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Integrity – Your Sales Edge

February 25, 2011 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Ethics & Values, Sales Relationships

Integrity was voted as the Number 2 Sales Trends for 2011, which is a sign of the times.  Your word, your honour, your promise are on show and people will judge you on your actions not on your spin.

So what does integrity mean for us in business and beyond?  As stated on Wikipedia ‘Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes.  In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness of one’s actions.  The word “integrity” stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete).  In this context, integrity is the inner sense of “wholeness” deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character.  As such, one may judge that others “have integrity” to the extent that they act according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.’

Your values, how you act and what you stand for are just as important as your technical skills and capabilities in today’s business world.  And with the internet comes a whole new transparency.  False promises, dubious actions, bad behavior, customer complaints and bad press will be tracked and publically broadcasted to many in 2011.  And as we are coming to realise, what goes in the internet stays on the internet – forever.

If your intention is to deceive people, your clients, your colleagues, your community, you do so at your own peril because Wikileaks, Facebook and Twitter are exposing deceptions in milliseconds.

Just observe what is happening in Egypt and the Middle East with peaceful and often not so peaceful uprisings – the people in these nations are uniting like never before.  Tired and frustrated with the climate of dishonesty, abuse and corruption which has been a part of their lives for so long they are using social media to bring these regimes down.

There is nowhere to hide in the virtual world and people are voting with their voices by sharing their feelings and taking action online and then in the streets.  The speed at which they connect and collaborate to hold these powerbrokers to account is amazing.

Your reputation now precedes you and you will be judged.  Despite the prevailing paradigms of 20th century ‘old school selling’ tactics such as product monologues, bully boy tactics, and in some cases, deception, highly successful, effective, ethical sales people and businesses will have nothing to fear.  They have always known that the best way to sell and engage with customers is to develop honest and open relationships.  They know that TRUST supersedes like.

The time has arrived to move beyond the old sales stereotypes and enter the real world of the honourable sales professional.  All your knowledge, skill, products, company infrastructure and brand will mean nothing without integrity.  Companies and sales people need to shape up in 2011 and make sure what they promise can be delivered.  Proactively forging honest and open relationships (of any kind) based on trust, transparency, respect and doing what you say you will do will be on show in 2011.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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Having a sales monologue instead of sales dialogue with your customers?

February 10, 2011 in Communication, Prospecting, Sales Relationships, Social Media, Social Sales

  • Have you ever noticed your customers getting that glazed look when you tell them how fabulous you and your company are?
  • Have you ever had your customers seem very agreeable in your sales meeting but never seem to follow through with an order?
  • Have you ever found yourself doing all of the talking whether in a client meeting or over the phone?

If so, chances are you are having a sales monologue and not a sales dialogue with your customers – you are nothing more than a ‘talking’ brochure and are wasting yours and your client’s time.

We all know what it is like to be in the presence of someone who only talks about themselves with no interest in anyone else.  They do not enquire about others’ wellbeing or interests; they seem totally concerned about their own needs and ambitions.

Imagine being one of your clients sitting there unable to express your concerns or be able to discuss ways to solve your challenges or achieve your goals, or get a word in edge ways.  Frustrating isn’t it?

Sales monologues were standard fair at the height of the ‘product selling’ days of the 1970’s and 80’s.  ‘Show up and throw up information’ was how many sales people sold back then, and some still do it today.  You would think we would have shifted our focus to a more enlightened sales approach by now, yet sales monologues still happen more than you think.  Where we are seeing it most often is in online community groups.

Take LinkedIn Discussion Groups as an example: watch and listen to the discussions on these forums and see what happens to anyone who tries to promote their business or tout for business in this space – they are set upon by the Group Community and read the riot act because they are not engaging in a discussion.  Engaging in sales monologues is causing people to be shunned by their online communities.

The new world of social media and sales is about sharing, educating, giving of yourself and working to enhance the communities you find yourself in.  Blatantly advertising yourself is frowned upon because it’s just the same as being a talking brochure and people don’t want that, and quite frankly, never have.

The key to conducting a successful sales dialogue is to start listening and tune into what people are saying.  You can get insights galore about peoples’ opinions, preferences and ideas at online communities like LinkedIn and Facebook.  This, in turn, will give you more ideas about what you need to do to engage in meaningful dialogue with others and develop the opportunities to produce something far more fruitful.   Let your customers or contacts do the talking, ask them questions, find out what they are after and then work with them to give them what they want and/or need.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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Transitioning from the old sales paradigm to the new world of social sales

February 2, 2011 in Communication, Sales Relationships, Sales Skills, Sales Talent, Self Development, Social Media, Social Sales, Strategy

When I began my career as a professional sales person in the early 1980’s we were trained in product and client communication skills focusing on handling objections.  We were given business cards, product brochures, a geographic territory of clients to manage and grow, and a car to get around in.  We did not have mobile phones, let alone smart phones / tablets, laptops, or CRM’s.   There was very little coaching and we were expected to make sales and make it work.

For a while there, let’s say 20+ years, it seemed like business as usual as many companies still clung to the Product Paradigm of Selling – ‘show up and throw up information’, however there were fundamental shifts of seismic proportions happening around us even back in the late 80’s and early 90’s.   The transition from product to solution selling was one significant shift, however, this was just a pit stop on the way to the far more complex selling world we find ourselves in today.

28 years on the sales terrain is a very different proposition – the new world of social media, social selling, the importance of collaboration and the centrality of the customer – we are truly entering a customer focused world.

Product and Solutions (the aggregation of products) no longer offers the competitive edge in the sales process, the shift in value, beyond product and product solutions, lies in ideas, creativity, collaboration, interconnectedness and innovation and means that the types of conversations we have with customers, suppliers, referral partners and the like is at the centre of effective selling and business relationships.
And buyers are way ahead of most sales people.  The conversations they are having about their suppliers, research they do before they buy, the journeys they take to purchase without any sales person’s involvement are important to watch and pay attention to.  And that’s not all – we need to pay attention to what they do and say after the sale, how they talk about us, their points of view, the influence they have over others ideas and opinions and the circle just keeps getting wider.  But are sales people and businesses keeping up.

According to Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman and CEO of OgilvyOne Worldwide, Social media is having an enormous impact on buyer behaviour.  OgilvyOne’s survey of a 1,000 sales professionals in US, UK, Brazil and China reported that 49% of sellers see social media as important to their success and amongst the most successful sales people, over two thirds believe social media is integral to their success.   However most companies are not adapting fast enough.  They are not providing training in how to effectively use social media to sell and nearly half the sales professionals surveyed believe their companies are afraid of letting employees use social media.

Only 9% of US sales people say their companies train or educate them in social media while in contrast 25% of sales people surveyed in Brazil said they received training and education in social media.
This rapid change is unprecedented.  With the rapid rise of social media, the focus on innovation, value beyond product and the increasingly complexity of business networks and communities, I have found myself looking back and looking forward working out what I need to leave behind and what I need to take with me into the future.

For those sales professionals who started their careers in the last 5-10 years this article may not mean much to you, however for those of us who have longer careers in selling we are faced with significant change.

What have found to remain true and I can carry forward from my early days in selling are the following:

  • Keep Prospecting – it is vital to make contact and keep in contact with customers, prospects, influencers, suppliers, partners, etc.
  • Review and Strategic Action– always review where your market, customers and competitors are and check for signs of change so you can adapt and take strategic action.  Most people would call this planning but with change happening so rapidly it’s more like review and strategic action is a constant daily occurrence
  • Prioritisation – even more so now than ever before is the important skill of prioritisation.  There is so much information: emails, special interest groups, new innovations and the like to keep on top it can be overwhelming without some form of prioritisation skills
  • Questioning and listening – always a main stay in any person’s, especially a sales person’s tool box.  The listening acuity we now need means we need to pay more attention to the details of our clients’ conversations, needs and priorities while keeping a keen ear and eye on the broader landscape.  Asking the right questions is critical.
  • Problem Solving and Prevention, Creativity and Innovation – again the idea that product was king is now dead; one of the key skills is to prevent and where necessary solve problem for people, but that is only part of the game now – we now need to generate ideas and create opportunities, imagination and innovation now stand tall.
  • Adapting to different Communication styles – with global reach comes the need to interact with a wide variety for people and adapt to difference, not difficulty
  • Manners and courtesy – despite what people may say about the current state of the world, manners and courtesy are the glue that hold our relationships together. No matter what we call it, courtesy and manners are NOT trivial. Here is how Edmund Burke (1729-1797) described it: “Manners are of more importance than laws. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in.”

So what do  I have had to integrate from the new, so far:

  • Digital communication, destinations and New Listening Skills.  The need to look out for the digital footprints of buyers as they trawl the digital world.  Mapping buyers journeys before they talk to sales people and setting up the right forums, websites, blogs, connections, opinions, etc. for them to connect to before we even speak as human beings is critical.
  • Interacting  with special interest groups on the internet – looking to exchange ideas rather selling or blatant  self promotion.
  • Selling is a Team Sport – marketing, sales, and customers are all in it together
  • Prospecting online – the shift from lists, Yellow Pages, etc to avenues such as Linkedin where a rich vein of data, contacts, prospects are available to be researched and connected to.

Much has change in the world of selling and more changes are afoot.  I’m holding on as best I can, trying to get my balance as I transition from the old paradigm of selling to the new world of social sales.  So watch this space.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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The Yin Yang of Selling

December 9, 2010 in Sales Assessments, Sales Leadership, Sales Relationships, Sales Skills, Sales Talent, Value Creation

In the 20th century the emphasis on B2B selling had a distinct aggressive ring to it.  So much so, that you could walk down the halls of many businesses and think that you were involved in big game hunting.  Many of these teams saw selling as an extreme sport, or more precisely, Big Game Fishing or Hunting.

  • Customers were ‘Targets’.
  • Getting a sale was referred to as ‘the Kill’.
  • Customers were regarded as objects to be possessed or trophies to be placed in their cabinet; to be shown off and admired (perversely so) like stuffed animal heads on the wall.

Little regard was really paid to building genuine relationships and developing real value.  It was in essences an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ approach.  And if you tried to develop deeper relationships it was seen as wimpy and soft.  For instance, I can recall hearing of the death of one of my long standing clients, who died tragically in a plane crash when I was working as a recruiter many years ago.  Upon hearing the news I found myself crying quietly at my desk at the loss of this lovely man.  A few minutes later one of our senior managers found me and asked me why I was crying, and when I told him why, he just said “get over it, it’s only a client”.   Extreme I know, however I have overheard many sales people speak about their clients in disparaging and disrespectful ways with little regard for the value of genuine relationships built on trust and transparency.

So why title this post as the Yin Yang of Selling?  Yin Yang are complementary opposites that interact within a greater whole, as part of a dynamic system.  Everything has both yin and yang aspects, but either of these aspects may manifest more strongly in particular objects, and may ebb or flow over time.   There is a perception (especially in the West) that yin and yang correspond to good and evil (not respectively).  However, Taoist philosophy generally discounts good/bad distinctions and other dichotomous moral judgments, in preference to the idea of balance.

I propose that the profession of selling has been out of balance for some time and to its detriment.  If we look at how selling has been evolving over the last 50 years, we can see a distinct shift occurring from the aggressive one sided approach where conquest was king (too much yang) to a more delicate balance between the masculine and feminine aspects of yin yang.

It cannot be denied that selling requires yang – a proactive, focused, go-out-into-the-world and find opportunity approach (prospecting) however, selling must now be balanced with the ability to genuinely listen and respond to the subtleties of more complex relationships which involves patience, nurturing, and dealing with ambiguity which is yin.  Think of the types of conversations you now need to have with your prospective customers where listening, questioning, resolving problems, collaboration, empathy and understanding are encouraged.

This is not just a fantasy.  In reviewing the latest research on elite sale performers, gender differences in sales capabilities were found; women rated significantly higher than men on 5 of the 7 emerging competencies which gave them a distinct advantage in selling.  Some of these capabilities included:

  • listening beyond the product needs;
  • engaging in self appraisal and continuous learning;
  • orchestrating internal resources;
  • aligning customer/supplier strategic objectives; and
  • establishing a vision of a committed customer.

These capabilities are in the realm of yin.  May I suggest that we encourage more yin yang to assist us on our sales  journey and encourage more success!  To find out how you can achieve this in your team or career, have a look at the sales training that we provide for sales people, sales teams and sales leaders.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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Are you ready for Sustainable Selling?

October 21, 2010 in Ethics & Values, Procurement, Sales Relationships, Strategy, Value Creation

Sustainable Selling was voted by you as the number 10 Sales Trend for 2010.  With the green agenda comes Sustainable Selling.  More and more questions are being asked by many about how we can best manage this relationship now and for future generations?

I recently attended and spoke at the 6th CIPS Australasia Annual Conference (peak industry body for the Procurement Profession) where Sustainability was well and truly on the agenda.  The conference theme, ‘Managing Volatility’, had a range of national and international speakers presenting on how we manage and guarantee supply in an ever changing, often unpredictable world.  The key topic, which everything seemed to revolve around, was about managing value rather than only managing cost.  The messages I received was that the Procurement Profession wants to encourage real, measurable value, trust, transparency, substance, and ethical selling and procurement practices which discourages excessive consumption and greed.  The focus was on forging legitimate business relationships which serve the environment, people, businesses and communities.  ‘We are all in this together’ was the point that I resonated with.

Taking the lead from the CIPSA conference, other forward thinking professional bodies and emerging business practices such as Fair Trade, if we are to meet the needs of the present (economic, environmental and social) without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, we need to engage in Sustainable Selling practices which support the concept of Sustainable Development as part of our strategy moving forward.

The Brundtland Report that formalised ideas around Sustainable Development provides the basis for practical application of the principles of sustainability in the real world.  Sustainable Development is not a fixed state of harmony, but rather a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are made consistent with future as well as present needs.

Cradle to Cradle Design is one example of some clever thinking and action around sustainable development.  Cradle to Cradle Design is a biomimetic approach to the design of systems.  It models human industry on nature’s processes in which materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms.  It suggests that industry must protect and enrich ecosystems and nature’s biological metabolism while also maintaining safe, productive technical metabolism for the high-quality use and circulation of organic and synthetic materials.   Put simply, it is a holistic economic, industrial and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not just efficient but essentially waste free.  The model in its broadest sense is not limited to industrial design and manufacturing; it can be applied to many different aspects of human civilisation such as urban environments, buildings, economics and social systems.

Sustainable Selling, I propose therefore, is made up of ethical selling principles, ideas, values and practices which values trust, transparency, substance, community, the environment and healthy profits while discouraging the exploitation of people and resources, excessive consumption and greed.  Sustainable Selling recognises that everybody lives by selling something and that selling is about the principle of exchange – the sustainable exchange of ideas, innovations, products, tools, concepts, feelings, money and value.

The focus is on creating Sustainable Selling business cultures by encouraging and training all people in sustainable selling and business principles and skills so they can forge legitimate business relationships which serve the environment, people, business and communities.

Take the Victorian Government and VECCI initiative Carbon Compass which was launched in April 2010.  Carbon Compass is a place where small and medium businesses can find knowledge, share information and get practical advice on how to reduce their carbon footprint.  The website has been developed to help us understand what carbon is and where it exists in our businesses.  It is designed to help us make our businesses more sustainable.  The carbon, climate change and sustainability solutions they host have been recommended by businesses for businesses.

At Barrett, we recognise the importance of minimising the impact of the way we do business.  We have a continuous improvement approach and have developed a purchasing and recycling strategy and sustainability checklist amongst other things – our goal is to live and work with a cradle to cradle mindset.  As one of our initial steps, we have signed up to Carbon Compass as well and find it a great resource.

However, our vision for Sustainable Selling extends beyond the day to day operations of our business.  On a broader business perspective, at Barrett we are in the process of developing the Sustainable Selling Manifesto & Charter where we are inviting individuals and companies to contribute to its formation.

Following on from our vision extends to the creation of a tribe or community of businesses and business people who subscribe to the Sustainable Selling Charter which would lead to the subsequent opportunity for businesses to do business with other Sustainable Selling Partners.

The Sustainable Selling Charter & Practices would support the concept of Sustainable Development and Cradle to Cradle initiatives which provides practical applications of the principles of sustainability in the real world.

Sustainable Selling is not a fixed state of harmony but rather an evolving process in which the application of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are balanced with future as well as present needs.  2010 and beyond will be about putting eco into sales.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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