Posts filed under ‘Business Development’
Good sales people: Are they born or created?
Ever overheard anyone say “ Mary is a born sales person”?
Or perhaps you received a clumsy compliment, “you are a born sales person!” Or have you ever said “wow, they are a born salesperson?”
I even once heard a candidate for a sales manager’s position tell the interviewer that they first got into sales because a teacher had told them that they were “a born sales person”.
That was a mistake.
The professional interviewers’ follow up questions quickly identified the candidate as an enthusiastic amateur.
“ Why do people buy?” “how do they make decisions?” “ what is a prospecting plan?” “show me an example” “ How do you measure and monitor your effectiveness?” “ How do you hold yourself accountable?” “ How do you know when changes in the market require you to change your prospecting plan?” “ Do you have written goals?” “ where do you go to for advice when you get stuck?” “ give me examples” etc, etc.
The “born” sales person’s enthusiastic and naïve grin soon gave way to confusion, then resistance, followed by defeat.
Imagine visiting a surgeon, asking to hear about his qualifications, and having them tell you that “I’m a born surgeon. Ever since the first time I helped my Mum cut up a whole TESCO chicken, she told me I was a born surgeon”
Imagine a hospital staffed with self-declared born surgeons. What sort of patient outcomes would the hospital get? Of course, thesurgeons, believing them selves to be born surgeons, backed up by the administration that hired them would probably find external reasons for the poor results. “ they were incurable”, “we didn’t have access to the right drugs/equipment” etc.
Back to the world of sales. A person who believes he or she is a born sales person can fool themselves and those around them into thinking they are a good sales person- temporarily. Then something changes. The market, the competition, the economy, the company, the pricing. This is the moment of truth. They can either externalize the blame, or accept responsibility.
The deluded amateur takes the easy path. It can’t be me. I’m a born sales person. So it must be the company web site, the lack of quality leads, prospects who just don’t get how good our product is, gatekeepers who wont let me through, people who wont return my call, time wasters who ask for quotes with no intention of buying, etc.
A “good” sales person is eager to accept recognition when things go well, practiced at supplying logical reasons (excuses) when things go bad.
A great sales person accepts responsibility. A great salesperson takes ownership of the challenge. A great sales person knows they have to work hard at honing their skills, strategies, and tactics. They understand that external factors may change, and it’s up to them to adapt. A great salesperson understands there is no such thing as a bad prospect, only a bad salesperson.
Organizations that struggle to understand that great sales people are not born, often hire enthusiastic amateurs who have been deluded into thinking they must be a born salesperson because of a temporary winning streak.
When the results are inconsistent, it’s often easier for the company to blame the market, the competitors and anything other than the sales and marketing team, because that would mean admitting that they don’t have a process for identifying great sales people. They settle for good enough for now. Upgrading to a great sales team
I don’t care whether good sales people are born or created.
I do know that great sales people have the self-awareness to accept responsibility. The ambition and drive to keep them open minded to learn. And, through their own efforts, evolve, learn and grow to ensure they get results.
How do I know? I was a “good” sales person, …until I looked a little to closely at myself in the mirror.
-Nigel Dunand http://www.heartofengland.sandler.com/
Further reading:- Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from EverybodyElse by Geoff Colvin Article in the Financial Times http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9f5e50b4-750e-11e1-90d1-00144feab49a.html#axzz1rcqwfLSzSandler outlines top sales tips for winning business in 2012
Here at Sandler Training, our aim is to guide customers to revaluate their approach to growth. Shaun Thomson, CEO of Sandler in the UK explains:
“Often the size and sector of business isn’t the factor that holds it back. More often that not, it’s a case of changing the attitude and approach. Just look at Apple, which turned its fortunes around in the midst of the dot.com boom. Whatever your business, it is possible to buck the trend and take control in 2012. By starting the year with the right approach to sales and by implementing the best techniques, the opportunities to win business are endless.”
Click here to view the full article
Posturing Language
Over time, every successful salesperson comes to the conclusion that having the proper selling posture during the sales interview is critical. Many sales people are still struggling to understand this concept.
When we talk about posture, we are talking about the attitude reflected in the communication of the salesperson. We know that the message we send in our communication is made up of our body language, our tonality, and our words. However, how we mix those three elements creates a particular attitude that is palpable to our receiver.
There are three primary language postures.
- Superior: In this style, the salesperson takes the position of being superior to the prospect. The manner in which they communicate would suggest they are better than the prospect and are talking down to them. The superior posture is overly “I” centered and typically sends the message of aggressiveness. Superior posture has a low tolerance for any one else’s opinion. Often times, they speak with a loud and overbearing in tone.
- Equal: The posture of equality is the most desirable posture for a salesperson. This style communicates confidence to the prospect. The equal posture requires the sales person to adopt an attitude of equal business stature with the prospect. The equal posture creates a respectful, yet highly assertive environment where the salesperson is in control of the selling process. The equal posture speaks clearly with authority, and places a high priority on having his rights respected. All issues are addressed with confidence, including those that may be difficult and uncomfortable for the prospect.
- Inferior: Unfortunately, this is where to many salespeople communicate. In this posture, the seller will quickly acquiesces control of the sales dialogue to the prospect. They send the message that the prospect has the power and the salesperson is honored to be in their presence. Inferior posturing too easily provides the prospect a way out without addressing the difficult questions. The inferior salesperson allows themselves to be manipulated in order to avoid conflict. They take a literal interpretation of “the customer is always right.”
Salespeople who understand their job is to go to the bank while meeting the needs of the prospect, always work from a posture of equality. This is an essential attitude to bring to our communications with prospects.
We all develop a pattern of communication that is comfortable and becomes a habit for us. A Sandler trained sales person understands this and recognizes how to adjust communication in the selling process to create lasting customer relationships built on an equal stature business relationship.
Rich Gorman, Sandler Training
Make The Leap
29th February. Four years to wait until the next one. How will you make it count?
At Sandler Training we are asking you to join us; to join us in making the leap on 29th Februaury 2012. Do something different to make it stand out, make it spectacular, make it your own!
We are encouraging all business owners, directors and professional sales people to move outside their comfort zones on 29th February . It can be personal or professional. So far, we have people promising to hold a brand new workshop to some one starting to write their novel.
Not sure how to make the leap? Follow our 4 simple steps and help our campaign!
1 What have you always wanted to do, but have been putting off?
2 Now you have the vision in mind, break the elephant down. What is one sizeable chunk that you could complete on 29th February?
3 Tell us what your plans are and how we can help.
4 Spread the love to 2 other people and get them involved with making the leap?
So what’s stopping you? Make the leap for 2012!
Anneli Thomson is an award winning speaker, dedicated champagne drinker and firm believer in fun in all you do.
If only I had more leads!
Opinion or fact? Do you agree with the statement “More leads is NOT the answer to growing my business?”
I read an interesting statement from an unlikely source this week. “Leads are not the answer to growing your business, knowing how to talk to people is”
Since this seems to sum up nicely the traditional tension between “sales” and “marketing”, I thought I’d ask to see where the local business community stands on this.
Why might he be right? Or wrong? -The unlikely source by the way, is US “MLM guru”, Mark Januszewski.
This conundrum reminds me of the old adage ” Sales is a numbers game!”
That, in turn, begs the question- “If sales is a numbers game, what’s the game and what are the numbers?!”
If we knew the answer to that, then we’d be able to know for sure whether more leads, or knowing how to talk to people is right for us, in our business.
What I do know for sure is universally true (though feel free to argue!), is that more leads AND knowing how to talk to people will grow anyone’s business! Just as NO leads and not knowing how to talk to people will not grow the business!
I also know that there is a very high correlation between knowing how to talk to people, and the number of leads we get!
However, it’s easier for me to say “I need more leads/ referrals/prospects” than ” I need to be better at talking with people”!
Is it just me, or is it easier to spend money and time on marketing, advertising, website, LinkedIn, Search engine optimization, PR, networking, referral meetings, and other lead generation activities (all good stuff, I hasten to add) than it is on purposefully developing my interpersonal skills ? Is it because we get to a certain age and don’t want to change, or don’t really believe we can change, or deep down we really want to externalize the problem and want the answer to be “more leads!” ie Not my fault!-it’s my website, email, marketing etc.
Or, are we just happy to continue to compensate for our less-than-optimal interpersonal skills by having a high rate of activity and working long hours?
Any of this make any sense to anyone else?
I suspect, or maybe hope(!), that it’s not just me…but part of the human condition. Your (supportive) comments, suggestions and questions are welcome!
Written by Nigel Dunand http://www.heartofengland.sandler.com/
Networking Works!
By Abby Donnelly
Attending a networking event? WHY??
That may seem like a strange question, but time is one of our most limited resources! Taking a few minutes to evaluate why you should attend THIS particular networking event may save you hours of unproductive time and energy. Often, sales professionals tell me that they make their decision to attend an event based on the location of the event and their calendar availability. Instead, base your decision to attend an event based on:
1. Will your ideal target market likely be there? If not,
2. Will people who know your ideal target market be there?
If the answer is no to both of these questions, attending the event probably isn’t a good use of your time. You may meet some great people, you may have some interesting conversations, but you will probably not build the kind of business relationships that will deliver an ongoing stream of qualified referrals. Instead, find a networking event that is a better fit, or invest that time 1-1, building important relationships with key prospects, or with people who know your key prospects.
If you can’t bear to skip the event, at least go into the event with a specific goal. Maybe you set a goal to meet 3 new people. Maybe you set a goal to reconnect with 5 people you already know. Maybe you set a goal to connect 2 people who need to know each other. If you are going to spend your time attending an event, make it count! The additional benefit of setting a goal in advance is that once you achieve it, you are free to leave—you have already had a successful event!
Abby Donnelly is a partner and Executive Coach with Training and Development services, a Sandler Training franchise.
Illustration by Rob Green
Your Invitation to see how you rank!
Want to see how you stack up against the best?
Tha Aberdeen Group have conduceted research into sales professionals and in 5 questions time you could see if you are the best in class!
If you are interested in taking the test follow this link here: Aberdeen Assement.
Today’s the Day! A-Level’s are out.
Today’s the Day. The 18th August is ringed in red in many calendars, in many homes across England. A-Level Results are out and the long talked about scramble for university places starts now. But after today how will universities change their process to sell to the brightest candidates.
At the last count, there were 669, 956 applicants going for only 470,000 places. Those students who miss out this year will experience largely increased fees next year. If they reapply they could face paying £17,000 more. This frantic race to escape such a financial increase has resulted in Universities being able to put entry requirements and pick the cream of the crop. A university admissions office has only had to take orders this year as supply outstrips demand.
Yet 2012 may bring a dramatic change to these institutions. The sales process will change from a student wondering, “will they accept me?” to “why should I choose you?” The Universities need to equip their staff with the skills required to react to this shift. And not just their admissions staff – all members of the University’s staff who interact with prospective students needs to have a “sales awareness. “ A skill they did not even need to consider before today.
There are 2 main things that will need to be focused upon:
- Communication Skills – and not just on the surface “small talk” skills. A student considering their university needs to feel they are making the right decision. Good communication skills will mean potential students think ‘they really understand me, I could see myself studying here.’
- The Emotional Reason to Buy. Deciding on a university is already on of the first important decisions a young person will make. A university will need its staff to be able to discover “Why does this person really want to engage with higher education” and “What are there (the student’s) personal and emotional reasons?” Then they need to be able to fit their offering to meet these.
Now universities are charging more and students are demanding more before they buy – a “sales awareness” has to be a priority. If not, despite all the exemplary academia on display and the cutting edge research, students will not be attracted.
By Anneli Thomson. Anneli runs the Sandler Training Centre in Oxford. She is passionate about helping business leaders grow and about champagne.
