Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

One unhappy customer tells 10 to 15 others about their experience. If it’s really bad they’ll tell the whole world.

For every complaint that could be made, around 20 people don’t bother. This means 20 lost opportunities.

If you handle a complaint badly or with a ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude or, worse still, if you hide behind the ‘rule book’, you will lose that customer for good.

You can’t afford to lose even 50p because this will mount up according to something known as the “multiplier effect”.

The Income Multiplier Effect

Example:
A potential customer goes into a leisure centre which was built last year. The centre is trying to build up its customer base. It employs 50 staff, part time and full time, who haven’t received much training in customer service and complaint handling.

The customer asks about booking a gym session for later that day. He doesn’t receive a positive reply and the receptionist’s attitude is very much ‘take it or leave it.’ He shrugs and walks away.

How much has the centre lost in potential revenue?

• £5.00 primary spend – the price of a gym session.
• £5.00 secondary spend – a drink, sandwich, possibly a swim, etc.
• £500.00 potential membership fees.

He will tell at least seven people about his bad experience so £510 x 7 = £3,570.

It is easy for a small amount of lost income to multiply to dangerous proportions.

Don’t know about you, but I am still waiting for summer to start - I cannot remember such a depressingly wet and windy June: Must be the “greenhouse effect”!

As ever, wherever you are in this rapidly shrinking world of ours, have a great weekend. - JF

The JF Guest Author Spot:

“Why Should I Talk To You” by Keith Rosen

Do you know exactly what to say to a prospect that captures their attention so succinctly and effectively that they are actually asking for more? If you are being honest with yourself, it is probably the same answer I hear from most people regardless of age, industry or experience and that is, “No.”

If that is the case, then how can you expect to uncover more prospects let alone convert these prospects into customers? How can you cold call or prospect effortlessly? How can you deliver a stimulating, thought provoking and valuable presentation?

If you are attempting to prospect without sharing the right reasons as to why a prospect needs to listen to you, then it’s no wonder why you are finding prospecting to be such a challenging and frustrating experience.

What are the “right reasons?” Probably the reasons that are several layers deeper than the reasons you are currently using. That’s what makes this process so challenging. Once salespeople feel they have a “good enough” reason, they stop. It’s like quitting the race 20 steps before the finish line. With today’s competitive climate, “good enough” is what will keep you one step behind or head to head with your competition, rather than using this as an opportunity to develop a clear competitive edge.

If you find that you are not even getting past the first 30 seconds of an initial prospecting conversation before the prospect cuts you off and says, “Not interested,” then it’s safe to say that the reasons you are currently using can withstand an upgrade. Use the following techniques outlined here to do so.

Develop the Hot Button That Stimulates Interest

One of the first questions you may ask before you embark on your cold calling initiative is, “How can I get a prospect interested enough to want to listen to me, let alone do business with me?” The answer is simple; give them a compelling reason to listen to you. The word compelling is synonymous with “convincing, persuasive, undeniable, and gripping.” When cold calling or networking, are you providing your prospects with enough of a compelling reason during the first minute of your conversation to want to speak with you and learn more about your product or service?

The intention of a compelling reason is to stimulate interest and open up a conversation. Therefore, you certainly don’t want to sound like all the other salespeople who are calling on the same prospects and saying the exact same thing. Compelling reasons are the secret ingredient that many salespeople know about but don’t take the time to refine and develop. If your reasons are not powerful enough to move someone from a state of inertia to interest or action, here’s your opportunity to give them an overhaul.

What Do You Think You’re Selling?

What is it that you are actually selling? Some professionals believe that their title alone conveys an accurate portrayal of the product or service they offer.

Other professionals feel that merely stating the type of product or service they provide is actually what they are selling. If you’re selling IT solutions, insurance, advertising, marketing services, financial or legal services, staffing, consumer goods (clothes, jewellery, make up, etc.), commercial real estate, or widgets, consider that your prospect isn’t interested in the actual product, but what it will ultimately do for them.

If you think that simply telling a prospect what it is you sell is enough to stimulate interest, think again. Your product or service isn’t what you are selling or what the prospect is buying. A prospect buys what your product or service will ultimately do for them.

Crafting Your Compelling Reasons

If you are trying to grab a prospect’s attention, your compelling reasons will not include:

1. Your product or service
2. Features of your product or service.
3. Strategies on how to achieve the desired end result. (The “how.”)
4. Unsubstantiated or lofty claims and guarantees.

You may be asking, “Keith, what does it include?”

Whether you’re looking to craft a laser introduction for a networking event, follow up call, voice mail, presentation or a cold calling approach when speaking to new prospects, here are some guidelines to follow as we discuss the anatomy of a compelling reason.

1. Include the End Result of the Benefit

Your compelling reasons should include the benefit of the benefit’s benefit.

Sound extreme, maybe even a bit silly? Lets check. You know you have a great compelling reason when you are able to break it down to its core or the specific result that the prospect will be able to take advantage of and most importantly, visualize and connect with.

Consider this statistic. Based on a sample group of clients that I have surveyed over the years, 14 percent of people made a purchasing decision based on prior knowledge and experience. And 86 percent of people made a purchasing decision based on a future expectation.

Imagine that your prospects secretly want you to be able to offer them something that will make them more successful while making their life easier. Since most people buy based on a future expectation, your prospects will be more inclined to listen to what you have to say if you have an end result they want.

When making an initial cold call, you have seconds to grab the attention of the person you are calling on. Therefore, you simply don’t have the time to explain how you are going to achieve the end result of the benefit, let alone the product or service that will enable you to do so. You’ll have the opportunity to discuss your product or the strategy to achieve the desired result later on in your sales process after you’ve set an appointment or confirmed interest.

2. Pass the “So What” Test

You know you have the end result of the benefit when the statement can pass the “so what?” test. For example, Jill, a client of mine, sells insurance and financial services. When I asked her to list the benefits of her service she responded with the following statement. “We have an online reporting system that automates your administrative duties. My response, “So what?” According to old school feature and benefit selling, this is a fit. After all, an online reporting system is a great feature that her clients would benefit from. However, in today’s economic climate it’s no longer enough to evoke interest, let alone action from a prospect. Since her statement did not pass the “so what” test we need to go a bit deeper.

The benefit Jill shared with me was, “Automates your administrative duties.” Well, we’re getting closer but this still doesn’t pass the “so what” test. Lets peel away a few more layers to uncover the end result of this benefit. While we’re doing so, notice the questions I ask Jill and the process she goes through to finally uncover a true compelling reason, since this is a process that you will have to walk yourself through as well.

I asked Jill to tell me what the advantage was to automating administrative duties. She told me that by doing so, her clients can streamline their operations. I challenged her again by asking her to share with me what the end result would be if her clients were able to streamline their operations and become efficient. “They would be able to save a tremendous amount of time,” she said.

Finally, here’s what Jill and I came up with. “We have a system that will eliminate three hours of your workload every day.”

Now this passes the “so what” test, since it demonstrates the end result of the benefit that the prospect can realize and is compelling enough to grab their attention.

If we were to break down this example, this is what it would look like:

Feature: An Online Reporting System.

Benefit: Automates your administrative duties.

Jill’s Compelling Reason and the End Result Of The Benefit:

Eliminate three hours of your workload every day.

Notice that Jill’s compelling reason, which is also the end result of the benefit didn’t talk about what she sells that would enable her prospects to achieve this end result. At this point, the prospect cares more about the end result than your product or how you are going to produce the end result.

You know you have come up with a great compelling reason when your prospects respond with a question that sounds like, “How are you going to do that?”

3. Speak to Their Ear (Make It Personal)

It’s one thing to tout the intoxicating benefits of your product that the company as a whole would want to realize. However, if you’re speaking to someone in HR, they may not do cartwheels when you tell them that your product or service will save the company money or increase company profitability. As important as this may be, it may be falling upon a deaf ear. Therefore, you want to have a buffet of benefits that you can use depending upon the scenario and the person you are talking with.

What does your product or service do for them, specifically? It’s one thing to share the benefits that the company may experience but what about the person you are speaking with face to face or who is on the other end of the phone? After all, it’s not the entire company and each individual within the company that you’re looking to get a response from. It’s the person who’s making the decision to explore your offering in more detail.

What would capture the ear of the person you are speaking with? How does your product benefit them? Speak to their unique and personal interests. Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine what their day is like, the responsibilities they have, and the problems or pressures they face.

Think back to the compelling reason that Jill created for her specific prospect. “We have a system that will eliminate three hours of your workload every day.”

Jill can then expand upon this compelling reason during the conversation with her prospect; an overwhelmed manager in HR who is in a situation where he is juggling a variety of tasks and responsibilities with few resources to get it all done. Here’s an example. “That’s 15 additional hours that you would have available each week. Mr. Prospect, what would you do with the additional 15 hours each week?”

Notice how this example speaks directly to that prospect’s specific role, responsibilities, current situation and desired outcome.

To help craft your compelling reasons as they relate to each prospect, research your audience. Speak with some of your past and current clients. Ask them questions to determine what captured their ear and caused them to do business with you in the first place.

To develop your compelling reasons that have the greatest impact, you are much better off asking your clients why they bought from you, rather than formulating your own conclusions. Remember, there’s a big difference between what your prospects think is important and what you think is important. After all, people buy based on their reasons, not yours.

4. Include Testimonials or Measurable Results

The more you can offer and demonstrate measurable results that other customers have realized, the more of an impact it will have. It adds to the clarity of the visual picture and experience that you are trying to paint regarding what they can expect from your service rather than the generally vague picture of “making them money or saving them money.” So, quantify your results. Use statistics, percentages, numbers, or testimonials. If you can save a client money, how much might you be able to save them? When it comes to saving time, decreasing client attrition, increasing employee retention, experiencing greater levels of personal satisfaction, peace of mind, well being and happiness, or boosting sales, productivity, and efficiency, you will dramatically increase the impact of the statement by attaching a measurement to it. If you don’t know exactly what you can do for the prospect until you learn more about their business, then use phrases such as, “Depending on your situation, we may be able to reduce your overhead by as much as 20 percent.” You can also weave in what have you done for other customers. Who else have you helped? If you’ve done something great for a client and I’m sure you have a success story to share, now is not time to be humble. Here are some examples:

• Depending on what you are currently doing, we can show you how you can eliminate three hours of your workload every day.
• XYZ Company increased their sales 300 percent as a result of using our system.
• Depending on your situation, I can show you how to turn a one hour meeting with your clients into an additional $30,000 dollars in income for you.
• Jane Doe, a neighbor in your community lost 30 pounds in three weeks.

Be careful when using testimonials. Make sure you get permission from the client before using their name in your marketing and sales efforts. In addition, it’s important that you know the type of prospect you’re talking to when sharing a testimonial with them. Some prospects may feel it’s important to “keep up with the Jones’s” or know what their competition and the leaders in their industry are doing and may be motivated to buy based on that alone. However, for some prospects the opposite may be true. Instead, these prospects want to position themselves distinct from their competitors based on their size, reputation, product, or service. After all, not everyone wants to be a Microsoft.

5. Identify Their Greatest Pain

I know this may sound a bit harsh but the fact is, pain is often a greater motivator than pleasure. Many of us are driven to avoid potential consequences or eliminate problems rather than create or take advantage of a benefit. After all, aside from scheduling a complete physical, we typically don’t go to the doctor when we’re feeling healthy.

Think about the greatest pain, challenge, or headache that some of your clients have experienced as a result of using another vendor. What do they want to avoid most? What is the personal pain that you will solve if they utilize your product or service? What are their main problems, personal stresses, or triggers of anxiety that they experience in their job that you can eliminate? If you can pinpoint and then articulate their greatest challenges or concerns during a conversation, it demonstrates your knowledge about their specific problems and that you really get what their situation looks like through their eyes. This will foster a deeper connection with each prospect you speak with. Once you verbalize a prospect’s greatest pain or problem, they are more willing and ready to resolve it.

The Shotgun Approach

Now, some of my clients have asked, “Keith, why develop a minimum of five compelling reasons?” Well, think of it this way. If you are calling on someone for the first time, do you know exactly what this prospect’s hot button is or what will motivate the prospect to listen to you? Not exactly.

This way, you can tailor the compelling reasons you use around each prospect that you’re calling on based on their position and what you feel is most important to them.

If you’re using the same old benefit statement every time you cold call rather than several compelling reasons, there’s a chance that the benefit you are using may not be important to the prospect. If it’s not a benefit to the prospect, they won’t be interested in hearing about it. If this is the case, then you have succeeded in continually reinforcing the wrong message with every prospect you contact.

As we discussed, there’s a difference between what you think is important and what your prospect thinks is important. You just have to work on putting yourself in their position to uncover what they want and need to hear rather than either assuming what you think they need to hear or saying the same thing that every other salesperson is saying.

There are many benefits to crafting your compelling reasons. First, you are going to weave them into your prospecting template, cover letter, presentation, e-mails, networking strategy, elevator speech, follow up calls and voice mails.

Second, you will be using these compelling reasons during your pre call planning. Reviewing your compelling reasons before you begin to prospect will put you in the right mindset, refocus your efforts towards the value you can deliver, and remind you why your prospects need to speak with you! If you find that you’re having difficulty creating your own compelling reasons, that’s perfectly normal. The fact is, this is a challenging exercise that requires some creative thinking and the ability to peel away at the traditional benefit statements in order to get to the core compelling reason. Enroll your boss or supervisor to assist you. Hire your own sales coach. If you are part of a sales force then make this a team effort. Having an entire sales team co-create these compelling reasons can be a great exercise for your next sales meeting.

WARNING: Perfection is paralysis. Do not attempt to make your compelling reasons “perfect” the first time around. Remember, they are not etched in stone. The more you use them the more they will evolve. You will always have the opportunity to refine them after you begin using them and have a chance to gauge their effectiveness as well as the reactions from your prospects and customers.

Take a Test Drive

At this point you may be thinking, “How will I know if my compelling reasons are, in fact, compelling enough?” Here are a few barometers you can use to gauge their effectiveness. Share them with a co-worker, supervisor, or even one of your clients that you have a great relationship with and ask for their opinion. Most of all, try them out on you! After all, if these reasons motivate and excite you enough to want to share them with your prospects, then you are on the right path. Finally, get out there and try them on some new prospects. Remember, the more you use them, the quicker they will evolve into something better. The point is, just get out there and start using them. You can always fine-tune them as you go. Developing your top five compelling reasons why a prospect should speak with you provides a unique opportunity for you to reconnect with your product newly, to reinvent and reposition what it is you are selling and discover a greater value you can offer that your prospects can connect with on a deeper level. Have a conversation with your prospects instead of ‘pitching’ them.

Keith Rosen is the executive sales coach that top managers, sales professionals and executives in many of the world’s leading companies call first. As a prominent speaker, Master Coach and well-known author of many books and articles, Keith is one of the foremost authorities on assisting people in achieving positive, measurable change in their attitude, in their behavior and in their results. Contact Keith about personalized, one to one or team coaching and training at profitbuilders.com. Visit Keith at www.ProfitBuilders.com and subscribe to his free newsletter The Winners Path at http://www.profitbuilders.com/winnerspath.htm

Tomorrow: “Some Very Worrying Facts About Unhappy Customers”

Finally, over at Salesopedia my good chums are in conversation: “Top Sales Expert” Jill Konrath comments on how critical good questioning skills are to succeed in sales and she shares her thoughts on what makes a good question with Clayton Shold. You can listen in here

Success should be something you don’t just ‘Kinda Sorta’ want to achieve but something you must achieve.

Generally top achievers expect to be successful and as a consequence they usually are. They are driven by a ‘have to’ attitude not a ‘want to’ attitude.

If you have no concrete goals and you have been succeeding in spite of yourself, just think how much more success you could enjoy if you set your sights on a definite path and had a specific time-frame in which you expect to reach your destination.

Setting Goals Keeps You Focussed:

What you should know is that goals give you three distinct advantages, which help you succeed:

• Goals keep you on track.
• Goals let you know when and what to celebrate.
• Goals give you a focussed plan to work with.

If nothing else, goals let others know what they have to aim for to keep up with your standards.

Effective Goal Setting:

Take the time to think about what would make you happy, contented and satisfied and about what would motivate you to become a Top 5% Player.

It’s important to remember that goals are maps; they will guide you towards your success - the more detailed your goal setting the easier it will be for you to reach your destination.

When you are in the first stage of goal setting you also need to remember two important factors - i.e.

• The goal must be better than your best yet - but it must be achievable.
• Goals should be based on productivity not production.

Keeping these two rules of goal setting firmly in your mind will help you to form and stay committed to what is really important to you.

Are you a great goal setter? Leave me a comment and share your success.

Tomorrow: My guest author is the award winning Keith Rosen with a very detailed piece: “Why Should I Talk To You?”

The JF Guest Author Spot:

“Adamchik’s Laws Of Leadership” by Wally Adamchik 

I have discovered three simple principles that, when properly applied, make your leadership journey incredibly rewarding.

Number One – it is all about you. Number Two – it is all about them. Number Three – it is all about the organization.

Number One – It is all about you. You must make the conscious choice to accept the role of leader. It is not enough to occupy a position of leadership (as defined by a box on the org chart with your name on it). In fact, many people have made the choice to lead, and have exercised vast influence, without being in a so-called “leadership” position. In making the choice to lead, you take responsibility for yourself first, and you commit to working on yourself. If you cannot, or will not, lead yourself, you simply cannot lead others. You recognize that you will take some hits in your visible role as leader but you don’t shy away from them. You know your decisions may not always be popular. You understand this comes with the territory and is worth the rewards of leading. Once you have accepted the first law, you are ready to move on to the next.

Number Two – It is all about them. In this case, them refers to those we lead. Your purpose as leader is to engage your employees so they bring 100% of themselves to work, every day. As their leader, you create the right environment for them to motivate themselves and to exceed your expectations. You focus on helping them get better at what they do. This helps them to become more productive and to advance. It also shows them that you are. It helps you, because they require less supervision–which brings us right to law number three.

Number Three – It is about the organization. We come together in associations or businesses to accomplish something that we could not accomplish alone. As an employee, I give you my time and you give me compensation and benefits. As a leader in the organization, you recognize that you are part of the organization, but not the organization itself. Investing your ego and ambition in your job is fine–to a point. In the extreme, it can lead to overbearing, sometimes unethical bosses who think the organization exists to support them. This arrogance ultimately brings failure. The effective leader knows he is part of the team and always works to better the team. The development of strong, new leaders is an essential part of this law. In fact, one of the best legacies a leader can leave is a highly effective organization that performs well in the absence of that supervisor.

It is the insecure leader who wants his successor to fail. Any leader who fails to support an employee–for any reason–hurts the organization, therefore violating Law Number Three.

Clearly, there are many layers to each of these principles. But the first step to higher effectiveness as a leader is to make the choice to be one. Then, focus on your people. Together, you can successfully advance the organization into the future. Once you embrace the three laws, you are on your way to becoming a truly successful leader.

Wally Adamchik, President of FireStarter Speaking and Consulting, is as an author, speaker and business consultant. He helps businesses and organizations apply these leadership philosophies in pursuit of operational excellence in business. His new book NO YELLING: The Nine Secrets of Marine Corps Leadership You MUST Know To WIN In Business is loaded with examples of what effective leadership looks like, and how to do it in the trenches, on the shop floor, and in the office. (www.noyelling.net) 

Over at Leadership Turn today, I have featured a piece by my new friend Leanne Hoagland-Smith: “Remarkable Leadership Means Incredible Innovation“ You will enjoy it here  

Tomorrow: “The Most Successful People You Know Are Great Goal Setters“   

Finally: Today, another good friend, Wendy Weiss, ‘The Queen of Cold Calling’ will be conducting two “How to Follow-up With Prospects” Live Coaching Teleconferences to help business owners, entrepreneurs and sales professionals gain the skills necessary to follow-up with prospects until they buy.

4pm Eastern, Tuesday, June 26th:
How to Follow-up with Prospects, Business-to-Business System

9pm Eastern, Tuesday, June 26th
How to Follow-up with Prospects, a System for Network Marketers

Get all the details and register here:
http://www.wendyweiss.com/howtofollowup/index.html 

Relationship marketing is no longer a new buzz word and obviously it’s here to stay. It’s all about looking at your customers and your relationship with them in a new light. Rather than develop a product or service and market it to the customers, relationship marketers think about what the customers want and adapt their product development strategy accordingly.

It’s about customisation to meet the needs of the individual. Relationship marketing is based on getting feedback and using it to develop and improve your service. Earlier it was suggested that companies make it as easy as possible for customers to complain. In relationship marketing, feedback is sought before a complaint occurs. This helps to:

• Identify potential problem areas before the customer does.
• Customise.

For many companies it has become practice to encourage customers to provide such information via the website. You need good quality of information if you are to have a two-way relationship with your customer.

Customer Expectations:

Have customers changed? – In a word Yes!

• They are more demanding.
• Have higher expectations.
• Have a more pressurised lifestyle.
• Want everything but don’t necessarily want to pay for it.
• Are less tolerant.
• Want more for their money, time and effort.
• Are much more aware of their rights – influenced by consumer rights programmes.
• Are driven by customer service issues in their own workplace.
• Are more likely to seek recommendation from friends and colleagues than rely on advertising.
• Are driven by new technology – particularly the internet.

BUT – the key to supplier differentiation lies within these increased expectations, since customers now value closer links with efficient, competent suppliers who are willing to act as long term allies.
And Finally:

Some key lessons on keeping abreast of customer needs and minimising complaints:

• Use as much of the available technology as possible – make it work for the customer.
• Focus on customers as individuals.
• Listen and act on what they say.
• Increase the value of each customer – especially in the long term.
• Welcome complaints – always, always, welcome complaints.

It’s a new week and there are some great posts coming up: Tomorrow my chum Wally Adamchik is my guest author with “Adamchik’s Laws Of Leadership” and then later in the week… wait and see!

Over at Top 10 Sales Articles, the panel selected what I believe are the strongest set since we launched on April 15th and competition is going to be very tough: You can read them here

Well, you have all responded so magnificently to my call to arms and voted in your tens, that I am going to give you a proper post today - none of that short sharp stuff - a real sales lesson that gets to the heart of selling! (If you haven’t voted yet, of course I forgive you, do it now please, here.- we’ll wait for you.)

Customers and prospects possess a hierarchy of needs which have to be uncovered and the very best professional salespeople have become masters at recognising those needs.

Rarely do you get information unless you ask for it. You need information to sell your services or products and look for future sales possibilities. Skilful questioning means that you do not seem to be imposing on the prospect by asking too many questions.

Types Of Needs:

• Implied Needs are statements about problems, difficulties and dissatisfaction.

An examples would be: “Our system is too slow, we cannot handle the volumes, and the system is unreliable”

• Explicit Needs are specific customer statements of wants or desires.

An example might include: “We need a faster system, we have to cut costs, and we need more reliability”

Uncovering Implied Needs will suffice only in small sales, as the sales opportunity grows larger, the more important it is to uncover Explicit Needs.

Implied Needs Have To Be Developed Into Explicit Needs With Questions:

Types of questions:

• Uncovering Questions, to find out about problems or implied needs.
• Developing Questions, take the implied needs and develop them into explicit needs.

Uncovering Implied Needs:

Situation Questions, find facts and information about the customer’s present situation e.g.
“How many people do you employ?” “What markets are you in?” “What is your annual sales revenue?”

Problem Questions find out about problems, difficulties or dissatisfaction e.g. “How easy to use is your system?” “Is the system reliable?” “Do you have quality problems?” “How do you manage with…….?”
“Are you satisfied with……..?”

Developing Needs:

In a larger sale, uncovering problems and offering solutions does not work. Needs have to be developed with implication questions. Implication questions will increase the seriousness of the problem.

The Value Equation:

- Cost of solution outweighs the problem.
- Implication questions take the problem and build it up.
- It becomes large enough to justify action.

Questions to Develop Needs:

Implication questions, about the effects, consequences or implications of the customers problems e.g.
“You say the software is hard to use - how does that affect your productivity?” “The data is easy to lose - what does this mean to your company?” “So you return fewer calls - how does it affect your customer service?”

Questions to Capitalise On Developed Needs:

Need pay off questions,question the value or usefulness of the proposed solution e.g. “How will this help you?” “Why do you need to do this?” “Why is this important to you?”

Summary:

Using questioning techniques you can control the prospect in almost any given situation. You can guide the prospect towards acceptance of your solution. Should you need to, you can use questioning techniques to regain control.

These techniques are very effective when used at the “Exploratory Meeting” stage and if you would like to learn more about conducting a professional and rigorous exploratory meeting, please use the contact form to request a copy of my comprehensive guide.

Ever wondered what the real Cambridge University is like? Is it as it is portrayed in “Chariots Of Fire” or “Brideshead Revisited“? You can read the thoughts of a first year “Fresher” - my son, as he looks back and reflects on his first three terms at the most prestigious and arguably, until very recently, the most elitist university in the world: “A Fresher’s Reflections” here on Leadership Turn

And finally, but actually foremost in my thoughts today, “Happy Birthday” to a remarkable person and that adjective hardly does her justice- Nikki Owen.

Think “The Sales Practitioners“ - soon, I promise!! 

It’s been a big week! Wherever you are in the world, as ever, have a great weekend. - JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

“What’s Your Goal - Exposure Or Behavioral Change?” by Alan Rigg.

When your company invests in sales training, what is the expected outcome? Is it a change in how your salespeople perform their daily activities - in other words, a change in behavior?

Unfortunately, most companies drastically underestimate the amount of time and effort that must be invested to accomplish behavioral change. Sitting in a class for a couple of hours or days is a good way to expose salespeople to new skills and techniques. However, new skills and techniques often feel strange and uncomfortable. Many salespeople worry that attempting to use the new skills and techniques with real, live prospects or customers will cost them sales and hard-won credibility. So, they abandon the new skills and techniques and continue to rely on “old” behaviors that are comfortable for them.

Here is a real-life example of a sales training program failure

Executive management at a company I worked for invested more than $600,000 to teach the entire sales team (100+ salespeople) a new sales approach. However, at every turn they looked for ways to reduce training costs and time out of the field. As a result, the sales manager training session was cut from a full day to half a day, and the sales team training was cut from three days to a day and a half. Plus, post-training conference calls (intended to reinforce key concepts) were rescheduled multiple times and eventually cancelled.

What was the return on the company’s $600,000 investment? Only 10% to 20% of the salespeople ever applied the new sales approach in the field. The training project was considered a failure.

If you want your sales training investments to produce changes in your salespeople’s behavior, your company’s entire management team, from top executives to individual sales managers, needs to make a different level of commitment to sales training. The skills and techniques that are taught during training sessions must be repeated and reinforced on a regular and consistent basis. Plus, you should provide your salespeople with a non-threatening environment where they can practice new skills and techniques until they become second nature.

To further demonstrate the level of management commitment that is required to accomplish behavioral change, consider the following two scenarios.

Scenario #1
A top executive mentions the importance of a new sales approach in a company meeting or conference call. They mention it again occasionally (once a month or once a quarter). The sales manager also mentions the new approach in a few sales meetings before or after the training session(s). However, the focus soon returns to “business as usual”.

Scenario #2
A top executive explains the importance of a new sales approach in a company meeting or conference call. From that point on, they repeat the message in any conversation they have with any member of the sales or sales management team. The new sales approach becomes part of the executive’s daily dialogue, and they mention it multiple times a day.

Sales managers invest the time required to become proficient in using the new sales approach. They also explain to their salespeople that each salesperson will be held accountable for using the new approach effectively in the field. They help their salespeople become comfortable using the new approach by conducting repeated role plays in individual and group meetings. They also inspect for use of the new approach in a consistent and predictable fashion.

This level of management commitment causes the salespeople to recognize that the new approach is not “the flavor of the month”, and it will NOT go away if they ignore it. As a result, the new approach eventually becomes part of the company’s sales culture.

Do you see the difference in the level of commitment described by the two scenarios? Do you see why the second scenario is much more likely to produce lasting behavioral change?

In summary, if you want to change your salespeople’s behavior, your company’s entire management team needs to demonstrate a different level of commitment to sales training. Here are the recommended steps for this process:
1. Any significant new sales approach becomes part of top executives’ daily dialogue.

2. Sales managers learn how to execute the new approach.

3. Salespeople are trained in the new approach.

4. Sales managers hold salespeople accountable for using the new approach.

5. Sales managers increase their salespeople’s comfort with the new approach by conducting repeated role plays in a non-threatening environment.

6. Sales managers consistently and repeatedly inspect salesperson activity to confirm they are using the new approach.

When new skills and techniques become second nature to your salespeople, they are more likely to apply them effectively in the field. Designing training curriculums to produce behavioral change is the best way to ensure that your company receives its desired return on sales training investments!

©2005 - Alan Rigg

Sales performance expert Alan Rigg is the author of “How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most Salespeople Don’t Perform and What to Do About It.” His company, 80/20 Sales Performance, helps business owners, executives, and managers DOUBLE sales by implementing The Right Formula™ for building top-performing sales teams. For more information and more FREE sales and sales management tips, visit http://www.8020salesperformance.com.

Keep the voting going - please….

Tomorrow: To finish the week with a flourish, the very meaty: “Identifying Needs, Developing Needs And Satisfying Needs”

The ‘Book of Lists’ published every year in America, has accumulated and ranked a dazzling assortment of fascinating topics. Amongst them is the list of ‘mankind’s worst fears’

Do you think that ‘death’ is our greatest fear? - No that’s tied for sixth place with ‘sickness’

In fifth place is our fear of ‘deep water’
In fourth place comes our fear of ‘financial problems’
In third our fear of ‘insects and bugs’
In second place is our fear of ‘heights’

So what do you think ranks as our worst fear?

It is in fact, the prospect of having to stand up in front of an audience and make a speech or give a presentation.

Interestingly, the most common problem among inexperienced presenters is the ‘fear of fear’ the feeling that they will be unable to overcome this nervousness. This fear is normally multiplied by the number of people they are talking to.

The Value Of Nerves:

However, the adoption of certain basic principles will help to control nerves.

You will note that I say ‘control’ rather than eradicate - which leads to the first of these principles.

• Feeling nervous before and at the start of any presentation is not only natural, it is necessary. Without that keyed-up feeling, the adrenaline will not flow in the presenter and therefore the presentation will be flat and unexciting.

• Remember that of the three key elements in any presentation -i.e. the audience, the content & the presenter, the presenter is the least important.

• Also remember that you are not alone. Nearly every great orator, whether they are a politician, an actor, an evangelist or a great sales person, feels the same nervousness that you feel. (indeed many of them feel it worse)

In nearly every case the audience is on you side.

In Summary:

• The biggest fear is probably of ‘drying -up’ you will not do this if you are properly prepared with a good set of notes. If you are lost for a word, don’t worry, it will either come to you or the audience will supply it.

• Just before you are due to start, sit down in a chair and take two or three deep breaths.

• Make sure you have ‘warmed-up’ your voice before rising to speak.

• Be appropriately dressed for the occasion - smart attire adds to you confidence.

• When you stand up, ‘stand-tall’ with feel slightly apart and well grounded on the floor.

• Don’t fidget - relax.

Remember the only way to learn how to have full control of nerves is to practice making presentations whenever and however possible.

There are of course, a number of key elements within a professional presentation, for example: Planning and preparation, structure, verbal delivery, physical delivery, the use of visual aids and the management of the question and answer session. Each element is important and each needs to be planned thoroughly.

Tomorrow: The JF Guest Author is Alan Rigg - “What’s Your Goal-Exposure Or Behavioral Change?” 

Are you sure you have voted? Let me know what you think of the competition - leave me a comment please? 

The JF Guest Author Spot

“What Is Selling?” by Wendy Weiss

I looked up the word “sell” in the dictionary. This is what it said:

“To persuade (another) to recognize the worth or desirability of something.”

This definition assumes value. It assumes that you recognize the value of whatever it is that you are selling. Inherent in the definition is the concept of worth or desirability.

I also looked up “salesperson,” “saleswoman,” “salesman,” “sales clerk,” and my favorite, “sales talk.” The definition for “sales talk” was, “a line of reasoning or argument intended to persuade someone to buy something.”

Whenever I do a workshop or teleconference, I frequently ask participants, “What are the words that come to mind when you hear the word, ’salesperson’?” Invariably, I hear back words like, “manipulative,” “dishonest,” “unethical,” and “sleazy.”

In the dictionary, however, when I looked up all of the above sales words, none of the definitions referenced “manipulative,” “dishonest,” “unethical,” “sleazy,” or anything particularly negative. The language in these definitions was actually quite neutral and several of them spoke of value.

Unfortunately, in our culture, the words “sales” or “sell” are viewed with disrespect. The words no longer simply mean to persuade someone of the value of what you are offering. Instead they carry the baggage of images of untrustworthiness and
deviousness. This is a misconception that does an enormous disservice.

Far too often, entrepreneurs and sales professionals buy into this stereotypical image of sales and see the activity of selling as negative and untrustworthy. They feel that if they are selling (or being perceived to be selling), they are doing something that
is not quite right or that has the potential to be not quite right. It’s as if there is a line drawn someplace, but they don’t know where that line is or when they’ve stepped over it. It causes them to be cautious and careful and worry about how they
are perceived. This anxiety puts them, in their own minds, at a disadvantage and on a lower level than their prospects and customers. This is a difficult place to be. And it stops many from taking action.

Since the definition of the word “sell” used the word “persuade,” I looked up that word in the dictionary. It said:

“1. to prevail on a person to do something, 2. to induce to believe; convince”

Again, nowhere in that definition do we find the words, “manipulative,” “dishonest,” “unethical,” “sleazy,” or anything particularly negative. As with the word, “sell,” the language is quite neutral.

The bottom line: Selling is persuading and convincing people to buy your products and/or services. That persuasion is based on value. If you cannot persuade and convince people to buy your products and/or services, then you do not have a business.

If you believe that selling is “manipulative,” “dishonest,” “unethical,” and “sleazy,” this belief will not support your ability to build a business. It is very difficult to sell (persuade and convince) while believing that selling (persuading and convincing) is wrong. It is time for many business owners and sales professionals to change their beliefs about the words “selling” and “sales.”

The truth is that most entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals are honest, ethical and believe in the value they have to offer. And that is where the focus should be.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Do you believe in the value of your products/services?
2. Do your products/services provide a benefit to your customers?
3. Do you believe in the value of what you are selling?
4. Are you doing the best you know how to ensure that your customers get what they need?

If you have answered “yes” to the above questions, then you are proceeding with integrity. If you are proceeding with integrity, then obviously you are not being “manipulative,” “dishonest,” “unethical,” and “sleazy.” You can persuade, convince and sell with your head held high.

If you answered “no” to the questions above, then get out of the business. It’s not a fit for you. Find something else to do in which you can believe.

Let’s reclaim the words “sell” and “sales.” Let’s redefine the words to mean, “to persuade and convince with integrity.” Let’s remember that value is inherent in the definition. Then everyone would understand that as long as they proceed with integrity and as long as they believe in the value of what they are selling, selling is an ethical and moral act.

Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling”, is a sales trainer, sales coach and author. She helps entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals gain confidence, reach more prospects, close more sales and make more money. You can read more about Wendy here

Wendy also has two new live teleconferencing courses coming up on June 26th 2007 and you will find details here - Choose the one that’s right for you:
How to Follow-up with Prospects
A System for Network Marketers

How to Follow-up with Prospects
Business-to-Business System
Tomorrow: “Our Greatest Fear” - that will have got you guessing!

Have you voted yet?

Rather than doggedly asking for the business, the very best sales people work to keep the relationship moving towards a sale. They realise the need to identify how to turn their company’s products into real solutions, which must meet specific needs.

Unfortunately, our surveys confirm that the average salesperson drags the customer over old ground as much as 52% of the time - they are unable to provide continuous stimulation and never know when to treat an existing customer like a new one.

Conversely, exceptional salespeople only make such ‘return’ calls for 10% of the time. Above all, earning the right to proceed requires gaining the customer’s trust and top salespeople work diligently to establish a climate in which the customer is willing to share information and feels comfortable doing so. The key here is integrity.

Customers are persuaded when they are part of the process and not part of the audience:

Sales success to-day demands a radical shift from the ‘peddler’ mentality of merely demonstrating products and expanding on their features. It requires treating the customer as a participant. More often than not, a ‘flashy’ sales presentation alone alienates rather than persuades.

The best salespeople regard the sales call as a two-way conversation - not a one sided pitch. They have developed active listening skills. Average salespeople score fairly well in their ability to provide customers with facts and figures, but top performers dramatically outscore the rest when it comes to gathering information.

In addition, how a salesperson collects information still distinguishes exceptional achievers from the rest of the pack. I.e. top performers ask better questions and as a result gain much better information. Essentially, they aim to engage customers in the buying process with questions that require thoughtful answers, that stimulate curiosity and that reveal the customers underlying needs.

Tomorrow, the “JF Guest Author Spot” is occupied by my friend Wendy Weiss - The Queen Of Cold Calling and it is an excellent piece called: “What Is Selling?” - you will enjoy it very much.

Best Leadership Blog 2007:You know that I am going to be pestering you for your vote everyday now until July 6th when the winner is announced. Details in the panel on the left - thank you!!