Over the past few weeks, I have been sharing my thoughts on the significant changes taking place within the “sales space” – specifically, the way that we sellers sell. These thoughts have been based not only on my own assumptions, which have been formulated over the past couple of years, but also on conversations and discussions with other commentators, thought leaders, and sales experts.

Recently, I have outlined my vision of what the sales landscape will look like in three to five years, and it seems most of my closest colleagues and friends agree with me. In summary, I am forecasting that …

In B2B:

20% of “outside” sales jobs will disappear in 2012. 10% of these will convert to inside sales positions and the other 10% will be lost for good.

Within three years – certainly five, at the outside – 80% of current external sales jobs will no longer exist. They will have either morphed into internal sales roles, or become extinct.

The most significant casualties will be the “order takers and the marketeers” whose role will be taken by the new breed of inside salesperson that I discussed last week (Please scroll down to read all last week’s posts) This isn’t radical thinking, it is common sense.

We should also anticipate that of the remaining 20% of external sales professionals, a further 15% of those will also be replaced by 2020.

So you see, the canvas is going to look very different, very soon, which is also a significant factor for any company looking to buy sales training this year, next year or the year after.

Why would you want to invest in developing your external sales team, if they will not, in all probability, be in existence in three years time? But you would want to invest heavily in the recruitment and training of your internal sales teams, and this is precisely what forwrad thinking organizations are doing right now.

All of this will also hugely impact the way training providers think – well, at any rate, it should. Those companies who remain wedded to on-site, classroom training are going to also become extinct – and I intend to outline my views on this tomorrow.

And lest you should think that I have forgotten the B2C sector, I haven’t. I intend to paint a picture of how it will be for them within three years, on Friday.

These are exciting times to be working in the sales space. Yes, there are going to be a huge amount of casualties, but what we we will be left with, is going to be far superior than what we have now. I predicted this in a recording five years ago, and now it is beginning to happen.

News: Today’s highlight is my recorded conversation with Jill Konrath that I promised you last week – “The TOTAL Demise of Nice Salespeople” – you can listen in HERE

One of the most critical and significant areas of any business is the creation of new opportunities: For many companies, I have noticed, it is the critical focus, often to the detriment of existing customers – but that is another topic, and I do not want to distract you from today’s key message.

My regular observations have led me to conclude that very few organizations have a formal plan, strategy or methodology in place to manage leads, preferring the “scatter-gun” approach, because all business is good business, isn’t it? Well, actually no, it isn’t.

Use of ‘Pareto Thinking’ is highly relevant and important when applied to sales people. For example, 20% of sales people’s activities will create 80% of sales achieved, which has enormous consequences on how to optimize and manage lead generation activities.

Generating leads is an important sales activity that plants the seeds of growth for sustainable business development. A lead is purely a name that you could refer to as a SUSPECT because their potential to buy is unknown.

Before you can qualify leads to determine whether they have the money, authority and desire to buy your products/services, you need to generate them!

When deciding upon which lead generation methods work best for you and your organization, it helps to have clarity on the type of customers that you’d like to attract. This means creating an Ideal Customer Profile that can begin to provide direction to your lead generation activities.

For example, the following questions will stimulate your thinking when it comes to developing an Ideal Customer Profile:

● What size of organization would you prefer to deal with?

● Typically, how many people will they employ?

● What market sector(s) do these organizations operate within?

● Who specifically will be buying your products/services and what are their job titles?

● Where geographically would you like these organizations to be located?

● What does your organization offer that is unique?

● What types of organizations will be attracted by this uniqueness?

● What do your best customers possess that you would like to replicate in others?

● Which of your existing customers were the easiest and quickest to convert?

● What similarities do these customers possess?

● Are there any specific criteria that prospective organizations should have in place, so that your products/services can be optimized?

Having a well-defined profile of your ‘ideal customer’ can prove to be invaluable when determining which methods to use for lead generation, and improves the effectiveness of marketing initiatives.

Suffice to say that adhering to your ideal profile immediately eliminates targets that are unsuitable, so you only focus on winnable/profitable opportunities.

You may also discover that the process for asking for referrals becomes easier and generates a better response, because you are providing the person with a tighter specification of what you are looking for – this concentrates their thinking towards the direction you have defined.

So let’s get serious about lead generation, shall we?

News:

The January edition of the Top Sales Magazine is now published: This month, Linda Richardson’s guest is the ebullient Anthony Iannarino, and we also have guest posts from Colleen Stanley, Ken Thoreson, Jill Konrath, and Dave Kurlan. In my regular “JF Uncut” column, I survey the new sales landscape, and I make some very bold predictions.
Please download your copy here

Every time we communicate with another person – by whatever means – it is an opportunity. Opportunity to do what? An opportunity to demonstrate our professionalism; our knowledge; our rapport building skills; our commercial bandwidth; our empathy; our personality; our warmth?

There are so many communication mediums open to us today: The telephone is still with us - but we don’t seem to be using it so much, preferring to hide behind recorded messages - Skype, our cell phones, video-conferencing, and of course email. But it seems to me that whenever an increasing number of people use any form of text to communicate, they have lost the ability to, well, communicate properly.

The truncated, abbreviated, cell text style of messaging has now found its way into email, and we are witnessing briefer and more curt messages than ever. Is bluntness the new cool?

Example: Last week I received this message. “Send me your training brochure” That was it.

I responded: “Hello, many thanks for your request. Unfortunately, I only received part of your message. I think the whole message should have read:

“Hi,

Please send me your training brochure (although I am not sure which brochure you need)

Many Thanks

xxxxxx”

And of course I received a very apologetic note describing how they had been too busy to include the “niceties” Actually, the additional time it took to add the niceties was exactly 5 seconds!!

I think we all accept that without the ability to add inflection or tone to our emails, it is very easy for our messages to be misinterpreted, but that doesn’t mean we cannot convey warmth and personality? And what happened to courtesy?

Some of the most successful and important people I know do this effortlessly – because they still retain a sense of modesty and humility. Whereas some of the most self-important and less successful people I know, do not. This is because they are mainly concerned with “self”

So have a look at all the messages you sent last week or last month – what do they convey about you as a person?

Would you be impressed if you received a message from you?

What is your score on the “Relater Meter?”

News: Do you struggle asking for or receiving enough referrals? If you do, you should read Joanne Black’s top sales tip today over at Top Sales World - HERE

What’s more powerful than PowerPoint? Debbie Fay tells you over at Top Sales Management - HERE

Early heads up: The January edition of Top Sales magazine launches tomorrow ….

This week we have been examining the current state of play within the sales space – well at least I have - and hopefully you have been reading the words and understanding the philosophy! (Do please scroll down if you have missed any of the posts)

I fully appreciate that there will always be those that are wedded – if not chained – to the status quo, fearful of change, because it is nice and cozy as it is thank you very much. But change is constant, and it is one of the few things that we really can rely on in life: If we accept that premise, then we have two choices – adapt and thrive, or resist and risk perishing.

Good chum Dave Stein of ESR said quite recently that the past three years have witnessed more changes in the sales environment than in the previous fifty, and he is right. But what is going to come in the next three is going to be even more disturbing or exciting – depending on where you are positioned.

This year, I anticipate we will see a reduction in external sales positions of around 20%: 10% will be lost for good, and the other 10% will move inside. I believe that this pattern will continue for the next three years, until we are left with less than 10% of the total sales population working externally.

The reasons for this are obvious: Advances in technology mean that we can communicate just as easily from our desks, using video conferencing etc. Why do we need an expensive outside sales force, with all of the huge financial investment that is required, when the task can be handled far more efficiently – and more profitably?

For years, an inside sales position has been considered as the bottom rung on the sales ladder – their immediate ambition to gain promotion to an outside sales job, with a car and an expense account: An obvious sign to their family and friends that they were “making it” in sales.

Not anymore. Today’s breed of inside sales professional is bright, qualified, and well rewarded. Inside sales is now a career, not a mere stepping stone. Their commercial bandwidth is much, much wider, and their skill-sets are at the very least, the equivalent of their “outdoor” colleagues.

How do they fit in with the new overall selling landscape? Actually, what will that landscape look like? What impact is all of this going to have on the 10% of external sales positions that survive?

I will answer all of these questions - and more - in my JF Uncut column in the January Top Sales magazine, which will be published next Tuesday over at Top Sales World

News:  I am not usually prone to hyperbole – natural exuberance occasionally maybe – but this week’s sales tips and articles over at Top Sales World and Top Sales Management have been exceptional, and today is no different: Dr Tony Alessandra provides today’s sales tip over at TSW – “Confirming the Sales Signals” and in fact it is my turn to provide a daily article over at TSM – “Are Self-Limiting Beliefs Constraining Your Sales Team?”

It’s been a great first week of the year, and I’d like to say that I have eased my way back in gently, but I would be lying! So many exciting things going on, which I will be able to share with you very soon.

Wherever you are in this rapidly shrinking world of ours, have a great w/e, and be sure to join me on Monday – JF

Oh, almost forgot, Open View Labs announced their “Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012″ I am of course honored to be on the list – do check out the other twenty-four, all good people!

And this is my 1350th post – a real milestone.

Yesterday, I said “You have to sell first – prove yourself first – before you can hope to develop a relationship. Leading with the notion that you can build any sort of relationship from the outset, is hopelessly out of touch – but that is precisely what around 90% of front-line sales professionals are still trying to do.

But be assured “relationship selling” is alive and well, and reports of its death have been wildly exaggerated”

I think in order to fully comprehend what I mean, you need to imagine a couple on a first date – think of this in sales terms as the “exploratory meeting” The two have never met before, but they have both done their homework: They have asked friend’s opinions; they have checked out each other’s Facebook profiles; in fact they have conducted as much research as possible, so that when they finally sit down to eat, the conversation is flowing, and they discover considerable synergy. But this early attraction, and discovery of mutual interests and values in no way leads either of them to instantly think of marriage – the desire to grow the relationship is established, but they are not ready to open joint bank accounts!

Our commercial relationships are very similar to that scenario if you think about it: Trust, which is the basis of all symbiotic business partnerships, cannot be created overnight – it takes time. Don’t ever mistake lust for love!

You see, on day one of any new potential relationship, we are simply in the “Me too” bracket: Lots of other companies may be bidding; we have not yet had the opportunity to demonstrate and prove our uniqueness, let alone our superiority.

If we are lucky enough to win that first order, we establish a foothold – it is never more than that.

At this point, we work diligently to ensure that all of the after-sales tasks are performed reliably, efficiently, and on time. Our aim is to reach that next stage “Me first” In other words, every time this customer has an additional requirement, they call us first for a quotation. We are not yet trusted advisors, but we are preferred suppliers.

Finally, we reach the hallowed ground – if we have followed all the rules of engagement, and if we have continually worked to “earn the right”. We become the chosen ones, and we enter “Only me” territory. We now work with our customers to define strategy; we are not only trusted advisors, but long-term allies. We have a relationship, and both parties work very hard to maintain it, both aware of the costs of starting all over again from scratch – not unlike a marriage!

So in summary, I repeat, relationships take time to blossom and grow. There is no instant magic dust. But when a strong commercial relationship is formed, it can provide rich benefits – including substantially increased profitability and stability for both partners.

Tomorrow, I will discuss how the “selling landscape has changed forever – and is a constant state of change” You may be very surprised – startled even!

News: Lots going on over at Top Sales World today: You can catch my interview with Dan Waldschmidt – “The Trouble with Sales Trainers” – really enlightening! Plus Steven Rosen provides the day’s sales tip – “Laundry List Coaching” – catch it all HERE

There is a saying which has been around for as long as I can remember – and that is a pretty long time – “People buy people first”

What that essentially means of course, is before buyers thought about your solution, they needed to be sold on you personally.

So has that all changed now?

Well, yes and no.

Yesterday, I suggested that “Unless you are selling commodities, when they first encounter you, buyers really don’t care about you, your company or your products. They care even less about your past successes, your awards or your client base. They only care about what you, your company and your products can do for THEM!” (if you missed that post, please simply scroll down)

And I firmly believe this to be the case.

What has happened/is happening, is that selling has become de-personalized.

As buyers enter the buying/selling cycle much further up the chain, they already know everything about your products/solutions/company. As a consequence, sales success today 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.

Outstanding sales results today depend on:
• The ability to think from the customer’s point of view
• Understanding the customer’s agenda, buying cycle and best interests
• Beyond a superficial reading of immediate customer needs, salespeople must gain a deeper understanding of both the buyer’s long-term goals and the overall business climate
• Today, the salesperson who clings to the product orientation of a decade ago can expect to become extinct within five years.
• As client companies branch into new markets and unfamiliar territories, they are demanding unique, flexible solutions from their vendors – customized to support specific goals
• Another myth which can be exploded is that customers value flexibility: In fact being too flexible (nice!) can undermine the sales relationship.

Now, the best salespeople have become “facilitators” They understand that unless they are bringing something unique to the table, they have no value. However, in most industries, differentiation is becoming far harder to prove – the playing fields are now very level in terms of price/performance/support etc.

So why are the top 10% of sales professionals going to survive and thrive? What do they do/have that differentiates them? In a word, “Knowledge”

They understand that personality is no longer relevant at the front-end of the sales cycle, but it is their superior knowledge of their industry/sector/company/products/self.

They have commercial acumen. They can read and interpret financial balance sheets.

One of the first questions they ask is “So, please tell me what your short/medium and long-term commercial objectives are” and they then quickly establish if their solutions can help the prospect achieve any of those objectives.

They have a reasonable intellectual capacity: For example, they understand what is happening with the economy, and how/why it is affecting their industry – this in turn helps them to see their prospect’s challenges through their prospect’s eyes.

So yes, people do still buy people first, but the rules of engagement have changed for ever!

What effect does this have on “relationship selling?” It means that you have to sell first – prove yourself first – before you can hope to develop a relationship. Leading with the notion that you can build any sort of relationship from the outset, is hopelessly out of touch – but that is precisely what around 90% of front-line sales professionals are still trying to do.

But be assured “relationship selling” is alive and well, and reports of its death have been wildy exaggerated - more about that tomorrow ……

News: Over at Top Sales World today, you can read my sales tip “Running Towards Personalities are Winners!” – and for sales leaders, over at Top Sales Management, Paul McCord gives you “Four Steps to Successful Sales Meetings”

A few of this week’s posts have been prompted by a post that Mrs Konrath made last week - “Shocking 2012 Sales Prediction” in which she suggests that “In 2012 we will see the total demise of nice salespeople”

I am going to be chatting with Mrs K today, and I’ll record the conversation so that you can listen in next week.

“Nice” is such a bland adjective, and if it were a color, it would most definitely have to be a lighter shade of grey, don’t you think? It is so insipid, dull and almost lifeless. Or is it?

One dictionary defines the word as meaning “pleasant and agreeable in nature” Another suggests it describes “a helpful, accommodating and thoughtful disposition”

So obviously we have to be very careful: As I have said often enough, around 99% of all sales interactions every day are made in a B2C environment, so it is impossible to ignore them, and if you think about it for a moment, what compels you to keep returning to that shop, restaurant, hotel, real-estate office, gas station etc?

Apart from the quality of goods, and the price, it is the quality of service – how pleasant, agreeable, accommodating and thoughtful the staff are. We need them to be NICE! We don’t want them to be aggressive, or even mildly assertive, do we? And now they are being even nicer than ever, because a very high percentage of them will lose their jobs within the next eight years – but that is contentious post, which I’ll save for another day.

But of course, as soon as we move into a B2B environment, we become instantly suspicious of professional sales staff who are too nice; too accommodating; too agreeable. These type of salespeople cling remorselessly to the archaic view that it is neccessary to be “liked” in order to become successful – and in fact, one of my readers here is determined to debate this issue with me until he is blue in the face – I am fearful that one of us may die before he sees my point of view!

If I had earned just $1 for every time I heard a salesman/saleswoman say “Oh yes, I am going to get that order because he/she/they like me” I would have enough money to become an American Presidential candidate!

In their defense, I suspect that they think the opposite of being liked is being disliked – and nobody enjoys that. Actually it isn’t. In the sales arena, the opposite of being liked is total ambivalence!

Unless you are selling commodities, when they first encounter you, buyers really don’t care about you, your company or your products. They care even less about your past successes, your awards or your client base. They only care about what you, your company and your products can do for THEM!

And let’s dispel another myth – in the B2B environment – they do not overly value responsiveness, but they do value relaiability.

So, does this mean that I believe we are witnessing the death of relationship selling? NO I DO NOT!

Anyone who believes that has clearly only ever operated at “Stage One” of the total buying cycle – the lead generation end – when in fact there are now three crucial stages, and I will be describing them later this week.

In summary, I think the frontline sales professionals who are operating at the top end – maybe the top 20%, but certainly the top 5% – have known for many years that being “nice” does not win business, and it certainly does not help to achieve long-term sustainable business relationships. They don’t need to be liked, but they are “respected” – and that is the greatest compliment a buyer can pay a seller.

News: There is a very good interview with Joanne Black over at Top Sales World today – “There is NO such thing as a “warm” call” You can listen in HERE

And if you are a sales leader, you should find this very interesting - “How to discover what or who motivates every single member of your sales team – a FREE interactive assessment”

“If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him you are his sincere friend.” Abraham Lincoln

I have a real problem with that quote, when used in a “sales situation” as it often is: It suggests that we need to make friends with the buyer; to become liked; to be “nice” But I am going to write at length about this shortly, as it has become something of a contentious issue.

Today though, I want to focus on “empathy, which is absolutely vital for sustained success within any sales relationship, where you are trying to persuade another – often a stranger – to make a decision they may not even have considered prior to your meeting.

The buyer-seller situation, like any human contact, is an exercise in human relations – the interplay, cause and effect of behavior by two or more people on each other. In the buyer-seller situation, the seller must be responsible for shaping mutual behavior.

What’s the difference between human nature and human relations?

• Human nature is the instinctive behavior that governs action  concerned with the self and with self-interest

• Human relations are concerned with how we think and act in terms of  others’ interests

Successful selling demands that human relations be dominant over human nature.

Selling is not something a salesperson does to a prospect. Selling is something you do with the prospect, in a process of discovery and interaction – human relations at work.

The greatest barrier to success in this process is the “Egocentric Predicament.” This consists of being overly and unnecessarily concerned with self. Our ability to be perceptive and concerned about others is inversely proportionate to our self-concern.

When self gets unnecessarily in the way, the fruitful cycle of good human relations stops producing.

The key to understanding and accepting others is to first understand and accept oneself – starting with the realization that, rather than strive for an unattainable “I should be” image, we should settle for our real self as “I am” – accepting shortcomings along with strengths.

The following points provide a practical answer to the “I am” versus “I should be” conflict.

Recognize it – and recognize that its source is rooted in the views of others.

Either (a) accept your “I am” image or (b) decide on attainable, constructive steps to achieve “I should be” in the future.

Our behavior is a reflection of our attitudes – and our attitudes grow out of our values.

Each is an integral part of the other. Do your life values make it easy for you to put the other person’s interests first?

Sincerity is a much-used word in relation to selling.

Integrity is a kindred word. Integrity implies a consistent kind of honesty – acting outwardly the way you truly feel inwardly. That’s why sound values are so important to your success with others. Remember, “People buy our product not so much because they understand the product, but because they feel that we understand them.”

There are many effective ways of doing this – the best way to create this kind of buying climate is to “transmit on their frequency.” This opens their mind to you, makes them willing – and eager – to listen.

“Before I sell my prospect what my prospect buys, I must first see my prospect as they see themselves.”

In Summary

Empathy is the magical word in the lexicon of human relations. It means feeling as the other person feels, not just with them. It means putting yourself in their shoes and shaping your attitudes accordingly.

Beyond getting the order, the plus factor in selling is to make people look good in their own eyes and in the eyes of others. Rather than sell to them, we help them buy.

We do this best by building their self-image. This helps them grow. And as we help others grow, we grow. To do this, we must be open and honest – this is the essence of good human relations.

These concepts are applicable to every facet of our lives and in selling – they pave the way to the truest and most fruitful success.

News: It’s great to be back – refreshed and renewed – and I am eagerly anticipating a year packed with new initiatives, so watch this space.

The team have been busy in my absence, and they have updated the Top Sales Awards site – you will notice that the 2012 categories have been announced, and we are already open for nominations.

Look out for face-lifts over at Top Sales World and Top Sales Management this week, and then of course the launch of JFA – Jonathan Farrington & Associates – on February 15th.

Your security, believe it or not, affects the way you stand, the way you walk - in short, your physical wellbeing and self-confidence.

A person without security is always running. They must take the first job offered, or nearly so. They sit nervously on life’s chair because any small emergency throws them into the hands of others.

Without security, a person must be too grateful.

Gratitude is a fine thing in its place but a constant state of gratitude is a horrible place in which to live.

A person with security can walk tall. They may appraise opportunities in a relaxed way; have time for judicious estimates and not be rushed by economic necessity.

A person with security can afford to resign from their job if their principles so dictate.

A person always concerned about necessities, such as food and rent, or education for children, can’t afford to think in long range career terms. They must dart to the most immediate opportunity for ready cash. Without security, they will spend a lifetime of darting and dodging.

A person with security can afford the wonderful privilege of being generous in family or neighborhood emergencies. They can take a level stare into the eyes of any person – friend, stranger, or enemy. It shapes their personality and character.

The best security you have in this world is you, so why not take the time in 2012 to become the best you can possibly be?

Don’t wait around for other people to make you successful, they will all be far too busy minding their own stores.

Why not work to the maxim “If it’s to be, it’s up to me”

With my very best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year – JF

PS: I’ll be “back in the saddle” on January 9th