Ed Albertson
Vice President - National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
“See, when we first started letting customers review books, some publishers were startled by this, because, of course, customers give both positive and negative reviews. I got letters from publishers in the early days, some quite hostile, saying, ‘Don't you understand your own business? You make money when you sell books. Why would you allow negative reviews?’ The reason is because it's helping customers make a purchase decision, which creates real value for customers. You know, making a bad purchase decision isn't just a waste of the money you spent on the product; it's a waste of your life. If you buy a book, you may spend $20 on the book, but you're going to spend ten hours of your life, that's a big deal.”
Business Week interview with Jeff Bezos (founder, president, CEO and chairman of the board of Amazon.com) on March 16, 1999 (http://www.businessweek.com/ebiz/9903/316bezos.htm)
I felt it was worth committing an entire paragraph to this decade-old vignette about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com because the story captures the true spirit of selling in the 21st Century. The irony of that story appearing during the last year of the twentieth century could not have been more significant, unless it had appeared on New Year’s Eve, 1999. With the arrival of the new century, the art and science of selling fundamentally changed forever and there is no going back.
To be effective and successful, sales professionals must become that trusted advisor to their customers. Sales professionals need to be singularly focused on helping their customers make wise buying decisions. Such a focus earns us the right and privilege to be consulted on customer buying decisions in a way that yields more than short-term profits. Such a focus delivers long-term, healthy relationships.
Trusted advisor sales professionals will find themselves in Preferred Position with their customers, able to influences customer specifications and decision criteria. Trusted advisor sales professionals also find that their customer typically comes to them first as the source of choice. And in the inevitable event of a problem or mistake, the customer of the trusted advisor sales professional is more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt or a second chance. Finally, as a trusted advisor sales professional, you’ll set the standard by which all other competitors are judged -- a truly enviable position.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful New Year!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Taming the Email Beast
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
While consulting with several managers over the last few weeks, a common concern emerged around the rise of email or texting as a primary means of communication and all the problems that accompany that evolution. Here is a breakdown of some of the most common problems associated with web based communication, as well as helpful remedies for each:
PROBLEM: LOSS OF CONTEXT - When reading or writing an email, we typically assign a “tone of voice” in our heads, which frames the context of the communication. At Carew we call this being in your own “odds are.” You are choosing to assign the “tone of voice” to either what you write or what you read, without any way to insure the message is being received in the same “tone” as it was written. Have you ever experienced anger while reading an email, then fired off a response in the “same tone” in which you interpreted the original communication, only to later wish you could retract the email?
SOLUTION: Any time you sense anger in an email you receive, break the chain immediately. Pick up the telephone and discuss the situation in person. If you are sending an email that could in any way be construed in a negative tone, carefully consider the words you choose for maximum clarity or, once again, consider picking up the phone and discussing the subject in person. When communicating informally or with other employees, a symbol such as a smiley face or the infamous “LOL” can help lighten the tone and diffuse potential misunderstandings.
PROBLEM: “REPLY TO ALL” - This is a real pet peeve of mine. In a recent discussion, a group of managers stated that as much as 20% of their email is irrelevant communication in which the sender chose “reply to all” versus just replying. This is particularly bothersome to me when I keep getting copied on every leg on an ongoing, online discussion. Even if I don’t read them, I still have to take the time to sort through the inbox and delete the “replies to all.” Folks who over use “reply to all” need to consider two things. First, wasting the time of busy professionals with excess emails is annoying and shows a lack of business savvy. Second, every time you send extraneous email, you undermine the credibility of all future, valid emails you will send. Don’t be the guy/gal who copies everybody on everything. If you want to see the full potential impact of this dilemma, check out the article in this link.
SOLUTION: Let the people you work with know that unless there is a very relevant reason why they need to copy everyone on e-mail responses, DON’T! Assure them no one will feel left out or less important because they aren’t copied on all communications. In an ongoing online discussion, consider whether you need to “reply to all” on every installment, or just provide a recap of the final decision or outcome. Better yet, enact company policy to provide guidelines to this practice.
PROBLEM: PASS THE MONKEY: One of the most reproduced articles of all time from the Harvard Business Review is one entitled “Management Time: Who’s got the Monkey?” by William Oncken Jr. and Donald L. Wass. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it as a great article on the power of delegation and how to keep your subordinates’ “monkeys” (responsibilities) from jumping onto your back. Although the article, originally written in 1974, is as relevant today as ever, it doesn’t address the newest, fastest, most effective vehicle in the world for allowing “monkeys” to jump from the backs of your team members squarely onto yours -- and that is email. How many times have you experienced someone failing to accomplish a critical task only to be met with the ubiquitous response, “But I sent you an e-mail about that”? On further investigation, you discover that the “monkey” was buried deep in the text of an unrelated email and, in the mind of the sender at least, leapt onto your back as delegated back to you.
SOLUTION: Instituting these simple communication policies can put a stop to this reverse delegation via email: Any message that requires action on the part of the recipient must clearly state such in the heading of the email. No commitment to action on the part of the recipient can be assumed until so stated in a confirmation return email.
PROBLEM: EMAIL AS THE PRIMARY COMMUNICATION VEHICLE WITH CUSTOMERS - In talking with both sales managers and customers, I see this becoming more and more of a problem in maintaining strong customer relationships. It is so easy and efficient to communicate via email; but the simple fact is that email is no substitute for live conversation. Sadly, you may not realize how long it’s been since you actually talked to the customer, until there’s a problem or issue as a result.
SOLUTION: Institute a policy specifying the acceptable ratio of emails to “in-person” customer conversations. Another option is to set a maximum for the amount of time that can elapse without live customer contact. These policies are easily monitored by installing a notation on your management report that denotes how the client was contacted. By the way, leaving a voice mail doesn’t count as an “in person contact.”
I am by no means denying the benefits and efficiency of electronic communications. It can be a powerful tool if used wisely, in the correct context and in proper balance, as part of an overall communication strategy. But like any powerful tool, it can be equally damaging without proper application. Instituting a few simple guidelines can help you maximize the benefits and “tame the email beast.”
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
While consulting with several managers over the last few weeks, a common concern emerged around the rise of email or texting as a primary means of communication and all the problems that accompany that evolution. Here is a breakdown of some of the most common problems associated with web based communication, as well as helpful remedies for each:
PROBLEM: LOSS OF CONTEXT - When reading or writing an email, we typically assign a “tone of voice” in our heads, which frames the context of the communication. At Carew we call this being in your own “odds are.” You are choosing to assign the “tone of voice” to either what you write or what you read, without any way to insure the message is being received in the same “tone” as it was written. Have you ever experienced anger while reading an email, then fired off a response in the “same tone” in which you interpreted the original communication, only to later wish you could retract the email?
SOLUTION: Any time you sense anger in an email you receive, break the chain immediately. Pick up the telephone and discuss the situation in person. If you are sending an email that could in any way be construed in a negative tone, carefully consider the words you choose for maximum clarity or, once again, consider picking up the phone and discussing the subject in person. When communicating informally or with other employees, a symbol such as a smiley face or the infamous “LOL” can help lighten the tone and diffuse potential misunderstandings.
PROBLEM: “REPLY TO ALL” - This is a real pet peeve of mine. In a recent discussion, a group of managers stated that as much as 20% of their email is irrelevant communication in which the sender chose “reply to all” versus just replying. This is particularly bothersome to me when I keep getting copied on every leg on an ongoing, online discussion. Even if I don’t read them, I still have to take the time to sort through the inbox and delete the “replies to all.” Folks who over use “reply to all” need to consider two things. First, wasting the time of busy professionals with excess emails is annoying and shows a lack of business savvy. Second, every time you send extraneous email, you undermine the credibility of all future, valid emails you will send. Don’t be the guy/gal who copies everybody on everything. If you want to see the full potential impact of this dilemma, check out the article in this link.
SOLUTION: Let the people you work with know that unless there is a very relevant reason why they need to copy everyone on e-mail responses, DON’T! Assure them no one will feel left out or less important because they aren’t copied on all communications. In an ongoing online discussion, consider whether you need to “reply to all” on every installment, or just provide a recap of the final decision or outcome. Better yet, enact company policy to provide guidelines to this practice.
PROBLEM: PASS THE MONKEY: One of the most reproduced articles of all time from the Harvard Business Review is one entitled “Management Time: Who’s got the Monkey?” by William Oncken Jr. and Donald L. Wass. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it as a great article on the power of delegation and how to keep your subordinates’ “monkeys” (responsibilities) from jumping onto your back. Although the article, originally written in 1974, is as relevant today as ever, it doesn’t address the newest, fastest, most effective vehicle in the world for allowing “monkeys” to jump from the backs of your team members squarely onto yours -- and that is email. How many times have you experienced someone failing to accomplish a critical task only to be met with the ubiquitous response, “But I sent you an e-mail about that”? On further investigation, you discover that the “monkey” was buried deep in the text of an unrelated email and, in the mind of the sender at least, leapt onto your back as delegated back to you.
SOLUTION: Instituting these simple communication policies can put a stop to this reverse delegation via email: Any message that requires action on the part of the recipient must clearly state such in the heading of the email. No commitment to action on the part of the recipient can be assumed until so stated in a confirmation return email.
PROBLEM: EMAIL AS THE PRIMARY COMMUNICATION VEHICLE WITH CUSTOMERS - In talking with both sales managers and customers, I see this becoming more and more of a problem in maintaining strong customer relationships. It is so easy and efficient to communicate via email; but the simple fact is that email is no substitute for live conversation. Sadly, you may not realize how long it’s been since you actually talked to the customer, until there’s a problem or issue as a result.
SOLUTION: Institute a policy specifying the acceptable ratio of emails to “in-person” customer conversations. Another option is to set a maximum for the amount of time that can elapse without live customer contact. These policies are easily monitored by installing a notation on your management report that denotes how the client was contacted. By the way, leaving a voice mail doesn’t count as an “in person contact.”
I am by no means denying the benefits and efficiency of electronic communications. It can be a powerful tool if used wisely, in the correct context and in proper balance, as part of an overall communication strategy. But like any powerful tool, it can be equally damaging without proper application. Instituting a few simple guidelines can help you maximize the benefits and “tame the email beast.”
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
I Second That Emotion...
Ed Albertson
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
“The idea that we must choose between science and humanities is false...
Our society could not survive without scientific and technological knowledge. But we would be equally impoverished without humanistic knowledge as well. Science and Technology can help teach us what we can do. Humanistic thinking can help us understand what we should do.”
Alan Brinkley, History Professor, Columbia University
Article: Half a Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Newsweek, November 23, 2009
In his recent Newsweek article, Alan Brinkley addressed the balance being sought between the sciences and the humanities in educational approaches, especially in American universities. But it could easily be applied beyond the ivory towers of higher education to the business world. Deciding between what we can do and what we should do offers an enigmatic dilemma in almost every walk of life; but nowhere is that contrast more striking than in the world of sales. The “art” and “science” of selling have warily sparred with each other throughout the development of sales as a profession, and the dynamic tension between the two has been apparent throughout the history of sales training approaches.
Today’s sales professional understands the implication of this dynamic tension; knowing he/she must constantly balance both the interpersonal skills that contribute to strong relationships (humanistic knowledge) as well as the functional activities (science) that one must execute for effective selling to take place.
The efficiency of science and technology in the world of sales professionals is enhanced with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, laptops, online order processing, mobile phones, voice mail and email, to cite a few of the more obvious tools employed today. However, sales effectiveness also relies upon humanistic knowledge, like developing the other-centered perception of a customer’s business environment, recognizing the various personality styles that make people different, honing the ability to actively listen to understand, and communicating clearly and concisely to others.
Current research continually reveals and quantifies the effect of human emotions upon decision-making. The savvy sales professional uses the full range of his/her knowledge and experience to turn that emotional impact to their advantage time and again. Flexibly adapting to each situation requires a nimble style that plans for contingencies and doesn’t just react to ever-changing circumstances.
There is no doubt, we need both. Effective sales professionals master both the “art” and the “science” of selling, combining them with planning and execution, and fine-tuning the approach with each and every interaction.
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
“The idea that we must choose between science and humanities is false...
Our society could not survive without scientific and technological knowledge. But we would be equally impoverished without humanistic knowledge as well. Science and Technology can help teach us what we can do. Humanistic thinking can help us understand what we should do.”
Alan Brinkley, History Professor, Columbia University
Article: Half a Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Newsweek, November 23, 2009
In his recent Newsweek article, Alan Brinkley addressed the balance being sought between the sciences and the humanities in educational approaches, especially in American universities. But it could easily be applied beyond the ivory towers of higher education to the business world. Deciding between what we can do and what we should do offers an enigmatic dilemma in almost every walk of life; but nowhere is that contrast more striking than in the world of sales. The “art” and “science” of selling have warily sparred with each other throughout the development of sales as a profession, and the dynamic tension between the two has been apparent throughout the history of sales training approaches.
Today’s sales professional understands the implication of this dynamic tension; knowing he/she must constantly balance both the interpersonal skills that contribute to strong relationships (humanistic knowledge) as well as the functional activities (science) that one must execute for effective selling to take place.
The efficiency of science and technology in the world of sales professionals is enhanced with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, laptops, online order processing, mobile phones, voice mail and email, to cite a few of the more obvious tools employed today. However, sales effectiveness also relies upon humanistic knowledge, like developing the other-centered perception of a customer’s business environment, recognizing the various personality styles that make people different, honing the ability to actively listen to understand, and communicating clearly and concisely to others.
Current research continually reveals and quantifies the effect of human emotions upon decision-making. The savvy sales professional uses the full range of his/her knowledge and experience to turn that emotional impact to their advantage time and again. Flexibly adapting to each situation requires a nimble style that plans for contingencies and doesn’t just react to ever-changing circumstances.
There is no doubt, we need both. Effective sales professionals master both the “art” and the “science” of selling, combining them with planning and execution, and fine-tuning the approach with each and every interaction.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thanksgiving - More Than Just Turkey
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
We all know the origins of Thanksgiving Day as a harvest festival celebrated in the U.S. and Canada for centuries. In modern times it has become a day in which we take time to give thanks for the blessings of family and friends over a traditional turkey dinner. We have added such accoutrements as football, floats, and Friday shopping to the mix; but for the most part, it is still a holiday to reflect upon our reasons to be thankful.
In most businesses the Thanksgiving Holiday is also viewed as a short week where not much work gets done. For those of us who travel extensively for business, it often translates into a bonus week at home with the family -- something to be thankful for in itself! From a business perspective, what should sales professionals be most thankful for? Wouldn’t this be the perfect time to say thanks to our customers?
This year I vow to start a new tradition during Thanksgiving week of reaching out to every single person and business I have worked with, just to say thanks. Thanks for the loyalty. Thanks for the referrals. Thanks for the support and the trust. Thanks for the opportunity to be a resource. I am going to spend all day Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week reaching out to as many customers as possible, to personally say “thank-you.” I am not talking about an e-mail blast or even voice mail, but a personal thanks to as many people as I can reach.
Certainly, the timing could not be better. For many businesses, 2009 has been one of the most demanding and challenging years in history. Many of our friends, and perhaps even colleagues, have lost their jobs as companies reeling from the economic downturn struggled to survive. Reaching out to thank the loyal customers who have stood by us during these trying times certainly seems like a no-brainer to me.
And even as I contemplate my new Thanksgiving tradition, the glaring question arises… “why should we wait for one week of the year to say thanks?” The simple answer is, “we shouldn’t.” Here are a few ways to keep saying thank-you all year in 2010.
1) Hand written thank-you cards- While this is common knowledge, it certainly isn’t common practice anymore. Get some cards printed and look for opportunities to say thank-you throughout the year to your customers and colleagues.
2) Send a card at less obvious holidays- Of course everyone sends Holiday/Christmas cards, but when was the last time you got a card for July Fourth or Arbor Day? Be creative and make it fun.
3) Send a birthday card- I suggest keeping a calendar of your customers and business contacts and record significant dates such as their birthday, wedding or professional anniversary, etc. It is amazing how often these things are revealed in the course of conversation, if only we would take the time to capture the data and act on it in the future.
4) Send a fun gift- It doesn’t have to be expensive, it just has to be sincere. If a client refers you for business, send a little something to say “thanks.” Of course, you need to be careful with this one, as many companies prohibit any gesture that could be considered compensation.
5) Take a client to lunch- Over the last several years the pace of our work day has become more frenetic, with work hours feeling more and more compressed. How often do you skip lunch to return e-mails or “get caught up?” We aren’t even taking time to recharge ourselves with lunch, let alone taking customers out for lunch. Yet, I can think of few better opportunities to cultivate a relationship with valued clients. By my own assessment, I believe my client lunches have dropped by at least 50% in recent years. If you’ve let client lunches slide and you’re feeling out of practice, check out this great blog on avoiding business lunch blunders.
As we approach the official holiday of giving thanks for our personal blessings, the timing is perfect to re-assess how we give thanks for our business blessings as well. Happy Thanksgiving and have a prosperous year end!
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
We all know the origins of Thanksgiving Day as a harvest festival celebrated in the U.S. and Canada for centuries. In modern times it has become a day in which we take time to give thanks for the blessings of family and friends over a traditional turkey dinner. We have added such accoutrements as football, floats, and Friday shopping to the mix; but for the most part, it is still a holiday to reflect upon our reasons to be thankful.
In most businesses the Thanksgiving Holiday is also viewed as a short week where not much work gets done. For those of us who travel extensively for business, it often translates into a bonus week at home with the family -- something to be thankful for in itself! From a business perspective, what should sales professionals be most thankful for? Wouldn’t this be the perfect time to say thanks to our customers?
This year I vow to start a new tradition during Thanksgiving week of reaching out to every single person and business I have worked with, just to say thanks. Thanks for the loyalty. Thanks for the referrals. Thanks for the support and the trust. Thanks for the opportunity to be a resource. I am going to spend all day Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week reaching out to as many customers as possible, to personally say “thank-you.” I am not talking about an e-mail blast or even voice mail, but a personal thanks to as many people as I can reach.
Certainly, the timing could not be better. For many businesses, 2009 has been one of the most demanding and challenging years in history. Many of our friends, and perhaps even colleagues, have lost their jobs as companies reeling from the economic downturn struggled to survive. Reaching out to thank the loyal customers who have stood by us during these trying times certainly seems like a no-brainer to me.
And even as I contemplate my new Thanksgiving tradition, the glaring question arises… “why should we wait for one week of the year to say thanks?” The simple answer is, “we shouldn’t.” Here are a few ways to keep saying thank-you all year in 2010.
1) Hand written thank-you cards- While this is common knowledge, it certainly isn’t common practice anymore. Get some cards printed and look for opportunities to say thank-you throughout the year to your customers and colleagues.
2) Send a card at less obvious holidays- Of course everyone sends Holiday/Christmas cards, but when was the last time you got a card for July Fourth or Arbor Day? Be creative and make it fun.
3) Send a birthday card- I suggest keeping a calendar of your customers and business contacts and record significant dates such as their birthday, wedding or professional anniversary, etc. It is amazing how often these things are revealed in the course of conversation, if only we would take the time to capture the data and act on it in the future.
4) Send a fun gift- It doesn’t have to be expensive, it just has to be sincere. If a client refers you for business, send a little something to say “thanks.” Of course, you need to be careful with this one, as many companies prohibit any gesture that could be considered compensation.
5) Take a client to lunch- Over the last several years the pace of our work day has become more frenetic, with work hours feeling more and more compressed. How often do you skip lunch to return e-mails or “get caught up?” We aren’t even taking time to recharge ourselves with lunch, let alone taking customers out for lunch. Yet, I can think of few better opportunities to cultivate a relationship with valued clients. By my own assessment, I believe my client lunches have dropped by at least 50% in recent years. If you’ve let client lunches slide and you’re feeling out of practice, check out this great blog on avoiding business lunch blunders.
As we approach the official holiday of giving thanks for our personal blessings, the timing is perfect to re-assess how we give thanks for our business blessings as well. Happy Thanksgiving and have a prosperous year end!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Customer Care... It Takes a Village
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
Many companies give their sales representatives titles such as “Account Manager” to convey a responsibility that extends beyond converting prospects into customers. In fact, sales representatives in most organizations continue to retain overall management of the accounts they sell beyond the closing of the initial deal. While that continuity certainly serves a purpose, the reality is that sales reps can’t be the entire customer care solution for existing accounts and still have time to develop new business. Moreover, the sales rep isn’t always the most efficient or logical contact to meet specific, day to day customer needs.
So, if not the sales professional, who is maintaining the customer relationship while the sales rep is out closing new business? In most organizations, it is a combination from any number of functional areas -- customer service, technical, administrative and logistical support. From the receptionist to accounts payable personnel to delivery drivers, countless members of the organization impact each customer’s experience and overall satisfaction. In fact, if you add up the time that your typical customer spends in personal interaction with someone from your firm each month, the sales representative may actually come in last, in terms of interaction time with existing customers.
But what happens when sales professionals are the only members of your team genuinely prepared to interface with customers? Are you comfortable placing your company’s reputation and your customer’s satisfaction in the hands of team members inside your firm who may have little or no formal training in sales, customer service or even basic communications?
Professional training firms like Carew International are finding more and more astute businesses realize the tremendous opportunity that comes with training every customer facing person in their organization. Regardless of the functional area, training begins with basic communication skills – the foundation upon which sales, customer service and even negotiation skills are built. These companies are making sure that the employees that deal with their customers are skilled communicators, fully prepared to participate in customer service and, yes, the fine art of selling (including up selling and add-on selling).
I am not talking about the annoying experience of calling the cable company to report a problem only to have them try to “sell you” something totally unrelated. No consumer likes that tactic. However, when my mechanic, who has been working on my engine, tells me the part I need is $100, but for $150 he can put in a high end part that will significantly improve my performance, I am all ears. Why? Because he is offering me something directly related to my need, which I value, but probably wouldn’t have thought of on my own. And he is speaking from a point of expertise that gives him credibility. That example, my friends, is both good customer service AND effective sales.
Think of how much customer contact time is spent each month by employees of your firm who could be trained to look for opportunities such as the one I just described. Each team member is an expert in their respective area. How can they use that expertise to add value to customers? Add sales for your firm? Improve customer satisfaction? I am not advocating that everyone in the company become a card carrying sales professional, but in the final analysis, aren’t we all selling ourselves and our companies every time we interact with a customer? Take a good look at the training you are providing all of your customer facing people, not just your front line sales reps. In the end, customer care really does take a village.
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
Many companies give their sales representatives titles such as “Account Manager” to convey a responsibility that extends beyond converting prospects into customers. In fact, sales representatives in most organizations continue to retain overall management of the accounts they sell beyond the closing of the initial deal. While that continuity certainly serves a purpose, the reality is that sales reps can’t be the entire customer care solution for existing accounts and still have time to develop new business. Moreover, the sales rep isn’t always the most efficient or logical contact to meet specific, day to day customer needs.
So, if not the sales professional, who is maintaining the customer relationship while the sales rep is out closing new business? In most organizations, it is a combination from any number of functional areas -- customer service, technical, administrative and logistical support. From the receptionist to accounts payable personnel to delivery drivers, countless members of the organization impact each customer’s experience and overall satisfaction. In fact, if you add up the time that your typical customer spends in personal interaction with someone from your firm each month, the sales representative may actually come in last, in terms of interaction time with existing customers.
But what happens when sales professionals are the only members of your team genuinely prepared to interface with customers? Are you comfortable placing your company’s reputation and your customer’s satisfaction in the hands of team members inside your firm who may have little or no formal training in sales, customer service or even basic communications?
Professional training firms like Carew International are finding more and more astute businesses realize the tremendous opportunity that comes with training every customer facing person in their organization. Regardless of the functional area, training begins with basic communication skills – the foundation upon which sales, customer service and even negotiation skills are built. These companies are making sure that the employees that deal with their customers are skilled communicators, fully prepared to participate in customer service and, yes, the fine art of selling (including up selling and add-on selling).
I am not talking about the annoying experience of calling the cable company to report a problem only to have them try to “sell you” something totally unrelated. No consumer likes that tactic. However, when my mechanic, who has been working on my engine, tells me the part I need is $100, but for $150 he can put in a high end part that will significantly improve my performance, I am all ears. Why? Because he is offering me something directly related to my need, which I value, but probably wouldn’t have thought of on my own. And he is speaking from a point of expertise that gives him credibility. That example, my friends, is both good customer service AND effective sales.
Think of how much customer contact time is spent each month by employees of your firm who could be trained to look for opportunities such as the one I just described. Each team member is an expert in their respective area. How can they use that expertise to add value to customers? Add sales for your firm? Improve customer satisfaction? I am not advocating that everyone in the company become a card carrying sales professional, but in the final analysis, aren’t we all selling ourselves and our companies every time we interact with a customer? Take a good look at the training you are providing all of your customer facing people, not just your front line sales reps. In the end, customer care really does take a village.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Talent Management Key to Victory in the Field
Ed Albertson
Vice President - National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
"Of every one hundred men in battle, ten should not even be there, eighty are nothing but targets, nine are real fighters, we are lucky to have them...for they make the battle. Ah, but one, one of them is a WARRIOR... and he will bring the others home.” -Heraclitus, Roman General, 400 B.C.
Overlooking the obvious gender bias reflected by the times in the statement above, there is still merit reflected in the general assessment of an ancient fighting force and a possible parallel to today’s sales force. Given the successes of Heraclitus and his Roman Legions, it is ironic that victories were achieved with what amounts to a fighting force that was 90% ineffective (the eighty “targets” added to the ten “who should not be there”) and relied on the top 10% who were “real fighters” and among them, the 1% of its “warriors,” to carry the day and secure victory.
Vice President - National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
"Of every one hundred men in battle, ten should not even be there, eighty are nothing but targets, nine are real fighters, we are lucky to have them...for they make the battle. Ah, but one, one of them is a WARRIOR... and he will bring the others home.” -Heraclitus, Roman General, 400 B.C.
Overlooking the obvious gender bias reflected by the times in the statement above, there is still merit reflected in the general assessment of an ancient fighting force and a possible parallel to today’s sales force. Given the successes of Heraclitus and his Roman Legions, it is ironic that victories were achieved with what amounts to a fighting force that was 90% ineffective (the eighty “targets” added to the ten “who should not be there”) and relied on the top 10% who were “real fighters” and among them, the 1% of its “warriors,” to carry the day and secure victory.
While in 400 BC there may have been some strategic value in having 80% of the field force serving the function of “targets,” perhaps protecting the 10% “real fighters,” today’s sales leaders can ill afford a field force that is only 10% effective. However, without a real Talent Management effort, many of today’s sales leaders are fighting their competitive battles with no clear understanding of their sales capacity. How many are in danger of losing the competitive edge when their most effective “fighters” move along to serve another company?
Research reported by Dave Hoffmeister, Director of Corporate Relations, DePaul University indicated:
-Over 2/3 of companies don’t know the cost of hiring their new talent
-Only 43% of companies have formal training processes
-25% of companies have a turnover rate greater than 20%
These statistics suggest a significant vulnerability in most companies’ approaches to acquiring, developing and managing talent -- the same talent companies depend upon to differentiate themselves in their markets and provide their future leadership. Considered in this light, it is almost unthinkable that Talent Management would be anything but the highest priority. Rarely is that the case. And when the statistics above are applied to a company’s sales force, the resulting vulnerability can be magnified due to the strategic value of the sales force in positioning products and services while creating value for customers in the process.
It may be time for companies to reconsider how Talent Management is handled and for companies to adopt a more structured process for acquiring, developing and managing a strategic sales force. Not only can Talent Management solutions reduce turnover by an average of 30%, but productivity can be expected to increase between 30 and 35%. There is no mystery to this wonderful rate of return. It is the result of effective candidate pre-screening, followed by an in-depth and comprehensive job competency assessment, and a targeted developmental plan through which high potential achievers can be identified and retained. With improved job fit, more-focused training and coaching, and continual support, a company can produce and maintain a higher ratio of “real fighters,” assuring more victories in the future.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
TRICK OR TREAT -- SCARY SALES STORIES
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it might be fun to share three of my all time favorite scary sales nightmares. As everyone knows, 2009 has been pretty frightful for most in the business community due to the slow economy; but these sales horror stories can’t be blamed on the recession. These are the tales of the Jekyll/Hyde potential that lurks within all sales professions. Enjoy!
1) The Case of the Haunted Computer: A sales professional showed up to a VERY important sales presentation with a spiffy, hot, guaranteed to get the business PowerPoint presentation, all teed up and ready to rock. He had not spent a ton of time rehearsing the presentation, but was supremely confident he would shine when he stood up in front of the client. One problem he hadn’t counted on was his computer failing to boot up in the client’s office. There he stood with no presentation, very light on additional support materials, trying to “wing it” in front of his prospective clients. Prospective turned out to be the key word, since he never recovered from the initial computer crash and failed to win the business. For more on avoiding frightful PowerPoint disasters see the blog “5Ways to Avoid Death by PowerPoint".
2) The Case of the Disappearing Client: Are you in touch with your customers? Here’s a dreaded tale (perhaps the worst case scenario) of what can happen if you fail to keep up with current events within your client organizations. Joe the sales professional had a very important meeting in Los Angeles with a new division of a long time customer. He had never met the leader of this division but was on his way to meet for the first time and explore a rather significant opportunity. He landed in plenty of time, picked up the rental car without a hitch, and even stopped for a bite of lunch since he was running a little ahead of schedule for the meeting. He parked in his usual spot at the client’s office and took the familiar ride in the elevator to the customer’s floor, right on schedule. When the door opened he got the fright of his life! To his horror, he discovered a stripped out, vacant area with cables hanging down from the ceiling. The client had moved and the sales rep wasn’t even aware of it. A frantic (and embarrassing) call was made to the client and a new call scheduled due to the distance to their new offices. He got off on the wrong foot with the new division head, but learned an important lesson from a mistake that won’t be repeated. For more on the dangers getting trapped in your own operating reality check out the blog “What are Your Odds".
3) The Case of the Phantom Sales Call: A sales person had a very important sales call in Chicago. He was one of four finalists from a previously submitted RFP and was making his presentation to the executive committee of the client, along with three of his most ardent rivals. It was a significant deal and he had 90 minutes to make the case as to why his company was the right choice. He did his research, he put together and rehearsed his presentation and he even bought a new suit for the occasion. He was ready. He flew into Chicago the night before the meeting just to eliminate any chance for travel delay complications. He even stayed at a hotel within line of sight of his client’s corporate office. He was ready! Imagine his horror when he showed up at the client’s offices for his designated presentation time only to discover the call had actually been the previous day! All the decision makers had boarded planes and left town leaving the decision for a large piece of business to be decided between three competitors instead of four. The sales person made a horrible impression simply because he had confused the day he had decided to fly in with the day of the actual appointment. For additional insight into the power of lasting impression read the blog “First Impressions Sell".
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it might be fun to share three of my all time favorite scary sales nightmares. As everyone knows, 2009 has been pretty frightful for most in the business community due to the slow economy; but these sales horror stories can’t be blamed on the recession. These are the tales of the Jekyll/Hyde potential that lurks within all sales professions. Enjoy!
1) The Case of the Haunted Computer: A sales professional showed up to a VERY important sales presentation with a spiffy, hot, guaranteed to get the business PowerPoint presentation, all teed up and ready to rock. He had not spent a ton of time rehearsing the presentation, but was supremely confident he would shine when he stood up in front of the client. One problem he hadn’t counted on was his computer failing to boot up in the client’s office. There he stood with no presentation, very light on additional support materials, trying to “wing it” in front of his prospective clients. Prospective turned out to be the key word, since he never recovered from the initial computer crash and failed to win the business. For more on avoiding frightful PowerPoint disasters see the blog “5Ways to Avoid Death by PowerPoint".
2) The Case of the Disappearing Client: Are you in touch with your customers? Here’s a dreaded tale (perhaps the worst case scenario) of what can happen if you fail to keep up with current events within your client organizations. Joe the sales professional had a very important meeting in Los Angeles with a new division of a long time customer. He had never met the leader of this division but was on his way to meet for the first time and explore a rather significant opportunity. He landed in plenty of time, picked up the rental car without a hitch, and even stopped for a bite of lunch since he was running a little ahead of schedule for the meeting. He parked in his usual spot at the client’s office and took the familiar ride in the elevator to the customer’s floor, right on schedule. When the door opened he got the fright of his life! To his horror, he discovered a stripped out, vacant area with cables hanging down from the ceiling. The client had moved and the sales rep wasn’t even aware of it. A frantic (and embarrassing) call was made to the client and a new call scheduled due to the distance to their new offices. He got off on the wrong foot with the new division head, but learned an important lesson from a mistake that won’t be repeated. For more on the dangers getting trapped in your own operating reality check out the blog “What are Your Odds".
3) The Case of the Phantom Sales Call: A sales person had a very important sales call in Chicago. He was one of four finalists from a previously submitted RFP and was making his presentation to the executive committee of the client, along with three of his most ardent rivals. It was a significant deal and he had 90 minutes to make the case as to why his company was the right choice. He did his research, he put together and rehearsed his presentation and he even bought a new suit for the occasion. He was ready. He flew into Chicago the night before the meeting just to eliminate any chance for travel delay complications. He even stayed at a hotel within line of sight of his client’s corporate office. He was ready! Imagine his horror when he showed up at the client’s offices for his designated presentation time only to discover the call had actually been the previous day! All the decision makers had boarded planes and left town leaving the decision for a large piece of business to be decided between three competitors instead of four. The sales person made a horrible impression simply because he had confused the day he had decided to fly in with the day of the actual appointment. For additional insight into the power of lasting impression read the blog “First Impressions Sell".
The thing about scary stories… if they’re someone else’s tale, they’re entertaining. When they happen to you, they’re horrifying. These three tales of woe and horror from the world of sales all had one thing in common -- they were completely avoidable. The moral of this story? Make sure you have the basics covered (like the time and place of your appointment) and leave nothing to chance. It seems so obvious; but how many of us can claim we haven’t lost business or at least undercut our own efforts by not attending to some small, basic detail? Plan for the worst, prepare for the best, and make sure to check your address book and date book carefully. Happy Halloween!
Friday, October 23, 2009
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
This Saturday, October 24th, millions of Americans (and folks from around the world as well) will recognize USA Weekend’s “Make a Difference Day”. This is a great chance for neighbors to help neighbors within their local communities through a myriad of volunteer activities and charity projects.
I strongly support this day and for my part, will be taking winter clothes to a shelter in my own community. It occurred to me, however, that I really don’t know what my customers are planning… or even if they are participating in this event at all. I have often blogged about the importance of customer intimacy, understanding your customer’s needs, and getting to know your customers on a deeper level. I truly believe that, particularly in sales, customer intimacy and becoming a “value added resource” are the key drivers of sales success. So why don’t I know what my customers are doing to “Make a Difference” this weekend?
In sales, we need to take the theme of making a difference and extend it throughout the year with all our customers. After all, isn’t that what keeps our doors open 365 days a year? Just as in our community, change begins with one single act by one single person. If every person in your company completes one simple act to help their community, the results would be amazing. If every single person in your company makes one contribution each day to help a customer, what could that do for your customer’s business? What could that do for your business?
I decided to challenge myself to reach out to many of the customers I deal with on a daily basis and try to get to know them a little bit better this week. I will challenge my own sales team and everyone who reads this blog to do the same thing. Find out how your customer’s are choosing to “Make a Difference.” By doing so, you will deepen your business relationship in the process.
Confucius said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” The journey towards making a difference in the community can begin with a single act this weekend on “Make a Difference Day.” What about the single step towards making a difference with your customers? Pick up the phone and start the journey today.
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
This Saturday, October 24th, millions of Americans (and folks from around the world as well) will recognize USA Weekend’s “Make a Difference Day”. This is a great chance for neighbors to help neighbors within their local communities through a myriad of volunteer activities and charity projects.
I strongly support this day and for my part, will be taking winter clothes to a shelter in my own community. It occurred to me, however, that I really don’t know what my customers are planning… or even if they are participating in this event at all. I have often blogged about the importance of customer intimacy, understanding your customer’s needs, and getting to know your customers on a deeper level. I truly believe that, particularly in sales, customer intimacy and becoming a “value added resource” are the key drivers of sales success. So why don’t I know what my customers are doing to “Make a Difference” this weekend?
In sales, we need to take the theme of making a difference and extend it throughout the year with all our customers. After all, isn’t that what keeps our doors open 365 days a year? Just as in our community, change begins with one single act by one single person. If every person in your company completes one simple act to help their community, the results would be amazing. If every single person in your company makes one contribution each day to help a customer, what could that do for your customer’s business? What could that do for your business?
I decided to challenge myself to reach out to many of the customers I deal with on a daily basis and try to get to know them a little bit better this week. I will challenge my own sales team and everyone who reads this blog to do the same thing. Find out how your customer’s are choosing to “Make a Difference.” By doing so, you will deepen your business relationship in the process.
Confucius said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” The journey towards making a difference in the community can begin with a single act this weekend on “Make a Difference Day.” What about the single step towards making a difference with your customers? Pick up the phone and start the journey today.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
First Impressions Sell
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” American journalist Mike Lauer coined this now famous phrase in the 1950’s; but it is as true today as it was then. We all have a bandwidth of appeal that makes us very likable to some people and not so appealing to others. This bandwidth varies from one person to the next, but we all have one. And while we all know that likeability is critical to success in sales, we might be surprised by the process which determines our likeability.
It is widely recognized that a first impression is formed in the first 10 to 20 seconds after you meet someone new; and that first impression is often inescapable, even long term. In a recent book by Harry Beckwith entitled “You, Inc.", he contends that the decision to buy is usually made concurrently with the first impression, and that the remainder of the selling process is about the buyer building justification for their first impression-based decision. His point is that decisions are made quickly, and then justified, not the other way around.
If you need further evidence of the power of first impressions, I would cite the research of UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian. As a communications research pioneer, his models have become some of the most widely referenced in understanding the factors that go into influencing first impressions. Resulting data from this UCLA study has come to be known as Mehrabian’s Law, and indicates the following relative importance of four major factors in creating first impressions:
Words - the message itself and the words you use- 7%
Voice - the sound, speed, intonation, projection, and pitch of voice- 38%
Visual - appearance, posture, gestures, facial expression, eye movement- 55%
These results are surprising, given that the words we choose account for only 7% of the first impression we create, and even more amazing when you consider their implication to the selling process. As sales professionals, we spend countless hours planning out what we are going to say, what questions we are going to ask, as well as other strategic elements of our sales message. Clearly, we should be spending some time planning all elements of our first impression.
The process of creating a positive first impression is built right into Carew International’s sales training program. We teach what we call Positive Contact as the critical opening element of every client interface. Positive Contact is made up of three essential elements (ATTITUDE, ENERGY and APPEARANCE) that align seamlessly with Mehrabian’s Law. Carew students learn how to align these elements with an understanding of buyer personality orientations to give themselves the maximum opportunity to shine in those first 10 seconds that create lasting impressions.
Whether you like it or not, your words aren’t enough to widen your bandwidth of appeal with people you are meeting for the first time. With a little planning, attention to the elements of influence, and a smile for good measure, you can expand both your “likeability” and your sales.
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” American journalist Mike Lauer coined this now famous phrase in the 1950’s; but it is as true today as it was then. We all have a bandwidth of appeal that makes us very likable to some people and not so appealing to others. This bandwidth varies from one person to the next, but we all have one. And while we all know that likeability is critical to success in sales, we might be surprised by the process which determines our likeability.
It is widely recognized that a first impression is formed in the first 10 to 20 seconds after you meet someone new; and that first impression is often inescapable, even long term. In a recent book by Harry Beckwith entitled “You, Inc.", he contends that the decision to buy is usually made concurrently with the first impression, and that the remainder of the selling process is about the buyer building justification for their first impression-based decision. His point is that decisions are made quickly, and then justified, not the other way around.
If you need further evidence of the power of first impressions, I would cite the research of UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian. As a communications research pioneer, his models have become some of the most widely referenced in understanding the factors that go into influencing first impressions. Resulting data from this UCLA study has come to be known as Mehrabian’s Law, and indicates the following relative importance of four major factors in creating first impressions:
Words - the message itself and the words you use- 7%
Voice - the sound, speed, intonation, projection, and pitch of voice- 38%
Visual - appearance, posture, gestures, facial expression, eye movement- 55%
These results are surprising, given that the words we choose account for only 7% of the first impression we create, and even more amazing when you consider their implication to the selling process. As sales professionals, we spend countless hours planning out what we are going to say, what questions we are going to ask, as well as other strategic elements of our sales message. Clearly, we should be spending some time planning all elements of our first impression.
The process of creating a positive first impression is built right into Carew International’s sales training program. We teach what we call Positive Contact as the critical opening element of every client interface. Positive Contact is made up of three essential elements (ATTITUDE, ENERGY and APPEARANCE) that align seamlessly with Mehrabian’s Law. Carew students learn how to align these elements with an understanding of buyer personality orientations to give themselves the maximum opportunity to shine in those first 10 seconds that create lasting impressions.
Whether you like it or not, your words aren’t enough to widen your bandwidth of appeal with people you are meeting for the first time. With a little planning, attention to the elements of influence, and a smile for good measure, you can expand both your “likeability” and your sales.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Jeff Seeley
CEO
Carew International, Inc.
I recently did my annual 1300 mile corn tour from Cincinnati to Denver and was listening to an old Dave Matthews Band tune. “We wake up in the morning, do our teeth, bite to eat and we’re rolling… never changes a thing. The week ends, the week begins.” (Dave Matthews, Ants Marching lyrics) It hit me that as sales professionals, we can find ourselves in a dangerously uncomplicated routine.
CEO
Carew International, Inc.
I recently did my annual 1300 mile corn tour from Cincinnati to Denver and was listening to an old Dave Matthews Band tune. “We wake up in the morning, do our teeth, bite to eat and we’re rolling… never changes a thing. The week ends, the week begins.” (Dave Matthews, Ants Marching lyrics) It hit me that as sales professionals, we can find ourselves in a dangerously uncomplicated routine.
Particularly during these recent economic woes, we have often put ourselves in the defensive mode, sticking to the safest route, and creating a routine that repeats itself day in and day out. After all, it is tough to be creative and innovative when we’re struggling to keep our heads above water (keeping sales up, trying to meet customer demands) while keeping our heads below the firing line (making sure that we did not risk our position). This approach can quickly become a dangerous habit… taking fewer chances, putting aside exciting ideas until better times or the right moment.
At one point in my journey, I found myself stranded at a BP station in the middle of Illinois. During the 90 minutes I was stationed next to a gas pump, there was never a word exchanged between the other patrons and me; each person coming and going, doing the same thing, the same way and moving on. Again, I recognized life imitating business. As sales professionals, we can fall into this trap of putting our heads down and dutifully marching forward -- doing the same things, the same way, same time, same words, same solutions and on and on without ever realizing we become almost robotic in our sales calls.
But if we do nothing more than sit on the fence trying to be in the right place, but more importantly, trying NOT to be a problem or create issues, we become more of a target than a valued provider. And while this approach is not very inspiring for our customers, it plays right into the hands of our competitors.
We need to shake off the routine and add some excitement to our game. The reality is that we cannot over indulge our customers in terms of the innovation and value we bring to them. More and more evidence is coming forth that, while we are not quite out of the woods from the September ‘08 economic meltdown, we are moving closer to the upward trend. Understanding that the bruises of recent economic troubles are disappearing, but not forgotten, there couldn’t be a better time to get customers focused on the positive. It’s time to take some chances and explore what might be possible, and do so with a re-engaged energy, enthusiasm and love of the art of sales.
(Apologies to Dave Matthews, lyrics from Ants Marching copyright 1994)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
What's Your Message?
Mary Ann Lynn
Marketing Vice President
Carew International, Inc.
We marketing folks spend a lot of time thinking about “the message” -- what the message of our organization should be; keeping all advertising and corporate communications, and even graphic design, consistent with the overall message/image we desire for our organization. Too often, corporate image is seen as a corporate function involving only executive leadership and marketing. In so doing, we miss the tremendous opportunity to leverage each individual member of the organization to support the overall message. And no part of the organization has more potential to support or contradict its overall message than the sales team.
As a sales professional or sales manager, how do you support your organization’s message? First, you need to consider what position your company desires in the marketplace. (If the corporate position has not been articulated to you, ask marketing or sales management to clarify. Better to be clear than make the wrong assumptions.) Is your organization the quality leader? Low cost provider? Innovation leader? Provider of greatest convenience? Leading authority? Once you consider the image your company is trying to project, think about your role in that effort. Do your appearance, style and language support that image? Do the contents of your sales calls and proposals reflect the strengths of your organization and support your company’s overall message?
Let’s say you represent a sales training provider and your company’s image is that of quality leader. You offer top quality, high impact, and life-changing development programs. That market position requires a certain appearance and behavior by its sales representatives. Proposals and sales calls should focus on benefits, impact and ROI associated with development programs, versus the cost. Testimonials would be a powerful tool in your sales effort. A guarantee on your sales training would make sense. Now consider how dramatically these details would change if, instead, you represented a manufacturing parts supplier and sought to be the low cost provider… or if you represented a high tech products provider and were vying to own the innovation leader role in your industry? Your tactics, from personal appearance, to presentation, to selling points, would be vastly different.
Regardless of the position your company seeks, the sales professional’s role in winning that position in your marketplace cannot be over stated. Align your image and message with that of your company to realize your potential as the organization’s most powerful marketing tool.
Marketing Vice President
Carew International, Inc.
We marketing folks spend a lot of time thinking about “the message” -- what the message of our organization should be; keeping all advertising and corporate communications, and even graphic design, consistent with the overall message/image we desire for our organization. Too often, corporate image is seen as a corporate function involving only executive leadership and marketing. In so doing, we miss the tremendous opportunity to leverage each individual member of the organization to support the overall message. And no part of the organization has more potential to support or contradict its overall message than the sales team.
As a sales professional or sales manager, how do you support your organization’s message? First, you need to consider what position your company desires in the marketplace. (If the corporate position has not been articulated to you, ask marketing or sales management to clarify. Better to be clear than make the wrong assumptions.) Is your organization the quality leader? Low cost provider? Innovation leader? Provider of greatest convenience? Leading authority? Once you consider the image your company is trying to project, think about your role in that effort. Do your appearance, style and language support that image? Do the contents of your sales calls and proposals reflect the strengths of your organization and support your company’s overall message?
Let’s say you represent a sales training provider and your company’s image is that of quality leader. You offer top quality, high impact, and life-changing development programs. That market position requires a certain appearance and behavior by its sales representatives. Proposals and sales calls should focus on benefits, impact and ROI associated with development programs, versus the cost. Testimonials would be a powerful tool in your sales effort. A guarantee on your sales training would make sense. Now consider how dramatically these details would change if, instead, you represented a manufacturing parts supplier and sought to be the low cost provider… or if you represented a high tech products provider and were vying to own the innovation leader role in your industry? Your tactics, from personal appearance, to presentation, to selling points, would be vastly different.
Regardless of the position your company seeks, the sales professional’s role in winning that position in your marketplace cannot be over stated. Align your image and message with that of your company to realize your potential as the organization’s most powerful marketing tool.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
HIDDEN DANGER IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer
Carew International, Inc.
Attaining high marks in customer satisfaction is a universal goal in the business community. There are dozens of business books at your local bookstore and probably hundreds more in print extolling the virtues of keeping your customers delighted with your products and services. In a recent blog titled The New Human Nature of Sales, I referred to the fact that today’s customer wants exactly what they want, in their own unique way; or to quote Burger King, to “have it their way.” What effort could be more worthwhile than the pursuit of customer satisfaction? So where is the danger?
The danger lurks in continually evaluating customer satisfaction based solely upon what the customer prefers within your individual and current menu of offerings. The deception is exaggerated when companies which put too much emphasis on customer satisfaction scores to evaluate their success. Companies are often misled by high customer satisfaction scores, only to learn too late that they have lost market share to their competitors. How could this be if they are delivering such high customer satisfaction ratings? It is pretty simple…failure to innovate.
What happens when someone approaches one of your satisfied customers and offers them a product or service that can do everything yours can, plus something new and cool the customer didn’t even know was possible? Your “satisfied” customer just had the rating scale of customer satisfaction reset for them by the competitor providing them a capability or feature they would have never thought of on their own. You were giving them exactly what they wanted until they found out they could have all that you offered and more!
In their book, The Experience Economy, Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine describe a phenomenon known as “customer sacrifice” that shows the danger of reliance on customer satisfaction surveys. It is a scenario I know all too well. I travel a LOT; and up until several years ago, my airline of choice carried Pepsi products on their planes. I do a good deal of work with Coca-Cola and am very loyal to their products. Upon boarding the plan, I would consistently ask the flight attendant for a Diet coke; to which she replied, “We don’t have Coke, is Pepsi okay?” I am sure you have heard this exact exchange at your local restaurants hundreds of times. After a while, I began ordering Pepsi, even though what I truly wanted was Coke. The airline’s customer satisfaction report would only have reflected that I ordered a Pepsi, they gave me a Pepsi, and thus, a perfect score was registered in that column. There lies the danger… customer satisfaction surveys capture neither this type of customer compromise nor the “customer didn’t know something more was possible” scenario I referenced earlier.
Take a good look around your business. Is there customer sacrifice occurring? Have customers gotten comfortable ordering what you have instead of what they truly desire? Are your competitors developing or already offering innovations that could reset the bar on customer satisfaction?
The customer satisfaction challenge is always evolving -- just as the bicycle document delivery companies learned when someone offered their clients a fax machine. Now the fax machine has been rendered nearly obsolete by e-mail attachments. Resolve to be the one to reset the bar, rather than the one contentedly reading favorable customer satisfaction reports while another provider resets the bar for you.
Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer
Carew International, Inc.
Attaining high marks in customer satisfaction is a universal goal in the business community. There are dozens of business books at your local bookstore and probably hundreds more in print extolling the virtues of keeping your customers delighted with your products and services. In a recent blog titled The New Human Nature of Sales, I referred to the fact that today’s customer wants exactly what they want, in their own unique way; or to quote Burger King, to “have it their way.” What effort could be more worthwhile than the pursuit of customer satisfaction? So where is the danger?
The danger lurks in continually evaluating customer satisfaction based solely upon what the customer prefers within your individual and current menu of offerings. The deception is exaggerated when companies which put too much emphasis on customer satisfaction scores to evaluate their success. Companies are often misled by high customer satisfaction scores, only to learn too late that they have lost market share to their competitors. How could this be if they are delivering such high customer satisfaction ratings? It is pretty simple…failure to innovate.
What happens when someone approaches one of your satisfied customers and offers them a product or service that can do everything yours can, plus something new and cool the customer didn’t even know was possible? Your “satisfied” customer just had the rating scale of customer satisfaction reset for them by the competitor providing them a capability or feature they would have never thought of on their own. You were giving them exactly what they wanted until they found out they could have all that you offered and more!
In their book, The Experience Economy, Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine describe a phenomenon known as “customer sacrifice” that shows the danger of reliance on customer satisfaction surveys. It is a scenario I know all too well. I travel a LOT; and up until several years ago, my airline of choice carried Pepsi products on their planes. I do a good deal of work with Coca-Cola and am very loyal to their products. Upon boarding the plan, I would consistently ask the flight attendant for a Diet coke; to which she replied, “We don’t have Coke, is Pepsi okay?” I am sure you have heard this exact exchange at your local restaurants hundreds of times. After a while, I began ordering Pepsi, even though what I truly wanted was Coke. The airline’s customer satisfaction report would only have reflected that I ordered a Pepsi, they gave me a Pepsi, and thus, a perfect score was registered in that column. There lies the danger… customer satisfaction surveys capture neither this type of customer compromise nor the “customer didn’t know something more was possible” scenario I referenced earlier.
Take a good look around your business. Is there customer sacrifice occurring? Have customers gotten comfortable ordering what you have instead of what they truly desire? Are your competitors developing or already offering innovations that could reset the bar on customer satisfaction?
The customer satisfaction challenge is always evolving -- just as the bicycle document delivery companies learned when someone offered their clients a fax machine. Now the fax machine has been rendered nearly obsolete by e-mail attachments. Resolve to be the one to reset the bar, rather than the one contentedly reading favorable customer satisfaction reports while another provider resets the bar for you.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
5 Great Lessons of Team Sports
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer
Carew International, Inc.
As an ex-athlete myself, I obviously have a bias in this arena; but over the years, I have noticed a correlation between athletes (or ex-athletes) and the presence of certain professional qualities that provide a competitive advantage in the business arena. The other day, I was having a conversation with my twelve year old son about this very subject. He plays hockey in Colorado and I was explaining to him that the lessons he is learning from playing sports are lessons that will serve him well the rest of his life. With that in mind, here are some of the insights I shared with my twelve year old son about how organized sports are preparing him for his professional career (just in case the pro hockey dream doesn’t pan out):
1) The Value of Hard Work and Sacrifice: In this day and age, I see more and more job applicants entering the work place with a well developed sense of entitlement. In competitive sports, you quickly learn that the only benefit to “just showing up” is a juice box at the end of the game. If you want to play, you have to work hard to earn your opportunity. If you slack off, there is always someone nipping at your heels to get your spot. In order to devote the time to work hard, you have to be willing to sacrifice. While your buddies are playing video games, hanging out with their friends, or watching Hannah Montana, you are practicing hard to get better at your sport. The value of that work ethic is more critical now than it has ever been in the professional world.
2) Insights from Winning and Losing: In competitive sports you experience the euphoria of winning, and the pain of losing. More importantly, you appreciate the preparation and effort behind the win, and the need to identify and correct the mistakes that caused your loss. You learn to enjoy the win but respect your opponent and not become a poor sport. You will probably face them again. Win or lose, you learn from the experience, resist dwelling on the outcome and focus ahead to the next game. Anyone in sales will attest to the power of resilience.
3) Learning How to Be Coached: I have been a fly fishing guide as a hobby for many years, and have taught hundreds of beginners to fly fish. I can attest firsthand that athletes consistently master the technical skills of casting a fly rod much faster than those with no athletic background. Why? Because they know how to be coached. They have mastered the skill of translating verbal instructions into physical actions. I have seen the same correlation in sales training, where the goal is to get beyond the transfer of information to a change in behavior. The ability to be coached obviously translates to every sector of the business world, from your first gig at the burger stand all the way through to the corner office in corporate America.
4) The Power of Teamwork: In any team sport, you quickly learn the value of being a good teammate. From learning to cheer your teammates on to celebrating the outcomes of a well played event, it all has application in the business world. One of the important lessons you learn is that no matter what position you play, doing your job to the best of your ability is critical to the entire TEAM winning. Whether you are the quarterback or the right guard, both jobs being done effectively are critical to winning. It is a pretty common saying that there is no “I” in team. People who have played competitive sports have learned how to be good teammates on the job long before they reach the work place.
5) True Leadership: Leadership is such an integral part of team sports. I can think of no other environment so rich in opportunities to learn and practice the essential skills of leadership, such as leading by example, encouraging those who are struggling, and inspiring your teammates through your words and actions. In sports and in business, some of the strongest leaders on a team may not have the official designation of captain/manager/vice president, but their contribution is every bit as valuable.
There you have it, pretty much just as I explained it to my son. This is not intended to imply that a background in organized sports is necessary to succeed in business; rather, to recognize and evoke valuable skills that may already reside within each of us.
Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer
Carew International, Inc.
As an ex-athlete myself, I obviously have a bias in this arena; but over the years, I have noticed a correlation between athletes (or ex-athletes) and the presence of certain professional qualities that provide a competitive advantage in the business arena. The other day, I was having a conversation with my twelve year old son about this very subject. He plays hockey in Colorado and I was explaining to him that the lessons he is learning from playing sports are lessons that will serve him well the rest of his life. With that in mind, here are some of the insights I shared with my twelve year old son about how organized sports are preparing him for his professional career (just in case the pro hockey dream doesn’t pan out):
1) The Value of Hard Work and Sacrifice: In this day and age, I see more and more job applicants entering the work place with a well developed sense of entitlement. In competitive sports, you quickly learn that the only benefit to “just showing up” is a juice box at the end of the game. If you want to play, you have to work hard to earn your opportunity. If you slack off, there is always someone nipping at your heels to get your spot. In order to devote the time to work hard, you have to be willing to sacrifice. While your buddies are playing video games, hanging out with their friends, or watching Hannah Montana, you are practicing hard to get better at your sport. The value of that work ethic is more critical now than it has ever been in the professional world.
2) Insights from Winning and Losing: In competitive sports you experience the euphoria of winning, and the pain of losing. More importantly, you appreciate the preparation and effort behind the win, and the need to identify and correct the mistakes that caused your loss. You learn to enjoy the win but respect your opponent and not become a poor sport. You will probably face them again. Win or lose, you learn from the experience, resist dwelling on the outcome and focus ahead to the next game. Anyone in sales will attest to the power of resilience.
3) Learning How to Be Coached: I have been a fly fishing guide as a hobby for many years, and have taught hundreds of beginners to fly fish. I can attest firsthand that athletes consistently master the technical skills of casting a fly rod much faster than those with no athletic background. Why? Because they know how to be coached. They have mastered the skill of translating verbal instructions into physical actions. I have seen the same correlation in sales training, where the goal is to get beyond the transfer of information to a change in behavior. The ability to be coached obviously translates to every sector of the business world, from your first gig at the burger stand all the way through to the corner office in corporate America.
4) The Power of Teamwork: In any team sport, you quickly learn the value of being a good teammate. From learning to cheer your teammates on to celebrating the outcomes of a well played event, it all has application in the business world. One of the important lessons you learn is that no matter what position you play, doing your job to the best of your ability is critical to the entire TEAM winning. Whether you are the quarterback or the right guard, both jobs being done effectively are critical to winning. It is a pretty common saying that there is no “I” in team. People who have played competitive sports have learned how to be good teammates on the job long before they reach the work place.
5) True Leadership: Leadership is such an integral part of team sports. I can think of no other environment so rich in opportunities to learn and practice the essential skills of leadership, such as leading by example, encouraging those who are struggling, and inspiring your teammates through your words and actions. In sports and in business, some of the strongest leaders on a team may not have the official designation of captain/manager/vice president, but their contribution is every bit as valuable.
There you have it, pretty much just as I explained it to my son. This is not intended to imply that a background in organized sports is necessary to succeed in business; rather, to recognize and evoke valuable skills that may already reside within each of us.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Taking the Fear Out of Negotiations
Ed Albertson
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
Recent neuroscience research has identified the affects of fear upon the human brain. The not-so-surprising verdict is that fear causes a paralysis of many of the necessary interactions within our brains that tend to produce better decisions and results, regardless of what we are attempting to do. The usual interplay between our logic and our emotions is visibly interrupted, as seen on MRI images of human brains dealing with fear. Such findings indicate that the more we prepare for situations that might put our minds in this state of alarm (negotiations), the less likely our response will be thoughtless (price concessions).
“Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”
- John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961
In the current economy, the pricing pressures being felt by sales professionals and organizations alike have heightened our trepidation of negotiating terms with customers. Recognizing that JFK’s Inaugural remarks referred to issues with world-impacting stakes, the similarities for sales people today are no less overwhelming. Inherent in JFK’s admonition to “never negotiate out of fear” is the realization that prior planning can greatly impact our aversion to the negotiating process. Chief among the pre-negotiating planning steps we can take is a better understanding of price concessions and why they occur. Carew International research has identified several key actions to help sales professionals avoid the pitfall of price concessions during negotiations:
• Thoroughly know your customer’s needs
• Identify your/your organization’s desired outcome
• Understand the alternatives
Though some of the methods for avoiding these failures may seem obvious, here are some brief guidelines for removing the fear factor from the negotiating process and creating our own, better Pathway to Negotiations.
Thoroughly understanding your customer’s needs is best addressed early in the sales process by undertaking a skillful, well-planned and in-depth exploration of what your customer’s desired situation would be and where their current gaps are in pursing those outcomes. A thorough understanding of your customer’s needs means asking the right questions of the right people and hearing the right answers before concluding what you believe you have to offer is a “fit” for your customer. When you can match your capabilities to your customer’s needs, the value of your solution is apparent to your customer, thus reducing the need to make concessions. Simply put, concessions are the by-product of unconvinced customers.
“Water seeks its own level,” and planning for negotiations is no different. Failing to know what you really want as an outcome before you enter negotiations predisposes you to unsatisfactory results. The higher you set your own goals and expectations, the higher you’ll reach to attain them. Always begin negotiating from a position that is based upon a personal commitment to achieve the best outcome for yourself, your company, and your customer.
Create a “safety net” for yourself and others by determining what a “second-best” solution, or back-up plan, might look like to each party involved, from each respective point of view. A very fundamental shortcoming of human nature is the preoccupation with our own view of things, to the exclusion of other points of view. Failure to understand the alternatives available to you, your customers and anyone else who has a stake in the outcome, can narrow the opportunity for successful outcomes for all involved.
Paying heed to these steps when planning for negotiations will help you approach such events with much more confidence and much less fear; thereby greatly increasing your rate of success. Indeed, we can exceed the need to concede, and then succeed!
For more in-depth information on negotiations strategies, read Carew International’s Defending the Price white paper or visit Pathways to Negotiations on the Carew International website for detailed program information.
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
Recent neuroscience research has identified the affects of fear upon the human brain. The not-so-surprising verdict is that fear causes a paralysis of many of the necessary interactions within our brains that tend to produce better decisions and results, regardless of what we are attempting to do. The usual interplay between our logic and our emotions is visibly interrupted, as seen on MRI images of human brains dealing with fear. Such findings indicate that the more we prepare for situations that might put our minds in this state of alarm (negotiations), the less likely our response will be thoughtless (price concessions).
“Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”
- John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961
In the current economy, the pricing pressures being felt by sales professionals and organizations alike have heightened our trepidation of negotiating terms with customers. Recognizing that JFK’s Inaugural remarks referred to issues with world-impacting stakes, the similarities for sales people today are no less overwhelming. Inherent in JFK’s admonition to “never negotiate out of fear” is the realization that prior planning can greatly impact our aversion to the negotiating process. Chief among the pre-negotiating planning steps we can take is a better understanding of price concessions and why they occur. Carew International research has identified several key actions to help sales professionals avoid the pitfall of price concessions during negotiations:
• Thoroughly know your customer’s needs
• Identify your/your organization’s desired outcome
• Understand the alternatives
Though some of the methods for avoiding these failures may seem obvious, here are some brief guidelines for removing the fear factor from the negotiating process and creating our own, better Pathway to Negotiations.
Thoroughly understanding your customer’s needs is best addressed early in the sales process by undertaking a skillful, well-planned and in-depth exploration of what your customer’s desired situation would be and where their current gaps are in pursing those outcomes. A thorough understanding of your customer’s needs means asking the right questions of the right people and hearing the right answers before concluding what you believe you have to offer is a “fit” for your customer. When you can match your capabilities to your customer’s needs, the value of your solution is apparent to your customer, thus reducing the need to make concessions. Simply put, concessions are the by-product of unconvinced customers.
“Water seeks its own level,” and planning for negotiations is no different. Failing to know what you really want as an outcome before you enter negotiations predisposes you to unsatisfactory results. The higher you set your own goals and expectations, the higher you’ll reach to attain them. Always begin negotiating from a position that is based upon a personal commitment to achieve the best outcome for yourself, your company, and your customer.
Create a “safety net” for yourself and others by determining what a “second-best” solution, or back-up plan, might look like to each party involved, from each respective point of view. A very fundamental shortcoming of human nature is the preoccupation with our own view of things, to the exclusion of other points of view. Failure to understand the alternatives available to you, your customers and anyone else who has a stake in the outcome, can narrow the opportunity for successful outcomes for all involved.
Paying heed to these steps when planning for negotiations will help you approach such events with much more confidence and much less fear; thereby greatly increasing your rate of success. Indeed, we can exceed the need to concede, and then succeed!
For more in-depth information on negotiations strategies, read Carew International’s Defending the Price white paper or visit Pathways to Negotiations on the Carew International website for detailed program information.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
PROSPECTING POWER HOUR
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer
Carew International, Inc.
Of all the subjects on which I blog, speak, or discuss with clients, one of the most popular has to be prospecting. How do we do it better? How often? Should we prospect at all? I have fielded these (and more) prospecting themed questions frequently. In general, sales professionals and leaders most often want to know how they can become more effective at developing new prospects for their company. With that topic in mind, I thought I would share my most recent development or, more accurately, RE-development in the science of prospecting.
In a past blog entitled “A New Way to Prospect”, I addressed the importance of leveraging your network of contacts, especially through electronic mediums, to be more targeted and time efficient in your business development efforts. To supplement that information, I’ll share a more “old school” approach that has been working well in several of my firms which have employed it. It is no less targeted or time efficient, but it requires a bit of advanced planning.
The “Prospecting Power Hour” (PPH) concept is actually quite simple. The PPH is dedicated time (an hour a week up to an hour per day) to make laser targeted strikes to a few, high yield targets. This is in stark contrast to the “carpet bombing” tactic typically employed in most prospecting initiatives, in which the salesperson tries to make as many calls as possible in an effort to cover a wide area. The idea of PPH is to make fewer calls, concentrating on a tighter group of potential prospects.
At this juncture it is worth clarifying the definition of “prospect” as it pertains to PPH. I believe Webster’s interpretation as “an advance realization of something to come” is appropriate. Said another way, a prospect is a potential client with enough qualification completed by the sales team to determine they should be actively pursued as a future client.
But the Prospecting Power Hour approach takes this definition one step further, asking each salesperson to rigorously apply their firm’s “best client” definition parameters to a VERY tight focus. The goal is for each salesperson to identify their top 25 (it certainly can be less but NOT more) prospects that fit that exacting “best client” definition to a “T” and which would absolutely make their year if they were able to convert them to customers. Once this group of high potential prospects has been identified, every salesperson on the team spends their designated hour (again, frequency may vary) doing nothing but trying to convert the targeted prospects to customers.
As I said earlier, PPH isn’t complicated. But it is VERY effective, especially if you add the element of competition within your sales team. Consider a sales contest around who has the most success each PPH session and/or each month, with some finite activity-based metrics. Focusing the contest on activity-based goals instead of outcome-based goals is critical because you want to reward the hard work that goes into pursuing these types of prospects. Examples of activity-based metrics would be things such as 1) who reached the most actual people during the calling session, 2) which rep got the most names of decision makers, 3) who set the most future appointments, etc. The objective is to make the drudgery associated with prospecting a bit more fun by recognizing milestones in the process rather than only recognizing “wins.”
Give the Prospecting Power Hour a try in your company and let me know how it works. I am confident your sales team will have some fun, increase the effectiveness of their prospecting and go on to close more business.
Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer
Carew International, Inc.
Of all the subjects on which I blog, speak, or discuss with clients, one of the most popular has to be prospecting. How do we do it better? How often? Should we prospect at all? I have fielded these (and more) prospecting themed questions frequently. In general, sales professionals and leaders most often want to know how they can become more effective at developing new prospects for their company. With that topic in mind, I thought I would share my most recent development or, more accurately, RE-development in the science of prospecting.
In a past blog entitled “A New Way to Prospect”, I addressed the importance of leveraging your network of contacts, especially through electronic mediums, to be more targeted and time efficient in your business development efforts. To supplement that information, I’ll share a more “old school” approach that has been working well in several of my firms which have employed it. It is no less targeted or time efficient, but it requires a bit of advanced planning.
The “Prospecting Power Hour” (PPH) concept is actually quite simple. The PPH is dedicated time (an hour a week up to an hour per day) to make laser targeted strikes to a few, high yield targets. This is in stark contrast to the “carpet bombing” tactic typically employed in most prospecting initiatives, in which the salesperson tries to make as many calls as possible in an effort to cover a wide area. The idea of PPH is to make fewer calls, concentrating on a tighter group of potential prospects.
At this juncture it is worth clarifying the definition of “prospect” as it pertains to PPH. I believe Webster’s interpretation as “an advance realization of something to come” is appropriate. Said another way, a prospect is a potential client with enough qualification completed by the sales team to determine they should be actively pursued as a future client.
But the Prospecting Power Hour approach takes this definition one step further, asking each salesperson to rigorously apply their firm’s “best client” definition parameters to a VERY tight focus. The goal is for each salesperson to identify their top 25 (it certainly can be less but NOT more) prospects that fit that exacting “best client” definition to a “T” and which would absolutely make their year if they were able to convert them to customers. Once this group of high potential prospects has been identified, every salesperson on the team spends their designated hour (again, frequency may vary) doing nothing but trying to convert the targeted prospects to customers.
As I said earlier, PPH isn’t complicated. But it is VERY effective, especially if you add the element of competition within your sales team. Consider a sales contest around who has the most success each PPH session and/or each month, with some finite activity-based metrics. Focusing the contest on activity-based goals instead of outcome-based goals is critical because you want to reward the hard work that goes into pursuing these types of prospects. Examples of activity-based metrics would be things such as 1) who reached the most actual people during the calling session, 2) which rep got the most names of decision makers, 3) who set the most future appointments, etc. The objective is to make the drudgery associated with prospecting a bit more fun by recognizing milestones in the process rather than only recognizing “wins.”
Give the Prospecting Power Hour a try in your company and let me know how it works. I am confident your sales team will have some fun, increase the effectiveness of their prospecting and go on to close more business.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
PERFECT STORM... OR IS IT?
Jeff Seeley
CEO
Carew International, Inc.
This weekend I happened to catch the movie “The Perfect Storm.” As I watched the trials and tribulations of Bill Tyne (George Clooney), it reminded me of the commentary I have heard over and over about the current economic issues being caused by a “perfect storm” of economic troubles, subprime mortgages, job loss, commercial lending, wall street greed, loss of manufacturing jobs (middle class), elimination of tradition economic supply and demand curves and on, and on, etc. etc. etc.
CEO
Carew International, Inc.
This weekend I happened to catch the movie “The Perfect Storm.” As I watched the trials and tribulations of Bill Tyne (George Clooney), it reminded me of the commentary I have heard over and over about the current economic issues being caused by a “perfect storm” of economic troubles, subprime mortgages, job loss, commercial lending, wall street greed, loss of manufacturing jobs (middle class), elimination of tradition economic supply and demand curves and on, and on, etc. etc. etc.
I started thinking… when there is a catastrophe, be it a real storm, economic or other, it is always billed as the “perfect storm.” Think about Hurricane Katrina and the levies that failed. It took the “perfect storm” to create the failure, as the levies had held through years of rain, storms etc., but none were evidently perfect until that fateful day. Now we have contingencies in place to create levies that are “perfect storm” proof… at least until the next unforeseen perfect storm.
Business is no different. We think we are living this perfect storm of business adversity. And it is that mentality which is part of the problem. The reality is we are in a storm, not unlike previous storms and future storms, more and less perfect.
When trouble occurs in our business or with our customers, it always feels like the perfect storm; whether it is a missed deadline or delivery, project delay, economic crisis, credit crunch or whatever it is in your world that caused failure. In reality it probably was not a “perfect storm” as much as opportunities lost by not having our best game employed. As the storm clouds gather, it is very easy to get caught in the perfect storm mentality, i.e., assume it is out of our control. When things are out of our control, we feel justified to take our effort out of play as well. It makes me consider how many times I have said “It is what it is,” as if to accept my fate.
“IT IS NOT WHAT IT IS”, it is “WHAT WE MAKE IT.”
“PERFECT STORM” indeed… as if there is this whirling, out of control force in the business world that rules us like the weather. There are no perfect storms. There are problems. Challenges arise for which we have no contingency plan. Our responsibility is to weather the storm, create a plan and execute the plan in a manner that meets and exceeds our customers’ expectations. These actions are how we earn our leadership position with our customers and how creativity is fostered.
The CNBC’s of the world can talk about perfect business storms. Successful businesses, sales professionals and enlightened leaders are putting products, new services, and investment in their people at the forefront of their strategies; not running for cover from the business storm of the century. Buckle up and lean into the vortex; you and your business might just experience growth.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Make the P-O-I-N-T: Sales Skills Development that Works
Ed Albertson
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
Implementing skills training has many challenges: selecting the correct skills to improve; selecting the manner in which the training is conducted; introducing the need for the training so it has a chance to succeed; and ensuring the training works and lasts. Implementing sales skills and other skills training has those same challenges, in addition to which one might add the risk of failure that impacts so many parts of an organization in so many ways.
Much is written about the topic, but often, when all is said and done, more is said and less is done to establish a sustaining process for implementing sales skills training. Evidence of this situation can be seen in the constant churn of sales training initiatives in almost any given company. The typical life-span of an ineffectively implemented sales skills training initiative is about 3-4 years, after which time the need to find the “next new thing” overwhelms the desirability of remaining with the incumbent approach. A well-thought-out and executed implementation can endure for two decades, as we have experienced with several of our long-term clients.
When implementing a sales skills training process, here are some “points” to consider which move beyond planning for the event and offer a more durable change that will produce longer-lasting results, thereby increasing the return on the original training effort and investment.
Make the P-O-I-N-T with a successful and sustaining sales skills training effort by ensuring it is seen as:
P Purposeful - Any training linked to an organization’s business objectives and sales challenges stands a better chance of surviving the inevitable and individual question, “Why are we doing this?” Establishing a direct line of sight between where the organization is headed and how sales skills are aligned with that goal provides people a context in which they can see their role.
O Ongoing - Understanding that what goes on before and after a training effort and communicating that flow is important for recognizing that skills training cannot and should not be viewed as a one-time occurrence. The process must allow for a continuous improvement (before, during and after) and not just the event itself. Communicating the purpose for the skills development (see Purposeful, above) before the event and following up with vigorous coaching and reinforcement can be convincing for even the skeptical among the organization, while supporting the permanence of the process as well.
I Interactive - Adults are far more responsive to active “doing” instead of passive “hearing.” Training that is structured in a way that maximizes LOTS of practice opportunities, gains huge momentum along the learning curve. The optimal design includes ample time for generous amounts of feedback exchange in a safe environment that identifies strengths as well as areas for further development. Likewise, coaching (peer and otherwise) should be an exchange of possible conclusions that allows for a diversity of evaluation and is based on observable data and not subjectivity.
N Newsworthy - Long-lasting initiatives tend to capture successes, early and often, to sustain the momentum achieved during the initial event. Noting successful outcomes that link to business objectives reinforce the notion that the effort has purpose. Publicizing early “wins” also has the effect of encouraging competition for positive attention among the culture leaders and leads to more stories of success, which travel much more quickly throughout an organization than statistical facts. Finally, if the business objectives that inspired this effort are important enough to pursue, the published linkage of incremental steps toward their achievement is important enough to report… to everyone … everywhere.
T Timely - A slow implementation with optional participation implies a lack of urgency and diminishes the perceived importance of doing anything in the first place. Urgency is associated with importance. It is best to achieve critical mass as quickly as possible so it feels like everybody is involved at the same time, with the same energy and for the same reasons -- NO EXCEPTIONS. In essence, everybody is either “in” or they are not. When Cortes burned his ships after landing in Mexico, the urgency of success was apparent to everyone. There should be no salesperson left behind.
Whether intended or not, sales skills development efforts can take on a life of their own. That “life” can be lengthened and of a higher quality if we make sure the right P-O-I-N-T is made when the process is undertaken.
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
Implementing skills training has many challenges: selecting the correct skills to improve; selecting the manner in which the training is conducted; introducing the need for the training so it has a chance to succeed; and ensuring the training works and lasts. Implementing sales skills and other skills training has those same challenges, in addition to which one might add the risk of failure that impacts so many parts of an organization in so many ways.
Much is written about the topic, but often, when all is said and done, more is said and less is done to establish a sustaining process for implementing sales skills training. Evidence of this situation can be seen in the constant churn of sales training initiatives in almost any given company. The typical life-span of an ineffectively implemented sales skills training initiative is about 3-4 years, after which time the need to find the “next new thing” overwhelms the desirability of remaining with the incumbent approach. A well-thought-out and executed implementation can endure for two decades, as we have experienced with several of our long-term clients.
When implementing a sales skills training process, here are some “points” to consider which move beyond planning for the event and offer a more durable change that will produce longer-lasting results, thereby increasing the return on the original training effort and investment.
Make the P-O-I-N-T with a successful and sustaining sales skills training effort by ensuring it is seen as:
P Purposeful - Any training linked to an organization’s business objectives and sales challenges stands a better chance of surviving the inevitable and individual question, “Why are we doing this?” Establishing a direct line of sight between where the organization is headed and how sales skills are aligned with that goal provides people a context in which they can see their role.
O Ongoing - Understanding that what goes on before and after a training effort and communicating that flow is important for recognizing that skills training cannot and should not be viewed as a one-time occurrence. The process must allow for a continuous improvement (before, during and after) and not just the event itself. Communicating the purpose for the skills development (see Purposeful, above) before the event and following up with vigorous coaching and reinforcement can be convincing for even the skeptical among the organization, while supporting the permanence of the process as well.
I Interactive - Adults are far more responsive to active “doing” instead of passive “hearing.” Training that is structured in a way that maximizes LOTS of practice opportunities, gains huge momentum along the learning curve. The optimal design includes ample time for generous amounts of feedback exchange in a safe environment that identifies strengths as well as areas for further development. Likewise, coaching (peer and otherwise) should be an exchange of possible conclusions that allows for a diversity of evaluation and is based on observable data and not subjectivity.
N Newsworthy - Long-lasting initiatives tend to capture successes, early and often, to sustain the momentum achieved during the initial event. Noting successful outcomes that link to business objectives reinforce the notion that the effort has purpose. Publicizing early “wins” also has the effect of encouraging competition for positive attention among the culture leaders and leads to more stories of success, which travel much more quickly throughout an organization than statistical facts. Finally, if the business objectives that inspired this effort are important enough to pursue, the published linkage of incremental steps toward their achievement is important enough to report… to everyone … everywhere.
T Timely - A slow implementation with optional participation implies a lack of urgency and diminishes the perceived importance of doing anything in the first place. Urgency is associated with importance. It is best to achieve critical mass as quickly as possible so it feels like everybody is involved at the same time, with the same energy and for the same reasons -- NO EXCEPTIONS. In essence, everybody is either “in” or they are not. When Cortes burned his ships after landing in Mexico, the urgency of success was apparent to everyone. There should be no salesperson left behind.
Whether intended or not, sales skills development efforts can take on a life of their own. That “life” can be lengthened and of a higher quality if we make sure the right P-O-I-N-T is made when the process is undertaken.
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Power of Positive Energy
Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer
Carew International, Inc.
Everyone with a pulse has heard the analogy about the glass being half empty or half full. The point of the analogy is a good one, because it is about positive focus versus negative focus. Technically, of course, both are true; the glass is simultaneously half full and half empty. People seem naturally inclined to see it one way or the other. In today’s business climate, many of us may struggle to see the opportunity that resides in the half full glass on a consistent basis.
There is another axiom that coincides with the glass analogy -- the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy, which states that you get what you think about and focus on in terms of positive or negative results. In short, positive thoughts yield positive results and negative thoughts will eventually manifest negative results. I have found that both concepts hold true more often than not. If you have doubts, one way to prove it to yourself is to get behind the wheel of a race car. One of the absolute rules of racing is to focus on where you want the car to go and not the wall. Take it from me, if you focus on the wall, you WILL hit the wall!
As a friend of mine often says, “So what? Now what?” I believe the “so what” is that the current economic downturn in our country has presented us with the classic case of determining if the glass is half empty or half full. If you are among the 10% of America that is unemployed, it may look half empty. If you’re among the 90% that is still employed, it is easier to see it half full. If you are considering investing in the stock market, you could make the case (and many are!) that this is the worst time you could possibly have your money in the market. You could just as easily see the half full perspective and determine that this is EXACTLY the time to move money into the market because every dollar buys more than it did just twelve months ago. Is this the worst time to invest in your business or the best time? Is this the best time to start a new company or the worst time? I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.
The “now what” is to focus on and work toward the future we desire for ourselves, our families, our business and even our country. The economy will actually BECOME what we collectively choose to focus on. If enough of us see opportunity in the stock market, guess what will happen to our investment? The self fulfilling prophecy will be that the large number of people in “buy” mode will send the market skyward and we will all look pretty smart. The same momentum is possible within individual businesses and industries.
Of course, good things in life are the result of more than just positive thinking. Bringing to fruition the glass being half full requires a leap of faith, a little luck, wise investment, and a lot of hard work. All things being equal, better to have the power of positive energy propelling you forward -- it’s much more productive than the alternative!
Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer
Carew International, Inc.
Everyone with a pulse has heard the analogy about the glass being half empty or half full. The point of the analogy is a good one, because it is about positive focus versus negative focus. Technically, of course, both are true; the glass is simultaneously half full and half empty. People seem naturally inclined to see it one way or the other. In today’s business climate, many of us may struggle to see the opportunity that resides in the half full glass on a consistent basis.
There is another axiom that coincides with the glass analogy -- the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy, which states that you get what you think about and focus on in terms of positive or negative results. In short, positive thoughts yield positive results and negative thoughts will eventually manifest negative results. I have found that both concepts hold true more often than not. If you have doubts, one way to prove it to yourself is to get behind the wheel of a race car. One of the absolute rules of racing is to focus on where you want the car to go and not the wall. Take it from me, if you focus on the wall, you WILL hit the wall!
As a friend of mine often says, “So what? Now what?” I believe the “so what” is that the current economic downturn in our country has presented us with the classic case of determining if the glass is half empty or half full. If you are among the 10% of America that is unemployed, it may look half empty. If you’re among the 90% that is still employed, it is easier to see it half full. If you are considering investing in the stock market, you could make the case (and many are!) that this is the worst time you could possibly have your money in the market. You could just as easily see the half full perspective and determine that this is EXACTLY the time to move money into the market because every dollar buys more than it did just twelve months ago. Is this the worst time to invest in your business or the best time? Is this the best time to start a new company or the worst time? I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.
The “now what” is to focus on and work toward the future we desire for ourselves, our families, our business and even our country. The economy will actually BECOME what we collectively choose to focus on. If enough of us see opportunity in the stock market, guess what will happen to our investment? The self fulfilling prophecy will be that the large number of people in “buy” mode will send the market skyward and we will all look pretty smart. The same momentum is possible within individual businesses and industries.
Of course, good things in life are the result of more than just positive thinking. Bringing to fruition the glass being half full requires a leap of faith, a little luck, wise investment, and a lot of hard work. All things being equal, better to have the power of positive energy propelling you forward -- it’s much more productive than the alternative!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Differentiation Creates Sweet Melody in a Tough Marketplace
by Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President and CSO
Carew International, Inc.
The point is simple, really… the fewer discretionary dollars consumers or businesses have to spend, the tougher it gets when you are, or can be viewed as, a discretionary expenditure. So the challenge becomes how to cut through the competition to earn what little discretionary money remains. How can you position your product or service as an INVESTMENT versus a COST? Here are a few ideas:
1) Know Your Clientele: I am not talking about their buying preferences or habits, but about understanding how they create value for THEIR customers. If you can understand their “value chain” or the points within your client’s company where they create the value for THEIR customers, you can align your products and services in a way that aids in their value creation process. When you are helping them add incremental value, you become an investment rather than a cost.
2) Identify the Perfect Prospects: When times are tough, there are also fewer dollars to spread around for advertising and marketing. Laser alignment and a dogged focus on prospecting to a narrow band width can be invaluable. Don’t waste time and effort targeting prospects that don’t meet rigid criteria of the parameters of a “perfect” potential customer. If someone wants to buy something, by all means, sell it to them; but don’t divert time and energy chasing prospects outside your ideal customer definition.
3) Good, Better, Best: An additional approach used by many companies is to adopt the C.F. Martin strategy. The strategy involves developing products at a lower price point to compete in an additional (lower) price range, while keeping your premium priced lines positioned where they have always competed successfully. As with any strategy, there is risk, such as diminishing the marquee value of the overall brand. BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche are good examples of companies who have adopted this strategy successfully without diluting the perceived “high end reputation” of their brands.
These are just a few ideas of how you can cut through the “noise” of intense competition to create some “beautiful music” for your company in a tough, competitive marketplace.
Executive Vice President and CSO
Carew International, Inc.
I am a huge fan of music. I’m an avid listener, concert attendee, and also play the guitar myself. It was with great interest that I read the WSJ article about venerable high end guitar maker C.F. Martin beginning production of a lower priced, no frills, guitar in response to the economic pressures created by the latest downturn in consumer spending. Is nothing sacred? Apparently, in the real world business of music, decreased discretionary spending is also having an impact on high end instrument purchases. Recording artists and their labels have been feeling the pinch for a while now, as the proliferation of music downloading sites has created downward pressure on the price point of purchased music as well as nightmares associated with royalty collection. When there are fewer discretionary dollars to spread around, no industry is immune from the effect.
The point is simple, really… the fewer discretionary dollars consumers or businesses have to spend, the tougher it gets when you are, or can be viewed as, a discretionary expenditure. So the challenge becomes how to cut through the competition to earn what little discretionary money remains. How can you position your product or service as an INVESTMENT versus a COST? Here are a few ideas:
1) Know Your Clientele: I am not talking about their buying preferences or habits, but about understanding how they create value for THEIR customers. If you can understand their “value chain” or the points within your client’s company where they create the value for THEIR customers, you can align your products and services in a way that aids in their value creation process. When you are helping them add incremental value, you become an investment rather than a cost.
2) Identify the Perfect Prospects: When times are tough, there are also fewer dollars to spread around for advertising and marketing. Laser alignment and a dogged focus on prospecting to a narrow band width can be invaluable. Don’t waste time and effort targeting prospects that don’t meet rigid criteria of the parameters of a “perfect” potential customer. If someone wants to buy something, by all means, sell it to them; but don’t divert time and energy chasing prospects outside your ideal customer definition.
3) Good, Better, Best: An additional approach used by many companies is to adopt the C.F. Martin strategy. The strategy involves developing products at a lower price point to compete in an additional (lower) price range, while keeping your premium priced lines positioned where they have always competed successfully. As with any strategy, there is risk, such as diminishing the marquee value of the overall brand. BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche are good examples of companies who have adopted this strategy successfully without diluting the perceived “high end reputation” of their brands.
These are just a few ideas of how you can cut through the “noise” of intense competition to create some “beautiful music” for your company in a tough, competitive marketplace.
Friday, July 10, 2009
SMART Selling
By Ed Albertson
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
Working with a variety of businesses and industries, we often get asked a common question, “How do I know if an opportunity is a ‘good one’ and worth committing limited resources toward acquiring?” This question should be asked by all sales professionals relative to each and every opportunity in their pipeline. With increasing pressure to make optimal use of our efforts, it is critical to identify those aspects of an opportunity that can give us cumulative insight regarding its worth to our company and us.
Now, more than ever, we need to engage in SMART selling! Here are some indicators that can guide us toward more effective and efficient use of resources to produce the maximum results:
Assess each opportunity by determining if there is:
S - Significant potential - The potential value of our solution to the customer is as important as the potential yield that could be realized by our organization. Jointly determining the scope (breadth and depth) of the opportunity permits a comparative evaluation of its value with regard to others that may compete for resources within our own company and within our customer’s organization.
M - Measurable outcome – The more effectively something can be measured, the more tangible its value. Leaving the determination of progress/success to a vague definition is a recipe for disappointment, both for customers and us.
A - Access to decision-influencers – Decision-making can range from a single person to a committee; but for an opportunity to be a valid one; we should seek and have access to all who will be involved in the decision-making process. Denied access, we run the risk of having an incomplete picture of the needs, constraints, advantages, and discourse that drive the comprehensive definition of success.
R - Recognized criteria – Beyond the specified needs, certain criteria will exist that could and should guide the customer’s decision-making. Lacking specific decision-making criteria can be an indicator that the need is not well established, not all decision-influencers have been included or a decision has already been made and we are not part of the solution, but merely a gauge for justifying a competitor’s advantage.
T - Time-sensitive urgency – We live and work in a fast-paced world fueled by information availability, technologically-enhanced speed and global connections. In a word, anything worth doing should have been done already. If there is a less-than-urgent sense of timing, we need to consider the cost of delay and even wonder aloud if we are an unwilling participant in a fishing expedition: a very long and drawn-out one, at that.
With limited resources, limited time and boundless pressure to produce, SMART selling can be our answer to producing more for our company, ourselves and our customers.
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.
Working with a variety of businesses and industries, we often get asked a common question, “How do I know if an opportunity is a ‘good one’ and worth committing limited resources toward acquiring?” This question should be asked by all sales professionals relative to each and every opportunity in their pipeline. With increasing pressure to make optimal use of our efforts, it is critical to identify those aspects of an opportunity that can give us cumulative insight regarding its worth to our company and us.
Now, more than ever, we need to engage in SMART selling! Here are some indicators that can guide us toward more effective and efficient use of resources to produce the maximum results:
Assess each opportunity by determining if there is:
S - Significant potential - The potential value of our solution to the customer is as important as the potential yield that could be realized by our organization. Jointly determining the scope (breadth and depth) of the opportunity permits a comparative evaluation of its value with regard to others that may compete for resources within our own company and within our customer’s organization.
M - Measurable outcome – The more effectively something can be measured, the more tangible its value. Leaving the determination of progress/success to a vague definition is a recipe for disappointment, both for customers and us.
A - Access to decision-influencers – Decision-making can range from a single person to a committee; but for an opportunity to be a valid one; we should seek and have access to all who will be involved in the decision-making process. Denied access, we run the risk of having an incomplete picture of the needs, constraints, advantages, and discourse that drive the comprehensive definition of success.
R - Recognized criteria – Beyond the specified needs, certain criteria will exist that could and should guide the customer’s decision-making. Lacking specific decision-making criteria can be an indicator that the need is not well established, not all decision-influencers have been included or a decision has already been made and we are not part of the solution, but merely a gauge for justifying a competitor’s advantage.
T - Time-sensitive urgency – We live and work in a fast-paced world fueled by information availability, technologically-enhanced speed and global connections. In a word, anything worth doing should have been done already. If there is a less-than-urgent sense of timing, we need to consider the cost of delay and even wonder aloud if we are an unwilling participant in a fishing expedition: a very long and drawn-out one, at that.
With limited resources, limited time and boundless pressure to produce, SMART selling can be our answer to producing more for our company, ourselves and our customers.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The NEW Human Nature of Sales
By Chuck Terry
Executive Vice PResident and CSO, Carew International, Inc.
Wikipedia defines Human Nature as the concept that there are a set of characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling and acting, which all "normal" human beings have in common. Most sales processes adhere to that philosophy, gearing sales tactics to capitalize on the commonality of all humans. It makes sense, right? Won’t most "normal" human beings react to any given sales tactic in a similar manner? I believe the answer is yes… and no. There are certain human characteristics that will be consistent across many individuals and situations, but beware of utilizing "one-size-fits-all" sales processes with "scripted" responses to your customers. That approach is as outdated as the typewriter.
Let’s examine a very common example of a classic "human nature" scripted sales tactic. This is a fairly well known tactic for handling objections called "Feel, Felt, Found." When confronted with an objection such as price, your response would be "I know exactly how you feel, a lot of people felt the same way about the price before they took the time to really learn about this product. Once they had the chance to understand in more detail what this product could do for them, they actually found the price to be quite reasonable." This is only one example, but I think you get the point. It is a scripted response, designed to accomplish two things. First, it is supposed to show your empathy for the customer. Second, it is designed to tap into the customer’s "human nature," based on the supposition that your customer wants to feel like everyone else. The last car salesman that used that one on me missed a sale.
The fact is "human nature" has changed. The new human nature drives us to great lengths NOT to be like everyone else. Why would you want to leverage sales tactics and scripts that try to pre-suppose what will be effective based upon how "most people" will react, when more and more of us aren’t anything like "most people?" Burger King was ahead of their time when they came up with the slogan "Have it your way." I don’t want my Whopper just like everyone else, I want it exactly the way I want it. For years, Dell has allowed their customers to customize their computer to their exact specifications. That business model reflects the new human nature. Each of us is unique. We want to be treated as unique, and we expect the companies we do business with to understand and respond to that fact.
It is time to throw out the old "Feel, Felt, Found" one-size-fits-all canned sales tactic, and adopt a process that allows us to understand exactly what our customers are trying to tell us. We should make sure we are listening carefully to understand how their problems are unique to them and partner with them to create unique solutions that solve their problems exactly the way they are experiencing them.
Take the time to listen carefully, acknowledge your concern and thoroughly explore the situation to verify your understanding before offering solutions. This is how we can meet the challenges of today’s customers. We all want to have it our way, that’s just "human nature." Learn more by reading "What’s the Real Objection"
Friday, June 19, 2009
Setting Higher Expectations: 3 Ways to Differentiate Ourselves
by Ed Albertson
Vice President - National Accounts, Carew International, Inc.
Inextricably connected with our attitude is our energy. Energy is our personal investment in the relationship with our customers. Some sales professionals are able to sustain a consistently upbeat, high level of focus, alertness, and confidence throughout an entire day. Others struggle to sustain these dynamic qualities for a single sales call. Regardless of the ease or challenge in sustaining energy, the impact on our customer is what is important. It is the responsibility of a sales professional to impart every customer with the belief that we gave it our all, every day and every call.
With all the emphasis in our sensory-heightened world upon what we see, personal appearance plays a magnified role in setting customer expectations. From our grooming, to our attire and accessories, to our posture and body language, most sales professionals would agree that appearance makes a profound and lasting impact in our interpersonal communications. Our appearance is linked closely with verbal and non-verbal communication, and tends to reflect our overall attitude about ourselves and our position with respect to others. Key to maintaining our attitude and energy is a congruent appearance associated with self-confidence and professionalism.
While technological advances, information proliferation and mass interconnectedness reduce the perceived differentiation of our products and services, we sales professionals have sole control over our attitude, energy and appearance as we interact with our customers. Using these tools to set high expectations can and will make a significant difference in a crowded market place.
Vice President - National Accounts, Carew International, Inc.
As the products and services we offer our customers become more commoditized due to technology, information and globalization, differentiating those products and services, as well as our company and ourselves, becomes more of a challenge. While I am not suggesting that products and services have no inherent differences, it is the perception of everything being a commodity that is particularly troublesome. For many of us in the sales profession, making a difference seems to rely more and more on being the difference.
In a recent experiment, Dan Ariely of Duke University and author of Predictably Irrational, and a team of scientists gave volunteers identical dummy pills (placebos) before and after an electric shock. They told a certain population of their test subjects that the pills were analgesics costing $2.50 each and told others that the pills cost 10 cents. Both populations claimed to experience pain relief, but there was a significant difference between the two groups’ experiences. More of those receiving the expensive placebo reported pain relief (85%) compared to fewer (60%) among the ten cent placebo recipients. Coupled with other, similar experiments, the findings seem to indicate that the higher the expectations, the greater the pain relief. Said another way, setting higher expectations in a person’s mind tends to produce higher results as well!
With the power of perception in mind, we sales professionals can set positive, highly personal, and differentiating expectations for our customers by leveraging our Attitude, Energy and Appearance.
Sales Professionals are typically the first point of contact for most of our customers. It is primarily through this level of contact that strong and enduring relationships between sales person and customer, as well as their two companies, are built. With this in mind, a number of adjectives can be used to describe the appropriate attitude for all interactions with customers: knowledgeable, positive, professional, confident, competent, friendly, caring, etc. It is, after all, the sales person who is best positioned to make a customer feel important and valued. Customers who perceive our positive attitude have an expectation of capability and satisfying outcomes. A positive-oriented attitude will win out over a negative one every time.
In a recent experiment, Dan Ariely of Duke University and author of Predictably Irrational, and a team of scientists gave volunteers identical dummy pills (placebos) before and after an electric shock. They told a certain population of their test subjects that the pills were analgesics costing $2.50 each and told others that the pills cost 10 cents. Both populations claimed to experience pain relief, but there was a significant difference between the two groups’ experiences. More of those receiving the expensive placebo reported pain relief (85%) compared to fewer (60%) among the ten cent placebo recipients. Coupled with other, similar experiments, the findings seem to indicate that the higher the expectations, the greater the pain relief. Said another way, setting higher expectations in a person’s mind tends to produce higher results as well!
With the power of perception in mind, we sales professionals can set positive, highly personal, and differentiating expectations for our customers by leveraging our Attitude, Energy and Appearance.
Sales Professionals are typically the first point of contact for most of our customers. It is primarily through this level of contact that strong and enduring relationships between sales person and customer, as well as their two companies, are built. With this in mind, a number of adjectives can be used to describe the appropriate attitude for all interactions with customers: knowledgeable, positive, professional, confident, competent, friendly, caring, etc. It is, after all, the sales person who is best positioned to make a customer feel important and valued. Customers who perceive our positive attitude have an expectation of capability and satisfying outcomes. A positive-oriented attitude will win out over a negative one every time.
Inextricably connected with our attitude is our energy. Energy is our personal investment in the relationship with our customers. Some sales professionals are able to sustain a consistently upbeat, high level of focus, alertness, and confidence throughout an entire day. Others struggle to sustain these dynamic qualities for a single sales call. Regardless of the ease or challenge in sustaining energy, the impact on our customer is what is important. It is the responsibility of a sales professional to impart every customer with the belief that we gave it our all, every day and every call.
With all the emphasis in our sensory-heightened world upon what we see, personal appearance plays a magnified role in setting customer expectations. From our grooming, to our attire and accessories, to our posture and body language, most sales professionals would agree that appearance makes a profound and lasting impact in our interpersonal communications. Our appearance is linked closely with verbal and non-verbal communication, and tends to reflect our overall attitude about ourselves and our position with respect to others. Key to maintaining our attitude and energy is a congruent appearance associated with self-confidence and professionalism.
While technological advances, information proliferation and mass interconnectedness reduce the perceived differentiation of our products and services, we sales professionals have sole control over our attitude, energy and appearance as we interact with our customers. Using these tools to set high expectations can and will make a significant difference in a crowded market place.
Read more about Attitude, Energy and Appearance, by downloading Carew's white paper, "Your Image of Difference".
Friday, June 12, 2009
5 More Tips for Business Growth in Tough Economic Times
By Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO, Carew International, Inc.
In a previous blog, I shared five tips for building your business in tough economic times. Since that proved to be a popular posting, I thought I would revisit the subject with five more suggestions:
Executive Vice President & CSO, Carew International, Inc.
In a previous blog, I shared five tips for building your business in tough economic times. Since that proved to be a popular posting, I thought I would revisit the subject with five more suggestions:
- Read Every Day- Read your local papers, the Wall Street Journal, and sign up for news postings on the internet. Look for articles about your prospects or that may be of interest to your prospects. Then share these articles with your prospects to let them know you are thinking about them and their business. Even if they are not actively in the spending mode, your continued interest in helping them will pay dividends down the road. This is also a great way to maintain frequency of contact, while adding value.
- Meet Two New People Per Week- Set a goal for yourself of meeting and adding to your business network at least two new people each week. Ask your current contacts to introduce you to people they know, attend networking meetings, talk to other parents at your kids’ sports events; but find a way to meet AT LEAST TWO people a week that you can network with professionally for MUTUAL benefit. Although quality is more important than quantity, the more people you meet each week, the better. Make two new quality contacts per week your minimum discipline.
- Get Creative- When times are tough, you need to be flexible and also more creative in how you approach your business. These are great times to find ways to stand out from the crowd. It might be creative pricing strategies. It might be creative marketing strategies. It might be creative selling tactics. Or it may be all of those and more. Challenge yourself to “get out of the box” and try some new approaches. A colleague of mine often recant the story of “The Watermelon Man,” a business owner who got creative in order to engage his top prospect, who had been avoiding him. He began personally delivering a watermelon a day to his prospect until finally; unable to control his curiosity any longer, the prospect told his assistant he wanted to meet “The Watermelon Man.” They had a good laugh and “The Watermelon Man” got the business. Get creative and have some fun with it!
- Use Online Networks to Reconnect- Online social networks make it easier than ever to re-establish lost business connections. Go back through your old client files and look for all the people you know, but have lost contact with because they are no longer with your client organization. On a site like LinkedIn, finding these individuals is quick and easy. I recently invested a couple of hours to find past contacts from one particular client organization. As a result, I reconnected with ten people who had moved on to new companies. I did not reach out so that I could immediately ask them for business, but because these are people I admire and respect. Maybe I can help them, or perhaps they might help me someday. The only thing I know for sure is that nothing will happen if I don’t stay connected!
- Set Activity Goals in Addition to Financial Goals- When times are tough and you aren’t having as much success closing business, it is critical to celebrate the success you are having in moving closer to getting business. It is tough to stay motivated in a sales slump and the last six months could put ANYONE into a bit of a slump. Set goals that you can reach daily; goals you know will eventually result in closing business, and then celebrate attaining those goals. It will help you stay positive, not to mention keep your sales cycle momentum moving in the right direction. I am not talking about rationalizing missing sales targets; rather, adding new ones that help you stay focused on the right activities during tough times.
There you have it, five more ways to keep growing during tough times. I will leave you with this quote from Henry Ford, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
Friday, June 5, 2009
Carrot or Stick? Sales Leaders Should Weigh Tactics Carefully
By Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO, Carew International, Inc.
At this point, we are all painfully aware of the impact of the current economy. But if misery loves company, we may take comfort in knowing that the challenges we face -- poor sales, lay-offs, cut backs -- weigh on the hearts and minds of people throughout our organization. What is a sales professional going to tell their sales manager in these times when they don’t make plan? What is the sales manager going to tell the sales vice president? What does the sales vice president tell the CEO? What does the CEO tell the Board? What does the Board tell investors?
So here’s the burning question: When sales are in the tank as a result of a worldwide recession, how should sales leaders respond… carrot or stick? Our employees have been stressed, over worked, and forced to rationalize diminished performance -- many for the first times in their careers. As we struggle to overcome hurdles and maximize sales, are we giving proper attention to the psyche and self confidence of our people? How do we keep the sales team motivated and engaged? Even in the most pervasive economic conditions, each situation needs to be addressed individually. But on the whole, I contend that a little empathy is in order.
Tom Peters once wrote that no company wants to hang the motto over their door that says “XYZ Corporation, We’re No Worse Than Anyone Else.” Yet over the past year, many companies were LUCKY to be performing to that standard. While we have all been busy making legitimate rationalizations to those upstream from us, have we forgotten to cut ourselves and those downstream some slack?
We need to make the effort to reach out to those around us that have been operating under EXTREME stress levels for an extended length of time and just say thanks. Thanks for hanging in there through the tough times; thanks for caring so much about the business; thanks for staying loyal; and thanks to your families for the sacrifices they have made. A little appreciation goes a long way.
Signs are out there that the current economic deep freeze is beginning to thaw. And as the economy continues to improve, we will need our entire team to be positive and focused. I saw a t-shirt last weekend that said, “The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves.” It made me laugh; but it also made me think. Let’s all stop the beatings, show some sincere appreciation to those around us, and focus on the opportunity that is just around the next bend.
The sales team is not be alone in our suffering, but we do tend to be the point of direct impact. If we as sales leaders help ease the pain and focus on positive outcomes, our sales professionals will have more energy to do the same.
Executive Vice President & CSO, Carew International, Inc.
At this point, we are all painfully aware of the impact of the current economy. But if misery loves company, we may take comfort in knowing that the challenges we face -- poor sales, lay-offs, cut backs -- weigh on the hearts and minds of people throughout our organization. What is a sales professional going to tell their sales manager in these times when they don’t make plan? What is the sales manager going to tell the sales vice president? What does the sales vice president tell the CEO? What does the CEO tell the Board? What does the Board tell investors?
So here’s the burning question: When sales are in the tank as a result of a worldwide recession, how should sales leaders respond… carrot or stick? Our employees have been stressed, over worked, and forced to rationalize diminished performance -- many for the first times in their careers. As we struggle to overcome hurdles and maximize sales, are we giving proper attention to the psyche and self confidence of our people? How do we keep the sales team motivated and engaged? Even in the most pervasive economic conditions, each situation needs to be addressed individually. But on the whole, I contend that a little empathy is in order.
Tom Peters once wrote that no company wants to hang the motto over their door that says “XYZ Corporation, We’re No Worse Than Anyone Else.” Yet over the past year, many companies were LUCKY to be performing to that standard. While we have all been busy making legitimate rationalizations to those upstream from us, have we forgotten to cut ourselves and those downstream some slack?
We need to make the effort to reach out to those around us that have been operating under EXTREME stress levels for an extended length of time and just say thanks. Thanks for hanging in there through the tough times; thanks for caring so much about the business; thanks for staying loyal; and thanks to your families for the sacrifices they have made. A little appreciation goes a long way.
Signs are out there that the current economic deep freeze is beginning to thaw. And as the economy continues to improve, we will need our entire team to be positive and focused. I saw a t-shirt last weekend that said, “The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves.” It made me laugh; but it also made me think. Let’s all stop the beatings, show some sincere appreciation to those around us, and focus on the opportunity that is just around the next bend.
The sales team is not be alone in our suffering, but we do tend to be the point of direct impact. If we as sales leaders help ease the pain and focus on positive outcomes, our sales professionals will have more energy to do the same.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Do You Fit In?
By Jeff Seeley, CEO, Carew International, Inc.
There are infinite books, television shows, and “experts” who will tell you how and why you should FIT IN! There is even Mr. Blackwell’s book on what to wear… to a baptism, wedding, or even a birthday party in the Hampton’s; all for the purpose of fitting in with what everyone else will be wearing. But this is not a blog about clothing. It is about choosing. Choosing to be like the rest or choosing to stand out.
I don’t want to minimize the risk or difficulty of standing out. Choose incorrectly and you could look like a buffoon, or worse. Say or do the wrong thing and you could be courting disaster. But ultimately, the risk is worth the reward. The reality is that fitting in makes you look like the same as the rest of the cast, including your competition. Don’t we all need to stand out to get the business? Why would we expend energy to fit in?
Jim Gilmore, author of the Experience Economy, identifies a key diagnostic for the sales professional -- a value differentiation litmus test, if you will. He poses the question, if there was an admission charge for your time with the customer, what would the customer be willing to pay for admission? I think the more fundamental question is who should be willing to pay for the sales call… you or your customer?
If your answer is that you (the sales professional) should be paying, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you’re fitting in brilliantly. Congratulations. The bad news is you don’t value your own contribution to your customers on sales calls, so chances are neither do your clients. You are going to have a tough time getting attention from current or prospective clients, much less winning their business.
If you answered that the customer should pay for your input, you’ve got a great start toward value differentiation. Take it a step farther to find out how much the customer would pay and why they value your time. This is the stuff that great sales performance is made of! Now you’re a STAND OUT!
There are infinite books, television shows, and “experts” who will tell you how and why you should FIT IN! There is even Mr. Blackwell’s book on what to wear… to a baptism, wedding, or even a birthday party in the Hampton’s; all for the purpose of fitting in with what everyone else will be wearing. But this is not a blog about clothing. It is about choosing. Choosing to be like the rest or choosing to stand out.
I don’t want to minimize the risk or difficulty of standing out. Choose incorrectly and you could look like a buffoon, or worse. Say or do the wrong thing and you could be courting disaster. But ultimately, the risk is worth the reward. The reality is that fitting in makes you look like the same as the rest of the cast, including your competition. Don’t we all need to stand out to get the business? Why would we expend energy to fit in?
Jim Gilmore, author of the Experience Economy, identifies a key diagnostic for the sales professional -- a value differentiation litmus test, if you will. He poses the question, if there was an admission charge for your time with the customer, what would the customer be willing to pay for admission? I think the more fundamental question is who should be willing to pay for the sales call… you or your customer?
If your answer is that you (the sales professional) should be paying, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you’re fitting in brilliantly. Congratulations. The bad news is you don’t value your own contribution to your customers on sales calls, so chances are neither do your clients. You are going to have a tough time getting attention from current or prospective clients, much less winning their business.
If you answered that the customer should pay for your input, you’ve got a great start toward value differentiation. Take it a step farther to find out how much the customer would pay and why they value your time. This is the stuff that great sales performance is made of! Now you’re a STAND OUT!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Top 5 Words to STOP Using in Sales
By Chuck Terry, Executive Vice President and CSO, Carew International
The language of sales has always been rich with metaphors in terms of how we describe the process of selling. Terms such as driving sales and winning the deal conjure up visions of a high stakes game where fame and fortune is only a good roll of the dice away. However not all of the metaphoric language we sales professionals use conjures up such exciting visions. It is high time we take a good look at some words we need to STOP using to describe our selling process.
Mark Twain had a great quote, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." With that in mind, here are the top five commonly used words which should be stricken from the vocabulary of sales professionals.
- 1. PROBE- In sales parlance it is generally used to describe the process of uncovering a potential customer’s needs. Webster’s dictionary defines a probe as "a slender surgical instrument used for exploring the depth and direction of a wound." I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like much fun to me! How about substituting something like needs analysis or exploring? Just about any word would be preferable to describe something we do to our customers.
- 2. COLD CALL- (OK, technically this is a phrase, not a word) In the world of sales, we generally use this phrase to indicate the process of makingcalls to prospects we haven’t met. But I have to wonder if the term describes the process so much as our feeling about performing this task. And if that is the case, perhaps we are inflicting a self-fulfilling prophecy. Try using any sentence that contains the word "cold" to describe a positive sales outcome! Finding new sources of business is the most important function of many sales jobs, so let’s call this something else. How about introductory calls, marketing calls, prospecting, or something else more engaging and less frigid. Cold calling sounds like something The Terminator might do!
- 3. OBJECTION- This is one of my personal favorites. Usually followed by a phrase such as objection handling, it couldn’t sound more clinical or impersonal. Webster’s defines objections as "a feeling of dislike, disapproval, or disagreement." Numerous studies on sales effectiveness have found that a sales presentation with one or more objections is much more likely to result in success than one where none are raised. Most successful sales professionals agree that an objection can also be a buying signal (don’t get me started on that phrase), so why not refer to it as something more hopeful than objection? How about unanswered opportunity, point of clarification, or request for additional information?
- 4. PITCH- Most commonly used in a sales reference as the act of presenting a proposal to a potential customer, it is better used to describe the act of erecting a tent. Not just any tent, but a carnival tent; because pitching something is what I would expect from a carnival barker, not a sales professional. The literal definition of the word is "to throw, hurl, fling, or toss." The last time I hurled a sales proposal, it rightfully ended up in the trash can! How about something more professional like solution presentation or solution proposal?
- 5. CLOSE- Here is a very common term typically used in a sales reference as the act of asking for, and getting, the business after a solution presentation. The dictionary describes close as follows: "to put (something) in a position to obstruct an entrance, opening, etc." I don’t know about you, but I am not too comfortable using a word with a technical definition like that to define the act of asking a potential business partner to enter into a relationship. We aren’t closing anything. In fact, we are opening a mutually beneficial business relationship! How about some terminology that reflects the reality of securing new business?
There you have it. My "Five Least Wanted List" of sales terminology. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Selling is hard. It isn’t made any easier when the words we commonly associate with the process create conflicting or negative messages. Try some of my suggestions or come up with alternative sales language of your own. The key is to rethink the words you use to describe the selling process; particularly those that have incongruent or negative definitions. A positive attitude, supported by positive language, will generate more positive outcomes in your selling process.
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