HOW THE SALE WAS WON

Today was a “thinking day” day for me. It was a day where I had several things to do but had a lot of time in between my appointments to think.

My thoughts were definitely influenced by an old western movie I watched last night, because my thoughts were about sales and how they have, and haven’t, changed over the years.

In the movie last night there was a salesman who traveled from town to town selling everything from shoes to medicine (or what he called medicine). In his wagon he had his entire inventory and knew exactly what he had.

He would pull his wagon into town and stop on the street, pull up the side curtain of the wagon to display his goods and start hawking over people. When he had a crowd he would start his sales pitch, explaining the benefits of owning (and using) any one of the many items he sold.

His sales pitch was a work of art, every word practiced and rehearsed until it was a show unto itself. He would select someone from the crowd to sell to and use that person to help him make sales to others. He would move from one product to another with the smooth action of a well oiled machine and never miss a beat.

He never stayed in one town too long because he knew some of the things he sold were, less than what he built them up to be and never wanted to be there when one of his customers discovered the fact. And yet he would come back on his next trip in the area and sell more.

I thought to myself, this is what it was like 150 years ago, when did the game of selling change? At what point did the sales rep see the need to leave his old fly by night habits behind and become the knowledgeable, professional that a rep needs to be today to survive? (OK I know that there are still a lot of reps who are more like the guy in the movie, but I am talking to reps like you, professional sales reps)

I know it was before cell phones and the internet. I know it was before catalytic converters and space missions to the moon. I know it was before the Beatles and even before Elvis.

I don’t know exactly when it happened, I just know it did. Today, more than ever, a sales rep needs to first sell him or herself to the customer. Before a relationship can be built between a rep and a customer trust needs to be the groundwork for the rapport that is established.

Watching that old western last night made me glad I am a sales rep today, not back then. I enjoy the return trips to customers and getting to know them long term. I like having people tell me I was recommended by a customer because of my knowledge and integrity. I love having the opportunity to move past the initial rapport and actually build a relationship with a customer and sometimes having that relationship grow into a long friendship.

The west may have been won with a smooth talking flim flam man in a covered wagon, but today sales are won with intelligent, honest, and dependable sales techniques, products and services that have value to the customer, and presented by a professional sales rep.

I don’t know if tomorrow will be another “thinking day” but if it is I am going to focus on horses and roundups. “Git along lil doggie”

Lorin

OH NOW I UNDERSTAND

As I travel around working with reps from different companies I hear terms that I am sometimes not familiar with. I always try and pick up on what they mean by the context they are used in, but sometimes it is impossible. Another problem is what one company calls something has a different meaning at another company.

So now not only do we have different terms being used, but different meanings for the same term, and we wonder why customers sometimes look at us like we are speaking a foreign language.

Imagine a customer’s confusion when a sales rep tells them they want to do a demo. The customer agrees and the sales rep shows the customer how a product or service works. Now the next sales rep comes in, sometimes at the same time and tells the customer that they also want to do a demo. This time instead of showing the customer how a product or service works they give the customer a sample and leaves it up to the customer to see how it works.

One word two completely different demos.

Examples of these misunderstandings go on and on in the sales world. What one company calls a prospect another calls a lead, a customer to one is a prospect to another. Some reps call them leads some prospects… HELP I am confusing myself!

So what can we do to help the buyer (buyer? Where did that term come in?) better understand us. Simple, never take anything for granted.

When I train a class, any class, I always tell the reps I am training that if I say anything they don’t understand to stop me and ask before I move on. This way everyone will be on the same page. Customers don’t know that they don’t understand until after the fact. They won’t know the difference between a demo and a trial until a rep has set the definition and another rep contradicts it.

So what we need to do is explain what we mean up front. If you tell a customer you are going to do a demo, say, “I don’t know what other reps have done  as demo’s for you, but what I do is…” and explain what you are about to do. If a new rep comes onboard your company and you are talking to them, as you use sales terms ask the new rep what their understanding of the term is. If it aligns with what you use great if not you now have the opportunity to explain how the term is used here at the new company.

Always remember, more sales are lost because of a buyer not understanding the sales rep than are lost due to price or function. A clear and concise understanding of what you mean will eliminate the confusion and be a driving factor to closing more sales.

Lorin

WHAT A MICKEY MOUSE OPERATION

I don’t know about you, but I have called hundreds of businesses MICKEY MOUSE OPERATIONS. This is not a compliment, it is usually said because of the poor way the business is run or handled a problem. Well I am WRONG!

Today I found myself calling a local business MICKEY MOUSE and as I was driving home I thought about my last visit to Disney World. I caught myself grinning like a child as I remembered my family and myself enjoying the attractions and rides throughout the different parks.

I remembered how many people were there and how amazed I was at how smoothly everything happened. The lines were long, but there was always something going on to hold our attention so the 90 to 120 minute waits didn’t seem long at all. The crowds around the food stands moved like a well oiled machine and all the food we bought was well let’s say hot and not talk about the fine taste, although most was good.

As always the parks were as clean as can be expected with about 200,000 of our closest friend there with us each day, and the one thing you can always say about Disney, you never saw a cast member without a smile.

This made me think about the business that I just left and for the life of me I couldn’t make any connections between them and Disney World. The near perfection of Orlando Florida was a far cry from the near disaster of Duluth Georgia.

I asked myself why I would say that this business was Mickey Mouse when it was the exact opposite.

How many businesses have you gone into and tried to sell only to be turned down and called Mickey Mouse because it made you feel good about not being able to sell them. Rather than admit that possibly you did something to kill the sale the business became a Mickey Mouse Operation that didn’t know what they were doing.

There is an old saying that whenever you point a finger, there are four pointing back at you. (try it you will see what it means) Rather than immediately blaming the business you should first take a look in the mirror and see if the reason for the failed attempt was the person looking back at you rather than the person you left in the business.

Take it from an old MOUSEKATEER, MICKEY MOUSE knows how to run the most successful amusement parks in the world. Maybe next time I get upset with a business I will need to call it something else, maybe I will call it …….

Lorin

PEOPLE CAN CHANGE

I had one of the best experiences a trainer could have today and I want to share it with all of you.

Several months ago I received a phone call from one of the reps that I had to work with. Let me just say, the call wasn’t a pleasant one. This rep had a lot of problems. He was negative about his job, territory, product, company, and most of all ME! He came right out and told me that I couldn’t teach him. He asked me why I was a trainer if I was such a great sales rep. He was convinced that I didn’t know enough about sales or the product to help him.

Needless to say my ears were ringing when I finally hung up the phone.

A few weeks later we touched base again, this time we had what I would call a civil conversation about all the things that he questioned our last call. To my surprise he was asking my opinion as well as for my council.

We haven’t talked for about 6 weeks now and today I received an e mail from the rep telling me that he was looking forward to my ride along with him, and in his words “despite myself”.

What changed, I don’t know. Maybe it was hearing from other reps I have worked with that I helped them. Maybe it was seeing reps starting to improve based on training. Maybe it was his lackluster sales that were causing him to grasp for straws. WHO CARES, the point is he changed.

I believe that every sales rep can get better at their trade. I also believe that every sales rep can learn from another sales rep, not necessarily a bigger producer or a rep with more tenure, ANY OTHER SALES REP. I have spent the last 18 years working to become a sales trainer, 18 years learning and listening, riding along with reps, doing sales presentations with reps and putting out fires with reps. I have done this so I can also help a rep when I am in the field with them.

There are trainers that have been doing this far longer than I have, they have made more presentations than I have and they have worked with more reps than I have. It doesn’t matter. Having a second set of eyes to watch the prospect, a second set of ears to listen to what the prospect is saying, a second set of hands to help with the demonstration or presentation, and a second opinion of what the next step should be in some situations is as the credit card commercial says, “PRICELESS”!

I feel good tonight, thank you RS for the e mail. I hope his story makes other sales trainers jobs a little better and makes all reps a little more open to the help when it is available.

Lorin

IT NEVER HAPPENS TO ME

I have been involved in several industries over my career as a sales trainer, and I have made an untold number of sales calls either by myself or while training a rep. Many times during these sales calls either I or the rep I have been training has been talking to a customer about something that has happened or has been a problem in just about every other business like theirs that we have been in. It never fails, the customer usually looks back at us with a straight face and says, “I have never had that happen” or “that has never happened to me”.

This is a reaction that you get when you haven’t earned the right to know about the customers problems. In other words, you have no rapport with the customer. Notice I didn’t say relationship, I don’t believe a relationship can be built during a first sale. Relationships are built over time based on trust and honesty. Rapport on the other hand can be built from the first few minutes of the sale and strengthened as the sale progresses.

You wouldn’t want to tell someone your problems if you didn’t know them and at least have a gut feeling about them that told you they could be trusted. A customer is no different.

As you start your sales process, let the customer know that you value your customer’s privacy and that you will hold anything they tell you in confidence. By doing this the customer knows that you won’t tell them about any other businesses in the area and you won’t tell any other businesses about them. The next step is NOT TO TELL! If you say you will keep everything in confidence and then tell the customer about every other business you have talked to, you won’t ever build trust.

So let’s circle back to the start of this post. You ask a customer about a problem or situation you have heard about. Is this breaking the confidence? NO. You can talk about information just never give business names or use the names of people. I can say that I have heard theft is a big problem in this area. I can’t say, Bill down the block told me he was having a big problem with theft.

The first is uncovering a potential problem, the second is having a big mouth! I hope you can see the difference. If you say Bill said he was having a lot of trouble with theft are you having the same trouble? Even if they are you will hear the “That doesn’t happen here” line.

As a sales rep we want to bring the best and newest information to our customers and prospects, but we don’t want to get the reputation of being a blabber mouth.

There is an old saying that goes back to the World Wars, “LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS”, the same weapon looses sales every day.

Lorin

TOO MUCH IS TOO MUCH

“…and my product can do this, and that, and more of the other thing and if you need it to it can also do something else.”

Blah, Blah, Blah…

Does a sales presentation like the one above sound familiar to you? I hope it doesn’t sound like one that you have done recently but rather one you have heard someone else do (preferably from another company).

I find that new sales reps unleash the “feature dump” as a means of trying to establish themselves as experts in their industries. The problem is this method usually doesn’t lead to sales and the rep never lasts long enough to actually become an industry expert. This is known as a “Catch 22” from the book by the same name. A Catch 22 is a circular problem, you use the feature dump to establish yourself as an expert, you don’t make sales because you use the feature dump, you don’t last long enough to actually become and expert.

I can almost hear you asking, “So Lorin, what is the solution?”

Simple, stick to the basics of selling and use a sales process that is proven to make sales.

Now I can hear you asking, so Lorin, what is the process?”

I’m glad you asked, the simplest sales process is this;

1)      Discover the customers pains (problems)

2)      Build the value of your product or service by matching its features with the solutions needed to remove the pain and solve the problems.

Sorry this is so complicated but if you go step by step you will find yourself closing more sales.

I am making fun of a very serious subject. In my experience more reps have failed because of this one fact than any other single action.

You don’t need to oversell your product or service, you need to VALUE SELL your product or service. Every buyer I have ever met would rather hear one or two features that mean something to them than they would 10 features that have no affect on them. One solution to a problem will get you more sales than 100 features that don’t have anything to do with the buyers business.

Once you know this, practice this, and DO this, you will start to see how Value Added Selling is the shortest distance between a Hello and a Thank You.

Lorin

CAN IT REALLY BE

I was asked a question today and had a good time answering it for the rep.

I was asked, “What is the newest selling concept available?” I was loving life. Questions like this are what make being a Sales Trainer’s day.

I told the rep to explain his question. (Like I didn’t know what he meant) He said that he just sat through several hours of sales training and it was all the same old same old. He said the words were somewhat different but the concepts were what he has heard 6 times before over his tenure as a sales rep.

So first I asked if he felt it was a bad thing to hear the information again. He didn’t hesitate a bit before he said no. He was just curious if there was something new that he hasn’t heard yet.

I told him that as far as I know there hasn’t been anything new since about one million BC. When the first cave man picked up a giant bone and strapped it to the newly invented wheel to roll it to the next cave and sell, selling hasn’t changed.

I told the rep that the same information has been repackaged and restated over and over again by every self proclaimed expert that has come down the pike.

Now don’t misunderstand what I am saying, I don’t see anything wrong, as a matter of fact I have seen some pretty good pitchmen (and women) over the years. I have sat through some extremely well thought out presentations and have seen some very talented sales reps get re-invigorated by some of these people.

The only thing that I find a little unsettling is the fact that some of these people try and tell you that THEY came up with the ideas. They talk as if they actually have something new. I would feel better about them if they said they have taken the basics of selling and added their own spin to these classic and proven ideas.

All that being said, you can’t ever be told these basics too often. The next time you hear them may be the time that you catch one little piece which will change your sales life forever.

For years I have taught “Back to Your Basics” selling skills. Maybe I should change the name to, “The 100^th Time Hearing things for the First Time”.

Lorin

GOING, GOING, BUT NOT GONE

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bid a fond farewell to the professional sales rep. It is a sad day, and we all feel the loss of our deeply loved profession. Professional sales reps have been ill for quite some time, and although we fought a long and painful battle we have finally given into the pressure of the economy and the unrelenting abuse of companies all around the world that expected the professional sales rep to move forward and take the leap into the 21^st century.

For years now we have been saying things like, “they want to replace us with phone sales” and “we are moving to a distribution model” or “online sales is the future” also “there is no more room for a direct sales force” and the final straw that has broken the camels back “we are too expensive to keep”.

All of our worst fears have become reality today as the last professional sales rep leaves the field and goes to work flipping burgers at the local greasy spoon.

Some of us can remember back to the days when the professional sales rep was help in high regard. People depended on us bringing them information, instruction, and most important products of every size shape and price. The day when a hand shake was better than a contract and a man’s word was truly his bond. We can remember when we were invited home for dinner and knew everything there was to know about a customer. When they remembered our birthday as often as we remembered theirs. A day when our company stood behind us and in turn we would never allow anyone to talk badly about our company. A day when our income grew by double digits and our customer based followed suit.

Well today as we lay this beloved profession to rest we have only ourselves to blame. We turned our backs on the very things that we once prided ourselves on, keeping up with the times. We used to be the people that brought the latest advances in our industries to the customers, now we lag behind as technology passes us by. We used to be the first, today we are many times the last. We used to be the best, today many of us are at very best mediocre.

Let’s all take a moment to reflect on our “GOOD OLD DAYS” the days when we held our heads up high kept our chests pumped up and full of life, and walked with the pride of knowing we were the best.

OK I can’t keep this up, it is killing me. I am depressing myself. But the reason I am writing this is because over the past week I have listened to so many reps telling me that they don’t see their companies keeping the professional sales rep model.

Well, let me change things around!

We are gathered here today to herald the accomplishments of professional sales reps around the world. We are here to praise the greatest profession on earth. We are here to acknowledge the men and women that create the wealth of the world one sale at a time.

The professional sales rep is today as it has been for centuries before the backbone of our economy and the drivers of wealth. There are more multi-millionaires created out of sales jobs every year than any other profession. More jobs are created because of sales than any other reason, more people depend on sales reps than any other profession. Sales people support the economy and everyone who isn’t selling supports the professional sales rep in one way or another.

WE AIN’T GOIN NOWHERE, as the good ol boys here in the south say.

Stop your gripein and complanin, stop the negative thinking. If we as reps would put as much energy into selling as we do complaining we wouldn’t have anything to complain about.

Repeat after me, I LOVE BEING A SALES REP, I ENJOY THE LIFE I LIVE AND THE ADVENTURE MY PROFESSION BRINGS ME EVERY DAY, I AM PROUD TO SAY TO ANYONE AT ANY TIME, I AM A SALES REP.

Lorin

WHAT I SAID IS WHAT I WANT NOW SELL IT TO ME

I received an e mail today from one of the FSM’s I work with. The email was a sales article that was spot on in its content.

The writer makes 2 very strong points about customers;

1)      Customers value what they say and their own conclusions more than what they are told (especially by a sales rep)

2)      Customers value what they ask for more than what is freely offered. (especially insights that are freely offered by sales reps)

These two points really bring sales down to one basic concept that is universally true;

1)      Listen to your customers, they will tell you exactly what you need to do, say, and have to sell them.

One of the biggest assets a successful sales rep has is our MOUTHS! Our mouth has gotten us into and out of more trouble over the years than anything that has gone wrong with our product, company or processes. We all know that we can talk, it is what we do best, but we also need to develop listening skills that equal our communication skills.

I have worked with reps that are so anxious to speak that they actually finish sentences for customers and then go into their dialog virtually ignoring what the customer just told them. I have seen customers’ frustrations as sales reps “SPEW” features and benefits about their product that the customer couldn’t care less about. I have seen reps get frustrated as customers cut them off and blow them off because they didn’t answer question, supply information, or clear up confusion that the customer had.

We have all heard the old saying “It’s a two way street” haven’t we, well I am here to clear up a misnomer about this saying. When it comes to selling IT IS A ONE WAY STREET! The way the customer wants to go is the only way to go.

If we could all listen twice as much as we talk during a sales presentation our customers would buy twice as often.

Thank you for forwarding this article to me, we all need reminders of good solid basic selling techniques.

Lorin

COME BACK NEXT YEAR

We are at the time of the year when we find out how many of our customers and prospects have lied to us. That’s right I said lied to us!

For the past 8 weeks we have all had a tremendous group of customers and prospects tell us the same thing, “Come back after the first of the year”. Well check your calendar it is after the first of the year and we are 2 and in some cases 3 days into our work week. How many of these “COME BACK” calls have you already made? More importantly, how many of the customers and prospects that asked you to come back actually bought from you or even gave you the time to do a presentation?

Don’t despair, this is a natural as a customer telling you they don’t have time to listen to you. The fact is you and I are mostly to blame. We know what we need to do to get an appointment, we need to get a specific date and a specific time. Yet when a customer or prospect told us to come back after the first of the year we nodded our heads, gave them a big smile, wished them a happy holiday and off we went on our merry way.

Cheer up, like any other non-committal appointment, this one had disaster written all over it. However because it was the holiday season and so close to the new year we just moved on in hopes that these wonderful people were telling us the truth.

WAKE UP! If we know what to do and we don’t do it I need to tell you that it is our faults not the customers or prospects. We as a professional sales rep needs to suck it up, and stop chasing these appointments.

I am NOT saying don’t call on the business, I am saying work these into your plan as if the promise was never made. This way you don’t drive miles out of your way chasing smoke and you won’t be disappointed.

Depending on how the sales call is going you may or may not want to remind the customer or prospect that they asked you to come back. Sometimes reminding them can seem like added pressure and can cause them to look for other excuses not to buy or blow you off.

Sales, is today as it always has been, the easiest hard job in the world. It is also the most rewarding job in the world.

Lorin

HELPING TO FAIL

How much can you help someone before your help becomes a crutch?

This is the question that came up while I was talking to a friend of mine who manages sales reps. She was telling me about how much she did for her reps. It seemed to me that other than actually making the sales she did just about everything else for them. She filled out paperwork, entered information into their CRM, followed up with customers after the sale including sending out thank you notes from the sales reps and helped the reps make their collection calls.

I was exhausted just listening to everything she did for her...are you ready… 14 sales reps.

I know this manager very well, she used to work for me when I owned my business, as a matter of fact I was her first boss and I groomed her to be a sales manager. I can assure you that I never taught her to become a reps bookkeeper, secretary, and agent.

As we talked things got worse, she told me that she went on sales calls with her reps and at least 60% of all the sales were actually sales she made for the reps. Now I figure if she is stretching the truth by half she is still making 30% of the sales and that is absurd.

I asked her if she felt she was helping the reps by doing all this for them and she told me that it was the exact opposite. She said that she has the highest failure rate and turnover because her reps can’t do the job on their own without her help.

I told her point blank that what she was doing was insane. Especially if she knew that it was hurting the reps. I told her that she wasn’t doing it for them, she was doing it for herself. She admitted to me that she knew what I was saying was true.

As a sales manager we often want to help our reps, but we need to understand that the biggest help we can be is to help them become self reliant. By doing what a sales manager should do, and that is make sure the reps has everything they need to do their job and remove as many obstacles as possible we become better managers and develop better reps.

As sales reps we need to understand that by doing things ourselves we become independent. By being able to successfully accomplish every step in the sales process that relates to our company and product we become more valuable to our customers and company.

Don’t be the manager that creates failures and don’t be the rep that fails because of the “HELP” you accept. We all have our jobs and the role our job plays within the company solidifies our position.

Lorin

2013

The Holiday's are over, we have all pack on those extra few (a very relative term) pounds, and most people are getting ready for their first work day of the new year.

A lot of people have made their new years resolutions and a few have already broken them.

All these things and so many more are for average people. This blog is for EXTRAORDINARY people. What is the difference you may be asking? Simple, average people are still thinking about last year and looking forward to this year. Extraordinary people are already looking towards next year.

You are a business, YOU Inc. you should have a long term growth plan. You should be doing things now that set up what you do and where you will be over the next 3 to 7 years. YES I am talking about goals!

Too many sales reps get caught in the trap of only thinking for the short term. Usually their attention is as far in the future as the next sales cycle, the next sales period, or the next bonus period. Very few are looking at their business long term.

To have a real long term view you need to be a student of your industry. What are the trends of your industry? What are the issues that will be modeling your industry for the next 3 to 5 years? Is there something happening that will change the way you need to sell or will what you are doing today be as affective next year as it is today? Is there someone in your industry that is heading for the top, and should you make it a point to follow that person? Is there a way to get close to that person and make them your mentor?

All these questions and thousands more need to be thought of today so you can be thinking of where you want to be this time next year in 2013. It isn't too soon to start, some would say you are already late, you should have started a few years ago.

No matter, it is never too late to start thinking ahead.

I hope 2012 is a great year for everyone, and that by planning and hard work 2013 will be even better for all of us.

Lorin

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