selling

How Long Will This Take!!??

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WHI is an acronym and it’s the toughest we’ll ever face from prospects or customers in sales or marketing.  Ever.

WHI is always there.    WHI is everywhere.

WHI is

  • Who the heck are you?
  • How long will this take?
  • I don’t want to change.

WHI reminds us that we never really start on even ground.    We are deep in the hole from the outset.

Heck, WHI was in you 20 seconds ago at the beginning of reading this post.   Some of you thought “Who the heck are you?” and then “How long will it take me to read this thing?” And finally “Please don’t tell me what to do.”

That’s fine.  I know I’m up against WHI every time I write, every time I train and every time I sell.

It’s not insurmountable.   You can overcome WHI.   In fact you need to if you want to be successful.   The first step is remembering it’s there.

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

 

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The Most Important Question Never Asked

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Do you help small businesses in any way, shape or form?

If you do, my guess is you aren’t as helpful as you think you are – especially when that small business reaches out to you for help.

Let’s back up.   I’ve witnessed in the field (trade shows especially) and on the phones, thousands of interactions between small business owners and providers of everything from office vending services to website creation to customized printing over the years.  Nary do I hear the right kind of question asked when that glorious opportunity arises.

Usually I see or hear a face palming like fail (though few realize it till it is pointed out to them).

When that small business person inquires about a product: the sales/ service/ company rep will often say something like:

“That’s great, it’s a very popular widget as you know, is there a specific model you’ve been thinking about already?”  or  “Sure, let me fill you in – most clients choose from 1 of 3 types,  each with its set of services….”  Or  “OK – it’s time for a new vendor you’ve said – you are looking around and you are probably wondering what sets us apart…”

Ugh.  Even worse is that the above examples are trained still today as good things to say in some organizations.

Here’s how to stop doing that.  And actually help your small businesses better 🙂

When a small business owner calls you, emails you or stops by looking for some help, information or assistance, you must first ask:

“What’s happening in your business that is driving your interest in ________?”

There are variations of the above but here is the point:. Whether you represent payroll services, website development, custom printing, insurance products, widgets or trinkets;

Knowing the businesses’ motivations helps you match your product or service exactly to those motivations (improving immediate sales success) and can help you articulate any expanded portfolio ( now or in the future) of your products/services that truly help that small business. 

Here’s an example done right;

  • Prospect: – “I’m curious. I know you build widgets and I’m looking for some pricing and info..“
  • You: “Sure – let me ask you first, what’s happening in your business right now that is driving your interest in the widget?”
  • Prospect: “. Well we’ve added a whole new group of products nobody knows about yet and I’m breaking into 2 more states is the plan – so I’ve got to look a little more professional I think too…”
  • You: “Perfect.  Let’s take a look at some widgets that get your name out faster and wider and there’s a couple of widgets that give a customized look too..”

It sounds obvious.  It’s not.

It’s not about what product or service the prospect is interested in; it’s about what is driving that interest that matters.  The motivation, the challenges, the dreams and the drivers are what you must discover, remember and leverage in the selling process.

Challenge yourself, your business or your team to do better with these opportunities.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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The Most Interesting Sales Rep In The World

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The Most Interesting Sales Rep in The World

His commissions are greater than the GNP of Denmark and Finland combined.

His typical sales contest is winning first, second and 3rd prize.

He’s made The President’s Circle so often he may just run in 2016.

His Sales Manager cries softly just looking at him.

He has his own instance of Salesforce .com

He throws live objections into his sales pitches just for fun.

His business card simply says “You’re Welcome”

He is, the most interesting Sales Rep in the world.

*****

Let’s put aside the hyperbole and fun for a moment and think about what this sales person really looks like because you know he or she must exist somewhere!.  My guess is the following is true about the best sales person in the world.

She gets cold calls from prospects asking her what they need to worry about in their industry and if there’s any way she can help them.  And why shouldn’t she? She’s known for not solving problems buyers already know about but rather the one’s they don’t.

She hasn’t prospected since Thanksgiving; her customers flood her email with friends they want her to call on.  And why would she? If you are truly the best, your raving fans do so much of the prospecting for you.

She often tells clients to hold off signing an agreement because she wants to see the right infrastructure in place first to ensure the product will deliver.  And why shouldn’t she? She knows in today’s competitive global marketplace that selling often really begins after the sale.

She’s got a killer professional social media presence that is seen as a credible resource for evolving solutions and industry trends and dynamics.  Of course she does.  She gets that buyers are researching well ahead and she’ll not wait for the phone to ring or the email or lead come in.  She’s there right from the beginning.

I may not always post a blog inspired by a beer commercial but when I do, it makes you think, no?  Stay thirsty my friends.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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I Don’t Care What You Want

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I don’t care what you want.    What I do care about is why you want it.

In sales today, it is more important than ever to get after the why because it is so dang easy to skip it.

You see, buyers of all types today walk into your business, or ring your phone, or fill out that form online, or open a chat box, or saunter up to your trade show booth or  even drive onto your car lot and tell you what they want.

They do that because they’ve done so much advance research online that they know (or think they know) exactly what they want.

Some of us think that is so cool, that this internet thing is doing the selling for us and by the time the buyer comes to us in our office or in our store – it’s a done deal.

But it ain’t.  And you know it.  Never before have buyers come in droves telling you what widget they want and then walk away, don’t call back,  don’t take a sample, don’t take a test drive and just don’t buy – let alone become a long term fruitful customer.   And we throw up our hands and say “What the heck, they wanted this thing!”   Some of us think it’s because of fierce competition, or that the leads are weak, or that the same internet that drove the prospects to us is making them too choosey.

But I’m here to tell it’s because you’re so enamored that the customer knows what they want that you are likely forgetting to take the time to ask why.

  • If I know why you want this widget and what good it will do for you or what problem it solves, then I’m going to be better at articulating why my business will be the best at providing it today and in the future with additional products and services I can provide.
  • If I know why you want this widget and why you’ve chosen me to bring this request to and what inspired you to swing by my doors or ring my phone then I’ll have a better sense of what is important you in a partner or provider – not just today but in the future as I look to retain and enhance your business with me.
  • If I know why you want this widget and how comfortable you are with this technology or space and perhaps who you admire who uses this widget then I can tailor my language, my sales approach and tell stories a lot better not just today but in the future when we are working together to expand your services with me.

There’s a lot more and different why’s to get after based on what you do – take the time to think them through and apply in your buyer interactions.

The point is this: More than ever, the prospect has something specific in mind when they come to you but that does not lesson the need of figuring out, as all great sales people do, the why behind the request.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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It Comes With What? “Well La-Dee Frickin’ Dah!”

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Gotta step it up a bit folks.

Your company (or maybe it’s you) likely spends a lot of time and effort adding values to products and services that you sell.  Try not to underwhelm your clients or prospects with your lack of focus and skill in articulating them.

If you don’t give enough attention here it’s a missed opportunity to impress or differentiate.  And worse, you can blather so boringly about some of this pretty cool stuff that the client does a mental Matt Foley (the iconic Chris Farley SNL character) and is so underwhelmed they say   “Well La-Dee Frickin’ Dah!  .  Your customers may not yell it like Matt Foley in the  5 second video but they sure as heck are saying it in their heads and all that work and investment in these added values goes wasted.

Fortunately there is a better way. 

Let’s pretend whatever it is you are selling comes with and added value of say  “One hour of free maintenance per month”. You could be like most people and just say it comes with “one hour of free maintenance per month” and then and have the client conjure up the image of Mr. Foley and “La-Dee Frickin’ Dah!”  or – wouldn’t it be better to put the client in the picture here?

  • “All we ask is that once a month, you force your busy self to sit down with one of our experts for an hour and make sure the (insert product here) is running perfectly for you.”

Now let’s pretend your product purchased comes with an added value of a “money back guarantee”.  A real snoozer because while awesome, we tend to think of it as an afterthought.   You could just say there is a “money back guarantee” (like almost everyone else does) and watch the client sleepily drool a little or – wouldn’t it be better to put the client in the picture here?

  • “You expect this widget to bring in new business in and it will, but if in 3 months as you turn around and head back in from another long day on the water and you don’t feel it really has –just call me and I’ll put every dollar you spend today right back into your wallet; that’s how confident we are it’ll work.”

And finally, let’s pretend your product comes with “free fluid checks, tire rotation and oil changes for 1 year”.     In this case your product is likely a car (or a van one might park down by the river :)) .  You could just say it comes with “free fluid checks, tire rotations and oil changes for 1 year” and watch their eyes glaze over like mine do when any Friends rerun comes on or – wouldn’t it be better to put the client in the picture here?

  • “Let me worry about the car maintenance – you have more important things to do.  Before you head off this summer up to Maine or NH for vacation, bring it in and we’ll check everything from rotating tires to fluids and even change the oil – all at no charge.  We’ll do that same thing before that first snow fall or just before we do the yearly inspection.  No worries and no cost to you from now till your first anniversary with this car. “

Think about added values that surround your primary products and services.  They mean something.  In fact, sometimes they are the differentiators from your competitors.  Work hard to help your clients see themselves leveraging these added values!  Use words and phrases that elicit images and mini – movies for them; it’ll elevate the value of all your stuff across the board.   And do it in a way that if you notice, compliments them as people, consumers or as business owners.  And of course,  avoid at all costs the lack of attention that results in “Well La-Dee Frickin’ Dah!”

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Refreshingly Heartwarming

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Refreshingly Heartwarming

I sat in on a training class yesterday for a couple of hours yesterday morning.    It was heartwarming.  Odd word to use I know, but stay with me; it’s something you’d like to see all the time I suspect.

The class was essentially about a slew of new products and all that goes with that.    The trainer was pretty smart so she let the group after about 30 minutes; take some time to dive into a catalogue she made with all the new product pictures, sizes, quantities etc.

I was in the back of the room flipping through the pages myself when I heard the first “Ooohh” and then some “Ahhh’s” and then a few “Oh my gosh(es)” .   Soon the whole crew was engaged in chatter and page flipping and laughter and shouting out a bunch of “Oh look(s)!”.

I was kind of surprised and curious because this training was a lot about change and workarounds and for sure some new processes, procedures, conversions and quoting to come etc.    So I asked the group what all the excitement was about.

This is the cool part; the heartwarming part.

“My customers are always asking me for this stuff…!”

“They are going to be so happy we have this now…..”

“I’m not going to have to tell them “no” or try and do some crazy outsourcing”

“Now they can get it one place, it will be so much easier for them….”

And it went on.

“They want these quantities so badly!..”

“They are going to love what we can do with these now on both sides!”

“I had a customer last week – she would have liked this so much better..”

So it was then I realized how different this moment could have been.

It could have been easily a lot of “Thank god, it’s about time I’ve got something else to sell…!”  or the opposite in  “Great, now I have to sell something else that’ll be added to my quota..”   or “This is just more stuff we have to remember…..”

I’ve been around a while, I’ve seen all of that before and I get it.

But this was different.  And it’s a testament to these folks and their leaders and their culture.  And it’s a nod to the product and business leaders who author the changes.  And best, the reaction bodes as promising for growing the business as anything I’ve seen.   The folks in this training class have a great affinity for their customers; that is the heartwarming part.  And when they see new products – their first thought is a refreshing “I’ve got something else to help these people with….”

How awesome is that?

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

 

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Wouldn’t It Be Nice

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Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a little more free time, just maybe this one Friday, to spend with your kids?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to worry so much about being half way through the month and the pile of bills on the desk is already 8 inches high?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you felt like you could be more confident about what people thought of you?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to worry about being safe or being taken advantage of by anyone?

Wouldn’t it be nice you felt like you can’t focus on the important things because you are so darn busy?

Wouldn’t it be nice to not always pray that nobody really knows just how confused you are about some things some of the time?

 

It sure would be.

But I’m not talking about you.  I’m talking about the small business owner you.  He or she is thinking these things all darn day and you can help them.

You serve these people.  You help these people.  You love these people.

And chances are what you do and what you have helps every one of them with all of the angst they have above.

Maybe you can help them put that best face forward to the whole world both online and off- line.  Maybe you can get them more calls, more visits, more leads and more money for that stack of bills.  Maybe you can take hours off their plates with your super cool products, services or widgets so they can take this afternoon with the kids.  Maybe you can secure their payments or their business or their workers and lessen the worry.  Maybe you can help them feel it’s OK not to quite understand digital marketing or financial products or even  custom full color print because heck, you’ll teach em’.

Make no mistake.  The products you are schlepping are worth nothing.  They are silly, stupid and dumb.   It’s what they do that matters.  And further, it’s what they do emotionally that really matters.

So go out there and help these people.  Make their day.  Don’t talk about pricing and sizes and subscriptions and colors and shipping fees.  Help them take a load off and ease a bit of their burdens.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

 

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Inherently Suspenseful

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Inherently Suspenseful

The Wall Street Journal published an article touting the growth of golf on play-by-play on radio.  “So what” you say? Well, hear me out – there’s a lesson for us.

It’s true that golf on radio is growing – but that wasn’t what struck me as the most interesting point of the article.  The article touted how popular golf is on TV and  I admit I’m a huge fan.  I’ve always told people that I like to watch TV golf because it’s relaxing and frankly, being from New England, the weather is always better there than out my window.

That’s why I think I like TV golf.  But I know now that’s not the reason.

The writer of the article (John Paul Newport) said this about golf on TV,  “Television discovered that watching the little ball sail through the air for several long seconds, to land who-knows-where, was inherently suspenseful.”

Brilliant insight.

So that’s why I watch it.  It is inherently suspenseful.   And sure I like the physics and geometry of it all; playing angles and surfaces and the wind which by the way, adds to the suspense of where that little white ball is going to land.

And I got to thinking about those fleeting moments every day that are inherently suspenseful for us;  getting the mail ( what’s there?), getting an email ( what is this about?) , a comment, a poke, an update or a post ( I wonder what this is?).  And what about the scratch cards, the monopoly tickets, even the daily specials – we are suckers for this stuff.  We love small things that are inherently suspenseful.

Add up a bunch of those inherently suspenseful moments and maybe you get to be like golf on TV with some eyes watching you.  How good would that be for business?

Each Apple IOS release is inherently suspenseful ( what new features and benefits to me are there?).  Each TED series talk is inherently suspenseful (where will this go?).  These days even the smaller businesses are getting in the suspense game;  will the pizza place write out a joke inside the box cover?  Trade shows are inherently suspenseful ( what will be in the booth? What’s new?) and of course social media tools done right deliver suspense ( FourSquare, Facebook and YouTube).

Inherently suspenseful is attractive.  There’s surely a ton of great ways people are doing it today you can discover, but keep your head down and that left arm straight and look for those moments in your personal interactions with clients or in your business’s interactions and string some fleeting moments of suspense together.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Amp It Up: Prefacing Questions

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Amp It Up: Prefacing

Asking questions in sales, service or support is important.  There are a million theories, books and articles on what questions to ask. 

I don’t care about any of that today.

I’m going to give you 3 powerful tips however that will amp up the results of your questions and they take all of less than 3 seconds in a tactic I call Prefacing.

Each of these is additive in that if you apply just one tip, you’ll get better results than you do today with your normal questions  but  if you do all three – watch out, you’ll see amazing results immediately.

Preface #1: “I always ask…” Begin with “I always ask..” as a preface to your question of the customer or prospect.  Let’s pretend you are on software sales –   “I always ask business leaders if you see enough data on a daily basis to measure the health of the business…” Or let’s say you sell online marketing “I always ask owners where they think the best social media place to be to drive business.” Whatever your purpose is in asking the question is fine.  But prefacing it with “I always ask” makes you sound like you’ve been there before; that you have experience, that this is not your first rodeo.  In less than a second you’ve built some credibility in the minds of the listener and that psychologically will result in a more thoughtful answer by the recipient. 

Preface #2:  Add an Affiliation:  Remember this is additive – so for example “I always ask the CFO’s of Consumer Financial organizations if they see enough data… Or “ I always ask my HVAC folks where they think….”;  This addition is incredibly powerful – not only are you credible already by adding  “I always ask” but now you’ve imparted in just one more second,  that you know something, have talked to, have hung out with people like them in their world or in their industry.   You’ve talked with CFO’s (and even better talked with CFO’s in financial orgs) or you’ve talked with HVAC owners and understand what is happening.  Immensely powerful – your questions now have an even better chance of getting thoughtful and deep answers which translates into better sales service and meaningful conversations.

Preface #3:  Put a Number on the Questions:  This too is additive so in our examples let’s take it to the 3rd level, “I always ask the CFO’s of Consumer Financial organizations these 3 questions about visibility….”  Or “I always ask my HVAC folks these 2 questions about where they think the best place is…”  The theory is simple and powerful.  Placing a number on the questions helps lower time tension.  People are busy.  When you articulate the number of questions you are going to ask in a particular space then the listener knows when it will be over and in essence will stay focused for those questions and give you great information.   Not articulating a number can lead to that self-talk of “When will this be over?” or other distractions.  Prefacing with the number of questions needn’t be limiting.  You can easily move on to other subjects with for example “I always also ask 2 questions of HVAC folks about how hard it is to get paid quickly….”

Are the types of questions you ask important?  You bet.  Does everybody forget or not even think about the value of Prefacing a question?  Without a doubt.   In my opinion prefacing is as important as any aspect of questioning.

Here’s the beauty of today’s post.  It’s easy.  It’s less than 3 seconds of your time.  If you are in sales, service or support as a pro or perhaps a leader, or you are a business owner, consultant or entrepreneur looking to get better conversations and more business; print this thing, spend a few minutes wrapping your head around and go to it – you’ll be amazed at what you get in return.

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

 

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