There really isn’t enough time in the day to waste leaving any project to chance.  Eisenhower (who had just a few things on his plate)

Time Management Matrix

introduced the concept of Important vs. Urgent more than 50 years ago. Since that time, Stephen Covey has popularized this concept with a matrix containing 4 quadrants:

1. Important and Urgent
2. Important and Not Urgent
3. Urgent and Not Important
4. Not Urgent and Not Important

Outbound calling, networking, referrals, lead follow-ups and selling are the primary activities that fall into Quadrant II for salespeople and rainmakers. Most salespeople do not place adequate emphasis on Quadrant II. This “bad habit” is often reinforced by the traditional sales manager’s tendency to focus attention solely on the tip of the nose – “this period’s revenue” and “this period’s pipeline”

Time management experts uniformly agree that the key to getting Quadrant II activities done is to schedule them in your calendar. If there is no time allocated, these activities inevitably get pushed aside for other matters, or fires, which may appear to be more urgent in the immediate term.

I have ignored my Quadrant II activities in the past.  The resulting lack productivity, achievement, and cultivation of clients was immediately apparent.  So, I ditched The List. Instead, everything I do now gets entered into my calendar with a specific amount of time allocated to it’s completion. My old To Do lists were either becoming a dispiriting burden, too overwhelming to attack, duplicated in multiple locations – or just creatively… um,  ”lost”.

It can be annoying when someone says, “Ghandi, Oprah, Da Vinci, Einstein – all had the same 24 hours that you’ve got!”  Yeah…  glad I didn’t repeat that here.

Spend more time in Quadrant II and sell well.

When I ask this question in class I hear things like: sleazeball, liar, snarky, “used car”, “fast-talker”, manipulator.  A thorough review of the “helping professions” list does not list salesperson anywhere.  So I tried to kind of get an idea of what people do in these helping professions.  Research led me to the conclusion that psychologists, therapists, counselors, nurses, clergypersons, social workers, and doctors uncover problems and help people to solve them or get well.   People pour out their hearts to therapist, or a minister – but they tell their troubles to a salesperson too.

“I’m not getting enough exposure in my industry vertical and it’s killing sales.”

“”I cannot find top flight employees.”

“I cannot use data coming from 5 different applications to manage my business effectively.”

“I can’t stand my kitchen anymore.”

“I’m worried that I may not be positioned to retire in 10 years.”

These are the types of problems my clients hear every day, and I submit that it makes sense for us to develop our helping profession skills.  When a sales interview is executed properly it should sound a bit like a therapy session.

Here is the Golden Rule for getting there:

Answer a question with a question.

We’re all taught in first grade that the kid with the right answer gets the gold star.  Great advice for a 6 year old.  It doesn’t necessarily serve you well as a salesperson to be a machine gun of “right answers” and that’s a big mistake.

Pause.  Validate.  Find out why the question is being asked.

Let’s say you’re selling an ad agency’s services to a restaurant chain, and the potential client asks how much experience you have with restaurants. Too many salespeople, without bothering to find out why the client wants to know, immediately answer by citing the vast number of restaurant accounts the agency has handled.

When they are done, the prospect says, “Well, I hope you aren’t planning to present me with recycled ideas.”

Now the salesperson is cooked. If she had asked why the prospect was asking about his experience, she might have learned how important it is for the restaurant to be seen as unique:

Pause.  ”Col. Sanders, that is a great question.  Is there a particular reason why you asked me that?”

Answering questions with questions allows you to learn as much as possible about the prospect’s needs so that when you do respond with definitive answers, they are the right ones, in the right context.

There’s at least one other reason to take a therapeutic approach to sales calls. This approach creates an atmosphere of trust and candor in which the prospect is more likely to talk about the problems their business may be facing—that is, their pain.

Once you understand their pain, you can determine how/if your product or service will remove it.

Approach your sales conversations in this way, and you’ll quickly become a trusted advisor, and you’ll never be grouped in with the sleaseballs, the snarks, the liars, or the fast-talkers.

I’m hosting an Executive Briefing entitled: Why Salespeople Fail… and What You Can Do About It

The dictionary defines as process as:

A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result.

Let’s explore the typical small business owner’s “hiring process” for a salesperson.

1. Place an Ad.
2. Review resumes.
3. Have a phone conversation
4. Interview in person (and meet the team)
5. Maybe 2nd interview (to be certain the candidate didn’t just have a “good day”)
6. Check references provided by candidate
7. Make offer

Sound familiar?  Then on the first day we show them a desk, give them an overview of the product, provide some marketing material, and tell them who we’d like to be doing business with.  Then a swift pat on the back – and “Get out there and close some business!”

What’s wrong with that?  I had a CEO boss who said once said to me, “Hilmon, I hire ‘A’ people and then get out of their way.”  If you hire experienced sales people, once they learn the product or service, they should be good to go, right?

Not exactly. And if you think differently you should stop hiring salespeople because you are going to have a revolving door of potentially great hires that flame out. The truth is that a salesperson’s experience in one company or industry most often does not transfer to another.  There could be a difference in deal size, vertical market, target job title, consumer profile, geography, or any one of many competitive issues.

So how do you, as a business owner, get past this?  There are few great places to start:

1. Define your Market. Demographically, geographically, by job title, region, size, whatever.
2. Uncover the problems you solve. What issues must your customer/client have to want to do business with you.
3. Pain Questions. What questions will this new salesperson need to ask to uncover the problems mentioned in number two?  What are some good conversation starters, and what’s his/her 30 second commercial going to be?
4. Define Selling Activities. What behavior are you expecting from your salesperson and in what frequency?  How many cold calls, networking functions, speaking engagements, referral requests, and strategic alliance meetings will be necessary?  What passive marketing activities will this person need to develop and manage?  What expectations are you going to set and how are you tracking accountability?
5. Success Culture. What risks are allowable?  Ensure that you have created a culture within which you encourage “failure” and grow from lessons learned.  What is your schedule for coaching and mentoring and how are you capturing information gathered on their sales calls?

In the next post I’ll give you some tools for identifying “Who to Hire”, but hile hiring “experienced” sales people is a decent first step, using specific selling systems and processes are the only way to put that “experience” to good use.  Take a look at the Free Hiring Mistake Calculator if you need further motivation.  It’s costly.

What are the fundamental differences between sales people and others in your organization?

1. Salespeople are typically some of the highest paid (when well-performing).
2. They often receive little to no “training” (other than some basic features and benefit stuff) before being unleashed.
3. They sometimes work outside of the office and have freedom in setting their own schedule.
4. They often receive different incentives than others in the organization.

The list can go on and on.  What surprises me is how few people take into account that hiring a salesperson is NOT like hiring a bookkeeper, an admin, or even a marketing person.  The impact of a sales hiring mistake can be grave.

This calculator from our assessment partners at Objective Management Group, takes five minutes to complete and will shed some light on your exposure.  Saying that you have no business attempting to hire a salesperson without first understanding the implications – is a gross understatement.  Give it a try.

Reason #1

Buyers have a system, while sales people usually don’t. It comes down to a battle of the plans, and the person with the stronger plan wins. Buyers have a effective system to deal with salespeople. Many technology buyers are formally trained in dealing with salespeople.

The buyer s system is designed to get as much information as possible while giving up as little as possible and keeping control of the situation. Buyers often mislead sales reps about their intentions, how much they’ll spend, who makes decisions, etc.  The prospect’s system is designed to turn high-tech sales people into unpaid consultants, lead them on until they have all of the information they need, and often use their proposals to negotiate better deals with their current supplier or a competitor.

Does this make buyers bad people? Of course not.  We all use this system for dealing with salespeople it’s almost second nature.

THIS we believe: You can lie to salespeople and still go to heaven… or reach nirvana… or just not be struck by lightening.

Why do buyers do this? First, it works.

Read that again.  Because really, that’s the most important point.

Also, in order to protect themselves, buyers feel they need a system to deal with sales people. It is an instinctive reaction to the negative stereotype of a salesman that causes buyers to put up a defensive wall when dealing with anyone who is selling something.

Here’s a poll if your doubt me.
So how do most sales people deal with the buyer’s system? Most play right in to it. Many don’t use a systematic approach to selling and find themselves winging it. They allow the prospect to take total control of the sales process. They eagerly:

• Give their information
• Make commitments without getting any in return
• Waste resources on pursuing deals that will never close
• Make unneeded concessions
• Misinterpret the ubiquitous I’ll think it over and get back to you as a hot prospect
• Lose deals to competitors with stronger salespeople

What do companies do to contribute to the problem? Most high-tech firms train their reps on the features and benefits of their great technology, even though traditional feature and benefit selling has proven ineffective.
This underlying paradigm that drives the buyer/seller dance works to the detriment of the sales person. But is it in the best interest of the buyer to make significant technology decisions this way? No, this default mode of operation is in neither the buyer’s nor the seller’s best interest.

FACT: Over 80% of high tech salespeople I’ve encountered are still using traditional Feature/Benefit selling techniques.

The solution? A non-traditional approach to selling that provides a system that sales managers and reps 100% buy in to. The system should balance both the buyer and seller’s best interest the Art of Mutual Agreement.

“Small businesses share much the same sentiments as individuals. While their confidence in their banks was marginally higher, a majority of owners of small businesses with less than $1 million in revenue said they are cutting back on spending, while 42% said they plan to borrow less money. Among firms with $5 million or less in revenue and $100 million or less in revenue, said Jacobe, “we saw much the same pattern: spending less and borrowing less.”

During a coaching conversation with a business owner this week the subject of  the economy came up and the impact it’s having on her and her salespeople.  She said that the team was getting frustrated by constantly having conversations with prospects and leaving empty-handed.  I went on to clarify “empty-handed” and was told that it meant “without a sale of course!”

Here’s the deal:  The majority of your prospects are not going to buy from you!  We understand that right?  We’ve all met the salesperson who is broke but still claiming that “everyone can use my <fill in widget here>!” It’s simply untrue and a dangerous belief for salespeople to have.  A better attitude to with which to approach a sales call is one of cynicism.  Let your prospects know that your product/service/solution isn’t right for everyone and that it’s OK if they tell you no.

So how do you ensure that you don’t leave empty-handed?

The secret is to realize that there are four things you can get from every sales call.

1. A Clear Future – what’s going to happen next? If anything…
2. A referral – YES you can ask for one without having sold anything!
3. An opportunity: speaking opportunity, new networking pond, new association to check outand maybe MOST important:
4. A Lesson Learned

How can you turn every interaction with a new prospect into money in the bank?  By ensuring you leave with at least one of the above after each conversation. You ulterior motive should be to turn every conversation – especially those with a high likelihood of ending in “failure” into a learning experience. You might not make a sale or earn a commission (things that are not completely within you control), but you can always increase your chances in the future by picking up small lessons along the way.

Once you’ve adopted this attitude, even the most resistant prospect becomes your benefactor!  These lessons need not be earth-shattering on the scale of the great philosophers…  just something you can add to your toolbox to be part of your selling system for the rest of your career.

To put this to work you’ll need to get comfortable with asking questions.  For instance, when the prospect says to you, “Hilmon, it looks like your widget is very interesting, but we’ve already got one that we’re pretty happy with for now.”  Accept the prospect’s response, validate it, and go get your lesson:

“I appreciate your honesty Mr. Prospect.  The truth is,  our widget isn’t for everybody.  So, now that we’ve cleared that up, could I ask you a few questions off-the-record?  I don’t suppose you could tell me what you mean when you say ‘pretty happy with’ ?”

And the lesson begins.

I’m amused by some consultants who profess that using the phone is no longer a viable way to reach prospects. The fact is that the phone is being used for business more so than ever before.  There is a reason that technology has been integrated into the phone instead of vice versa.  Speaker phone, video phone, Skype, camera phone.  That device that you use to get email, surf the web, store contacts, manage your schedule, and listen to Blues – began as a phone! Many business people (myself included) never use their land line – but receive calls and conduct business while on the go constantly.

So what’s the real issue?  Telling business owners and salespeople not to cold call is like telling an overweight person that they can lose it without exercise.  It’s b.s.  Cold calling is basic exercise for salespeople.  So what’s the real reason we don’t do it?  I suspect the fear of rejection looms largest on the list.  The idea that the person on the other end of the call, who has no idea who we are, and whom we’ll never likely meet in person – may just say “No.”  And then… the world would stop and all would be lost. 

Get over it.  The phone can be an extremely effective way to hone your selling skills as well as keeping your pipeline full of meetings.   Here’s how to get it done and protect your self esteem in the process.

First, understand that most of my clients are not trying to close a deal on a phone call.  We sell things that require in person meetings – often more than one.   All you are trying to do on a cold call is to have a conversation.  Does that take a little pressure off?  Not everyone is a right fit for your product/service – and you just want to have a conversation to disqualify those who are not. 

Second – since you’re not selling anything, stop sounding like a salesperson!  ”Hi Hilmon!  This is Jane!  How are YOU today?!”  If that is the pattern of a typical prospecting call, how can you shake that up a bit to interrupt the pattern?  One method may be to tell the person up front that this is a prospecting call.  Imagine that! Being honest is a pattern interrupt in sales.  Then ask if it would be OK to tell them why you called in 60 seconds, and then they can decide if it makes sense to keep talking.  Have you ever received a sales call and been told that you can tell them after 60 seconds that you’d like to get off the phone?  Just about anyone will be curious enough at that point to hear you out.

Third is key.  If you haven’t yet, read my post on 30 second commercials.   This is where you spell out the types of pains that you can fix.  No pitching.  No features and benefits.  No “if you act today…” lame tactics.  All you want to do is to see if the person on the other end of the phone has any of the problems that you or your product are equipped to solve.  If you get some interest and can have a short conversation, book an appointment to speak again (either in person or by phone).  If you get a “no” – then get a referral, add them to a drip marketing list (get permission), or get an introduction to a networking group or association where you may be able to speak or visit.

Make it fun.  Sales is a Broadway play put on by a psychologist.  What’s your role?

-Sell Well

So, what do you say? Have you perfected your commercial highlighting key features and associated benefits of your product or service? When you give your pitch to prospects, do you obtain a favorable reaction? My guess is: probably not. At best, you may hear, “That’s interesting” – even though they really aren’t interested. You may get a request for information as a way to end the encounter, “Can you send me something?”

Why does that happen? Prospects have seen and heard it all before – radio, email, and direct mail marketing and advertising. Your commercial is just more of the same. Regardless of how unique, timely, and important you believe your message is, it’s just more noise to the prospect.

Unfortunately, your finely crafted commercial hurts you in two ways. First and foremost, it diminishes your credibility. You’re not someone who stands out from the pack; you’re part of the pack, scrounging for your morsel. Second, you waste valuable time – yours and the prospect’s.

So, how do you change the prospect’s response from, “Send me some literature” to “We need to talk”? Stop telling prospects about your company and your product or service. Stop telling them what you can do for them. Don’t make your pitch about you. Make it about them. If a prospect is going to invest any time talking with you, he wants to very quickly know “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM?)

Use your 30 seconds to focus on the prospect’s world. Relate your product o r service from the perspective of the problems and issues the prospect is dealing with or the goals the prospect is attempting to achieve. This approach establishes credibility by quickly getting to the WIIFM question – distinguishing you from the rest of the pack. When prospects believe that you understand their problems, concerns, challenges, and goals, they listen – making it easier to convert your 30-second commercial into a meaningful conversation.

To truly understand your prospects’ worlds, you must do your homework. You must be thoroughly familiar with their problems, concerns, fears, challenges, and goals as they relate to your product or service. You must know what the prospect would lose by not having your product or service. Then, you can create a description of your product or service around those elements, making sure you answer the WIIFM question.

Consider the following “commercial” for a company specializing in marketing and graphic design services for hi-tech companies:

• We specialize in marketing and graphic design services for hi-tech firms who have the need, but not the resources, for a full-time, in-house department.
• These companies may be worried about wasting valuable time and money on teaching a firm their technical language, frustrated by designers who don’t understand how to best position their company for prospects, or concerned that their look & feel be consistent across all media.
• That’s probably not something you or anyone in your organization might be experiencing, is it?

The first sentence describes the type of work done, the companies served, and the reason a company might want the service. The next sentence addresses a particular challenge the prospect might be facing. The last sentence allows the prospect to tell you no (without some lame put-off), or opens the door to conversation should the problem exist.
It is short, sweet, and to the point. It very quickly answers the question, “Who is this person and why should I listen to him?” If your commercial doesn’t answer that question, your prospect will quickly tune out.

Can you describe in 100 words or less what you do and how it is relevant to your prospects – from their perspective? (The above example is 86 words.) Your opening statement will either draw prospects into a conversation or turn them away. So , carefully consider what you are saying. Are you quickly answering their WIIFM question? Are you putting your product or service in the prospect’s world and telling the story from his perspective?

Whether you call it an elevator pitch, a commercial, or a positioning statement, a carefully considered and constructed opening with a prospect – one that focuses on the prospect’s world and the prospect’s issues – can make the difference between a prospect remaining a prospect or becoming a customer.

Before revealing your price, you need to determine why the prospect is interested in your product/service and why they called you. Here are some questions you must ask:
• What leads you to believe you may need my product/service?
• Is price your only consideration or are there other factors we should discuss at some point? (And, what might they be?)
• For products/services the prospect has previously bought or is currently buying from another supplier/provider—Why haven’t you gone back to that supplier?

If the prospect is willing to answer these questions and engage in a conversation, it opens the door for an appointment to further qualify the opportunity. If you discover a reason to do business, then you can discuss your price in relation to the prospect’s budget.

If the prospect is unwilling to engage in a conversation, but merely wants your price, he is most likely just shopping for the lowest price, perhaps only to keep his current supplier “honest.”

Discussing price prior to establishing reasons why the prospect would buy from you is unwise. If you quote a price before establishing the scope of the work, you can easily lock yourself into a price that may not be realistic—but one the prospect will try to hold you to nonetheless.

1. Understand how your strategic goals are influenced by your compensation plan.

• Are you trying to move a particular product or service?
• Are you trying to penetrate a specific demographic or geographic marketplace?
• Are you trying to retain customers?
• Are you looking for new business of certain size?
• Are you attempting to sell more to existing or previous customers?

2. What kind of culture are you attempting to create?

I recently told a different client that some of the best sales teams I’ve either been a part of, managed, or coached were not the most “team-oriented”.  I hear a lot of CEOs and business owners go on about the struggles in creating a “team environment” because of the different personalities involved and everyone seemingly having their own agenda.

My opinion?  Forget the “team”.   Doug Collins, coach of my beloved Chicago Bulls before Phil Jackson, famously said to Michael Jordan after a 60+ point performance “Michael, there is no ‘I’, in Team.”  To which Jordan responded, “But there’s an ‘I’ in WIN.”

The idea that you can (or would want to) create a homogeneous group of salespeople, all compensated the same, treated the same, given the same amount of leads, same sized territory, same same same…  is preposterous.  Look at creating a family.  Some siblings may be superstars – nurture them and keep them focused and motivated (financially and otherwise). Other siblings might do very well at hunting for new business inside of existing accounts – create incentives for them to continue to do so.  Whatever your family make-up, either find ways to get the most out of each individual…  or find someone who better fits your culture.

3. Do not create a plan with goals that contradict.

Professionals perform to the extent that they are compensated.  If you are looking to increase prospecting and generate new business with a team that has not had to prospect previously, does it serve you well to compensate new and existing business at the same level?  Notsomuch.

4. All salespeople are NOT motivated by money.

Contrary to popular opinion, good sales people are motivated by all sorts of things.  Your responsibility as an executive or a business owner (or even the salesperson herself) is to find out what those things are.  I’ve had employees with newborns for whom a few Fridays off per month were far greater compensation than a check.  I’ve had employees with kids in college for whom a trip to Hawaii with hotel and airfare covered was a far better treat (for both employee and spouse) than would have been a monthly bonus.  One client paid for 6 months of maid service for an employee with a large family.  Know your people.  Compensate them accordingly.  I have heard from others that simple recognition as “Top Salesperson” or other awards have been met with huge performance increases.

As an aside, understand that anything that benefits an employee’s family will have a positive impact on tenure, weighing other offers, and overall job satisfaction.

5. Do you remember MBWA?

Tom Peters in the historic management opus In Search of Excellence talked about Management By Wandering Around.  The idea of getting out of the corner office and literally wandering around.  Well 1980 is a far cry from 2010 but I believe that the principle still holds true in theory (though wandering around is far more global in even the smallest organization).   The point in this context being to notice behavior.  Reward the behavior you want to see more of.  Simple pats on the back, a hand-written or personally delivered “thank-you”, a note of acknowledgement, or a kind word will be remembered long after a bonus has been spent.   But these things must be done sincerely and with competence.

Similarly, I’ll never forget an idiot CEO I once worked for.  He shook my hand when I was hired, and in two years never spoke to me again though we’d pass in the halls every morning, and he’d hold conversations in the sales area just a foot in front of my desk.  He was aloof and disinterested in the entire sales team (and much else in the organization).  One day, after I had shattered the company’s previous record for sales for the year, he came bounding over to me at my disk with this disturbing grin and literally patted me on the head saying, “Good boy, GOOD BOY!”

I left within two weeks.

Follow the model of the most competitively compensated people on earth:  professional athletes.  They receive a base, with bonuses tied to performance.  You can encourage collegiality by creating team incentives, by don’t worry about creating a milk toast compensation plan that drives away your top achievers, and provides cover for poor performers.

- Sell Well.