Bryan Neale, Brooke Green,
and Bill Caskey
Excerpt from post on:
December 14th, 2007
Do you sell to women differently than you sell to men? Hmmm. Interesting question that we deal with in today’s podcast. Bill and Bryan speak ...READ MORE
Do you sell to women differently than you sell to men? Hmmm. Interesting question that we deal with in today’s podcast. Bill and Bryan speak with Brooke Green, one of our consultants, about the gender approach to selling. Being a woman in sales, she gets this question all the time from both her male and female clients. She also introduces the podcast audience to a new endeavor that will interest half the people who listen!
I've heard a lot recently about defining moments--in the customer experience, in one's life etc., I like this as a metaphor for those places in life ...READ MORE
I’ve heard a lot recently about defining moments–in the customer experience, in one’s life etc., I like this as a metaphor for those places in life that we have a choice–follow one path that is resourceful and in everyone’s best interest. Or follow the path of least resistance–where we wimp on our goals.
Not because it’s the right path–but because it’s the easy path.
If you’re a sales person in any context–selling services, products, or selling ideas, tThere are 5 defining moments in the sales process. Check them out and see how you do in those moments. Here they are:
This is the time when ”orientation” gets set. What that means is the prospect begins to get a feel for how you’re oriented. Are you there to sell? Are you there to beg? Or, better, are you there to question and explore? Hopefully, the latter.
There is a moment in the sales process where the way is paved for you to ask questions to find customer problems. And yet few of us do. We’re too busy talking about our company–value–people–etc., Stuff that might be important to you, but isn’t for your prospect. This moment defines what you’re there to do (in the prospect’s eyes).
Your solution costs money. There are logical times in the sales process to talk money. Your comfort in doing so makes the sales proces sail. If you’re afraid of bringing it up, then you’re sunk.
In business to business selling, there will be more than one person who makes/weighs in on the decision. There is a moment in the process where you must involve others. Maybe the first step is to ask the simple question: “Who else cares about solving this problem?”
There is a moment that you should lay the ground work for a decision. You aren’t asking for a YES. But you should always be planning the moment where either you tell the prospect NO. Or they tell you NO. Either way is OK. But don’t miss the moment.
Okay, butterflies don't "flap" their wings, but you know the saying. And it's one of those cause and effect things that also happen in organizations ...READ MORE
Okay, butterflies don’t “flap” their wings, but you know the saying. And it’s one of those cause and effect things that also happen in organizations as you are in pursuit of the sale.I like to think of it as the “corporate ecosystem” that influences every decision made inside a company.
As a sales professional, you probably pursue business from companies and are flummoxed (an old-fashioned word, but one I still like to use) about the decision making process inside a company.
It usually shows up for you in “the momentum gets lost on deals” and “nobody wants to make a decision.” In fact, a lot of our sales training is built around “how to keep momentum going.”
But many times it’s you, yes, you that have errored by not understanding the corporate ecosystem. And as you look to build and convert your sales pipeline, it will serve you well to understand the “ecosystem.”
A Suggestion
I suggest after your first meeting with a company you come back and “ecomap” the company as best you know. You can create an organizational chart–you can create charts that help you understand what market the company is competing in and what kinds of issues are going to inform (have an impact on) the decision to buy from you or not.
Selling to companies–especially large companies or when the solution is complex–requires a fair amount of knowledge and scoping. And until you understand how the company behaves, you’ll be hard pressed to find ways to communicate your value so that action gets taken.
OK, I'm not Moses, but it seems to be a nice way to get the point across. Read below. The sales world is not that ...READ MORE
OK, I’m not Moses, but it seems to be a nice way to get the point across. Read below. The sales world is not that difficult if you follow these straightforward rules:
1. Thou shalt never SELL anything. Embody the idea of being objective, analytical, and solely focused on making the businesses, lives, careers and bank accounts of others better off.
2. Thou shalt embrace the ebb and flow of the selling function. You will have calls/deals that go well and others that don’t. Just like stocks and temperatures, there is always a reversion to the mean. Keep your mean where you want it and don’t be bothered by day-to-day blips.
3. Thou shalt always leave an out. Don’t just say it, be it. Create a safe communication environment so the prospect can be honest with you and you can be honest with them, without any pressure from either party.
4. Thou shalt speak the truth and speak from the gut. If you feel it, say it. Put the moose on the table. (However you say it, you know what this means.)
5. Thou shalt always TALK ABOUT MONEY. Never let a deal go by or get too far along without a discussion of the economics of the transaction. Facilitate the discussion and talk about measurement–results and return in THEIR terms. Always know how much their problem is costing them and how it relates to what you charge to fix it.
6. Thou shalt let thy prospects lead the way in the sales process. No leaning allowed. Let your prospect walk you through the sales process vs. you pushing/controlling/convincing them.
7. Thou shalt always leave conversations with a clear future. Your life will be simpler and easier if you keep next steps, dates, times, responsibilities, etc. as crystal clear as you can.
8. Thou shalt seek to understand TRUE pain before moving too far. Let their PAIN be the fuel that propels you through the sales process. Remember it can be positive or negative. Positive pain is a tougher sell than negative. Talk about pain openly. Teach your prospect what we’ve taught you. Pain = action, OR no pain = no action.
9. Thou shalt leave thy ego out of the sales process. No more relationship selling. Lose the need to be liked and wanted. Your desire for personal success, income, etc. has no place. Those things are all about us, and they can get in the way of doing what’s right. Do what’s right for THEM and have FAITH that you’ll get the results you’re after.
10. Thou shalt commit to regular outbound behavior. You must consistently and frequently call on people. Everyone. NOT to get deals but to create AWARENESS. The more people you know and interact with, the more options you have to help.
BONUS: Thou shalt feed thy inner game. The biggest impact you can get from our work with you is to embrace and embody the inner game principles of abundance, detachment, ego subjugation, success and scripting. Read, visualize, pray, meditate, ask, and learn.
If someone followed you around, unbeknownst to you, for a week, what would they see? What would they observe? What impression would your methods leave ...READ MORE
If someone followed you around, unbeknownst to you, for a week, what would they see? What would they observe? What impression would your methods leave them with?Kind of a scary thought, isn’t it? The actual “following you around” might cause you to behave differently, so it’s probably not an option to engage someone to do that. However, the thought of “what would they see?” is an interesting one.
They would probably see things like how you keep your workspace, how you keep your word, how you organize your thoughts, how you respect people, how you communicate your ideas and many other things. And chances are, how you do any one of those things is how you act in front of a prospect.
How you write is how you think
There are exceptions to this rule, but I find that how people write is typically how they think and therefore how they communicate. If you can’t pull your thoughts out of your mind and put them on paper in a cohesive, logical, understandable, compelling way, you’ll probably not be able to verbalize those thoughts any differently when you get in front of a prospect.
Yet sometimes when I ask our clients “to write it out” they come back quickly with “I’m not a writer.” Bob Bly, who is a friend and colleague and has written many books on writing, told me a secret once that confirmed a suspicion: The better you are at writing out your thoughts, the better will be your verbal communication style. End of discussion.
So my encouragement to you–go write something. Write a letter–a letter to a prospect, but don’t send it. How would you introduce yourself? How would you expose your vulnerabilities? How would you logically lead them from not knowing who you are to believing they need to invite you in for an appointment? How you write that letter will be how you speak and the vibes you give off when you get on the phone. Good luck.
Can we learn something from the presidential candidates? Or, can they learn something from great salespeople? Well, we think the latter. In this podcast, Bill ...READ MORE
Can we learn something from the presidential candidates? Or, can they learn something from great salespeople? Well, we think the latter. In this podcast, Bill and Bryan take a look at the communication styles of those running for president and bring us some lessons in substance and style that we can use in our effort to generate sales. While this is not an episode with a specific political slant, it takes issue with MOST politicians and how they communicate their message.
I am working with a CEO during a time of transition in his company. He is the new leader. Recently, he had a presentation in ...READ MORE
I am working with a CEO during a time of transition in his company. He is the new leader. Recently, he had a presentation in front of his entire team (the first time he addressed them in his new position), and we talked about the value of stories. Prior to our meeting he was intending to go through the PowerPoint — tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em, tell ‘em and then tell ‘em what you told ‘em — you know that whole boring, tedious PowerPoint strategy.But as I started asking him about his life story, one thing became very apparent: he had a story that was so powerful, so relevant and so compelling that he would be doing his employees a disservice by not telling it.
His story was about the power of a dream. And it was his personal path of how he arrived at this country from India at age 27 — not knowing the language, not knowing how to drive, not knowing American ways — and navigated his way up to where he’s a senior manager now of a very nice profitable small business in a growing market space.
I suggested he tell the story to his employees — many of whom had not heard him tell this before — so that they could see also the power of a dream.
Tom Peters talks about this in one of his blogs — “‘the dream economy” — which simply says that the dreams you have, long term vision, goals are the most powerful things you possess. And if vendors/partners can help you accomplish those dreams, they will be extremely valuable to you.
Same goes for employees. If an employee sees the company dream and feels a part of it/connected to it, don’t you think they’ll bring their best game, fully engaged, everyday? I think they will. But not if there’s no story about the dream.
After striving for seven years to become my local SB's "Customer of the Week," I finally made it. I thought there would be more fanfare ...READ MORE
After striving for seven years to become my local SB’s “Customer of the Week,” I finally made it. I thought there would be more fanfare than there was–a sign by the barista (”Bill is our customer of the week”) and a free drink per day. Oh well. Not sure what I expected.
The loss though is a peek inside a company — and how even the greatest ones can make mistakes. (I recognize this is just one transaction that went bad.)
My friend Ron Rosenberg is sponsoring a “Health Care Customer Service” symposium for a large group of healthcare executives–100-200 high level people. He recognizes the customer care situation facing health providers. (Have you been to a doctor lately?)
He brought in a top speaker who wrote a book about the Starbucks Experience. Ron, thought, “Hey, I’ll buy 200 $5 certificate cards from Starbucks and give them out.”
Then, he thought, “Why don’t I call SB’s and tell them what I’m doing and see if they want to have a few of their people there, maybe to hand out the certificates?”
I’m sure Ron was thinking, “Let’s give the participants an experience of great customer service.” Two of the attendees were even considering putting a Starbucks in their medical facility.
But guess what Starbucks said?
No. We will not agree to participate in the Executive Forum. No reason. No explanation. Just–No.
Hmmmmm. As he was telling me the story and getting to the punch line, I thought for sure he was going to say the SB Regional Manager not only agreed to do this, but would also throw something else in the mix–maybe a larger certificate, or maybe a scone, or maybe a free song on iTunes, or something.
Or I thought he was going to tell me the SB Reg’l Mgr was going to come in personally and make an appearance–maybe even to say a few words.
But no. Even Starbucks makes mistakes from time to time. Even when their stock is in the tank. Even when they announce they’re going to slow down new store openings to focus on revenue building at existing stores.
We’re all excused for a slip-up in customer service. But in the new economy, when it’s hard to get in front of decision makers, and when every move you make–good or bad–is one step from the internet (read Seth Godin’s new book, Meatball Sundae for more examples), you had better think about the implication of a minor slip up. I don’t know if Ron will tell the attendees what happened. But he told others–who told others–who told others.
Actually he should tell the attendees about his experience so they can all learn from the incident. If you’re a healthcare provider (or any business for that matter), do you realize that each customer you have is a potential blogger/podcaster/publisher/referrer? And the experience you give your customer can be easily transmitted to others (maybe hundreds–maybe thousands). The internet can be your friend to spread the good word.
It can also be disastrous. I’m sure someone at Starbucks has a Google Alert for anything written about them. And I’ll probably hear from them. And I’ll blog about that conversation too, if it happens.
I’ll write more on great customer experiences in future posts. Have you had any great ones to tell me about? I’ll spread the word….
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