, and that stable supplier relationships can be one of the certainties in the transition to the new organisation. Clearly, if you have potential deals in place that are not looking terribly strong, then a delay can be very beneficial. Because it is a period of uncertainly for people, this is also a great time to build strong personal relationships. Anything you can do to help individuals when they are feeling a little vulnerable will often be repaid several times over in the future. 26 WINNING EDGE
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For many account managers, the acquisition can act as a restart to the whole relationship. It is a truism that in many accounts relationships drift downwards over time. The reasons for choosing particular suppliers get lost, and the overall strategic direction of the customer becomes clouded. Being acquired gives a good reason to review all of these possible issues. You can suggest project reviews, revisiting original propositions and regaining your “hunting licence” to go and see senior executives. This is a great opportunity to go back to basics and ask the “dumb” questions that perhaps you asked at first engagement, but which have not been appropriate for some time. THREATS AHEAD WHEN YOUR CUSTOMER ACQUIRES When your customer is the acquirer, it is frequently assumed that the potential problems are fewer. This is often true, particularly if your customer is clearly the major player acquiring a smaller specialised organisation. But there are many examples of what is effectively a “reverse takeover”. In one case recently I was working with a major systems
“M&A activity is another ‘disruptive event’, and good account managers will be planning for disruptive events” integrator that acquired a company less that 40% of its size, yet within six months 80% of the executive board was made up of individuals from the acquired company – and as you then looked further down the organisation “their people” were in all of the key decision-making roles. Even if your situation is not as extreme as this, acquired companies can often be given a “halo effect”, especially if senior management has made statements such as, “We bought them for their world leading expertise in xxxx”. This halo effect means that individuals from the acquired company may get too much credibility too quickly, which in turn means that they are able to get involved in decisions very early and affect choice of suppliers to a huge extent that was probably not evident earlier in the sales cycle. Many of the problems associated with being on the acquired side are also true for the acquiring side – the most dangerous of which is lack of momentum in deals, especially those without a clear business case and without widespread support. The added complication for most suppliers is that they see the situation through the lens of their existing contacts, without standing back and understanding the total situation and the fresh scenarios that are most likely to develop. ISMM.CO.UK
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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS | FEATURE
OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD WHEN YOUR CUSTOMER ACQUIRES Again, similarities abound between both acquirer and acquired in terms of the fantastic opportunities to reset the situation. Assuming that your customer is more or less in the driving position (we cannot simply assume this every time, but in general it is true), then as acquirer they can probably grant you a hunting licence into the newly acquired company. This you should embrace with vigour, as it is a small window of time when – although some may be reluctant to meet with the “friends of the acquirer” – it is hard for them to turn you down, and most will be receptive to understanding more about how they operate. You can build new relationships quickly by acting as an impartial adviser on the processes, approaches and norms in the new environment. THE SPECIAL CASE OF MERGERS Mergers are partly a special case, in that it is often difficult to determine who is the more powerful party. Indeed, there will often be more power battles going on in a merger than a straight acquisition, and some of the power outcomes will be based on pure politics. For example, during a recent post-merger planning session, one decision was based on the trade-off, “If I can have global accounts reporting to me, then you can have all of EMEA.” While this type of horse-trading is often denied, in reality it happens. The implication is that we can only control or influence parts of the scenario, and we need to expect the unexpected. Over time, in any merger, it is often the case that one partner becomes dominant and their way of working, norms, products and people are in the ascendancy, commanding most of the power and influence. You must be seeking to understand the relative powerbases early on and align with them. PREPARING FOR M&A ACTIVITY By its nature, M&A activity is difficult to forecast unless you are in the very small inner circle of people doing the activity. Sometimes, a good account manager with excellent senior relationships can determine that an M&A deal is on the cards, but the details of who and when will never be forthcoming. A better way to look at M&A activity is as simply another disruptive event, and in today’s world we know that many disruptive events will occur – if it’s not M&A, it might be sudden changes in management, massive rises or falls in market share, or some economic, technical or environmental disaster. Good account managers will be planning for unknown disruptive events through their account plan, with activities such as: l Building higher, wider and deeper relationships l Building different relationships across the ISMM.CO.UK
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organisation with the business users, technical recommenders, procurement specialists etc. l Applying multi-dimensional strategies around technology, contractual commitments, implementation standards, technical lock-ins or lock-outs etc. l Ensuring all projects have open, provable, strong business cases, whether the immediate specifier requests this or not l Having good governance in place to spot trends and issues early l Having safety valve-type relationships (this is who you can always call) at all levels, including top management through executive sponsorship. THE FALLOUT Paul Lonstram was becoming increasingly depressed. Wendy Sophoro should not have been so confident because, while all of the public statements were about business as usual, it was obvious that all internal decision-making at Hedgers had ground to a halt. The finance department was squeezing everyone and making them justify every single purchase, senior management were just not available, and Wendy herself was extremely preoccupied as she had just been told that she was going to have to reapply for her job, interviewing against the person doing a similar role in AJB. Paul felt there was little that he could do, apart from make contact with his colleague Sara Rajavi, who was the account manager for AJB. It turned out that AJB had been a customer for a few years, but the business levels were nowhere near as good as with Hedgers. Sara was not as depressed as Paul, and was actually quite upbeat about the situation. She explained that AJB was in a really good state as a business, but needed a cash injection and distribution channels in Asia – both of which could be provided by Hedgers. She explained that she knew the person that Wendy Sophoro would be interviewing against, and rated him quite highly. She did, however, remark that she was operating much more widely in the account than Paul, and that at the moment she had no issue getting good conversations with different stakeholders across the account who valued talking to someone knowledgeable about the industry, and who was not part of the inevitable politics surrounding the merger. Sara suggested that she and Paul should work together to define a joint account plan that they could take to senior management in order to exploit the current situation at the merged company, which had big operational issues that they could help solve. AFTER THE FACT How do you think Paul reacted to Sara’s suggestion? Again, I know how most account managers react – they become defensive, see this as an attempt by Sara to muscle in on “their” account, and feel threatened that although the numbers are lower, Sara has managed to build and maintain better, higher, wider relationships on her side of the newly combined account. Does this sound like the best way forward?
STEVE HOYLE is a sales consultant, coach, trainer, interim manager and author specialising in helping clients to grow the capability of their sales teams in complex B2B environments. Contact him on 07785 381563 or at steve.hoyle@linksdev.net
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SECTOR PROFILE | DIRECT SELLING
THE DIRECT APPROACH Winning Edge examines the growth in size and professionalism of the global direct selling industry
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other of two, 36-year-old Kiran Khutan, has been working as her own boss selling Amway products for four years. With a background in marketing, she worked evenings and weekends to build her own business, initially as a sideline to her full-time job for a London insurance company. This is the image of the direct selling industry that we’re all familiar with: people, mainly women, earning a little money on the side by selling products to family and friends, and friends of friends. And, to an extent, this is the reality. Nine out of ten of the 103 million individual direct sellers worldwide are involved on a part-time basis, and at least 80% are women.
ANDY SMITH UK and Ireland general manager at Amway
“Direct selling offers the opportunity to try out a new career channel without having to risk your livelihood”
GLOBAL GROWTH Yet this is no cottage industry. Globally, reports the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), sales rose 7.7% in 2015 to $183.7bn, up from $170.6bn in 2014. Every region increased sales last year, with 80% of countries reporting a rise in sellers and sales. This is sustained growth, not a flash in the pan. In Europe, direct selling has shown constant expansion over five years, with EU sales rising by 7.5% in the year to 2015 – a sharp contrast with average retail sales in the EU, which grew by just 3% in the same period. Even during periods of economic turmoil, direct selling seems to flourish. As Katarina Molin, executive director of SELDIA, the European Direct Selling Association, explains, “Many of the products sold this way do
“Nine out of ten of the 103 million individual direct sellers worldwide are involved on a part-time basis, and at least 80% are women” 28 WINNING EDGE
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DIRECT SELLING: A DEFINITION l Direct selling is defined by SELDIA (European
Direct Selling Association) as “a method of marketing and retailing goods and services directly to consumers, in their homes or in any other location away from permanent retail premises. It is usually conducted in a face-toface manner – either where products are demonstrated to an individual or group, or where a catalogue is left with the consumer and the direct seller calls back later to collect orders. Unlike direct marketing or mail order, direct selling is based principally on personal contact with the customer.”
not necessarily suffer from a downturn in consumer demand. In particular, this is true of personal care, nutrition, health and wellbeing products, which have experienced an upwards sales trend in the last couple of years.” ENTREPRENEURSHIP Another positive factor is the rising trend towards entrepreneurship. “The number of private entrepreneurs has significantly increased due to the digitisation of the economy and the rising demand for more job flexibility,” continues Molin. Amway is the world’s biggest direct selling organisation (see box on page 30), operating in 100 countries and territories. With 20,000 employees globally, it is one of the 30 largest private US companies and it is estimated that 71 million households have an Amway product. UK and Ireland general manager Andy Smith, also chair of the UK’s Direct Selling Association (DSA), explains the appeal of the industry in today’s uncertain economic climate. “Direct selling offers the opportunity to try out a new career channel without having to risk your livelihood. ISMM.CO.UK
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DIRECT SELLING | SECTOR PROFILE
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SECTOR PROFILE | DIRECT SELLING
The Amway business opportunity is highly attractive because it can be practised independently and alongside another career. This makes it a perfect second source of income.” Of the 40,000 Amway distributors in the UK and Ireland, Smith estimates that only 10% work on Amway full-time.
MICHAEL CERVELL senior vice president, global direct sales at Oriflame
“Direct selling in China was initially like the Wild West. Now it’s a highly regulated but fast-growing industry”
NEW FRONTIERS As in so many other industry sectors, growth also comes from China, which is soon likely to eclipse the US as the world’s biggest direct selling market. This is no mean feat given that direct selling has its origins in the US, as long ago as the mid-19th century, and is firmly ingrained in the culture there. In contrast, direct selling was banned in China between 1998 and 2006 after a spate of pyramid selling scams. Since then, the industry has been heavily regulated, although the Chinese government continues to issue new licences. Michael Cervell, senior vice president, global direct sales for Oriflame, which sells personal care, accessories and nutritional products, names China as one its fastest growing markets, along with Indonesia, Turkey, Mexico and Peru, among others. “Direct selling in China was initially like the Wild West. Now it’s a highly regulated but fast-growing industry.” He points out that direct selling companies are still required to have a physical store within their operating area – during the ban on direct selling, these stores became the only way to maintain links with customers. Amway is among those to open physical stores in key markets, though the emphasis is on providing a
TOP 10 DIRECT SELLING COMPANIES 1 AMWAY (2015 revenue: $9.5 billion; global headquarters US) Established 1959. Principal product lines: skincare, haircare and cosmetics, homeware, nutritional supplements and domestic cleaning products.
6 MARY KAY ($3.7bn; US) Established 1963. Cosmetics and skincare.
2 AVON+ ($6.16bn; UK) Established 1886. Skincare, haircare, personal care and cosmetics, fragrance, fashion and homeware.
8 NATURA ($2.41bn; Brazil) Established 1969. Cosmetics, skin care, personal care, hair care, fragrance, household and solar filters.
3 HERBALIFE ($4.47bn; US) Established 1980. Nutrition, weight management and personal care. 4 VORWERK ($4bn; Germany) Established 1883. Household appliances, fitted kitchens and cosmetics. 5 INFINITUS ($3.88bn; China) Established 1992. Health and nutrition.
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7 PERFECT ($3.58bn; China) Established 1994. Health food, cosmetics, personal care, skincare and household.
9 TUPPERWARE ($2.28bn; US) Established 1946. Food preparation, storage and serving solutions; cosmetics and personal care. 10 NU SKIN ($2.25bn; US) personal care and nutrition. Source: Direct Selling News 2016 DSN Global 100
New digital platforms offer customers convenience with a personal touch (Image courtesy of Avon)
showroom – or “experience centre” – for sellers to demonstrate products, and most sales at Amway stores are to distributors. Oriflame has a concept store in Stockholm, “but it’s not a core part of our strategy,” explains Cervell. “We want our products in the hands of our consultants.” China is not the only market on a steady growth curve. Angela Cretu has been Avon Turkey group vice-president with responsibility for Turkey, Africa and the Middle East for two years, looking after Russian and Eastern European markets before that. “As these markets are still developing, there are no ingrained habits around where people shop, and they are used to change,” observes Cretu. “There are clearly cultural differences that need to be taken into account, but these areas have tremendous potential.” She continues, “Take North Africa and the Middle East – in both markets, at least 65% of women don’t have a job. In Saudi Arabia women can’t have their own bank account. But these are affluent markets undergoing massive economic growth. Women here are big consumers, and have a rich social life, with large families and a large network of friends to sell to.” Cretu describes the industry as being “at the cusp of a new frontier”. SOCIAL REVOLUTION Avon’s Cretu is not alone in her assessment. New technologies and the rise of social media make it easier to sell in these markets, but are causing seismic shifts across the whole industry. Alan Luce, a veteran direct seller who consults with more than 100 direct selling companies as senior managing principal at US-based Strategic ISMM.CO.UK
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Choice Partners, talks of “tectonic plate shifts” in today’s industry. “We’re at an interesting transition point, where traditional and online direct selling are converging,” he says. “What today’s successful operators all share is the recognition that customer expectations have changed radically in the last five years. Face-to-face contact isn’t any less important, but the new downtown is no longer the local pub, but Facebook.” Luce continues: “People expect to be able to replicate online everything they can do in person. Today’s customers expect instant gratification, and direct sellers are having to adapt their business models to cater for these changing expectations. If customers can’t buy from you in the way they want to, they will never sell for you.” Oriflame’s Cervell agrees: “Customers are not comparing us with other direct selling companies; they’re comparing us with Amazon and Uber. In the past our industry has been too inward looking and now we need a broader view.” To that end, Oriflame, Avon and some other direct sellers have developed online shopfronts for individual sellers under their umbrella, where customers benefit from the convenience of buying online, while maintaining the face-to-face relationship with their seller; the back-end of the site, including the financial transaction, is hosted by the company. Andrea Slater, Avon’s general manager for Western Europe, comments, “Our research showed that 76% of shoppers would rather buy from an independent local business than a big brand, if prices were comparable.” She describes Avon’s new digital platform as “a perfect marriage of offline and online shopping, giving customers the convenience to shop whenever they want, but with a personal touch”. The new website allows customers to shop online directly through a local independent business – their representative’s own store. This model is being rolled out gradually across Avon’s markets. Social media platforms also offer an easy way for sellers to communicate with customers, and even to host virtual parties. “When I was chairman of SimplyFun [a seller of children’s educational games], we pioneered virtual parties,” says Luce. “And we got more bookings for physical parties through these virtual parties than we achieved from physical parties.” PROMOTING PROFESSIONALISM The UK’s DSA and other industry bodies are striving to raise the profile of the direct selling industry and protect the interests of their members and consumers through improved training and professional development. The International Direct Selling Educational Institute (IDSEI), for example, says training will: ISMM.CO.UK
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l Provide adequate information and knowledge to direct selling teams on what’s hot or new in the direct selling industry l Prepare team members for hard to please clients l Enhance selling techniques l Motivate direct sellers to work at their fullest selling potential. IDSEI notes: “Training your direct selling teammates can come in various forms like one-onone meetings, weekly updates to check on each individual’s selling progress based on sales reports, online conferences done through online chats, and video calls or emails to remind them what to do.” One of the key challenges facing direct sellers is that, once they target buyers beyond friends and family, they find they lack the selling skills to present their products effectively and often give up. Leigh Walton, a UK-based direct selling trainer and author, says: “Education starts as soon as someone joins your business. Whether joining a ‘social selling’ or ‘traditional’ business, people need an induction on how the business works and what they need to do. “From there on a step-by-step approach is needed; your job, as their manager or team leader, is to check that they are receiving training and understand what they need to be doing to ensure success. Don’t assume that because you have told someone ‘how’ to sell, ‘how’ to generate leads, and ‘how’ to place an order, that they know how to do it.” Walton adds: “What is important to remember is that before somebody has done an activity they will need teaching or training on how to do it, and afterwards they need coaching – so that they can improve and become more skilled.” Technology is increasingly helping companies up their game internally by providing online business tools, including online catalogues,
TOP 10 MARKETS FOR DIRECT SELLING Country
2015 retail sales ($US)
3-year compound annual growth
US
$36.12bn
4.5%
China
$35.46bn
22.5%
Korea
$16.89bn
7.5%
Germany
$15.19bn
5.2%
Japan
$14.66bn
-0.7%
Brazil
$9.13bn
2.1%
Mexico
$6.93bn
4.7%
France
$4.59bn
2.5%
Malaysia
$4.44bn
9.4%
UK
$4.04bn
9.8%
Source: World Federation of Direct Selling Associations
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team-tracking software and, crucially, training via e-learning, webinars and mobile apps. “We have more than 600,000 people on our e-learning platform,” says Oriflame’s Cervell, “and our sellers can watch tutorials lasting just a few minutes on their mobile phone, maybe while waiting for a tube home.” Avon’s Cretu agrees: “People no longer have the patience for a two-hour classroom-based session; they want five or ten-minute video briefings.” Lynda Mills, director general of the UK’s DSA, adds, “The Internet makes it easier to educate and raise awareness, and to position the whole industry in a reputable way.” ETHICAL SELLING Every national direct selling association requires member companies to follow the standards of its code of conduct, and leading players have worked hard to ensure the highest standards are enforced from the top down. In Europe, national codes of conduct are based on SELDIA’s code of conduct, which sets out to ensure that the relationships between companies, direct sellers and consumers are based on trust and fairness. “Serious companies have strict rules and enforce them without hesitation,” observes Hakki Ozmorali, owner of DS Consulting and editor of the industry news site, World of Direct Selling. “Self-regulation is always less costly than the price of non-compliance.” Ayo Olaseinde is UK president and EMEA senior vice-president of SaladMaster, which sells nutritional cooking systems. Winner of the 2015 DSA’s Leadership Award, he believes that training and personal development are key to maintaining the highest standards. “To earn more, you have to learn more. If you build your sellers’ confidence, that leads to better communication. People often come to direct selling without a sales background, and so we make sure that everyone, from the top down, adopts the same standards.” SaladMaster is in the minority of direct selling companies in that it doesn’t follow the multi-level marketing (MLM) business model. This sees individual direct sellers given the opportunity to build their own sales teams. In doing so, they receive commission not only on their own sales, but on the sales by those they have recruited, trained and motivated. SELDIA’s Molin says this isn’t a business model that should be viewed with scepticism. “This compensation is derived only from product sales and not merely from introducing other people,” she emphasises. “Pyramid schemes, which focus exclusively on, and compensate for, recruiting, are illegal.” World of Direct Selling’s Ozmorali agrees that, operated correctly, there is nothing negative let alone unethical about the MLM model. 32 WINNING EDGE
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“Compensating direct ISM PROFESSIONAL SALES sellers against the sales CERTIFICATION made by others who were recruited by those l The Institute of Sales Management (ISM), the direct sellers is, in only industry body approved to deliver Ofqualessence, delegating the regulated sales qualifications and a member of field management to the the Federation of Awarding Bodies, has field itself. This is a developed ISM Professional Sales Certification, strategic business a competencies-rich framework for cultivating a salesperson’s skills, enhancing continuous choice,” he says. professional development (CPD) and building a Luce points out that rewarding career path (see page 6). long-established l Professional Sales Certification recognises companies in the sales competence and professionalism, with the industry have operated potential to have a major impact on direct for decades without any sellers, enabling them to demonstrate high black marks against standards publicly, and differentiate themselves them, enjoying a sterling from competitors who don’t care about reputation with knowledge, skill and ethical behaviour in sales. consumers and l Jack Mizel, chief executive of the ISM, says, regulators. “How have “Direct sellers may be independent, selfthey achieved this?” he employed consultants, but selling skills, such as asks. “Through company lead generation, cold-calling, overcoming culture. If you have a objections, communication, negotiation and salesforce that presentation skills, remain vital to their role. We see training, qualifications and recognition consistently ‘colours through ISM Professional Sales Certification as outside the lines’ when it an important step in addressing the issue of comes to ethics, you improving the core sales skills of direct sellers.” don’t deserve to be in business. Many multilevel marketing companies have never had a single regulatory challenge, because they will not tolerate any colouring outside the lines.” He adds, “And it’s easier to monitor than ever, because of social media. Whether you’re a start-up or a multi-billion dollar company, you have the ability to monitor your salesforce and ensure they are following company guidelines.” EXCITING TIMES This transparency, and the sophisticated online channels being adopted in direct selling, suggest a strengthening industry in both new and established markets. “This is one of the most exciting times for direct selling in the last 30 years,” says Luce. “Generically, it may have had negative associations, but the individual brands have very positive associations. Research has shown that nearly 70% of households have purchased this way in the past, and would do so again.” And let’s not forget individual sellers. The interest in entrepreneurship is not going to die down any time soon, says SaladMaster’s Olaseinde, who is evangelical about the potential for those entering the industry. “I left school without qualifications and worked in a bread factory – now look at me! Direct selling turns ordinary people into extraordinary people. There are no limits to what you can achieve.”
AYO OLASEINDE UK president and Europe, Africa and Middle East senior vice-president of SaladMaster
“Direct selling turns ordinary people into extraordinary people. There are no limits to what you can achieve”
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27/10/2016 14:17
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26/10/2016 13:28
FEATURE | KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT
KEY IN FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE
Forty years on, key account management is still working, says BETH ROGERS
T
he term “key account management” first appeared in Europe in the 1970s, sometime before “national account management” was being discussed in the US. As a practice within business-to-business suppliers, it began to develop in the 1980s. There was always the risk that it might be another short-lived fad, but slowly and surely it became a way of companies successfully differentiating themselves through a strategic approach to selling. By the time I was writing up Cranfield School of Management’s first major study on key account management in 1994, there were several case studies of best practice to inspire me, and it was fascinating to examine them from the perspective of the supplier and the customer. Since then, I have met many organisations that are achieving great things with their strategic customers, but also many companies that find managing them very difficult. Recent research has demonstrated that, besides the advantages that can flow from key account management, there is also a dark side to close relationships with powerful customers. So, 40 years after its first appearance as a topic of serious study, what is happening to key account management? The factors in the business environment that were perceived to be driving suppliers towards closer relationships with customers, such as globalisation and the growing power of the purchasing profession, are still relevant today. Although conditions in some sectors are stable, most are dynamic, if not volatile. Expectations of suppliers are high and seem to get higher. Sellers have to be lean and cost-effective while providing an ever higher quality product and service experience. These expectations are not unique to key accounts, but it would be impossible to 34 WINNING EDGE
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imagine customers that know they have power over suppliers not wielding it to get more value. Some are proactive about driving mutual value, as good suppliers are worth keeping, others less so. With more and more information available to purchasing decision-makers, some observers perceive that there is more temptation for them to play off strategic suppliers against new competitors. If key accounts are losing their lustre, are there other segments in customer portfolios that could be more attractive? COSTS TO SERVE REMAIN CRITICAL To monitor the business case for a management structure for strategic customer relationships, you first of all have to know what the costs are. Some purchasing professionals think that they have to drive suppliers into managing them as key accounts, and if that happens without a plan for realising a return, there is potential for perpetuating loss-making business. In the early days, account managers struggled to get customer-specific costing information. Financial systems were geared to providing per-product or per-geography information. One of the advances in the past two decades that has been extremely useful to key account managers is activity-based costing (ABC), a method of allocating costs to products, services or customers based on the actual resources they consume. The upside of having detailed financial information about the costs to serve major customers is that it can reveal new opportunities for process innovation, which can help to secure customer commitment. For example, a logistics company serving a mail order company decided to allow it to self-invoice the thousands of transactions that passed between them every day. It was costly to let the sales ledger and bought ISMM.CO.UK
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FEATURE | KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT
SU P P L I E R STRAT EGY O PT I O N S INNOVATE BEFORE GROWTH PERIOD EXPIRES
KEY
PICK MID
KEEP
DEAL
STRATEGIC VALUE OF THE ACCOUNT TO US
OUR VALUE TO THE ACCOUNT FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
ledger duplicate effort. Both organisations got involved in mapping processes to reduce costs and agreed to invest the savings in co-branded promotions. So, demands from key accounts for more cost efficiencies are not necessarily a threat to long-term partnerships. It just depends how willing they are to re-invest savings for mutual gain. If they are not, how “key” are they? THE DYNAMICS OF CUSTOMER STATUS An enduring problem for sales managers is determining which exactly are the “key” accounts. The reason this is as much of a problem as it ever was is because of dynamic changes in business relationships. In the 1990s, we perceived that relationships could be developed to be more cooperative or even integrated, unless some disaster occurred. But more recent empirical research has demonstrated that relationship deterioration is not just caused by negative events such as a major delivery failure. There is a natural progression towards decline and exit. The satisfaction of both parties with their partnership erodes over time. The business relationship cycle looks like the product development cycle. Innovation is needed before the growth phase tips into maturity and complacency (Figure 1 above). In the 1990s, we also believed that relationships would polarise into those that were strategic and those that were transactional and could be served via a web portal. Dow Corning is renowned for running its successful web sub-brand Xiameter alongside its highly branded offerings to key accounts, even though Wall Street thought it would never work. Nevertheless, some researchers have since picked up on the inherent risks in polarisation – the classic case of putting too many eggs in too few baskets. Dow Corning did not lose its mid-size customers. Most companies still have a “mid-tier”, and research now indicates that the growth and profit potential of these accounts is 36 WINNING EDGE
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often overlooked. In order to reduce the costs to serve smaller customers, many large companies outsourced “deal” and/or mid-tier customers to channel partners in the 1980s and 1990s, but then encountered difficulties if there was a case to re-classify a customer’s status. Today, contract sales organisations are available that can be more directly managed to develop non-key accounts into potential key accounts. We have also discovered that supplier strategy is not always aligned with customer strategy, but that is not necessarily a reason not to do business. A classification matrix for B2B relationships was first devised in 1982, so that companies could map them and decide on a strategy per account. I have recently produced a simplified box (Figure 2). The strategic value of an account to a supplier will probably be measured by profitable growth
“We need to strive to find out how managing the transition from non-key to key account can be done well” potential. Companies often observe that where there is joint investment in new projects, there is a “Key” relationship. Supplier and customer perceive strategic value. But there are other possibilities. The “Keep” account prefers to buy from us but squeezes prices, or is never going to do anything leading edge. In the “Pick” account, we either need a medium-term plan to win small pieces of work to convince them of our potential, or wait for change that creates opportunities, such as the incumbent supplier making a mistake or a key decision-maker changing job. Where mutual strategic interest is minimal, we “Deal” on an ad hoc basis. These stereotypes are simplistic and, of course, circumstances in any account can change quickly. The marketing department must be market-sensing all the time to keep the sales team updated on customer news. A change in status from non-key to key is a career opportunity, so in practice and research we need to strive to find out how managing that transition can be done well. THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER The role of the key account manager was the focus of a lot of studies in the 1990s, and many companies invested heavily in “academies” for key account managers and key account team members from other functions around the company. It became clear that the role is not just that of a super salesperson, but is characterised by business management and financial prowess, as well as great communication, negotiation and conflict management skills. Key account managers demonstrate creativity and analytical thinking, ISMM.CO.UK
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KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT | FEATURE
which enables them to design new sources of value. They are more than relationship-builders. As suggested in the often-misrepresented “challenger” sales model, they must present new ideas to customers and encourage them to take on change and manage risks. Although the power of the purchasing profession has been discussed since the 1990s, I still feel more can be done to encourage “boundary-spanning” into the role of purchasing. Undergraduates on sales courses find it the least engaging aspect of their learning, but without understanding how organisations buy there can be no effective business relationship. There is so much information available on the Internet that purchasers can spend less and less time discussing suppliers’ offerings (see Grant Leboff’s feature on page 42 – Ed). However, they still have to turn raw data into the best possible supplier selection decisions. That means managing risk, and when account managers demonstrate that they understand those risks and have a plan for managing risks while reaping benefits from change, there is hope of the Holy Grail of joint investment in strategic projects. Just as purchasing has increased its status over the past few decades from an administrative job to a strategic management function, key account management has also acquired status. Key account managers have been given the power to use their knowledge and skills to make things happen. One excellent example of empowerment I have observed was at a fast-moving consumer goods supplier, where an operational problem meant that products were not on an important retailer’s shelves when they should have been. The key account manager had the authority to place an order with a competitor to fill the shelves so that the customer did not lose sales. As a result, potential disaster was averted, and the relationship remained undamaged. However, key account managers have more than tactical power to solve problems. They have power over company resources, including people. NOT FORGETTING THE SUPPORT ACT Key account managers lead key account teams. They used to moan about spending too much time negotiating with their own colleagues and not enough time with the customers. We now know that customers value the time that key account managers spend with colleagues. They like to see that the key account manager has influence in their own organisation and, in particular, they like it when senior managers identify themselves as part of the key account team as an executive sponsor. There is evidence that such a sponsor can really help to grow business from the key account and instil a culture of support for key accounts throughout a company. Some companies have ISMM.CO.UK
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board committees that regularly discuss the interests of key accounts. Key account teams can be cross-functional, cross-border and cross-hierarchy. Some include hundreds of people. Spare a thought for the accounts clerk in Spain who has to maintain financial probity to satisfy his line manager based in the US, optimise cash flow for his country manager and provide preferential credit terms for a key account based in China. To facilitate the management of these complex matrixes, some global organisations have separate key account divisions. This raises the prospect of a new key account bureaucracy replacing or overlaying old bureaucracies. This is undesirable. Buying decision-makers love suppliers who offer ease of doing business. Who wouldn’t? But to be easy to work with, flexibility is essential. Whatever infrastructure and processes are designed to underpin key account management, they must be streamlined and it must be possible to change them quickly when the need arises. WHERE NEXT? Key account management has survived as a successful response to a business environment that has become ever more competitive over the past 40 years. Where can it go? New technology such as predictive analytics will feed more and more valuable insights to suppliers, making it easier to anticipate customer needs. That will enable more process improvements to make customers’ lives easier and trim costs even further. And it will keep key account teams busy prompting customers to work with them to be first to market with something new. Although selection will always be needed to prioritise scarce resources, the flexibility in operations that technology can bring might mean that key account-style customisation and innovation could be extended to more customers. Many professional jobs could be automated in the next few decades, but I believe that the complex skillset and creativity necessary in key account management means it will be an attractive career for another 40 years. One thing concerns me. Small firms could be constrained by being unable to recruit highly skilled account managers, who will have been creamed off by the powerful brands. But then there are contract sales organisations moving into key account management, so perhaps a kind of sharing arrangement, like the new business models on the Internet, will be the way forward for them. There is still a huge buzz about key account management. It has a certain glamour as a strategic role where innovation is constantly on the agenda, while also delivering solid, day-to-day business benefits. Let’s celebrate its achievements and toast the next few decades with confidence.
BETH ROGERS is head of the Marketing and Sales Subject Group at Portsmouth Business School, which is an ISM corporate member. Visit: www.port.ac.uk/courses/ business-and-management/ ma-sales-management
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FEATURE | BUYER INSIGHT
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28/10/2016 09:18
BUYER INSIGHT | FEATURE
KNOWING YOUR BUYER Professional buyer TIM USSHER provides the second feature in his series – on really understanding who you’re selling to.
M
y introduction to this series in the previous edition asked if sellers really are doing everything they should to impress buyers and highlighted a key question for sellers to ask their prospects: “What do I have to do to win this contract?” In this feature, let’s try to improve our understanding of the buyer and their drivers, and also the vital importance of information and preparation. UNDERSTANDING THE BUYER The key to all business – what makes it all happen – is people. Understanding the individual personality of the buyer allows you to make the best of each situation and tailor yourself to meet the buyer’s expectations on a business front, and also to build a relationship. Would you volunteer for a boxing match without knowing about your opponent? What are the buyer’s interests, favourite team, previous companies? For instance, is the buyer a stickler for deadlines and punctuality? I was a buyer at a large cash and carry chain where we often had back-to-back meetings each day, so there was an unwritten rule – a bit harsh I must admit – that any salesperson turning up more than five minutes late for a meeting with a buyer was sent away to reschedule... I remember one large corporation telling me they built up notes on buyers – nothing too dramatic, and all very professional, such as likes and dislikes and any relevant info on that individual or company. I thought how fantastic that they were going to the trouble of getting to know the buyer. This kind of background detail can now be easily found on the various social or business networks on the ISMM.CO.UK
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Internet. I will always look up a seller coming to meet me, just to see their experience, previous companies and profile. You never know, we may have something in common to help ease the conversation and break down barriers, or I may even find a lever to help me get the best deal from them. Sellers should do likewise. The buyer’s personality will form the foundation of how they tackle their corporate goals, and understanding what your buyer’s key performance indicators – or KPIs – are allows you to target these in your efforts to impress them and win the contract. Yet, in my entire 30-year career, I can’t remember a salesperson ever asking me what my goals were – so go ahead and ask the buyer. Here are a few likely ones: SAVINGS Quality and service are always more important than price – there’s no point in a buyer getting the lowest price for a pen if it runs out of ink and breaks after a day. Yet the buyer’s boss will assume these are a given and will just want to know the buyer is reducing costs and saving the business money. The buyer will have a target. Make no mistake sellers – the buyer needs to, and will, save money on every spend review and new deal. That’s simply the competitive world we’re in. I’ve never carried out a spend review and failed to make savings. Given that savings form a major part of the buyer’s drivers, it’s pretty important to ask the buyer what type of saving they want and how it will be measured – fiscal or annualised, net price or volume rebates. Again, I’ve only been asked this question maybe a handful of times. When you do ask, for sure some buyers may spin you a yarn, but they might give you a real hint on the gap that needs to be bridged. Let’s quickly run through the types of savings a buyer is likely to measure: WINNING EDGE 39
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FEATURE | BUYER INSIGHT
OUR BUYER
TIM USSHER has spent his entire career of over 30 years as a buyer. He began buying for a large retail chain with 1,400 stores, moved to cash and carry and then over to manufacturing. He went on to become chief procurement officer (CPO) for several major companies. In the UK he has been CPO for BSkyB and Virgin Media, where he managed procurement teams of over 75 buying staff. In addition, he has led global procurement organisations of up to 340 procurement staff worldwide for multinationals such as Hilton hotels, Williams security group and Regus office providers In 2002, Ussher won the inaugural Purchasing and Supply Chain Professional of the Year award from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), the procurement industry’s top individual award. In his current role of independent consultant CPO, he has carried out major reviews and established new or improved procurement functions for the London 2012 Olympics, EMI, Diageo and British American Tobacco. Ussher is passionate about continuous improvement within both buying and selling, to drive up performance and professional standards. As he explains, “I want salespeople to be better at what they do, because sellers on top of their game helps buyers do their job more effectively. That’s what buyers want – brilliant suppliers with outstanding salespeople.”
l Savings against current price – the simplest measurement goal is last price paid versus new price for existing goods or services, (multiplied by forecasted volume). l Savings against budget – the business, or often stakeholders with their finance directors, will have assumed a cost for particular goods or services or a project delivery, probably some while ago and more than likely in a rush. Regardless of the accuracy of this estimate, it is left to the buyer now to deliver the goods at a lower-than-budget price and therefore make demonstrable savings against budget. Ask what budgets have been set and you’ll understand the scale of the task the buyer (and you) are facing. l The chief financial officer’s stretch target – this is every purchasing director’s nightmare and often an unrealistic challenge. Initially, the process is reasonable enough – it involves the buyer informing their boss of the cost they can realistically target, backed up by analysis and soul-searching. Then it turns ugly. Without discussion, the chief financial officer (CFO) will dictate that not only must this target be met, but it must be exceeded with a further 40% saving – the famous “stretch target”. There’s no science or understanding involved here, but famously thick-skinned CFOs think they’re doing their job by stretching the team. l Savings against first quote – I have seen some buying teams measure the final terms they have achieved with a selected supplier against the original terms proposed in the first round of pitches or tender responses. l Soft benefits – some procurement teams may also measure all the “other” non-budgetattributable benefits they secure, such as deflecting a price increase request or a contract commitment. As a seller, while you can’t change their targets and goals, you must understand the extreme pressures that buyers are working under. You’ll need to empathise with them and use all your professional skills and creativity to come up with a strong case as to how you can help them out.
“So, to summarise, the CFO wants us to save 40% on our forecast, turn water into wine and send a man to Mars – by month end…” 40 WINNING EDGE
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“Yes, yes, never mind the plane crash – how much money have you saved today?” THE BOSS Ah yes, the boss is the boss, and the buyer still needs to impress them to help that next salary discussion and indeed bonus. The boss knows better than anyone that a pound saved is a pound profit, and many buyers now get an annual bonus mostly based on savings targets. I can explain all the wonderful best practices, engagement and governance we’ve done, but I know there’s one
“Sellers need to know what’s high on the buyer’s agenda and find ways to help them achieve it” thing my boss wants to hear more than any other – how much we have saved. So, apart from the obvious chemistry and professionalism needed to keep their boss happy, exceeding the goals set for the buyer is of the utmost importance, which brings us back to sellers needing to understand the buyer’s targets. STAKEHOLDERS These are the real-time voters for the buyer: sponsors, operational owners, budget holders, finance, legal, IT and management. They trust the buyer to run “their” spend review for them, so the buyer wants to impress them. They have a weighty say in the judging and outcome, though a well-run procurement review process should make the end decisions open and obvious. Sellers should get to know stakeholders and win them over as well as the buyer. Usually, however, deals and contracts can only be awarded through the buyer, and a stakeholder that seems overly supportive of a particular supplier will ring alarm bells. If you try to cut the buyer out, the damage will be difficult to recover. SELF-SATISFACTION The buyer works in a lonely arena. Their only audience is often the suppliers sitting in front of them, and occasionally another buyer from their team or stakeholder colleagues. While their buyer peers may celebrate their successes and empathise with their problems, they won’t know truly how hard a deal was to reach, and anyway they have their own deals to worry about. We’re always told, ISMM.CO.UK
28/10/2016 09:18
BUYER INSIGHT | FEATURE
“We need more, and faster!” so knowing how aggressive or not an individual buyer is will help. OTHER BEST PRACTICE KPIS Any good buyer or procurement manager will have a list of other best practice improvements on their agenda. These may include, for example, buying greener, improving tendering processes and documentation, supplier relationships, credit terms, reducing their supply base, continuous improvement programmes, collating contracts into a dynamic database, faster delivery, compliance and use of preferred suppliers, stakeholder feedback, reducing supplier invoicing errors, zero customer complaints, recording benefits obtained, and so on. Sellers need to know what’s high on the buyer’s agenda and find ways to help them achieve it, hence the need for… INFORMATION AND PREPARATION Information is power. This is true on the field of battle – and it applies just as much to business. Information gathering plays the biggest part in buying, so sellers shouldn’t underestimate the amount of information gathering and preparation they need to do to stay ahead of the buyer. The buyer often handles a multitude of categories, products and services, so in theory does not have the time and focus of a supplier who only has their own products and market to be the absolute masters of. But the seller cannot be complacent, as the buyer can put a concentrated amount of pre-review effort into researching a market, often now using real-time and instant information reports and online services, including Google of course. Buyers can also obtain a large “land grab” of information by sending out requests for information to lists of potential suppliers, something sellers can’t really do. With this, the buyer has the added advantage over the supplier of being able to see all the information submitted by a large number of suppliers during the bidding for a contract. The buyer would appear to have the upper hand already in the information stakes. So the seller will have to put in equal effort to boost their information levels if they are to compete with the buyer’s knowledge power. I have seen situations where buyers clearly know more about the market than the seller, which doesn’t instill confidence – we actually want the seller to be the expert. I once had a salesman come in and present his firm’s new product to me using a portable flip chart on my desk – yes, this was a few years ago. He started reading out each slide, so I took the presentation folder and sat it on my lap for a better view asking him to continue. He was dumbfounded and, of course, the poor unfortunate soul simply didn’t know what to say. ISMM.CO.UK
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He hadn’t prepared and couldn’t ad-lib. It wasn’t a pretty sight, so his folder was returned... I’ve seen complacency playing its part with some sellers, and no matter how hard you think you’re trying, there’s always someone else out there trying harder. When the suppliers are paraded in one by one for the buyers to test and probe, the mists part, knowledge and ignorance are both revealed, and suppliers who really know their business stand out. Sellers should not underestimate the value of undertaking some extra research and analysis of their business surroundings. Some of the topics that a buyer will have researched may include the following, and sellers should also take time to investigate and know them: l Previous years’ spends, volumes and operational profile/effectiveness l The supplier’s company financials, including turnover, profit, credit check, and key comments from the annual report or recent press releases (eg. “Our costs have been significantly reduced, allowing us to be more competitive”) l History of previous negotiations l Notes on the supplier’s key account managers and management l Profiles of competitors to the supplier, including low cost sourcing options, such as Asia l Market and industry body reports, case studies, product and innovation trends l Detailed reports on cost, including possibly an attempt to build a full cost breakdown and therefore margin of your product (many salespeople do not know the full cost make-up of the products they’re selling) l Pricing, raw material and component trends affecting your market/product l Feedback from in-house experts and stakeholders on their views on the supplier, previous dealings, concerns and poor performance. In the next feature in this series I will cover meeting the buyer and pitching, with the final article looking at tendering and negotiating.
WINNING SELLING... TO IMPRESS THE BUYER! by Tim Ussher gives a concise insight into the mind of the procurement professional, with no-nonsense tips, tactics and practical advice for salespeople. Recently published, it is endorsed by Lord Alan Sugar, entrepreneur and star of the BBC’s The Apprentice, who, having personally sat across the table from Ussher in sales negotiations, describes him as “one of the best purchasing professionals I have come across in business”. The book is available on Amazon as a colour paperback and Kindle ebook. For further information, visit: www.winningselling.com
“Well, I disagree. I really like the supplier – and my wife will kill me if I don’t get our usual Wimbledon tickets from them” WINNING EDGE 41
28/10/2016 09:18
FEATURE | SALES TRENDS
FIGHTING FOR FACE TIME GRANT LEBOFF says solution selling no longer works and salespeople must work smarter to get in front of buyers
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undamentally, salespeople add value when they influence or alter their prospect’s “criteria of purchase”. If potential customers know exactly what they want, however, and no conversation will alter their perception in any way, then it becomes almost impossible for a salesperson to add value. In fact, in this situation no actual selling takes place. Really, the salesperson here is just providing customer service. The conversation between the parties becomes a box-ticking exercise, whereby the customer ensures the salesperson’s offering can deliver everything they require. With this established, and nothing to differentiate the supplier from all the other providers that also meet the customer’s requirements, the salesperson gets hammered on price as this, inevitably, becomes the only point of difference. This scenario is increasingly occurring in business today. Customers, with access to a wealth of online information, are completing more of the purchase journey on their own before a salesperson ever gets involved. Salespeople, if they do get to meet a customer at all, merely become extensions of the customer service department, rather than influencing the customer’s criteria of purchase. The ready availability of information online is why salespeople are now finding it increasingly difficult to obtain face time with prospects and customers. Before the World Wide Web, it was relatively difficult for individuals to find out about products and services. They could, of course, read trade magazines, visit exhibitions and use libraries for research. However, in this environment, often the most efficient way of obtaining an understanding of a market was to call a few suppliers and have meetings with their salespeople.
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After three or four conversations, a prospect would have a much clearer idea of what was available. Today, it is often quicker and more efficient for potential purchasers to undertake research online for themselves. This can be done in their own time and convenience. With the perception that all the information that they require is available on the Internet, why would they invite salespeople into their office? In other words, salespeople need to ask themselves, “Why should a prospect give me any face time whatsoever?” Right now, there are too many salespeople who do not have a compelling answer to this question. The ramifications of this situation are that it is now essential for salespeople to undertake more of their prospecting on the Web. After all, salespeople have always needed to hang out in the same places as their prospects and customers. Today, this is increasingly on digital platforms. Building a reputation and presence online will not only enable a salesperson to get involved with a prospect’s purchase journey at the right time, it will also go some way to providing a reason why a prospect may want to meet them in person. BENEFIT SELLING To grasp the approach required from salespeople today, it is essential to understand how the sales process has evolved. We used to live in a product economy. That is, in the main, people simply bought products. There was very little service industry to speak of. In relative terms, we inhabited a world with limited choice in most sectors of the market. Moreover, people were tied into using local suppliers. For most, it was not easy to access products outside a local area, while sourcing them overseas was prohibitive in both time and money costs in all but the rarest of circumstances. ISMM.CO.UK
27/10/2016 11:33
SALES TRENDS | FEATURE
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27/10/2016 11:33
FEATURE | SALES TRENDS
Selling an intangible service gave salespeople the opportunity to tailor a package to fit a particular individual’s requirements – hence the introduction of solution, consultative or SPIN selling. In solution selling, salespeople sought to question a prospect in order to understand their challenges and requirements. Once a salesperson had a good comprehension of their prospect’s situation, they could make sensible recommendations and tailor their service offering accordingly. In a world before the Web it was not easy for customers to learn about all the nuances involved in the delivery of particular services, so salespeople could add real value once they had a proper understanding of their customer. By making suggestions of which a customer was previously unaware, salespeople provided increased value and altered their prospect’s criteria of purchase by providing them with possibilities that they had never previously considered.
“It is the ‘sales experience’ that differentiates. It is not what you sell but how you sell it that matters” In this environment, salespeople were taught to “sell the benefits” of their products. Benefit selling gave customers enough of a reason why they should buy. In a less competitive world than the one we inhabit today, and where markets moved much more slowly than they do now, selling benefits alone could provide enough difference to make a particular offering compelling. Moreover, prospects had little access to information, so much of their knowledge about what was available came from salespeople. If selling has always been about altering a prospect’s criteria of purchase, salespeople achieved this in a product economy simply by explaining the benefits of their offering. SOLUTION SELLING As the Western industrialised world became richer, products started to become commoditised. It became increasingly difficult for companies to differentiate the benefits of their merchandise. Therefore, businesses started to offer additional services around their products in order to achieve differentiation. For example, retailers that found themselves selling exactly the same stock as competitors began offering extras such as extended warranties, money back guarantees and free delivery. In the world of technology, IBM, unable to differentiate its products as it had previously, very publicly repositioned itself as a service provider. In this way we became a service-led economy. In this environment, benefit selling became a blunt technique. Services did not necessarily offer one single set of benefits that suited every customer. 44 WINNING EDGE
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OUT WITH THE OLD Quite simply, the Web has put paid to much of this solution selling approach. Today, it is services themselves that have become commoditised. There is little to differentiate most service offerings anymore. Moreover, with services, there is nothing a business can offer that cannot immediately be copied by the competition. With access to all the information they need, customers can now undertake their own diagnosis and produce their own set of solutions. In this scenario, if a salesperson goes into a meeting and runs through the diagnosis that solution selling requires, the customer is likely to get frustrated. Unlike in previous eras, this is likely to be a process that the prospect has already undertaken for themselves. Therefore, the whole mechanism becomes mundane and unenlightening. Quite simply, customers no longer want to have the “solution selling” conversation because it has no worth for them. Value is not neutral. If a salesperson goes into a meeting and adds value, they will be more credible when they leave. By the same token, if they fail to provide value, they will be deemed less credible. This diminishes the salesperson’s chances of then winning the business. If they do win the deal, it is likely to be on price. This might occur in a situation where the prospect receives no value from any of the salespeople and, therefore, focuses on the one point of difference they can understand. It is not just access to knowledge that has rendered solution selling less effective than it was previously. Benefit selling worked in a product economy. Solution selling was useful in a service economy. But now we are leaving the service economy behind. First, services – like products before them – have become commoditised. Second, the Web is changing consumer behaviour. ISMM.CO.UK
27/10/2016 11:33
SALES TRENDS | FEATURE
THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY The dominant leisure activity in the western world used to be watching TV. The phrase “couch potato” referred to the fact that this was a passive activity, where we mindlessly absorbed the programmes coming at us from the screen. But no one has coined the phrase “web potato”. Although, from a physical point of view, going online is still a sedentary activity, from a mental standpoint it is much more active than watching TV. When online, we click, we search, we comment, we play. In a world where every individual owns their own powerful media channels, we are also learning that our opinions matter. All this means we are now entering the “experience economy”. Whereas, a service is done to you, an experience is done with you. So, for example, a football match has always been an experience. This is because the sense of occasion is not merely delivered by the star players and managers turning up. It also requires a stadium full of fans. If all the famous players appeared but no fans came to the stadium there would be no sense of occasion. Even a TV broadcast would not be as good without the supporters at the game. In other words, as followers of a team, the football match is not done to you but with you. A fan is an integral part of the occasion, not separate from it. In an experience economy, companies differentiate less by what they do and more by how they do it and for whom. In other words, differentiation comes from the tailored experience they provide for a particular marketplace, rather than some product features or service deliverables. In an experience economy, where salespeople are selling products and services similar to their competitors, it is the sales experience that differentiates both the salesperson and the offering. In other words it is not what you sell but how you sell it that matters. But the fundamental of sales has not changed. As in previous eras, in order to add value, salespeople need to alter their prospect’s criteria of purchase. Simply explaining benefits or selling solutions will no longer achieve this. INSIGHT SELLING Today, salespeople need to provide “insight” to their prospects. By insight I mean an “aha” moment. The brief period that makes someone stop and think; the moment when they hear a consideration or view that they were previously unaware of. This could be a profound new insight, or it could be a small detail. By providing new insights, a salesperson disrupts their prospect’s thinking. It forces them to reconsider their criteria of purchase, which is when “real selling” can take place and genuine value can be added. When a prospect feels they have all the bases ISMM.CO.UK
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SE L L I N G I S N OT D EAD YET
It is now common parlance in sales and marketing circles that 57% of a typical business-to-business purchase decision is made before a customer even talks to a supplier. The figure comes from research by the Corporate Executive Board, and also informed the now famous book, The Challenger Sale, in which it is used by the authors to pronounce the “death of solution selling”. Here’s what they said in a Harvard Business Review blog post:
“A recent Corporate Executive Board study of more than 1,400 B2B customers found that those customers completed, on average, nearly 60% of a typical purchasing decision – researching solutions, ranking options, setting requirements, benchmarking pricing, and so on – before even having a conversation with a supplier. In this world the celebrated ‘solution sales rep’ can be more of an annoyance than an asset. Customers in an array of industries, from IT to insurance to business process outsourcing, are often way ahead of the salespeople who are ‘helping’ them.” Now, there are two key words here and they are ‘on average’. The problem is that many people have taken the 57% figure and applied it
GRANT LEBOFF is a writer, speaker and strategist on sales and marketing and CEO of consultancy Sticky Marketing Club. His fourth book, Digital Selling, is published by Kogan Page. Visit: www.stickymarketing.com
as a blanket assertion that all buyers are likely to be in this position, and so there should be fundamental changes to sales and marketing processes. In fact, the figure has gradually crept higher and the number of buyers who are a long way forward in their purchasing decision is now routinely touted as being 60-70%. It has put the frighteners on a lot of salespeople, who think they have to beat prospects in the race to settling on their needs, as so many look to be doing so, or give up and start trying to service customers who have largely made up their minds. Meanwhile companies had better be ramping up their digital marketing strategies to maximise the chances of buyers preferring their offerings. But does this picture tell the whole story? It way well do so in relatively simple transactional deals, but many experts challenge this notion that prospects are merrily pressing on without salesperson engagement, at least in more complex B2B situations. Further exploration of both sides of the argument can be found in the November/December 2014 edition of Winning Edge. Marc Beishon
covered, and that they have done their research, even a small disruption can have a positive effect. In this scenario, a salesperson is perceived as adding value. This means providing prospects with real insights. While the offering may be similar to others, the insight can make an invaluable difference. Customers in this scenario are not buying what you do but how it is delivered. It is the experience of working with the business that is valuable and sets the offering apart from the competition. Delivering insight is not easy. In many ways, it makes selling a more strategic discipline than in previous generations. Insight should come from the experts within an organisation. It should also emerge from senior management and the board. Marketing can also work on research and strive to provide insights. Meanwhile, today’s successful salespeople need to be truly knowledgeable with regard to both the products and services they offer and the markets in which they work. Gone are the days of salespeople paying lip service to being industry experts and consultants. In the digital world, this has become a reality. WINNING EDGE 45
27/10/2016 11:34
FEATURE | PROPOSALS
CLASSIC SALES SPEAK SARAH HINCHLIFFE explores how the ancient art of public oratory can help you build more compelling proposals
ethos is the impression you create through your communication – for example whether you show care, consideration and commitment. An often-quoted speech that demonstrates ethical appeal is Barack Obama’s presidential candidate’s address at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on 28 August 2008. It exudes authority and conviction: “I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.”
It is easily possible to create an impression through text. Think of the different styles of, say, Jeffrey Archer and John Steinbeck, or newspapers The Sun and The Times. Here are some simple steps to improve the ristotle created his seminal work, ethical appeal of your business writing: On Rhetoric, over 2,300 years ago. l Use authoritative language: take responsibility It included his theory of the by using “will” not “would”; use the active voice; three persuasive appeals – ethos be clear and concise, avoiding fluffy wording (credibility), pathos (emotion), l Write objectively: show your customers you and logos (logic). This are fair and unbiased – you are seeking to work is still regarded as the bible of solve their problems not just sell for public speaking, but the three the sake of it PROPOSAL appeals can be applied to any form l Include evidence of your GRAPHICS TO of communication. expertise or pedigree: use case SUPPORT ETHOS While we often talk about studies, customer testimonials and l Customer testimonials emotion being the keystone of third party reports. Make these l Mini case studies the early stages of the business relevant and quantified, find the l Third party reports development lifecycle, and logic closest matches, explain what you l Recognised being the keystone of the proposal did, how you did it and the result publications phase, all three appeals apply equally l Ensure your spelling and grammar to proposals – they play to the are accurate: this shows care and emotional and logical aspects of buying attention to detail – and serve as an and the need to provide proof to be convincing. example of the excellence of your deliverables. So, let’s explore each of the three appeals and If you are tempted to think that long, complex how we can bring them to life on the page. words and sentences make you seem more intelligent, think again. Fascinating research by ETHOS psychologist Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton Although ethos is the Greek word for University has proved that people who write “character”, we typically associate it with ethics simply are thought to be smarter and more and think of trust. Indeed, by ethical appeal, trustworthy. Perhaps George Orwell worked that out years ago when he said: “Never use a foreign Aristotle means convincing our audience we are word, a scientific word or a jargon word if you believable, reliable and trustworthy by showing can think of an everyday English equivalent.” that we are of good character. If we dig a little bit deeper, we find extrinsic and intrinsic ethos. PATHOS Extrinsic ethos is your undisputable experience Pathos, the Greek word for both “suffering” and and authority. It is also your reputation, created “experience”, is all about emotion. Think about by what others think and say about you. Intrinsic
A
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empathy – seeing things from the other person’s point of view. We want our audiences to convert to our way of thinking, but we also want to show that we understand their way of thinking. We need to cleverly create a meeting of emotions so there is mutual empathy. Take Winston Churchill’s stirring speech preparing the nation for the Battle of Britain, delivered on 18 June 1940: “What General Weygand has called the Battle of France is over; the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian ISMM.CO.UK
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“By ethical appeal, Aristotle means convincing our audience we are believable, reliable and trustworthy by showing that we are of good character” civilisation. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we WINNING EDGE 47
25/10/2016 18:04
FEATURE | PROPOSALS
fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: This was their finest hour.”
“Mention the customer first and at least as much as you mention yourself. I am constantly amazed at how many proposals never mention the customer at all”
Churchill needed the British people behind him as the war continued, so he painted pictures of the future that roused the emotional response of wanting to remain independent and be champions for the world. Ways to move your proposals toward such an impact include: l Acknowledging that the customer exists: mention them first and at least as much as you mention yourself. I am PROPOSAL constantly amazed at how many GRAPHICS TO proposals never mention the SUPPORT PATHOS customer at all l Photos with people l Appealing to your customer’s l Co-created solutions self-interest and identity: show l Successful demos you understand their objectives and needs (both project and l Before and after shots personal); paint a picture of a journey to a better place together; think how to alleviate their negative emotions of frustration, fear or anxiety l Expressing (appropriate) feeling: try an emotional tone; use vivid and sensory language; include examples, stories or analogies that are likely to evoke emotion l Mirroring your customer: structure your proposal in accordance with their instructions; capture their style; use the same language, words and spellings; write to the same level of sophistication – avoid being clever (remember those simplicity points). A word of warning: although starting your document with “We would like to thank you for this opportunity” or “We are delighted to present our proposal” may sound like stellar examples of pathos, such phrases can sound sycophantic and self-centred, so avoid them at all costs. Focus on your customer and not yourself – re-read the Churchill speech and you’ll see he doesn’t once mention himself, but he gets what he wants. LOGOS Logos is the Greek word for “word” or “reason”. We automatically associate it with “logic”, which is all about how we make sense of things. Hence, Aristotle’s logical appeal is about convincing an audience by use of reasoning. Tony Blair’s Rethinking Leadership for Development speech on 19 October 2011 is a straightforward delivery of facts and figures that succeeds in its aim of making a powerful point: 48 WINNING EDGE
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“To take just one example, free healthcare had been knocking around as an idea in Sierra Leone for decades. And there were even donor resources available to support the reform. Including very generous backing from DfID. But until the government lined up the political will – a clear lead from President Koroma – and the basic systems to manage the reform, nothing happened. Once those things were in place the reform happened at speed. With great results: since free healthcare for mothers and young children was introduced, almost three times as many under-fives were treated in government health facilities than during the previous 12 months, leading to an 80% reduction in child deaths in hospital from malaria, thereby saving thousands of lives.”
Some of you may now be thinking that this appeal is easy – it’s just a question of listing out all your features. Unfortunately, this is often how proposals end up. For a better end result, try: l Linking features to benefits: translate what the feature will do for the customer – what outcome or result will it deliver? And quantify this wherever you can in terms of money, time or other relevant measure. That is the true value you are bringing l Constructing balanced arguments: PROPOSAL cite parallel cases or analogies; GRAPHICS TO “ghost” (disadvantage) your SUPPORT LOGOS competition by setting out different l Graphs and tables designs or approaches with the l Flows and charts pros and cons of each l Photos of solutions l Support features and benefits l Technical diagrams with evidence: use past examples and statistics to provide proof. Use these throughout your proposal as an integral part of your narrative.
SARAH HINCHLIFFE is a director of i4 Consultancy and Design, which focuses on helping companies achieve sales and bid excellence. i4 is a Shipley Ltd Associate. Email sarah@ i4salesperformance.co.uk or visit www.i4salesperformance.co.uk
FINAL CHECKS AND BALANCES If you follow this advice, you should get a good balance of the three appeals throughout your proposal; balance of both quantity and position. It’s fine either to weave all three together or to focus on one for effect, like some of my example speeches. To check your balance, one tip is to highlight the appeals in different colours. There will be some overlap – in particular, evidence can support all three – and clear writing is a must. If you’re short of time, focus on your executive summary, key opening and concluding passages, and strategic or high-scoring sections. Finally, try reading your proposal aloud. Put your best “world leader” hat on and see if you can impress your colleagues with your compelling oratory in the Aristotle style. ISMM.CO.UK
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25/10/2016 19:07
FEATURE | HYPNOSIS
LIE BACK, RELAX AND SELL
Sales hypnotist JON CLARE says hypnosis offers a simple solution to many of the problems commonly faced by sales professionals
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e all want our salespeople to exhibit a range of specific behaviours to help them operate as high performers. For example, we want them to be motivated, savvy, determined, empathetic to customers’ needs and robust to the stresses of meeting targets. We want them to be creative in forming propositions around customer needs, tell engaging stories of product benefits, and persist in the face of regular rejection. In addition, what about them having more discipline in using the CRM system?
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And more resilience when it comes to bouncing back quickly after a big loss? Or better still, meeting the never ending challenges of spending more time listening to their customers, talking less and asking good questions? In combination, the presence of these core sales behaviours – and no doubt there are also a few more – creates high performing salespeople. So when it comes to improving core behaviours like these, what’s the most effective, fastest and easiest approach to achieving lasting change? Believe it or not, it is hypnosis. MODERN HYPNOSIS For those people still mentally stuck in the 1960s, hypnosis may conjure stereotyped images of swinging watches and spiral disks (yawn...). But for those more up to date with modern performance psychology, utilising the power of hypnosis is a growing area of interest for sales leaders in their quest for sales team optimisation. Hypnosis in general is a very safe, credible way to produce behaviour change. So safe, in fact, that it has been tested and approved for use in the NHS as a gold standard treatment. There are no side-effects and the state of hypnosis is simply a naturally occurring phenomenon, which is achievable by almost everyone. Much like a combination of focused attention, daydreaming and meditation, the hypnotic experience is similar to the kind of absorption you get when you are intently watching a film or reading a book without noticing things going on around you. Whether for performance enhancement or simply stress reduction, when provided by an experienced hypnotist, everyone can gain benefit from using hypnosis. More broadly, hypnosis for performance enhancement has come a long way towards wide scale credibility and many of the world’s most recognised high performers, particularly in sports, have regularly and publicly leveraged hypnosis for its behaviour change and performance enhancement capabilities. In football, they include stars like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney, in golf, Tiger Woods, and in basketball, legends like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. All have gone on record as using hypnosis to up their game and gain an edge over the competition. They have each used the flexibility of hypnosis to address specific challenges for their own unique needs, unblock stubborn ISMM.CO.UK
26/10/2016 09:40
HYPNOSIS | FEATURE
WHAT S A LE S PE O PLE S AY
Sales professionals who have undergone hypnotherapy – or who have put their team through such a course – comment: “I feel more determined, motivated and excited to get out there and sell than I have for a long time” Lee, sales executive, online advertising agency “After seeing the initial results of sales hypnosis with three of our sales team, we are now considering deploying this approach to all our salespeople” Simon, owner and sales director, estate agent chain “My team have all had sales hypnosis sessions and some of their day-to-day changes and improvements to performance have been really amazing” Nathan, sales director, new media company
Source: Jon Clare
behavioural sticking points and embed new, lasting and more effective habits. There is a reason why most of these sporting greats have had longer careers at the top than most – and some of their success and longevity may have something to do with their use of hypnosis. HYPNOSIS FOR SALES So what is hypnosis for sales performance and how does it work? Hypnosis is a pleasant state of mind, where the recipient chooses to relax and switch off their critical thinking. Contrary to public perception, they remain in total control throughout the session and the hypnotist exerts no mystical power over them. Simply, it is a well tried and tested process that calmly assists the recipient to drift into a day-dream like state, much like the experience just before going to sleep. Although hypnosis is not sleep, it is a state of altered awareness, with the primary focus on the hypnotist’s voice and the suggestions given. For sales hypnosis, the hypnotist will have a solid understanding of sales, the sales process and the behavioural characteristics required for successful selling. Often the hypnotist will be an ex-salesperson themselves, now trained to help using hypnosis. The process starts with a discussion and exploration with the salesperson – and perhaps even with their manager – of what might be holding the salesperson back or what might benefit them. One or two key behavioural change goals are defined and agreed. Then the hypnosis session begins with a combination of relaxation, breathing and attention-focusing exercises, each designed to ISMM.CO.UK
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help enable the participant to become less aware of their external surroundings and more aware of their own internal sensations, thoughts and feelings. Once in a calm, focused state of mind, the hypnotist delivers suggestions for positive behaviour change on the sales behaviour topics agreed beforehand. After a short while, the hypnotist instructs the recipient to slowly awaken and return their awareness back into the present moment, feeling refreshed, motivated, enthused and subconsciously ready to implement the new behaviours. The structure of these sessions is repeated with the salesperson a number of times to ensure that the behaviours are embedded and that the desired progress is being made. Repetition supports and embeds sustainable behaviour change, confirming the old adage, “You get what you focus on.” In addition to the work done in the session, the hypnotist will also suggest self-hypnosis exercises to strengthen the behaviour changes over time.
“For everyone who tries hypnosis, for whatever reason, the most frequent feedback is that they are pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the experience is” These exercises might be completed at home using mobile technology or may be behavioural anchors that are used in the office. Anchors are physical actions like a finger and thumb squeeze, which are connected to reminding and bringing the new behaviours to the front of mind. Hypnosis can also involve group sessions, where it is explained to the whole sales team and self-hypnosis exercises for motivation, stress management and self-discipline are trained. For everyone who tries hypnosis, for whatever reason, the most frequent feedback is that they are pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the experience is. Plus, when they get back to selling, the results can be very impressive.
JON CLARE is an independent sales hypnotist who partners with the London College of Clinical Hypnosis (LCCH) to deliver ‘Hypnosis for Sales’. Email: info@lcch.co.uk with the reference: ‘Hypnosis for Sales’
MAKE A DIFFERENCE Using a proportion of your sales development budget to provide sales hypnosis could prove to be a wise investment. Start small, perhaps by trying it yourself first. Then work with a test group and watch the results. See how powerful it can be to do something different that really gives you a sales edge over the competition. WINNING EDGE 51
26/10/2016 09:40
FEATURE | TECHNICAL SALES
THE BEST OF BOTH IAIN HARVEY describes how to ensure both technical expertise and commercial flair in your sales team
IAIN HARVEY is a consultant with Mercuri International, a global sales training and sales performance consultancy. Visit www.mercuri.co.uk or call 0330 900 0800.
52 WINNING EDGE
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l Clearly
“My organisation sells technical products, often complex and with a long sales cycle. We usually recruit technical experts (internally or externally) into sales because that’s what we’ve always done and we think that’s what our customers expect. But these people often struggle to adapt because the skill sets required for technical experts and salespeople are vastly different. Being methodical and analytical is important for technicians and engineers, so expecting them to be entrepreneurial and adaptable, as the best salespeople are, leads to underperformance, frustration and ultimately causes them to leave.” If you recognise this situation, you are not alone. Indeed, it is one of the most common issues our clients ask us to help them with – should we employ proven salespeople or technical experts? Therein lies a central problem, that it is often seen as a binary choice – to recruit either one or the other. So why does this happen? Our experience leads us to recognise two main factors. First, that the kind of people recruited is strongly influenced by the person who is running the business or team. They recruit in their own image, meaning that salespeople look to bring in salespeople and engineers look for engineers. Second, when complex products are sold, technically inclined business leaders assume the buyers are very often experts themselves. They fear that if salespeople do not demonstrate a high level of knowledge they, and by extension we, will lack credibility and our prospective customers will look elsewhere. On the other hand, managers from a sales background fear losing sales because overly complex, technical pitches will frustrate customers. We have a classic Catch-22 that many organisations fail to tackle. But it doesn’t always have to be this way. There are some practical steps that can be taken to ensure the optimum combination of technical expertise and commercial flair in your sales team:
define roles Sales engineer, applications specialist, technical sales, and product support – the variety of job titles in customer-facing roles alone is mindboggling and can often be used to justify arguments along the lines of, “I didn’t realise that was part of my job”. If people are expected to contribute to the sales effort, then make sure this is clearly defined with proper objectives and measurements put in place. Make people accountable for their performance and incentivise them properly. l Have a trainable, uniform sales process Common ground between sales and technical people lies in following a set of clearly defined processes to solve a problem. So if you put in place a logical and, crucially, trainable sales process then everyone should be comfortable with it, albeit they will be executing it in their own personal style. It also facilitates team selling so you can pair engineers with sales experts in business development or account management and so optimise your talent pool. l Get the blend right The most successful teams never comprise people with the same skill set. There is no rule that says you must exclusively employ either engineers or sales experts. Build a team with both and get them working with each other. l Conduct proper assessments Too many appointments into critical, revenue generating roles are based solely on face-to-face interviews, often with gut feel as the deciding factor. All too often, someone already working for the organisation, with a good reputation and known as likeable and dependable, gets the nod. This is not sufficient. Psychometric testing can give a clear indication of attitude and motivation and a robust competence analysis can give a reliable view as to aptitude. Put candidates into a realistic, observed business simulation and see how they perform under pressure. Once you have a clear, objective profile of capability and confidence you can make an informed decision on whether someone is right for the role. l Invest in development Both technical knowledge and selling skills can be improved by training, so if your team is in place but you are not getting the results you want, don’t accept the status quo. The assessment tools mentioned above can also be used on your existing people as part of a training needs analysis to identify and then address skills, knowledge, attitude and aptitude gaps. ISMM.CO.UK
25/10/2016 18:42
APPOINTMENTS
CAREER LINES Jon Miller | R E D E E M Redeem, a mobile phone “recommerce” services company with a number of global operations, has brought in Jon Miller as UK managing director. He bring more than 20 years’ experience in the telecoms industry, joining from the sales director’s post at Brightstar, said to be the largest specialised mobile distributor in the world, where he headed up all UK services. Redeem says it has transitioned from a UK recycling firm into Europe’s leading mobile phone recommerce services business, as traditional two year mobile contracts are now on their way out.
Andy Heather | C E N TR I F Y Centrify, which says it’s a leader in “securing enterprise identities against cyberthreats”, has strengthened its EMEA leadership team with Andy Heather as managing director for the region. Heather was at HP where he led its EMEA data security team and has over 25 years of IT experience in sales, sales management, engineering and professional services. He looks to be one of the UK IT industry’s sales veterans, having also held senior sales management roles at Tripwire, Affiniti, Opsware, NetApp, Sun Microsystems and IBM. Centrify’s European HQ is in Bracknell.
Nicola Carr-Mathews | LOL A
ROSE
Jewellery brand Lola Rose has appointed its first managing director in Nicola Carr-Mathews at a crucial time, as it is expanding across international sales channels and extending product categories. That leaves founder Nikki Gerwitz time to focus on the creative side of the business. Carr-Mathews is said to brings a wealth of commercial experience from roles at Karen Millen, Ilovegorgeous, Hobbs, LK Bennett and The Gap. She gets glowing reviews for sales and merchandising experience, “exceptional commercial awareness” and “boundless enthusiasm for her work “. The shareholders of Lola Rose have also appointed a non-executive chairman, Andy Ware, to provide support to the executive team as the brand seeks to develop.
Rachel Thompson
Ton Christiaanse
JAGUAR LAND ROVER
BRA KES
Rachel Thomspon has stepped up to run sales operations and planning in Jaguar Land Rover’s largest global market, with the UK sales volume expected to hit more than 100,000 in 2016. She’s been national sales manager for Jaguar, and before that held positions at Audi, Volkswagen and Ford. Thompson joins a number of female Jaguar Land Rover employees in senior positions, with 20 being named in Autocar’s Top 100 Great British Women in the Car Industry earlier this year.
Foodservice supplier, Brakes, has hired a UK CEO with a lot of sales, marketing and business turnaround expertise in Ton Christiaanse, who’s been at Unilever, Farm Frites and Vion, and most recently chairman of AK Stoddart, a Scottish beef processor. He also ran European sales and marketing for Chiquita. Brakes itself has been swallowed recently by Sysco, a giant, $50 billion American foodservice player, but will remain as a wholly owned subsidiary. Brakes Group is pretty large too with a £3.3 billion turnover in 2015.
A PPO I N T M ENT S EX T RA l RICHARD BRADBURY has accepted the UK MD’s post at Hitachi
Data Systems, joining from SAS where he was channels director.
l JIM HANNIBAL has taken his substantial financial services
technology sales experience to Gresham, as European sales director.
l JON CHAMBERLAIN is the new national sales manager at
Marshall-Tufflex, a global cable management player.
l DEBORAH DODSON is now EMEA channels director at security
player LogRhythm, moving from HP’s Aruba business line.
Zak Ford | OR A N G E
A M PL I F I C ATI O N
Zak Ford has joined Orange Amplification as UK sales manager, moving from Gear4Music where he spent five years as senior guitar and bass buyer. He’s a long time fan and player of Orange equipment. The company is said to be one of the most recognised British brands in the global music industry and can be found on the world’s biggest stages. It has also picked up three Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in International Trade. Orange has also secured the services of ZZ Top guitar hero Billy Gibbons as an ambassador for one of its guitar pedals – perhaps the sales team will all start growing beards, like Ford, to get in the blues-rock groove.
ISMM.CO.UK
53 Career Lines V1 .indd 3
l PAUL MERCER has become the first UK and European account
manager for TropiClean, a US provider of pet grooming products.
N EW JO B? Have you moved job or taken up a new professional role in sales and marketing say at a chamber of commerce or charity? Send us the details, including where you moved from, what your key achievements have been and anything else you do that’s fantastic. Email: magazine@ismm.co.uk
WINNING EDGE 53
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DIRECTORY | SALES TRAINING AND CONSULTANTS
THE DIRECTORY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
BRUCE KING An inspiring and unique combination of sales and motivational strategies, presented worldwide. T: 01923 859977 E: bruceking@bruceking.co.uk W: www.bruceking.co.uk
CAROLE SPIERS
The Directory is a ‘one-stop-shop’ for finding top sales trainers and consultants – so if you offer sales training or consultancy, it’s the ideal place to be seen. Call +44 (0)203 626 0270 today to secure your entry in print and online ANDY HANSELMAN A business expert, who helps businesses and their people to ‘Think in 3D’! Dramatically and Demonstrably Different. T: 01142 434666 E: andy@andyhanselman.com W: www.andyhanselman.com
ANDY PRESTON A cold calling expert, sales trainer and motivational speaker who is guaranteed to light up your conference, meeting or event.
T: 0845 130 6779 E: via the website: W: www.outstanding-results.co.uk
BID BETTER Working with both small and medium-sized enterprises and multinationals in different sectors and achieving a three out of four bid-win success rate for clients. T: Philip Norman on 01202 237506 E: info@bid-better.co.uk W: www.bid-better.co.uk
A leading motivational speaker and provider of employee counselling, stress management training, workplace bullying awareness training and employee wellbeing services. T: 020 8954 1593 E: info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk W: www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk
CLARIFY Specialist business development for enterprise technology and services organisations with high value business propositions. T: 01189 126800 E: info@clarify-uk.com W: www.clarify-uk.com
DESTINATION INNOVATION Book Paul Sloane to speak at your conference or to give high-level training on sales, innovation and leadership. T: 07831 112321 E: info@destination-innovation.com W: www.destination-innovation.com
FINESSE SALES TRAINING Sustainable results, passion, motivation, positivity, belief, measurement, leadership, sales process, aftersales, customer service, new media sales, attitudes, coaching, international sales. Degrees T: 01234 381199 at Work E: info@finessesalestraining.co.uk W: www.finessesalestraining.co.uk
GRAHAM PHELPS Endorsed by
BA (Hons) Sales The UK’s FIRST online sales degree
Graham Phelps is among the UK’s most experienced and expert sales and customer service trainers, working regularly with the ISMM for over 15 years. T: 020 8133 2629 / 07515 851691 E: contact@grahamphelps.com W: www.grahamphelps.com www.in-house-training.com www.brilliantcustomerservice.com
HUTHWAITE INTERNATIONAL Helping businesses across the world transform their sales performance, delivering long-term results through behavioural change. T: 01709 710081 E: webinfo@huthwaite.co.uk W: www.huthwaite.co.uk
IAN SEGAIL One of Australia’s and New Zealand’s leading strategists and coaches on sales performance management and author of Bullet Proof Your Sales Team. E: ians@bulletproofyoursalesteam.com W: www.salesmanagerprofits.com
I4 SALES PERFORMANCE Focused on helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) achieve bid excellence. i4 is a Shipley Business Partner. T: Sarah Hinchliffe on 07854 051979 E: sarah@i4salesperformance.co.uk W: www.i4salesperformance.co.uk
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT LTD (LDL) Sales and leadership consulting. Emphasis on ‘skill+will’. Full-time consultants. 500,000 people trained. High energy learning that delivers. T: 020 7381 6233 E: learning@ldl.co.uk W: www.ldl.co.uk
LESLEY EVERETT An international authority and coach on personal branding. Keynote speaker, columnist, media personality and author of ‘Walking TALL: Key steps to total image impact’. T: 01344 427977 E: lesley@walking tall.org W: www.lesleyeverett.com
LINKS DEVELOPMENT We specialise in helping clients to grow the capability of their sales teams in complex B2B environments. T: 020 7193 6371 E: info@linksdev.net W: www.linksdev.net
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MIDLANDS SALES ACADEMY Improve your sales and management skills, working with other forward thinking sales professionals who want to be better. T: 01782 617132 E: colin@midlandsleadership.co.uk W: www.midlandsleadership.co.uk
1
T: 0800 170 7777 E: more.info@reedlearning.co.uk W: www.reedlearning.co.uk
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The leader and innovator in sales execution, we help businesses grow profitable sales through our easily repeatable methodologies. T: 01908 211212 E: ukinfo@millerheiman.com W: www.millerheiman.com
We are sales recruitment, training and development experts. We are a recognised ISMM centre and through our newly launched ‘Accolade’ service provide professional sales qualifications benchmarked to recognised standards of excellence. T: 0843 636 7037 E: enquiries@pareto.co.uk W: www.pareto.co.uk
Our 100% online approach to ISMM-accredited sales training means you can transform your skillset and earn qualifications at your own pace, and cost-effectively. T: 01753 840331 E: hello@salessuperstars.net W: www.salessuperstars.net
Enabling you to drive sales and business growth in today’s competitive marketplace. Offering award-winning face-to-face and online sales training, coaching and consulting. T: 0845 371 3099 E: info@sterlingchase.com W: www.sterlingchase.com
MTD SALES TRAINING
PROFESSIONAL ACADEMY
SBR CONSULTING
STEVE HEAD
We specialise in B2B and B2C telephone and retail sales training, working with a wide variety of clients, both large and small, in the UK and internationally. T: 0800 849 6732 E: enquiries@mtdsalestraining.com W: www.mtdsalestraining.com
The World’s leading provider of marketing courses, digital marketing courses, sales courses and management and leadership courses. We have 6 UK study centres and are accredited to deliver all levels of ISMM qualifications. T: 0844 800 5256 E: enquiries@professionalacademy.com W: www.professionalacademy.com
A regular Winning Edge contributor, we specialise in sales transformation, customer experience and go-to-market strategies, working with all customer-facing teams. T: 0845 873 3939 E: info@sbrconsulting.com W: www.sbrconsulting.com
Helping you ‘deliver more with less’. One of the most dynamic, engaging and impactful sales presenters in the UK. T: 01635 523540 / 07774 110937 E: steve@headstart-uk.com W: www.stevehead.co.uk
SOLUTIONS2SUCCESS
An International business training specialist, providing open, in-company and bespoke sales, marketing, finance and management courses. T: 01923 897900 E: info@tack.co.uk W: www.tack.co.uk
MILLER HEIMAN
NIGEL RISNER
E: olivia@oliviastefanino.com W: www.oliviastefanino.com
PARETO LAW
Interactive presentations that allow people in their organisations to grow, communicate more effectively, improve their teamwork, boosting business performance. T: 020 8447 1732 E: nigel@nigelrisner.com W: www.nigelrisner.com
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A proven formula which inspires sales and service personnel to generate incremental profits by increasing average transaction values. T: 01159 333480 E: info@profitbox.co.uk W: www.profitbox.co.uk
We are an ISMM-endorsed Centre specialising in an extensive range of B2B tailored in-house sales training courses. We operate across a wide range of sectors, working with large to small organisations to help them enhance sales performance and business growth. T: 0161 885 2451 E: info@solutions2success.co.uk W: www.solutions2success.co.uk
SPEAK FIRST A global, communication skills, staff training and coaching company with a reputation for being innovative, flexible and reliable.
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WILSON LEARNING WORLDWIDE Sales performance experts of choice for leading organisations across the globe. Offering a proven portfolio of sales excellence solutions. T: 01494 678121 E: info@wilsonlearning.co.uk W: www.wilsonlearning.com
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ISMM MEMBER PROFILE
LEAD GENERATOR Winning Edge meets the co-founder of CommuniGator, LEE CHADWICK What is your current role? I’m managing director of CommuniGator, a provider of digital marketing software and services, specialising in marketing automation. We work with clients to help develop marketing strategies, then implement go-to-market plans using digital means where possible to achieve these goals. We ensure key measurables are in play so that we hit our objectives. What originally attracted you to a career in sales and how did you get started? When I left university, sales was the place to be. The money was good, you could get a company car and the more successful you were, the more you could make of yourself. After working for a number of high-profile IT companies that I won’t name, I found myself realising that I could make sales smarter. Sure, it’s easy enough to sell to someone when you have the skills. However, making a business’s sales process smarter was a whole new challenge. That’s why, in 2003, I co-founded CommuniGator and designed the tools to generate and nurture new business opportunities. What do you like about the role? Successful sales is all about squeezing the most out of every opportunity and I enjoy that challenge. I’m always grilling our sales and technical teams on how we can make the sales process simpler, smoother and smarter for our clients. What do you like least? Sales professionals that don’t qualify their leads or promote best practices. I’ve spent my entire career fine-tuning sales processes ahead of time and those that are too slow to keep up can get on my nerves. I always like to keep pushing new boundaries and I want the best in class alongside me when I do. What’s changing in your industry? Now that lead generation technology is making a name for itself in the marketplace, the key change is teaching businesses not to focus on just that one area alone. We’ve spent so long driving that information into their sales pipelines that now the focus needs to shift. Sales and marketing must consider how to drive their website lead generation continuously, with effective email marketing and marketing automation tools. Combining these three elements is my next area of focus. 56 WINNING EDGE
56 Member profile V4.indd 2
What are your biggest challenges and future ambitions? As a salesperson who works in the technology sector, I think the biggest – and most apparent – challenge is keeping up with the constant changes and addressing the evolving demands of consumers and businesses. Customer expectations require us to adapt sales and marketing processes and then adapt the technology too. Ideally, I’d like every business to use a technology platform to improve their sales pipeline and that’s where I see the future of sales going.
“I’d like every business to use a technology platform to improve their sales pipeline and that’s where I see the future of sales going” What sales skills do you think are most important to your role? Negotiation, both internally and externally – but internally more, actually. I have to negotiate with key internal stakeholders who have their own visions and goals, and align them with those of the business. It’s the hardest job, but it’s essential when you have a high-performing company. You have to have the best of the best by your side and temper their reach to make sure the end goal is as simple and effective as possible. What have been the highlights of your career so far? Well that’s simple. It has been any time I’ve seen CommuniGator move from strength to strength. I think being in sales for so long, I jumped to lead generation and website analytics ahead of its time. To be the provider that everyone now turns to for expertise has definitely given me – and the company – an edge. Our recent win at the British Excellence in Sales & Management Awards (BESMA) for Sales Innovation probably highlighted that better than I could put into words. What one piece of advice would you give to others who aspire to a career in sales? Qualify, qualify, qualify! If you want to become a successful salesperson, you need to know how to qualify leads the right way. There’s no point going through the sales process only to close a deal that doesn’t work for both businesses. I can’t think of a better best practice to promote to anyone in sales. ISMM.CO.UK
25/10/2016 18:31
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achieving your goal, together.
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