Archive for March, 2009

DON’T BE CUTE! (or stupid)

Monday, March 30th, 2009

There are two recent events that stick in my mind, one of which I am proud and one of which I am ashamed. The ashamed one is that my email Inbox has 3787 messages going back to 2006. Probably 2/3 are no longer necessary to keep for even the most paranoid of reasons while the others can be archived for that “just in case” day that seldom (if ever) comes.

We regularly clear the clutter from our desks and offices just to keep the workplace “workable” and we should do the same for our virtual workspace. Your email repository gives you the opportunity to file messages in discrete folders to keep the clutter in control. I learned this at a trade show education session and, until today, it changed my life. It will do so again, after I finish weeding out my Inbox.

I will file much of my correspondence (for those “just in case” days) into folders that will collect like minded messages in a drawer that I will label with a name that will stump me next month. For example, I will put the serial number emails from software purchases in either “Software” or “Registration” and will promptly forget which is which. That will give me the opportunity to look at both when I need to reenter a number in a reinstall, later this lifetime. Well, no system is perfect.

The “proud of” is that I have deleted my cutesy phone number references from my database. I received a name and address update from a company that spelled out the last four numbers because it is their name. Looking as hard as I could, I simply could not find the letter “P” on my cell phone dialing pad. Yes, I know that my wife has the letters listed on her cutesy little flip phone but my ‘berry doesn’t.

I am no longer printing cute little numbers (i.e. XXX-97W-ISCH) on my business cards and stationary, or in my email signatures. It is a sign of no longer being a dinosaur in the modern age. I am throwing a bone to the fact that 67% of business calls are done by cell phone and I want to be in contact with people who want to call me.

Gosh, I feel better! I have moved one step closer to “1984” when we are all known by our number. Soon I won’t be Wisch any longer… I’ll be “27641” and you will be able to call me on my cell phone!

Now go clean up your act!

Happy Selling!

(visit our Blog on how to sell TradeNet products: TradeNet Ideas! for practical uses of sales philosophy!

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Sunday Tip

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

Not really a tip but a suggestion. As you take your shower tomorrow, sell yourself something that is already in your tub. Shampoo, razor, conditioner, lufa… whatever. Take 30 seconds to craft a selling pitch and SAY IT OUT LOUD. Then think about the process and Have a Great Day!

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Have you lost your touch?

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

Are you ever so inappropriate that other salespeople cringe when they see or hear you? If you are not getting the results you believe you should, perhaps you should examine your actions instead of your prospects’ responses.

I spent a few hours at the Farmers Market this week. As I sat with a friend who is also a salespeople, we cringed while listened to the worst salesman to ever attempt the job. I am not exaggerating. He was so bad it was painful to listen to him alienate and irritate prospects. He made not a single sale and it was obvious to a casual listener why this was the case.

This guy was selling “green” cleaning products and his sales pitch was abominable and completely unbelievable. He led with the statement that NASA funded 64 billion dollars in research that led to the formula of his product. 64 billion dollars; yeah, right. And he got the product!

If you didn’t stop and listen, he remarked that you were stupid.

Yeah, right…

While that was depressing, the really discouraging thing was that he was “training” his partner and a salesperson prospect in the fine points of selling his product. His sales pitch was inappropriate, his behavior was inappropriate and he cast a cloud on our honorable profession.

Recently, I asked a good friend to come with me on some sales calls and carefully watch and listen to my process and delivery. She has been a frequent role model in my life and recently retired from a sales career at the age of 54. She is a great judge of the process and a great resource when you want to know what is happening as you are selling.

She made some very cogent observations that included my talking too much (typical), failing to listen carefully to questions (also typical) and bowling over an opportunity to close (darn… even more typical) What she didn’t criticize was my empathy (good) and my desire to innumerate features and benefits that are meaningful to my customer.

The reason I asked her to observe me was that I started experiencing a drop in closure rates from previous months. It was not due to the economy. It was due to my failure to stay true to my training.

If you are working harder but having less success, don’t just blindly attribute it to the economy. Maybe it is time for you to take a look at what you do and how you’re doing it.

Happy Selling!
Nowell

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Working The Roll

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

I have been exploring new avenues for my products. It has been a most interesting exercise and one that found me at my computer at 6 am and still at my computer at 5pm. Long days are the norm, not the exception.

My longest day ended because my tush gave up, not because my effort waned. I would have continued researching prospects for a few more hours had my tush and hip not required a Vicodin to alleviate the pain. My long attention span was the result of a coffee load that had me wired. I was drinking regular instead of decaf because I violated my “no regular after 3pm rule” instead of sticking to the plan.

I didn’t want to do this. I fully intended to knock off at 4pm because I believe that a ten hour workday is sufficient if you have accomplished your goal for the day. But I was on “A Roll”.

My goal is to speak to ten prospects a day who request samples. This day I hit my goal at the 5 hour mark. I kept going because “Rolls” don’t happen frequently in this economy. I firmly believe that a roll should be respected Work “The Roll” or lose “The Roll”. If you lose “The Roll” you have to work twice as hard to resurrect “The Roll” later. This is the fundamental rule of rolls.

My mistake, however, was heeding the drop in my productivity. Had I continued to work the roll by collecting data instead of working the phone when I was tired and getting cranky, I might have made better use of the time and had more success.

Knowing when to stop talking applies to prospecting as well as selling. If you know that you are losing the edge, just stop working the list. Keep acquiring names for the list but call them tomorrow, not today. Respect “The Rules of The Roll” and win tomorrow as well as today. Don’t keep selling when you lose the edge.

This is not the same as perseverance. You can persevere by continuing to do research. You show good judgement by knowing when to stop when you are ineffective.

Learn the difference and win again another day.

Happy Selling!
nowell

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“Selling” has changed forever.

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

March 5, 2009

I awoke yesterday and, after having my coffee and performing my usual pre-workday ritual, fired up the computer while humming a happy tune. My happy tune screeched to a halt when the desktop appeared with snippets of financial, political and market news all trumpeting the continuation of the “New Reality” and the “New World Order”.

Isn’t the guvmint supposed to have fixed this? We threw a couple of trillion dollars on the wall and some of it should have stuck to us, shouldn’t it?

Well, no… it has not. The reason is that we are in the creation stage of the “New World Order” and it isn’t clear what direction we should take. One thing is clear, however. Life as we knew it is over. Yes, I know that we hear that a lot but it is true and it is scary. If we are to have the kind of life we were used to living as a sales professional, we have to change with the times.

While those in power like to throw around the concept of “training our citizens” to be able to cope with the information economy, one thing is unchanged. Those who can, will, and those who cannot had better practice asking “Would you like fries with that?”

As sales professionals, we are better positioned to change our activities and find those opportunities that present themselves. We do, however, have to learn some new skills. This was driven home to me by an email from Jason Black, the CEO of fast growing Boundless Network in Austin, Texas. (http://www.boundlessnetwork.com)

Jason said, “In this economy, the power within a company has shifted from marketing to procurement. The folks in our organization that are significantly increasing their sales in this market are the ones targeting the CFO’s and Procurement groups.

“It will require a “non product” value proposition and one more focused on a business process (business metrics, ROI and be clearly measurable to a revenue target).

“I would strongly advise sales folks to read as many supply chain white papers, procurement white papers, etc… and get a clear picture of the “language’ of these folks… as it is a different “sell” requiring a different strategy/approach.”

If we want to be selling into the next decade, our “different strategy/approach” had better become a priority or we will be found covered in cob webs with a phone beside us, looking like a cartoon dead person. We have to join the rest of the world and develop some new skills and techniques for survival. If we want to get the orders that still exist we need to hop on the Internet, grab a few trade magazines and read some books on what other professions do. Buyers won’t like it if we sound like idiots when we sit down in their office.

The “New World Order” is all about looking under more rocks for business to crawl out. Those opportunities will present themselves in finance and administration as well as marketing, safety and sales. The material we need to learn includes social networking programs, text messaging, and better email procedures.

This blog will focus on those things for the next few weeks.

Happy Selling!

Nowell

Thursday Tip: Steal magazines. When you are waiting in the lobby for your appointment, look for trade journals. Their ads are the fastest way to “learn the lingo” of the profession. Return it on your next call.

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