marketing

Great Gifts For Sales People

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4 Gifts Your Sales People Need This Year

This one is for all the sales leaders and coaches out there….

Looking for that perfect little something for your salespeople this year?    Look no further.  And no worries, I checked this list twice.

Hands Free Gift Cards:  Instead of adding more for your sales persons’ hands to do next year; take something away.  Entering orders in 7 systems, 3 tracking sheets, 2 CRM’s and the partridge in the pear tree isn’t selling.  That’s called data entry.    Sales people need to read and think and speak and sell and then read and think and speak and sell some more.   I get the efficiency and information gathering piece and you do too.  But I know there are gifts out there, be they tools or  support that can take some burden off the hands.  More Hands Free = More Sales.

25- $5 Expired Scratch Tickets .   Ah…. the joy of wishing and praying and of hoping the luck comes in will be dashed (Holiday pun intended) when you hand over these 25 expired loser tickets.  It’s one of the better gifts for sales people because even though it is downright mean, it’s a great message that that kind of good luck don’t work no more in sales.  Every scratched ticket does not get you closer to a winner, that’s for sure.  Same for unconscious dials & smiles!  Sales is not about spraying (or scratching) and praying!

A Coaching Promise.  No -, a real one!  Not the same old coaching you do all the time – you know that kind right?  The kind where you talk about the numbers and say cool stuff like “What are you going to do to hit those numbers?”  or” “I’ve noticed a decline in your performance lately, What’s up?” conversations.  Heck, Siri can coach like that.  I mean a coaching promise on the “How” to hit those numbers.  I mean a coaching promise that has you show, preach, teach and demonstrate how it’s done.   Real Specific, Real World and Real Time means Real Sales.

A Stronger Point of View:   I don’t mean yours, I mean your company’s.  Selling today is less and less about discovery and digging and probing and uncovering the darn needs of a prospect.  It’s more and more about being attractive.  Sales people need the powerful story; the powerful differentiators and the powerful point of views that attract prospects to the sales rep and into the conversations – not push them away.  Boiler Room & Glengarry Glen Ross are so 90’s – it’s 2013 and the world’s a lot smarter, a lot less trusting and just plain different now.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark.

 

Small Business Naked

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I’m not one for craft fairs. But I went to one recently and learned some awesome things.

Normally attending a craft fair, even if it is to only walk through as a courtesy to the organization running it, is worse for me than a visit to (gasp!) a mall.

Add the hustle of the Holidays and hundreds of sugar amped children screaming for Santa (fueled undoubtedly by the 4 tables of chocolate baked goods for sale) and I’d frankly rather drive ingots into my eyes.

But a couple of weeks back, I spent 45 minutes walking through one and it hit me hard.

These folks are Small Business Naked.

There’s no hiding in a storeroom or behind a “Closed” sign or even behind some HTML code for these craft table entrepreneurs. These folks have no choice but to lay out their wares right there in front of you, with no where to hide and are totally exposed.

These folks sit or stand inches away from their hand crafted “life long passions” or their “work that pays the bills” or in many cases as you could plainly see – they stand in front of what they feel is the very definition of themselves.

These naked small business owners have to have tremendous egos and confidence and pride like any small business owner we know but also have the unavoidable stress of being assessed and judged by hundreds or even thousands of people in a compressed period of time.

“Do you like me?” is what each business owner is asking you with his or her eyes as folks walk by. Meanwhile there is no wondering about the competitive landscape. Each naked small business owner needs to only look left or right to see who and what they are up against, fighting for those dollars in the strolling public’s wallets. No where else is the competition so “out there in plain sight”- with dozens of smiling yet competitive and competing small business owners inches from and across from, each other.

On so many levels, it’s clear that these folks who purchase a “craft table” face so many of the same hurdles the traditional small business does ranging from product market analysis to production, to inventory management, to marketing, to pricing strategy, to selling skills and the list goes on.

Except for one thing – They are out there exposed for 5 or 6 hours at a time, hiding nothing about who they are and what they do. That’s an awesome thing. I know now I’ll see these fairs a bit differently; perhaps as an opportunity for me to keep learning from some of the gutsiest group of small business owners out there.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Why I Hate Disney

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It’s their employees mostly. 

I just spent three miserable days at Disney World.

I was at a Learning conference and that was great but the employees at Disney were something else. 

Enough with the eye contact!  I don’t know you and you don’t know me so quit looking me in the eyes all the time.   Let me avert my gaze at the ground or the menu or my beloved smartphone or anywhere else I’m comfortable with.  My mother used to look me in the eyes all the time – usually when I was in trouble.   I spent 3 days walking around Disney wondering what the heck I did wrong.

They wouldn’t let me open my own doors (though I know exactly how to do it and have never injured myself ) and even more rudely – after I struggled to dig out cash, uncrumbling it from my pocket to hand it out as a tip, they refused to take it.   How insulting and ungrateful.

Obviously there is lot of potential trouble brewing around the place too.  I’ve never seen more well dressed managers and supervisors walking around always checking on things.  Always ambling up, smiling and chit-chatting with the staff.  Made me nervous.  Must be a history of random guest chaos or something.  They should just go back into their offices and only get involved when someone has a complaint, like normal bosses do.

I’m not old and hardly selfless but given the number of “Mr. McCarthy’s” and “Thank You’s” I got  from the staff, I thought I was both.  I am darn proud not to be a Baby Boomer ( having missed that designation by a whole year thank you very much) and frankly I gave at the office, so I’m not sure why I remind you of your dad or what you are so gushingly thankful for.

Finally, I was appalled that I never saw a Disney employee sitting down or wearing anything but a smile.   Nobody had a chair  whether they were behind a desk, a booth, a counter or actually anywhere.   And smiling all the time? That’s just creepy.  Heck, I spend most of my day sitting down and hardly ever smiling from what I’m told.

Anyway, I heard Disney was conducting some kind of session at the conference about how they train their employees (ahem.. “cast members”).    It was supposed to be a “best in class” kind of session.  Yeah right.  Got it already.  Glad I didn’t waste my time going to that one. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Reminders

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Apple IOS 5.0 came with a new App called Reminders.   It’s pretty cool.   It didn’t come pre-populated though with any real helpful reminders about work so I thought I would do that in case you’ve forgotten.

  • Discovering needs is dead.  Creating needs is alive and well.   Big difference folks; a huge difference.   One assumes your prospect is a helpless victim of their environment, the other presumes they are definitively in charge of where they intend to go. 
  • Have you ever heard such a hue and cry for information and knowledge before?  Consumers and businesses yearn to understand social media, global marketing, internet marketing, economics, new languages, tablet and smart phone technologies and more.  Teach people too.  Teach people and you’ll corner that market and never go hungry. 
  • It’s not like it used to be anymore.   Before you ever hear from that prospect or customer they’ve been to your website and done lots of digging already (but they won’t tell you that).  When they finally get to you- you best deliver something other and better than a screen shot rehash.
  • You can choose not to have a credible or professional web presence for yourself online but that would be unwise.  Trust is at an all time low.  People, prospects, customers, partners and employers all want to see what your brand is and what you represent before they invest in you for real.    
  • You can have too many contacts, too many followers, too many fans, too many friends.  There’s a point where your influence like it or not, looks like it’s for sale or it’s too easily given away; either way – trust deteriorates, hits the tipping point and it becomes a zero sum game.
  • Be Invaluable.  Differentiate.  Simplify.   Hard to go wrong if you do those three things.  Just a reminder is all. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Email: mark.mccarthy@deluxe.com

Internal Blog: http://blogs.deluxe.com/Mark/

External Blog: https://growthebusiness.wordpress.com/

Twitter at:  http://twitter.com/GrowTheBusiness

Kids Make The Best Sales People

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Today’s post is a guest blog by my colleague,  Angie Harley.

For those of you who have ever spent significant blocks of time with children, you know what I’m talking about.  Kids are- and probably always have been- some of the best sales people I’ve ever encountered.

Now, since child labor laws exist, and we don’t sell cookies, this isn’t the next greatest idea for our business.  But, I think there are a 3 lessons we could all relearn- since each of us have this deep rooted experience from our own childhoods- from these little people.

Lesson #1: Be persistent.

My four year old has this down- see if you can relate. 
“Can I watch Megamind?”  No.  “Mom, can I please watch Megamind? “ No.  “But I said, please.” Thank you for using manners, but No.  “Why not?”  Because I said so…

Look at that- three no’s and there is still persistence.  No fear of the no with a kid- they just keep asking it differently. 

My six year old is a little better at this skill.

“Mom, if I eat all my dinner, could we go get ice cream tonight?”  Not tonight.  “Why can’t we have ice cream, it’s a beautiful day for ice cream, and I know you love the Dairy Queen?”  Good point.

See, she got the no- kept going, but look at the insertion of value statements, giving a benefit, seeking to understand the no.  Much more effective.  Be persistent, but do it well!  

Lesson #2:  Money isn’t the issue

“Mom, can I have a new game?”  We’ll see.  “Mom, this game is only $50 for the Wii, and you love to play the Wii.  We could have so much fun with this one.”  $50 is a lot of money, honey.  “Well, not if we play it every day, Daddy said your new pants cost $50 and you only wear them sometimes.”  Ugh, another point for the six year old.

You see, while money is important- it’s more about the value you get out of that money.  Don’t be afraid to ask for that high dollar sale, if there’s value to the customer, the money isn’t the issue.

Lesson #3: Be fearless of the insane.

Let’s use my four year old again- 5 minutes before bedtime.

“Mommy, I’m hungry.  Can I have some cookies?”  No, bud, it’s bedtime (what is he thinking!).

Call me a meanie, but asking for straight sugar right before bedtime is an insane question.  But, again, children are fearless when asking for the insane. Whether they know it’s crazy or not- it’s a bold, brave move to ask for the insane.  Try it, ask for that big sale, the crazy work schedule, or a day off- your fear may be the only thing in your way of a yes!

she wins another round. 

However, the lesson isn’t to pester your customers into prospects, but 

There is so much to learn, more than just the three lessons here.  So, the next time you are near a small child, pay attention to the little things they say and do to get their way.  You’ll be amazed how savvy these little people can be!

 

Angie’s Bio 

Angie Harley has a passion for learning- especially learning from the seemingly insignificant events of everyday life.  She has over 10 years of sales, management and training experience.  Angie lives in Minnesota with her husband and two sales savvy children.  She can be reached at angie.harley@deluxe.com

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Offline, Online and Flatline

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I love QR codes.

I really really do.

In our business they are the perfect marriage between online and offline marketing. A business comes to us and we print a QR code on that piece of paper that sends the consumer via their smartphone to a landing page we created for them.

QR codes link those 2 worlds together giving a business maximum exposure to grow their business. The value and effectiveness of both types of products by the way, just increased.

Perfect.

But now they’ve gone too far. QR codes are being engraved on headstones linking I guess 3 worlds together – real life, cyber life and now, afterlife. Folks literally can use their smartphone at the grave site and go directly to a memorial page online celebrating the life of the loved one.

Not sure we are getting into that business. But um, if you have any stone carving experience, give me a ring and we’ll talk. 🙂

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Customs Fail and Redemption

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Maybe it was the long drive.  Maybe it was just the thoughts of the most recent conference call that ended on our cell phones.  Or maybe it was the pressure of seeing the guns they were holding. 

 Regardless, it was failure.

Years and years of living, leading, preaching and teaching about our company’s  Transformation had just fizzled into 7 tepid words.

“….Checks and forms and stuff like that……”

That was our answer given to the Canadian Border guards to the question “So tell me, what does Deluxe do?”  when the three of us attempted to cross into Canada on our way to the Mirimichi, NB site from Groton, Ma.  

Waah.  Wah Waaaaahhhh.

After our passports were inspected, our trunk searched and our vehicle registration scrutinized, we sped away and realized immediately the enormity of our missed opportunity.

Chalk it up to what some call “primacy” where under pressure we revert to what we learned first about something years ago.  Maybe that was it.   Or chalk it up to tiredness or laziness or just plain ol’ choking when you got your chance at the plate. 

Either way it was bad, very bad. 

All week in Mirimichi we skulked from meeting to meeting and pondered the blunder.  Elevator speeches are critical and come in all sizes and in all places.  Even, we sadly learned, at border crossings.  What Deluxe Corp really does today is so much more than checks and forms and stuff like that!   How could we have dropped that ball?  What does that mean about ourselves and our next “test” whenever that is?  Will we ever recover? 

3 days and 5 hours of driving later, we had our chance.

We were crossing back over to the other side. 

Sunlight glinting off the M-16 rifles slung low by the two border patrol agents, we sat patiently at the checkpoint awaiting our turn.  Even from 25 yards away, our eyes narrowed and locked on to the men almost daring them to ask us – no not ask –interrogate us about exactly what Deluxe Corp does! 

Our turn came.  We rolled slowly forward with shoulders back, heads held high and with  military like precision slowly lowered the three car windows to proclaim as one, our company Transformation and nail this chance at personal and corporate redemption.  

“And what does Deluxe do?” asked our chiseled, square jawed inquisitor.

“We provide online and offline marketing services and thousands of other products for all kinds of businesses and financial institutions.” 

The agent nodded his head and smiled.  It made perfect sense to him. 

Was it perfect?  No.  Did it capture everything we do or can do?  Heck no.   But by golly, it was real, it was different and it was tangible.  It couldn’t be some catchy slogan, analogy or metaphor or these guys for sure would have given us a different and more personal kind of search this time.  Bottom line- We did it!   It was a lead story about Deluxe that was so so far away from just “Checks and forms and stuff like that.”

Don’t do what we did on the way up to Canada.  Be ready.  Someday someone (hopefully not with guns drawn),  is going to ask you what your company does and how you answer that can be a very big deal.  

Don’t fumble the pitch or mumble the wrong story.  It can be the difference in how well you break through to the other side.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

“Can I Help You With Anything?” (Ugh)

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My wife went to look for a dress on Friday.

 She told me about it later (must have been a commercial break as I’m not inclined to really listen to mall shopping stories) but I was so pleased to have heard it.

 As she entered the store, the associate walked up to her and didn’t say “Can I help you with anything?”  She also didn’t say “Hi, how are you?”   She didn’t say too “If you need anything just let me know”…

 What she did say was – “What brings you here today?”

[How Wonderful!] 

My wife hesitated, (it’s just harder to blurt out “I’m all set” to that question!), then mumbled she was looking for a dress and the associate smartly followed with “…for a special occasion?….”

By golly, yes she was.  Happiness and an extra large charge on the credit card ensued.  🙂

**

What a great reminder of how idiotic in sales we often are.

Shoppers who enter your store or call your phone already have an interest in something (or um….they wouldn’t be there right?).

Yet how often do we neglect to enhance that energy or fuel that fire but saying silly things like “How can I help you today?” or “Can I answer any questions for you?”

Take a lesson from the associate my wife met on Friday and instead ask “What brings you here today?” or “What prompted your call today?” 

Energy and Need propelled the shopper to walk into your store or to dial your phone, don’t drain it with inane meaningless questions – fuel it! 

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

My 25 Secrets for Selling to Small Businesses

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Since 1988 I’ve sold, serviced and essentially provided for my family via the results of my interactions with, and strategies toward in large part,  small business.   Maybe that’s you too.  Maybe you are an indepent, an employee of a large firm or even a small business selling to small businesses – no matter — this is all good for you.  

I’ve forgotten far more than I’ve learned I suspect, but here are my 25 best kept secrets for selling to small businesses. 

  1. The worst time to sell to a small business is M-F,10am to 12pm and 1-3pm.  Ain’t nobody in small business interested in doing any business but their own at those times. Work harder on the fringes!
  2. New In Business is gold.  It’s a little like a chick imprinting on you just after hatching.  Help a small business when they are starting out and they will be fiercely loyal to you. 
  3. Not every SB wants to grow! (but they sure as hell want to at least keep what they have).  Use a maintain angle.
  4. Testimonials are so table stakes now.  What you need are testimonials from someone your SB prospect knows.
  5. Surprise! Surprise!  Small business owners are or once were; sales people.  They can smell your trial closes and rotating yes’s from 100 yards away.
  6. The most important word to think, proclaim, represent and lead with when talking with a small business owner is the word “easy”.
  7. Never forget how prideful, ego laden and direct a business owner usually is about his/her business! 
  8. I’ve never said the word “small” to a small business.   Ever.  I just won’t do it.   
  9. Your price, your service, your terms and even your competition are not remotely close to the biggest problem you face with small business.  Time (and getting it) is the biggest challenge by far.
  10. Whoever answers the phone at a small business is good at customer service, great at connecting you to brother Billy and a pro at getting rid of salespeople like you.  
  11. Everyone in a small business has at least some influence in the decision.   Sorry.  Dems’ the apples.
  12. If you don’t make it easy to switch to you, you won’t get a sale. 
  13. You get to go home to your kids.  The SB owner’s kids are in the back room coloring on the folding table.  Free up their time to spend more time with family and you win. 
  14. The first step in the SB sales model isn’t discovery or introduction or greeting or any other silly thing; it’s building credibility.  That needs to be your obsession.
  15. Time is so precious that “either/or” leading questions about anything are always better than open ended questions for a busy small business owner.
  16. Your customers have customers.  If you focus your solution on how it impacts your customer’s customers then it’s a win-win and the sale is easier.
  17. “What most people do..” is the most powerful phrase in small business sales.  Use it liberally.
  18. The SB’s website and/or storefront is the “face” of the business.   You can tell a lot by just looking at someone’s face.  Do that first!
  19. I bet a killer secret- to- be in cold calling is the phrase “Did I catch you at a terrible time or do you have 90 seconds?” right after you say your name and company.  (I just learned it so try it and let me know!)
  20. Your SB’s don’t realize yet (most of em’ anyway),  that that cherished Word of Mouth is changing.  Not in value, but in the tools being used to pass that along.  Help your SB’s see the value of social media!
  21. SB’s don’t want to hear about your “8:30to 5 shift” (they don’t have no stinkin’ shift) the old small business you had (that failed) or the other business you go to “just like theirs” (their competition).  So just knock it off. 
  22. It’s not what you think, believe or analyze about your SB customer or prospect so much that matters- it’s what they think of you.  
  23. Asking for help always worked for me.  And you know what worked best? 2 sales people knocking on doors (one being a trainee).  You always got time!  People (SB’s too) like to help people.
  24. Slick, coiffed, corporate and the King’s English doesn’t fly in Small Business.  Be normal, polite and smart but don’t be everything SB’s hate in the first 30 seconds inside the door.
  25. The greatest secret to selling to Small Business? They aren’t a sale, a lead, a customer, a prospect, your commission or even a business; they’re human and would just like a little help.

Till next time,

 Grow The Business.

 Mark

Horrible Bosses

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Horrible Bosses is a hot movie of late starring the likes of Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Anniston.  

 The premise is that if your boss is horrible well um… go ahead and kill em’ (or at least try to). 

 That’s a little dangerous in the real world.

 You might get caught.  🙂

 Ah seriously, I don’t condone violence towards any horrible bosses.  Too messy. 

 Here are four other (and better) ways to deal with a real horrible boss: 

Demand he play well with others.   You know the type – the “I’ll take my ball and go home type”.  Not open to hearing concerns about your competing priorities, instead you hear “Fine, I’ll find someone who can get it done” and then you hear a click and a dial tone in your ear.   This same guy makes no effort to collaborate but rather rams his way through people.  This faux cowboy attitude is for the movies and 6 year olds.  Kidnap this guy, surround him with your posse and scream “This is your team, we work together!”

 

Force her to take a stand.   I suspect this is the most common trait of a bad boss; the fear of, or unwillingness to take a stand or pick a path or make a decision that means something.  Swamped or swimming purposely in administrivia, the boss shirks the tough calls and instead being right or wrong, she is neither and everyone suffers in a frenzied, crazy busy world of essentially nothing.  Corner her and take dead aim at imploring her to make choices!  Even wrong decisions are better than none; at least then you can learn and move on.

 

Don’t Dread on me.  She’s the one you can’t stand to see, hear or read – literally all the time.   You see the email from her and you just don’t want to read it as you know it is bad news.   You arrive in the morning and ugh, your voicemail light is on so that means she wants an answer or OMG she just walked out of her office and is walking your way hell bent to talk to you about your “improvement opportunities”.    Enough!  Does every interaction Ms. Boss have to be about something “wrong” or “bad” or “concerning”?   Grab your scepters, your hoods, walk around like the Grim Reaper and let her see what you see.  Dread is not a way to lead.

 

Unfriend him. Don’t you wish could do it more often with your friends in social media or even at home with family or relatives?  But in the world of work, this guy is the boss who saunters up beside you and says “Yeah, this new incentive plan is a stretch” or “Geez, we made this product 10 years ago and it didn’t work then…”  News flash Mr. Boss, I’m not your buddy and I am not your chum.  You’re my boss and your immature efforts to bond with me as a “friend” by back stabbing your peers is appallingly odd and makes you look weak.  And who wants a weak boss?  Collectively dismember your friendship status with this guy as fast as you can and demand a change in his status back to loner.

There you go.  Horrible gets better and nobody dies.   Not much of a movie but aren’t horrible bosses enough drama already?

Till next time,

 Grow The Business.

 Mark