• Generic business cards: Nothing says “temporary” like a generic business card. You know, the type with a blank space where your name and phone number would be. You need to handwrite your name and contact info on the card, which is made worse if you have bad handwriting.(1) If you get a job with a company that wants you to use generic business cards, you have to figure they don’t have high expectations. Management has decided to put off investing $50, until they feel better about your prospects of making it. Of course, your chances of success will be diminished by the use of the cards. What do you think of when you’re handed a generic business card? “Does this person know what they’re talking about?” “Will they be around in six months?” “What kind of company am I dealing with?”
• Gimmicks: When I sold roofs for The Home Depot I was supposed to wear an orange Home Depot apron to a prospect’s house. I never did. I wore a polo with a Home Depot logo on it.(2) But, the people that set my appointments told the customers that I would be showing up wearing the apron. I remember one time when an entire family came to the door when I arrived. They were all smiles until they noticed I wasn’t wearing the apron. Then they simultaneously frowned. They must not have owned a TV set.
• Sales results: Public display of sales results is a staple of every sales organization and completely foreign to the rest of the world. There’s a sales board displayed predominantly, usually on the first wall you see when you enter the office. The reps that are on plan, their names and numbers are written in black or green (the color of money) and a red marker is used for the reps that are deficient. Just in case the board doesn’t provide enough embarrassment, a portion of every sales meeting is dedicated to taking turns vocalizing your sales commit.(3) Nothing is more fun than waiting for your turn to speak with a sales commit of zero.
• All Hand Meetings: These are meetings that the entire sales department attends. They’re a complete waste of time. They give the managers and annoying marketing people(4)a venue to pontificate. It’s also the time when sales awards are presented. That’s fine if you’re receiving one. If you’re not, you want to throw up.
• Call blitzes: This is a sales strategy employed by desperate sales managers. They’re about as creative as a coloring book. By no means am I against prospecting, it just bugs me when a manager forces everyone to engage in an activity. If you need to be forced into cold calling, you shouldn’t be in sales. There’s usually a competition(5), and one of the worst reps invariably wins. We had one of these when I was working for the phone company. I was the only “hunter” in our department. The rest of the reps were “farmers”, which means they were account managers. Farmers don’t prospect. Of course, some guy who only left his desk when he was headed towards the vending machines or the restroom, won. He ended up with the most business cards. More likely, he robbed some restaurant’s fish bowl.
• Sales contests: If you’re on the ball, you know what you need to do and you do it. If you’re not on the ball, you have to be prodded and poked into doing what you need to do. So, who wins sales contests? Reps that need to be prodded and poked. Any good rep has a regimen, an amount of activity that they engage in each and every day. They’re not going to spike it to win a sales contest. Reps who win sales contests are like fat people who diet. Thin people don’t diet; they make it a routine to eat right and exercise.
• Action plans: Nothing’s worse than being put on an action plan. Typically, an action plan requires you to be in the office between 8:30 and 9:30 and again between 4:00 and 5:00. You need to meet with your manager daily and provide progress reports. Usually you have to cold call with your boss. This is presented as a strategy to help you make sales but it is a cloaked strategy to get you to quit. Usually, the rep being put on a plan has developed horrible work habits that can’t be corrected. For example, they routinely cold call malls and movie theatres or worse, bars and strip clubs.
(1) No matter how good your handwriting is, your printing is going to be much larger than the print on a business card. Your writing looks like Manute Bol standing next to Muggsy Bogoes.
(2) This was another indignity. Instead of The Home Depot providing us with shirts to wear, they provided us with iron on logos that we were supposed to affix to our own shirts. When I left the company, I was able to remove the logos, but they left a mark and made the shirts unwearable.
(3) Commits range from fact to fiction; from 60 Minutes to H.R. Pufnstuf.
(4) Some failed sales rep with a big personality. They routinely come up with unhelpful promotions and pricing plans.
(5) It’s even worse when sales managers have completely unrealistic expectations. They’ll always add getting a signed contract to the list of ways to score points. Like, the whole time, you were going about it all wrong. You were bothering with first appointments and proposals when all you really needed to do was pop in with a contract in hand.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Glengarry Glen Ross vs. the Tin Man; the Battle of the Two Greatest Sales Movies.
Before I start with these two gems, I’ll dismiss all the other sales movies that people mention when discussing the great sales movies.
Boiler Room:
Boiler Room is dismissed because the Ben Affleck scene is a blatant rip off of the Alec Baldwin scene in Glengarry Glen Ross (GGGR) and Baldwin’s watch is worth more than Affleck’s car. In GGGR you caught yourself thinking. “Baldwin would be an awesome salesman” then you remembered Baldwin makes 10 million a film and has more money than God and the last thing he needed to do was go on a sit. In Boiler Room, you caught yourself thinking, “why Affleck?”
Wall Street:
By the end of Wall Street, during the Gordon Gekko, Charlie Sheen bitch slap scene, you wanted to jump in and administer some De Niro type kicks to Sheen’s gut.
The Pursuit of Happyness:
Although it’s a great movie, something tells me that Chris Gardner wasn’t the perfect angel he portrayed himself to be.
A Death of a Salesman (Dustin Hoffman version):
No sales person should ever watch this movie. For the same reason that no white male should ever watch Eddie Murphy’s white people dancing routine. I’ve never danced since and after watching Death, I have a panic attack every time I can’t locate my keys.
No other sales movie is even worth mentioning.
Now the contenders:
Glengarry Glen Ross (GGGR):
For:
Possibly the greatest cast in movie (any movie) history. The cast makes the Dream Team look like an intramural team. Kevin Spacey is an afterthought in the movie and he’s won two Oscars. The cast is six hall of famers deep and the seventh guy, Jonathan Pryce, might be runner up for the movie’s MVP.
The opening scene in GGGR is right up there with the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan, and that’s without exploding bombs, warships, machine guns and fighter planes.
What’s a worse travesty, Hoop Dreams not getting an Oscar nomination for best documentary or Baldwin not getting one for best supporting actor? I stopped watching the Grammy’s in 1989 when Jethro Tull beat Metallica for best hard rock/heavy metal performance. I didn’t know it at the time, when Hoop Dreams was robbed, but still stopped watching the award show when I found out. The Hoop Dreams’ robbery was worse but you could make an argument for Baldwin.
I watched GGGR two times in a row, when I first saw it, and that was on video tape, so I had to rewind the damn thing. I’ve never did that for any movie before or since.
GGGR makes non sales people squeamish. It makes salespeople look like bad asses. If the movie wasn’t such a cult classic, people might get caught saying things like, “Watch out, that guy’s wearing a suit!”
Against:
You got three guys that obviously had some sales chops, so why would they put up with what appears to be the worst sales position in sales history…and for zero salary no less?
The Harris – Arkin dialog has more words in it than in a public library. There’s no way that Arkin wouldn’t have jumped out of the car into an oncoming semi, if it was real.
No company would hold back its best leads. What would be the purpose? So they would get old and stale and some guy across the street would pay another guy to break into their office and steal them?
The firm gives Shelley Levene one night to close, close! a sale and make him work a lead that later is revealed to be submitted by a crazy couple. He closes the sale and then Spacey’s character tells him he’ll be surprised if their check doesn’t bounce. So, the firm wanted him gone and this movie enters A Death of a Salesman territory. It’s depressing to see a guy as polished as Levene being thrown out with the garbage and that’s why every young sales rep sort of feels sorry for the old rep that shows up new to a networking group. The older sales rep is like the oldest guy in the bar. If you’re an older guy and you’re still selling, everybody wonders what went wrong.
Tin Men:
For:
Hands down, the funniest sales movie ever. Danny Devito has been in arguably the best sales movie ever and the worst sales movie ever.(1) Devito’s the best player on a championship team. His character, Tilley’s, dialog about overhead, “Why do ya need a back yard?” Picnics, “I don’t understand a picnic. We go someplace, put a thing on the ground and eat.” Taxes, “I figured they could wait a few years… it’s not like they need my money to build a bomber. You think they’re waiting for my money before they dig a new road? Are they all sitting there saying, ‘Well, it’s time we went to see that guy on Pimlico Road… can’t run this government without his four thousand dollars.’” Then there’s this scene where he discusses buying a new Cadillac:
Babowsky
“Yeah… they’re changing the body. I hear it’s a beaut.
Tilley
“Maybe I should put in my order now.”
Babowsky
“What’re you talking about? You ain’t got a pot to piss in.”
Tilley
“Give me the pot… I’ll fill it.”
The scene with Dreyfuss and the car salesman is the best illustration of how bad buyers, salespeople can be. I’ve been selling for over twenty years but have made some of the worst car deals ever.(2)
The best thing about this movie is what bothers me about GGGR. These guys are not only losing their jobs, they’re losing their industry. They sell aluminum siding; all of a sudden the Home Improvement Commission comes in, starts snooping around and takes away their licenses. Does that bring them down? No. They see a VW Bug and spot opportunity. Meanwhile, the boys in GGGR are clinging onto shit jobs like they are their beating hearts.
Against:
There’s not too much wrong with this movie. Is it too unbelievable that Barbara Hershey’s character is married to Danny Devito’s? Maybe. Do we wish that Richard Dreyfuss’s character didn’t get all soft on us? Yes.
Conclusion:
I checked both movies on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie critic website and GGGR scored a 98%. That means that 98% of the 41 critics that reviewed it, liked it. Tin Men scored a 79%.
David Mamet wrote the script for GGGR.(3) When I watched it, I imagined it was some sales lifer that broke free from the endless grind of sales and wrote one of the greatest scripts of all time, then stuck to the bastards in management. But Mamet never sold anything besides a script.
Barry Levinson wrote and directed Tin Men. His works include Diner, Rain Man and The Natural. He directed Wag the Dog, which Mamet wrote the script for.
As good as Tin Men is, it’s like the weather in San Diego. Never bad enough to complain about, but never so great that it makes you want to quit your job and live on the beach.
GGGR plays out like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.(4) There are four amazing scenes that tie the movie together: the opening scene with Baldwin, the bar scene with Pacino and Pryce, the contract scene with Pryce, Pacino and Lemon and later with Spacey, Pacino and Lemon. Those scenes are so powerful that they propel the movie to heights that Tin Men can’t hope to reach. Tin Men might be a better movie to watch when it’s the 25th of the month and you haven’t posted a single sale but GGGR is a better movie. You could make an argument that GGGR is one of the greatest movies ever made but you couldn’t make that claim about Tin Men.
Winner:
Glengarry Glen Ross.
(1) The Big Kahuna is one of the worst movies ever filmed. The whole film is shot in one room; this movie will make you more claustrophobic than a casket. The writers have no understanding of selling, which was made clear when in a pivotal scene a prospect is given the sales team’s contact info and instructed to call them. Doesn’t happen. We all know we have to initiate every conversation until our service is installed, and then the customer calls us every day to bitch us out. Kevin Spacey was also in this movie.
(2) My problem is I want to trust people. Trusting car salesmen is like trusting a coyote to cat sit for you.
(3) He also wrote The Verdict. Imagine having those two on your resume’?
(4) Dark Side has four main tracks that pill the album together: Breathe, Time, Money and Brain Damage.
Boiler Room:
Boiler Room is dismissed because the Ben Affleck scene is a blatant rip off of the Alec Baldwin scene in Glengarry Glen Ross (GGGR) and Baldwin’s watch is worth more than Affleck’s car. In GGGR you caught yourself thinking. “Baldwin would be an awesome salesman” then you remembered Baldwin makes 10 million a film and has more money than God and the last thing he needed to do was go on a sit. In Boiler Room, you caught yourself thinking, “why Affleck?”
Wall Street:
By the end of Wall Street, during the Gordon Gekko, Charlie Sheen bitch slap scene, you wanted to jump in and administer some De Niro type kicks to Sheen’s gut.
The Pursuit of Happyness:
Although it’s a great movie, something tells me that Chris Gardner wasn’t the perfect angel he portrayed himself to be.
A Death of a Salesman (Dustin Hoffman version):
No sales person should ever watch this movie. For the same reason that no white male should ever watch Eddie Murphy’s white people dancing routine. I’ve never danced since and after watching Death, I have a panic attack every time I can’t locate my keys.
No other sales movie is even worth mentioning.
Now the contenders:
Glengarry Glen Ross (GGGR):
For:
Possibly the greatest cast in movie (any movie) history. The cast makes the Dream Team look like an intramural team. Kevin Spacey is an afterthought in the movie and he’s won two Oscars. The cast is six hall of famers deep and the seventh guy, Jonathan Pryce, might be runner up for the movie’s MVP.
The opening scene in GGGR is right up there with the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan, and that’s without exploding bombs, warships, machine guns and fighter planes.
What’s a worse travesty, Hoop Dreams not getting an Oscar nomination for best documentary or Baldwin not getting one for best supporting actor? I stopped watching the Grammy’s in 1989 when Jethro Tull beat Metallica for best hard rock/heavy metal performance. I didn’t know it at the time, when Hoop Dreams was robbed, but still stopped watching the award show when I found out. The Hoop Dreams’ robbery was worse but you could make an argument for Baldwin.
I watched GGGR two times in a row, when I first saw it, and that was on video tape, so I had to rewind the damn thing. I’ve never did that for any movie before or since.
GGGR makes non sales people squeamish. It makes salespeople look like bad asses. If the movie wasn’t such a cult classic, people might get caught saying things like, “Watch out, that guy’s wearing a suit!”
Against:
You got three guys that obviously had some sales chops, so why would they put up with what appears to be the worst sales position in sales history…and for zero salary no less?
The Harris – Arkin dialog has more words in it than in a public library. There’s no way that Arkin wouldn’t have jumped out of the car into an oncoming semi, if it was real.
No company would hold back its best leads. What would be the purpose? So they would get old and stale and some guy across the street would pay another guy to break into their office and steal them?
The firm gives Shelley Levene one night to close, close! a sale and make him work a lead that later is revealed to be submitted by a crazy couple. He closes the sale and then Spacey’s character tells him he’ll be surprised if their check doesn’t bounce. So, the firm wanted him gone and this movie enters A Death of a Salesman territory. It’s depressing to see a guy as polished as Levene being thrown out with the garbage and that’s why every young sales rep sort of feels sorry for the old rep that shows up new to a networking group. The older sales rep is like the oldest guy in the bar. If you’re an older guy and you’re still selling, everybody wonders what went wrong.
Tin Men:
For:
Hands down, the funniest sales movie ever. Danny Devito has been in arguably the best sales movie ever and the worst sales movie ever.(1) Devito’s the best player on a championship team. His character, Tilley’s, dialog about overhead, “Why do ya need a back yard?” Picnics, “I don’t understand a picnic. We go someplace, put a thing on the ground and eat.” Taxes, “I figured they could wait a few years… it’s not like they need my money to build a bomber. You think they’re waiting for my money before they dig a new road? Are they all sitting there saying, ‘Well, it’s time we went to see that guy on Pimlico Road… can’t run this government without his four thousand dollars.’” Then there’s this scene where he discusses buying a new Cadillac:
Babowsky
“Yeah… they’re changing the body. I hear it’s a beaut.
Tilley
“Maybe I should put in my order now.”
Babowsky
“What’re you talking about? You ain’t got a pot to piss in.”
Tilley
“Give me the pot… I’ll fill it.”
The scene with Dreyfuss and the car salesman is the best illustration of how bad buyers, salespeople can be. I’ve been selling for over twenty years but have made some of the worst car deals ever.(2)
The best thing about this movie is what bothers me about GGGR. These guys are not only losing their jobs, they’re losing their industry. They sell aluminum siding; all of a sudden the Home Improvement Commission comes in, starts snooping around and takes away their licenses. Does that bring them down? No. They see a VW Bug and spot opportunity. Meanwhile, the boys in GGGR are clinging onto shit jobs like they are their beating hearts.
Against:
There’s not too much wrong with this movie. Is it too unbelievable that Barbara Hershey’s character is married to Danny Devito’s? Maybe. Do we wish that Richard Dreyfuss’s character didn’t get all soft on us? Yes.
Conclusion:
I checked both movies on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie critic website and GGGR scored a 98%. That means that 98% of the 41 critics that reviewed it, liked it. Tin Men scored a 79%.
David Mamet wrote the script for GGGR.(3) When I watched it, I imagined it was some sales lifer that broke free from the endless grind of sales and wrote one of the greatest scripts of all time, then stuck to the bastards in management. But Mamet never sold anything besides a script.
Barry Levinson wrote and directed Tin Men. His works include Diner, Rain Man and The Natural. He directed Wag the Dog, which Mamet wrote the script for.
As good as Tin Men is, it’s like the weather in San Diego. Never bad enough to complain about, but never so great that it makes you want to quit your job and live on the beach.
GGGR plays out like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.(4) There are four amazing scenes that tie the movie together: the opening scene with Baldwin, the bar scene with Pacino and Pryce, the contract scene with Pryce, Pacino and Lemon and later with Spacey, Pacino and Lemon. Those scenes are so powerful that they propel the movie to heights that Tin Men can’t hope to reach. Tin Men might be a better movie to watch when it’s the 25th of the month and you haven’t posted a single sale but GGGR is a better movie. You could make an argument that GGGR is one of the greatest movies ever made but you couldn’t make that claim about Tin Men.
Winner:
Glengarry Glen Ross.
(1) The Big Kahuna is one of the worst movies ever filmed. The whole film is shot in one room; this movie will make you more claustrophobic than a casket. The writers have no understanding of selling, which was made clear when in a pivotal scene a prospect is given the sales team’s contact info and instructed to call them. Doesn’t happen. We all know we have to initiate every conversation until our service is installed, and then the customer calls us every day to bitch us out. Kevin Spacey was also in this movie.
(2) My problem is I want to trust people. Trusting car salesmen is like trusting a coyote to cat sit for you.
(3) He also wrote The Verdict. Imagine having those two on your resume’?
(4) Dark Side has four main tracks that pill the album together: Breathe, Time, Money and Brain Damage.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Selling Is A Lot Like Attracting Women
Okay this article does not apply to sales women, but sales men will understand. Selling is a lot like attracting women. There’s no harder time to meet a woman than when you are without one.
When you’re alone and wanting, you reek of desperation, and that works like woman repellant. The same holds true in sales. If you need a sale like nobody’s business, prospects drag their feet, they don’t return calls, seem to always be in meetings and stand you up on appointments. They ask you to email proposals; they get fixated on price and then, all of a sudden, drop off the face of the earth.
When you really, really want a girlfriend and some girl unknowingly agrees to a date, she instantly becomes your future wife. You try too hard, you stop looking at women, you call too often, talk too much; you tell your friends about her, tell your mom about her, you’re pathetic.
When you’re six weeks into a new sales job and haven’t made a sale and some prospect unknowingly agrees to a meeting, you practically build a shrine honoring that company. You talk about it in front of your manager, your coworkers, your girlfriend or wife(1) and your friends. You unnecessarily involve support staff.(2) You stop prospecting. All your phone calls are directed to one person.
And what happens just about every time? That girl picks another guy(3) and that prospect goes with another sales rep's proposal.(4)
Unfortunately, the rich get richer and you’re left holding your proverbial sales dick.
Do yourself a favor. If you’re in a new sales position or if you’re in the midst of a prolonged sales slump, and someone you’re calling on agrees to a meeting, get greedy and make another call.
(1) In some circumstances, your wife and your girlfriend.
(2) I once had a sales engineer travel with me from San Diego to Orange County to meet with a prospect to discuss a single dial up Internet account. Oh, the good old days, when the Internet was slow.
(3) Probably some guy cheating on his wife.
(4) Probably with some sales rep that has already qualified for President’s Club.
When you’re alone and wanting, you reek of desperation, and that works like woman repellant. The same holds true in sales. If you need a sale like nobody’s business, prospects drag their feet, they don’t return calls, seem to always be in meetings and stand you up on appointments. They ask you to email proposals; they get fixated on price and then, all of a sudden, drop off the face of the earth.
When you really, really want a girlfriend and some girl unknowingly agrees to a date, she instantly becomes your future wife. You try too hard, you stop looking at women, you call too often, talk too much; you tell your friends about her, tell your mom about her, you’re pathetic.
When you’re six weeks into a new sales job and haven’t made a sale and some prospect unknowingly agrees to a meeting, you practically build a shrine honoring that company. You talk about it in front of your manager, your coworkers, your girlfriend or wife(1) and your friends. You unnecessarily involve support staff.(2) You stop prospecting. All your phone calls are directed to one person.
And what happens just about every time? That girl picks another guy(3) and that prospect goes with another sales rep's proposal.(4)
Unfortunately, the rich get richer and you’re left holding your proverbial sales dick.
Do yourself a favor. If you’re in a new sales position or if you’re in the midst of a prolonged sales slump, and someone you’re calling on agrees to a meeting, get greedy and make another call.
(1) In some circumstances, your wife and your girlfriend.
(2) I once had a sales engineer travel with me from San Diego to Orange County to meet with a prospect to discuss a single dial up Internet account. Oh, the good old days, when the Internet was slow.
(3) Probably some guy cheating on his wife.
(4) Probably with some sales rep that has already qualified for President’s Club.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Dos of Selling:
• Answer your phone. I knew reps at the phone company that would let a customer’s call go to voicemail instead of answering, because they didn’t want to deal with an unhappy customer. If you don’t answer the phone, all you’re doing is prolonging the problem and creating stress. Customers will appreciate being able to get a hold of you.
• If you can’t answer the phone, return calls promptly.
• Call a prospect more than one time. You need to make a certain number of calls to make a sale but that doesn’t necessarily mean first time calls. Why is it sometimes that someone you called in the past, ends up buying from one of your coworkers?
• Give a firm handshake and look a person in the eye.
• Listen. If you’re talking, you’re not listening and if you’re not listening, you won’t be selling.
• Always have a next step. If you're on a first appointment, always set a next appointment before you leave. If you're proposing, schedule a time to follow up. If you don't have a next step, your sale is dead.
• Be proactive. Don’t wait until a problem or a situation arises. Try to prevent them from happening.
• Develop a sense of urgency. Don’t think about doing something, do it. This might be the most important key to success in sales.
• Create “to do” lists and check off items after you complete them. Trying to remember everything you need to do creates unnecessary stress.
• Quote install charges. It’s a rookie mistake to automatically waive installs. That action stems from a lack of confidence. There are two possible outcomes to quoting an install charge: the customer asks that it be removed and you make a sale or they pay it and you make more money. If it stops them from buying, they weren’t likely to buy anyway. If you don’t quote an install charge, you cheapen your product or service and you leave nothing to negotiate.
• Follow up. If you make a proposal, follow up on it until the prospect agrees to buy or tells you no. Do this in a professional manner - don’t call too often and when you do reach the prospect, get to the point. I keep a business card in my pocket for every prospect I gave a proposal to and call them when I have some down time. Keeping the cards handy jogs my memory. Note on the cards when you called and what was discussed.
• Smile. People like people who smile. It’s disarming and humanizing; prospects will treat you better if they perceive you to be a person, not just a sales person.
• Ask for the sale. The only way to uncover a customer’s objections is to ask for the sale. Objections aren’t always valid and can be easy to overcome, unless you don’t know them.
• If you don’t get a sale, thank the prospect for the opportunity. Unless you were attempting to sell a casket to dying person, there will always be another time around. You never know, the company that did win the sale might drop the ball. That and the prospect will appreciate your professionalism.
• If someone provides you with a referral, act on it right away and keep the person who gave it to you up to date, as to its status. If someone provides you with a referral and never hears back, they’re going to be less likely to provide you with another.
• If you can’t answer the phone, return calls promptly.
• Call a prospect more than one time. You need to make a certain number of calls to make a sale but that doesn’t necessarily mean first time calls. Why is it sometimes that someone you called in the past, ends up buying from one of your coworkers?
• Give a firm handshake and look a person in the eye.
• Listen. If you’re talking, you’re not listening and if you’re not listening, you won’t be selling.
• Always have a next step. If you're on a first appointment, always set a next appointment before you leave. If you're proposing, schedule a time to follow up. If you don't have a next step, your sale is dead.
• Be proactive. Don’t wait until a problem or a situation arises. Try to prevent them from happening.
• Develop a sense of urgency. Don’t think about doing something, do it. This might be the most important key to success in sales.
• Create “to do” lists and check off items after you complete them. Trying to remember everything you need to do creates unnecessary stress.
• Quote install charges. It’s a rookie mistake to automatically waive installs. That action stems from a lack of confidence. There are two possible outcomes to quoting an install charge: the customer asks that it be removed and you make a sale or they pay it and you make more money. If it stops them from buying, they weren’t likely to buy anyway. If you don’t quote an install charge, you cheapen your product or service and you leave nothing to negotiate.
• Follow up. If you make a proposal, follow up on it until the prospect agrees to buy or tells you no. Do this in a professional manner - don’t call too often and when you do reach the prospect, get to the point. I keep a business card in my pocket for every prospect I gave a proposal to and call them when I have some down time. Keeping the cards handy jogs my memory. Note on the cards when you called and what was discussed.
• Smile. People like people who smile. It’s disarming and humanizing; prospects will treat you better if they perceive you to be a person, not just a sales person.
• Ask for the sale. The only way to uncover a customer’s objections is to ask for the sale. Objections aren’t always valid and can be easy to overcome, unless you don’t know them.
• If you don’t get a sale, thank the prospect for the opportunity. Unless you were attempting to sell a casket to dying person, there will always be another time around. You never know, the company that did win the sale might drop the ball. That and the prospect will appreciate your professionalism.
• If someone provides you with a referral, act on it right away and keep the person who gave it to you up to date, as to its status. If someone provides you with a referral and never hears back, they’re going to be less likely to provide you with another.
Friday, November 13, 2009
26 Sales Activities
Are you in a sales funk? Here are 26 different sales activities that you could involve yourself in, to get your selling motor running:
1. Prospect – walk into 20 new businesses a day.
2. Make follow up calls – calling the business cards collected while prospecting.
3. Follow up – calling on companies that you made proposals to.
4. Telemarket – phone call prospects.
5. Network – activity in networking groups and associations.
6. Recruit vendors – call on vendors that provide products or services that compliment yours, that could refer new business to you.
7. Foster existing vendor relationships.
8. Follow up visits – go to businesses you’ve visited in the past, but with a contact name.
9. Call on property managers and commercial leasing agents – they can provide you with a different avenue to reach customers.
10. Visit existing customers to assure customer satisfaction and to obtain referrals. Customers can always become repeat customers.
11. Conduct building events – work with property management in large buildings to be allowed to set up in the lobby or go suite to suite with marketing material. I used to give away donuts.
12. Find a mentor – some older businessman that could mentor you and act as a center of influence, to help you acquire new business.
13. Join a Chamber of Commerce.
14. Join Toastmasters.
15. Set up a business blog.
16. Email prospects.
17. Join a leads group.
18. Join another leads group.
19. Join the Elks.
20. Join the Knights of Columbus.
21. Conduct a sales blitz – pick one day every week to make cold calls non-stop, for at least four hours.
22. Visit every business in a business park, in one day.
23. Call or visit businesses that you lost sales to – check how things went with the other provider. It’s always easier to talk to someone when there’s no sale pending. Maybe they’ll use you next time.
24. Attend local trade shows and business expos.
25. Join a business park association – all business parks have associations and some meet once a month. Join one and use it as a way to market to the businesses in that business park.
26. Join a business or professional association – No matter what the industry, there’s probably an association that caters to it. It’s a good way to rub elbows with potential customers.
1. Prospect – walk into 20 new businesses a day.
2. Make follow up calls – calling the business cards collected while prospecting.
3. Follow up – calling on companies that you made proposals to.
4. Telemarket – phone call prospects.
5. Network – activity in networking groups and associations.
6. Recruit vendors – call on vendors that provide products or services that compliment yours, that could refer new business to you.
7. Foster existing vendor relationships.
8. Follow up visits – go to businesses you’ve visited in the past, but with a contact name.
9. Call on property managers and commercial leasing agents – they can provide you with a different avenue to reach customers.
10. Visit existing customers to assure customer satisfaction and to obtain referrals. Customers can always become repeat customers.
11. Conduct building events – work with property management in large buildings to be allowed to set up in the lobby or go suite to suite with marketing material. I used to give away donuts.
12. Find a mentor – some older businessman that could mentor you and act as a center of influence, to help you acquire new business.
13. Join a Chamber of Commerce.
14. Join Toastmasters.
15. Set up a business blog.
16. Email prospects.
17. Join a leads group.
18. Join another leads group.
19. Join the Elks.
20. Join the Knights of Columbus.
21. Conduct a sales blitz – pick one day every week to make cold calls non-stop, for at least four hours.
22. Visit every business in a business park, in one day.
23. Call or visit businesses that you lost sales to – check how things went with the other provider. It’s always easier to talk to someone when there’s no sale pending. Maybe they’ll use you next time.
24. Attend local trade shows and business expos.
25. Join a business park association – all business parks have associations and some meet once a month. Join one and use it as a way to market to the businesses in that business park.
26. Join a business or professional association – No matter what the industry, there’s probably an association that caters to it. It’s a good way to rub elbows with potential customers.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Sales Management
Not many sales managers are great sales people. I’ve had over a dozen sales managers in my career and I can only think of two that had any previous, prolonged success in sales and who could offer me any decent advice.
Most sales managers had a single period of success that they leveraged into a management position. Their success was more of a case of being in the right place at the right time; they couldn’t tell you how they did it and knew they had to get out of sales while the getting was good. So, they transitioned into management and became managers. They became very good at processing paperwork, creating spreadsheets, tracking sales, making sales projections, communicating new policies and procedures, filling out commission reports, and everything else sales managers do. What they might not do is motivate and inspire you, help you on appointments and close sales.
If you’re a sales rep you pretty much need to figure out things for yourself. Unless your manager was a sales rep for the same company and sold the same services you do, he or she is not going to be able to offer you much practical advice.
What you should expect from your manager:
• Help you resolve internal issues that impede your selling
• Help you resolve internal issues that delay your installs or product deployments
• Help you resolve commission disputes
• Help resolve sales disputes with other sales people
• Help you get better pricing or anything else that might help your product or service match up better against the competition
What you shouldn’t expect from your sales manager:
• To find opportunities for you
• To close sales for you
• To know some secret that will make you successful
When you get right down to it, you’re better off with a world class administrator and diplomat than an ex hot shot salesperson for a sales manager. You should be self motivated and sales isn’t nuclear physics.(1) You shouldn’t need a sales manager to push you or tell you what to do. You need them to take care of shit so you can get out and sell. You also need them to deal with all the internal b.s. that can make you want to want to shoot a staple into your eye.
There are four ways your sales career can go:
1. You’re lousy at sales, you get fired or quit and are forced to find a different vocation.
2. You experience success and then land a promotion into management.
3. You work hard, achieve success and then fuck up somehow, like getting caught having sex on your manager’s desk, get fired (2) and have to do it all over again somewhere else.
4. You are great at sales and keep selling and making money until you’ve had enough and call it quits.
Don’t get caught up in wanting to manage. Managers and sales people are two completely different people. Sometimes, when you’re good at sales, you wonder how so and so, who you outperform month after month, can get promoted, when you seem stuck in the endless grind of sales. That’s because a manager can spot another manager and you’re more valuable to your company when you’re selling. Feel better in knowing that when layoffs come around, so and so will be let go long before you will.
I spent the first part of my career clamoring to get into management. I didn’t appreciate sales as a career; didn’t think there was any dignity in it. Felt that if I didn’t get out, I would become pathetic, schlepping products into my old age.(3) Then I made it. I was hired to manage a team of inside sales reps at a cable company. I had to deal with twelve different personalities on a daily basis. I had reps that couldn’t talk their way out of a night club. I had reps that blew smoke up my ass, told me how they were going to work hard and then went back to their desk, played computer solitaire and talked shit about me. I had a rep that papered his cubicle with Navy Seal photos when he was never in the Seals and didn’t look like he could swim.(4)
I was making good money and the job wasn’t very demanding. The incentive plan was so good that management could leave the reps alone for the day and they would stay at their desks and work.(5) I’m not going to lie; I would still be there today if I didn’t decide to commit career suicide by exchanging emails with some company plant and lose my job.(6) But, there’s a big difference between having control vs. depending on others. If you’re a talented sales person, you’re probably a lone wolf type; you might not enjoy all the cajoling required in a sales management position. Instead of management, I say, stick to what you’re good at. Seek more and more professional sales positions that offer higher pay, more responsibility and better commissions.
(1) Sales requires more effort than brain power. Actually, intelligence can get in the way. Dumb people don’t think about the odds against success and how stupid it is to walk cold into a business and expect them to listen to you.
(2) Or worse, they keep you around, cut your territory in half and double your quota.
(3) Probably not a good idea to read Death of a Salesman when you’re in sales.
(4) Weird thing is, he had more than one of the same photo pasted up on his wall. He seemed harmless but I wouldn’t want to be around if something pushed him over the edge.
(5) That happened. All the managers were sent to opening day at the baseball park and I think the reps were even more productive that day.
(6) I found out half way through a Hawaiian vacation.
Most sales managers had a single period of success that they leveraged into a management position. Their success was more of a case of being in the right place at the right time; they couldn’t tell you how they did it and knew they had to get out of sales while the getting was good. So, they transitioned into management and became managers. They became very good at processing paperwork, creating spreadsheets, tracking sales, making sales projections, communicating new policies and procedures, filling out commission reports, and everything else sales managers do. What they might not do is motivate and inspire you, help you on appointments and close sales.
If you’re a sales rep you pretty much need to figure out things for yourself. Unless your manager was a sales rep for the same company and sold the same services you do, he or she is not going to be able to offer you much practical advice.
What you should expect from your manager:
• Help you resolve internal issues that impede your selling
• Help you resolve internal issues that delay your installs or product deployments
• Help you resolve commission disputes
• Help resolve sales disputes with other sales people
• Help you get better pricing or anything else that might help your product or service match up better against the competition
What you shouldn’t expect from your sales manager:
• To find opportunities for you
• To close sales for you
• To know some secret that will make you successful
When you get right down to it, you’re better off with a world class administrator and diplomat than an ex hot shot salesperson for a sales manager. You should be self motivated and sales isn’t nuclear physics.(1) You shouldn’t need a sales manager to push you or tell you what to do. You need them to take care of shit so you can get out and sell. You also need them to deal with all the internal b.s. that can make you want to want to shoot a staple into your eye.
There are four ways your sales career can go:
1. You’re lousy at sales, you get fired or quit and are forced to find a different vocation.
2. You experience success and then land a promotion into management.
3. You work hard, achieve success and then fuck up somehow, like getting caught having sex on your manager’s desk, get fired (2) and have to do it all over again somewhere else.
4. You are great at sales and keep selling and making money until you’ve had enough and call it quits.
Don’t get caught up in wanting to manage. Managers and sales people are two completely different people. Sometimes, when you’re good at sales, you wonder how so and so, who you outperform month after month, can get promoted, when you seem stuck in the endless grind of sales. That’s because a manager can spot another manager and you’re more valuable to your company when you’re selling. Feel better in knowing that when layoffs come around, so and so will be let go long before you will.
I spent the first part of my career clamoring to get into management. I didn’t appreciate sales as a career; didn’t think there was any dignity in it. Felt that if I didn’t get out, I would become pathetic, schlepping products into my old age.(3) Then I made it. I was hired to manage a team of inside sales reps at a cable company. I had to deal with twelve different personalities on a daily basis. I had reps that couldn’t talk their way out of a night club. I had reps that blew smoke up my ass, told me how they were going to work hard and then went back to their desk, played computer solitaire and talked shit about me. I had a rep that papered his cubicle with Navy Seal photos when he was never in the Seals and didn’t look like he could swim.(4)
I was making good money and the job wasn’t very demanding. The incentive plan was so good that management could leave the reps alone for the day and they would stay at their desks and work.(5) I’m not going to lie; I would still be there today if I didn’t decide to commit career suicide by exchanging emails with some company plant and lose my job.(6) But, there’s a big difference between having control vs. depending on others. If you’re a talented sales person, you’re probably a lone wolf type; you might not enjoy all the cajoling required in a sales management position. Instead of management, I say, stick to what you’re good at. Seek more and more professional sales positions that offer higher pay, more responsibility and better commissions.
(1) Sales requires more effort than brain power. Actually, intelligence can get in the way. Dumb people don’t think about the odds against success and how stupid it is to walk cold into a business and expect them to listen to you.
(2) Or worse, they keep you around, cut your territory in half and double your quota.
(3) Probably not a good idea to read Death of a Salesman when you’re in sales.
(4) Weird thing is, he had more than one of the same photo pasted up on his wall. He seemed harmless but I wouldn’t want to be around if something pushed him over the edge.
(5) That happened. All the managers were sent to opening day at the baseball park and I think the reps were even more productive that day.
(6) I found out half way through a Hawaiian vacation.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sales Titles
I was speaking to a woman today and when I asked her if she was a sales person, she informed me that she was a Business Development Manager.
I’ve been in sales for over twenty years. In my first job, I had the following titles: Sales Representative, Senior Sales Representative, Sales Specialist and Retail Sales Representative. At the next company I worked for, I was a Consultant, a Data Specialist, an Account Manager and a Senior Account Executive slash Hunter. I’ve also been an Account Executive, a Sales Consultant, I’ve been in New Business Development and once I was a Senior Account Executive slash free.
My point is, during this whole time, I did one thing: Sell.
Why all the different titles?
Because somehow “sales” became a dirty word (probably after half the population made a bad car deal) and someone had the brilliant idea to re-title ourselves. Meanwhile, does anyone really care? I just looked through about a hundred different business cards I’ve collected from the networking events I’ve attended. “Business Development” seems to be the “Isabella” of trendy sales labels.
I was a little disturbed to discover that some of the less spectacular sales professionals I know have better titles than I do. This one guy I know, who’s in his twenties and doesn’t even wear dress pants, is going around calling himself Vice President of New Business Development. What gives?!
The best title story I have, doesn’t even involve a sales person. I was working with an individual at a local credit union. The first time I met with him, he was an I.T. Manager. A few meetings later, he was the Director of I.T. The next time we met, I noticed he was the Vice President of I.T. I felt pretty comfortable with him at that point and mentioned the title change and asked him if he received a raise. He said no.
I’ve been in sales for over twenty years. In my first job, I had the following titles: Sales Representative, Senior Sales Representative, Sales Specialist and Retail Sales Representative. At the next company I worked for, I was a Consultant, a Data Specialist, an Account Manager and a Senior Account Executive slash Hunter. I’ve also been an Account Executive, a Sales Consultant, I’ve been in New Business Development and once I was a Senior Account Executive slash free.
My point is, during this whole time, I did one thing: Sell.
Why all the different titles?
Because somehow “sales” became a dirty word (probably after half the population made a bad car deal) and someone had the brilliant idea to re-title ourselves. Meanwhile, does anyone really care? I just looked through about a hundred different business cards I’ve collected from the networking events I’ve attended. “Business Development” seems to be the “Isabella” of trendy sales labels.
I was a little disturbed to discover that some of the less spectacular sales professionals I know have better titles than I do. This one guy I know, who’s in his twenties and doesn’t even wear dress pants, is going around calling himself Vice President of New Business Development. What gives?!
The best title story I have, doesn’t even involve a sales person. I was working with an individual at a local credit union. The first time I met with him, he was an I.T. Manager. A few meetings later, he was the Director of I.T. The next time we met, I noticed he was the Vice President of I.T. I felt pretty comfortable with him at that point and mentioned the title change and asked him if he received a raise. He said no.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Cold Calling
If you think about it too much, cold calling seems like a complete waste of time. I mean, what are the chances of you walking into a business that just happens to be looking for something you’re offering? Unless you’re offering them a way to get rid of you, you’re not going to get a lot of takers.
Personally, I’ve visited over seventy businesses in one day, in a business park and over one hundred in a high rise. I’ve done most of my cold calling while working in telecommunications. Telecommunications is a mature industry; there aren’t a lot of businesses without access to high speed internet and none without phone service. Prices keep dropping, so there’s not much motivation to comparison shop. It seems like every day, there’s a new company selling service. The sales reps range from complete newbie amateurs to know it all pros. Next to selling photo copiers, I can’t think a harder service to sell door to door.
I’ve witnessed someone crumble my business card right in front of my eyes. I’ve had receptionists tell me that their companies weren’t interested, before they found out what I was offering.(1) I’ve been escorted out of buildings. There have been times when I wondered why I went to college if all I was going to do with my life was to schlep phone service. I’ve spent days drinking coffee, running errands, shopping at the mall that were as productive as entire days I’ve spent cold calling.
Every time I’m ready to give up on cold calling, I’ll get a call back or I’ll be Johnny on the spot, and a business I’m visiting will just happen to be looking for exactly what I’m selling.
My point is: you have to cold call, even if it’s just to keep you sane. What choice do you have? You can sit and stew at your desk, worrying about how you’re going to find your next sale or “waste” some time cold calling. I don’t know how many times, I’ve felt like my body was filled with toxic stress and then had that feeling disappear after just a few visits.
Here are some tips to help you on your way:
• Be insanely optimistic. Make yourself believe that if you leave a flier in an empty suite or tacked to a bulletin board, someone will call you back.
• If you don’t know which door to enter, look for the one with the “No Solicitation” sign on it. If a “No Solicitation” stops you, you’re in the wrong line of work.
• If you want to make some calls in a high rise, never let the security guards in the lobby see you carrying fliers and never get caught studying the tenant directory. Hit a few random floors and get out. Keep good records, so you know what floors to hit next time around. Never, ever, try to sell to the property manager’s office. You can go in and ask the PM how to market to the building’s tenants but you can’t offer them your services. Not unless you want to be walked out like a terminated employee. The PM might help you, probably won’t, but at least you tried. If they won’t help then all bets are off and hit the building guerilla style.
• Be brave. If you walk into a lobby with no receptionist, ring the bell to call someone up. If there’s no bell, walk into the office and ask someone for help. If the door is locked and there’s a door bell, ring it. Why? Because there aren’t many reps who will and you’ll separate yourself from your competitors.
• Be extremely polite. Always say, “Excuse me” and “Thank you”. Ask for the receptionist’s name and then say, “Thank you, Elizabeth” or “Bob”. Don’t let the door slam.
• Smile. No one can be mean to someone who’s smiling. Not unless they’re a cold hearted bastard. I cold call with a sales rep that works for me. I've noticed that the person he's speaking to tends to mimic his facial expression. If he smiles, they smile. If he's grim, they're grim.
• Be earnest. People appreciate someone who’s just trying to do a good job.
• Make it a habit. Once you get over the fear of cold calling, keep it up. If you stop, starting up again will be as hard as the first time.
• Be consistent. You should attempt to make twenty calls a day but make at least make ten. And do it every day. Pretend you’re preparing for a competition and your calls are your training.
• Try cold calling during the lunch hour and after five. During these times, the receptionist is off duty and you might be able to talk directly to a decision maker.
• If you need to go, the bathrooms on the first floors of office buildings are usually locked, but if you go up to the higher floors, they’ll be open.
• If you’re approaching a glass building, plan your entrance ahead of time. Nothing’s worse than being seen peering into windows, trying to determine which entrance to use. Everyone inside can see you. People in these buildings must be entertained all day by stumbling sales people.
One thing I think of whenever I’m struggling with and questioning the importance of cold calling: Where I live, there’s a small company that sells phone and internet services. They don’t advertise. It’s amazing how many businesses have their service. The only way they market their service is through sales people making cold calls. If cold calling didn’t work, this company wouldn’t exist.
(1) This has always been a stick in my crawl, receptionists getting too caught up in themselves. They’re paid to answer the phone and greet people and instead, they start thinking it’s their job to decide who their company should speak to. I don’t know how many times I’ve come to find that the companies with these types are paying way too much for their services.
Personally, I’ve visited over seventy businesses in one day, in a business park and over one hundred in a high rise. I’ve done most of my cold calling while working in telecommunications. Telecommunications is a mature industry; there aren’t a lot of businesses without access to high speed internet and none without phone service. Prices keep dropping, so there’s not much motivation to comparison shop. It seems like every day, there’s a new company selling service. The sales reps range from complete newbie amateurs to know it all pros. Next to selling photo copiers, I can’t think a harder service to sell door to door.
I’ve witnessed someone crumble my business card right in front of my eyes. I’ve had receptionists tell me that their companies weren’t interested, before they found out what I was offering.(1) I’ve been escorted out of buildings. There have been times when I wondered why I went to college if all I was going to do with my life was to schlep phone service. I’ve spent days drinking coffee, running errands, shopping at the mall that were as productive as entire days I’ve spent cold calling.
Every time I’m ready to give up on cold calling, I’ll get a call back or I’ll be Johnny on the spot, and a business I’m visiting will just happen to be looking for exactly what I’m selling.
My point is: you have to cold call, even if it’s just to keep you sane. What choice do you have? You can sit and stew at your desk, worrying about how you’re going to find your next sale or “waste” some time cold calling. I don’t know how many times, I’ve felt like my body was filled with toxic stress and then had that feeling disappear after just a few visits.
Here are some tips to help you on your way:
• Be insanely optimistic. Make yourself believe that if you leave a flier in an empty suite or tacked to a bulletin board, someone will call you back.
• If you don’t know which door to enter, look for the one with the “No Solicitation” sign on it. If a “No Solicitation” stops you, you’re in the wrong line of work.
• If you want to make some calls in a high rise, never let the security guards in the lobby see you carrying fliers and never get caught studying the tenant directory. Hit a few random floors and get out. Keep good records, so you know what floors to hit next time around. Never, ever, try to sell to the property manager’s office. You can go in and ask the PM how to market to the building’s tenants but you can’t offer them your services. Not unless you want to be walked out like a terminated employee. The PM might help you, probably won’t, but at least you tried. If they won’t help then all bets are off and hit the building guerilla style.
• Be brave. If you walk into a lobby with no receptionist, ring the bell to call someone up. If there’s no bell, walk into the office and ask someone for help. If the door is locked and there’s a door bell, ring it. Why? Because there aren’t many reps who will and you’ll separate yourself from your competitors.
• Be extremely polite. Always say, “Excuse me” and “Thank you”. Ask for the receptionist’s name and then say, “Thank you, Elizabeth” or “Bob”. Don’t let the door slam.
• Smile. No one can be mean to someone who’s smiling. Not unless they’re a cold hearted bastard. I cold call with a sales rep that works for me. I've noticed that the person he's speaking to tends to mimic his facial expression. If he smiles, they smile. If he's grim, they're grim.
• Be earnest. People appreciate someone who’s just trying to do a good job.
• Make it a habit. Once you get over the fear of cold calling, keep it up. If you stop, starting up again will be as hard as the first time.
• Be consistent. You should attempt to make twenty calls a day but make at least make ten. And do it every day. Pretend you’re preparing for a competition and your calls are your training.
• Try cold calling during the lunch hour and after five. During these times, the receptionist is off duty and you might be able to talk directly to a decision maker.
• If you need to go, the bathrooms on the first floors of office buildings are usually locked, but if you go up to the higher floors, they’ll be open.
• If you’re approaching a glass building, plan your entrance ahead of time. Nothing’s worse than being seen peering into windows, trying to determine which entrance to use. Everyone inside can see you. People in these buildings must be entertained all day by stumbling sales people.
One thing I think of whenever I’m struggling with and questioning the importance of cold calling: Where I live, there’s a small company that sells phone and internet services. They don’t advertise. It’s amazing how many businesses have their service. The only way they market their service is through sales people making cold calls. If cold calling didn’t work, this company wouldn’t exist.
(1) This has always been a stick in my crawl, receptionists getting too caught up in themselves. They’re paid to answer the phone and greet people and instead, they start thinking it’s their job to decide who their company should speak to. I don’t know how many times I’ve come to find that the companies with these types are paying way too much for their services.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Getting Started
If you’re considering a career in sales, enter an industry with the most expensive products and services. Sales people are compensated in percentages; the more something costs, the more you get paid. Also, it takes no more talent and effort to sell a large, expensive item than a small, inexpensive one. In fact, it is probably easier to sell a big ticket item because you will be dealing with a more sophisticated, educated buyer and have less competition.
You feel more important when you sell large, expensive products and services and that will give you confidence.(1)
When I sold roofs and gutters for The Home Depot, I worked just as hard to sell a gutter job as a roof that would pay me ten times as much. I spent more time and suffered more aggravation selling phone lines and DSL to a small business then I ever did selling an entire data and a voice network to a large business. Here’s a secret, the bigger the product - the more it costs - the more support you’ll receive. The major account reps at the phone company have sales support to create proposals, inventory services, manage installations and answer service calls. The regular account reps do all that on their own.
It is easier and less humiliating to prospect to larger clients. Which would you rather do, go door to door selling meat or rubbing elbows with C level executives at association events?
Enter an industry that sells to businesses. When I sold roofs for The Home Depot, I had set up shop at the store and solicit free roof quotes. I was mortified that someone I knew would come into the store on a Saturday, shopping for a new hedge clipper, and see me in my orange apron, next to my bright orange, handmade “free roof quotes” sign. My counter parts in commercial roofing sales worked Monday through Friday afternoon(2) and were off weekends. That’s when they did things like go to The Home Deport and shop for new hedge clippers.
(1) Confidence is horsepower to a sales person. Ambition and motivation are the fuel.
(2) Professional sales people do not work past 2:00 on a Friday afternoon. And most sales people include their afternoon commutes as part of the work day. So, if you arrive home at 5:00, you worked an entire day.
You feel more important when you sell large, expensive products and services and that will give you confidence.(1)
When I sold roofs and gutters for The Home Depot, I worked just as hard to sell a gutter job as a roof that would pay me ten times as much. I spent more time and suffered more aggravation selling phone lines and DSL to a small business then I ever did selling an entire data and a voice network to a large business. Here’s a secret, the bigger the product - the more it costs - the more support you’ll receive. The major account reps at the phone company have sales support to create proposals, inventory services, manage installations and answer service calls. The regular account reps do all that on their own.
It is easier and less humiliating to prospect to larger clients. Which would you rather do, go door to door selling meat or rubbing elbows with C level executives at association events?
Enter an industry that sells to businesses. When I sold roofs for The Home Depot, I had set up shop at the store and solicit free roof quotes. I was mortified that someone I knew would come into the store on a Saturday, shopping for a new hedge clipper, and see me in my orange apron, next to my bright orange, handmade “free roof quotes” sign. My counter parts in commercial roofing sales worked Monday through Friday afternoon(2) and were off weekends. That’s when they did things like go to The Home Deport and shop for new hedge clippers.
(1) Confidence is horsepower to a sales person. Ambition and motivation are the fuel.
(2) Professional sales people do not work past 2:00 on a Friday afternoon. And most sales people include their afternoon commutes as part of the work day. So, if you arrive home at 5:00, you worked an entire day.
My Background
My mom claims I’ve been selling my entire life. There’s some truth in that statement. Since I can remember, I was always selling something. I sold yard service, snow and leaf removal, gutter cleaning, Christmas wreathes and newspaper subscriptions to my neighbors. I was the first kid on my block to sell my beer can collection and my baseball cards.(1) I was always organizing yard and garage sales.(2) In college, I majored in sales. That's your major when you have horrible grades or you don't learn a marketable skill.
I started my professional career selling insurance, with the determination to get out of sales. I sold insurance for eight years, until I got a job selling for the phone company. During the first fifteen years of my professional life I sold over the phone. I don't have a good speaking voice, it lacks inflection, and many times I’ve been asked if I was tired or down. I've also managed to create my own accent. I grew up in Philadelphia, but people there asked me if I was from Boston. Go figure.
For the next eight years I sold outside. No, I didn’t sell grass, trees and the sky. I prospected, went on sales calls and appointments.
For the past 23 years I've engaged in every possible form of selling. I've sold inside and outside, residential and commercial, tangible and intangible, short and long sales cycles, products and services, I've worked on the direct and agent side, I've been full commission and salaried, I've sold big and small ticket items..you name it I've sold it. I've sold insurance, every imaginable telephone service (I sold the first versions of "high speed" internet service. Just imagine paying over a hundred bucks a month for "high speed" internet and then experiencing your internet moving slightly faster than dial up.), I sold roofs, commercial landscape maintenance, phone systems, cable TV, sporting goods and men's wear. I've executed every possible sales activity. I've cold called, prospected, networked, speed networked, presented, partnered, consulted, bribed, paid off, solicited, marketed, pleaded, begged, prostituted myself, seduced, failed to tell the truth, told the truth even when it jeopardized a sale. I managed inside and outside, salaried and full commissioned sales people.
No one in my family was a sales person (I have five sisters). My first wife thought sales was something you did when you couldn't do anything else and never considered commissions or bonuses to be money you could count on. My second wife worked in research and was mortified that our sales results were posted for everyone to see. (Luckily, I was first that month.)
If you read this blog on a regular basis, if you're in sales, you'll get the feeling that you're not alone and might pick an idea or two. If you're not in sales, maybe you'll get a better understanding of what a sales person goes through and you'll be nicer to sales people in the future.
1. I was a little crafty in my younger years. I had over 10,000 baseball cards. I went through them all and removed the best of the best. Then I put the best remaining cards at the beginning of each row of cards. I ran an ad in the classifieds. The first guy that came to see my cards bought them. He must have thought it was the greatest score ever because the few cards he looked at were all allstars and hall of famers. Meanwhile, if he went up a row a few inches, he would have seen half a dozen Milt Pappas’ cards.
2. Keep in mind, these were clearing house events where merchandise was sold for pennies on the dollar. Getting your dad to pay full price for a baseball mitt and then selling it later for a quarter of its value does not show proof of sales prowess.
I started my professional career selling insurance, with the determination to get out of sales. I sold insurance for eight years, until I got a job selling for the phone company. During the first fifteen years of my professional life I sold over the phone. I don't have a good speaking voice, it lacks inflection, and many times I’ve been asked if I was tired or down. I've also managed to create my own accent. I grew up in Philadelphia, but people there asked me if I was from Boston. Go figure.
For the next eight years I sold outside. No, I didn’t sell grass, trees and the sky. I prospected, went on sales calls and appointments.
For the past 23 years I've engaged in every possible form of selling. I've sold inside and outside, residential and commercial, tangible and intangible, short and long sales cycles, products and services, I've worked on the direct and agent side, I've been full commission and salaried, I've sold big and small ticket items..you name it I've sold it. I've sold insurance, every imaginable telephone service (I sold the first versions of "high speed" internet service. Just imagine paying over a hundred bucks a month for "high speed" internet and then experiencing your internet moving slightly faster than dial up.), I sold roofs, commercial landscape maintenance, phone systems, cable TV, sporting goods and men's wear. I've executed every possible sales activity. I've cold called, prospected, networked, speed networked, presented, partnered, consulted, bribed, paid off, solicited, marketed, pleaded, begged, prostituted myself, seduced, failed to tell the truth, told the truth even when it jeopardized a sale. I managed inside and outside, salaried and full commissioned sales people.
No one in my family was a sales person (I have five sisters). My first wife thought sales was something you did when you couldn't do anything else and never considered commissions or bonuses to be money you could count on. My second wife worked in research and was mortified that our sales results were posted for everyone to see. (Luckily, I was first that month.)
If you read this blog on a regular basis, if you're in sales, you'll get the feeling that you're not alone and might pick an idea or two. If you're not in sales, maybe you'll get a better understanding of what a sales person goes through and you'll be nicer to sales people in the future.
1. I was a little crafty in my younger years. I had over 10,000 baseball cards. I went through them all and removed the best of the best. Then I put the best remaining cards at the beginning of each row of cards. I ran an ad in the classifieds. The first guy that came to see my cards bought them. He must have thought it was the greatest score ever because the few cards he looked at were all allstars and hall of famers. Meanwhile, if he went up a row a few inches, he would have seen half a dozen Milt Pappas’ cards.
2. Keep in mind, these were clearing house events where merchandise was sold for pennies on the dollar. Getting your dad to pay full price for a baseball mitt and then selling it later for a quarter of its value does not show proof of sales prowess.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
