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.