I’m always asked how companies should maximize their training dollar.  Here’s how.

Lately, it’s seemed fashionable for a lot of sales trainers to write articles about “why sales training doesn’t work,” which of course allows them to slyly inject why THEIR sales training is the only sales training that could have a possibility of working, in this and all other imaginable worlds. I think I’ll stay away from that.

I prefer to stay on the positive side, so let’s talk about how to make sales training work. In fact, let’s back away a tad and talk about how to make ANY training work. Will that generate a bit of ROI for your time in reading this article? Hopefully, it will. Full disclosure; this article was inspired by a lunch that I had yesterday with a client who commented on how effective my training was. In retrospect, I have to say that part of what made it so effective was how the client handled it – and that’s what I propose to pass along today. First, however, let me pass along the Dirty Little Secret of sales training:

Almost any sales trainer can, and will, generate ROI for your company. That’s a big statement, I know, and there are certainly exceptions. But the reality is this: The economies of sales training are such that even the most expensive sales trainers can pay for themselves if just one person in the class takes what he learns and uses it to significantly up his performance. And I’ve taught very few classes where at least a few people didn’t take the teachings and run with them. Again, there are exceptions; there are people out there teaching techniques that will actually generate negative ROI because the techniques, when implemented, actually make the customer uncomfortable and less likely to buy – but let’s assume that we’re talking about trainers who at least understand customer friendliness.

So, now that the Big Secret is out there (and I’ll follow up on it at the end by giving you some guidelines on how to pick your trainer), let’s talk about what YOU (whether you are manager or salesperson) can do to make training work for you.

Preparation is key. I wish I could tell you how many times I’ve walked into a room, looked around, and discovered that the salespeople have no real idea of why I’m there or what I’m there to do; they just know to show up at a certain place at a certain time.  Don’t be that guy. If you’re a manager, prep your people on what will happen and what the expectations are. Much time gets wasted in these sessions just crossing the “Oh, this is training” hump. If you’re a salesperson, don’t just settle for a scheduled meeting; ask what will be happening and what the expectations are. It’s your time, after all. Good trainers will inform you as to the program outline and plan when they are selling the business; make use of that.

Professionalism is the most basic expectation. When I was a sales manager and I sent my reps to training, I always did so with the expectation that they be on their most professional behavior; unprofessionalism was a reflection on me, after all. However, too many training programs (again, of any type) end up looking more like Romper Room than a business environment. Want to maximize the value of your money? Make sure your people are on their game when they’re in the room, and that they are punctual when returning from lunches, breaks, etc. If you’re the trainee, be the leader. Look at it this way: You’re going to be there regardless, so if others’ conduct is keeping you from learning, it’s your right to call them on it. Is it the speaker’s job to ‘control the room?’ To an extent – but I tell all my clients that I am a trainer and not a babysitter. If your staff requires a babysitter, that reflects on YOU.

Focus on the “nuggets” – profitable behavior modifications. As the training is going on, you will find elements that you have heard before. That’s going to happen with any experienced worker going through any type of training. Training becomes unsuccessful when attendees focus in on those commonalities and stop looking for the differences. Virtually any training of any type, however, will have what I call “nuggets,” or ways to modify behavior that can be very profitable. I went to a training session for speakers a couple of weeks ago; 98% of it was stuff that I had heard and knew; I’ve been working the 2% for the last two weeks with some excellent results.

Learn and reinforce. There’s no substitute for management that participates in the sessions and learns right along with their people; there’s no substitute for when that management, having learned the lessons, continually reinforces that message when the trainer has left. My client yesterday said, “Our profit per stop is up significantly because of your training.” That’s great, and I appreciate it – but reality is that it’s up partially because of what I taught, and partially because the company has adopted those teachings as part of the culture, and has reinforced those teachings in the months since I was there.

Too many managers look at training – of any type – as a self-contained fix-all solution. It’s not. Good training programs are incorporated into the culture of the company or department, and then reinforced consistently and when opportunity comes up. Training is designed to show the benefits of behavioral change; however, true behavioral change does not happen within a one-day or two-day window. It’s consistency of management and follow up that really spikes the ROI.

How do you pick a trainer? So, I promised earlier that I would circle back and talk about how to pick a trainer. I’ll do so now. To pick the right person for your needs, just follow these simple guidelines:

• Pick someone who is expert. There are a lot of ‘seminar’ companies out there who provide general-purpose speakers with prewritten courses to present. The training breaks down when the first person asks a question that starts with “Why?” Make sure your trainer can answer those questions through personal expertise.
• Pick someone who is willing to learn. Too many trainers come in with a ‘program in a box’ and end up not speaking your language. Good trainers build in pre-training time to learn the specific challenges and needs of your business.
• Pick someone who fits your culture, or the culture you would like to have. Training of any kind should set the tone for how things are done at your company; if the trainer is training a method counter to your culture, it won’t be effective. When it comes to sales training, I always tell my clients that sales training dictates how you want your customers to be treated; is the curriculum and approach a fit?
• Finally, pick someone who is available post session. I’ve heard horror stories about trainers who came in, did an outrageously expensive session, then when the manager or trainees have a question, he wants to bill a big amount just for answering. Make sure your trainer doesn’t mind getting the occasional call or email post-session. I always tell my clients that they are free to call or email with questions, and if it gets to a point where I will need to bill for time, I’ll let them know well in advance.

A well designed, planned, executed, and followed training session can be the best thing for you and your staff. A bad one can be a time waster. By following these simple steps, you can make sure that your training is effective.

Would you like to have better momentum with your customers?  Here’s how.

The dictionary defines “Velocity” as the measure of speed in objects that are in motion. Troy Harrison (that’s me) defines Sales Velocity as the measurement of a customer’s need to act on, buy, and implement your proposal. In short, Sales Velocity is the difference between a proposal that lands in the customer’s inbox and gathers dust, and a proposal that stays at or near the top of your customer’s action list – until you are awarded the business.

When I put it that way, Sales Velocity sounds like something we all want, doesn’t it? Yep, it is. But how we get it is the big question. The good news is that the potential for Sales Velocity lies within every sales call you make. The “bad” news is that finding out what will trigger Velocity in your particular customer’s mind is up to you – and sorry to say, it’s not a one size fits all solution.

You see, customers all have their own needs and wants, and those needs and wants range from the direct (the stuff you’re selling) to the indirect effects of what you sell (less hassle, better image, other indirect benefits). Usually, those indirect benefits are the key to Sales Velocity. Even more often, the typical sales call doesn’t really dive into those indirect benefits. To get at them, you have to ask good questions that speak to the big picture needs of the customer, not just product-centric. If your questions are mostly centered around your product, rather than the effects of your product, I can virtually guarantee that you’re missing factors that create Sales Velocity.

Here are some questions that can help you find your customer’s Sales Velocity drivers:

• What are your company’s expansion plans?
• How do your employees feel about their jobs?
• What would you like your customers to think about your employees’ appearance?
• How are people rewarded in your company for good decisions?
• What is the impact of decisions that don’t work out?
• Define a successful program from the perspective of yourself, your employees, your boss, your customers.

There are a lot more, but essentially you want to find out what your customer’s dream-wheel definition of a successful program is. Then, you figure out how to give it to them; customers don’t buy products, they buysuccessful outcomes. That successful outcome – and your ability to give it to your customer – is the ultimate creator of Sales Velocity.

Once you know what your customer’s Sales Velocity drivers are, though, you’re not done. There’s one other ingredient, and that ingredient is passion on your part. Where does sales passion come from? Well, for too many people, it doesn’t. Where it exists, it comes from an excitement, involvement in, and commitment to the selling profession. It comes from a true belief in what you are selling – have you sold yourself before you try to sell anyone else? It comes from a need to make buyers feel the same excitement you do. It comes from recognizing the buyer’s needs, seeing what is going to happen through the adoption of the product, and feeling the same result as the buyer.

Here’s a quick five-step plan to creating Sales Velocity in your calls:

1. Ask GREAT questions. Only great questioning, that gets to the heart of your customer’s indirect needs for your stuff, will allow you to uncover your customer’s real priorities and Sales Velocity drivers.
   

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2. Make sure to catch and note those drivers; they’re easy to spot. Anytime your customer gets excited or emphatic about a need, that’s a driver of Sales Velocity.
   

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3. Tie your products and services to the customer’s Sales Velocity drivers; i.e. “This is how our programs address this issue.” Use testimonials and case studies when you can (if you don’t have them, get them; we’ll talk about Case Studies in a future issue).
   

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4.  Present your products and need solutions with passion. If you can’t get excited about solving your customer’s needs, how can your customer?
   

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5. Close directly and enthusiastically.
   

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Incorporating these five steps into your selling will keep your proposals out of “inbox purgatory,” and instead will make you an action item for your prospects. You’ll also find that your calls will be more fun and interesting for you and your prospects. That’s not a bad deal, is it?

If you’re missing sales, it might be because you’re missing the key issues in the sale.

Recently, I spent part of a Saturday judging a high school debate tournament. Those of you who know me, know that I debated in high school and college. I enjoy going back and judging; it’s a way for me to give something back to an activity that gave me so much and continues to influence my life and career. And of course, while judging, I was inspired to write a sales article – great how that works, isn’t it?

In a debate round, many arguments and issues are presented, but ultimately, the judge usually casts a ballot based on a handful of those issues. In the best round I saw, I went back and counted. The Affirmative presented 42 different arguments; the Negative presented 48. I based my decision on one. How is that possible? Simple – in a debate round, the arguments begin very comprehensively and then funnel down to a handful. Is it starting to sound like selling yet? If not, you’re probably missing a lot of sales. Let’s talk about how to get to the main buying issues.

There’s a big difference between selling and debate, and that’s the role that the Judge plays. In debate, the Judge awards the round. Teams are not allowed to question or converse with the Judge during the round other than the speeches; in other words, a debater isn’t allowed to ask, “Does that argument make sense, Judge?” In sales, the Judge and the Customer are one and the same, and your ability to question and converse with the Judge are primary to winning the business.

One similarity between selling and debate is that, no matter how many issues are presented in the sale, one or two ultimately become the Primary Buying Issue (PBI for short through the rest of this article). One common trait to both great debaters and great salespeople is their ability to find the PBI (or Primary Voting Issue in the debate) and to highlight it in such a way that they win the sale, or the debate. If you’d like to be one of them, here’s how to spot and sell to the PBI.

Begin comprehensively. This means questions; lots and lots of questions. Too many salespeople start out with a handful of questions and then move directly to the Brochure Barf; i.e. a long list of features and benefits to attempt to win the sale. Instead, focus on questioning comprehensively; the more of the buyer’s issues and needs you hear, the more likely it is that the PBI is among them. Many sales are lost because the salesperson never even hears the buyer’s PBI.

Start narrowing. Hopefully you’re a good note-taker; now it’s time to start narrowing the conversation by asking questions about impacts (the effect of the buying issues) and the priorities (what’s more important). Questions like “How does this affect the end-user?” “How does this affect you?” “Of these issues, what’s most important to you (or the ownership, or the users, etc.)?”

Solve for the PBI – or leave. Once you know what the PBI is, you need to measure your solution against it. Can you, in fact, fix the customer’s problem? If you can’t, it’s probably time to find a new customer. Doing otherwise pushes a rope uphill, and that’s never successful.

Understand the buying process. In a debate, it’s simple; you can see all the judges and you know the criteria. In a sale, it’s vital that you know who will be making the decision, how, when, and who will influence the decision. How do you know that? By asking. A question like, “What is your decision making process for this purchase?” can work wonders. The more of the stakeholders you can communicate with directly, the better.

Sell to the PBI. Once you know what the PBI is, and to whom you need to sell it, now you need to pound your solution to the PBI until there is no room for doubt about your ability to solve their main problem. You also need to be aware that different stakeholders might have different PBI’s, and you need all of them to know the solution to each group’s PBI.

Give the Pluses. Now that you’ve solved for the PBI, you probably have other reasons (benefits) why your customer should buy. Don’t neglect presenting these; customers love bonuses.

Too many sales are lost because you’re not on the same wavelength as your customer, and you miss the Primary Buying Issue. Follow these steps, and you won’t.

Let’s look into the sales crystal ball and see what it will take to make it in 2012.

Well, gang, it’s another new year. Technically we’re 19 days into it, of course, but who’s counting? I’m writing this because I’ve seen a lot of ‘how to succeed in 2012’ articles and to be honest with you, I’m finding that a lot of them are off base. As years go, I think 2012 will be closer to a return to normalcy in economic terms; it will still be slower than the period leading up to 2008, but there seems to be some energy in the marketplace.

That said, the energy I’m concerned with isn’t in the marketplace; it’s in YOU. The energy that you bring to the table – and more importantly, how you direct it – will either make you a lot of money this year or bring you to failure. Follow some of the rabbit-holes that some sales authors are pointing you toward, and you’ll be wondering what happened come December. Hence, here are Troy’s 5 Keys to Being Successful in Sales:

One: Keep Prospecting!

You were probably ready for this one, weren’t you? The biggest rabbit-hole in sales right now is the social media rabbit-hole, where some consultants are trying to tell you that all the riches of the world will come to you if you’ll just Tweet a little more. Nonsense. The social media platform hasn’t been invented yet that will replace conventional prospecting techniques, done well. This is particularly true if you are attempting highly targeted new business generation. Not growing your business simply isn’t an option. I’ve seen numerous people and companies try “maintenance” strategies, and they all fail because people die, people change jobs, people change their minds, and as a result, customers leave. To not prospect is to resign yourself to a shrinking base. Don’t be that guy or gal.

Two: Continuously Sell to Your Customer Base.

When I say “continuously sell,” I don’t mean stop in, ask how things are going, hear “fine,” and then run like heck. I mean that with your top customers – and those that have the potential for growth – you should have a well thought out development selling plan for each of them. What new products/services can they use? Why would they take them? By keeping your customers in some sort of a selling process, you have employed the best retention strategy of all – talking to your customers in a meaningful way. If you’re vulnerable, you’ll hear it when you try to sell them more stuff, but you might not if you do the old “P.R. call.”

Three: Have a Quality Social Media Presence. 

But wait, didn’t I just contradict myself? Nope – in this day and age, Social Media is important, but not as a primary prospect generation strategy. Nowadays, people are researchers (because so much information is at our fingertips), and many of them will want to research you before they buy. Help them do so with a quality presence that allows you to be Google-able. Here’s a helpful hint: You’re better off to do one thing well than many things badly, and if you’re only going to do one thing, make it LinkedIn. LinkedIn gives you much more search engine visibility than any other platform, and the way it’s structured, it’s hard to make yourself look bad – something that is frighteningly easy on Twitter and Facebook.

Four: Make Every Call Meaningful.

This is a close relative of #2 above, but it’s different enough that it is a separate Key. You should strive to make every call meaningful and beneficial for both you and your customer (hint: sitting and talking football for 30 minutes is neither). That means that you should have an agenda every time you see a customer that gives you greater customer knowledge, imparts new knowledge to the customer, or creates a business-building opportunity (new sale or referral) for either you or the customer. Yes, it’s more work, but your customers will appreciate it.

Five: Do it All With Enthusiasm and Passion!

Selling is about motivating and persuading your customers into certain actions, and one of the easiest ways to get your customers motivated is for YOU to be motivated – and that means communication with enthusiasm and passion. Forget all the reasons why you CAN’T succeed and focus on the excitement of generating success itself. You’ll find that your customers are right along with you.

Execute the above 5 keys to being successful in sales, and you will have a great 2012. Don’t, and it’s very likely that you won’t. And with that, let’s make 2012 our best year yet!

Are you set for growth for the rest of the year – or just losing more ground?

Well, here we are.  Not only is 2011 gone, but we’re 1/12 of the way finished with 2012.  Are your results this year looking markedly different than last year?  More importantly, are your ACTIONS any different than last year?  It might just be me, but I’ve had a significant run of talking to business owners, sales managers, and even salespeople who have become either complacent or defeated (they’ve essentially given up on improving their results) to the point where their entire companies are just going through the motions.

It doesn’t have to be that way!  I know that sometimes this can be difficult to remember, but you must keep in mind that the most powerful determinant of your result s is not the economy, politics, the weather, or other outside forces.  You are still in charge of your own destiny, and if your path isn’t what you want it to be, it’s YOU who can make a change.  If you’re stuck in a rut, here are 7 ways that you can make the next 11 months something different than the last one.  And whether you’re a salesperson, a sales manager, or a business owner, there’s something in here for you.

1. Get off your butt and start prospecting.  The Number One cause of sales atrophy is a lack of prospecting.  In selling, the big bucks go to the salespeople who are continually building and growing their businesses.  If that’s not you, it’s time to get started.
2. Use every sales call to develop your customers.  Get away from the rote “how are things going” calls with your existing customers, and instead start using EVERY CALL to build your business.  Sell them more stuff, deepen relationships, and get some referrals.
3. Get LinkedIn.  Forget Facebook.  LinkedIn is the Number One platform for professional B2B networking; that’s what it’s designed for and that’s what it does.  The entire purpose of LinkedIn is to facilitate professional referrals and testimonials.  Use it!  If you’re not on LinkedIn, there’s a good chance you’re losing business to someone who is.
4. Get some testimonials.  When customers tell you what a great job you’re doing, what do you do?  Do you just grin and say “thanks,” or do you ask them to put that information in the form of  a testimonial? Testimonials can be video, written on letterhead, or even posted on LinkedIn.  What matters is that your customers are willing to state, for the record, how good you are.
5. Learn your customers.  Product knowledge isn’t king anymore.  Customer knowledge is.  Focus your time and energies into better learning your customers, their needs, their wants, their objectives, and their definitions of success.
6. Unpack your briefcase.  Salespeople carry a lot of junk into sales calls.  Some of it is paper, and some of it is in the form of old, hackneyed sales techniques that don’t work anymore.  Heck, some of them never did, but salespeople have been great about sopping up techniques like the “Firing Horace,” the “Negative Reverse Questions,” the “Take Away,” the “Inward Outward with a Half Twist in the Layout Position” (ok, I made that one up), and other junk that gets in the way of honest human dialogue.  Not sure what to get rid of?  Here’s a hint – any sales technique with a name is probably a good candidate.
7. For the Owners and Managers, If you can’t change your people, change your people.  If your people aren’t doing the right things – if they’re complacent and unwilling to take the actions needed to build your business – then it’s perfectly OK to give them opportunities, training, and tools to change their behavior.  I encourage it, for that matter; especially since I’m usually providing them some of the tools!  With that said, if your people refuse to take hold of those opportunities, they’ve given you little choice.  Your salespeople should be the driving force behind growth at their company.  If they’re not, you might not have the right people.

The point behind all this is that this is not a time for complacency, for comfort, or for defeatism.  Whatever profit you don’t make in 2012 won’t come back; that opportunity is gone forever.  Hawaiians have a saying:  NOW is the moment of power.  Seize your moment.  Good selling for the rest of 2012.

Sometimes, the best salespeople have slumps.  Here’s how to break out.

You’ve tried to avoid it. You’ve been positive. You’re making your calls. Your attitude is great, and you believe in your company, your product, your management, your support staff, and yourself. You’re doing all the right things. But, it’s impossible to miss the signs. You’re sliding down the sales ranking board in your office. It’s been so long since you’ve written any business that your order pad has moss on the north side. Your manager just grunts when he sees you. Let’s face it–you’re in a sales slump.

Slumps happen to nearly all salespeople–good, bad, or indifferent. The reasons that they happen are as varied as the people who have them, but they’re a truth of the profession. For some, it’s a learning experience that takes them to a whole new level as a salesperson. For some, it’s a soul-crushing experience that spells the end of their sales career. For you, it can be the best, the worst, or something in-between, and it all depends on how you handle it. Today, we’re going to talk about some common causes of sales slumps and the best ways to overcome each cause. How do I know? Because I’ve been there.

Cause #1: You’ve lost your customer focus. More slumps are caused – and prolonged – by this reason than by any other. When salespeople sell the same product or service for a long time, they get used to hearing the same answers to the same questions. Over a long enough period of time, salespeople will “assume” certain needs on the part of the customer. These needs may or may not be part of the customer’s overall picture, but because the salesperson is such a veteran, they assume. Then they forget to ask key questions. Then they miss buying motivations and signals. The end result is that they end up presenting things that the customer doesn’t want or need, in an effort to be more efficient by “skipping to the selling.” Customers don’t buy, and salespeople don’t sell. In a slump, this worsens. Salespeople start thinking ONLY of the sale, and walk in pitching product or service, rather than discovering needs. It’s a vicious cycle.

The Fix: Go back to basics. Treat every customer need as if it’s the first time you’ve ever heard it, and carefully walk through your questioning before presenting recommendations. Your customers will suddenly become interested and engaged again, and you’ll sell.

Cause #2: You’ve gotten lazy. There’s no kind way to say this, so I’ll just say it: Salespeople can get comfortable at a level of achievement, and coast on current customers. Prospecting and funnel-filling (never on the top of a salesperson’s “favorite things” list) get dropped to the side, and the salesperson convinces himself that he’s working as hard as he can – on current volume. The funnel empties. Customer volume slacks off, and suddenly, productivity is down. The salesperson then invests MORE time in current customers, hoping to generate internal growth. When it doesn’t happen, he’s in trouble.

The Fix: Fill your funnel. Devote extra time to prospecting, networking, phone work – whatever you have to do to get new prospects in the funnel QUICKLY. Get back in the game.

Cause #3: You’ve gotten stale. Closely related to #1, but a little different. Being stale has more to do with your own presentation, rather than your discovery. Again, this has to do with salespeople who have sold the same thing long enough that they no longer find it interesting. Features and benefits become dry recitation of facts, and no enthusiasm can be found. Customers don’t get excited either, and they buy from other salespeople. Many times, the other salespeople are less skilled with lower quality products, but they’re more excited about them. Customers feed off enthusiasm. If you’ve lost yours, you’re either in a slump or headed for one.

The Fix: Get excited, soldier. Find whatever it was about your product or service that got you excited in the first place, and use it. Alternatively, use your own creativity to come up with a new way of presenting old products that you can have some fun with. Either way, you have to make yourself exciting and interesting on sales calls. If you can’t do that, change companies or change professions.

Cause #4: There are changes in the marketplace. This one is probably the least common cause of slumps, but it should be considered. Sometimes, seismic shifts occur nearly overnight that can cripple companies who don’t adapt – or who adapt slowly. The best example of this is the foreign car invasion of the ’70s, which coincided with a lowering of American automotive quality. Initially, the Big Three laid the blame at dealers and salespeople who were suffering as consumers chose Hondas over Pintos and Vegas. Clearly, it wasn’t the fault of the dealers or their salespeople. Most market shifts, however, aren’t this radical and don’t require this much correction. Maybe it’s something simple. Has one of your competitors changed their offering, or the way they present it? Has a new salesperson been hired by your competitor, and they’re kicking your butt? If they’ve raised their game, it’s time to raise yours. The value proposition that sounded great a month ago may not be so good right now.

The Fix: Talk to customers who bought from a competitor instead of you. Ask good, detailed questions regarding their decision process. If you lost on your value proposition, it’s time to reevaluate it. If you just got outsold, it’s time to tune up your game.

Cause #5:  The numbers aren’t playing out right.  Believe it or not, this is probably the most common cause.  Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that you sell one out of every five customers that you call on.  Your normal week has you seeing ten customers, so you should sell two.

Remember, though, that you’re anticipating eight no-sales in a week.  What if, by luck of the draw, you hit a run of customers for two or three weeks that don’t buy (the “sales” just don’t come in)?  It happens, and it’s probably the start of more slumps than all the other causes put together.  Suddenly, you look around, and it’s been 3-4 weeks since you made a sale.  So, you start pressing.  Instead of doing a good discovery, you’re moving more quickly toward the Presentation – and you’re missing customer needs. Now, by pressing, you’re into Cause #1.  And Fix #1 will fix it.

The Fix:  Stay cool.  This is one slump that can be nipped in the bud before it moves to Cause #1, just by carefully analyzing your calls and making sure that you’re still doing the right things the right way.  Like the batter in baseball who suddenly goes 0 for 20 because his line drives happen to be hit right at fielders, concentrating on your fundamentals will get you out of this one before it deepens.

As I said, slumps can be tough. I’ve been there, so if you’re in a slump, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. In addition to the fixes above, you should use all the resources available to get out of it. Have your manager go with you on some calls –or, if possible, have a non-slumping rep accompany you. Maybe they can find areas where you’re dropping the ball. Watch videos, listen to tapes, read books. Alternatively, when you go home for a weekend, make a conscious effort not to think about selling at all. Clear your head, come to work with a new focus, and look through the causes above.

What does not end your sales career makes you a much stronger salesperson.

If you listen to the people who say “never,” you’ll miss some great opportunities.

Recently, I read an article about the “never-do’s” of selling.  These are things that salespeople should never, ever, ever do in the process of making customer contact.  I read through them, and I realized something:  At one time or another, I’ve done them all.  Seriously.  And in many cases, the result was a bouncing baby new sale.

Why is that?  Well, it’s simple.  I don’t think that there are many “never’s” in selling; at least not when bodily functions are left out of the equation.  Count me as a “never” in what I call the Big Three:  Illegal, Immoral, or Unethical.  But the article wasn’t talking about the Big Three or bodily functions; instead, the article was ruling out certain strategic and tactical moves in selling as always being “wrong.”  The problem is that what is “wrong” in one situation, based on risk vs. reward, might be our only alternative in another. Here’s an example:

Sales author Jill Konrath said, “Never go behind your prospect’s back,” and related the following story:

“When I started my sales career at Xerox, I was a sponge. I studied everything I could in hopes of shortening my learning curve. I’ll never forget the day I read that it was crucial for salespeople to spend their time with executives, not their lower-level minions.

I immediately knew I was in deep trouble with my hottest prospect because my contact, Tinsey, was simply an administrative assistant. I got right on the phone, called her boss and set up a meeting for the following week.

Guess who came to escort me up to meet with Mr. Big on the day of my appointment! Tinsey, of course. She asked sharply why I was there. When I sheepishly told her the purpose of my call, she blew up at me big time. I was mortified.

The next thing I remember is waking up on the lobby floor. I’d passed out. After insuring that I was in fact okay, Tinsey suggested I leave and never return. I never did.

What did I learn? Never, ever go behind a prospect’s back. Please note, I’m not saying you have to only work with the first person you contact.”

Now, to my way of thinking, there are several problems with her logic here.  In her example, I’d suggest that there were multiple mistakes.  Calling on the admin assistant?  She agrees that this was a mistake. And, she should have tried to work with the assistant to make the meeting with the boss happen. However, there’s something very important here.  The assistant’s boss took the meeting.  That means that the boss certainly saw value in seeing her.  Had she not panicked and passed out, she might have found out what that value was.  Perhaps the boss didn’t want the admin exercising the level of power that she was; Konrath will never know.  In this case, the risk of going around her contact was very high, but the reward was potentially higher – we’ll never know because she didn’t complete her mission due to being intimidated by an admin assistant.

On the other hand, here’s a question I get all the time:  “Troy, I have (some sort of a mid-level contact) at prospect company X.  This person won’t buy from me, and won’t facilitate a meeting with his boss.  I think if I could get his boss’ attention, he’d see the value in what I’m selling.  But I don’t want to burn my contact by going behind his back.  What should I do?”

In this case, the risk of ‘burning’ the current contact is low; the current contact isn’t buying anyway.  So, in this case, I’d go ahead and approach the boss.  This is one of the ‘nevers’ that I’ve violated many times in my career, with about 50/50 results – but the reward of the 50% of the bosses that bought from me certainly outweighed the 50% of the ‘burned’ contacts that weren’t buying from me.

Here’s another one – years ago, I was accompanying a copier salesperson in a sales call on a large law firm in Kansas City.  The managing partner was giving this kid NOTHING.  I mean, we’re talking grunts. Negative grunts.  Finally, I could tell the kid was about to pack it in when an ambulance went by.  The kid looked up at the contact and said with a smile, “Do you need to go get that?”  The MP clouded up and then started laughing.  He said, “Kid, that took some stones to say, but it’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day!”  That completely turned the call around.  We walked out with a proposal opportunity that turned into a sale two weeks later.  “Never insult or joke about your contact’s profession?”  Maybe – but in this case, the kid had NOTHING to work with.  Low risk, high reward.

Never talk politics or religion with a customer?  Been there, done that.  How about “never ask a customer out on a date?”  In my young and single days, I did that too (I did wait for the sale to be made first – that’s when I was selling cars).  I wouldn’t recommend YOU doing that – but the point is that I calculated the risks vs. the rewards, and acted accordingly.

Really, it doesn’t matter what you’re selling or who you’ll sell it to.  You’re going to come upon a situation where you’ll be tempted to violate one of the “nevers.” ( Again, I’m leaving out bodily functions and the Big Three – those really are nevers.)  When you are tempted, ask yourself these questions:

1.  What is the risk?  Essentially, you risk losing whatever you have by violating a “never.”  What do you really have?
2. Who else – besides you – gets hurt if you lose what you have?  (If the risk isn’t just you, it’s more serious)
3. What is the reward?  Is the reward worth the risk?

If you figure this carefully, you’ll find instances where the reward more than justifies the risk.  When that happens, my advice?  Go ahead and take your shot. Even when you lose, you’ll learn, and selling is about continuous education.

Is your attitude right for selling?  Read on and find out!

Few things are as written about, or as least understood, as “attitude.”  To me, “attitude” means “My worldview and my approach to my work and life.”  There’s an old phrase that says, “Your attitude determines your altitude,” and there’s a lot to be said for that.  Over the years, I’ve found that successful salespeople start with a  positive worldview and a proactive approach to their work and life.

Now, I’ll admit – I’ve tried for quite a while to come up with a cute catchphrase regarding attitude – there’s already the “YES” attitude, the “GO” attitude, and other stuff.  Maybe I’m not a cute catchphrase kind of guy, but I do know what it takes to make the right attitude for successful selling.  So without further ado, let’s break down the components of the successful sales attitude:

I happen to the world; the world doesn’t happen to me.  This is the first of the Seven Principles of Highly Effective People; the idea that you can make a difference and impact any situation that you happen to be a part of.  Success in sales means starting every morning with the desire to happen.

I am, first and foremost, a solver of problems.  Successful selling is about solving problems – yours, your customers’, and your business associates.

I am a profit center for all those who associate with me.  Your job as a salesperson is to be a guardian of, and creator of, profits for your employer; to be a generator of positive outcomes and solutions for your customers, and more positive outcomes for other business associates (such as referral partners).

I can find the positive in any situation, and will make this my focus.  This isn’t Pollyanna nonsense; there are positives in any situation.  For years, one of my core beliefs has been “As long as I’m looking down at the ground instead of up at it, all other problems are solvable.”  Those who find and focus on negatives before positives won’t last long in selling.

I am better than my competition.  This is simple, isn’t it?  If you don’t believe – right down to your bones – that you are better than those you fight for business, you’re not going to win many of those fights.  True commitment takes this belief and makes it reality by constantly developing your skills, your relationships, and your customers.

NOW is my moment. I’ve seen salespeople who had everything necessary to succeed except for one of the most important elements – time sensitivity.  Successful salespeople don’t hear the clock ticking – they FEEL it in their bones.  You can have lots of good stuff, but if you’re wasting the customer contact time window by messing around on Facebook, who’s going to see it?

My customers win just by seeing me.  This is a big statement, of course, but it goes back to something I talk about all the time – the desire to create calls that have value built into them so that your customers – buy, don’t buy – are a little better off from the time you have spent with them.  This means that you’ve imparted knowledge, helped solve a problem, etc. that wouldn’t have happened without your time.

Look, it’s not hard to see uncommitted people who have the wrong attitudes.  It seems that media would like us to believe that our world is dominated with them – which I don’t think is true.  But the next time someone asks you about your “attitude,” give yourself this test.  How do you fare?

When should you turn down business?

I may or may not have mentioned this, but I have a little side business selling stuff on the Internet (auto performance parts, if you’re really interested).  My business model is a completely drop-ship model that de-emphasizes direct customer contact in favor of remote order entry and fulfillment – in short, it’s pretty much the opposite of the high-contact, high-service model that I typically preach to my customers (it has to be; I don’t have the time for anything else).  It makes a tidy little profit, but one aspect that has amazed me is how much I have learned that I can apply to my normal business; i.e. this one.

I’ve long been a proponent of not chasing every possible piece of business, because you end up in situations that challenge what you do well, and you produce unhappy customers and an unhappy you. Nowhere has this been more evident than in this business.  For instance, Ebay encourages its sellers to ship internationally to reap the maximum views, bids, and sales.  I don’t ship internationally.  It’s not because I’m mean (although I’ve been accused of that by some international buyers), but because I tried it for awhile and discovered that international shipping comprised about 7% of my profits and over 80% of my time-consuming inquiries and post-sale problems.  I know there are some vendors who do international business well; I’ve chosen to leave it to them.  But how do you, as a salesperson, know when to disqualify business that is outside your sphere of expertise?

The first thing you should do is to draft a list of your (and your company’s) core competencies. These are the things that you can reliably be counted on to do well, time after time.  Remember to include any permutations that can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory (i.e., in my case, international shipping).  This is your base of business that you sell to.  Of course, sometimes we have to get outside our comfort zone to succeed.  That’s not all bad, as long as we can produce a positive customer experience.  Here are some hints to help you along that path:

Discontinue the use of unreliable vendors, partners, or service providers.  A while back, a friend asked me to help him resolve an issue over an appliance he bought.  The appliance had failed several times in the first six months, requiring service techs to come out and fix it.  I discussed the issue with the manager, who explained that they ‘regularly’ had problems with that model. “So,” I asked, “Why the heck are you still selling it?”  I finally persuaded him that it was better business to take back the faulty appliance and trade my friend into a good one rather than to keep sending a tech out to patch it through the warranty period.

If you have unreliable products, or partners, or suppliers, make no mistake – in the customer’s eyes, YOU are the unreliable one, because you are the person that the customer spent the money with.  Discontinue those products, partners, or suppliers.

The customer wants something that you don’t do well.  Let’s be honest.  Even within our own sphere of business, we all have things that we don’t do well.  For instance, my recruiting business has been successful at recruiting salespeople – but I don’t think I’d do well at hiring a finance manager (I’ve been asked to do so in the past).  The fee would have been nice, but that’s not what I’m good at, so I passed on the business.  If a customer wants something that’s outside your sphere of competency – and you think the likelihood is low that you can produce a successful result – you’re better off passing on the business (refer the customer if you can) and keeping your relationship whole.  The worst question you can get from the customer is, “Why did you take that order if you didn’t think you could do it?

The customer wants something unethical.  Years ago, when I was in industrial sales, I had a stockroom manager who wanted a cut of my commissions in order to buy from me.  If I didn’t, he said, he’d never spend a dime with me.  That was a tough decision because it was a nice account.  I talked to another salesperson who told me to “just do it!”  My boss left it up to me (gee, thanks, boss).  I decided not to do it.  I’ve always tried to tread a fairly black-and-white ethical line, and this just rubbed me the wrong way.

My instincts were right.  Someone – not me – blew the whistle on the guy.  He was fired, and so were most of the suppliers he’d gotten kickbacks from.  I ended up getting a nice share of the business from the next stockroom manager, a good guy who played things straight.  As far as I know, my old company still sells to them.  If it looks wrong, feels wrong, and sounds wrong, it’s probably wrong.  And the reward is rarely worth the consequences.

You can’t make the customer happy.  We’ve all had accounts where, by any standard, the customer wasn’t going to be satisfied.  Some customers just like to complain; some distrust any vendor. Regardless, if you have one of those customers, you’ve got some difficult decisions to make.  A chronically unsatisfied, complaining customer can suck the life out of you, take all your time, and even impact the quality of your sales calls with other customers (because you’re preoccupied dealing with him/her).  My best advice here is, if you’re going to have one of those customers, they’d darn well better be nicely profitable.  Price your stuff to the point that it’s worth dealing with them.

What we still haven’t discussed is the elephant in the room; that’s why salespeople take on bad business. It’s simple – they do so because they don’t have an alternative.  Too many salespeople don’t have enough in their funnel to be able to turn down any business, so they spend their time dealing with post-sale problems that should have never happened.  The best defense is to be an aggressive, prolific prospector (as with many other things in sales, having a good sales funnel is the best cure).

If you’d like to improve your referral generation, read this article!

One of the most frequent complaints that I hear from salespeople is that they don’t get referrals – or don’t get enough referrals, which essentially means the same thing.  Either way, their referral generation strategy is not yielding the desired results.  Of course, when I drill down, in many cases I find that their referral generation strategy is “hope someone gives me a referral.”  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

The first thing to understand is that quality referrals are earned, not given.  You earn a referral by building trust, by building a reputation of excellence, and by generating relationships with people who are in position to give you referrals.  You don’t earn them by simply going to networking events and passing out cards willy-nilly.  Let’s look at five reasons why referrals don’t happen – and two great bonus techniques to earn them.

You’re not making deposits.  A long time ago, a very wise man told me to think of relationships – any type of relationships, personal or business – as a bank account.  If you want to be able to make withdrawals (i.e. gain any sort of rewards), you must also be prepared to make deposits.  That means that you do things to help your relationships, whether it is sending them referrals, offering advice and assistance, or other things that build affinity and trust.  You can’t make a withdrawal from an empty bank account (banks get fussy about that; I’ve tried before), so why should you be able to withdraw from an empty relationship?

Your relationships aren’t with the right people.  Nobody has time to build 100% quality relationships with everyone they meet; hence you must be selective in choosing your business relationships.  The people who are best positioned to send you referrals are, in order:  Your customers, business owners in your industry, noncompetitive salespeople who sell to your types of customers, and everyone else.  How much of your relationship-building time do you spend with “everyone else” as opposed to the top three? (NOTE – the right relationships with other salespeople can be invaluable.  Years ago, when I was inindustrial sales, I had some great relationships with other salespeople who essentially bird-dogged new developments, projects, etc. in the plants in my territory.  I did the same for them.  Much money was made.)

You’re a peddler.  Quality selling is about helping your customers purchase the right things to generate a positive result for themselves.  Salespeople who do this are most properly thought of as consultants.  On the other hand, salespeople who merely go around begging for the next order – and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it – are most properly thought of as peddlers.  Customers value and respect consultants and tolerate peddlers.  Customers refer those they value and respect.  Get the drift?  If you’re just running around asking for this week’s order, don’t expect to get anything other than this week’s order.

You need a referral.  This is where the banking analogy becomes the most apt.  As the old saying goes, one of the all-time best ways to get a loan is to prove conclusively to the bank that you don’t need it.  It works the same in selling.  If you’re asking for a referral because you HAVE to have one in order to make your numbers, it’s probably not going to happen.  Nobody will refer desperation out of fear of what that referred sales call will look like.  This is why referrals should be mixed well with other prospect generation strategies.

You’re not asking.  This is the one that stumps me the most.  When I get a salesperson who complains about not receiving referrals, I always like to ask the salesperson when the last time was that he/she asked a customer or referral partner for a referral – directly and in so many words.  Seldom do I get a good answer.  The truth is that, in sales, we only get what we ask for.  So why are salespeople so reluctant to pull the lever and ask for a referral?

BONUS: Two great ways to get referrals:  I promised at the beginning that I would give you a couple of techniques to earn referrals.  Here they are, short and sweet:

One:  Refer one customer to another.  If you want to break out of the “salesman” niche, this is a great way.

Two: Take multiple referral partners to lunch at the same time.  Facilitating new relationships always comes back to you.

Referrals are great, and they are the highest-probability source of new prospects.  But generating them takes a well thought out strategy, budgeted time, and effort on a consistent basis.  If you can do this, you will get referrals.