I Wish I Could Grow My Sales
When I’m working with Sales and Account Managers I frequently hear the same questions and comments. The conversation usually gets around to the Account Manager saying:
“I wish I could grow my sales.”
“I wish I had more time to make sales calls.”
“I wish or need to make more money.”
Over time I have learned that we are either serious about our wishes or in most cases we are just making noise. We may wish for something but usually are not willing to do what’s needed to make the wish come to reality.
Do You Really?
When I hear an Account Manager say for example “I wish I had more time to make sales calls” I will often respond by asking “Do you really?” Then I listen for all the reasons they have for why they don’t have time to call on their customer. You know the reasons; I can’t get out of the office, I have too much paperwork (really meaning I don’t want to do the silly reports you ask me to do), I can’t get off the phone, etc…
Are You Committed?
The good thing about a wish is that it doesn’t require a commitment. You can wish all day long but without a commitment you don’t have to change anything. There is no personal sacrifice asked of a wish. But without the sacrifice you will probably see no change. Very few things come without a cost and moving a wish to a reality is certainly not free.
So when I hear an Account Manager make a wish and after listening to the reasons why, I will ask “Are you committed to make a change?” Again I listen to their response. There must be a commitment before we can proceed. If it is just noise both you and your Account Manager will just be wasting each other’s time.
Once the commitment is made to turn a wish into a reality we can get to work. We can then begin to discuss the sacrifices needed to be made. Using the example above “I wish I had more time to make sales calls” it may mean working more hours each day, blocking out time each day solely for making sales calls or eliminating non-productive time from your schedule. We can then set SMART goals to make sure we have a process in place and are taking the right steps needed to make the change.
Without asking the two essential questions “Do you really?” and “Are you committed?” most all wishes will remain just noise.
On a personal note, this process is how I began WEWA on the Net. I wished I could write a blog that might be of value to our Sales and Account Managers.
After a few months of reading blogs and wishing I could write one, I asked myself “Do you really?” The answer was “I really do.” Then the hard question was “Are you committed?” and my answer then and still is “Hell Yes!”
Pre-Sales Call Routine
I’m watching the U.S. Open this weekend and got to thinking about
their pre-swing routine. I’m pretty sure they have practiced this routine many times and they know it gives them the greatest chance of being successful. I’m wondering why we as Account Managers and Sales Managers don’t always do the same.
I’ve played golf most of my life and without practice I’m really bad. But if I can fit in time to practice and get into a routine, more than just getting out of my truck and rushing to the first tee, I can improve quickly.
Watching the golf pros, they always go through a pre-shot ritual before each swing or putt. They size up the situation before selecting the club that’s needed. Then they select the club and take a couple of practice swings before approaching the ball. Once they approach the ball they make sure they are aligned correctly and take at least one look up to visualize where they expect the ball to land. Then and only then, when all is right they hit the ball. After they hit the ball they follow through with the swing. Then get ready to do the same thing again for the next shot.
Is preparing to make a Sales Call any different?
Size up the situation before making the sales call. Qualify your lead and make sure you know your customer and what is their need. This may be the most crucial step because if you don’t correctly size up the situation your remaining decisions may not be correct.
Select the right sales club. You must determine if the best approach is a product demonstration, power point presentation, bring in a specialist to assist or maybe just donuts but you need to select the correct sales tool.
Take a couple of practice swings. You must go through the presentation you have chosen to identify any problems or weakness. Run through it a couple of times. Practice what you are going to do and say. If everything feels right you are ready to approach the sales call.
Visualize where the ball should land. Decide before making the sales call what you want the outcome of the meeting to be. It may be a sale but it could also be advancing the sales process.
Approach the ball and align correctly. Before walking in to the customers office make sure you have everything you need. One final check just to make sure you’re ready to go. Breath mints may be advisable.
Swing. Now you can make a confident sales call. You have prepared yourself, should have the right tools, practiced, visualized the outcome and are aligned correctly.
Make sure to follow through. During your sales call you have probably determined action items that need to be done before the next meeting. The call is not complete until you follow through with everything you have committed to do.
The pros follow this routine for each and every shot and you must too. How many times have you had a short putt that you could not miss? You just walked up to the ball without going through your pre-shot routine and missed the putt?
How embarrassing and costly is it to miss a sale just because you failed to go through your pre-sales call routine. Maybe you sized the customer up wrong or didn’t have the right club or were just slightly misaligned or in the worst case failed to swing at all.
Rest assured if you consistently practice this routine you will be giving yourself the greatest chance to be a successful Sales and Account Manager.
Trust you’re not the Rabbit
This is a continuation of the last post “Are you the Salesman or the 
Rabbit”. You may be wondering why I would give so much time to this topic. I guess it’s fresh on my mind since we recently had an Account Manager who unwittingly played the role of the Rabbit. I could see the signs, which I will discuss later in this post and what we could/should have done to help prevent this from happening. I also received an email from a reader last week which I am including towards the end of this post. Kris tells us a personal experience where he was the rabbit and how his relationship with a good customer will never be the same.
The signs you may be the Rabbit:
- Customer skips the natural sales processes of making us earn their business and gaining their trust. In our case the customer was from another state and they had no previous experience with our company. We knew they had a strong relationship with one of their local suppliers but the project was in our backyard and having previous experience on the project we felt we had a legitimate opportunity for the business.
- It’s always about price. We were emailed the customer’s request for quote (RFQ) and had a very short time frame to get pricing back to the customer. Since the customer was from another state this was not necessarily a red flag but the scope of the project required additional information and discussions. Any information we received was directed at us to provide the lowest price. They had very little interest in any value added services.
- Reluctant to give details of the project. Our Account Manager had participated in previous phases of the project and knew the project well. The customer was very vague when he asked questions or requested information.
- Gets upset if you question a request or ask for more time in getting the proposal ready. Throughout the process we were constantly under pressure to meet their demands. This was not our first rodeo, so any request we made was needed to present the best proposal we could. Each request was met with them getting seemingly upset and little accommodation to our requests.
- Never get to meet the boss or true decision maker. We were dealing with an out-of-state customer so not meeting the boss didn’t seem so important. But our Account Manager was given the impression he was dealing with the decision maker which turned out not to be the case.
As you can, see all of the signs of being a Rabbit were there. We had a very experienced Account Manager involved with the customer and we were aware we were going up against their trusted supplier. I would like to make excuses for not recognizing what the customer was doing early on but that does no good. By the time we realized what was going on we had a lot of time and effort in the proposal.
The fact is we were dealing with a very experienced negotiator who I believe never had any attention to work with us. He just needed a Rabbit (us) to use as leverage to negotiate with their preferred supplier.
So what should or could we have done to help from being the rabbit?
We should have not have violated the first step above ourselves. We were guilty of not getting to know the customer. Without first learning the customer’s business and gaining some trust, the only value we could bring was a lower price and to play the part of the Rabbit.
Without getting to know the customer and asking the right questions we were just making assumptions on the value we could bring to the customer.
In our haste to try to get the order we made it very easy for the customer to use us as a negotiation tool (rabbit) and not be taken as a serious contender.
We did at the very end send the Account Manager and a group from our sales team to meet the customer but at that point the negotiations’ had already begun with their preferred supplier and all we got from the meeting was a healthy bill for what must have been a very good steak (rabbit) dinner for all.
From the example above, this was a new customer of ours that we didn’t take the time to get to know. Kris, a reader of this blog sent me an email of a personal experience that shows it doesn’t only happen with new customers but even your good customers can at times use you as a rabbit.
Kris’s story:
“I really like your blog on the rabbit. I get that sort of thing from customers. One time in particular stands out. Some of our customers rent equipment from us but they own some of the equipment too. I had a really good customer call and asked for me to work up a price estimate for a major overhaul on a piece of equipment in the field, and while it wasn’t a tremendous amount of work involved I still got used as the rabbit. I always prepare a very detailed cost estimate showing specific part numbers, quantities, etc. so that my customer’s questions are answered. This particular instance I went a step further and did an on site inspection that required me to travel hundreds of miles to put eyes on the prospective job. I thought the job was in the bag. However weeks passed and I didn’t hear anything on the start date, so I made a quick call to check and see what their thoughts were for getting the job started only to be told my incompetent competitor was awarded the job. But to add insult to injury, I was also informed that my detailed estimate was ultimately passed off to this vendor so they could use it as a “guide” for what needed to be done and what parts should be ordered. I find myself reluctant to go that extra step for this customer now in fear of being the “rabbit” again.”
Kris thank you very much for sending me this story and letting me share it with others.
As you can see in both examples we were misled as to the true intentions of the customer. In both cases we didn’t know the customer as well as we should have. The customers used our efforts as a tool to negotiate with the competition, without letting either one of us have a fair opportunity. While the circumstances were different in both cases trust with these customers has been completely lost.
I have probably beat this topic to death but as Sales Managers and Account Managers we must always remember that before we can truly negotiate in good faith there needs to be a level of comfort and trust with our customers to help ensure that we are not going to be the rabbit.
Sucker for a Great Sales Pitch
This weekend while doing my normal Saturday morning yard chores an older model white van pulled up. I didn’t recognize the van but the sliding door opened and out hopped a young man who could have been no more than 5 or 6 years old.
My first thoughts were he must be selling cookies or chocolate bars for his Little League team but he had nothing in hand. I was pretty sure he wasn’t from the neighborhood since it is common knowledge among the kids on the block that if the “old man” comes to the door when you ring our doorbell you won’t sell a thing. I’m almost positive the kids wait until I leave then ring the doorbell knowing my wife is a much easier sell. But I digress.
The young boy walked right up to me and introduced himself as Braden (which happens to be our oldest grandson’s name). Braden said he noticed that the numbers on our driveway had faded and asked if I would be interested in having them re-painted.
This is where my normal response of “no not today” or “we don’t need any” usually kicks in but this time was different. Young Braden had done his homework. He caught me outside and as he mentioned the faded numbers he was pointing to the driveway. There was no doubt that the numbers were nearly unreadable so I couldn’t deny the need.
I was quite surprised when “how much” popped out of my mouth.
I fully expected Braden to call his mom or dad from the van to discuss pricing but the young man had the pricing down cold. Without hesitation, Braden explained he had several options. For $15 I could get the standard white background with black lettering. But if I wanted to add a Double T or State of Texas picture that would be $20. Braden had a $25 offer but I had quit listening at that point and was admiring his polished sales pitch.
Those that know me will not be surprised that I purchased the $15 option.
Young Braden, like a pro, signaled to his parents to get out of the van and get to work. He told them the option I had selected and began overseeing their work. Once they began working he came back over to where I was standing and started telling me that when he grows up he wants to be a Driveway Sign Painter and a Car Salesman.
I have no doubt that if Braden continues to hone his sales skills and with his natural abilities he will do great at whatever he decides to sell.
I even thought about giving him a business card and telling him to come see me in a few years. He was that good!
I only wish his parents were half as good at painting as Braden was at selling.
If you were expecting the continuation of the “Signs if you are a Rabbit” post, I should have it ready this week. I was finishing up a draft of the post when I received a really good real life example of being the Rabbit from a reader. It is a much better example that I had so I will be rewriting the post this week.
And heck, a great sales pitch is better than a silly old rabbit any time.
Are you the Salesman or the Rabbit?
Do you know when you’re the Rabbit?
I’m not talking about the cute little bunny rabbit with long ears and a
cotton tail. I’m talking about the type of rabbit used in dog races to get the dogs to race to the finish line. Without the rabbit, the dogs would never finish the race much less win. The thing you always know is the rabbit never wins. The rabbit is there for only one purpose which is to get the dogs to run so the dog owner can make money.
How many times have you worked hard to get a new customer’s business only to find out later that they never had any intention to buy from you? They were either using you for price comparison (little intent to buy), keeping their guy honest (no intent to buy) or worse using you as a negotiating tool (the rabbit).
Price Comparison
I think we may all be guilty of comparing prices even when we have little intention of changing who we’re currently buying from. We use comparison shopping to confirm we are making good decisions. If you find a better price and before buying from someone else you will probably go back to your regular supplier and ask them to get right on the pricing. This is probably a good business practice and we have grown to expect such. I would be very disappointed if a good customer of ours finds a lower price and doesn’t give us the opportunity to justify or adjust our pricing. I can say that I am disappointed when we have the best price and a new customer chooses to stay with their current supplier but I can understand.
Keeping their guy Honest
I don’t know how honest it is to use someone just to keep their guy honest. I may be quibbling over phrasing between this and price comparison but to me this shows no interest or intent to change their present supplier. In most cases the customer will not ask a tremendous amount of effort from us. They are usually not going to spend much time making a decision unless our proposal is considerably less or much better than their current supplier’s. If their current supplier proves to be “not competitive” this may lead to an opportunity for good faith negotiations to begin.
Using you as a Negotiating Tool (Rabbit)
This can be possibly the biggest waste of energies and resources (money) that you and your sales team can have. You are the rabbit if you are brought into a project (sometimes quite large) and asked to provide pricing for the sole purpose of the customer using your pricing to negotiate pricing with a competitor with no intent to use you. For this to work, the customer has to convince you that you are a contender and they want your products or services. The understanding or promise is they are engaging you in good faith negotiations and if successful you will get the business. The better they can sell this promise the harder they know you will be willing to work for their business. The harder they can get you to work, meaning the more you will lower your price, the less they will have to do when they sit down with the real contender for this business. This method of negotiation while usually very effective is intentionally misleading. When it is exposed, a trusting business relationship with that customer is almost impossible.
Please don’t mistake my comments above to think that when you walk in to a new customer’s office and they don’t immediately start giving you their business that you are the rabbit. That is usually not the case
and certainly not my intent. Almost always your customer will follow a normal sales cycle. You must earn your way into their business and gain their trust before being welcomed to the final negotiation table.
In the early stages of negotiation it is very hard to determine if the negotiations are being done in good faith or not. You certainly will assume so until you start to see the signs that this may not be the case.
In my next post, I will discuss how to see the signs and start to recognize if you are the rabbit. If you have any examples of being the rabbit or being rabbited (if that’s a word) that you would like to share, please leave a comment below or send me an email at feedback@wewaonthenet.com.
Learn to Sell Like a Kid
We had the Grandsons at the lake this weekend and I realized they are
natural Salesmen. They use all of the tools they have to get us to do what they want or to put it another way, to buy what they are selling. Without any formal training they have mastered three of the essential skills needed to be successful in Sales and Sales Management.
Persistence
After this weekend I don’t think our grandsons know the Webster’s definition of “no”. It’s obvious that “no” means “not yet” to them. They realize when told “no” they just haven’t got you prepared to buy what their selling. If we could just get ourselves and our Account Managers to believe that when a customer says “no” that may mean “not yet”. We just haven’t got our customer ready to buy what we are selling.
Leading
When the boys can’t get you to understand what they want you to do, they will grab your finger and show you. They don’t seem to get frustrated with our lack of understanding, they just show us. How many times as Account Manager’s do we know that our customers may not understand the products or services we are offering? We must be willing, like a young child, to take them by the hand (maybe not literally) and show them.
Cost/Benefit Analysis
The boys have conquered the cost/benefit analysis and presentation. They can come up with (on a moment’s notice) reasons why we will benefit by giving them what they want or buy what they are selling. I have to admit their reasoning’s are usually pretty solid and hard to dismiss. However, if reasoning doesn’t work they are willing to bring pain (needs) into the analysis. You will see an example of this in the process below. We all know that in order to be successful in sales you must be able to show that the benefits exceed the cost of your products or services. In many cases you must identify the need or customer’s pain (in our grandsons case create the pain) before selling the benefits of your products.
The Child’s Sales Process using only Natural Ability
Kids don’t have the luxury of Sales Managers, Sales Books or Sales Training to teach them how to sell. They have no fancy sales brochures or business cards to help them start the process. They just use their natural abilities and probably the greatest selling tool –Emotional Selling.
- If the situation requires a big friendly smile to get you to do what they want they are pros. Who can refuse getting a cookie or turning on the cartoons for your grandkids when they give you that big toothy or toothless smile? Relationship Building: Getting your customer to like you, heck that’s Sales 101.
- Should they feel you don’t understand what they are asking for they will take your hand and show you. While showing you they will be giving you their best cost/benefit presentation and throwing in a bit of persuasive speech to help. This is the cost/benefit analysis in full motion.
- If that doesn’t work the smile can quickly turn to a frown, showing disappointment in your decision. They know that disappointment is an emotion that is hard to resist. We hate to disappoint them when the solution is easily solved by just getting them a cookie. This is their way of applying pressure to get the sale. Showing disappointment and applying some pressure to get the sale is another valuable tool in everyone’s sales toolbox.
- The final straw (step), create pain. If nothing else has worked, here come the tears (if not already used above), stomping around and possibly a little mad fit. They know that if they can create enough pain their closing rate gets much better. For kids this is a make or break strategy. It could end up getting the cookie or spending a while in timeout. I do not suggest that having a mad fit in front of a customer is appropriate but finding the customer’s pain and providing a solution is a proven and successful strategy.
If they are sent to timeout you would think the process is over but that is rarely the case. Didn’t I mention something about persistence?
They just start the process over. If they still want a cookie they will ask with that charming, beautiful, toothless smile letting you know all the benefits you will get. If that doesn’t work they will show disappointment if not given what they are asking for.
Finally, if still not able to make the sell they bring back the pain!
Sales Tip of the Month
Have you ever thought of giving a magazine subscription to a 
customer?
I never had but one of our Account Managers was doing that very thing last week. He explained that for about the price of a lunch he could give his customer a subscription to a magazine. He said he tries to find a magazine that is about the customer’s hobbies or interests like fishing, hunting, coin collecting or flying. This makes the gift more personal than an industry journal or a magazine like Time or Newsweek.
Each month his customer gets a gift (the magazine) in the mail from his salesman. The magazine will probably sit on his customer’s desk for several days hopefully reminding him of the thoughtful salesman that sent it to him and looking forward to the next month’s edition.
While not spending a lot of money, it is this type of “out of the box” thinking and doing something other salesmen are not doing, that makes this Account Manager consistently a sales leader and a valued member of our sales team.
If you have any sales tips you would like to share or would like to be considered for future “Sales Tips of the Month” posts, please leave a comment below or send me an email at feedback@wewaonthenet.com.
So Your Easily Offended
Most seasoned Sales and Account Managers are not easily offended.
Instead, they have grown thick skin through the years and are in the habit of overlooking offenses. They will give the offender the benefit of the doubt and move on. I wish more people could learn what we have learned.
What about You?
I often see people that are always getting mad at something or someone. You never know what’s going to set them off. If they feel slighted, don’t get the attention they expect or feel they were in some way disrespected, they get mad or just sulk. I hear people say “they just wear their feelings on their sleeves so don’t worry about it”.
I can’t help but worry. If I have an account manager that fits the description above I know I have a serious problem and must take corrective actions. If we have a customer that is offended over the littlest of things I have a bigger problem. With that customer I often refrain from discussing anything that I think may make them upset or could possibly hurt their feelings and lose the business. This leads to not being able to have honest heartfelt discussions in many cases. I’m not sure who loses, me or the sensitive recipient.
Thinking about this topic, those that are easily offended (at least the people I’m thinking of) are some of the most insensitive when considering others feelings. I wonder if these types of people are mostly self-absorbed or just lack the self-confidence to just move on when they feel offended. I don’t think you can or should always “just move on” when you feel offended but it can’t always be an event. Heck, my feelings are just as sensitive as anyone else’s but you have to develop thicker skin and realize when you put yourself out in the world you will be challenged, disrespected and offended at times.
If you are not being offended “often” – you are probably not out there making a difference.
Sorry for the rant but take a tip from a seasoned salesman: toughen your skin, don’t make everything an event and don’t be so easily offended!
What’s your Specialty?
As I move into the world of Social Media I am struggling with the profile page. This is often referred to as the “About Me” section. I don’t know how much or little to tell the world about myself.
How much you tell about yourself is certainly a personal decision and everyone will make their own decisions. However, there is one section to the profile page that really has me thinking. This is the “What is your Specialty?” section.
Do you let others know what special skills you have? At work, do your customers and co-workers know that you are that go-to person if they have questions or need help with the things that are your specialties? I suspect in most cases you have demonstrated these skills and are already that person in the most obvious circumstances but are you sure?
I see times where someone is struggling with a problem, gets completely stumped and either gives up or makes a bad decision when help was standing right next to them or a phone call away. This person may be the type that is unwilling to seek help, which is a whole different discussion, but what if they did not know help was so close?
Each of us have skills and interests that are less obvious but no less important to our customers and co-workers. These are skills that may not be necessary in you present position but may have been acquired from a previous job or skills you just naturally possess. If you were for example: an electrician, forklift operator, waiter/waitress, worked with computers or captain of your chess club in school, I know you have special skills and interests that can be useful if we only knew.
The specialty and interests sections on the Profile Page are a great place to let these skills and interest be known. The key is you let everyone know!
I would like to take this one step further and ask that each of you think about, then write down the specialties and interests that you feel you have that can be beneficial to your customers. This list should contain skills and things about yourself that your customer may or may not know. Then for each account determine which of these skills would be most useful to that customer. Now share your results with your customer. I would also suggest that you share these results with your sales team and co-workers.
I think you will be surprised at the knowledge, talent and skills in your branch or office. By sharing your results with others you may also see skills that you need to develop and improve upon.
The Key is to let Everyone Know!
My Hardest Sales Call
Starting this blog reminds me of when I first became a salesman and had to make my first cold call. I put it off as long as I could. Worried myself sick. Drove through the parking lot several times. Then when I thought I was ready I put it off for another day.
Luckily, I had a great sales manager that encouraged me and had the patience to help a young insecure account manager get started. I knew what I needed to do and had no doubt I could do it but the time never seemed quite right.
Finally, I got the courage, parked my car, went inside and made my call. I would like to say I got a huge order and they are still a customer but that is not the case.
I’m not sure cold calls have ever gotten any easier for me but without a steady flow of new customers and products your business will eventually fail. We as sales managers must constantly encourage, train and sometimes demand our account managers to solicit new business. If we don’t have them make time in their schedule for cold calling and growing their accounts there will be a time when a customer retires, closes their business or moves their business to a competitor and they won’t have the skills to get back in growth mode.
I’ve seen very successful account managers struggle towards the end of their career simply because they did not keep adding new customers to their account package. Many of their once profitable accounts just slowly wither and die.
Every sales plan must have expectations and goals which require some form of cold calling or as we now refer to it as networking included in the plan. Look for more on effective networking in a future post.
Now back to starting a blog. What I did learn making cold calls was; putting off what I knew I needed to do and worrying myself sick didn’t make the sales call any easier. Without making cold calls I could have never got to where I am now, a much older insecure salesman putting off and worrying about starting a sales and sales management blog.
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