Jeff Garrison

Too Much "Unconscious Communication"

I have a friend from high school that loves what he does.  In fact, he won't stop talking about it.  He gets so excited about it, that he unconsciously dominates the conversation.

I have another friend that will sincerely ask you how you are doing and then unconsciously leap into his own experience.

These two friends are both sales people and they represent a large part of our profession.  Many people wind up in sales because they are "good at making conversation." 

The truth is, too many of us are in love with the sound of our own voice.

If you are having trouble with getting good referrals, getting appointments with decision makers, spending too much time with "tire kickers," or have trouble closing sales, you may be spending too much time talking and not enough time listening and engaging. 

In a nutshell, you are unapproachable!

Try this.  In your next appointment or networking event, commit to asking a minimum of three questions about each person you meet and actively listen to the answers.

Let me know how people respond.

Photo on flickr by Jayel Aheram

The Secrect to Success

"The victory we call success goes to the best prepared, self believing, right associated, self taught, responsible person, who sees the opportunity and is willing to take a risk to seize it--sometimes a big risk.  Is that you?"

    --Jeffrey Gitomer from The Little Red Book of Selling

Disappointed?  Many people are.

The "secret" always turns out to be the result of hard work, focused on the right things, done consistently over time. 

However, if I had to pick out one element that is the most important, it would be "self believing."  In other words, the successful sales person has to have faith that if they keep doing what they are doing it will lead to consistent sales over time.

It takes faith because it takes time.  Adopt a system of sales activity and skill improvement and stick with it over time.  Tweak it occasionally.  Finally, reap what you have sewn.

Photo on flickr by biskuit

Hedgehogs and Breakthrough Sales

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins refers to Isaiah Berlin's essay "The Hedgehog and the Fox." 

"Foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity.  They are 'scattered and diffused, moving on many levels' never integrating their things into one overall concept or unifying vision."

"Hedgehogs, on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything.  It doesn't matter how complex the world, a hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to simple hedgehog ideas."  Vist the Jim Collins Laboratory for a fuller explanation of the Hedgehog Concept.

Fox like sales people and sales organizations are narrowly focused on the results of the quarter, month, week, or even the day.  Their focus is so narrow in time they can't see what will consistently generate new sales.  They try it one way and if they do not get quick results, they reorganize and re-strategize and then start off in a new direction.  Coincidentally, their passion for their work, their emotions, and their faith in success all swing back and forth like a pendulum.

Successful sales organizations and sales people are like the hedgehog.

They create a relatively simple sales strategy and tactics and execute them in a deliberate, focused manner over time without getting too concerned about the immediate results or the ups and downs of business development.  As time goes on, they tweak their strategy and tactics as necessary as they gain an understanding of what is working and what is not.

Is your organization like the fox constantly changing direction or like the hedgehog steadfastly moving in the same direction?

Photo on flickr by travellingred

Red Box Candidate or Green Box Candidate?

There are two types of candidates, Red Box and Green Box (I use these two categories because it worked well for a power point presentations that I did for business leaders).

Red Box Candidates ...

• Don't return phone calls in a timely manner
• Don't make decisions in a timely manner
• Don't follow through
• Don't improve from year to year
• Fear and resist change
• Think they know all they need to know
• Are insecure and defensive about feedback
• Take up an inordinate amount of management time (Pareto Principle)

Green Box Candidates are ...

• Motivated and Passionate
• Good Decision Makers
• Customer Oriented
• Reliable

Now consider this! 

The job description for company X looks almost exactly the same as the job description for company Y if they are hiring for the same role.

The Red Box Candidate looks at that and says, "That is exactly what I am doing now.  I will apply."  Why would someone leave a company to go to an unknown situation to do exactly what they are already doing?  There are some good reasons, but more often than not they are focused on getting more money or they are running from something like their own performance catching up with them.

Green Box Candidates on the other hand look at this job description and say, That is exactly what I am doing now.  I am not interested."  Of course there are exceptions, but Green box Candidates are strong performers who are generally searching for professional growth and increased responsibility.

Which candidates do you want to interview?  What can you do to attract the right ones?

Photo on flicr by AdrianDC

Throwing in the Kitchen Sink

Recently I had a conversation with Bruce Beghune, President of pcCentral, about business development and one of the pitfalls into which business owners without a lot of sales experience can fall. 

In order to close the deal, they throw everything in the deal including the kitchen sink.

Here is how it happens. The business owner makes a fair proposal to a prospect.  If the prospect does not accept, what should happen is the business owner should go back and confirm that they have understood the needs of the prospect and the business value of the solution.  If they have, then the prospect is likely a "tire kicker," or just does not have the resources.  In either case, red flags are waving and perhaps the business owner should thank them for the opportunity to propose a solution and move on.

What often happens is that the business owner will start throwing in extras until the prospect recognizes that they are getting way more value than what they are paying for and they accept the proposal. 

Not only is the margin minimal this time, but this new client will always expect the extras on any future dealings.

Sometimes you just need the cash flow and margin is not that important.  But most times, some deals worth walking away from.

Are there business deals you wish you had never made?

Photo on flickr by Midtown Crossing at Turner Park

Great Business Software is F.I.R.M. (Part 4 of 4)

Great Business Software is Malleable!

Ideally, when new software is rolled out in a company, it mirrors the internal business processes and captures all the information necessary to analyze the business and make decisions.  However, to remain competitive, businesses must always be tweaking their processes and the information used to analyze the business.

Show me a company that has not evolved significantly in the last five to ten years and I will show you a dying company!

Herein lies the business systems problem.  After a series of adjustments to company processes, the software no longer mirrors the business process.  The more a company "evolves," the more they must work outside their business system creating performance and information inconsistencies that result from working around the system.  This problem is even more pronounced when a company has multiple locations each creating their own coping mechanisms.  After a while, they may not even look like they are part of the same company.

Malleable software systems solve this issue.

When a company makes a relatively permanent tweak or process innovation, a malleable software design allows them to tweak their business systems as well so that it continues to mirror the business process.  Of course the discipline of Innovation Process Management is not easy, but that is a subject for another time.

How would malleable software have impacted your business over the last five to ten years?

Photo on flickr by thinkpublic

Cell Phone Courtesy

When you are with a customer, prospect, influencer, strategic business partner, vendor, or even a sales person coming to see you,

the person you are with needs to have your full attention!

It is a sign of our modern, "connected" times that we have a hard time disconnecting to give people the common courtesy of ignoring the cell phone when it rings.  When the phone rings, most people at least look to see who's calling. 

Many will answer it to say, "I am in a meeting, can I call you back?"

Isn't that what voice mail is for?

Checking your cell phone (and definitely answering it) disrupts the flow of conversation.  At worst, it sends the message that you don't respect the fact the person you are witht is the one who has taken their time to be with you in person when they too could have just called.

This is one of those cases where common courtesy just isn't so common.

Have the discipline to silence your phone when meeting with others.

Photo on flickr by snappybex

Charge for Your Estimate to Serve the Customer Better

Recently I had a discussion with a custom home builder who was asking the question...

How do I keep prospects from taking the proposal that I spent all this time on to another builder who undercuts my price?

Good question?  The answer is you don't, but start charging for your estimate.  The next question then is...

How do I get a prospect to pay me for something that someone else will do for free?

The answer is to make sure that you are adding real value to the process.  Here is a suggested script.

"Mr. Prospect, you can describe your vision that you have of your dream house to two or three different custom builders and ask us all for bids.  You are potentially going to get three bids that fall into a wide range."

"We are all making educated guesses!"

"That is why there are significant cost overrunson a large number of projects .  The builder and the client did not spend enough time up front to be accurate.  Of course, it is not profitable for any business person to develop comprehensive and in-depth specifications for free.  They may not get any more work than they do when they just guess."

"Here is how I am different."

"I work with with you first on a consulting basis to develop to exact specifications your dream home.  I will charge you for my time.  When we are done, you will have my bid and a plan that you can take to other builders if you wish to have them bid on the project.  No matter who builds your dream home, you can be confident that it will be built the way you want it built and it will cost what you expected.  However, if you are comfortable with me and ask my company to build your home, I will apply the design fee to the cost of the project."

With this approach, you the custom builder get:

1. A prospect who is serious.  Tire kickers don't pay for things up front.
2. Paid for your time whether they build with you or not.
3. The benefit of the scarcity rule of influence.  Because you charge, you must be in demand (i.e., your time is scarce).

This is an approach worth trying for any complex sale, don't you think?

Photo on flicr by cangaroojack