Sweat the Small Stuff

What's the secret to success? Sweat the small stuff. That means paying attention to the details.


In order to provide excellent customer service, our employees must be able to communicate effectively, politely and they should genuinely care for the customers. This doesn't happen by itself. How we interact with friends and family is not necessarily a model for how we should interact with customers and prospective customers. This will require training and a development of skills necessary to carry out activities. Just because we care, that doesn't mean we are showing it in a manner that others would recognize. Do you know how your voice sounds? What does your face look like when you show empathy? How does your body language connect with the message your voice is giving?


It requires sweating the small stuff to ensure that an encounter with a customer or prospective customer ends on a positive note.


We need to ensure that our employees can actually solve problems for our customers. Have we given them the tools to do so? Clear cut guidelines help your staff know the boundaries as well as what's expected of them. Give people the ability to solve problems. Put procedures into place so people clearly know where they stand. Reward people for going above and beyond.


Then take it a step further. What needs to be done to avoid the service issues in the first place? Is it product based? Is it the result of unclear policies and procedures? Keep a log of service issues and incidents. Actively work to cut down on the factors creating them in the first place.


We need to create companies that create cultures where providing the best products and the best service is not just words on a poster. "Good enough" should never be tolerated...and, yes, you must sweat the small stuff. I hate that phrase by the way, "Don't sweat the small stuff - and it's all small stuff". It gives permission not to care. Just because it's small to you, doesn't mean it's not big to your customers.


Respect your customers. Do you value them as the reasons for your continued success or are they simply dollar bills to be pocketed? Your attitude is also felt by your employees. They'll take their cues from you.


Great success requires great effort. Sweating the small stuff - how you act, how you react, your attention to details - all combine to lift your efforts above others. Commit to it and reap the rewards.

Is Your Phone Sales Opening a Cliche?

Have you taken the time to think about your telephone presentations lately? 

Many people tell me that possibly the hardest thing to do these days is reach the decision maker. But what happens when you do reach them? Are you making the most of your opportunity? Have you created an opening that makes people want to listen to you and become active participants in the conversation? All too often when I look at prepared scripts, I notice sentences that might look well in a direct mail piece but will either get you shot down quickly or simply won't engage your prospective customer.

Here's two cliched examples: openings that tout money savings or a saving of time and effort. It may very well be the case, but everyone says their product either 1) saves you money, 2) saves you time or 3) makes your efforts more efficient thereby also giving you savings from 1 and 2 as well. Seriously, everyone says it. Doing this actually makes it easier for a decision maker to tune you out - because you're not different from anyone else who calls - and they'll try to get off the phone as quickly as possible.

Let's think about a better way. Why not simply introduce yourself and your company name, make a quick one sentence statement about what your product is, and then ask some questions. Take the opportunity to learn more about your potential customers. In fact, one of the things you might find is that this decision maker is not a potential customer. Isn't better to find that out up front? Isn't it better to learn who you should be talking to or know that currently your products/services are not a good match for a particular organization?

Sit down and review your opening. Make it natural sounding. Avoid tired and hackneyed phrases. Take the time, instead, to become genuinely interested in your prospect. You'll be far happier with the results.

Have Your Created Your Best PES?

Today I'm thinking about PES. Not PEZ (Sorry no candy dispensers, here! Dispensing thoughts only.)

PES sums up the buying experience.

P- Price Is your price competitive for your market? For your product? For your customers? Does it send out the right message regarding how you want your product or service perceived?

E- Experience What do your customers experience during the buying process? Is it easy to make a purchase? Is this the experience they are looking for?

S - Service Do you provide the customer service levels that your customers expect?


By themselves, each of these areas are important but won't necessarily force a potential customer to do business with you. It's the right combination of all three that makes a business succeed. 

Think of the downtown areas of towns that are dying. Store fronts abandoned, businesses barely holding on - while on the outskirts of town, the big box stores are flourishing. Then there are the downtowns that are flourishing. Sure, the big boxes came and created a place for themselves in the community but the savvy businesses downtown adapted. They created a new place for themselves in the community. They created a PES that made people want to continue to do business with them.

This holds true for any product or service. Sure, there are the low-ballers. They give bare bones service but the price is right and the product is OK. That will always attract some portion of buyers. Then there is the higher priced, high quality product with the great service that creates a fabulous buying experience for their customers. A portion of buyers will pay a premium to feel catered to.

Finding the right combination of PES helps you survive in an ever changing market place. Will you be able to sell to everyone? Of course not. There will always be those for whom your product or service is not the best fit. However, by using PES as a strategy to attract customers, you are sure to find your best position to succeed.

Walk a Mile

All too often things go awry because people aren't communicating properly with one another. We remain in our own bubbles of want, not able - or willing - to leave them in order to learn what's important to others. We value our needs and devalue the needs of the people around us. Figuring out how to help others "win" will help you reach your goals.


Effective communication practically guarantees success and lack of communication skills makes everything harder. Here are some key concepts:

• Communication missteps
• Listening well
• Gain cooperation
• Impact of Behavior Styles on Communication Results
• Creating a Plan of Action

Since communication success can be all about understanding each other:

Don't judge any man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins.Native American Proverb

Now, wouldn't that mindset make things simpler?

In Defense of Sales

During holidays or family get-togethers, many people dread spending time with various family members. Uncomfortable questions are asked, usually about relationship status (He hasn't proposed yet? Dump him!) or family/fertility status (“You can’t wait forever.” “Really, it’s no good to only have one.” or “You’ll completely change your mind once you have one.”). Me? I’m not grilled. I’m constantly regaled by tales of the worst of my industry or people’s thoughts about my industry – none of which are positive.

No, I’m not a politician or a lawyer. I’m in sales.

Everyone has their favorite, horrifying story of a salesperson run amok. They tend to cluster in fields such as car sales, real estate and home improvements. Now, I made a decision long ago to stay B2B. The hours are generally better and I've found the work environments to be more professional. Because most of the general public only see sales from the fields I've just mentioned, they tend to think that all sales people are like that.

Except, we’re not.

The best, the most successful sales people treat their customers and prospective customers with respect. They ask questions to learn about needs and concerns. They won't shove you into a square peg of a product/service when you need one with a round hole. They want you to be long term pleased with your decision to do business with them. They want you to refer others to them.


So why do people sell that other, terrible way? Simply put, it works. It’s not great for long term relationships and it certainly won’t gain any referrals but for a salesperson that needs to make quota, he might not care. Notice I've used “he”. In my experience, you’ll generally find harder sell techniques from men than women. To an extent, it’s about natural and environmentally reinforced styles. On the other hand, many times poor techniques simply arise out of misconceptions or lack of training or poor training in general. Poor communication from supervisors/managers also fall into that territory. If you've never been taught how to do it right and you spend your time in a situation where everyone does it wrong, well…. Those poor techniques will seem right to you.


So, let’s all make a pledge: To use our selling skills to enhance the customer experience. To be an ambassador for the sales profession by using effective yet appropriate selling techniques. To help guide our prospects and customer towards making the best decision for them. 

When you do this, notice how your sales will go up, not down. Notice how you’ll experience less stress on the job (because when we use communication techniques that encourage consensus and not conflict, it’s just easier). Notice how people will regard you in a more favorable light – as a partner not an adversary. Notice how your relatives will have fewer stories to regale you with at your niece’s graduation party.

Benefit or Expectation?

Do you find yourself doing this? Often when discussing the benefits of doing business with their company,  a salesperson  brings up "great customer service" as a particular benefit... and although a concern, it's not the be-all to close the sale. There's no real strong reaction from their prospect. The salesperson will scratch their head and wonder why. Isn't service important?

Here's the problem: to your customer, great customer service is not seen as a benefit. It's an expectation. People EXPECT to receive great service. It's what you're supposed to be doing. Anything less is seen as not getting what they paid for when they purchased your product.

You may be using less than effective benefit statements when you use "great service" as your main benefit. I always like to use what I call the "so what" factor when developing advantages and benefit statements. If a customer could say "so what" about my benefit, than it isn't one. Customer service as a benefit falls into this category. As a benefit, it's a weak one.

I've heard numerous sales people selling a common product or service harp on what great customer service or support they have and come away with less than their desired results. You must develop other reasons for people to do business with you. Find out what's really important to the customer and sell that.

There are some products that do require a lot of support, and in those cases service may indeed of the utmost importance. However, this is still an expectation, but one that may require reassurance on your part. Use it as a benefit but align your it with your customer's concerns.

Now, that's not to say you shouldn't bring up customer service. Let people know it's important to you and your organization but it should be matter of fact because it is expected. "We've got great service... what we can also give you is...."

The Science of Success

Here's a quote that would serve us well to remember:
Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result. Oscar Wilde


I have recently discovered the reality show "Bar Rescue". I've been known to binge watch it on a Sunday evening. Here's something that seems to crop up over and over as reasons for these business being on the verge of failing: the owners had a vision for their business based on their own likes and tastes. Now, if that is in sync with what the marketplace wants, all is well and good. Unfortunately, if that is not what the market wants, it dooms you to failure. 

When we make a business decision regarding product development or service policy, we need to step back and examine what the marketplace - your potential customers want. 

 

Much of being successful is about taking the steps necessary to success. In sales, there are certain actions we can take to help increase our odds of achieving our goals. Even during uncertain times, there are people who succeed when others don't. Usually, those are the people who've taken the time to really examine about qualities and conditions are needed for success. They've taken the time to study the market place, they've looked at the competition. More importantly they've interacted with potential customers and know that those people want. Ask yourself: what are you doing to create the conditions to be successful? 

After all, the phrase shouldn't be Do What You Love and The Money Will Follow. A better phrase to follow would be: Do What The Market Will Pay You For and The Money Will Follow.

10 Tips to Create - and Deliver Effective Presentations

Standing in front of a group of people to give a presentation or to make a speech can be quite nerve wracking. However, with practice and some simple tips, you will feel much more confident. Here are 10 tips to help you create effective presentations and speeches.

1. Never write a presentation word for word.
You'll fall in love with your words. You'll want to memorize it. Unfortunately, if you forget a phrase it's easy to be tripped up trying to remember those wonderful words you wrote.

2. Create a list of objectives for presentations.
Lay out what you want to accomplish. If your primary goal is to close the sale, think of the individual steps you'll need to get to that point.

3. Create bullet points for each point.
Drill down into your objectives. Take each point apart.

4. Carefully craft an opening and closing statement.
These two areas are the ones that should be rehearsed. You'll want to make sure your words are crafted to command attention.

5. When creating the body of your presentation start with your main idea, expand it but make sure you finish by referring back to your starting point. This creates a closed circle. Your audience has the opportunity to realize how interconnected your ideas/points were.

6. Speak with your audience in mind.

7. Don't be afraid to involve your audience.
Ask questions that lead them to your ideas.

8. Slow down your rate of speech.
Formal presentations require you to slow down. It helps people understnad and absorbs your points better.

9. If using PowerPoint, don't just parrot the bullet points on the screen.  

Expand on the information. Tell stories to illustrate your points, if applicable.

10. Never spend your time looking at the screen or with your head in a briefing book. 

Look up. Smile! You'll be glad you did.

Common Sales Objections: Real or False?

No matter what you sell, there are certain objections that will always follow you. Being prepared to handle them will help you to increase your success in sales.

• No Time
• No Money
• No Interest
• No Budget
• No Need

Each of these objections look like deal breakers. However, if they are properly handled, they give you the opportunity to not only get the sale but to gain valuable insight regarding your customer.


Often these “universal” objections are simply your prospect’s way of getting you off the phone or out of their office. By giving you what seems to be an insurmountable reason for not doing business, they figure that they’ve found an easy way out of the conversation.

So, how to tell whether you’ve been given a real or false objection? Ask questions. You want to get people speaking to you in order to learn more about their situation. For example, budget may indeed be an issue. Find out why. Is your product or service in an area that would normally be budgeted for? Would there be money for it in the next budget? How important is your solution to the customer in relation to other items needing to be budgeted for? Remember, your competition isn’t necessarily another firm offering what you do. Competition can simply be for the dollars available to be spent.


You can use the same technique for no money and no interest. Learn enough to determine the real barriers. They may be the original objection, but maybe not. A false objection evaporates with a good questioning sequence. No interest may be due to time constraints, lack of funds or even a misunderstanding of your product or service. No time can be resolved rather easily: determine if it is a lack of interest in the product or a true lack of time.


Once you have a greater understanding of their situation, you can tailor your responses to that. Targeted responses have a better chance of positive responses. If you are attempting to overcome a “false” objection, you won’t get the sale because you aren’t responding to the real needs and concerns.


Always be prepared to answer both the false and real objections. Respond to the false by helping to determine the real objection. Respond to the real objection with the responses – the advantages and benefits – you have previously prepared.

No matter what you sell, you’ll always hear these common objections. Understand that, prepare for them, and watch your results take off.

Do Your Selling Expectations Match Your Customers Needs and Wants?

It's been the rage for at least 2 decades now for sales people to sell consultatively. We don't sell on price, we don't sell on features. We DO build relationships with the key stakeholders in a company and show them how not only our products but our company - our support staff, salespeople, management are all there to get them the best experience possible.


But, what if that's not what they want? What if really they just want your product, your service and that's it? Oh, they'll happily go through the motions of getting to know you. After all, they need to know you're trustworthy and can deliver. But what if you are thinking of the selling relationship as consultative and the customer sees it as transactional?

A transactional sale is considered to be a sale that is based on price, features, and for many a one-time opportunity. A buyer is not looking to extend the relationship beyond what they consider to be the end of the project. Many companies find themselves falling into these catch-22's. They build relationships, complete their project, make recommendations for updating - that never happen. For some clients, the band-aid, the quick fix is all they want. Now, I may cringe at that but how I feel doesn't matter. What matters is what the buyer wants.


When we sell we must put our selves in our buyers' shoes. We must discover what is important to our buyers and sell to that. That doesn't mean we should put away our consultative skills, we simply need to make sure that we understand the needs of the buyer. We need to understand their perspective. In the end, it's the buyer's perspective that counts - not ours.

Networking: Relationships or Leads?

In a survey I did  a while back on networking habits, I asked if people attended events to get leads or to build relationships with others. Overwhelmingly, people answered "build relationships". Having attended and observed others at networking events over the past 10 years or so, I realized that "build relationships" while a great starting point in a survey, is potentially misleading.

What do we mean by build relationships? Is a relationship a series of conversations you have with someone whenever you meet them at an event? Is a relationship a follow up conversation over lunch, dinner or coffee? Often we cite relationships as our reason for networking but if we're truthful with ourselves, we really looking for leads.

When we use the word relationship in this context, what do we really mean?  When someone doesn't purchase our product or service, do we continue to pursue the relationship? We need to be honest with ourselves regarding our goals for these relationships We need to understand why we are pursuing relationships with people we meet. To be successful, we have to put thought into the desired outcomes. Are we looking to build strategic alliances? Are we cultivating people in order to pursue a buyer/seller relationship? We need to be comfortable in generating this relationship - one that can be friendly but not friends. Sometimes our payoffs will come later - and in ways we may not have been expecting.

There are two types of people we want to see at networking events: the people we know and the people we don't know. In order to make networking really pay off  we need to put ourselves in front of as many people as possible but also in front of the people we've already met. 

For some people, if they don't get a sale prospect the first time they meet someone, they're gone. These  are the cherry pickers. Now that's different from  determining that the person you are speaking with isn't a good fit for your product or service. For example, if you sell freshly baked organic dog treats, I'm a poor fit because I don't have dog.  However, if you are interested in building a relationship, you might discover the next time we see each other at an event, that I love dogs - my brother and sister both have dogs I love - and yes, I might just be willing to buy your dog treats for them.  But you might not discover that upfront.  Having repeated opportunities to meet the same people can certainly reap rewards. 

On the other hand, the cherry pickers are looking to meet as many different people as possible at each event, size them up to see if they should be pursued - now. Depending on your product or service, you may need to pursue this strategy.

I find a combination of these two philosophies works best. Yes, we need to develop our relationships with people we've met but it's also important to keep filling your sales funnel with new prospect.

I've been to networking events where we're instructed to sit with people we don't know. Now that's a great strategy for meeting new people, but not for building relationships. Perhaps, the strategy should be for half the people at a table to be familiar with others but half the table be people who know no one there. 

Speed networking events encourage meeting lots of people quickly. It allows you to cherry pick BUT it can also allow you the opportunity to learn something new about people you already know.

Network with a purpose. What are you goals and how will attending a specific event move you toward them? Be clear on your goals.... be honest with yourself....and use networking to it's fullest.

Filling the Funnel: It's Important

Among the best ways to keep a steady flow of customers and sales revenues is to make sure that you always have opportunities in your sales funnel. What's a sales funnel? A sales funnel is the group of potential accounts you are working on.

Everyone you call on - suspects, prospects , current customers - gets dumped into the funnel together. However, they will move through the funnel at varying rates.

• Some will just disapperar. 
• Some suspects will remain just that and not progress any futher. Remember, prospects are those suspects who have a viable need, budget for and want your products. 
• You will have customers that may continue to come back to you to service their needs. 

All will have varying places in the funnel.

But here's the problem: we can get so caught up in closing certain accounts that we forget to push additional suspects and prospects through the funnel. This eventually will cause your sales rate to slow down or stop.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

No matter how big that potentials sale is, make sure it does not consume you. Continue your prospecting efforts and take time every week to make sure that you are continuing to add potential accounts in to your funnel. 

Create a Calling Plan

• Regardless of where you get your names/contacts from, you must have a plan for implementing your calling efforts. In some firms, this will be done for you. In others, you are on your own to decide how you wish to spend your calling time.

• There are 4 types of calls
• Prospect: People/Organizations you haven't done business with before
• Customers/Clients: People/Organizations that either are currently doing business with you or have done so in the immediate past
• Lapsed Customers: People/Organizations that did business with your some time ago
• Call backs: People who are currently part of your calling cycle.  They may be prospects, customers or lasped customers. In each case you have not yet concluded your sales cycle. 

Make sure you have all 4 represented in your funnel. Without taking the time to manage your funnel, you will not get the results you want. To a certain extent, this is about time management, but it's time management focused on the best ways to acheive your sales goals. You can make all the calls you want, but if you aren't filling and then managing your sales funnel, you are just spinning your wheels in the mud.

Everything Is About the Close

While thinking about ways to segment training on specific subjects, I realized that it is nearly impossible to segment closing skills by themselves.  Reaching decision makers, listening skills, overcoming objections: all of these can be taught as single subject programs. Closing, on the other hand, permeates the entire presentation.  

To close effectively, you must focus on your goals from the beginning of the sales presentation. I’m not a big fan of gimmicky techniques as closing questions. Neil Rackham in "Spin Selling" comes down hard on those who practice "ABC" - Always Be Closing. I tend to agree with him that hard closes throughout a presentation don't always work. I do believe that the idea is sound, it's just usually not carried out effectively. 

I find closes to be more effective when they are a natural process at the end of your presentation. In effect, I’m asking “what’s next?”

One of the best ways to incorporate closing into a presentation is to create a dialogue with the other party. By asking about wants and needs from the opening of the conversation, you are able to tailor your offer to these needs. You show a prospective customer that your products or services fit.

After you've made your offer and you are given an objection, don't think the objection is a negative. On the contrary, you now have more information to help you close. As you resolve it, you may want to ask “How does this sound to you?”, “Does that make sense?” “Am I on the right track?”’. These are response checks which allow us to discover how much in sync we are with the prospective customer.  If we find we are in sync, we can proceed to ask for an agreement.  My favorite way of beginning this conversation is to ask: “What’s our next step?”

Notice I speak of beginning a conversation.  Even though we are at the closing stages of the sale, we must continue to have conversation in order to come to the specific agreement.  I’ve asked for their input and if I’ve taken care of all the concerns along the way, they will either write me a check (it’s happened!), tell me when they want to begin or ask a question with a strong buying signal that lets me take charge of the conversation and suggestion solutions. I always assume at this point that I have the sale and that we are just hammering out the details.

But I can’t have the conversation, if I haven’t taken the time to learn pertinent information about a customer throughout the sales presentation.  Everything IS about the close.

Assumptions

When you assume something, you make an *** out of you and me.

It’s quite the popular saying. I think it’s safe to say that many of our miscues and miscommunication with both customers and colleagues come about due to assumptions we’ve made. 

Customer service personnel often make assumptions based on what they’ve heard before not what you need. Sales people make assumptions based on who they think you are and how you fit into their profile. When I was in my early 20’s, I took my father along when I went to purchase a new car. After doing my research, I had narrowed my options down to two.  The salesman, seeing a young girl with her Dad, assumed I’d be interested in the more sporty features of the car. Well, he assumed wrong and didn’t make the sale.

It can be too easy to assume that we know what the customer wants. We use responses based on what has worked for us before. However, have you ever found that some responses work sometimes and not others? It's usually because we assumed the customer's thought process or even situation. We've provided answers based on faulty information.

We can save ourselves much time and anxiety by not falling into the trap of making assumptions. Although many people will react certain ways and certain situations, it’s always best to verify.

Learning more about the motivations of the people we deal with help us to become more in tune with them. Our suggestions are on target, our solutions meet their needs. Why? Because we didn’t assume.

Don’t be afraid to learn more. People are often flattered that you are interested. Using open ended questions you can generate additional information. Use a phrase such as "Tell me more..." to gently prod people into giving you more details and insights. Asking questions to clarify never puts you at a disadvantage.

(…. Well, OK, if you’ve asked the same question over and over, people will start avoiding you. J)

Knowing the motivations of others allows us to formulate plans and responses based on what is as opposed to what we want them to be. It makes a big difference.

Stop communication miscues. Ask questions to verify and to learn more. Ask questions to show you are actually interested in their needs. This works well in sales or service situations but is also quite handy in dealing with co-workers, bosses, friends and family.

Avoid making assumptions. Don’t let them make, well you know….

What People Want

A lot of people don't understand that marketing isn't just about selling a product. Marketing, at its best, is about selling a product that people want.

One of the bigger mistakes a company can make is to fall so love with its product that it forgets - or fails to find out - what people are willing to buy. Take the company that continues to put bells and whistles into a product after customers have told them they'd prefer not to pay for an advanced product that's more expensive than the competition. You'd hear they liked the product but the other one was cheaper and did the job they needed to be done. When it came to a purchasing decision, they didn't want the bells and whistles.

Here's another example. I was on the marketing committee of my local parochial school. The goal was to increase enrollment. We did a good job of getting people to send their children to the school but overall enrollment numbers continued to decline. People were removing their children from the school after a few years. We looked at what our competition was and what parents wanted. Unfortunately, the school administration was not willing to listen and make changes. The principal actually said to a parent "this school isn't for everyone". Well, who is it for? Sadly, the school will be closed for good this month.

As salepeople and marketers we need to make sure that we aren't so immersed in what we see people as wanting, that we forget to discover what they'll actually pay for.

Have You Invited Your Customers to Buy?

Recently, I took a short vacation to Key West, one of my favorite places. I happened to be there during their annual "Conch Republic Independence Celebration". The Conch Republic slogan: "We seceded where others failed".

During the "celebrations" there was a street fair with vendors and local artists selling their wares. Now, Key West is known for it's vibrant arts community. Some of it's famous residents have been Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Calvin Klein, and of course, Jimmy Buffett. It has a local art scene that is truly wonderful. From high end galleries to small storefronts run by artist co-ops, there is something for everyone.

While I was walking through the street fair, I noticed a woman on her cell phone, complaining. Not meaning to eavesdrop, I couldn't help but hear her talk about "wasting my $50" and a few choice words not for publication. It seems she was upset that she had spent money for a spot in the street fair but was not getting any customers. In fact, I observed that no one was even stopping to look at her prints. They walked right by her.

On closer observation, I noticed that although the other vendors had their work spread out on tables it front of them, or hanging up on pieces of lattice-work, her work was stacked upright in an open box, within a high cart. She had placed her chair and personal belongings in front of the cart. To see her work, first you would have to step over her and her stuff, then you would have to dig through her box to see if there was anything to your taste or even in your budget.

As people who sell, we need to remember that we must invite people to buy from us. We need to engage their senses. We need to make them feel comfortable to just browse if necessary. We need to make it easy for people to buy from us.

How could this talented artist have sold her work? There are several small changes she could have made to generate more interest. Use a table to spread out her work. If she's lucky enough to have more than one table, create a "V" with two tables, or "U" with three tables so that people can walk in. Make a sign telling everyone who you are and what you offer. For example: "Lucinda's Watercolors - The Colors of the Florida Keys" just told us her name, she paints in watercolors and her work depicts scenes of the Keys. This would generate attention. It invites us in.

Finally, personal items should be invisible. It detracts from the products for sale. By the way, personal items aren't just physical. They can be a poor attitude, an overheard gripe, or a discussion with the buyer that discloses negative information about themselves or others.


So, regardless of what you are selling today, invite your buyers in. You'll be glad you did.

A Poor Economy Flushes Out Poor Salespeople

It's really easy to sell during a boom economy. People have money (or at least credit) and if they don't buy from you, they're buying from someone else. All you have to do is have a good reason to do business with you and pick the low hanging fruit.

(...and yes, I know that's an oversimplication, but it is the jist of it)

When the economy goes bust, you're faced with convincing people to spend, period. Not so easy. I've long felt that before a sales management team blames poor results on the economy, the product/service's pricing, or the offers being made to potential customers, they must first examine their sales staff to make sure the skill level is appropriate. It's easy to forget some of our stronger skills when we don't need to use them regularly. But that's what makes the difference between a good sales rep and a great one in good times and it's what makes the difference between a successful sales rep and an unemployed one in bad times.

Sales people must take stock of their skill level. What else could they be doing? Now is the time to examine your planned presentation. If it is no longer working for you, what do you want to change? Sometimes, we need to go back to the basics and make sure that we are not skipping over steps. We need to pull out our old sales training manuals and refresh ourselves. Find a seminar, a workshop or a teleclass to attend.

Sometimes it's easy to forget techniques that would come in handy right now. Think about how you can best turn a situation to your advantage. Sit down and re-write your presentation. Try something new. Role play with colleagues. Do call post-mortems. I would always review a call after the fact in order to reinforce my performance: what worked, what didn't, what could I present differently. What should I change or add the next time I'm confronted with the same situation?

It's easy to go to autopilot when things are good and still make your numbers. Let these challenging times help you to become a stronger, more successful sales rep.

Your Inside Sales Supervisor is your best Retention Weapon

Some Random Thoughts on the Subject....

People don’t leave jobs. They don’t leave companies. They leave their bosses. This is particularly true for inside sales or telemarketing positions that are closely supervised. Inside Sales is a difficult job and generally requires much closer supervision than a field sales position. This means that reps will spend that much more time with their bosses. A boss’s influence on the success of the telephone sales effort can be tremendous; not just in terms of putting together lists, making sure calls are made and sales are closed, but in how the sales reps regard the experience of working for your organization.

An inside sales department, on paper, can appear to be a big, strong oak tree. Until the storm knocks it down and everyone sees the rot on the inside.

All too often, we spend our time focusing on the interpersonal skills of our sales reps but spend far too little time on the skill sets of the people supervising the sales group. Do your supervisors have excellent interpersonal skills? Do they know how to motivate, to make the workplace not just productive but a pleasant environment? Do they know how to help their subordinates defuse the stress and tension that comes with all those telephone calls?

Ask yourself these questions:

Do you hear raised voices coming from the unit on a regular basis?
Do people come in late regularly?
Is absenteeism a problem?
Does the “drama” level in the unit seem high?
Do you seem to have difficulty keeping your best sales reps?


If you can answer “yes” to these questions, your problems probably start with your supervisory staff. Often, when filling a supervisory position, particularly in a small company, the supervisor is promoted from within. It’s not unusual for a company to reward a high performer with a supervisor’s job. It’s also not unusual for management not to give this person the appropriate training to supervise.


A great supervisor is able to bring out the best in their subordinates. They are able to discover what motivates the people working for them and use that information to create a job environment that people want to succeed in. They understand at all people need to be treated with respect and dignity in the workplace. They don’t create onerous policies and procedures that make people feel as though they can’t be trusted. Remember, with a few exceptions, people want to work hard and be successful in their jobs.

Being a great sales person and being a great supervisor require different skill sets. A supervisor must be able to empathize with their staff yet still be able to hold people accountable for results. They need to be able to help their staff succeed and not just play "gotcha" when people fail.

Ask yourselves these questions:
Are people surprised by the information on their performance reviews?
Do terminations for “cause” surprise the people being terminated?
Can employees accurately tell where they stand with management in regards to their skills and worth to the organization?

It's important to avoid being that supervisor who may clock in but check out when it comes to being actively involved in motivating your staff, training for improved performance or outwardly caring about the success of the individual inside reps.

Want to see the cause of high turnover? Make sure you look in the mirror first.