"Whole-Brain" Selling

“Although many of us may think of ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, biologically we are feeling creatures that think.”

- Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight, A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey (London, England, Penguin, 2006) 17.


Often, selling is described as the combination of art and science, or more aptly, consisting of functional activities made more or less effective by the application of interpersonal skills. But what does that really mean to us as sales professionals? What “mix” of art and science is optimum and in what circumstances should any mix be applied?

In her book, My Stroke of Insight, Dr. Taylor describes the experience of having a stroke and the long journey of recovering from the stroke. What makes Dr. Taylor’s story so compelling is the fact that she is a neuroanatomist (brain scientist) who was working at Harvard Medical School at the time of her stroke. Dr. Taylor understood better than most, what was happening to her brain as the left hemisphere shut down, drowned in a major hemorrhage, causing her to not be able to walk, talk, read, write or recall her life’s memories. During her eight-year recovery, she documented not only the experience, but provided a lesson in the interrelatedness of the left and right hemisphere’s of the human brain and insight into how we might choose to have those hemispheres work for us as thinking, feeling beings.

In a simple but easy-to-understand explanation of how the human brain functions, Dr. Taylor details how the left hemisphere tends to deal with the logic, organization, details and language linear thinking. The right hemisphere complements the left by constructing a big picture of our interconnectedness with the rest of the world and, unlike the left which divides our sense of time into past, present and future, the right deals only with the immediate present and allows for spontaneity and imagination, free of inhibition and judgment. Our right brains suspend judgment of good and bad, right and wrong, while our left brains are all about making judgments and organizing all the information available to us. Left is linear and logical, right is relaxed and related. Viewing our brain as two complementary halves still allows for the distinction of what each half contributes to the seamless processing of the world in which we operate.

This “separate-but-equal” operation of the two hemispheres of our brains might just reinforce the necessity for engaging in call planning activity to prepare us for improved call execution on sales calls. By applying more left-brained effort during the call planning aspect of selling, we might free ourselves for a more satisfying and effective interpersonal interaction with our customers on a sales call. Perhaps a defined process for optimal call execution would create a road map with which we can navigate the extremely complex avenues of human communication and emerge with better-than-satisfactory results. Lacking that left-brain planning activity, we risk needing to engage more of that functional “science” during our sales call and potentially robbing us of our natural inclination to want to pay more attention to our customer as a person.

With planning drawing heavily on our left brains, we can take the time and make the effort to thoughtfully and purposefully rehearse the sales call and explore alternative paths to take, precise words to use and outcomes we seek to achieve. Once completed, that planning exercise offers maximum flexibility to work with our right brains and engage our customer on a more human level. Sales process and supporting models that simplify our understanding of the complexity of human communications and decision-making can go a long way toward enhancing the efficiency of call planning, which in turn enhances the effectiveness of a sales call. This observation also seems to nicely complement the adage that “if we fail to plan, we plan to fail.” By using our left and right brains together it results in making the most of the Art and Science of selling.

Ed Albertson
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

Golf is a Lot Like Sales

I have a lot of friends that are sales professionals who would say that golf should be part of the sales process, but analogous to sales? Yes and here is why.

I think everyone would concur that the degree of difficulty associated with differentiating products or services has increased dramatically over the past decade. What once was a clear differentiator for a company is now just another “me too” feature. Yesterdays “a-has” are today’s ticket to the game. The margin of differentiation is now razor thin for many companies; and, given no clear way to differentiate, people will default to price as the tie breaker.

It has always been true, but now more than ever, the sales person can be the clear differentiating factor that tips the scales in favor of your product or service at a slightly higher price. I am not talking about a huge margin of victory that is required to accomplish this. If the sales professional can gain even the slightest of advantage, it might be enough to win the day. This is where the golf analogy comes into play.

Through the month of April, well known golfer Ernie Els was the top money winner on the PGA Tour checking in with a little over $3.1 million in winnings in 2010. An equally well known golfer (although for different reasons) is John Daly. Generally recognized as pro golf’s bad boy, John has earned just under $46,000 in Tour winnings thus far in 2010. I guess that isn’t a huge surprise, but here is where it gets interesting. Through the first 4 months of 2010 Ernie was averaging 69.84 strokes per round of PGA tournament golf. During that same time period John Daly was averaging 71.53 strokes per round. Ernie Els’ average round of golf was only 1.69 strokes per round better than John Daly’s yet he had earned over 67 times as much money! In golf, as in sales, it is pretty clear that even the smallest of differences can make a HUGE impact on financial results.

Can your sales team be a couple of strokes better than the competition? Just like the game where even a couple of strokes can make the difference between winning big and obscurity, a couple of strokes difference between you and your competition may be all that is required. How do you pick up those extra strokes in golf? You hire a coach and you practice, practice, practice. It should be no different in sales. If you are not giving your sales team the opportunity to sharpen their sales skills, coaching them on the process, and allowing them to practice in a safe environment you are missing out on a huge opportunity.

Will your sales team be the Ernie Els of your competitive arena or the John Day? The choice is up to you!

Does Anyone Really C.A.R.E.?

“People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Dr. John Maxwell
(A Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books that have sold more than a million copies: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.)

Business relationships have dramatically changed with the introduction of 24-7 information, global competition and technology that allows rapid innovation and duplication. Combined, these forces all reduce the differentiation of products and services even as solutions become increasingly interconnected and complicated. Layered atop those factors is the heightened sense of risk-aversion in the business world. Add in the churn of functions and roles and suddenly business relationships don’t “feel” the same way they used to. It’s almost as if those relationships have lost their value for both the buyer and the seller. The truth is, relationships are as important as ever, but the dynamics of what makes them valuable have changed.

More than ever, our customers need to know we really care about them, their companies and the future of both. It’s up to us as sales professionals to take the lead with developing our business relationships and we can best do that if we continually and consistently are:

C onfirming what we both (customer and seller) know about each other. Doing so limits those false assumptions we can easily make when we lack the facts about each other and from which we can build a solid business relationship. Typically, this would take place at the beginning of the business relationship, but with time comes change and it could be very beneficial to reconfirm what we think we know, as well.

A sking for information we don’t know about customer. Imagine how flattering it is to our customers for us to demonstrate our sincere interest in them, their business, their products and services, their competition and their customers! Relevant questions do just that and have the effect of paving the way for the possible solutions we might offer.

R evealing what our customer might like to know about us. Once we’ve established an understanding of our customer’s environment, we can begin to consider what appropriate solutions we have that might be of interest to our customers. Targeting solutions to customer needs isn’t new, but effectively doing so is and requires our understanding of more than simple needs. We need to be able to help customers “see around the corner” based upon our expertise, providing a knowledge resource that is very differentiating.

E xpanding the potential benefits available to both of us and our companies. As we learn more about our customers and they learn more about us, we both benefit from an expanded business relationship that holds far greater potential than originally conceived by either of us. As the relationship grows, so does opportunity for both buyer and seller, and that interdependence is a more productive state for both, as well.

Though business is in a constant state of change, the need for customers to know their sales professionals understand the environment occupied by the customer remains constant and our success depends upon our ability to show we really CARE.

“People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Dr. John Maxwell (A Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books that have sold more than a million copies: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.)

Business relationships have dramatically changed with the introduction of 24-7 information, global competition and technology that allows rapid innovation and duplication. Combined, these forces all reduce the differentiation of products and services even as solutions become increasingly interconnected and complicated. Layered atop those factors is the heightened sense of risk-aversion in the business world. Add in the churn of functions and roles and suddenly business relationships don’t “feel” the same way they used to. It’s almost as if those relationships have lost their value for both the buyer and the seller. The truth is, relationships are as important as ever, but the dynamics of what makes them valuable have changed.

More than ever, our customers need to know we really care about them, their companies and the future of both. It’s up to us as sales professionals to take the lead with developing our business relationships and we can best do that if we continually and consistently are:

Confirming what we both (customer and seller) know about each other. Doing so limits those false assumptions we can easily make when we lack the facts about each other and from which we can build a solid business relationship. Typically, this would take place at the beginning of the business relationship, but with time comes change and it could be very beneficial to reconfirm what we think we know, as well.

Asking for information we don’t know about customer. Imagine how flattering it is to our customers for us to demonstrate our sincere interest in them, their business, their products and services, their competition and their customers! Relevant questions do just that and have the effect of paving the way for the possible solutions we might offer.

Revealing what our customer might like to know about us. Once we’ve established an understanding of our customer’s environment, we can begin to consider what appropriate solutions we have that might be of interest to our customers. Targeting solutions to customer needs isn’t new, but effectively doing so is and requires our understanding of more than simple needs. We need to be able to help customers “see around the corner” based upon our expertise, providing a knowledge resource that is very differentiating.

Expanding the potential benefits available to both of us and our companies. As we learn more about our customers and they learn more about us, we both benefit from an expanded business relationship that holds far greater potential than originally conceived by either of us. As the relationship grows, so does opportunity for both buyer and seller, and that interdependence is a more productive state for both, as well.

Though business is in a constant state of change, the need for customers to know their sales professionals understand the environment occupied by the customer remains constant and our success depends upon our ability to show we really CARE.

Call Planning for Call Success!

Ed Albertson

Vice President, National Accounts

Carew International, Inc.

“An athlete may run ten thousand miles in order to prepare for one hundred yards. Quantity gives experience.”

Ray Bradbury (1920 – ) American writer


“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning." Thomas Edison

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." Dwight Eisenhower

“Hoping consumes as much energy as planning." Unknown sales professional

As sales professionals depart a sales training experience, one of the tools they typically take with them is some sort of call planning form. That form is accompanied with the best of intentions to use it in preparing for their next sales call. Of course, we all have heard where that road that is “paved with good intentions” leads and it is not a desirable destination.

Perhaps we’d engage in call planning more often if we paused to understand why call planning is so valuable to us and to our customers:

1) Planning focuses us on an outcome (Purpose);
2) Planning provides us with rehearsal time (Practice);
3) Planning reinforces our skills and process(Perfection);
4) Planning leads to improved results (Payoff).

Focusing on an outcome demands we consider what the purpose of the call might be, both for us and for our customers. That purpose becomes our guide for handling any deviation from the plan and sustains our discipline to remain on track despite interruptions, objections or unexpected reactions. Considering the limited exposure we have with each other in today’s business environment, being purposeful with time and others’ is perhaps the most considerate and strategic thing we can do in a business relationship.

Every skill-based human activity benefits from practice, be it an athletic endeavor or an artistic performance. Practice rehearses the mind and the body to function in unison and to produce consistent, superior results. Practice produces improvement in skills and provides a greater latitude within the discipline of process than without it. Sales calls have a smoother and richer quality for sales professional and customer alike because uncertainty is reduced and relaxed environment of confidence leads to a level of creativity that is obscured when we cannot escape doubt.

Skill improvement is typically experienced incrementally and in small, manageable steps toward perfection. Beyond practice, call planning with a planning form reinforces the skills learned, eventually resulting in those skills becoming good call execution habits, call after call after call. The very act of capturing our strategy and tactics in one place disciplines us to put into action the process we have learned.

Finally, every bit of data on the subject indicates that planning for anything always leads to better results. The payoff to a sales professional is measured in better use of limited and valuable time, improved outcomes, and further development of competitive skills. As we examine the other benefits of planning, it is apparent that each is inextricably related to the other, increasing the combined value of all.

Perhaps the greatest “take-away” from a training experience is not the skills we learn, but the application of those skills to produce the results we seek. Call planning takes us much farther down that road and deserves a second look from us in our pursuit of sales excellence.

Earning a Higher "Interest Rate" from Your Customers

Ed Albertson
Vice President - National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

“Would you persuade, speak of
Interest, not of Reason.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
American statesman, scientist and printer


Telling versus selling: the great dilemma for sales professionals has rooted its way into the very foundation of human nature. A variety of research studies has consistently proven and quantified the fact that human beings are overwhelmingly self-focused and our perceptual orientation routinely reflects that fact. We can not help but see the world through a lens that first filters how any incoming information affects us and primarily in terms of what pain it may cause or what pleasure it may produce.

Such a self-centered preoccupation often drives sales professionals to resort to logic with their customers as they outline the features and advantages of their offerings. Assured that they are acting within the bounds of reason, they are thus stymied when the customer’s reaction to their efforts is, at best mildly positive and at worst, defensive and possibly hostile. Faced with such resistance, the sales professional draws on even broader substantiation and worsens the entire situation. Instead of resolving problems for customers, new problems are created and mostly of an interpersonal nature. A sales professional can literally be telling their customer not to be positively influenced by the sales professional’s behaviors and words.

However, the selling process can be made far more effective if the sales professional has a conscious awareness of this aspect of human nature and considers the consequences of acquiescing to its effects. Proactively employing behaviors like listening, acknowledging, and exploring as part of the selling process demonstrates a sincere desire to understand a customer’s point of view and projects the empathy that builds trust, credibility and rapport in a relationship. Through the effort of making these “deposits in the relationship bank,” a sales professional can reap a higher rate of “interest” by their customer, both figuratively, and literally.

Soft Sell versus Hard Sell

Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President - CSO
Carew International, Inc.

The terms “soft sell” and “hard sell” have been around for years. The marketing definition of “soft sell” can be summed up as a campaign or message that uses a more subtle, casual or friendly sales message. By contrast, the marketing definition of “hard sell” may be defined as a message or campaign that uses a more direct, forceful, and overt sales message. Unfortunately, the combination of the word “soft” with the word “sell” has left many sales managers feeling that a rep who “soft sells” customers is somehow less effective than his hard charging, fire breathing, “hard sell” counterpart. Perhaps we should refine the definition a bit further.

The Business Dictionary defines “soft sell” as a “sales philosophy oriented towards identifying the customers expressed and tacit needs and wants, through exploratory questions and careful listening.” The same source defines “hard Sell” as a type of selling “which promotes the application of psychological pressure to generate a relatively quick sale.” I don’t think many companies in today’s business environment would have much trouble quickly picking the “soft sell” approach as the most desirable process for their sales teams to employ. Most of the business leaders I meet with, who are looking to train their sales teams, are asking that they learn to sell in a more “consultative” manner, the definition of which looks amazingly similar to the definition of “soft sell” given above!

At Carew International we would break down the key elements of “soft selling” or “consultative selling” as follows:

1) Building Better Relationships: Most sales people I come into contact with are pretty good at building relationships that result in many of their customers becoming friends. This is a great skill to possess but one that must be enhanced to become a truly consultative or “soft” seller. The customer must trust you as an advisor that can bring value to their business in order to ask the type of deeper exploratory questions that identify the “needs behind the needs”.

2) Active Listening Skills: In order to truly understand a customer’s expressed and tacit needs a successful “soft seller” must learn to listen for understanding versus listening for opportunity. This requires leaving your own operating reality at the door and immersing yourself in the customers operating reality. Of all the skills we teach in our sales workshops, this skill takes the most practice and yields the best results once mastered.

3) Better Exploratory Skills: To understand your customer’s needs at a deeper level, a successful consultative or “soft” seller must learn to ask better questions. Asking better questions are, of course, a wild over simplification of the obvious however, we defined that in order to “soft sell” you need to indentify not only expressed, but tacit needs as well. Most successful sales people can uncover stated needs but uncovering tacit needs is a much more complex undertaking. A tacit need is defined as a need that is difficult to communicate to another person through writing or verbalizing. A good example would be trying to explain to someone how swim. In order to become proficient in “soft selling” you must learn to ask exploratory questions that enable the customer to partner with you in understanding those tacit needs that are much tougher to verbalize.

There you have it, a contrast of the skills required to successfully “soft sell” versus the “application of psychological pressure to generate relatively quick sale”, otherwise known as a “hard sell.” In my book, the better approach is really no contest.

Win, Place or Show?

Ed Albertson

Vice President - National Accounts

Carew International, Inc.

"Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress."

We sales professionals take great pride in our eternal sense of optimism and our ability to thrive through sheer will under even the most difficult circumstances. We train for, plan for, end execute with that sense of optimism as we attempt to move our sales effort forward toward obtaining a customer decision. However, lest we create our own drama of disappointment, we are well served to retain an acute awareness of what our customer is doing in their decision-making process.

A valuable method for developing that awareness is to see things from our customer’s point of view and to consider where our customer is in their decision-making process. If we view our customer’s process as one of a problem-solving nature, we can better determine where they are in their decision-making process and what our appropriate efforts might be to help with that process. A customer’s problem-solving activity involves a five-step approach as follows:

1) Identify a goal and the barriers to that goal

2) Analyze the situation

3) Explore the options

4) Create an Action Plan

5) Monitor and follow-up the results

Given those five steps in which our customer is engaged as they move toward making their decision, we can “map” our efforts appropriately, providing the most value to our customer throughout the process. As our customer defines their goal and barriers, we can learn from their efforts and gain a perspective from their point of view. While our customer is analyzing their situation, we can explore their needs in terms of desired outcomes and problem resolutions. When customers begin to explore their options, we can assist them by outlining our capabilities in easily assessed terms of Features (what they are), Advantages (how they work) and Benefits (what they do for our customer). While customers set about creating an Action Plan, we can present a comprehensive solution that is both customer-centric and linked to their unique needs. Finally, as our customer monitors the implementation and follows up with the results, we can be most helpful with expanding the common ground of understanding, all the while growing our relationship and surfacing future potential for all.

An added bonus of this method allows us to provide our leadership with a much more accurate picture of our position and potential through identifying where our customer is in their problem-solving process as opposed to what we are doing to “sell” a solution. Not only does our projections become more accurate, it is consistent with our focus upon our customer and our intent to help them make good buying decisions. Then we can assure ourselves that our perceived motion reflects not that of the deceptively-moving rocking horse, but rather the forward speed of a thoroughbred race horse.

Putting the FUN Back into Selling!

Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.

At Carew International we know that one tenant of adult learning theory is that adults learn more effectively when they are having fun. The question is why should the fun cease after the sales training course has been completed? The answer, of course, is that it shouldn’t. Selling should be fun, and sales professionals will be more effective when it is.

During my years in sales management I learned something interesting that I believe has a lot to do with the principle of having fun when you sell. What I learned was that when I put a “rookie” sales professional into an established territory they would invariably make a sale to a prospect that wouldn’t give our company the time of day with the previous representative. While I believe that other factors such as likeability and a lack of preconceived notions play into that phenomenon, I have come to understand that the primary driver is the infusion of enthusiasm that comes from having fun at what you are doing. I have talked with enough of these types of “new” customers to have a pretty strong foundation for that belief.

I am not advocating getting rid of all your veteran sellers and replacing them with sales pups. Nothing could be further for the truth, a veteran sales force can be a huge strategic advantage in the marketplace. What I am suggesting are some ways that everyone can put the FUN back into selling.

F: Friendship- Most veterans are pretty good at forging strong relationships with clients. The trick is, how many NEW friends are they making each week? It is really easy to become stagnant and rely on your existing relationships rather than having fun making new ones. Sellers should challenge themselves to make at least one new client “friend” a week. In addition, it is easy to stop growing your relationships with your existing client friends. Sellers would be well advised to sit down with at least one existing client with whom they have a great relationship and engage in an exploratory call as if it were a new account. Making friends and helping them to be more successful is a heck of a lot more fun than just trying to sell more “stuff!”

U: Unusual Tactics- The definition of insanity is often referred to as “doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.” How many times are we guilty of that in selling? When what you are doing to make new “friends” isn’t working it may be time to try something “unusual.” It can be as simple as handing out doughnuts and coffee in front of a client’s office or as elaborate as renting billboards to display a message to the prospect near his office. One of my personal favorites is customizing cartoons and incorporating the customized cartoon into marketing e-mails. The point is, try to think of fun ways to change what you are doing to connect with prospects and enjoy yourself in the process.

N: New Representative Approach- I mentioned the phenomenon where new sales reps enter an established territory and manage to sell something to a prospect that never bought in the past. You don’t have to hire a rookie to get that effect. Imagine how much more effective it would be if you could harness the “new representative approach” while maintaining the experience of the established, veteran rep? All it takes is the existing sales professional answering the question, “if I was the new guy in this territory what would I do differently? “ Acting as if you have a new territory can be both fun and rewarding.

There you have it, a few ways to try to put the FUN back into selling. Selling is a tremendous profession and the more FUN you have at it the more money you will make. More fun = more money, not a bad combination!

Engaging Our Customers for Success

Ed Albertson
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

“Tell me and I'll Forget.

Show me and I'll Remember.

Involve me and I'll Understand.”

-Chinese proverb.

An argument could be made that we sales professionals, by nature, tend to launch into “show and tell” mode with prospects and customers, enthusiastically sharing all the features and advantages of our products and services. Add to that the glorious graphics, special effects and marketing capabilities of today’s PowerPoint software, and the temptation to dazzle them with a big show becomes overwhelming. However, merely telling and showing our customers all the features and advantages of our products and services can risk our becoming a “me-too” commodity in our customers’ eyes. The most effective sales presentations go beyond a one-way flow of information, and include a plan for involving our customers in the presentation. Since this typically doesn’t occur spontaneously, we must first consider how to engage customers as part of our sales process.

The most effective method for involving our customers in our presentations is to invite them to become an active participant in the communication. Fundamentally, we can choose between 1) asking questions throughout our presentation or 2) incorporating pauses and strategic silence at appropriate points in our presentation. Typically, the pause is best positioned after we’ve made some statement of capability in the form of a benefit to our customer. Pausing afterward allows for “thinking time” and a response from our customer that may provide insight into the relevance and the value they perceive in the benefit.

Asking questions is certainly the more proactive means of involving the customer. Questions intended to garner customer input and feedback can be simply distilled into two separate types: Open-Ended and Closed. Closed questions require merely a “yes” or “no” response, suggesting acceptance or rejection. Because of the simplistic nature of the answer required, closed questions can be considerably risky and difficult to deal with, depending upon the answer. In a group presentation, a single response can easily shut down further valuable discussion, discouraging additional, more encouraging feedback and perhaps even leaving us in doubt of the true reactions throughout the group.

Open-Ended questions require more than a “yes” or “no” response and are usually begun with words such as “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How…” Open-ended questions are much less risky than closed questions and will lead to far more interaction between us and our customer. Additionally, when presenting to more than one person, the open-ended question allows for multiple opinions and responses across the entire group, instead of having the matter “closed” by a single, perfunctory response from one person.

Never underestimate the role of the customer in a successful sales presentation. The considerable benefits of involving our customers in our presentations make it worth investing time to carefully consider and plan the questions we’ll ask, as well as where in the presentation they are best asked. Such planning enables us to decide “in the moment” how to phrase the questions that best involve our customers so they can effectively learn about the true value of our offerings.

Selling in 2010

Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.

We have officially arrived at the beginning of the next decade. As we usher in 2010, it seems like a good time to reflect upon how the last ten years have changed the world of the outside sales organization.

In 2000 research showed that only 20 - 25% of consumers had made an online purchase. That number had risen to around 50% by 2007, and it is estimated that the number is now close to 80%. The impact on an outside sales force selling ANYTHING is pretty simple. If you aren’t able to demonstrate how you are adding value to the purchasing process, consumers will buy online. In fact, there is no greater driver of perceived commoditization than the internet.

In a previous blog titled The New Human Nature of Sales, I explored the importance of customer intimacy and how the “canned” sales tactics of yesterday just don’t work anymore. Given no other way to differentiate, customers will resort to the lowest common denominator of price. As we enter the next decade, it is critical to take a hard look at the selling skills of our outside sellers and ask this simple question: “Can my sales team sell our products or services at a higher price point as a direct result of the perceived value they add for our customers?” If your honest answer is “no,” do not despair. You certainly are not alone and there are solutions.

One solution is changing your customer segmentation strategy. Many companies are re-examining their traditional customer segmentation alignments to see if they still make sense with the evolving buying habits of their customer base. In some cases, there is indeed a strong case for converting new portions of the customer base to internet sales or inside sales. These are cases in which the cost of the sale must be reduced to allow a more transactional, price competitive purchase without sacrificing margins.

For most of us, and more importantly, for most of our customers, the solution lies with improving the skills of the outside sales force to be more consultative with the clients. As I meet with business leaders across the country, one of the most recurring training requests I hear is, “I want my sales professionals to be better business people.” In order to be more consultative with clients, your sales process must be aligned with a greater emphasis on the Exploratory Process. While exploratory skills are critical, they alone are not enough to ensure success. Today’s sales professionals also need to be trained on the basics of finance, as well as general business skills. In 2010, the successful sales professional will understand that a client who is struggling with cash flow is not going to be positively impacted by raising their discount or lowering prices. Things like extended terms, reduced inventory, or reduced operating costs are much more impactful than discounts in such cases.

The beginning of a new year and, in fact, a new decade is the perfect time to evaluate the skill level of your sales team and develop those areas where they can improve their ability to add value with clients. The earlier in the year you stage your skill improvement sessions, the more of the selling year you are able to impact.

Selling in 2010

Chuck Terry
Executive Vice President & CSO
Carew International, Inc.

We have officially arrived at the beginning of the next decade. As we usher in 2010, it seems like a good time to reflect upon how the last ten years have changed the world of the outside sales organization.

In 2000 research showed that only 20 - 25% of consumers had made an online purchase. That number had risen to around 50% by 2007, and it is estimated that the number is now close to 80%. The impact on an outside sales force selling ANYTHING is pretty simple. If you aren’t able to demonstrate how you are adding value to the purchasing process, consumers will buy online. In fact, there is no greater driver of perceived commoditization than the internet.

In a previous blog titled The New Human Nature of Sales, I explored the importance of customer intimacy and how the “canned” sales tactics of yesterday just don’t work anymore. Given no other way to differentiate, customers will resort to the lowest common denominator of price. As we enter the next decade, it is critical to take a hard look at the selling skills of our outside sellers and ask this simple question: “Can my sales team sell our products or services at a higher price point as a direct result of the perceived value they add for our customers?” If your honest answer is “no,” do not despair. You certainly are not alone and there are solutions.

One solution is changing your customer segmentation strategy. Many companies are re-examining their traditional customer segmentation alignments to see if they still make sense with the evolving buying habits of their customer base. In some cases, there is indeed a strong case for converting new portions of the customer base to internet sales or inside sales. These are cases in which the cost of the sale must be reduced to allow a more transactional, price competitive purchase without sacrificing margins.

For most of us, and more importantly, for most of our customers, the solution lies with improving the skills of the outside sales force to be more consultative with the clients. As I meet with business leaders across the country, one of the most recurring training requests I hear is, “I want my sales professionals to be better business people.” In order to be more consultative with clients, your sales process must be aligned with a greater emphasis on the Exploratory Process. While exploratory skills are critical, they alone are not enough to ensure success. Today’s sales professionals also need to be trained on the basics of finance, as well as general business skills. In 2010, the successful sales professional will understand that a client who is struggling with cash flow is not going to be positively impacted by raising their discount or lowering prices. Things like extended terms, reduced inventory, or reduced operating costs are much more impactful than discounts in such cases.

The beginning of a new year and, in fact, a new decade is the perfect time to evaluate the skill level of your sales team and develop those areas where they can improve their ability to add value with clients. The earlier in the year you stage your skill improvement sessions, the more of the selling year you are able to impact.