Got Training Request? Do These 3 Things First

Got Training Request? Do These 3 Things First

You are a Learning Professional and your client comes to you to request some training for her team.

Hallelujah, it’s good to be wanted. But don’t blow it OK? Training these days is vital – leaders need it, employees demand it and customers are begging for it.

Here’s a little help – do these things first.

Promise Nothing: Listen instead. Ask a lot of questions. Then say, “OK – let me give this a little thought ( or set up a little more time with you to learn more) and I’ll get be able to figure out what I (we) can do.” An instant “Yes, sure I can do that”( or “no, I can’t”) gets you nothing but a snapshot of you not giving much thought or care to your craft or profession. Training is complex ( and ever more so today), treat the request and the requestor preciously – for they are. When you walk away to think, (however briefly) about the request you show respect for the effort.

Make Sure It Drives Revenue First. Revenue is good. Revenue is sexy. There’s the old adage that says ” Take care of top line revenue and the rest will take of itself”. A training request that drives revenue is awesome. Help your requester and your company see it that way. There’s nothing wrong with training that drives cost efficiencies or productivity improvements except that those terms are just not as fun to toss around the classroom or the boardroom. Those efforts drive operating income and influence overall revenue and profit performance -so either way revenue is your lead story. The “Training Drives Revenue” mantra is key for you and the business. It influences all to create and deliver training with that in mind as well as coach and measure the impact of that investment. Training to “teach people to use salesforce.com” is boring ( for the business, for you and for them!). Training to “improve revenue with salesforce.com” is much better. My Training team has a belief and mantra you can steal shamelessly: We are ” A Sales Channel That Happens to Do Training.” We say it because we believe Training should always drive revenue. And, it does.

Proclaim “One and Done is One and Dumb!” 8 times out of 10, solely relying on “Event Training” is a waste of time. Get a request, design and develop the content and deliver in a 2 hour classroom training for example, and then you and the Training department disappear. That rarely works. Ensure that in the earliest conversations with the person requesting training ( I’d suggest the very first conversation) include that the most effective training often has “beyond event” attributes. These could range from an advance training for coaches, to on demand learning module sent to learners after the event training to reinforce the learning, to weekly role plays, engagements in social media, video creation or any other way to continuously educate over a period of time. Training needs to stick. Effective Training likely needs support before and after any “event’ for it to work well.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Tangibly Speaking

Tangibly Speaking

How timely.

The Cool factor for this ad? A 10. And psychologically smart too.

Kudos to the Blue Sun.

As it happens, later today I’m presenting six effective ways to teach and coach to selling products and services that are less tangible than others. The audience is a group of motivated sales leaders. One of those six ways was one I didn’t expect to see in seat 19B yesterday.

As my flight was descending into Minneapolis yesterday afternoon, I was forced to shut down (ok – hide) all electronics –so I picked up the Sky Magazine to read. I flipped through the ads for the best plastic surgeon(s?) in the world and the many lunch dating services (I would definitely need the former before I could take advantage of the latter – and um..of course, er.. not be married.), but then I fell upon on page 58. Oh Joy!

Here it was! An “in print” example of working around what many sales and service people face who try and create interest in, or sell, intangible products – It was a wonderful means to get people to actually just “try it”!

The TechnoMarine ad copy says “Lift here to experience Blue Sun on your wrist”. And there gloriously lay, a perforated cut out you could lift out and place on your wrist.

I know what the makers of Blue Sun are thinking- that it’s one thing to read about the watch and see nice pictures but to “see” the watch on your wrist? – now, that is something.

I know a “watch” is not intangible or abstract like my training focus later today but TechnoMarine knows that selling a watch in a magazine is for all intents and purposes an “abstract” timepiece trapped in a two dimensional pixilated prison. And what I know about selling abstract products and services also applies here in that you have to often “try it” or “experience it” before you make a decision or even move the sales process forward.

Pretend you are selling a financial management dashboard or a social media business portal – you have to get your clients hands on the keyboard and immersed in her screen and that dashboard a bit first –like the ubiquitous test drive. It’s akin to having that faux paper watch wrapped around your wrist to see how it fits.

What I love about the watch ad is how quickly you can experience it. Boom! Lift it and wrap it around your wrist. Easy Peasy. And there is a QR code on the back and you can learn more about it. The Blue Sun ad is like the steroid version of the “scratch and sniff” print ads.- one swipe and you’ve got the experience – but in this case you can really wear it.

The broader point is simple too. “Try it” opportunities that allow you to test drive products – even when those products aren’t super abstract or intangible like a watch or a new car, (pardon the pun) are key. They always were and they always are. In the crazy world today where we have less and less time to get our prospects attention – it’s important especially when your product or service is not crystal clear immediately, to create those opportunities when a client can “wear” it.

Keep creating those free trial apps, the Freemiums, the virtual realities and the test drives for abstract and intangible products and services. And if you ever get a chance to put a perforated cut out of your product in an airline magazine – do that too.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Scarcity Sells Yum

Scarcity Sells Yum

This picture paints a thousand words. It paints Curiosity and Interest. It even paints Worry. Best of all, it paints Urgency and Action.

I snapped this pic at my local market this week. Marinades for meat. Yum.

Wait? What the heck is that? What is in that gap? Only a few left?

Gee, must be popular. Must be tasty. Must be the best!

Almost none left. I don’t want to miss out.

I’m going to try this. I am going to get this. I’m reaching in!

Scarcity Sells.

You know this. You are drawn to those empty spaces be it at a supermarket, department store or even a bake sale.

Looking at it the other way; Popularity is contagious.

Make sure your products or whatever it is you sell, literally or perceptually, look scarce because they are so popular.

It sucks people in.

And it creates interest and action. That’s very good for business.

[By the way, the Marinade is Lawry’s Steak & Chop and it was awesome!]

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Trust Your Wince-tincts

Trust Your Wince-tincts

We Wince. And wincing is a big deal.

Think about the Wince: our eyes squint up, we squeeze our shoulders together and we wish just for that moment, that we weren’t there to see or hear whatever it is that is making us wince.

Wincing is not good. Not good at all. But it can help you figure out stuff for the better.

Sometimes bad acting will make you wince (Hugh Grant comes to mind). Some movies are 2 hours of a Wince fest (I’m still scarred by that kid movie Chicken Run a decade ago). Nick Jonas as Marius in Les Miserable 25^th anniversary show is probably this century’s greatest wince to date. But many times you wince in the marketplace or at work. That’s something we can fix.

In the marketplace you often sense in advance the wince is coming like when the store clerk says to the customer in front of you “ Do you have a rewards card?” then you wince and immediately drop your eyes to the ground. Why? Because you know what’s coming – the horrible cross sell -“Would you like to sign up for one..?” And the wincing isn’t over because its your turn now –you’re about to get the same WinceDom from the clerk. Ugh.

I wince when the waiter gets too familiar too soon and leans down and just about cuddles up next to me to share the day’s specials (just as he was trained to do I am sure). I Wince at the airport when I hear the gate agent say “And now we welcome our Delta Super Flyers, Northwest Perks Puppies, Frequent Flyer Super Dupers and Platinum Star Cadets” or whatever it is they say. It’s so rote and boring and there are just so many titles that it is meaningless and downright embarrassing. I also wince when I hear at the end of a phone call; “Have we met all of your needs and are you satisfied with your experience with me today?” This is a Wince slap no matter how I feel. Ugh. What do you think I’m gonna do if I’m not happy? Pick a fight? Just tell me “Thank you for your business” and let me go.

I’ve come to think that Wince is a very good word and tell for uncomfortable sales and service. It’s a great descriptor and is great for identifying those moments that need real help and that need to be fixed because wincing is very truthful. You have a hard time faking or making up a wince on the fly – It’s just the way it is. Those moments you wince in any experience are called Wince Points.

Wince Points are no fun. We should make them go away.

What about you? What are the Wince Points for you? When you listen to your colleagues over the wall or listen to client interactions remotely, or along side a sales rep in the field; what makes you wince?

I wince with my eyes squeezed shut when I hear stuff like “I’m calling just to check in…” or “We have 1/2 off anything new if want something”. I wince when I see vendor slides that begin with their credentials and not what they’ve learned about me first. I wince when I see 10 bullets on a WebEx, hear a dog barking in the background in a virtual meeting, see an unchanged automated invitation to me to connect on Linked in, read emails with suggested times to meet but no indication of time zone and I wince when someone tells me to consider then earth when deciding whether to print this document just to name a few more.

Wince Points are everywhere.

Focus on the winces. And trust your “Wince-tincts”. They are truthful and honest moments. Make a plan, create a process, get a training or get some coaching to help get rid of the winces.

If it makes you wince, there is something wrong with that moment. Don’t fight it, just go and fix it.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Stumped

Stumped

Nobel Prize winning Psychologist Daniel Kahneman said “The remarkable thing about your mental life is that you are rarely ever stumped.”

How interesting. This little quote has roiled around in my head for a month. Can’t shake it.

Think about how true it is. Heck, I’m gonna do this or I’m gonna do that. Or goshdarnit, I’m going to do nothing! Bottom line is most of the time, I know what I’m gonna do. And most of the time we make judgements and decisions in a flash and rarely are stumped or stuck in a quandary.

I read Kahneman’s quote in the Heath Brothers latest book called “Decisive” ( big thumbs up from me). The book has some compelling methods to help us all make better decisions of course ( if we ever allow ourselves to be stumped) but that’s for a later blog or two.

Lets just chat a bit about the stumped thing. Stumped is what I think we should be more of. Here’s why:

When was the last time you talked to a prospect, did some great discovery, built credibility and commonality, talked pain points and said, ” You know, you’ve given me some things to think about and I’m not sure exactly what the best thing to do is, let me get back to you in a couple of days.” Answer? Never. You’re in sales, you’re never stumped and you and I both know it.
When was the last time you launched a project to tackle a problem and didn’t pretty much have the answer already embalzoned in your brain about what you think is the right solution? Way less than you think. You’re not stumped. No Never. Not you. You can, like nobody else, see the future clearly.
When was the last time you didn’t judge, label or categorize someone you just met because you were so comfortable with “waiting and seeing” what this person was really about? Not often enough. You’re never stumped when it comes to giving an opinion on the new person even if you just give that opinion to yourself.

The you here is me ( and yes, likely you too).

I’ve pitched an idea or a solution well before I knew what I should really do – I should have been stumped. I’ve launched a project ( just this week as a matter of fact) tackling a problem that I am brazen enough to think I already know the answer to, until my LEAN mentor smacked me upside the head and said “You need to be stumped in the beginning for this thing to work.” I’ve judged someone in just 20 minutes of conversation and another in probably 30 seconds – and did it not long ago either – both are awful things to do. Not fair and frankly, stupid. Stumped is what I needed to be there and always.

Not being stumped can get us into trouble; that’s the message here. Conversely, being stumped can do some great things like impress the hell out of a customer and get them the best help possible. Being stumped can get your problem solved better because you didn’t presume you knew the damn answer. And being stumped is certainly the best way to treat people you meet all the time and to get the most and the best out of that relationship.

Stumped ain’t bad. Stumped is good. So all you people out there with the answers ( and that means you too McCarthy) quit talking to me, I gotta work these things out like I don’t have any idea.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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If You’re Confused, What The Heck Do You Think Your Prospect Is?

If You’re Confused, What The Heck Do You Think Your Prospect Is?

I spend a lot of time looking at, and experiencing training these days. And sometimes it’s clear that the things we train our own employees, like some of the products and services we sell, can be …well …..confusing. Not every service or product as everyone well knows, is tangible or simple. Some, like financial products or online marketing products can feel particularly abstract and complex.

And if it’s confusing to my Trainers when they first start to learn the products and then later for the Sales and Service people who then have to present in front of customers, do ya think it might be that much more confusing for prospects and clients when they are first are approached or exposed to these things?

And if you’ve ever read anything in this blog before, you already know that confusion kills sales.

Here are 3 ways to alleviate that confusion when you represent a complex product or service:

Teach your Sales people to teach. Get past the idea that sales of complex or non tangible products / services begins with the pitch. It doesn’t. It begins with the teach. It’s OK to build teaching into your sales cycle despite the fear of lengthening the sales cycles. You aren’t lengthening the sales cycle – you are starting earlier – you have to. It’s OK to get all your sales people to a level where they become experts with online webinars under their belts, with killer LinkedIn pages and Twitter followers who look to them for as much insight as they do for what’s on sale.

3’s: Everything in 3’s: The mind is not wired to remember more than 5 numbers, let alone 5 points. If you have a service for example that manages your online marketing spend then even if it has 12 steps to get started, it should sound like “…Only 3 key steps to getting you started. In the first step we’ll interview you around 3 important areas like……. Then after that, we get to tackling 3 areas of your current website like…..” You get it. “3” sounds simple. Simple eases tension and sales can keep on moving.

Analogies: Nothing simplifies better. Are you a marketing consultant? Nope, you’re a marketing GPS that gets the business to the destination of 25% more customers. Are you a website developer? Nope; you are building an automated employee that works 24 hours a day taking orders and that never sleeps. Think hard about what you sell or service and find that perfect analogy that makes it click and stick.

This blog is not complex but I kept it to 3 points. More than that and it gets confusing who the heck wants to read that?

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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7 Things Your Prospect Won’t Tell You

7 Things Your Prospect Won’t Tell You

Whether I, your prized business prospect, is calling you or picking up your phone call, there are things I just won’t tell you.

1) I used to be in sales too. You’d be surprised how many of us decision makers started out, or are still in, sales. And I can still smell a trial close, a rotating yes and min/max close from 50 feet away. Don’t use tricky closes on me.

2) Don’t make me feel stupid even for a second. I know my world very well – not your world and if you make me feel like I’m an idiot presuming I know or like your acronyms, buzzwords and fast talking pitches- I’m gone; I’ll just go to your competitors website and read and email- – that way no one has to talk to me.

3) Tell me what everyone else is doing. I hate to admit this sometimes even to myself but I do want to know what my competitors or even my industry is doing lately and haven’t had any time to dig in. But I’m not about to go ask you — yet I wouldn’t mind hearing it if you wanted to just shout it out. Am I missing out on something or some trend?

4) I know more way more about you than you think. I’ve been to your website; I’ve Googled your reviews. Heck I’ve Googled you and saw you on LinkedIn and Twitter (or didn’t- and what does that mean?) I may have seen a few opinions about your company on Twitter already. So don’t waste my time with the basics about yourself – I got it. I called you because I want something more than the internet can give me.

5) I don’t expect much from you. I just never know if you really work for this company I am calling or am getting called from. Are you a contractor, an outsourced support, brand new employee, who knows? I don’t have high hopes but if you can assure me quickly you know what the heck you are doing then maybe I’ll listen.

6) I’d rather do nothing. Seriously, I hate change. I wish everything I do today would just work better. Change is costly, risky, takes forever it seems and I am busy enough already. I won’t tell you that of course. I’d rather just flat our say no or compare you to someone else or put you off but honestly; doing what I do today is just easier. If you can’t make me do something “different” and get me to get off the dime and essentially hate what I am doing today- then don’t bother.

7) You’re 7^th on the list. I respect you dear supplier but my family, my boss, my colleagues, my customers, my pastor and my pets all come before you my trusted partner. Nothing personal- you can be very valuable to me but everyone else here is getting something for Christmas next year just so’s ya know.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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No Fear in 2013

This is the year to quit being afraid. Let’s start with these 7.

Don’t fear having to memorize all your product specs and prices. What matters is you remember how the darn thing helps them do what they really want to do.
Don’t fear social media. Embrace it. More people, customers and employees talking to each other is way better than silence.
Don’t fear the so called demise of the offline marketing world. I don’t know any business that is moving totally away from it. Blend is always the key. In fact, that integrated offline/online mix might get a little more attention than it used to these days.
Don’t fear the board game. It’s OK to make eye contact with your kids now and then.
Don’t Fear the Reaper. Classic tune. Have a Listen. I heard they played at my High School way back in the early 70’s. Yup they did.

Don’t fear going back to school. In fact, everybody should be in school. If you are not dedicating to learning something new at least an hour a day at least (and I don’t mean watching or reading “news”, timelines or posts) you are behind your competitors tomorrow.
Don’t fear Neuroscience and Neuromarketing. Get into it. How you think, why you think the way you do. Why your clients and team react to things the way they do is important to know . As someone once said… “Just because it is your brain, doesn’t mean you know what it is doing”.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Are You Scroll-Worthy?

Are You Scroll-Worthy?

I have a colleague, someone I also consider a friend, who said something recently that I just can’t shake.

“If I have to even scroll down a tiny bit to get to the end of a post, I usually won’t do it. I have other things to do.”

“What about my blogs?” I asked. “Are they Scroll -Worthy?”

“Not all of them.” he smirked.

Is this what we’ve come to? Is this Scroll thing (or lack thereof) the new thumbs up or down about the value and intrigue of your content?

Forget about views and impressions I guess, it takes almost no effort “scroll” but now it must be earned? Is being “Scroll-Worthy” now a measure of success?

My friend says he’s not alone; that others feel the same way about the scroll. What else does this mean?

That being on the first page of Google results is great – but you better be above the “scroll”???
That you’d better be more thoughtful about how large the picture is at the top of your blog post is because you may not get a single swipe??
That you need to march out there and protest the smaller IPAD mini and the death of PC’s and large monitors because your content needs more time to be seen and deemed Scroll Worthy?
That Eye tracking glasses are next for all and forget the scroll issue – just looking down and left to right will some day need be earned?

With this post at just 306 words, I’m praying it stays above that scroll line dear reader, so you needn’t pass judgement on the quality of this post. I used to think the fact that you just viewed the post was a sign of worthiness but alas if if I could get you to just scroll a bit….

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Up With Update, Updated, Updating

Up With Update. Updated, Updating

I heard about a company a while back that instructs its employees never to say that their computers are running slow. Instead the representatives say “Our systems are updating….” or “We’re in the midst of updating our systems, it will just taking a moment longer…”

Nice touch. Smart too.

We all have system issues at times. And usually yes, there’s some updating going on be it a new release or upgrades or what have you that slows things down.

The point is the caller on the other end of the line is feels less tension, more confidence and more patience when they hear systems or computers are being “updated” rather than being “slow”.

The use the word “update” even in the On Hold process:

“Let me put you on hold to get the most updated information.”

Way better than “Let me put you on hold to find out” or “to figure it out” or some other underwhelming phrase. “Updated” shows how bleeding edge you are keeping up with things and striving for that up-to-the-minute accuracy.

I suspect “update” has other uses in your world. It sounds fresh, smart and on top of things. Heck we live by the word with our smart phones and tablets as an incredibly necessary thing to be on top of those “updates”.

Have a look around. Update your language a bit. Don’t underestimate the value of your customers feeling a bit more comfortable and confident when working with you.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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