Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

For” foolish consistency” read “dull routine”.

Routine – doing things by habit, subconsciously, without thinking – is the enemy of success.

The human mind is a computer. You programme your computer by the input you feed into it: learning, knowledge, experience and so on. If you programme your mind with images of failure, you will fail. If you build a bank of success images, your computer will direct you to success.

How do you build and input images of success into your computer? By creativity…by thinking.

The fruit of thinking is knowledge; and knowledge is the medium from which skills are built.
In skills learning, there are four steps:
Step One:

The Unconscious Incompetent. They don’t know that they don’t know. The salesperson that is making mistakes, but is not aware of them.
Step Two:

The Conscious Incompetent. They know that they don’t know. This is the beginning of wisdom. The salesperson that is aware they are not cashing in on their full potential and wants to learn how to improve.
Step Three:

The Conscious Competent. They have learned and are aware of what they have learned – and they use it! They know why! The salesperson who knows how to make a successful approach call and can programme and execute their presentation to achieve their objectives.

Step Four:

The Unconscious Competent. They have learned so well that they use their knowledge with a semi-automatic skill. Their skills have reached a level where they are no longer self-centred. They are free to devote their efforts to the needs of others. The professional salesperson who does the right things to get results, but functions without conscious attention to what they are dong or why.

Note that I say semi-automatic. Even the Unconscious Competent should have the ability and the sharpness to call forth self-awareness.

Purposeful self-awareness, plus a knowing application of skill, generates maximum personal horsepower.

The handmaiden of creativity is imagination. Imagination is the well that brings forth the new ideas that are essential to your growing success.

Well, the Top 10 Sales Articles bandwagon is rolling on at a fair rate of knots and is just one of those initiatives that become more exciting by the day. We announced the first article of the week last Sunday and what a superb inaugural winner it was. My fellow adjudication panel members and I were almost in unanimous accord.

It is called: “Rejection, Get Over It” by Alvin Day and published by Build Your Own Business. If you haven’t read it yet, you can do so here:

My guest, as I mentioned here last week, was the…. well I am honestly running out of superlatives to describe Nikki Owen – she was quite simply superb.

This week I am in conversation with Kim Duke, the Sales Diva, and I am really looking forward to a high energy show – think I will have an early night on Saturday!

If you have the opportunity to join us, please do,the details are here

Another of my expert adjudication panel buddies, Jill Konrath finally gave in!! This extract from: “Jill’s Jottings”

“I’ve been asked a gazillion times about when I’ll be offering an open workshop. Finally, I can say, “Now!” That’s right. On June 21-22nd, you can attend a Selling to Big Companies training program where you’ll learn exactly what it takes to crack into corporate accounts.
To get you focused on that one account you’d love to have as a customer, you’ll even have pre-work. You’ll leave with a strong value proposition, compelling phone messages and a plan for your account entry campaign.

If you’re ready to reel in the big ones, check out this upcoming workshop”.

That’s it , so as ever, wherever you are in the world – have a great week.
JF

I have held four business meetings this week and only in one case was the other person able to produce an up to date and informative business card, despite the fact that they were all very senior executives

As I have said on numerous occasions, a common (and often overlooked) image feature for every would-be business professional, is the business or calling card (the summary information about yourself you choose to give to others).

Although there are no hard facts on the subject, it is estimated that 90% of people do not have a calling card at all. In fact the estimated breakdown looks as follows:

Of the 10% that do have a calling card:

• 25% have an informative card

• 35% have cards showing only name, address and phone number

• 40% have cards with out-of-date or incorrect information

This means that only 2.5% of people have a card that is up to date, accurate and gives a reasonably full picture of who they are and what they do.

Always Carry Your Calling Card

Having no calling cards (or one that is inaccurate or short on detail) is a major inhibitor. Even a supply of blank cards is better than none at all, as you can’t possibly expect people to remember everything that you tell them. Nor do you want to constantly write down names, phone numbers and any other information, in long hand, every time you meet someone.

The design of your calling card can vary enormously in style and look. However, it should be easy to read and include a minimum of name, address and daytime phone numbers.

However, I believe today that it is also appropriate to include fax number, e-mail address, and mobile phone numbers.

Focus On Your Skills Not Your Job

You’ll notice that a job title is deliberately not included in the list. Although in principle there is nothing wrong with including it, it is much more useful to use the space under your name to describe what you do in a precise and concise way that is meaningful to anybody that you meet. Words like “designer of roads and bridges” or “seller of land and property” are much better than engineer or sales consultant.

Don’t forget this is the information that helps others to know what skills you have or what you might offer. Hence secretary, for example, is unlikely to be useful in itself but “expert in word processing and desktop publishing” says a lot more.

As I repeat often enough, being described as professional is the greatest compliment anyone can pay you: Professionalism is not one thing it is three i.e. what you do, what you say and how you look – presenting an up to date and informative business card is an integral part of that.

Phew! What a week: Top10SalesArticles launched to loud “hurrahs” on Sunday and on the first BlogTalkRadio broadcast, my guest Jill Konrath did a sterling job and oozed professionalism. We had a couple of amusing technical problems but we will be almost word perfect this week when I host Nikki Owen of The Sales Activator® our principle sponsors, who has done so much to ensure this initiative succeeds.

I will also be announcing the first “Article Of The Week” of course, plus reviewing the top ten articles from this week and I am really noticing an increased excitement within the “article writing community”

Before I finish on this subject, I just want to mention three article communities who have gone way beyond the normal level of support one could expect, they are: Best Management Articles, Build Your Own Business and Salesopedia – thank you Ismael, David and Clayton, we really do appreciate what you are doing.

The JF Article Vault is enjoying a makeover, so no new articles on Group or on my personal sites until work has been completed I am afraid.

There are two schools of thought on the subject of “cold calling” – both camps have logical and plausible cases: In the “no more cold calling camp” is one of my fellow adjudication experts, Joanne Black and you can visit her site and read her excellent words of wisdom here: No More Cold Calling

Well that’s almost it for another week – don’t forget that I will be posting twice weekly (I hate saying “bi-weekly” as it sounds like a magazine for individuals with divided sexual orientation) from May 1st and then from June, daily.

I’ll endevour to leave you with a smile on your face: On Sunday, ahead of the BlogTalkRadio show, the station featured me with a very large photo, to advertise the launch of “Top 10″ The station manager e-mailed me to say that she was getting inundated with calls asking who that “interesting looking” man was! She said she thought I looked like Sean Connery – yeah right! So I sent a “nerny ner” message to my son, who hates that particular pic and he responded with: “Yeah, but have you seen Sean Connery recently” The impudence of youth!

Whereever you are in the world, have a great week and good selling. JF

For companies to remain competitive today, their sales organisation must be able to respond positively to changing economic tides. As businesses strive to establish customer orientation, sales partnerships and a strategic approach to selling, they are demanding more and more from their salespeople but ensuring that these new methods are widely practised and smoothly implemented falls to sales management.

Sales productivity is a strategic issue. That’s why problems in this area stem from salespeople being unclear about their company’s priorities i.e. what their message should be and what they should be selling.

The trend in industry of removing layers of management between the sale force and the general manager presents a challenge to those sales managers who remain. To begin with, the sales manager becomes an essential link between company strategy and what takes place in the customer’s office. He or she must not only grasp the corporate vision but be able to communicate it to the sales force in terms of the real effects on sales practices.

Sales managers with an intimate feel for the selling process succeed because their staff regard them as part of the sales team but coaching the team is as important as playing in it. In other words, sales managers must be prepared to provide training, feedback and support to every individual within the team.

Once committed to the training process, they must routinely reinforce new ways of behaving in real sales situations. They must provide a clear sense of direction on a daily basis, not just at the monthly sales meeting / quarterly review / annual appraisal.

The very best sales managers engage in frequent coaching and feedback, even when their sales people work in remote locations. While encouraging salespeople to air their problems openly and discuss their concerns, sales managers must be able to offer clear and specific feedback for improving sales performance.

The sales manager is charged with translating the company’s reward system into specific improvements in sales performance. Both salespeople and corporate managers count on the sales manager to recognise and reward outstanding achievement, formally and informally.

The process of promoting new attitudes about the customer and the role of the salesperson can be frustrating and slow. Reverting back to recent research there is compelling evidence to suggest that companies will see results sooner if they recognise and reward salespeople – “you always get more of the behaviour and results that you reward”.

The trend in sales compensation appears to be away from commission to guaranteed salary, from compensation based on orders to compensation based on delivery and sign-off. Interestingly some organisations we know, base their ‘salesperson of the year’ award on the basis of customer satisfaction or customer retention rather than sheer volume of orders or activity. (This week’s lead post is based on an extract from ”The 5 Most Dangerous Issues Facing Sales Directors/Vice -Presidents Of Sales Today” by Nikki Owen)

More Sales Management Articles

By the time you read this, Top 10 Sales Articles will have officially launched and the first ten nominated articles announced on BlogTalkRadio– I do hope you were able to join us? I think it is a matter of preference, some people enjoy listening as it is certainly more personal, plus of course you gain the benefit of hearing words of wisdom from my expert guests!.

The publicity machine continues at great pace and my thanks to everyone who ensured that we got off to the best possible start – here is just one interview I completed with Clayton Shold of Salesopedia

I dropped in my fellow adjudication panellist Steve Martinez’s site this week – Selling Magic and downloaded his free booklet outlining his very innovative sales process, “Push Button Selling” I was very impressed with the “total” approach – there is also a video and you can find them here.

I will, in all probability, increase the number of weekly posts to two from May 1st – wow, I hear you say, double-helpings, yippee!! Now calm down and continue reading:

Finally, two new articles for you: “What Is The Most Important Stage Of The Sales Cycle?” is featured on my personal site; jonathanfarrington.com and here is a brief extract:

“The Exploratory Meeting is a key element in the sales process. Typically the meeting will have been arranged after qualification via the telephone and a decision made by both parties that it would be mutually beneficial to meet.

It is the exploratory meeting that will allow the professional salesperson to set the ground rules and get a feel for the client and their needs. As this is normally the first meeting it is also where the potential client will get his first impression of you, therefore the way you look, act and conduct the meeting will have a direct bearing on whether or not you are able to proceed to the next stage. Finally, the objective of the meeting is to gain commitment to the next stage and NOT to try and get the order..” Continue reading

Whilst on Group site: thejfagroup.com I have posted: “To Have Growth In Profits, You Must have Growth In People”

“During the seventies, eighties and nineties, it was common for large corporations such as Hewlett Packard, IBM, and Compaq etc to put their new sales recruits through a twelve to eighteen-month training programme. Today, salespeople consider themselves extremely fortunate if they receive an initial two weeks of induction training or product familiarisation workshops.

So what has changed? Have companies discovered that training is not necessary? On the contrary, training appears to be even more important today than it was thirty years ago and it is becoming more critical all the time” Continue reading

If you are not “read out” do meander over to Top 10 Sales Articles and see who this week’s nominees are and have a crack at guessing who will win.

“Top 10 Sales Articles” is sponsored by: The Sales Activator® where Results speak louder than words.

That’s it for another week, until next time, good selling – JF

The one term that sets top performers apart is customer focus.

Outstanding sales results depend on the ability to think from the customer’s point of view and understanding the customer’s agenda, buying cycle and best interests.

Beyond a superficial reading of immediate customer needs, the very best salespeople work to gain a deeper understanding of both the buyer’s long-term goals and the overall business climate.

At the heart of customer focus is the art of listening constructively – top achievers are masters at capturing information and they also understand that customer focus means taking the customer seriously – believe me, to-day, the salesperson who clings to the product orientation of a decade ago is losing ground.

As client companies branch into new markets and unfamiliar territories, they are demanding unique, flexible solutions from their vendors – customised to support specific goals.

Another myth which can be exploded is that whilst customers value flexibility, being too flexible can undermine the sales relationship. On the whole, salespeople imagine that customers value a vendor’s responsiveness above all. However there is ample research which proves that their primary concern is reliability.

In summary, in order to maintain customer focus the best salespeople become facilitators, creating a partnership that extends the selling relationship within the customer’s company. The motivation to achieve this should be strong – it costs five times as much to attract and sell to a new customer as it does to an existing one! Customer focus really does create competitive advantage.

At the time of writing this, according to the countdown clock on BlogTalkRadio there are just 193 hours and 34 minutes until it’s “showtime” – yep, “Top 10 Sales Articles” launches in a weeks time and you can see full details by clicking on that link: The excitement is mounting and it seems like everyone is talking about it.

My guest on the inaugural show will be the dynamic and highly successful Jill Konrath of “Selling To Big Companies”. Jill is someone I have admired for a long time and so as you can imagine, I am really looking forward to chatting with her live on air.

The Final Piece Of The Jigsaw: Whilst I prepared a very long list of potential advertisers – because this has to be self-funding – there was only one name on my potential sponsor list, only one company I really wanted to come on board: The Sales Activator® and I was almost bowled over by the enthusiasm and excitement of its creator, Nikki Owen. Nikki is someone I have tremendous respect for and in her role as Managing Director of Trainique Ltd, she has demonstrated that she is not only a remarkable person, but also an extremely astute businesswoman.

Incidentally, Nikki has just returned from a “firewalking” experience and you can read all about it here: www.salesactivator.com/blog

So, as a final reminder April 15th , is the big day, although the site; www.top10salesarticles.com will be live from Monday April 9th

Finally, two new articles for you: “Why Buyers Resist And Object” is featured on my personal site; jonathanfarrington.com and here is a brief extract:

“To handle resistance to your ideas and influence, you will first need to pinpoint exactly why there is an objection. Typically, people object or resist because they….” Continue reading

Whilst on Group site: thejfagroup.com I have posted: “Major Account Management – The jfa Model”

“In this third part of this four part series, we look at the jfa Major Account Management Model There are four parts to the model. Each part influences and is influenced by the other parts” Continue reading

And finally, finally, one of my adjudication panel colleagues Andrea Nierenberg, has an excellent post on her blog this week: “Spring Cleaning For Your Ears” and you can read it here: thenierenblog.typepad.com/

As ever, have a great week! JF

Business people, certainly here in the UK, have devalued selling for far too long and some unenlightened managers with a very narrow commercial band-width, have convinced themselves that they would do better if they did not employ salespeople – after all good products sell themselves, don’t they? As a consequence, until very recently, salespeople have done everything possible to avoid calling themselves “A Salesman” or a “Saleswoman”.

When was the last time you were introduced to a professional salesperson who when you asked what field they were in, said openly, honestly and with pride: “Oh, I sell”

No, rather most salespeople prefer to disguise their true job title behind euphemisms such as: “Sales Engineer”, “Account Executive”, “Technical Consultant” etc. But nowadays we have to accept that we all sell everyday – doctors, lawyers, estate agents, architects, politicians, teachers, accountants…. The baby crying in the pram is selling to be picked up; the dog tugging at your trouser leg is selling to be taken out for a walk (unless he is someone else’s dog, in which case he is trying to bite you) – but you take my point.

In the commercial arena, the fact remains that anyone who is in business has to sell themselves and their products – and the so called “Captains of Industry” – Branson, Roddick, Marshall, Hanson, Gates, Dell and Co. are thought to be amongst the best salespeople in the world.

It therefore follows that the quality and success of our salespeople will ultimately determine the success of our business: Certainly the world has become more competitive and in order to survive and prosper we need to continually expand and develop the skill sets of our sales teams.

Sir John Harvey-Jones said “Most companies fail not in their attempts to be innovative or creative. In this country most of them fail because they undervalue the importance of professional selling”

Unfortunately, the task of selling never becomes any easier and as competition continues to intensify, sales people will face issues that can be extremely difficult to deal with e.g. decreased product uniqueness, increased competition within ‘safe’ markets, longer sales cycles and shorter product life spans. Every organisation that intends to survive in a continually “re-engineering” environment, must, in my view, respond to those realities.

In summary: Our commercial functions, particularly the sales team, represent our forward line, if they are not scoring regularly we cannot possibly achieve our overall commercial objectives – i.e. nothing happens until somebody sells something and all that investment in costly accounting software, new office equipment, expensive IT systems etc. will count for nothing. We can therefore say with complete confidence, that selling really is the key factor in the total marketing process.

We are just fourteen days away from the launch of “Top 10 Sales Articles” and the excitement is really mounting! The publicity machine is rolling and the interviews start next week – I will give you more details soon, but I can announce the adjudication panel of top sales experts. You will notice that we now have a team of very “big hitters” with years of experience, acres of wisdom and masses of talent.

In alphabetical order they are: Wally Adamchik, Joanne Black, John Boe, Kim Duke, Kevin Dwyer, Colleen Francis, Joe Heller, David Kahle, Jill Konrath, Steve Martinez, Andrea Nierenberg, Terri Roulette McCartney, Wendy Weiss and Jacques Werth.

There will most likely be additions before kick-off date, so watch this space.

And finally, two further articles for you this week:

On Group site: www.thejfagroup.com I have posted “Sales Team Development – What Are The Options?”

“In to-day’s highly competitive selling environment, there is less room for apprenticeship, as organisations need to see a swift return on their investment.Therefore, Sales Directors need to allow sufficient time to enable their investment in training and development to pay of”. Continue Reading.

Whilst on my personal site: www.jonathanfarrington.com you will find, “What Makes A Successful Team”

“The organisational structure of a team is important. Who does what, how one job relates to another, the lines of reporting and communication – all affect effectiveness. This is something to continually re-assess. You should, therefore…… Continue Reading.

That’s it – as ever, have a great week and thank you for coming back every week.

JF

PS: You can read all of my published work in March – “Month In Review” – just look for the clock image in the right hand column.