I was running a ‘train the sales trainer’ session with some experienced, professional Sales Managers the other day.  The session I ran is designed to equip these managers to run mini sales training modules of as part of our sales fitness programs.  Many manages are not trained facilitators and so we make sure we give them the information they need to set up an effective learning environment.   All was going well until we came across the content entitled “Creating the right learning environment” which is a practical guide about what you need to prepare and take into account when setting up your room environment.

I happened to mention (and wrongly assumed) that this was pretty straight forward and was familiar to most professional people and we could do a quick scan and move on.   However, one of the Sales Managers informed us that this was not always the case as the previous sales manager, whom he had recently taken over from, used to run some of his sales meetings and one-on-one performance reviews at a restaurant chain known for its scantily clad, big breasted waitresses.   And occasionally he decided to run these sessions at the local strip club as well.  Needless to say the sales manager in question did not last very long in his role.

I had thought (and hoped) we had progressed somewhat as professional business people, but clearly some people are still stuck in the 70’s and 80’s where similar stories were more common place.  I really didn’t think it happened today but clearly I was wrong.   I would be interested to know if this still goes in some industries today (I hope not but may find that it happens more than I had expected).

So rather than assume everyone knows how to set up the right environment I thought it might be prudent to remind us all of the key things we need to consider when setting up:

• A training session
• A coaching session
• A performance review
• A  sales meeting

For learning, feedback or a meeting to take place effectively you need to create a comfortable and safe environment. For this to occur you need to plan and arrange the environment and resources you will need for your session or meeting.

Whether you are training or coaching on-the-job or in a training room, giving feedback or holding a meeting, there are a number of things you should consider before you start (most, if not all, will be relevant):

• How many participants will be involved?
• Is the size of the location adequate?
• Is the location available?
• How will tables and chairs be arranged?
• Does the area have adequate lighting?
• Is the area quiet enough?
• Is the temperature comfortable? Is there adequate ventilation?
• Is the location accessible?
• Is the location private? (able to be closed to the outside world)
• Do you know where all the facilities are, for example, the toilets?
• Does the location have enough power points? Do you know where they are?
• Are training aids available?
• Are there any OH&S requirements you will need to consider?

As a sales manager, even if you are providing coaching advice to a salesperson in the car after a client meeting (which often happens) please consider the advice above.  For instance having the radio on while giving feedback or giving very specific feedback on a difficult area for development while the person in question is driving is probably not a good idea.

The manager, coach or trainer who is committed to accelerating the learning process of their people must attend to creating an optimal learning or meeting environment which also includes it being safe on all levels.
Sincerely, your advocate for selling the right way.

I declare right up front that I am not, and never have been a fan of the Hard Sell.  You have probably guessed that from all my previous posts.

And if you ask most people about what they think about the profession of selling they will often describe something akin to the ‘Hard Sell’.   Of late  I have also noticed a rise in ‘hard sell’ stories where people are being unnecessarily pressured to buy or sales people being pressured to sell at almost any cost.

The hard times may be pushing some people to do things they wouldn’t normally do like the “Hard Sell”.

The Hard Sell can also be described as:

• Boiler Room Techniques
• High pressure selling

To put it into perspective, the ‘hard sell’ is not a common sales strategy employed by many businesses today and for most people it is not their preferred way of selling or buying.  Most people revile from being asked to sell in this way.  And I would question whether it is deemed ‘selling’ at all or just a form of bullying or intimidation.

Given the escalation I have seen in ‘Hard Sell’ stories this prompted me to have a further look at what the Hard Sell is and if it has any legitimate place in our world of business and selling today.  Here is some of what I found.

Hard Sell
(definition from www.businessdictionary.com)

Applying psychological pressure (by appealing to someone’s fears, greed, or vanity) to persuade the prospect to make a quick purchase decision. This approach is justified on the ground that most people are lazy and will postpone making a decision—even if it were in their best interest to make the commitment. This practice is, however, reviled when its sole purpose is the salesperson’s gain at the customer’s detriment. Also called high pressure selling.

I think the last sentence in this definition is key here. I highlighted this in Think you can get away with it. Think again.   If a person is willing to be convinced and happy to take part in the process fine.  However, many people who may not know what they are getting themselves into or may feel intimidated and do not know how to say ‘No’ may be caught up in the moment and buy something they do not want or need.  For example if we look at the following technique you can see what I mean.

Boiler Room techniques

Outfit where salespeople use hard-selling (often dishonest) techniques to peddle (often fraudulent) offers to unsuspecting prospects (referred to as suckers) over the phone or face to face.

These techniques have often been attributed to Insurance or Car Sales industries i.e. used car salesman,  e.g.  …extremely aggressive behavior by an Insurance Agent to convince a Prospect to purchase the insurance product without due regard for the prospect’s ability to pay the Premiums and/or needs for the product.

Just think of the Subprime market in the USA and you know what I mean.

Let it be said however that I am not proposing that all sales people in Insurance or Car Sales are selling this way.  In fact more and more businesses in these industries are consciously training their people in more sustainable and honest selling practices.   See A car sales story with a difference

Some industries like Time Share and certain personal development courses still mainly employ Hard Sell tactics bringing people in for 90 minutes pitch fests coupled with a lunch or some small incentive.   Prospects are often pressured to sign up before they leave and can be intimidated to do so as described above.

I have had experience of this myself some years ago and my advice is this: walk away and think about it before you buy unless you are really certain and have done your homework.  If the salesperson says you can’t walk away and think about it outside of the venue or call them the next day then in my opinion it’s likely to be dodgy.   A colleague described one such situation happening to her earlier this year.  The salesperson in question was charming and positive to my colleague up until she said that she needed to think about it and would get back to him.  He tried to convince her to part with $1,000 upfront but she would not do it.  It has to be said that my colleague had nothing against time share she just didn’t want to be pressured to part with her money just yet.  When she did not cave in to his demands and asserted herself, the salesperson’s attitude turned from one of charm and positivity to disdain and frustration in a split second.

By contrast, the term Soft Selling is to describe the opposite of Hard Selling and is often defined as where:

Sales philosophy oriented toward identifying the customer’s expressed and tacit needs and wants, through probing questions and careful listening. It contrasts with hard selling which promotes application of psychological pressure to generate a relatively quick sale

I do not like the term  Soft Selling, what they are really describing is Consultative, Diagnostic or Solution Selling.  Soft implies weak and insipid to me.  Those people how engage in healthy, trust based, transparent  Consultative/ Diagnostic/ Solution Selling are assertive positive and very helpful to customers and understand that not everyone is in a position to buy now.  By treating people with respect and working in partnership with them then you set yourself up for a better future.

One of my clients said just that the other day.  They employ a Consultative sales approach and have found to be far more sustainable and professional.  He said it really cements them as a preferred supplier or partner, especially up against competitors who employ ‘Hard Sell’ or price gouging tactics.  He should know because his business is a much smaller player at present up against much bigger businesses with a much larger sales forces. He said his sales people are well respected, well regarded, and are making good sales despite the competitions’ tactics.   He has held firm and not resorted to the ‘hard sell’ and it is paying off in more ways than one.

I understand it is tough out there for many businesses but desperate times do not call for desperate sales measures. (Desperate times don’t call for desperate measures)

While the ‘Hard Sell’ has always been around and is likely to be around for some time in the future I would encourage you stay true to what you know is right.

Sincerely, your advocate for selling the right way.

In the world of sales there has always been the following advice for customers and for good reason:

• Buyer beware
• Read the fine print
• If it’s too good to be true then it is

And so on.

As much as I advocate for and encourage healthy, trust based, open transparent  customer relationships I am fully aware of the ‘dark side’ in the profession of sales.

In my travels, sadly I hear of many stories about people being ripped off and taken advantage of often with no idea about what is happening to them until it’s too late.  All under the guise of selling.

There will always be those people who are after victims instead of customers.  While they call themselves ‘sales people’ they are really con artists, thieves and ‘rip off merchants’. They are always looking at how they can get something at someone else’s expense.  If you’re unsure about your sales ethics check out Are your self-promotion and prospecting tactics ethical or not?
However with so much access to information these days customers are doing their research and shonky sales people are getting found out more and more.

If you want to rip people off, think again.

As I wrote last week about healthy sales relationships and good news sales stories here are some things to look out for as a customer when some people cross to the ‘dark’side’ of selling.

Alan Kohler wrote about one to causes that can lead to unethical selling practices when highlighted the need for finance brokers and financial planners to shift to a ‘fee for service’ model  rather than the trailer commissions from products model and on Smartcompany.com.au 02 March 2009.  While I hope most brokers and financial planners do the right thing by their customers regardless of how they are remunerated, the real problem with trailer commissions is that is sets up competing motivations i.e  ‘Do I give my client what is best for them or best for me?’  The issue as I see it is that we are likely to get products that make the most money for the broker or planner not the best product or solution for us.  We are at risk of becoming a vehicle for them to make as much money as possible at our expense.

Here is a story from the field to illustrate the point:

Business Banker gets contacted by a Broker and Accountant of a Grazier in northern Queensland.  The Broker and the Accountant are wanting to get the Grazier into a financial product where they can make more money on trailer commissions even though the product concerned is not the right product for the Grazier and will cost the him a lot more than he needs to pay.

The Business Banker, who shared this story with me, did not give the Broker and the Accountant what they wanted.  However he felt very uncomfortable knowing this was happening and was unable to help the Grazier directly as the client relationship was with the Accountant.

It’s bad enough the broker was shopping around for trailer commissions, but when your own accountant is in on the act then who can you trust?

Lesson: Whenever you are being recommended a financial product of any sort by your Broker, Financial Planner or Accountant, ask them point blank do they get trailer commissions or any other kickbacks from the deal.  If they do, then keep looking, preferably for a new Broker, Financial Planner or Accountant.

Remedy: fee for service, not trailer commissions.

Ask questions and read the fine print

I don’t know about you but I like to know what I am getting upfront before I make a purchase. I do not like surprises. Here’s another story about buyer beware:

Another business banker was telling me a story about a prospect he was speaking to who was trying to get out of a financial deal that his current bank had put him into without fully disclosing all the fees involved.

The current deal was drawn up for the prospect by his current bank.  The deal was ‘very good’ according to what was on paper.  The business banker I spoke to said to this prospect  that deals like this usually attracted high Treasury fees (which had not been disclosed at this stage) and he couldn’t understand why they hadn’t been cited in the deal.  He suggested that the prospect go and ask about the back end of the deal and get it fully disclosed.  The prospect did ask about these fees but was reassured by his bank that everything was ok.  The prospect signed the deal and was stung for, you guessed it, treasury fee of $20,000 that wasn’t disclosed up front.

Now the prospect is trying to get out of the deal, but has signed the paperwork.

Lesson: check for variance in any contract.  If you don’t feel comfortable, don’t sign.  Get professional advice (however make sure your adviser is not on trailer commissions for that advice).

Do your research and check the real deal

From the Telco industry.

Customer wants a new mobile phone and contract.  He calls a mobile phone dealer to buy a new phone and contract over the phone.  After lengthy discussions with the mobile phone dealer he pays for the phone contract and a new phone separately only to find out later that the phone contract actually included the new phone as part of the cost.  At no time was this make clear even though he asked on several occasions about the way the deal was structured.

He ends up paying for the phone twice.

Essentially this customer was robbed.

Unlike more stably priced industries the finance market fluctuates.  Therefore it pays to really check out what the current rates are.

Another business banker I know gets a call from a prospect she had been talking to.  The prospect cites that they are being offered two vastly different rates by their current bank for the same deal.

The prospect stated they had acquired a new business banker who was quoting them 12.4% for a fully secured loan.  It didn’t sound right to the prospect so he called around to the same bank but in different regions and twice was quoted 8.5% for the same deal.  He rang back his new business banker to tell them the news, and they demanded to know who he had spoken to and how dare he look around.   Who is she kidding?  The prospect is now in discussion with the business banker I know about how they can move ALL their banking to the new bank.

Lesson: Do your research before you buy, especially in industries that are littered with ‘deals’.  And check what goes with that *.  That asterix is responsible for more dubious deals than we can poke a stick at.  Also don’t cop abuse from shonky sales people.

All these stories are NOT about good selling practices, they are about people cheating and ripping off other people.

Customers are onto it.  And customers are sick of it.  Customers are taking their business elsewhere.

Today’s customers have access to more information than ever before and have more choice.  And whilst it might take more time to check you out customers can and they do.

Most customers know what they are after even if they don’t know how to articulate it sometimes. Today, customers expect to deal with a real professional who knows their own business and how they can best serve their customers’ needs with creative solutions and fresh ideas.

Customers don’t expect to be coerced, bullied, tricked or intimidated into buying. They don’t expect to be treated like an idiot by shonky sales people who just talk at them and flash brochures or product sheets hoping to dazzle them or seduce them into signing deals.

Customers are now after ‘business people’ who can sell. They are looking for partners to help them map a pathway forward into the future.  Now that is GOOD SELLING.

Happy selling.

I awoke early this morning to the sound of gentle rain falling and found myself immediately praying for more.  This prayer came automatically during one of the most tragic weeks in Victoria’s history with the tragedy of the bush fires in many parts of our state.

As a Victorian I have found myself upping my prayer quotient for rain for some time now, not just for the bush fires but for the many people whose lives are affected by the drought here and elsewhere.  In addition to my prayers, like many families, my family and I have been doing our best to save water and change the size of our carbon foot print.  Yet at times like this one can’t help but feel somewhat helpless and useless.  All I felt I could do under the circumstances was to pray and give money.  And the irony of Australia is that our Queensland cousins have been praying for the rain to stop.  I hope both our prayers come true.

As I lay there that morning thinking about the feelings of helplessness many are feeling in the midst of nature’s power over our collective destiny, it got me thinking about what we can control and what we can’t control and the importance of hope, purposeful action and good news.

It got me thinking about what people do in a time of crisis and how they fight to take back some control and regain their balance, albeit a new balance in many cases.  Witnessing the collective strength, courage, tenacity, compassion and determination of the people directly facing and dealing with the consequences of the fire and floods shows us what we are really made of.   It shows us that despite the grief and suffering we are experiencing we are resilient and determined to begin again.   It shows that people are able to take control and attend to their fellow human beings with kindness, compassion, support and purposeful effort.   It gives many of us hope that we have a shared future, albeit a future that is fundamentally changed forever. It is said that a crisis brings people together and highlights the most amazing qualities in people.

The fire and these human qualities were the key topic at a business leaders forum I am a member of  and attended the other day.  We discussed people’s resilience, determination, courage, creativity and ingenuity to work together and find a new way forward.  We also discussed the importance of giving people hope, clear information, positive news and strong, clear leadership in a time of crisis.

We discussed the fires and the impact on our collective psyche.  This then lead us to discuss more broadly how many people are feeling helpless and somewhat hopeless in the midst of the global financial crisis we find ourselves in now.  The global financial crisis was likened to a fire storm with the bad news still coming.   This association was not meant to detract from or trivialise the bush fires and the terrible consequences for all those directly involved in anyway, however the metaphor of fire and smoke was used to help us think more broadly about the consequences of our actions at all levels during these unprecedented times.

It was stated, among  other things, that the smoke of a fire is usually the most deadly, and many more people die of smoke inhalation rather than from the fire itself.  The ‘smoke,’ in relation to the global financial crisis, was the doom and gloom being spread about the world.  The group felt that the haze of fear and uncertainty which is affecting many in relation to  job losses, financial loss, business closure, family and community breakdowns, etc. is not being properly offset against the creative and positive opportunities for change and learning that also exist in these challenging times.

It was reported that the group had seen some people so distressed they are paralysed by fear and feel unable to see a way forward and take decisive action.  We expressed our concern that this may lead some people doing things that may lead to further grief and turmoil because the ‘smoke’ of fear was choking them.

The media (rightly or wrongly) was singled out by this group as a major culprit for taking a particularly negative stance on offering up a diet of bad news and for not providing a more balanced approach and insight in reporting on constructive, positive, hopeful news stories coming out of these challenging times.  We felt the media could do a lot better in this instance given their influence on our psyche.

Many in the group said they were refusing to watch or read the news now and decided to take a more proactive stand despite the media.  This wasn’t avoidant behavior, they were choosing to clear the smoke and gain a fresh perspective and look at the real evidence at hand.

We discussed that the positives coming out of this financial storm and how this has allowed many people to rethink what they want to do, how they want to really live their lives and run their businesses.  It was commented on that after any fire comes new growth and new opportunity.

We all felt that this financial crisis, as challenging as it is, gives us all the opportunity to create a ‘new’ normal.

We talked about people, businesses and communities, who despite the haze of gloom and doom are not taking this major crisis lying down.  They are looking for signs of growth, for collaboration, for a ‘new normal.  They are bucking the trend of despair and fighting back, dealing with adversity and seeing the world a new.  It is what we as humans do to give us hope.

Our group said we wanted to see more of these constructive, positive stories about what people are actually doing to make the most of their situations represented more in the media.   We want to hear and have broadcasted how people are creating their ‘new’ normal, their ‘new’ ways of doing business and how they are working collaboratively together instead of in competition.  One of the leaders who attended the meeting, mentioned that instead of attacking his competitor in these tough times, he intends to meet with them to discuss how they can work together to survive and begin to thrive again in business.

Other people I am speaking to within the business world are sharing similar stories of opportunity and the creating the ‘new’ normal.

Ironically, the very same media who have been reporting on the financial gloom and doom are looking for good news stories from the fires to give us hope.

What this leadership group wants is for the media to up the reporting on good news business, environmental and community stories where people are creating jobs, looking at ways to secure their future and so on not to just feel good but because they are actually happening and are real.

I must say I was heartened by this discussion, unlike another major business leaders event I attended two weeks ago that seemed to dwell on the negative and was trying get us back to ‘old normal’.

Whether the media responds to our request or not I encourage  everyone in business to go out and meet with your clients, suppliers and partners. I encourage you to meet with your friends and communities.  I encourage us all to listen to and understand each other like we never have before.  Find out how what we each value and what our priorities are and how we can work together to create a more sustainable future and make this best of it despite the prevailing circumstances.  I encourage us to share stories of new opportunities and different types of growth models that don’t just rely on growing bigger and consuming more non renewable resources by selling stuff for stuff sake.

We all agreed that we need to draw upon our resilience, determination, creativity and ingenuity to work together and find a ‘new’ way forward.  Just like we are witnessing at the moment in this time of tragedy.

At this meeting our chairman quoted from Charles Dickens ‘A tale of two cities’ which seemed quite apt in relation to our times and the choices we have to make:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”

Despite the difficulties we all face we can still pray and act with clear purpose and make the most of what we have and what will become.

And I’ll keep praying for rain here in Victoria and for all those people affected by the fires and floods, for our environment and our communities and keep doing my best to change my ways for a better more sustainable future.

PS Let us know your good news stories and maybe we could start here our good news push here.

The term ‘Relationship Selling’ is often bandied about by sales managers and sales people without properly defining what it really means.I often hear “We are in relationship selling” or “We need relationship sales people” however what I do not hear being asked is:

• What type of relationship are we talking about?
• What type of relationship are we looking for?
• What do we mean by relationship selling anyway?

Relationship selling happens in any place where relationships are important. Thus when a husband and wife are negotiating about something, they will be more successful if they both consider the relationship as well as whatever it is they each want.

Most people’s intentions are to have healthy viable business relationships, but this does not always happen, just like in our personal lives.

And I see many businesses and sales people in trouble because they have set up the wrong types of relationships with their clients to begin with.

If you do not clearly define what you mean by Relationship Selling then you may end up with client relationships like these:

• Abusive relationships
• aggressive clients who bully and intimidate sales people/ suppliers, or the other way round
• Professional Visitor relationships
• Calling in for a chat, coffee, etc. In short being paid to have a social life.
• Master/servant  relationships
• ‘You are here to serve my every need.’ I see this all too often in business banking where some clients take advantage of the ‘over servicing’ of some business bankers using them a free accounting service.  I am sure the accountants won’t be happy with this loss of revenue.  I know the client is happy but is it a healthy relationship in the long run?
• Big brother relationships
• ‘You’ll do as I say or else…”
• Win:lose or lose:win relationships (someone has to lose out)
• Friendships at the expense of profitable business partnerships (see professional visitor)
• Broken promises relationships
• “I’ll get you in here if you give me this…” but it never comes through despite all those promises
• Exploitative or Deceitful relationships
• double dipping or tricking people into something they were not aware of. For instance a course participant on one of our recent sales training programs told of a telco sales person who sold the handset separate to the call plan when in fact the handset was already part of the plan, so the customer paid twice of the handset.  This is fraud and can easily ruin your business’ brand and reputation over night.
• ‘I work for you instead of my company’ relationship
• sales people siding with the client by giving away excessive margins, products, etc. at the expense of the company.  This is actually theft.
• Hostage or Handcuff relationships
• ‘I have to deal with but you really add no value to me or my business and I really resent that.’
• ‘I have to deal with you because my parent company says so.’
• Your payment terms are disregarded by bigger businesses because they only pay at 60+ days (not the 14 or 30 days you agreed to)
• Relationships under pressure
• Sales people having to meet monthly quotas hence they may use more pressured methods than perhaps they would like. This is a hazardous practice, as it may seriously damage an ongoing relationship, putting additional pressure on the hapless sales person who falls into the dangerous chasm.  It amounts to selling stuff to make a quota not build a viable relationship.

And so on.

• Do you have any of these types of relationships in your business?
• What types of relationships are you attracting to your business?
• Are they healthy or not?
• What are they making or costing you?

Some of the relationships mentioned can be particularly relevant for SME’s when dealing with big business where, for instance, your size can be used against you.  I also see sales people in relationship sales roles for big businesses as well as SME’s who over service existing client at the expense of selling and winning in new business thinking this is good relationship selling.  It is not, as it sets up unrealistic expectations and costs too much.

So Relationship Selling needs to be clearly defined or else we are at risk of creating unhealthy, unprofitable relationships.

All relationships change and are continually evolving over time for better or for worse.

I recall a great saying I heard and often refer to which I think gets to the heart of this:

You have friends for a reason, a season, or a life time.

The same is true for business / client relationships too.

First of all consider this:

Buying is a value judgment made in the mind of a person who has the ability to purchase, a genuine need/ want and the capacity to pay.

Selling is understanding that mind set and the accompanying values and priorities, and delivering on expectations through effective communication (such as questioning and listening), ideas generation and collaboration, creative problem solving and relevant solution generation, and gaining commitment to move forward together.

Whether it is business to business or retail to consumer selling, this definition holds true.

Therefore Relationship Selling is an extension of this where the primary objective is the building of long-term viable business relationships with customers from which repeat and/or additional business will flow and a win:win outcome is achieved for both parties whether it is for a for a reason, a season or a life time.

In my research for this piece I also came across an article ‘How to have a healthy relationship’ which, while referring to personal relationships, was quite pertinent to business relationships and in particular Relationship Selling.  It referred to the following steps:

1. Do not expect anyone to be responsible for your happiness
2. Make and keep clear agreements
3. Use communication
4. Approach your relationship as a learning experience
5. Tell the unarguable truth.
6. Do not do anything for your partner if it comes with an expectation of reciprocation.
7. Forgive one another
8. Review your expectations especially attitudes towards money
9. Be Responsible
10. Appreciate yourself and your partner.
11. Admit your mistakes and say sorry.
12. Spend some quality time together

You can find the full article at http://www.wikihow.com/Have-a-Healthy-Relationship

In addition I would like to add the following tips for sales people and their respective businesses.

Make sure you:

• Clearly define your level of service/products offerings and pricing.
• Know what you are good at and clearly communicate and deliver that.
• Create a network of businesses who are experts in allied fields to you so you can refer your clients to them when a needs arises you cannot fill.
• Learn to say ‘No’.
• Stand up for yourself, just because you are small doesn’t mean you can’t be a professional, well regarded business in your market.
• Don’t take it personally.
• Know the line between friendship and professional business relationships

So in closing I wish you all the very best with all your relationships both personal and professional.  May they be healthy, happy and prosperous for all.

Happy selling.