WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT

As a Sales Trainer, I judge my success by how well reps that I have trained do. I have had many discussions with other trainers that disagree with me and feel that success as a trainer comes from how far out they are booked for speeches and training sessions.

Then on Saturday (December 24^th) I learned what it is really all about. Not just training but living.

My family and I were on our way home from a wonderful week at Disney World, we stopped for something to eat at one of our favorite roadside restaurants, Cracker Barrel. As we were pulling into the parking lot we noticed a red minivan that had “HO HO HO” across the sides, back and hood. We chuckled at it and I made the statement that there was someone who really loved Santa.

If any of you have ever eaten at a Cracker Barrel you know that to get to the restaurant you need to stroll through their shopping area that is filled with all sorts of toys, crafts and my favorite CANDY! As I was making a mental note of what I was going to buy on my way out after eating we were shown to our table. Here is when I first noticed the couple sitting a few tables away. IT WAS SANTA AND MRS. CLAUS!

Like everyone else in the restaurant, we were watching the two of them (actually staring, but that is rude so I will say watching). Every few minutes SANTA would get up, pick up a large Christmas decorated bag, and walk through the restaurant looking for something. He would sweep each section with his eyes and then go back to his seat and continue eating.

It was about his third trip around the restaurant that I saw what SANTA was looking for each time he got up, CHILDREN! He was looking for children that have come in to eat. When he saw a child he would walk up to the table give a HO HO HO, talk to the children and their family and then reach into his bag and give each child a wooden toy.

I made a comment to my wife and daughters about how nice it was that Cracker Barrel has a SANTA for children traveling on Christmas Eve.

After a couple of minutes my server came to the table and I commented to her how nice it was to see SANTA, and how I felt that Cracker Barrel went above and beyond with this promotion. She immediately corrected me. She told me that SANTA did NOT work for the restaurant. He and his wife travel from north of Dayton Ohio every year and make stops along the way handing out the toys. She told me that every toy is handmade and decorated by SANTA and MRS. CLAUS.

She went on to tell me he starts making the toys in June and makes 1000 to give away on his trip south. This was his 5^th year stopping at this Cracker Barrel. (Our server told us that he was later this year than usual and they were actually getting worried he wasn’t coming)

I just sat there and watched him for a little while. He always had a smile, he shook the hand of everyone that walked over to him. He had his picture taken at least 10 times while I was there with children, families and the entire staff of the restaurant. He handed out 31 toys in the short time we were there (I started counting after I was told the story so it was actually more than 31)

I wanted to go over and talk to him and ask about what he did before he was SANTA, and try and find why he did this, but then it hit me. HE WAS SUCCESSFUL. This man was doing something he wanted to do, not had to do.

He finally came over to our table and we had a delightful discussion. I never asked him what he did or why he did it. HE WAS A REAL LIFE SANTA and none of that mattered.

I used to measure success by the success of the reps I have trained, but after meeting SANTA at Cracker Barrel I now know what success really is.

SUCCESS IS BRINGING HAPPINESS TO OTHERS.

We may not all dress as SANTA and travel across the country handing out toys to children (but think how awesome that would be to do) but we can all become successful by doing things that make other happy. We can all be successful by doing things that are good, not because we are told to, but because they are the right things to do.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Holiday Season and is looking forward to GREAT 2012.

My entire family wishes each of you and your families a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a GRAND NEW YEAR.

Lorin

WILL IT BREAK IF YOU PUSH TOO HARD

I had a sales rep that is a long time friend of mine call me today and ask me an interesting question. Before I tell you the question let me tell you that I first hired this rep in 1987 to work for me and he was with me until I sold the business in 1994. He had worked his way up from a rep to my GM over the 7 years he was with me. I am telling you this so you know that I am the one who trained him from his start in sales and we have kept in touch ever since.

The question he asked me was, how much and how hard should you push a prospect to buy? I was floored. After 25 years in sales he was asking me this question. I wanted to know why he was asking and he said that it seems that things have changed so much over the past 3 years that he wasn’t sure his normal instinct as to how much to push was still valid and he felt he may be losing sales because of it.

This made me stop and wonder if the answer I was about to give was valid. Is what was normal in years past still normal today? I told him I wanted to think about it for a few minutes and asked him if I could get back to him. We agreed I would call him back in about 3 hours when we would both have time to talk.

To tell you the truth, I was relieved to have some breathing room. I really hadn’t thought about it like this before now and wanted to get some additional feedback before I gave him any advice.

I called a few reps I know and asked them the question. And just as I thought, my usual answer that I would have given would have been off track a little.

What I was told by the reps I called is that in today’s market you need to push some prospects harder than ever before and others you can barely push at all. It seems that what was normal has almost disappeared.

I thought about their answers and it made good sense. In today’s economy more and more businesses are either thriving or on the brink of failing. The number of businesses that are in the middle is dwindling to a smaller and smaller number every day.

This means that the thriving businesses can be pushed harder and the failing businesses can’t be pushed at all. So in a nut shell, the answer for my friend was yes and no!

I called my friend back as promised and gave him the good news! He didn’t seem to be as excited about my findings as I was. Then I followed it up with but you need to take each customer on their own merit and no one answer fits every customer.

Here is where the laughing started. My friend got very quiet, and then in what may be the most serious voice I have ever heard him use he said, so that’s the word from the great training superstar? I laughed and said I would rather tell you what I know and be right than what you want to hear and be wrong.

I guess more than anything else I learned that the market is at best fragile and we need to alter our selling to meet the needs of the customer. In other words, nothing has really changed.

Lorin

I KNOW TOO MUCH TO SELL THIS

I want to start today’s post with a question; do you think that someone can know too much about their product or industry?

Last week I was with a rep who was one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met about the industry he was in. He had come from the industry and held about every position up the ladder over his career.

As he carried on conversations with prospects, I was lost most of the time. The prospect and he went off on tangents that sounded like they were speaking a foreign language to me. But, I listened, and listened, and listened. Although I didn’t really understand a lot of what they were talking about, I did know enough to pick up that some of the conversation was not very positive.

After a few days with the rep, and after listening to several of his presentations, I asked him why he was taking the conversation in a negative direction. He looked at me and said, well everything I said was true about the industry and he understood that some of it was negative but he said it was the truth.

I asked him if he thought the information helped him make sales. He said he didn’t know. I assured him it didn’t.

I talked to the rep about what a sales rep is supposed to do. I started with NEVER lie to a prospect or customer. I have personally fired reps that I have caught lying to customers. However, I also told him that you don’t need to offer negative information either.

Let me try and give you an example of what his conversations were like. The prospect and the rep would be talking about the industry and the rep would make statements like, a lot of the businesses I am walking into are having a very hard time right now paying their bills.

This may in fact be a true and accurate statement, but unless the customer says to you, are other businesses having trouble paying their bills, I sure wouldn’t offer the information. As a matter of fact if I were asked I would say I didn’t know, it isn’t my place and I don’t know for a fact that other businesses are having trouble. I have had some very successful and profitable businesses tell me they were in financial trouble to get rid of me, as I am sure every sales rep on the streets has also.

My point being, just because you know things, doesn’t mean you need to convey everything to your prospects. Especially the things that can hurt your sale.

So I started with the question, do you think that someone can know too much about their product or industry?

Now answer it for yourself.

Lorin

I KNOW WHO YOU WORK FOR, BUT WHO DO YOU WORK FOR

This story was sent to me by a close friend and ex-coworker. I thought it was worth passing along.

The best close I ever saw:

I admit I am one of those guys who abhor buying a car.  I don’t like the constant negotiation and the feeling that no matter what I pay, I paid too much.  But when I was asked to go with a friend to look at a car he was planning to buy, I figured what the heck and went along for the ride.  Now the guy I was going with is a successful business manager who came into management through sales.  He loves the process and as I would come to learn his negotiation skills are among the elite.

As we got to the dealership we were armed with 2 pieces of information.  We knew how much the “Blue Book” was on his truck for a trade in and we knew how bad he did, or didn’t want the vehicle.  In fact, he was there to buy two vehicles as his daughter is nearing that magical driving age of 16.  He had already spotted the vehicles he was there to talk about and on his arrival, I think I heard a faint bell go off and an announcer barking “Let the negotiations begin!”

They went back and forth several times with my friend sticking to his guns in regard to his “Out the door price”.  He mentioned the money they would be saving in that one of the vehicles just came in today, so they would turn the inventory in a hurry.  He noted the number of similar trucks they had on the lot costing them cash every day and he mentioned that he was making a luxury buy, not a necessity buy, so “you gotta move my way.”

But the close of all closes wasn’t the one the salesman used on my friend, but rather the one my friend used on the salesman.  As negotiations were on their 4^th turn and an impasse loomed on the near horizon my friend made one “last” explanation and gave his salesman an offer.  The salesman, who had been solid said “I’ll take it to the manager again, would you like me to ask him to come talk to you?”  I think he was under the impression that my friend wanted to deal with the highest level he could.  I will admit without hesitation I would have said “Yep, trot him on out here.” But my friend went in for the killer close. “Why would I do that?  I am paying you a commission to take care of me.  I want you to fight for me, to help me get that truck I want and the SUV my daughter wants.  If I wanted to do that, what do I need you for?  Get in there and fight for me man, THAT’S what I am paying you commission for!”  I noticed a visible change in the salesman’s face and attitude and off he went to fight for my friend. 

The outcome isn’t the important part of the story.  The close was how my friend motivated someone he had just met to go “argue my side and tell my story”  If he sold the cars or not doesn’t change the fact that he was sold on his role as the agent for my friend. 

Selling isn’t just for salesmen, selling is a process by which people are motivated to make decisions and execute behaviors which benefit everyone involved.  Never miss a chance to sell, good things happen when things get sold.

Oh, he got both vehicles and paid at least $3,000 less than I would have paid.

Lorin

NO SUCH THING AS TOO HONEST

I started my day going to a networking meeting that I have not been able to attend for the past 2 months because of my travel schedule. It was great seeing everyone and as always I absolutely love the meetings.

While at the meeting each person goes around the table and tells about themselves, what they have been doing for the last week, what they are going to be doing in the week to come and what if any help the others at the meeting can give to them.

After each person speaks, the rest of the group gives whatever assistance, recommendations, or suggestions they feel will help the person to achieve their goal.

Today, 3 times I was what I would consider brutally honest with people. As a matter of fact, after the meeting I had to call the facilitator and make sure that I didn’t actually make one of the people mad at me for what I said.

Now don’t misunderstand me, everything I said was only said to try and help the people help themselves. I didn’t say anything that was not exactly what I felt and what I thought needed to be heard by the person I was addressing. I’ll admit that what I said probably wasn’t what any of them wanted to hear, but it was what they needed to hear.

I was told by the facilitator that what I said was spot on and that he didn’t think that I upset anyone, as a matter of fact, the one person that I thought I upset the most told the facilitator that she appreciated what I had to say. This made me feel better, but the question still remained with me, how honest is too honest?

I have always been a person that tries to say what needs to be said not nesicerrly what should be said. This at times has gotten me into trouble (especially in high school when children are supposed to be seen and not heard…HA!) As a sales rep and sales trainer I have always tried to tell prospects what they needed to hear not always what they wanted to hear. This practice has cost me sales in the past, but I sleep very well for doing it.

Now I was questioning myself about my honesty. I guess I was questioning myself about not only what I said this morning, but what I have said in the past and what I will say in the future. I am very aware of the fact that in today’s tight market every sale counts and no sales rep can afford to let any opportunity slip past them. I also know that in this economy no company can afford to have a sales rep that let’s this happen. But how far should a rep go to make the sale?

I know sales reps that say whatever they think they need to say to make the sale. They don’t think about what they say as lies, they actually believe that the customer should know what they are getting when they say yes and that it doesn’t matter what the rep says, it is the customer’s responsibility to know the facts and make the right decision.

I AM NOT ONE OF THESE REPS! I believe that a sales rep needs to state the facts and give the customer the information they need to make a well informed decision. I don’t think a rep needs to point out every shortcoming of their product or service, as a matter of fact I think the opposite, as rep should point out the strengths and benefits of their product and should compare them to the weaknesses of the competitions product. But this should be done in a way that the truth stays intact. Don’t lie about the competitor and don’t tell the customer you product will do things it won’t either.

If a sales rep can make an objective comparison between their product and the competitions, and they can build enough value into the benefits of their product over the competitions. The customer will have the information they need to make an informed decision about the products being presented.

After tossing all this over in my head, I decided that I not only needed to be as honest as I was in the meeting this morning, I actually owed it to the people that I claim to like and want to help so much to be as honest as I can for their own good.

I am more convinced than ever that telling people what they need to hear, however distasteful it may be to the person being addressed, is always the best way to help people grow and achieve their goals. Imagine if an athletic coach told an athlete how good they were all the time. Would the athlete’s performance ever improve?

I know that the 3 people I am writing about will be reading this, if in fact I made you mad... get over it... you needed to hear what I had to say. Just because I said it doesn’t mean that you need to act in any way on what I said. It simply means that is how I felt. Do with it as you please, just know that it was meant to help you just as a good sales rep means to help their customers.

Lorin

EXCUSES, EXCUSES

It has happened to all of us at one time or another, we work with a prospect for hours, days, weeks, sometimes months and just as we get to the close of the sales we get the EXCUSE.

The problem with getting an excuse from a customer is we never know if it is a legitimate excuse or just a blow off. The excuse may sound real, the prospect presents it to us in such a way that it makes good sense, we know that some of what we were told is true, we want to believe it because we don’t want to think the customer is just blowing us off. But if we look closely, in many of the cases the reality is we were just blown off.

The question then becomes, what can we do? How can we as sales reps make a decision as to what is real and what isn’t? WE CAN’T! It is that simple. And to tell the truth, we shouldn’t.

Our job is to represent ourselves, our company and our product in a professional manner. We should show the prospect the advantages of our product and the value our product will have within the prospects business.

The prospects job is to conduct their business in a professional manner producing the best results with the maximum profits they can.

These two points of view seem to be aligned, however in some cases the value of a product doesn’t equal the price of the product. In other cases, the value of the product doesn’t equal the price of the product IN THE PROSPECTS MIND! When this happens you hear an excuse.

The best way for a sales rep to get past excuses is to make sure the prospect fully understands and buys into the value the rep established during the sales presentation.

I have seen a rep give an entire sales presentation without ever asking the customer any questions. The customer sits there listening and watching but never gets the opportunity to ask the questions that will assure they understand the product or service and that they understand the value the product or service will bring to their business.

I am a believer that customers, no matter the industry, understand their business better than anyone else does. Therefore, the customer knows what will and won’t help them and has an idea of the value of things in relationship to their business. I call these customers BUSINESS PEOPLE because they run businesses.

Business people won’t pass on an opportunity to either help their business run better or generate more income if they see the value of the product or service being presented. If they don’t understand the value their path of least resistance is to give an excuse rather than say no.

As sales reps we have evolved over the years into machines that can turn no’s into yes’s with ease. There are books written at the 5^th grade level of how to turn no’s into yes’s. Every rooky first year sales rep has enough of the gift of gab and enough talent to turn a no into a yes. Business people know this. The secret is out. So instead of taking the chance that we will turn things around, the customers give us excuses as a substitute for just telling us NO!

Here is where sales becomes a fun and challenging career. It is up to us to listen to the excuse, search through the excuse for what we feel is truth and what we feel is fantasy, and in a split second have a value statement that will once again get the customer back to seeing how our product or service will help them.

Here is a hint, there are really only about 10 excuses. They may be said a thousand different ways, but when you look at what is really being said they all group into about 10 categories.

What you need to do is to make a list of the different headings that the excuses you hear fall into. For instance, money, ease of use, dependability… whatever you are hearing. List out the excuses under these categories and have an answer for each category. It doesn’t matter how they say money is the problem. They may say business is slow or you are too expensive. All you need is one answer to the excuse about one that you can use whenever it comes up. Have one answer for each category you list and next time the customer gives you an excuse, you will be able to follow the excuse with a value statement that gets you back onto the path to closing the sale.

Lorin

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HUMBLE AND STUPID

OK, I get it, no one wants to be known as “that push sales rep”. I understand all the reasons and I AGREE WITH THEM ALL! However, if the pendulum swings too far to the other direction you are just as wrong.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. If your product was selling for a fixed price for a long time, and there were a lot of potential customers out there that didn’t buy because they didn’t want to spend that much money and then you run a “special” and reduce the price. How you present the price drop means a lot!

I was working with a rep and when she walked into the first prospect to tell them about the price drop she looked at the customer and in a very monotone, expressionless, deadpan voice said, “the price is now only $XXX.XX, that’s pretty good isn’t it”?

That’s it, that’s all she said. I was watching the customers face, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, he had no idea what the old price was, he had no idea what was included, and he had no intention of buying with a delivery like that.

When we walked out (without the sale) I asked her if she thought she could have done a little more in that presentation. She said she thought she could but didn’t want to seem pushy. I explained that she was so far from pushy she could have pulled a gun and not reached pushy yet!

I then took a few minutes, which ended up being the better part of the morning, trying to teach her how to sell the sizzle along with the steak.

For any of you that are ever in the situation where you can present a price cut, let me give you some of the same points I gave her;

1)      Never give a price cut without a reason – your reason can be just about anything. Make it real, make sure it’s reasonable. In this case the company is having a temporary price cut, so that is the reason.

2)      Always build the value of the product – you need to restate the value statement of your product and make sure you answer the question WIIFM.

3)      Look, Act, and Sound EXCITED – If you make it a big deal it will be a big deal, if you make it sound like it is nothing than the customer will react in the same manner.

4)      Always remind the customer of the original price BEFORE you give them the discounted price – never give the discount price first, if the discount price is given first the customer has nothing to compare it to and it may still seem high.

5)      Let the customer know if there is any difference in the product between the original price and the discounted price – in this case there was no difference so we had to tell the customer that.

6)      Let the customer know how much they will save – a $50.00 a month price cut is $600.00 a year, let them know that.

7)      If there is a time limit on the price reduction let them know it UPFRONT – don’t make it sound like you are holding a gun to their head, no one wants to be squeezed. But let them know that it is a time sensitive price cut that ends on a specific date (if it doesn’t have a specific date, at least let them know that it can be ended without any notice)

8)      Price cuts don’t take the place of selling – you still need to go through the sales process and make sure the customer’s questions are answered and that they understand the value of what you are offering.

9)      Don’t ever be ashamed of a small price cut – every dollar you cut from your price is a dollar the customer doesn’t need to spend and falls to their bottom line directly from yours.

10)   Look, Act, and Sound EXCITED – If you make it a big deal it will be a big deal, if you make it sound like it is nothing than the customer will react in the same manner. (Did I already mention this? Well it is worth mentioning twice!)

Remember, a price cut doesn’t automatically mean a customer will buy, but how you present a price cut can definitely make a big difference in how many will buy.

Lorin

BUSY ACCOMPLISHING NOTHING

I’M BACKKKK

After about a month traveling around the country working with reps I am finally back in Atlanta for a few week. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to post during my trips but time just wouldn’t allow it.

I hope that you will once again get in the habit of checking the Training Buffet, Help Yourself, Monday thru Friday for a post. READ, LEARN, ENJOY!

Lorin

Today's post

I am absolutely convinced that sales reps are the busiest people in the world. They have got to be because every time I ask one they tell me that they are so busy they don’t have time to do anything else.

This was especially apparent a few weeks ago while I was working with a rep. We got in his car 7:30 sharp and we were at our first sales call promptly at 8AM. We met with the manager and the rep and manager spent over 90 minutes talking about everything from politics to hunting. When that conversation ended the rep started talking about business, which lasted about 5 minutes until the customer found an opportunity to ask about the reps dog (I found out later they had the same breed and had discussed this before). In the next 45 minutes I found out more than I ever needed to know about peek-a-poo’s, and made up my mind to never own one.

The conversation finally came back around to business and after another 30 minute presentation we walked out with NOTHING! Not even an appointment or referral.

We then got into the car and spent about the next 15 minutes entering information into our CRM and looking up information on our next stop. I started to get the feeling this was going to be a long day. I wasn’t disappointed.

I got back to my hotel room at 8:45PM after making 7 sales calls and NO sales.

The next morning 7:30 sharp I was back in the passenger seat heading to our first sales call. On the way I asked the rep about how he felt about the previous day. He excitedly told me how great a day it was and that he loved a “BUSY” day because the time flew by.

Since we didn’t have a set appointment with our first stop I asked him to stop so we could get a cup of coffee and talk a little.

I took out my phone and showed him the notes I had taken from the day before. I let him read everything I had and asked him if he thought I was being fair. He said no, that we were busy all day and that my notes said that we wasted a lot of time during the day. I could tell that he was upset with me and was convinced that we had a productive day.

We sat over our coffee for about 45 minutes and I pointed out to him all the times that he should have cut the conversations off about chit chat and come back to business. I told him that if he had done that we could have seen no less than twice the amount of customers. I even ran the numbers for him, if he makes 7 calls a day times 5 days a week that is 35 calls. If he just added 50% more calls that would be 50 calls a week. Right now he is selling an average of 1.7 customers a week he could increase that to 2.5 keeping the averages the same. That would mean 3 more sales a month which would put him above quota when added to what he was now selling.

Did all my words sink in? I don’t know. I did see a difference for the remaining part of that day and the next day. We made 11 calls that day and 16 calls with 2 sales the next day. I think I proved my point pretty well. Only time will tell if he continues the activity level and keeps things moving in his sales calls.

Now let’s focus on the big picture, and that includes each of us and our normal day in the sales field. How much time do we spend doing non-productive things like chit chatting about everything BUT business? How much time could we add to face to face selling if we simply formed the habit of minimizing the chatter and maximizing our sales calls by getting down to business?

I know how important it is to build rapport with customers, I will never tell you NOT to chit chat and talk about the things that form a relationship, but you can’t forget what you are there for. SELL!

Lorin

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

The following article was published in today’s online newsletter, The New York Times, Business Day Small Business.

My Top 10 Sales Tips

By TOM SZAKY

My biggest sales lesson came from a good friend who is now our head of Canadian business development (a fancy term for sales), Robin Tator. Robin taught me that sales is not about what you are selling, but about making friends and about getting someone to see the world the way you do. If you do that, everything else will take care of itself.

Sales can be a melancholy job. On one hand, many people (especially nonsales people) feel that it’s sleazy and lowbrow. On the other hand, it can be the most important function of a business. Until there’s a sale, there is no business. Personally, I’ve gone from thinking the former to believing the latter and honing my skills over a decade to where today I am effectively the chief sales officer of TerraCycle. I don’t know exactly when this transition happened, but it took me a few years to embrace the power of sales the way I do today.

I recently wrote a friend who is starting a nonprofit and suggested that the role of a company leader is to become the chief convincing officer. In the end these two titles are synonymous, because selling is really the art of convincing someone to believe and buy into your concept, whether by buying your product or service or by investing in your company or by working for your company.

Here are my top 10 sales tips, all of which have served me and our staff — including Jo Opot, pictured above — for years:

1. You can sell only if you yourself are convinced: If you are not sold on the product or service, it will be an uphill battle to sell someone on else. Your lack of conviction will scream through.
2. Be clear and direct: When pitching do not use complicated diction. Pride yourself instead on being able to explain the concept as quickly, clearly and simply as possible. This is important because the biggest problem in sales is client confusion. Confusion does not lead to a Yes.
3. Pressure is an art: Creating FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) in your client’s mind can be a good thing because it will lead to serious consideration of your concept. In the TerraCycle world, we award brand exclusivity by country and by category. I often need to tell potential clients that their competition is also talking with us. The trick is to mention this once and to NOT rub it in, which is likely to anger them. No one who is angered into saying Yes.
4. Know your client: Make sure to research your potential clients, know their challenges and their needs. One size hardly ever fits all, and you look much stronger if you care about the business enough to invest in the research. I can’t tell you how many times I get cold calls from sales people who don’t even know what TerraCycle does.
5. It’s all about the presentation: Building an amazing deck is critical to the sales process. Practice it, memorize it and be prepared to shift your emphasis based on how the energy changes when you give the presentation. Internally, we always ask ourselves: “Is the flow of this deck right? Will it convince?”
6. Be passionate and exciting: Most presentations are BORING! So create a show and make it exciting. Excitement is contagious – just like a yawn.
7. If you don’t know the answer, do not guess: People will ask you tough questions, and you may not always know the answer. The person asking you may be testing you, knowing the answer full well. And if you fumble, it’s very hard to rebuild credibility. Do not guess.
8. Answer questions directly and clearly: If you are asked a question and you give a “politician’s answer” – in other words, if you don’t answer the question – your credibility will decline, and you will hurt your chances of making the sale.
9. Humor is a great lubricator: Funny stories always break the ice. Instead of using business cards, everyone in our company uses stamps (see right) to leave our contact info. It’s eco-friendly, it never runs out and it makes for a nice ice-breaker at the beginning of every meeting.
10. You can always be better: Sales is an art, not a science. Which means it’s never perfect and can always improve. TerraCycle has a standard sales deck most of our associates use. We’ve gone through 94 versions in the last three years and version 95 is around the corner.

Bottom line: sales is a critical function that is more art than science, so hone your art. And please share any of the sales tips you’ve learned.

Tom Szaky is the chief executive of TerraCycle, which is based in Trenton.

Nothing new, but that doesn’t in any way take importance.

Lorin

STEVE JOBS WOULD BE PROUD OF ME

It has been 2 weeks since we lost the greatest technology visionary that ever lived, Steve Jobs. Like many of you, his untimely death was a shock that saddened me more than just a celebrity death usually does. I felt like the “toy man” died. Steve Jobs delivered some of the greatest toys ever invented, iPod, iPhone, iPad along with his breakthroughs in computers.

However, with Steve gone it has left the door open for someone to step up and lead the charge in technology advancements. Being the kind of person that hates to see an opportunity pass, I will step up and replace Steve as the new wizard.

I have a few ideas that I started working on over the past few weeks anticipating this chance and I want to share some of these ideas with you here on the Training Buffet, Help Yourself.

Picture me in blue jeans, a black mock turtleneck and sneakers standing on a stage. You have the image in your head? OK here we go.

The first device I want to introduce is by far my most impressive invention. It takes the place of luck, chance and hard work. It’s called The “iWant”. (Applaud, ooo and ahhh, gasp) This will take all the work out of getting what you want. By using the internet you can search for what you want and with a simple click on the touch screen the iWant immediately delivers your want to the front door of your house.

So what do you want, a car, a boat, a house? Do you want to travel, the iWant will deliver any mode of transportation you want to any destination you want. Maybe you want to give your children all the things that you never had, just point and click and everything you want to give them is theirs immediately.

And don’t forget that all this comes without any hard work, without any savings, without doing without. The iWant delivers everything. Oh I almost forgot, the first thing I am going to use the iWant for is to give everyone their own iWant! (More applauds, more screaming, as pandemonium breaks out)

So everyone be looking for your iWant in your mailbox in the next week…

What do you think? I think Apple will definitely seal its place as the world’s greatest company when they beat a path to my door and make the iWant their next product launch.

Along with the iWant I am also working on the iCan. This device assures success of everything anyone attempts. The iCan makes all things possible and successful. Another device I have is the iWon’t, this makes it acceptable for anyone to NOT do things they don’t want to do.

The last new device I want to tell you about is the iShouldhave. This device eliminates guilt. The iShouldhave gives you all the reasons you need to convince people why you didn’t do something and it also gives you the peace of mind knowing that you were right not to do something even when you know you should have. (To date the only thing that the iShouldhave isn’t affective on is calling your mother)

There you have my line-up of products for Apple to move forward on. I think you have to agree, even Steve Jobs would be green with envy seeing these awesome products.

To tell the truth, I know you are going to be shocked, all these devices are jokes. (Awww’s of disappointment come from the crowd) There is nothing that can take the place of hard work, there is nothing that will give you what you want without first putting in the time and sweat to needed to accumulate the funds or credit to purchase it.

I do however have one new product that each of us already have, it is the iPlan! The iPlan is a sheet of paper that you use to write down your plan for success. You use the paper to set goals and keep track of your timelines to achieve these goals. The iPlan is the only sure way to get the things the iWant would give you. The iPlan will give you the success of the iCan, it will remove the guilt the iShouldhave eliminates by giving you nothing that you “should have” done, replacing it with all the things that YOU HAVE DONE!

Steve, you are still our “toy” hero. You will be missed but you knew years ago that there is no iWant. Rest in peace and I hope heaven is ready for the iFly.

Lorin

MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE

I was having a discussion with a sales rep today that was having trouble with one of her accounts. As we talked she kept telling me about how ever since the new manager came in she has been the referee between the new manager and her old contact.

I asked her what has been happening and she told me about times when the new manager was telling her about stuff her contact was doing and then she would tell me about her contact telling her about what the new guy was doing. She felt as if each one was trying to get her “on their side”.

She went so far as to tell me that her sales manager would let her she would walk away from the account all together because she didn’t need the aggravation.

All I could do was to listen and nod my head every now and again to let her know I was still awake. After about what seems like hours, but was more like 30 minutes, I asked her what she was going to do about it. She looked at me as if I were nuts! She was obviously waiting for me to offer up a suggestion as to how to handle this like I usually do.

I had some ideas, but I felt this was a time that in order for any idea to work, it had to be HER IDEA. I guess she got over the shock of me not telling her a solution quickly because she started asking me if this idea was good or should she do something else. She asked and asked and I stood my ground. (I did chuckle to myself a few times)

Then she asked me if I thought it were possible that the two guys were working together to see if she could be trusted and to see if she would talk badly about one to the other. I hadn’t thought of that. So I got back into the conversation asking her about what kind of things they were saying about one another. It didn’t take long for me to realize that her suggestion was a very viable one.

We talked for a few more minutes about this and then she told me what she was going to do, she said she was going to keep listening to both of them and NOT talking sides or offering anything one said to the other. I thought that was a great idea but I had to ask if she thought she could do it for an extended time. She was confident she could.

At this point I told her how proud I was of her because she solved her own problem and only needed a sounding board. I told her that her solution was good as long as she could keep it up, but warned her of the pitfalls of taking sides in any way.

This wasn’t the first time I had heard about a sales rep being caught in a game of Monkey In The Middle between two people in a customer’s business. It is the first time I have heard of the game going on as long as this one seems to have been going on with no sign of ending.

My best advice to you as it finally was to her is to be careful of games that you play with customers, especially when you don’t know all the rules and what it takes to win the game.

Just like playing monkey in the middle as a kid, the game usually doesn’t end without someone getting hurt. If you are caught in the middle do what you can to remove yourself from the game. You may need to be rather blunt with the customers and let them know (one at a time of course) that you are uncomfortable and you understand their frustration but you are not in the position to do more than just listen. If they are looking for you to take sides, this will sometimes let them know in a non-confrontational way, that you are not willing to do so.

Remember, we aren’t talking about your baseball cap now, we are talking about your living. You can’t afford to play games when it comes to your livelihood.

Lorin

HEADS I WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE

As sales reps we have all lost sales. When we lose a sale we always view it as a loss for US. But isn’t it just as big a loss for the prospect?

I have sold a lot of things in my career, and I believe that when a customer bought my product they were improving the way they did business or in some way the quality of their lives. It didn’t matter if I was selling diamonds, pots and pans, or cleaners I knew that by buying my product the customer was getting their money’s worth.

But what about the customer that didn’t buy from me? I’m not talking about the customer that I cold called on and immediately said no, or get out. I am talking about the customer that was really interested and for some reason decided not to buy. If I believe that buying my product would help them than not buying my product had to hurt them.

Now we have a lose lose situation, no sale for me and no help for the customer.

I have written in my blog many times that a great sales rep is always interested in helping their customer, so if the fact that you didn’t make the sale bothers you more than the fact that you didn’t help the customer you are destined to only be a mediocre sales rep.

Yep, I said it and I mean it! I know there will be a lot of you that disagree, you will tell yourself that, “I had no control”, or “It wasn’t my fault”. And in most cases you will be right, but how you view missing the sale is entirely up to you.

Personally I have always tried to think of my customer first. There have been many times that I have told a customer I didn’t care who they bought the product from, just as long as they bought the product because it was the right thing for them or their business. This caring has paid off over the years many times over. A customer wants a sales rep that has their best interest in mind. The customer doesn’t want a rep with COMMISSION BREATH! (This is a term I heard from a speaker a few weeks ago and fell in love with) If the customer feels that your main motivation is receiving your commission check and NOT helping them solve a problem then I can assure you NO SALE WILL BE MADE!

I never want you or any rep to lose a sale, period! But if it happens, and it will, I want you as the sales rep to understand that there was no winner. I want you to realize that your customer lost more than you did. You need to know these things even though your customer probably never will.

Heads I win, Tails You Lose is an old comedy routine that made people laugh for many years when they heard it, in our world of sales there is nothing funny about it.

Lorin

A SALESMAN SALESMAN

Have you ever heard of someone being called “A Salesman Salesman”? This title is usually reserved for a sales rep who always brings their “A” game with them. I want to tell you about someone I know that goes even a step beyond being a Salesman Salesman.

His name is Sam, he is my Brother-In-Laws father and may be the best salesman I have ever had the pleasure to know. Sam is 94 years old and I have never seen him not in the sales mode.

Sam started his sales career before most of us were born in NYC selling of all things diamonds. (This is one of many connections he and I have, I also sold diamonds early in my sales career) Over a long and very successful period Sam became very well known in the NY Diamond district and was sought after by many of the largest most successful diamond houses in NY.

Sam has long since retired from the diamond business and now lives here in the south close to his son and grandchildren. All of his adult life Sam has been an artist working in pencil, water colors, and charcoal. He has sketched everything from flowers to baseball players, politicians to Rabbis, and just about anything else he sees.

Over the past 6 or 8 years Sam has been carrying his work in the trunk of his car and never misses the opportunity to “pop” the trunk, show his work, and break into a sales pitch to anyone in ear shot.

Let’s fast forward to today, Sam’s wife of over 60 years is in the hospital having some tests done. While Sam is waiting he got a little bored so being the salesman salesman he is Sam started looking for people to talk to about his favorite thing to talk about, his pictures. A doctor comes into the room to see his wife, while he is examining her Sam starts his discovery probing. First he asks the doctor if he is married, when the doctor said yes he asked if the doctor had any children, again the doctor said yes. You could almost see the gleam in Sam’s eye as he asked do you have any hand drawn art work of your “beautiful” children. The doctor looked away from Sam’s wife and smiled at Sam and answered no I don’t. Sam started telling the doctor about that a hand drawn professional drawing is the most beautiful way to show off any family. He continued with all the differences between a custom drawing and a photograph, and finally added that professionally drawn pictures are also a great investment.

The doctor kept working and glanced at Sam ever now and then to show he was still listening and that he was interested. Sam then did something that I couldn’t believe, he said to the doctor, this is a quote, “I am not sure if you can afford me, but I would love to be the artist that draws your family”.

The doctor looked at him sitting in the chair in the hospital room and said, “Let’s talk about this further when I am done, I have never thought about it but I think I want to have it done”.

Now please think back, do you remember how old I told you Sam is? Don’t peek, try and remember… OK if you guessed 94 you are right. At 94 he still has all his sales skills honed to a fine edge. After selling for more years that most of us have been alive he still LOVES selling and the challenge of walking a prospect through the sales process. At 94 Sam SELLS!

I do a sales meeting reading the Dr Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham, and at the end of the meeting I tell the reps my hope for each of them is to be a lot like Sam in the book. I know the real Sam now, and my hope hasn’t changed. I hope that we can all be more like SAM and after a half century or more of selling we can still love the challenges that sales puts in front of us, love the excitement of matching wits with a prospect, love the feeling of creating interest where there was none,  and enjoy feeling that making the sale gives us.

Lorin

A BOOK BY ANY OTHER NAME

We are all familiar with the series of books called “The Idiot’s Guide To….” Well I was given a copy of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cold Calling by Keith Rosen.

The book discusses every aspect of cold calling from preparation to mental attitude.

The book is available in paperback on Amazon.com as well as your local book stores.

Click on the link below to see the inside of the book

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Cold-Calling/dp/1592572278/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318474707&sr=8-1#_

Lorin

TWICE IS ONCE TOO MANY

Have you ever filled out forms for a company and a few days, weeks, or months later had the same company ask you for the same forms and the same information a second time? It happened to me today.

I went into one of my signature rants about how unprofessional, unorganized, and downright stupid this was and my wife calmly looked at me and said, “I can remember you complaining that your company did the same things to its customers”! OUCH… That hurt.

Here I was ranting about something that I (as in the company I worked for) was doing. It made me realize how our customers felt. I then went back into my files and started looking at other times that I had filled out documents and had the same information requested several times, and what do you know, I found 3 examples over the past 5 years. (This being the fourth)

Now this may not sound like a sales problem or something a sales trainer should be talking about, however it is directly related to customer facing and as far as I am concerned, ANYTHING THAT AFFECTS MY CUSTOMERS AFFECTS ME! So this is definitely something for me to cover.

Let’s first start by looking at the type of information that I have been asked to duplicate, in 3 of the 4 times it included financial information. How do you think a customer feels about turning over financial information the first time, much less being asked for the same information twice. And what do you think the customer is asking themselves? I am sure the same question I asked, what happened to the information the FIRST time I sent it? Did it get lost, picked up by someone else, left on a park bench... the possibilities are endless and none are positive.

Other types of information were personal information. These bits of information have me really concerned as to their whereabouts. Imagine someone having your SS#, address and some financial information of yours! This is what identity theft is made of.

Now I am not saying that your company or my company lost, misplaced, or left the information behind on a park bench, but I am saying these are the things that ran through my mind and I am sure they are the kinds of things that run through your customers minds.

So what can a sales rep do to head this kind of information duplication? First, if you can know who the information is going to in your company. Follow-up with the person that the information got to them and that it was complete. Second, make sure your customer understands that the information needs to be as complete as possible to keep duplicate requests from being sent. Third, be able to explain what the information is for, what will be done with it, and who will be viewing it. (I know in larger companies this may be impossible)

If you can do these 3 simple steps most of the duplicate requests will be eliminated and the anger and frustration of your customers will be minimized.

Lorin

SALES IMPOSSIBLE

I traveled from PA to FL today and I am sitting in my hotel room watching Restaurant Impossible. If you haven’t seen the show before Chef Robert Irvine travels to failing restaurants and in only 2 days and spending $10,000.00 Chef Irvine does a complete makeover and turns the restaurant around.

I am a regular watcher of the show and have seen dozens of dives turned into fantastic looking places with awesome food. (I can’t taste the food but everyone on the show says it is great). As I was watching tonight I started thinking about the reps I have worked with over the years and how many of them were the sales equivalent of dives and with a few dollars and a little time have turned into super stars.

On the show Chef Irvine checks back with the restaurants a few months after he works his magic, most of the restaurants are still doing better, but in some cases the restaurants are skyrocketing and being super successful.

I had to wonder what made the difference. The more I thought the more obvious the answer became, one word, COMMITMENT! The more committed the restaurant owner was the more successful the restaurant became. The more committed a sales rep is the more successful they become.

It doesn’t take years to see significant change, it simply takes a focused few days and the commitment to not change for a day or two, but to change forever!

The number one thing that causes one of Chef Irvine’s restaurants to fail is the owner’s willingness to backslide and go back to doing things “LIKE THEY USED TO DO IT”. The same goes for sales reps, the main cause of a rep backsliding after they have changed is they go back to doing things “LIKE THEY USED TO DO IT”.

Now I am not saying that if you are having trouble you need to go out and spend $10,000.00 on sales training and change everything you do. I am saying if you want to improve you need to do a few things, first; seek help. It doesn’t need to cost you a penny, the internet has millions of pages of training and help that are FREE! I am sure that you have friends, mentors, managers, and trainers that will also help you for FREE! It doesn’t take years, the biggest bump will happen in the first week. It will be the degree of commitment that will carry the progress forward.

Lorin