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Why selling is now a team sport

March 17, 2011 in Collaboration, Communication, Customer Service, Marketing, Procurement, Sales Relationships, Sales Training, Teamwork

Subjected to marketing and sales monologues for the better part of 40 years in the form of blanket advertising, product brochures and ‘your call is important to us’ busy signals, customers have taken the lead and are way ahead of us when it comes to having sales and marketing dialogues.  Far more informed and sophisticated, and posting blogs, Facebook ‘Likes’, Tweets and reTweets, customers are engaging in their own sales and marketing dialogues about our products, our sales people, our promise, our customer service proposition and our brands, and they are affecting how we are perceived and valued in the market place.

At its very best, customers can be our finest sales team, advocating our products, services, people and brand with their endorsements.  Customers can drive more sales and business to our door or, in this day and age, our online shopping carts.  By contrast, the impact of their disapproval of our brand, products, customer service and sales people can be swift and devastating, sending people away in droves with their digital complaints and jibes in cyberspace.

It is apparent that Marketing is no longer in complete control of the brand and how it is represented in the market place – customers are taking our messages, tuning and translating them to suit their own needs while some tech savvy people are even manipulating brand images, emails, websites, Facebook pages and Tweets to their own advantage to potentially misrepresent companies, brands and products for good or for bad.  Marketing is no longer static, one way or bullet proof.

Coupled with this, Selling has now become a social enterprise where everyone (employees, customers, suppliers, communities, etc.) can be, and often is, involved in the sales and customer service processes, and in some instances, the procurement process.  Smart sales people are using their advocates to engage with their prospects and customers, encouraging and influencing them along the buyer’s journey.  Linkedin in the B2B space, Facebook in the B2C space, and in some instances the B2B space, along with Twitter are rich in group conversations which need to be listened and responded to, monitored and used as signposts for new innovations, satisfaction levels and collaboration.

It’s like the Wild West and this new age of selling and marketing is really challenging the way businesses control and represent their image, values and reputation.  Like pioneers forging new frontiers, Sales and Marketing teams need to rethink their strategies and start working together if they are going to effectively influence and communicate with their valued customers and advocates.  It’s now time for Sales and Marketing to collaborate.  For too long, too many organisations have had a standoff between sales and marketing: an ‘Us versus Them’ finger pointing culture of one-up-man-ship to the detriment of customers and businesses alike.

Sales and marketing need a new partnership.

  • Is everyone in your business on the same page or are your sales and marketing teams still operating in silos?
  • Do you really speak to and actively engage with your customers and relevant communities or is marketing still producing marketing material that is too product centric and the sales team still engaging in product monologues?
  • Are your sales people trained in the fundamentals of marketing skills and strategies?
  • Are your marketing people trained in the fundamentals of selling skills and strategies?

Get everyone in the same room

Why not involve your marketing team in your next sales training program or at the very least get the sales and marketing teams together for 1 day and discuss what needs to happen to ensure you are all on the same team and working for the betterment of all.  Look at your key messages, advertising strategies, discussions groups, websites, social media, product mix, direct and emerging competitors, and your everyday public presence.

Why not go one step further and include all your staff in the discussions: get your customer service, finance, production/operations, IT and procurement teams in the same room and map your customers’ buying journeys.  Explore how everyone in your business can affect your brand, customer experiences, sales results and overall business performance.

One thing is clear: Successful selling now requires new and more meaningful collaboration between sales, marketing, customer service, operations, finance, IT, customers, suppliers and communities. We’re all in it together.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.
Author: Sue Barrett, Sales Training at Barrett at barrett.com.au

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Knowing your business

March 10, 2011 in Business Acumen, Communication, Procurement, Sales Relationships, Sales Research, Sales Skills, Sales Training

‘Knowing your business’ was voted as the Number 3 Sales Trends for 2011.  With business becoming more complex it should come as no surprise that clients want to work with business people who can sell, think about possibilities and create a work partnership with their businesses.  However, our studies with hundreds of sales professionals and middle management sales leaders reveal that the level of business knowledge and commercial acumen is poor or non-existent in many cases.  Often trained on product but not on business practices, many sales teams are falling short in delivering value to their clients.

More and more is being asked of sales people and sales managers when it comes to business knowledge and commercial acumen.  Gone are the days of just being a product expert.  Sales people need to be competent business people too.  Being able to understand strategy; how businesses, markets, and communities function; and where we, our products, services and business works in concert with our clients should be on our agenda in 2011.  Today, clients expect to communicate and deal with a real professional who knows how business functions.  They want to have business discussions not product discussions.

Our studies reveal that there is little if any discussion about the big picture or business strategy, or innovation or supplier integration.  At best, supply and distribution are on the agenda along with product.   A surprising finding was the low level of business knowledge and commercial acumen with sales managers in the technical product sectors – very focused on product quality, distribution and service they are not working at the required level to make business decisions and work strategically with clients.

What does business or commercial acumen consist of?

Using the Barrett’s Sales Competency Dictionary, here are some definitions of business competencies relevant to sales people:

Business Acumen: Demonstrates an understanding of how business works; understands the business’ commercial drivers and makes commercially sound decisions.

Financial Awareness: Develops strategies in order to optimise the potential profitability of sales and to measure the financial value of the customer-organisation relationship.

Market and Industry: Keeps up to date with relevant business, technical and professional knowledge and uses this information to understand market trends, customer needs and buying patterns.

Rosenbaum’s 2001 research into elite sales performers reveals that they are focused on the business of business as a key part of their sales strategies.  Here are the key competencies they display that other less effective sale people do not:

  • Listen beyond the obvious product needs
    • Presses for more information to identify the business issues underlying the customer’s needs
    • Creatively draws on the full resources of the firm / business
    • Introduces customers to other suppliers and potentially valuable support resources
  • Orchestrating internal resources
    • Treats company resources with the same degree of importance and creativity as their prospects
    • Invests time building collaborative, customer focused relationships inside their organisation
  • Aligning customer and supplier strategic objectives
    • Looks to further the interests of their customers’ firms as well as their own
    • Keeps current on developments that affect customers’ business strategies including emerging trends and customers’ competitors
    • Welcomes opportunities to customise products or services and has a long-term perspective on the way they do business with customers
  • Establish a vision of a committed customer relationship
    • Expands the customer’s understanding of what a business relationship can be
    • Builds a flexible relationship that is responsive to marketplace changes
    • Communicates achievable objectives for the relationship while challenging the creativity of both organisations
  • Understanding the financial impact of decisions
    • Adept at understanding the financial impact of decisions
    • Uses internal resources in ways that are appropriate to the potential profitability of serving individual customers
    • Looks for ways to contribute to customers’ profitability

So what’s the solution?

How do we ensure that this competency is alive, well and fit in the sales force?  Should everyone have an MBA?  The answer is ‘No’.  Without some domain expertise, MBA’s do not make you a great operator either.  It’s about combining experience, thinking and creativity with theory.  Getting real life hands on experience allows you to see how the real world operates.  An interesting article on Radio National highlights the problem of having an MBA without real life experience and the serious issues this has created in business: MBA – Mot Bloody Awful

The answer lies is giving our sales people access to information or introductory training on the fundamentals in business, and the opportunity to review true-to-life case studies about how their business integrates with customers’ businesses is a good start.  Including sales people in strategy development and business planning is also useful.  Our ’5 Step Sales Planning Process’ that is part of our sales training and Go-to-market training sessions have also proven to be a big hit with sales teams.  It allows them to develop their own sales strategies and do the thinking and analysis on their business and that of their customers and markets.

Having business and commercial acumen is also becoming a prerequisite for Human Resources and Procurement professionals.  We all need to know how businesses work and function.  The warning is if we continue to lead with product, we and our sales teams will be left behind in 2011.  Like anything, it’s about blending theory with practice.  Making sure our sales people can understand businesses’ commercial drivers and make commercially sound decisions in line with ours and our clients’ business strategies is key in 2011.

Remember that everybody lives by selling something.
Author: Sue Barrett, MD of barrett.com.au a Sales Training firm.

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What are your relationships built on?

March 3, 2011 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Communication, Ethics & Values, Self Development

If you are in business for the long haul then you know the value of building your business relationships on solid foundations.  Too many times people have fallen foul of the broken promises and pipe dreams offered by those people whose only intention is to make money at your expense.  I can recall a few incidents in my career where I have given people the benefit of the doubt only to be let down and in some very rare incidents, ripped off.

In sales and business we meet people every day and need to be able to size up and make quick judgments about their bona fides.  Are they a viable prospect?  Can they afford this product or service?  The promises they make; can they keep them?  The stories about forthcoming funding; can they produce evidence of its existence?  Do they keep their word?

I admit it is in my nature to see the best in people and want the best for them and me.  However, that positive expectation can be sorely tested when people do not follow through.  Some people have the ability to say the right things but you are left feeling uneasy.  Something is not quite right.  There is doubt as to the existence of any real substance behind their claims.

Over the years I have become more wary and cautious about people’s claims and promises.  I have taken to being more discerning and tend to question people more thoroughly about the substance of their offering.  After doing so there are some people you never get to speak to again and probably for good reason.

With the ease of connecting and entering into relationships being facilitated by technology of the likes of Linkedin and Facebook, connecting with anyone sounds great but could be a risky move if you do not know the person in question and their intentions.  Why do they want to connect with you?  Whenever I get an invitation to connect on Linkedin by someone I do not know, I check out their page first then I ask them how we met and why they would like to connect.  It is quite interesting the responses I get.  Some are genuine in that there is a connection via various means that is mutually beneficial while others are purely after my connections list or are using Linkedin as a spam opportunity.

Personally I prefer my relationships to be built on solid foundations, which includes substance (having something of real value to offer) and trust (knowing I can rely on that person).  Substance and trust underpin everything in relationships.  Here is a checklist I have found useful when checking myself and others as to how we build trust and manage relationships.  They may seem straight forward but you know that not everyone practices these.

  • Be predictable – Be consistent and reliable.
  • Do what you say – Your words should match what you do.
  • Trust others’ instinct – They may have different views, perspectives or experiences you haven’t seen before.  Be open to exploring them and check for facts.  However, sometimes you do need to trust another person’s judgment.  Just make sure you can verify their claims at some point in the process. If you can’t, then trust your judgment and move on.
  • Don’t lie by omission – Don’t lie or keep secrets from people.
  • People are not mind readers – Tell people what you want or need, clearly and promptly.
  • Be willing to say “NO” – It’s okay for people to ask.  Remember you don’t have to say “YES” to everything.
  • Continue to grow relationships – A relationship is a living and breathing thing.  It takes conscious effort and daily work to grow a fulfilling relationship.  Don’t be afraid to deal with crisis, emotions and questions.  You should embrace them and look for solutions that will bring you closer.
  • Check intentions – are your or the other person’s intentions clear and honourable?  Always check your intentions and ask yourself “is this healthy and helpful to me and the others involved?”

None of us work in isolation, so relationships are with us every day in some shape or form.  Are the relationships you are currently forming worthwhile to you and the other people involved?  Are you all better off for having met each other?  Or do some of your relationships feel a bit one-sided either in favour of you or them?  Relationships work best when they are open, fair and equitable.  You never need feel like the victim if you chose to take control of your relationships and own your place in them.

All relationships are messy and some are messier than others.  However, we can work towards creating healthy and profitable relationships on many levels with clients, work colleagues, suppliers, friends and the like.  And it starts with us and our willingness to dig deep and be clear about what we want our relationships to be.  Any worthwhile relationship takes effort to grow and develop and nothing is risk free.   Your clients, colleagues, suppliers, family and friends depend on you to be clear about what you want and offer in a relationship.  So what are your relationships built on?

Remember that everybody lives by selling something.
Author: Sue Barrett, Sales Training at barrett.com.au

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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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Setting the sales agenda

February 17, 2011 in Prospecting, Sales Planning

If you or anyone in your team is struggling to open a client meeting effectively or if you feel awkward and lost for words, and your client or prospect is shifting in their seat, then you need an agenda.

One of the best ways you can kick off a client meeting is with an agenda.  An agenda guides you, keeps you and your client on track and lets everyone know what the client meeting is about.  Does this mean you stick to the agenda all the way?  Well, probably not, because with any agenda things can change.

However, beginning with a clear agenda is a good place to start.

So how do you go about setting up an agenda with a client or prospect?

It all begins with the telephone call you make to your client or prospect about your intention to arrange an appointment with them in the first place.  What is your reason for calling them?  Is it to arrange an account review, or is it a new prospect call to meet and introduce yourself as a potential business partner, or is it something else?

How clear you are about why you are making contact with a prospect or client is critical to getting off on the right foot.  Having a Valid Business Reason to call a client or prospect gives you the support you need when prospecting and positioning yourself to get a meeting.  This initial contact will then determine your meeting agenda.  So, assuming you have a meeting booked with your client or prospect and assuming that you stated clearly why you wanted to meet them and assuming they have agreed to meet with you and could see something in it for them, you are now in a position to create an agenda.

What should you put in the agenda?

Think about the following questions and they will give you the answers you seek:

  • What do we (client and ourselves) want to get out of the client meeting?
  • How long will the meeting take?
  • Who needs to be in attendance?
  • Who will be in attendance?
  • What will be discussed in principle?
  • What type of client meeting is it?
    • New prospect meeting/initial meeting
    • Presentation of a proposal or tender
    • Account review
    • Win back meeting for a lapsed or lost account
  • What are the desired outcomes for both parties?

Sending an email with bullet points outlining your agenda two days before the scheduled meeting is usually good business protocol especially for a straight forward client/prospect meeting.  However, you may like to type up a document for more complex meetings and send it out sooner so they have time to read over it and consider any items before you meet; it all depends on what you want to achieve.

Excellence in your work, at any level, comes from purposeful action.  What is your intention, your purpose or your goal?  An agenda is about establishing an intention, a purpose. It’s about making it clear for all concerned.  Winston Churchill once said “if you don’t know where you are going, then every road will lead you nowhere”.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

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

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