An Experience with a Bad Sales Rep

I have belonged to the same gym for over five years.  It’s very basic and fairly close to home.  I’m making a change to my membership so I decided to look around to see what other gyms have to offer.  There is a new facility that friends and neighbors have been talking about so I decided to check it out over lunch. 

What I saw was very impressive; much more space than my old gym, many more cardio machines, higher ceilings, more weight lifting options, nicer locker room, quieter and just more my style.  The only problem with the place was the general manager is also their sales rep.

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Here’s an example of how and email from my book worked yet again. I was conducting a pipeline call with a rep.  He was frustrated that a prospect had gone dark.  After a few great meetings his contact was not returning calls or emails.  I suggested that the rep send an “Are You?” email right then, during our call.  He did and guess what happened?  The prospect emailed him back while we were still on the phone.  This, after weeks of ignoring repeated calls and emails.  That’s why I wrote the book.  The emails work – all the time!  If you have prospects that have “gone dark” – and who hasn’t – the book is for you.  There is also an email for following up on leads, and another for planning killer sales calls.  What are you waiting for?  Those deals won’t wake up on their own!

The book, Click “Send” and Sell!  Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Success  is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.

No eReader? No problem! Click HERE to download and print the book in any format you want.

He gave me a tour of the facility and then we sat down in his office to chat.  I knew that there would be a sales pitch, so I was relaxed and prepared to discuss the pros and cons of this new facility.  It was a bad experience – a very one-sided conversation that did nothing to help me decide whether or not to join the facility.  What made the experience unpleasant was that this guy just started talking and wouldn’t stop.  And, the discussion was all about him.

Here’s what I learned:

• ·         He grew up a fat Greek kid in an Irish catholic neighborhood and was frequently bullied.
• ·         He has lost 70 lbs since joining this gym.
• ·         He is the number one sales rep nationally.
• ·         He was Mr. Illinois for two years.
• ·         He is a UFC fighter.
• ·         He played high school and college football.
• ·         He has multiple injuries that prevent him from lifting free weights.
• ·         He was promoted to general manager and was given the choice of working in any facility nationally and chose this one.
• ·         He is a certified personal trainer.

·         There is much, much more.

Here’s what he learned about me:

• ·         I have been a member of another gym since 2007.
• ·         I work out three to five times per week.
• ·         My wife likes to work out too.
• ·         I travel frequently.

Hopefully you can see how lopsided this conversation was.  It was all about him, the seller, and very little time was spent on me, the buyer.   Here are some things that I think he should have asked about me:

• ·             What are my fitness goals?  Is my current gym helping me to reach those goals?
• ·         What am I looking for in a fitness facility?
• ·         What about my gym do I like?  Not like?
• ·         How does this gym compare in proximity to my home?  Is it closer than my current gym?
• ·         Does my gym have a national footprint so I can work out on the road?
• ·         What about the clientele in each location?  Where do I feel more comfortable working out?
• ·         How do the facilities compare in size?  Do I normally have to wait for cardio machines or weights?
• ·         How new is the equipment in my current gym?

With information like this we could have had an interesting discussion and he could have sold me on the advantages of his facility.  Instead, at one point in our conversation, I gave him the universal sign for time-out, and said, “Stop, stop, stop.  If you say another word I’m walking out.”  He finally got the picture.  I had to grab a workout and get back to the office, not listen to him yammer on and on about himself and his wonderful gym.   He offered me a free workout and I got busy.  It was a very nice experience, using brand new equipment with no wait in a very comfortable atmosphere.

He didn’t close the deal with me because after my workout he was busy with another prospective member.  He insisted that I stay, even stating , “I can’t let you walk out.”  But I was running late and had to get back to the office.  I’ll join this gym but it will be in spite of the sales rep, not because of him.  Instead of offering me a free workout,  showing me a simple price plan, and closing the deal in ten minutes,  he’ll get to wait a couple of days while I muster up the patience to go back and deal with this pushy sales rep.

Learn a lesson from my experience.  Talk less, ask more, and understand what the prospect is trying to achieve by purchasing something from you.  If you walk away from a prospect with them knowing more about you than you know about them, you have gone about it all wrong.  Yes, build personal and professional credibility, but understand why the prospect is interested in buying from you.  Understand their goals and pain points.  Chances are that your product or service can meet their needs and you can make the closing process simple and painless.

10 Reasons Thanksgiving is my Favorite Holiday

Here are ten reasons why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday:

1. No gift pressure.
2. No religious obligation.
3. Having a cocktail at noon (or before) is perfectly acceptable.
4. Eating all you want as often as you want.
5. Watching football for hours.
6. Napping is encouraged.
7. Two days off of work.
8. You can say "Happy Thanksgiving" without offending anyone.
9. The kids come home.
10. Getting some good use out of the dining room table.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Close a Large Transaction with Small Numbers

Have you ever wondered why car dealers talk about low monthly payments?  Or why mobile phone companies talk about flat monthly charges?  It’s because they want you thinking in terms of the smallest dollar figure associated with the overall relationship while ignoring the lifetime cost of the product or service.  This is a very important psychological game and it works well regardless of what you are selling.

Phone companies and car dealers are not alone in this thinking.  Just look around at how things are priced based on their lowest dollar unit:

• Data - by the kilobyte/gigabyte
• Consulting fees - by the hour
• Software - by the “seat”
• Real estate - by the square foot
• Professional search – 1% per thousand of the candidate’s starting salary

The list could go on and on.

When you are working on a large deal it is exciting to think about the revenue impact on the organization – and on your bank account!  But it is important that you communicate to the customer in terms of the smallest dollar size that makes sense.  Let’s consider the car example again.  A monthly payment of $199 for a new car sounds great – thousands of people sign up for this deal on a regular basis.  It’s only after the buyer becomes emotionally committed to the transaction that they see the magnitude of their decision in the finance documents.  There, in black and white, it is plain for them to see that they are paying many thousands of dollars in interest, ultimately committing to far more than the car is worth in today’s value.  But they can afford the monthly payment and so move forward with the transaction.  Besides, they have convinced themselves that they are getting a really good deal.  After all, it’s only costing them $199 per month.

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Here’s an example of how and email from my book worked yet again.  I was conducting a pipeline call with a rep.  He was frustrated that a prospect had gone dark.  After a few great meetings his contact was not returning calls or emails.  I suggested that the rep send an “Are You?” email right then, during our call.  He did and guess what happened?  The prospect emailed him back while we were still on the phone.  This, after weeks of ignoring repeated calls and emails.  That’s why I wrote the book.  The emails work – all the time!  If you have prospects that have “gone dark” – and who hasn’t – the book is for you.  There is also an email for following up on leads, and another for planning killer sales calls.  What are you waiting for?  Those deals won’t wake up on their own!

The book, Click “Send” and Sell!  Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Success  is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.

No eReader? No problem! Click HERE to download and print the book in any format you want.

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Leverage that same process with your prospects.  Always provide the per-(fill in the blank here) transaction price.  And, don’t ever present the full cost of the transaction describing the large dollar volume commitment.  Let them figure that out later.  Get them excited about the low transaction price and the subsequent emotional commitment to purchase from you.  They are smart enough to figure out the math at another time.  Don’t do that for them.  You are much more likely to win a deal by quoting a $.60 per transaction price than you are by telling them that the total cost for the first year is $325,000.  See the difference?

But don’t take my word for it.  Turn on the radio or TV and listen to the ads.  It won’t take long for you to recognize the efficacy of this kind of pricing strategy.

It's Budget Season - Already!

If I ask a typical sales rep what time of year it is, I will hear answers like “vacation season” or “summer doldrums”.  You may be surprised to hear that this is budget season.  Yes, your customers are at the very beginning process of building out their budget plans for 2013.  Are you engaged in that process?  If not, you should be. 

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Here’s an example of how and email from my book worked yet again.  I was conducting a pipeline call with a rep.  He was frustrated that a prospect had gone dark.  After a few great meetings his contact was not returning calls or emails.  I suggested that the rep send an “Are You?” email right then, during our call.  He did and guess what happened?  The prospect emailed him back while we were still on the phone.  This, after weeks of ignoring repeated calls and emails.  That’s why I wrote the book.  The emails work – all the time!  If you have prospects that have “gone dark” – and who hasn’t – the book is for you.  There is also an email for following up on leads, and another for planning killer sales calls.  What are you waiting for?  Those deals won’t wake up on their own!

The book, Click “Send” and Sell!  Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Success  is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.

No eReader? No problem! Click HERE to download and print the book in any format you want.

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If you have an existing customer and are looking to grow your business with them, now is the time to ask them about their 2013 plans.  This process will also help you understand just how good your relationship is with your customer based on their level of transparency with you.

I would suggest that you begin the budget dialogue with something like, “We are in the early stages of our 2013 planning and you are one of our important customers.  What do your plans include for us in 2013?  I’m not asking for specific budget figures, although feel free to share those!  I’m more interested in how you plan to grow with us next year.  What are your priorities?”  Ask something like that then listen closely.  If you are dealing with the right kind of people you should get some good answers.  You will quickly learn whether or not you are a strategic partner, how much (if any) you can expect to grow with this customer, and by how much.

You should ask the budget question to all of your important customers.  The kind if insight that you will gain is invaluable and will help your organization budget for next year.

This time of year, although typically slow, can be incredibly important for next year.  Use this time wisely.

Managing Conference Calls

I have to remind myself that this is a “Common Sense” sales blog, and that sometimes people just don’t use common sense.  This article falls under that category – I’m a little surprised that it needs to be written at all.  But I keep running in to this problem so here it goes.

When you host a conference call there are a couple of things to keep in mind.  When I refer to conference calls, I mean  those calls where you send out the 888-number with an access code and expect to have a few customer/prospect attendees along with a few colleagues.  These are becoming increasingly common as companies “go virtual” and more and more selling  situations are phone and web based.

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Here’s a very recent example of how and email from my book worked yet again.  I was conducting a pipeline call with a rep.  He was frustrated that a prospect had gone dark.  After a few great meetings his contact was not returning calls or emails.  I suggested that the rep send an “Are You?” email right then, during our call.  He did and guess what happened?  The prospect emailed him back while we were still on the phone.  This, after weeks of ignoring repeated calls and emails.  That’s why I wrote the book.  The emails work – all the time!  If you have prospects that have “gone dark” – and who hasn’t – the book is for you.  There is also an email for following up on leads, and another for planning killer sales calls.  What are you waiting for?  Those deals won’t wake up on their own!

The book, Click “Send” and Sell!  Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Success  is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.

No eReader? No problem! Click HERE to download and print the book in any format you want.

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First, make sure to announce yourself as soon as you beep-in.  I was recently on a call where the host arrived and there was about 10-seconds of dead air.  That  was a very uncomfortable feeling for me, and I’m sure the other attendees.  We were sitting there on hold, listening to that aweful music, when we heard the host beep-in and the music stop.  Then . . . . nothing.  When you arrive as the host, greet the already present guests with a “Good afternoon!” or some other greeting letting them know that you have arrived.  Do not allow your presence to be greeted with dead air.

Next, make sure that everyone on the call gets a “Hello, who just joined please?” when they join the call.  Do not yammer on and on about your weather conditions while new guests get ignored.  Yes, you need to keep the dead air at a minimum, but be prepared to break when you hear an arriving guest.  Everyone on the call should be accounted for and as the host that’s your job.

As people arrive, there will be dead air.  Don’t let that be the case.  It’s easy to strike up a conversation on these calls with something like, “Jim, so where are you calling from today?”  That’s always a good conversation starter.  Again, be willing to cut the conversation short when others join, but don’t let your guests sit in silence.  It is just too uncomfortable.

It’s almost inevitable that late comers will beep-in after you have started the call .  That’s to be expected, but you should also find a natural stopping point to say something like, “I think I just heard someone join.  Can you please tell us who you are?”  Chances are very good that it was someone who was invited to the call, but these numbers aren’t particularly confidential, and you never know who just might want to drop in to hear your discussion.  Always ask who just joined to protect you and your customer/prospect.  It’s not rude, so don’t be hesitant to ask.

If the call isn’t too large, take time for each side to introduce themselves, their names, role, and what they hope to accomplish on the call.  This is another great ice breaker that’s easy to get started.  Say something like, “It sounds like we have just about everyone who plans to join.  Before we get started, allow me to introduce myself, and I’d like everyone to do the same from our side.  Karen, we would also like to hear from your team if that’s okay.”  Again ,a simple common courtesy and an extremely important part of your job as a sales rep – you need to know who is on the call, their role, and what they hope to accomplish.  What better way to set the overall tone for the call?

That’s about it.  Common Sense Selling!  Be courteous, keep the dead air to a minimum, greet your callers, and kick off the call with introductions.  Those of us that dial-in to your calls will appreciate your approach!

To Demo or Not To Demo?

It almost seems like a silly question – should I demo our solution or not?  But there are certain scenarios when you should consider tapping the brakes when a prospect asks you to demo your product.  Here’s an example of when that’s the case.

My rep has a very good customer who buys a significant amount of product from us.  And, our vendor manager there is fantastic.  She is constantly introducing our capabilities to colleagues within her company and brokering introductions for us.  Just recently, a business unit approached her with a problem and she immediately recommended our solution (this is an information-centric product offering).  She reached out to my rep and asked if he could schedule a WebEx demo of our solution.   This was a very nice development for us.

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Here’s a very recent example of how and email from my book worked yet again.  I was conducting a pipeline call with a rep.  He was frustrated that a prospect had gone dark.  After a few great meetings his contact was not returning calls or emails.  I suggested that the rep send an “Are You?” email right then, during our call.  He did and guess what happened?  The prospect emailed him back while we were still on the phone.  This, after weeks of ignoring repeated calls and emails.  That’s why I wrote the book.  The emails work – all the time!  If you have prospects that have “gone dark” – and who hasn’t – the book is for you.  There is also an email for following up on leads, and another for planning killer sales calls.  What are you waiting for?  Those deals won’t wake up on their own!

The book, Click “Send” and Sell!  Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Success  is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.

No eReader? No problem! Click HEREto download and print the book in any format you want.
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However, I told the rep to hold off on the demo and ask instead for a brief meeting with the business users who had approached our champion with their problem.  Why in the world would I recommend something like that?  Simple, really.  We don’t know anything about the problem that they are trying to solve, and our champion – while she is really great – may not have recommended our best solution to her colleagues.  So instead of agreeing to perform a demo, I directed the rep to request a 30-minute call with the customer in order to learn more about their specific situation and whether or not a demo would be appropriate.  That suggestion was extremely well received by the customer and they are grateful that he was willing to take the time to understand their needs before performing a demo. 

We live in a world of instant gratification and as sellers we are constantly being pushed to close deals today.  Delaying a demo for a few days is a bad idea when you are farther along in a sales process.  But if you are conducting your first meeting, why in the world would you do a product demo (again, think more of a complex sale here) before you understand your prospects pains and opportunities?

Take the time to listen to your prospect before you ever make a recommendation or demonstrate a potential solution.  Chances are you may lengthen the sales process a little bit, but it will very likely increase your odds of winning their business and their trust.