Archive for January, 2005

January 27th, 2005
THE TRUTH SETS YOU FREE

I got a call from one of my professional services clients, who said an 18-year client said he needed to check other vendors--said the price ...READ MORE

THE TRUTH SETS YOU FREE

Thursday, January 27th, 2005

I got a call from one of my professional services clients, who said an 18-year client said he needed to check other vendors–said the price was getting too high.

Wow! Not an easy call to get–and he asked me what I would do. Here it goes:

Acknowledge the truth. You can’t MAKE HIM NOT CHECK them out, can you? Of course not. So go have a meeting and say this:  “Mr. Client, I want to acknowledge your thoughts about looking elsewhere. That may be a good idea. After 18 years of a relationship, sometimes people grow weary — the relationship goes stale — nothing new — just the same old service. So I would encourage you to look elsewhere. It will be healthy.”

Then, follow that up with: “But I do have one question. Is it really the money (which he told him it was) or is it something different–like service or value or something we missed?” Then, I would suggest a brainstorming session with their senior managers to see how, or if, there is a way to reduce the fees. There may not be. But you at least have to be open to it.

Maybe they’re right. Maybe your fees have crept up too quickly. Maybe they aren’t getting as much value. But you can’t know that until you have an “exploratory meeting” at their site. You cannot be defensive at this meeting. It is a meeting based on finding the truth.

Go into it with high intent–really wanting to help the customer solve the problem. NOT trying to ‘keep the business.’ By surrendering you get stronger.

Tags: Bill Caskey, finding the truth, sales management, sales strategy, sales training
Posted in Inner Game | No Comments »

January 26th, 2005
THE PATHETIC RESUME

Have you ever seen a bad resume? I haven't. And it's time I did. Let me tell you why. Every resume reader is skeptical of what ...READ MORE

THE PATHETIC RESUME

Wednesday, January 26th, 2005

Have you ever seen a bad resume? I haven’t. And it’s time I did. Let me tell you why.

Every resume reader is skeptical of what he reads. Here’s what I think when I read a glowing resume: If this guy were that good, then why is he looking for a job? Or, “if he’s that good, why did his last company let him leave (or let him go)?”

You know my rule: everyone lies. Consequently, here is my dream cover letter that accompanies the resume:

“Thanks for reading this. As you may have seen from my resume, I’ve bounced around a lot in the last five years. I’m not proud of it but it’s a fact. Quite frankly, I haven’t found a company that I want to devote the rest of my life to. Maybe yours is that company. Maybe not.

“I believe that I bring enormous value to an organization. I have listed all of my accomplishments on the resume. However, that means nothing if it isn’t what you’re looking for in an associate. So that brings me to my request. Please read the resume and call me to talk about whether you think I can be of value to your company.  I think we’ll be able to tell pretty quickly.

“If you’re looking for wild promises and embellished accomplishments, you won’t find it from me. I will tell you the truth about what I’m looking for and you can do the same. Regards, Truth Teller.”

Let me know when you get that cover letter. And give that person a shot.

Tags: resume, truth
Posted in Rules, Tools & Attitudes | 1 Comment »

January 25th, 2005
When Will They Learn Not To Close?

What is there about health clubs that turns nice, normal people into hammering sales people. I visited a local (new) health club this weekend. I'd ...READ MORE

When Will They Learn Not To Close?

Tuesday, January 25th, 2005

What is there about health clubs that turns nice, normal people into hammering sales people. I visited a local (new) health club this weekend. I’d had it with rain, cold and snow and their interference with my health. Rachel was my “tour guide” (a.k.a. pressure sales person).

I know that she wanted to care about my well-being–that she was interested in me as a person–yet when a prospect walked in the door (me), all of that care went out the window, in favor of the health club sales training she had received. She wouldn’t tell me the price until she gave me the tour. (And she wouldn’t give me the tour until I filled out the paper work with 5 other sales people looking over my shoulder.)

She had to tell me all about the features of the equipment. She never let me ask any questions, for fear that I would take back control. After 10 minutes, she put the close on me: “Mr. Caskey, if you sign up today, I can knock $100 off the upfront fee” (she never told me what that fee was.)

As I looked around and saw one person working out — which told me their sales process wasn’t working too well (it was a Saturday morning at 9:00–prime time for a health club), I had a question: Why do they treat people that way? Do they really think they’re calling on bozos? Do they not think we know what they’re trying to do? She lost me and a lifetime value, perhaps in the thousands of my dollars.

If they paid me to come in for a day and work with them…I would have told them a) find out why the person walked in the door, b) offer me a drink, a coffee or something so I feel part of the family, c) tell me the price upfront so that I can spend the tour justifying the price, (rather than spend the tour wondering how she’s going to close me) and d) give me a weekend pass (or even a week- remember there was no one there so the week pass costs them nothing). With the pass, I can get to know the staff, get comfortable with the radios and tvs and equipment.

If I owned the club, I would even throw in a free hour of personal training (invest small money to make big money). Why is this so tough? It’s not. They make it that way. Everyone lost. I lost because I still don’t have a place to work out. And they lost because they didn’t get my money (and a new member, who can refer them to hundreds of others). They just don’t understand the economics. Have you had similar experiences?

Tags: invest small money to make big money, sales people, sales process, sales training
Posted in Basic Sales Strategy | 1 Comment »

January 19th, 2005
What Do You Need To Be Good At?

What do you really need to be good at to earn more income in selling? After many hundreds of hours of reflecting, I've come up ...READ MORE

What Do You Need To Be Good At?

Wednesday, January 19th, 2005

What do you really need to be good at to earn more income in selling? After many hundreds of hours of reflecting, I’ve come up with “7 Core Competencies of the High Performing Sales Team.”  I’ve even attached it to this post.

How to Use It                                                                                                 If you’re a sales manager, there is a page near the front that you can use to assess your people. If you’re a sales executive, read through the detailed descriptions of each of the areas and assess yourself–honestly.

Download CoreCompetencies.pdf (12 ppg)

Tags: 7 competencies of the high performing sales team, sales, selling
Posted in Sales Management Content | No Comments »

January 18th, 2005
The Presentation Step

When you make a presentation, after you've qualified the prospect, you have to give him insight into your thinking. Especially important when you are presenting ...READ MORE

The Presentation Step

Tuesday, January 18th, 2005

When you make a presentation, after you’ve qualified the prospect, you have to give him insight into your thinking. Especially important when you are presenting an enterprise solution (big ticket sale).

Your customer is buying “how you think.” So what better way to express how you think than to demonstrate several things? a) How you approach the solution to the problem he said he has, b) how you will execute the proposal you’re giving him, down to the detail of step-by-step how you will implement,  c) what happens when the unexpected occurs (we keep hoping it won’t, but it always does) and d) how you will measure whether the problem is solved or not.

Many other notions in the presentation step? Of course. But remember my saying: “people don’t have time to connect the dots for you.” You have to do it. And you do it in the presentation step.

Tags: big ticket sale, solution
Posted in Basic Sales Strategy | 1 Comment »

January 18th, 2005
Integrity Demands Integrity

You get what you tolerate. Agree. But how can you limit what you tolerate from others? You can tolerate nothing but high integrity and high ...READ MORE

Integrity Demands Integrity

Tuesday, January 18th, 2005

You get what you tolerate. Agree. But how can you limit what you tolerate from others? You can tolerate nothing but high integrity and high intent from yourself. Here’s how it works: You go see a prospect hoping to sell something. You are behind this quarter and need the sale.

He begins his ‘lying dance’ which results in you reluctantly agreeing to quote him on your solution. You want to get out of the ‘game’ but you can’t. Why? Because you are operating out of :low integrity: which is why you can’t expect anything more from him. We can only get what we give. You had an intent going into the call that was about “selling him something to meet quota.” How high is that intent?

That’s why when the sales people I coach come to me and say their customer is lying to them, I always say “Why did you force him to lie to you?” You force the behavior you get. Later we’ll talk about how to adopt the “high intent” mentality.

Tags: high intent, sales people, selling
Posted in Inner Game | No Comments »