coaching

5 Oddly Wonderful Things to Say to Customers

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They are only “odd” because folks don’t say them too often.   And they are “wonderful” because well……just read on, and I’ll tell you.

  • “I just came out of a Training class on….”  We rarely say this yet many of us attend training regularly in the classroom or online.  We think it is a sign of weakness that we had or went to…um.. a training.    Our clients want to know that you are getting training because heck,  maybe you are getting smarter about them.   And even if you didn’t go to a recent training,  our clients want to know that you read that book on small business marketing trends or that other one on customer loyalty.   Smart sells.  Wicked Smart sells even better.  You have to share it.

 

  • “I Love You…”  Ah yes, warm and fuzzy for sure but I say, why not?  Why not say “I love you” but tie it to a good reason?  “John, this is such a pleasure.  I love to talk to 5 year plus customers because you know the marketplace and you know us….” Or “I love to talk with customers who take the time to give us feedback, I know how busy you are …”.   Love is a word customers don’t expect to hear, at least from a partner or supplier.  And unexpected love is a very cool thing.

 

  •  “Guess which one is the most popular these days?”  If you want to improve your chances of a client or prospect listening well or listening longer to your presentation (or even a conversation), you should embed survey-like questions early into the experience like “What % of retailers do you think would say “keeping returning business is more important than getting new business?”” or “Which do you think most retailers prefer, this or this?”  You make the call on the question but do two things; draw out the answer so you insert your value proposition,  and then if you don’t believe me that this works,  read the bestseller Made To Stick (Heath Bros) and take a look at the evidence supplied on page 89.  Folks will pay attention longer to see if they are right or just to know what the right answer is.  Find a way to conversationally add this to your client facing meetings and contacts and more sales will ensue.

 

  • “You can trust our business with your business…”  This is obviously a B2B thing but 10 years ago I pitched this phrase as something we could and should close phone calls with or have on business cards or ( and these were really new then): emails!  etc. etc.  I have never forgotten it and always wanted to make it part of our customer experience but we haven’t done it just yet.   Now I have proof that this would work –  Have a look at this Roger Dooley article at his Neuroscience Marketing blog  and learn about the real evidence supporting in “10 Words That Build Trust”!  Then, tell me why you wouldn’t want to say “And as always, you can trust our business with your business, have a great day!” 

 

  • “Here’s what I want you to do..”.    It’s a rare day that we sales and marketing folks send out samples or emails or catalogues or brochures or links and ask any customer/ prospect to do anything.   The most we often eek out is “Have a look and if you have any questions let me know” or “I’ll give you a call next week and you can let me know what you think.”  Ugh.   Be specific and give instruction.  “Have a look at page 3 and circle your two favorites” or “Watch the video and jot down two things that you want more information on as that will be my first question to you when we talk next week”.  People like to help people.  People like (most of the time) to have clear direction.  Psychologically, people will more likely keep that next meeting when there was something of detail they were supposed to do vs. just another scheduled contact.

 

There, oddly wonderful aren’t they?   Let’s make them a little less odd shall we? 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Some Rules Are Better Left Unread

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The bullet whistled right by my head, missing me by less than an inch.  

I had just one bullet left in my magazine, yet this piece I was holding could actually carry 12.    I decided I needed more.  I decided I needed to launch another barrage of gunfire to bring him down.  I reached slowly behind me to load  some bullets that had fallen out of my pocket, not knowing for sure if he could see me or not.  

I heard it coming, the second one.   Then I felt it explode into the back of my head.

Less than an hour after Church this last Sunday, I am dead.

It’s a headshot you see.  It’s how it works.  He wins.  Those are the rules. 

Well not really.  In fact, the rules written are quite the opposite of what we actually do when we break out the powerful Nerf gun blasters and conduct Living Room Warfare.

What, you say?  Doesn’t the box clearly state… don’t aim at other people’s faces with Nerf gun dart blasters?  Please.     No self respecting father with a 13 year old son would follow a rule like that.   What’s the fun in that?

Aside from the only rule I insist on which is that we both wear eye protection (only to avoid an afternoon in the ER), we believe Nerf guns were made for headshots.  We believe that Nerf guns were made for face shots and especially ear shots (which hurt nasty).  So skip the flimsy targets that come in the box and the goofy Velcro vests; you are going down with (hopefully) a foam bullet shot right to the middle of your forehead.

Here’s the real point.  And it’s a good one because I fancy myself most of the time to be a rule follower (in fact, my family frequently quotes me sarcastically “ ..Without rules, there’s chaos…”.) 

Sometimes, rules are better left unread.  

Sometimes rules not followed make it more fun, or more memorable or more special or more helpful or just…more better.  So be it lack of following all the rules for Living Room Warfare or for the Rules of Work, it does not matter;

Here are 3 other rules that are often better left unread.

Get to work on time.  Sure, it’s part of a manual, HR handout or your own sense of when to start your day, but you are in sales.  Unless you are staffing a phone with incoming calls you need to think that this is a rule to be abandoned.  You can’t get a hold of owners, CEO’s or entrepreneurs at “normal hours”.  Gotta mix it up and call later or earlier or even on Saturday.  And by the way, you will differentiate yourself from the competition in a very good way if you do it right.

Social Network on Your Own Time.  If one thinks a professional LinkedIn page, Twitter account or Facebook page is something not considered work relevant; one would be mistaken.  It is called Reputation Management and if you are a Sales person you need to have a Glowing Web Reputation to manage.  Take the time to build and be credible in the social internet spheres.  Your customers and prospects will be searching and be looking for you, who you hang out with and what you say.  “Professional” is the key here folks and in your sales space where trust is low, reputation must be high.

Employees Are Required To Take Vacation;   No you aren’t.   There’s nothing that says you can’t stop showing up at work 2 weeks a year yet be waist deep in learning new or better skills to do your job.   Wouldn’t be a waste to read 7 Jeffrey Gitomer books or every Seth Godin Book or a Jill Konrath Book or an Art Szobcek book; all of which would help you not in just work ……but in life.   If you ain’t learning, you are dying. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Lessons From A Grave Digger

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With Halloween being nearby and all the “fake headstones” popping up on people’s front lawns, I got to thinking about my first real job as a grave digger.

I learned some very important lessons that have stuck with me. There’s a lot here so be patient please.  I think they’re lessons helpful for all of us.   

Sometimes in a training session you get caught in an “Icebreaker Exercise” and are asked to share “Your first real job”.  When I was 16 and 17 years old, from the beginning of May till that September’s Labor Day, I worked at the town’s cemetery.  

When I mention it I get questions like “What was that like?”  (It was the most beautiful work place ever) “Did you really dig graves?” (No, I didn’t actually dig the graves (the backhoe did) but I did jump in, fill them and then tamp the dirt down by hand)),  or “Did you see anything bad? (Well let’s just say that after the family leaves, the “lowering” part doesn’t always go so smoothly)”.  I then quip something like “I learned a lot”. 

And I did.  And as I look back, the lessons are deep and very valuable to me.  These lessons deserve a renewed attention.  

I met a great friend in Brian  who at the end of the second summer, went on to travel the world playing horns for the musical “Showboat” on a Cruise ship.   From him I learned that if you have a dream, you have to take some risks.  This kid auditioned and got rejected way more than he was selected.  I want to work a little harder and take some risks as this year is almost over and not sure that I’ve stretched far enough.

I met a fellow worker named Jack whose dream it was that it would rain really hard so he could sit in the garage and do nothing, absolutely nothing.  He was the most miserable man I’ve ever met.  He hated his job, his life and everyone around him.  I hated him right back.  From him I learned what you become when you hate what you do and feel like a victim.  I want to remember that more when I think I’m having a tough day because unlike Jack, I refuse to be a miserable waste of space.

I met Bill, my first real boss I guess,  and I learned from him that a boss’s job is not to help you out or to “own” the business ( or the cemetery),  but rather to tell you what to do, go back the private office and have a drink.   I’m thankful my second real boss (at a department store one year later) Mr. Newman, untaught me that lesson right quick.   I want to remember more that the word “support” ought to be in my and every leader’s title literally and figuratively.

I met Mr. Sony Walkman (yes it was a cassette player walkman in those days) and learned early that listening to music all the time while working was a waste of precious time.   I put my first cassette tape in of somebody saying something smart instead of singing way back then while mowing grass in “A” block.   I want to spend more time “listening” to smart people and starting tonight will listen to that stuff while on the treadmill instead of Led Zeppelin.

I met Mr. Job Satisfaction.  This one is a tough one.   It’s a lesson harder for me to apply as often now as it was then.  There was a great feeling then of a job well done when you finished your day and saw that grass you mowed was now perfect and those headstones were neatly trimmed.  It was an awesome feeling.    In what I do today (and for some of you too); those immediate results and rush of knowing you did your job well or helped someone isn’t always as easy to see.    I bet a lot of folks on my staff struggle sometimes here too, so I want to work harder at finding and articulating the results of the work we do.

Lastly, the greatest lesson I learned stemmed from having the privilege to meet police officers, soldiers, nurses, leaders, business owners, mothers, sisters, brothers and fathers; heroes all.   Some had been at the cemetery for years and some came to stay for good those two summers I worked there.  I knew even then as a “know it all” teenager that I owed them good work, my attention and for the veterans, a crisp clean flag on Memorial Day.  The deepest lesson didn’t sink in until having watched nearly every day while on my lunch break sitting at the edge of the trees, a typically older person drive up with flowers, water and garden tools.  He or she would spend the next two hours standing or sitting, talking aloud and landscaping the grave site of what had to heartbreakingly be a husband, a wife or on occasion, a child.         

I learned then that those were the people I was working for.   Those were the people my work helped and made a real difference to.   You can whine about co workers, job conditions, bosses, your walkman, job satisfaction or anything else you want but if your job is to help someone else, that’s pretty much the most important part of what you do.    Those visitors every day showed me that, and for the rest of those summers, I worked for them. 

Those customers or employees you help everyday.  Those are the people I suspect you and I really work for.  Those are the people you and I help. 

I want to work a little harder remembering that and that’ll be good; it’s probably the best grave digger lesson of all.  

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

My Great Pumpkin Lesson

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I carved a pumpkin for the first time in my life Sunday.  Truly, I never had before.

My young son was feeling sad that he had not yet carved a pumpkin this year with Halloween being right around the corner and all.   He’d carved pumpkins with his mother before, but he wanted to carve one with me.

I was a little nervous about it.  I know that sounds silly.  My son said, “Daddy, it’s easy, you can do it.”

It is something many or perhaps most other people have done.  I never have.  No real reason I guess;  I grew up in the city and maybe that has played a part but I’m also not an artist and it sure looks like it would take one to make a pumpkin look any good.

“I’ll draw the face on the pumpkin for you, Daddy.”  He said.

I worried about the knives but he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll take the little one and you can use the big one.”

I honestly (and please don’t laugh too loud) never thought to think what was in a pumpkin and how making it hollow or carving it out must be something that is hard to do.  “It’s full of squishy seeds and stuff and we need a bowl to put it in…” he said.  He was right; it wasn’t as solid I thought it would be.

We cut and scooped out the pumpkin.  “You do this section Daddy, you are stronger, scrape it all out.”

And then… Oh…what a face he drew!

I carved and sculpted and shaped the face.  “Careful not to push on the holes while you carve the other holes” he said.  Great advice.

I had so much fun.  I loved it.  It looks really cool and very scary.   “You did a great job Daddy.” He said.   I was all smiles.

Something about carving this pumpkin meant more to me than I expected.

I thought what a great teacher my son is.  He eased my fears and took control when he needed to.  He helped me through all the tough parts and even praised me.  But in the end gave me something so much more wonderful that I did not readily see it.

He was, in the carving of this pumpkin, being the teacher to me that I want to be, for him.

Later that day on the long ride back to his mother’s house, he put his hand in mine and said “Thanks for carving my pumpkin with me Daddy.”

No son, thank you.

Till next time,

Grow the Business.

Mark

Dear Business Owner

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Dear business owner,

It’s sketchy out there.

But you know that.  It’s been like this for a couple of years.  In my job, I get asked for advice about the marketplace and about business and about turning things around.    

Hope it’s OK I’m going to share my advice with all of you now.  The advice is real good I promise.

  • When you own a business today, taking a lot of risks probably feels crazier than ever.  Except that it’s not.  Risk taking right now is what you have to do if you want your business to survive and thrive.  It is riskier right now not to do anything or to just do what you always did.

 

  • When you own a business today, you have to step out.  Be noticed.  Look for new ways, not old ways, to sell your products and to get and keep customers.  The rules have already changed.  The basics you might think you should fall back on: the “tried and true” so to speak, are pretty much the “tried and failed”.  They don’t work anymore.

 

  • When you own a business today, you have to be indispensable to those who pay you. You have to add value and be a difference maker.  There is no “under the radar” anymore or just trying to keep on keeping on.  You must get on the radar.  

 

  • When you own a business today, even the “givens” don’t seem to be as reliable anymore. Sales are off.    Everyone is judging you no matter how long you’ve been at this game in this tough economy.    Seems like the “business” has to be earned all over again and again.  Everyone is watching you and all your touch points need to have a “wow” factor. 

 

  • When you own a business today, it’s clearer that innovation and creativity is going to rule the day.  Getting out there and doing that and actually investing in yourself, changing and updating your image and your brand, that’s going to take some serious work.  You better start now.

 

Of course, even if you don’t own a literal business; you actually do.

That business is you.

You are president and CEO of You Corp and quite frankly, the advice above is as much for you and me the individual, as it is for any traditional business right now.

Have at it. 
Till next time,

 

Grow The Business.

Mark

The Great Sales Training Debacle

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Great sales training feels like a colossal waste of time.

Who needs it?  Why bother?  Everybody knows you won’t do it.     

Think two or three smart steps ahead in managing an account?  Skip it.  It’s what you must do but the vast majority work on it hard in training class, get jazzed about why it’s so important to do and then, well …”It’s a lotta work man to be strategizing all these accounts and it’s bad enough I gotta update all this stuff in saleforce.com, update that pipeline..…”

Practice or maybe even write out different scripts for voicemails or phone calls based on your objectives and your client research?  Yeah right.  It’s essential stuff but after class most people never write or practice another script cuz’ “Hey that takes time and I gotta pound out some calls…”

Quit selling the damn product and start selling you or your company first?  Ha!  Thirty minutes after that truism most sales reps are slamming “limited time” pitches or stupid “How happy are you with your current supplier” questions trying to get the widget in the client’s hands.   I see it all the time; everything’s gotta get sold like within 30 seconds of talking to a customer or prospect.

What the heck is wrong with people?

Lazy is what it is.  The work after a sales training is just too hard I guess.  

You sales leaders aren’t off the hook either; most of you ignore or don’t actively support that you have to see sales behaviors change first before the sales results change.

The good news is all the laziness sure keeps us sales trainers and sales writers busy though.  Busy is good.

**

Offended?  Don’t be.  If you are reading this, chances are good you’re in a group that gets that great sales training means there is more hard work after a sales training class and not less work.    

Bet you know someone though going to sales training who doesn’t realize this.  Help them understand this mess about sales training and maybe your sales quota next month won’t be expected to carry them.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

The Beginning Sticks

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The four brothers will be together again next week.  It’s been a while.

One’s flying in from New Zealand, another GreyHounding it from Manhattan and the third, well he’s local just like me.   And though we are all in our 40’s now, we’ll act like a bunch of 9 year olds (as we always do) when we get together at Mom’s house.

Because in the beginning, that’s what we did.  And the beginning really sticks.  Being all roughly two years apart, it was those middle school years, it was then that we truly bonded and for lack of a better word; brothered .

So sure our kids will be in tow and our wives and significant others will share in the fun next week but without doubt the youngest, most hyperactive and colossally immature crew will be the four of us.

We’ll settle into a hilariously silly game that will drive my 77 year old mother crazy (as she doth protest too much yelling “Knock it off!” whilst stifling chuckles).  Foam coasters will Frisbee around the living room chair to chair as we see how long we can play catch without dropping a coaster or worse, getting caught by Mom in the act of throwing them. 

And yes, we’ll try to hold the laughter in like giggling 4th graders every time it flies just out of her sight (or better yet, just behind her head as she walks back and forth from the kitchen).  Couch pillows will tumble, table lamps will teeter and spouses will hang their heads in embarrassment as we four being much older now, risk grave injury diving off that recliner to make the incredible catch to keep the game alive.

Because that’s how we were in the beginning, and getting together so many years later, it’s no use, we are going back- the beginning sticks.

**

You won’t think I’ll go from flying coasters to flying planes but I will.

Sullenberger landed that plane in the Hudson and he called upon all that training, all the experience and all stuff from the very beginning, from his “earliest days” he said, to land that plane the best he could.   He even called it “primacy”, those times in the beginning.  He did later what he knew from earlier, much earlier, because the beginning sticks.

Those flight attendants didn’t call out the emergency announcements they were most recently were trained on at US Air but rather,  they shouted out the ones they learned years and years ago when they first started out with another airline.  They did later what they knew from earlier, much earlier, because the beginning sticks. 

**

You won’t think I’ll go from coasters to cockpits to some counsel but I will. 

The beginning sticks.  It sticks no matter if it’s about something as ordinary as how 4 brothers bonded with their Mother in a living room, or if it’s about the extraordinary first days of training of a pilot and crew.   The beginning sticks and therefore it matters. 

The beginning sticks is a reminder of how important those first instructions are to help a child hold a bat or how to start that diary or how to deal with the loss of a pet.   The beginning sticks translates to business too and is a reminder of how important your new hire classes are, your on boarding programs are, your mentoring is or those first few initial team meetings or even those early team outings are.

It’s just a plain ol’ reminder about how sticky the beginning is of just about anything important.  

Don’t look past the beginning.  Prepare for it.  Do it right or do it fun.  Or do it both right and fun.  Because how ever you do it, it’ll stick.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

From The Red Book

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I carry a little red book around with me.  I write things in there that I like, I hate, I worry about or get excited about.  I bet you all have a little book or notepad too.

I looked through it over the weekend.   These strike me as things I want to write more about, support or rail against, or just plain share and do something more with. 

How about you?

  • I hate that human condition that drives online business reviews. Have a problem and you rant online no matter how little the issue.  Skews everything. Totally unfair.

 

  • I doesn’t matter much if you have the newest tools or software on your desk (like a new CRM for example) if you have no desire to change your routine or results to begin with. 

 

  • Listening is cool.  But If you can’t get your client to talk to you, what the heck is there to listen to?

 

  • Coaching is hard.  Coaching to stats, processes and order entry is easy vs. coaching to communication, selling and service skills.  That latter will grow the business and former will give you the chance to do it.   

 

  • It’s only a matter of time before what’s credible on the internet matters more than that something is in fact, on the internet.  And that time is very soon.

 

  • Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and all the rest haven’t changed us.  We have always loved, and needed a network of engaged, trusted friends and colleagues.   That need has always been there; it’s the tools that keep changing.

 

  • Glen Garry Glen Ross is simply the greatest sales movie ever and is Jack Lemmon’s best performance. The language is rough but the Mamet writing is priceless.

 

  • Ever notice on Mad Men how they have to sit the prospects down in the 60’s and explain in detail what marketing and advertising is in order to sell it?  Well we gotta do the same thing somehow these days when we sell online marketing.  It’s still kinda foreign to people.

 

  • Service Reps have the most satisfying job in the world.  You pros here know what I am talking about.

 

  • Open ended questions are so overrated unless you have some trust established; otherwise it’s just offensive. 

 

  • Adult learning theory continues to be disproved over and over again as weak.  It’s about “what” is being trained that matters, not the learning “style” of folks. ( Just as I suspected :))

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Kill all Leads, Commissions and Sales Reps

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I’m done with these three.

You should be too.  It’s tough because I worked them, fed my family with them and have been one for a lot of my life.

But I don’t believe anymore in what we call these three.

We need to change the names of these things.   It would do us wonders on so many levels.   Bad names can hurt what people think about you.  Bad names can hurt what you think about yourself.

And I’m done with that.

**

Leads.  Ugh.  Please, this is word is the worst offender.  “Give me the leads”.  “The leads stink”.  “I need more leads”.  The word “leads” just reeks of a faceless commodity. 

Change the word to “Needs”.  Every lead is really a person or people with a need.  And every Need has a solution or a way it can be filled.  A Need is customer focused.  A Need is something to rally around.  A Lead on the other hand, is blah.  A Lead is for us.  And “us” should not be the focus.

Think of what would change and how we might feel or do differently if:

Leadflow becomes Needflow. Lead Management becomes Need Management. Lead Generation becomes Need Generation.  Isn’t that better?

Commission. An ugly heinous word in sales don’t you think?  A word so commonly hated that many companies go out of their way to advertise that their sales pros are not paid on something so ghastly as to be called “commission”. 

Let the Commission Plan become a Mission Plan that “rewards” behaviors and results.  “Commission” the word, disappears and “Rewards” becomes the lead story.  “Rewards Pay” details not what portion of a sale price goes to a rep but what portion is added to the reps pay as a reward for behavior or results. Semantics?  Yes, my point exactly.

“Rewards” the word doesn’t sound like a “take” or “cut” or an “added cost” to a client ( or to the sales rep).   Rewards are awarded by the boss or the company for a mission accomplished well.

Think of what would change and how we might feel or do differently if:

Commission payout becomes Rewards payout. Higher Commissions become Higher Rewards. I work on Commission becomes I work on Rewards.  Client Commissions become Client Rewards.  Isn’t that better?

Sales Rep:  Ah….. the almighty fearful title.  For at least 60 years people have tried variations to hide or mask or those two words.  Nobody it seems wants to be called a Sales Rep.  No doubt you’ve heard or have been an “Account Executive” or a “Territory Manager” or a “Sr. Business Development Mgr” and on and on….. all the while being um…..well, a Sales Rep.

Truth is, the name “Sales Rep” sucks.  It has always sucked.

It’s not customer focused, it’s company focused.  It’s not broad sounding, it’s narrow sounding.  It’s got one of the most stereotyped images around of greed, neglect and selfishness.

The new name is simple. 

Help Rep.

Help.  It’s what any true sales rep really does anyway.  Help fill a need.  Help fix a problem.  Help make something better. Help you feel happy or organized or in control.  Help you grow your business. Help you run your business.  

Think of what would change and how we might feel or do differently if:

You walk into a Macy’s store and you talk to a Macy’s Help Rep, or walk on a car lot and talk to at Toyota Help Rep, or call Deluxe Corp and get a Deluxe Help Rep.

Maybe all the Help Reps fly in for a big Help Conference in Chicago called the Big Help.   Maybe there Help Contests for the Help Reps.  Maybe you get better and better at Helping vs. better and better at Selling. 

**

Pretty simple stuff these changes are to make.  And if we just do it I swear we could change a little bit of the world.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Assume He’s Earned It

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That moment stayed with me all week while vacationing in Maine for a few days last week. 

He shuffled slowly, eyes riveted on the beach, his elbow tended by his middle aged daughter as he made his way to a table at the ocean front restaurant. 

He looked well into his 80’s or even into his 90’s, and I had a passing thought that maybe this beach was just one of many he’d seen in a lifetime as a civilian and perhaps as a Serviceman.

But it was what the younger gentleman dining alone said that struck me.  He broke from eating, stood and pulled out a chair for the elderly man and when the daughter mouthed “Thank you” the single diner said  “He’s earned it.”

“He sure has” the daughter beamed. 

The lone diner had no idea what this man had done to “earn it” and nor did I.  But the point is that there was an assumption that he had.

Giving help this lone diner so simply reminded me, was something not given out of pity or helplessness or ignorance or obligation but rather, out of assumed respect for the person. 

That’s a lesson we need to hear more of it seems to me.  There are some assumptions we need to change.

I grow worried that in business (and elsewhere in our lives) there’s a “prove to me” perspective too many of us take when meeting or working with people for the first time.  That we as sales people and managers and trainers sometimes approach prospects and existing customers, as well as new and veteran employees,  as people that need to earn the chance to be “worthy” of our time, our work, our humbleness and our help. That the help we give is a magnanimous gift on our part vs. help being given simply because it has already been earned.

It’s not that the old man in Maine may have served our country or done something great to “earn it”. Who the heck knows what he’s done but the presumption should be more often than not, that we are privileged to help people vs. the other way around.

  • Assume before calling on this prospect that she isn’t inexperienced just because her business is new but rather that she’s a 20 year business veteran now branching out on her own.   Assume that and you’ll do all the research required before you visit or call and be in a far better position to provide real help.
  •  Assume that this new hire class has collective sales experience like no other class before (as in this economy without a doubt they do).  Assume that and giving the “What Sales is Really All About” speech might change to real help in the form of a selling workshop fostering discussion about how to sell in a sketchy economy.
  •  Assume that the owner you are talking to also does most of the selling for his company.  Assume that and slamming in 4 product pitches or 3 trail closes isn’t the help you’ll give today. 

 

You can add your own new assumptions about each member of your staff or the customers in the territory you just inherited or the leader you now report to.  Just make sure the assumptions are that they’ve already “earned it” because chances are they have.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark