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".

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!

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.

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.

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.

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)