Punctuation Free (For a Reason)

Punctuation Free ( For a Reason)

When you look closely, there is no comma, slash, semi-colon, parenthesis or period between the title words “Sales Representative.” And that’s on purpose. You have to do both at the same time.

You have to sell but you have to represent the company simultaneously. It’s not one or the other. You can’t sell for selling sake and set unreal expectations or pound out fishy phone calls or phishy emails because then you are not “representing” the company well. Conversely, you can’t be all Kumbaya and go harvesting customers with super friendly experiences and never broach filling the unmet needs of the customer.

There is no comma, slash, semi-colon, parenthesis or period between the title “Service Representative” either.

You have to give great service but you have to represent the company simultaneously time. It’s not one or the other. If you don’t take ownership (“I don’t know why they did that in shipping..”) or apologize for real (“sorry that happened to you…what’s your account number?” ) you are leaving an awful impression as a Rep of the company. Conversely, your reliance on policy or procedure or terms and conditions do little to evoke the “service” part of a service call.

There is also no comma, slash, semi-colon, parenthesis or period between the titles of “Sales Manager” or “Service Manager” so you best know sales and service at an expert level and likewise need to know how to expertly support your people at the same time.

Punctuation between words has its place – a means often to stop, pause, reposition and separate. But if it ain’t there it ain’t there – that means when the words go together; they belong together.

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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Horrid Phrases

Horrid Phrases

Don’t know if any of you fly a lot. I kind of do – at least of late. At the airport, there is one phrase gate agents of a certain airline sometimes say ( actually proclaim over the loudspeaker) that just crushes me. It’s horrid. It makes me instantly hang my head in depression. It ruins my flight, my day and my mood immediately.

“Our flight is completely full today..”

I’m not a small man; (thankfully not ready for the seatbelt extension just yet) but Lordy, when you hear that phrase, thinking about getting into and sitting in those seats and aisles built for middle schoolers, is now horrid on a grand scale.

I think there are some other horrid phrases agents of many industries say these days that can give that same kind of instant feel of dread and depression.

“OK, let’s see what they did here..”. Are you kidding me? As soon as your client with a question hears “they”, the horridness kicks in: Oh my, you are not in charge. Oh my, I’m gonna have to talk to someone else. Oh my, I’m talking to an idiot with no authority. Oh my, this place is so big, I’m never going to get the answer.

“Can I have your phone number in case we are disconnected?” It’s 2011! The only disconnections are when someone does it on purpose. Your client or prospect is in the horrid zone immediately: Oh please, you want my number to pester me at dinner or in a middle of a meeting to sell me something with your silly outbound program. Oh please, now I’m in your database and all I had was a darn question. Oh great, they have crappy phone systems with disconnect issues, can’t wait to do business with them.

“Mark”, “Mark” , “Mark” Yeah that’s right, my first name. You say my first name more than twice in a conversation on the phone or face to face and a horrid sickness overcomes me and your customers too: Oh I get it, someone trained you to use ” the customer’s first name” often in your calls- that feels genuine! Oh I get it, you are as slick a sale rep as I’ve ever seen – you make me wanna take a shower. Oh I get it, you think using my first name a lot makes us like family or brothers and I will buy your stuff- lol!

The thing about horrid phrases is the emotions they elicit have staying power. They linger. They stick. They can even leave a lasting impression about you or your company as a brand that is as uncomfortable as seat 28B.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Real Small Biz – Good News

Real Small Biz – Good News

Go golfing when you want. Play with the kids more. Coach a team. Be around so I can act in a play. Get a new truck. Sleep late when I want to. Don’t want to be told what to do. I like my life now. I can change it up every couple of years. I could always do it better anyway. Leave an impression. Make my wife proud. I can fire my clients. Work from home. Help my brothers and their kids. Be the boss. Take control. Have some fun. Challenge myself.

“What is the good news about having your own business?” was the question.

These are the real answers by real small business people. I know because I’ve heard them say it first hand. And these answers aren’t so unique or rare. These are, when you really get down to it, what real people who own businesses say.

And now that you know that, what the heck do you have to offer that helps these people keep rolling in this good news?

Yeah, you’ve got some thinking and reworking to do. Have at it.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Bake Sale Confessions

Bake Sale Confessions

Last week at the Bake Sale I lied, cheated and deceived.

And while I kind of feel bad about it, I kinda don’t.

I did it all for charity.

And OK, I did it to prove a point too. One you need to remember.

Jeanie and I were in charge of the Bake Sale table for that hour. Sales needed a boost. It was all for a good cause – a charity that needed money to do good. Jeanie and I go way back in the sales world. We knew we needed to apply our skills. I winked, she smiled and knew what I was going to do.

One large plastic tray laying on the table had a single package of wrapped homemade cookies left in it. “$1.00 for 2 cookies” it said. A lady walked by, saw that it was the last one and ….poof!…. she bought it and it was gone. An empty tray now. A nice big empty tray. Perfect. I took 2 sorry looking single packages of other homemade cookies hadn’t sold at all and placed them along with their description and price tag in the newly emptied large tray and walked away.

Those unsold cookies looked so puny in that big tray but they also looked like the only two left in what must have been (perceptually anyway), a full spread of those cookies at one time.

What hadn’t sold at all; these 2 cookie packages – were gone in less than 5 minutes. Charity Cha – Ching!

That tray was gold. When it emptied, I placed other items ( many that were single sole items to begin with) and put them that tray tucked up against the corner looking like the last of the most popular product on the table. Disappeared they did.

On occasion, I admit I threw in a whispered “That’s the last one….” to the unsuspecting passerby while pointing to the giant tray of what must certainly look like the hottest selling treats in the Bake Sale. Folks stopped, then stared, then snagged the item and shelled out the cash.

The ultimate of course, was the single $10 raspberry pie that was always just a single pie made for the Bake Sale. I realize as I write this, that my local Priest reads this blog but I have to admit my white lies went eggshell on me and I shouted “This is THE last raspberry pie!” and placed it carefully in what had become the Solid Gold Tray of Charity. It sold right away along with my soul perhaps, to the Devil.

I’ll take my chances with the Devil because of the Cause (Rev. Paul, help me out here will ya? ). No one was hurt. And the event was something that totally outweighed the means I suspect.

It’s not rocket science; this Bake Sale behavior. It’s Psychology. We are simple, good people who act way more on emotion and peer pressure than logic. Way more than we’d like to admit. So if you mix popularity ( it must be good) with scarcity (there aren’t many left!) like the “last remaining” baked items put in that big tray – you create a recipe most people can’t avoid tasting.

It’s why we stand in line for IPhones, why we rearrange our lives in trying to get tickets for one of only two shows and why we pay high prices for the best seasonal seafood.

But it’s also why we look twice at the last products on a shelf amidst a sea of like products in a supermarket or club store. It’s also why QVC still tallies “how many left” on the bottom of the screen during a pitch. It’s why in the end, we respond so well to things that are popular and scarce. It makes us want.

I’m not advocating lying or cheating or deceiving. (OK, maybe a little for charity). But you all have products or services or even people that are truly popular and scarce. Shout it out! Find your Solid Gold Tray and place them there. Let your customers, prospects, colleagues or employer see what is so precious and rare.

From a Bake Sale, to your company’s Biggest Sale, to just Better Sales for you no matter what you sell – remember the power of the near irrestistable mix of popularity and scarcity; it’s an influence like nothing else.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Nobody Good

Nobody Good

It sticks with me; a glorious opportunity.

It was on a large conference call. The leader was talking.

“We asked hundreds of small business owners this same question about who they think of when faced with this challenge. And do you know what they said?”

(Long pause)

“Nobody”.

Wow. Nobody! That is wonderful!!

It grows wearisome to enter the market place and find that you are yet just another competitor.

It grows wearisome to plan, to process, to test, to test some more, to test yet one more time and then find out you are pretty much like the other guy.

It grows wearisome to follow the “shiny bright thing”, or to dig up “old tapes” from another company that didn’t get it right or to just chase the “short term gain”.

I don’t want to follow, dig up or chase anymore. I want to invent. I want to lead.

So when you ask an audience and the answer is “Nobody” or “I can’t think of anyone” or “No idea”, realize that that is the sound of glorious opportunity yet to be embraced.

Have at it.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Mark’s Blog

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P.S. “Nobody” is opportunity on an individual level too. Ask your team, your boss, your colleagues “Who do you look to for __(fill in the blank)__ ?” If the answer is “I don’t know”; that space is yours for the taking!

Angela’s Assist

Angela’s Assist

“What are you buying it for?”

“Oh, that’s wonderful…”

“Let me do that for you…..”

“I think you should grab a couple more…”

“That looks beautiful on you…..”

“Oh, I don’t like that one on you so much, not conservative enough…”

“You know what would really make that look sharp…. is a belt..”

“A necklace will really tie it together and show your personality…”

“You may want to grab another blouse with the 50% off promotion and mix and match this.”

“Good luck, I know you’ll get the job”.

Yep. That’s pretty much verbatim what sales associate Angela said to my 23 year daughter 2 weeks ago as we shopped for her first real business suit as she was about to interview for a customer service role in one of the largest investment firms in the world.

It was a memorable almost “wow” service experience as her mother and I watched Angela guide her through the buying process. She wasn’t pushy; she wasn’t hovering as in fact, Angela was helping two other customers at the same time.

It was however, so smart. It started with the right question. Not just “What are you buying?” But, “What are you buying it for?”

The rest of her comments and questions make smart sense. They are honest. They are helpful. They are overtly credible and said with the tone and content that she has “totally been here before”. And it was in the end, not about the suit at all – but about the goal our daughter had in mind – landing that job.

She did land that job. [Today, in fact :)]

And while the business suit Angela helped pick out for our daughter probably wasn’t the reason she got the job, it sure didn’t hurt and better, what a great lesson in customer service Angela gave her to steal from for the interview. It works on a lot of levels.

You can steal shamelessly from Angela too. Read the comments she made and the questions she asked. Think about them. Apply accordingly.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Mark’s Blog

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PS: If you’d like to see Angela in action, head to the clothing store Ann Taylor at Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, NH. I’m sure she won’t mind that I sent you there. 🙂

We Need More Boring Sales Stories

We Need More Boring Sales Stories

We need more of these. You know the boring Sales stories right?

Your Voicemail lights up. “Hi Mark, I’d like to place a new order”.
Your phone rings: “Hi John, I need to buy a car for my daughter.”
Your door opens: “Any way I can get a pool installed in 2 weeks?”
Your email pings: “Can you be the listing agent for my house?”

You never hear any of these sales stories around the water cooler or at the bar. No war stories there. Boring. Boring. Boring.

Yet these things do happen to great sales reps. You don’t hear about them though because as we’ve established, it’s um, boring – not much to see here.

Except that’s not really true.

You see, in these sales stories, someone else did the selling. Some customer was so moved by the experience with their sales rep, so amazed at the service, the follow up, the treatment, the wisdom and the sheer help, that he/she inspired friends to call, visit or ping this sales rep with their open minds and wallets.

No referral was asked for here – all the selling was done behind the scenes, unknowable to the sales rep. Hard to tell a story in which you have no idea what really happened. A real snoozer.

Best kind of sales though where the customers do the selling for you ain’t it? Bring on the boring! – Zero to close in 30 seconds!

How many of these calls, visits or emails are you getting? How many boring sales stories could you actually tell? Not enough?

Get cracking then – do what you need to do to get your customers to sell for you. Be boring all the way to the bank.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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The 3 Best Cold ( and not so cold) Calling Tips

The 3 Best Cold ( and not so cold) Calling Tips

Calling out to small business? It’s not dead. Cold calling, Warm calling, Smart calling – whatever you want to call it. It ain’t dead.

And if you do it right you can make an impression “above the clutter”, earn 20 seconds more or get that appointment or meaningful conversation going.

So let’s cut to the chase and all the quadrillions bytes of information out there (including everything I’ve written) about how to do it well and put only 3 of the best of the best out there for you today.

“45 seconds”. …..“Did I catch you at a horrible time or do you have just 45 seconds?” (Who really doesn’t- the phone was picked up (And do you realize how much you can actually say in 45 seconds?)) And what sales rep actually says “45 seconds?” (Nobody). I skipped over the greeting but you get the point. You can use “45 seconds” or “65 seconds” or heck “73 seconds” —the point is it is differentiatingly odd (attention getting), short (45 seconds is time tension goodness). Try it. It works. Oh, and make sure your 45 seconds is killer and you may earn some more time.

Local Local Local : Got a local company name you’ve done business with? Got some local customer counts of those you are doing business with? Use them right up front. All business is local (if given a choice). “Mr. Johnson, there 14 customers right there in Salem trust us already with their….”. (Credibility, Popularity, Local). It doesn’t matter if you are not local- just make sure some of your customers are.

Insight, no strings attached. Don’t always sell you, the company, the product, the appointment, the opportunity up front- sell Insight. This real example works – “I can give you 3 tips in just 3 minutes to get more sales no strings attached, just by looking at your storefront…” Prospect interested? If yes, then that is because there is a reason, a need, a gap, a worry, an ego, a dream or all of the above and THAT is more than enough to qualify as lead worth pursuing. You make the Insight make sense for your effort and lead with that. Smart sells.

By the way, these 3 tips work just as well too when “warm” calling – cross selling into new product spaces to existing clients.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Educate

Educate

Educate. It’s part of the sales process many can’t get used to.

But sales people have to do it.

Sure there’s lot of buzz and research about how prospects do all this learning online about a business before they even get to a sales person. I’ve preached that research before myself. But I’m not buying that it is entirely true hook, line and sinker any more.

I keep hearing prospects confused, unsure or frustrated about certain services or products. I keep hearing prospects so busy at work and so inundated with messaging and marketing- they don’t have time to research and learn.

If you are a company selling somewhat abstract services like money management, digital marketing, brand development, risk avoidance, sales training, marketing solutions and the list goes on – you have to understand that many prospects just really…don’t understand.

These prospects aren’t going to shout this out to you but not understanding stops any sales process or worse – prevents it from even starting.

Educating can happen with great marketing, branding or advertising but educating prospects live with real humans (i.e. sales people talking with prospects) often gets above the clutter. Face to face or voice to voice is the single most intrusive attention getting sales activity- and we must learn to better use it to teach vs. pitch.

Learn how and invest in finding ways to educate prospects first. Call to invite dozens to your live webinar. Produce YouTube videos with you explaining the marketing place and call not for an appointment but to share links with your prospects. Build education however brief into your conversations – not about your product or service but about the industry, the data, and the research – something intriguing that the prospect did not know. Offer incentives to learn; not just to buy.

If you skip the “educate” part of the sales process and focus like always on the offer, the snazzy presentations, the closing skills and the sales contest then you’ll severely limit yourself with the number of qualified leads you could have really had.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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