Sales Training To Grow People. And Grow Businesses

A few days ago, Bryan Neale wrote a great sales training post, even though he didn’t call it that. He talked about his lessons from 2008. I say it’s a sales training post because every sales manager (and you aspiring sales managers) should use this as the first sales meeting topic of the year.

In that post, he bulleted several lessons, one of which was, “People will pay for things that make their life better.”

During slow times, this might just be your secret key to riches. You must be exploring your value deeper to see how you make the lives of your customers better. Do you?

At Your Next Sales Meeting….

Spend 2 hours (that’s right two hours–this is important stuff) on a list of ways that buying your solution will improve the life of your clients. It could be from the standpoint of economics ($$), or reputation, or customer acquisition, or well-being.

But take furious notes. What you’ll find is that you’ll hit on things where you bring value that have been previously undiscussed.

2009. A Year of Value

We’re living in a year of value–people will pay for it if it’s there–and will skip it if it’s not. Lowering your price does not bring value. Doing “going out of business sales” doesn’t either. Spending your energy claiming victim won’t either.

Communicating the benefits of your product does.

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IttBiz wrote a post about her trip to England–and paying too much $$$ for a sandwich, surmising that it cost too much because it had adjectives describing it. Here is post. 

She’s on to something–not about sandwiches but about how we describe our value. In our sales training practice, I find that your value and the describing thereof, is tricky. 

If you sound too proud of what you do, people will just discount it (”Well, of course he would say that. He’s selling it.”

If you don’t give it any ooomph, it sounds like you really don’t care. 

My Rule

A great sales strategy is this: describe it with claims only when you can back up with facts. 

If your clients have realized an average of 12% cost savings (better to put an amount in, rather than percents), then have at it. As long as you can back it up, it’s fair game. 

If your clients have increased revenue an average of 22%, then convert that to dollars and put it out there. But again, you’d better be able to back it up.

DISCLAIMER #1. There is another side to this and that is the disclaimer. In many businesses that sell solutions, it takes more than buying the solution to get a great ROI. So, you must tell people upfront, that these are “averages” only. If they want to be at the high end of that scale, you can work with them to help them get it. 

DISCLAIMER #2. If you bring enormous value that, on the surface, sounds too good to be true, be careful. 

Results. Not Claims.

People are looking for results today. Not just for a better widget. The question they’re asking is, “How will buying this widget improve my life, financially and otherwise?”

So when you go to communicate your value, be careful about using a bunch of worn-out adjectives to describe you. It might just put you back in the ‘commodity dungeon’ where everyone sounds the same and competes on price only. You don’t really want to be there, do you?

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This time of year brings smiles, joy, anticipation and temper tantrums…oh, the holidays! It also tends to bring reflection. As I sit here resisting the urge to ingest yet another useless, 550-calorie, oatmeal cookie, I thought I’d look back on the past year and share with you what I’ve learned about selling in 2008.

1. Persuasion is dead. If you’re in it to convince and persuade, you need to call 1986 and ask if you can have your job back.
2. Sales presentations should NEVER be presentations. When one gets out of presentation mode and into conversation mode, the whole game changes.
3. The economy breathes and so do sales results. Those who embrace the ebb and flow of the sales arena and look at breathing times to exploit opportunities, always wind up at the top of the sales results list.
4. For the most part, sales managers suck. Most sales managers don’t add value to their salespeople’s performance. It’s not their fault. They’ve not been taught properly.
5. People pay money for things that make their lives better/easier. They don’t pay money for products, things, features or functions.
6. Personal ACCOUNTABILITY is missing in the DNA of most salespeople. Those who have it are at the top of their game.
7. LEAD GENERATION is still the biggest problem for most sales organizations. A lack of INNOVATION in generating qualified leads is to blame. (Stay with us in 2009 if you want innovation for lead generation.)
8. Most salespeople worry most about what they can’t control and thereby ignore what they can control. (“Danger, Will Robinson!”)
9. Most salespeople are smarter and better than they think they are or allow themselves to be. Are you one?
10. Most SALES TRAINING SUCKS. Product training is WAY overrated. Sales process training is still about getting the deal and persuading someone to buy. Once the majority figure out there is a better way, look out.

That’s the list for 2008. We live in a great time. Relish the fact that selling is a great profession and will continue to be for a very long time.

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My daughter, Kara, had an ACL injury this year and is now in recovery phase. She’s come back fine, but the doctor has noticed a spine alignment problem. Partly due to favoring her leg–and partly due to poor posture.

His words: “You might not have any pain right now, but if you do nothing, someday, your spine will degenerate and when you feel the pain then, it’ll be too late.”

As i thought about that statement, I thought of how that relates to you and I in our pursuit of business growth.

The Doctor Has X-Rays. We Have Only Instinct.

It’s easy when you hav an X-ray to show the patient’s spine. But when we work with sales teams, we have no such luxury. So, when we ask a sales team to reveal their pain to us, they’ve become so accustomed to doing things the old way, they don’t feel it. There are symptoms, but no pain. And until there’s a little “pain” there won’t be much change.

But they will feel it someday.

So, in my quest to help you and our clients, I’ve devised a list of 5 questions that you can ask yourself to “bring awareness” to any problems you have which don’t have symptoms—-yet.

By asking these questions, it might cause you to notice more clues.

1. Do you ever feel that something isn’t right in your sales process–but you quickly chalk it up to lying customers or ‘the way it’s always been’?
2. Do you ask yourself why the prospect is always trying to discount you?
3. Do you look at your numbers–and for a fleeting moment–wonder why they aren’t better?
4. Do you get that little anxiety in your gut when you have to prospect?
5. Are you self conscious when you meet with a new prospect–and you feel your behavior becoming over-determined (talk too loud, too much, make false claims, don’t think before you speak)?

These questions, if answered with rigorous honesty, might give you clues into some of the symptoms of your thinking — that haven’t made it to “pain” yet.

And while you may think some of these questions are ridiculous (”Of course, Bill, I feel that way. Doesn’t everyone?”) they aren’t normal. What we’ve come to accept as normal is really a result of thinking small.

So, like Kara’s doctor says, fix the root cause of the problems now. Because once there is pain, it might be too late.

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If you’re looking for effective sales management training, keep reading. I considered charging $15,000 for this post, but decided to put it in the complimentary category. It’s my birthday, and I’m in a very giving mood.

Question 1: Can you name the best sales manager you’ve ever worked for? Likely you can name him/her without thinking. Question 2: can you name the worst sales manager you’ve ever worked for? Again, I’m sure it took very little thought to come up with a name.

So, what makes a sales manager the best and what makes someone the worst? Here are a few observations:

1. Intent: Sales managers whose TRUE, DEEP-ROOTED intent is to HELP THEIR SALESPEOPLE ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS are far and away the most effective with the greatest results. Unfortunately, too many sales managers are deeply attached to their own success and egotistical gratification. When it’s really all about the manager, the salespeople become mere pawns in the sales manager’s game. Not Good. Your intent as a sales manager is one thing and one thing only: HELP SALESPEOPLE ACHIEVE THEIR OWN GOALS.
2. Consistency: Ever worked for a sales manager who says on Monday “It’s all about volume guys. Don’t worry about margin,” and then on Thursday looks at the deals you turn in and says, “Tom, why are these margins so low?” People can’t follow a moving target. Effective sales managers stick to a plan and a message and continually reinforce it.
3. Coaching: One of the strongest attributes of effective sales managers is their ability to coach their teams. Coaching doesn’t mean “Tom, here’s how I would handle that.” or “Here’s what you should do with that deal.” It’s about playing to strengths. It’s about honesty, collaboration and authenticity. Tell people how it is. Encourage. Reinforce your commitment to make them as good as they want to be. That’s what a good coach does.
4. Accountability: The best sales managers take accountability and expect accountability. I have a client who changed their flowery, 3-paragraph mission statement to something much more simple and compelling: WE DO WHAT WE SAY WE’RE GOING TO DO WHEN WE SAY WE’RE GOING TO DO IT. That’s their mission. It should also be the mission of every sales manager and every salesperson. The culture it creates is powerful. It works with external and internal customers. It’s what everyone seems to want, but no one wants to commit to.

Consider these my birthday presents to you. If you as a sales manager only do these 4 things, look out. You’re on your way to the Sales Managers’ Hall of Fame (as soon as we build one).

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I work with many companies on Value–what is it and how do we give voice to it? In that work, I find many companies go about the process wrong. As sales trainers we are giving more and more attention to the role “sales message” plays in the sales process.

We find that most companies are miserable at understanding and voicing their value to customers. Here are several mistakes I don’t want you to make as you define your value.

#1  Rush Too Quickly To The Words

Teams get too hung up in the words too quickly and fail to understand the value PRIOR to putting it into words. Value/Message is like a puzzle you put together. And we can’t know how to assemble it until we get all the pieces on the table.

#2  It’s Based On The Wrong Intent

If we take a vendor mentality (bad) we will craft this with the wrong intent…we’ll craft it with the intent of selling someone something. Instead of the intent of “helping our customers solve problems and realize opportunities.” That will be the theme of our blog and podcast this year. Your value story should “attract” some and “repel” others.  It must take a stand.

#3   Sterilized Message Speaks to No One

The message becomes too sterile and intellectual–and lacks the soul of the business. People make the difference so it needs to give voice to people (prospects) not just to statistics (although they are important too). Group mission statements usually end up like that. Sales people won’t use it.

#4   Filter Through Old Thinking

Too many ‘false filters.’ This means that if we assume that a prospect only has :30 to hear the story then we’ll craft it for :30.  I don’t think Stephen King says, “I need to get this story told in 25 pages.” It’s more important that the story is compelling first–then work on how long/short it is. Prospects will carve out a lot of time to talk about themselves–not so much to talk about you.

#5  No Platitudes, Claims or Opinions

Companies make this a bullet-pointed list of claims, platitudes and opinions. That doesn’t compel a prospect to change. What compels a prospect to change from their current situation is if they feel they pay a penalty NOT to change. That’s what we need to get to.

Apple has done a great job of this. Are their pcs faster? Not sure. But you don’t find many people switching from Mac back to Dell. Once we tell this story, the prospect should either say, “How quickly can we get started with you?” Or, “This is not for us. You need to leave now.” Either answer is OK. What’s NOT OK is, “That’s very nice. Thanks for coming in.”

# 6 We Don’t Change The Game

When you’re crafting your message, that’s the time we can change the game. Instead of thinking of ourselves as a traditional category (Accountants, Trainers–whatever your category is) is there another way to describe you? Are we OK if your prospects lump us in that category? Is that what we want to be known as? Is that where we can grow and be profoundly successful? Change the game. Change the rules. And the results change

Coming in  2009

We’ll be bringing you  more content on Value and Message in 2009 beginning with a Teleseminar early in the year. If you haven’t already, sign up to be notified when there’s a new blog (upper left)–so you don’t miss it!

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OK. So now you think the Holidays have gotten to me. No sales funnel? How could that be?

Here’s how. There is a step BEFORE the sales funnel takes effect and that is the WAGON WHEEL. In the illustration, I’ve used four different ways the prospect gets into the funnel.

Of all sales problems that exist now, moving someone through the sales funnel is still an issue. But a bigger issue is getting them in the funnel in the first place. 

Mike Sigers (simplenomics.com) showed me this for his internet business. But the same things apply to the sales professional. 

Write down the many different ways you “engage” with your potential clients. I suggest you have at least 12 ways. I put only four on this model because of space.

If you have 12 ways, then you must have a plan for each of the 12. For example, how do you encourage referrals now? Most people have no system for this. They just ask when they think about it. 

Just spoke to a client in Dallas who is implementing a referral program in 2009. All sounds good in practice but the discipline must be there. At some point you must have a system…like a letter automatically goes out 4 weeks after the first installation. And that letter has a space at the bottom for a referral. 

If you think that’s too corny, then make sure a copy of the letter comes to you so you can call the prospect personally and ask them.

Make a Plan

So take a look at what the spokes on the wheel look like for you and get about planning how you’ll engage more people in 2009.

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I know you’ve heard Nordstrom customer service stories til you’re sick to your stomach. But here’s another one. A very simple touch that I’m SHOCKED few retailers use. 

This card to the left–a simple card sent by a young Nordstrom sales lady who helped my wife and daughter recently. 

In this season–where a recession looms–why are not more people passionate about customer service?

And why aren’t more companies INSISTING their people do this.

I bought a TV from HH Gregg–nothing. I bought a car from a BMW dealer–nothing. I bought a stereo system–nothing. Oh, sure. They wanted my email address. But that’s where it stopped. 

Come on people!!! Personal touch!!

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Something didn’t feel right when I watched the news about the potential 2,000,000 people that would be out of work should the Big 3 go away. My family is all from Detroit and although not in the industry, certainly affected by everything automotive.

But I try to look at things through different glasses–and sometimes it gets me in trouble. As a sales trainer, I get asked about skills a lot. And so this post is about sales skills and free markets. Quite a combination, isn’t it?

But here is my thesis, unproven as it is:

While most people look at the unemployment rate as an indicator for the health of the economy, I look at it as an indicator of SKILL-JOB Congruence.

SKILLED Congruence is a phenomena of ‘population skills to job requirements.’ In our leadership unit, (The Leadership Institute of Indianapolis) we spend a lot of time with sales teams making sure that the SKILLS required for the job match the SKILLS of the individual. When they do, things work better.

So Why Isn’t it the Same Thing in a Capitalist Society?

We each are CEO’s of us (although I’ve always sneered at that phrase, it actually fits here). You have choices in life in a free society/market.

You choose where to live, based on your means. You choose what career to pursue based on your interest and ability. You chose your friends. You choose whether you want to go into massive debt or not.

In a free market, where you are CEO of YOU INC, you also choose what skills to work on. If you chose the skills required for an assembly line in the auto business, you did fine for a while.

Markets Change. That’s Why They Call Them “Free.”

But the market changed (it does ALL the time). So now, those skills you were selling to your employer are no longer demanded by that employer.

So, why claim victim? You can cry ‘foul’ for years, but that won’t change the fact that the market has changed. And you can change with it.

What Does This Mean to the Average Auto Worker? Or to You?

It means everything.

Virtually every client I’m working with right now is hiring — if they found the right person. EVERY CLIENT. Granted - these people aren’t in the automotive but it means they have demand that needs to be filled. But they find few people who are skilled in their area.

So, rather than whine that the government (or anyone) won’t bail you out, look at your skills and take an assessment of them. Be man enough to admit when your skills are outdated, antiquated, or out of demand. Remember, the market doesn’t pay for what you want it to pay you for. The market pays for what’s in demand.

It’s Your Life. Use It.

Go back to school–or to a trade college –or to the internet. Look at purchasing a small business op or a new skill.

And don’t think your any different than the automotive business is different. What if your skill was no longer needed? What would you do?

The Market Wants New Ideas. Can You Supply Those?

• The Market wants people good at selling/marketing things? Can you do that?
• The Market wants people who know how to get things done? Are you one of those?
• The Market wants to pay for performance–not pay for hours worked. Do you have the guts to do that?
• The Market wants internet skills. Have you stopped to learn them?

The Market does not need automotive assembly line workers. The Market does not need new auto dealerships. The Market might not need more realtors right now–regardless of how much you love homes.

TIP: Go where the market is.

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