The Salesby5 Blog

Today, I read a great article in the San Antonio Express News. We watch “The Dog Whisperer” at our house, due to two small young dogs we have that are out of control most of the time. Mary Rauch wrote this article for the paper:  “‘Dog Whisperer’ is a Leadership Primer.”

The article summed up some great points about leadership! I like the way she made it easy to understand, as studies have proven that communication at a 5th grade reading level is best understood by the masses. My biggest takeaway was how much it has to do with sales. At the beginning of the article, she mentions that “fear of public speaking is nothing but an old habit.” For some in the sales industry, the fear of not getting the sale or the fear of dead air (no talking) can kill the deal. As much as this article was useful to leadership and sales, I also learned what the dogs do, and how they win over our hearts! Even though my two micro dogs have eaten or damaged thousands of dollars in carpets and items in the house, I love them. What kind of sales and leadership lessons can we learn from these sweet canines who are unconditionally dedicated to us, always happy to see us, and offer us forgiveness fast?

photo from wopico.blogspot.com

There are too many meeting facilitators that claim a meeting is all about the participants and not about them. I recently had a small group meeting with an expensive hired facilitator that told us it was all about us, the participants. He then went on for over four hours of stories about himself before any benefit to the audience was presented, and continued referencing himself during the following hours. I now know more about this person than I did about the U.S. Presidential candidates and none of the content was of any value to me. This leader did not know how to offer a benefit to the meeting’s participants, and ultimately wasted our time. Many influencers of sales, marketing and other industries sell when there are no buyers or prospective buyers. Knowing what to sell and to whom, or knowing when to sell can separate you from the sales people and the sales winners.

A few tips:

If it is “not about you”, make no references to yourself.

If it is a great service, how will it benefit me?

If it is a great product, what will it do to relieve my pains?

I was talking to my dad yesterday about a story he read about T. Boone Pickens. He then told me that he called on Boone in 1964 to ask him to sell his production to Marathon Oil Company. Boone was in start up mode and was not the success he would be in the future. He told my dad he did not have production to sell, but confidently said “I will.” Boone made his fortune, lost it, and got it again. Although I don’t know him, the point is that in sales (and in life) you never know when you are dealing with a future fortune or a future failure. My dad was disappointed that Boone would not shake his hand. That impacted his wanting to follow up with him for the future. The key, you never know who is who and who they will be, or that they could have an impact on you or your life.

photo from blogs.kansas.com

Have you ever typed in a website and gotten a 404 error telling you that the “page no longer exists or has been moved?”  These things are going to happen to you and to others.  You have an excellent opportunity to make even the most mundane experience pleasant.  How about sprucing it up with something more memorable?  Check out our 404 error page; it uses a touch of humor (we like to have fun) and it points people in the right direction, too!  What other changes can you make to the boring things in your business so that your customers will remark and want to show their friends?

404 photo by smashingmagazine.com

If you want sales by 5pm every day, you need a pipeline full of prospects. The correct number for this is 15 warm ideas/leads/clients/prospects. If you have more, great, but make sure they are truly warm. What you do with your prospects is key! Are you finding clients for your prospects? Are you saving them money before they are a client?  The world is becoming more of a competitive place. The strongest sales companies will provide so much benefit to their clients and such great communication in all areas that their competitors will not be able to compete. Which will you be and who are you working with to make sure you hold the favored advantage?

“No one has ever achieved peak performance without a coach.”
- Verne Harnish, Author of Mastering The Rockefeller Habits and contributory editor for Fortune Small Business magazine

Recently, under duress from my friends, I decided to set up a personal blog for my ramblings and thoughts.  I purchased the domain and set up a tumblr.com site.  After a bit of research, I found that tumblr.com had some shortcomings.  I tweeted my frustration in having to find a new platform (I am no web development guy).  Shortly, I received a direct message from @coffeedaze telling me that he’d like to set up a Wordpress blog for me with various plugins and SEO for FREE.  He told me that he had read my blog post on BlackBerry Cool and that he liked to help good bloggers with a platform to write.  I took him up on his offer and I am sold on him.  He took a genuine interest in my blog and me, without wanting anything in return.  The experience in dealing with him on set up questions or changes has been nothing but amazing - as good as if I were paying him!  Rob sold me due to his attitude of kindness and has since shown me what he can do and how he works.  Now, I have another person that I am able to recommend.  Thanks Rob, the experience in dealing with you was remarkable!

On Wednesday, I was using our new Sandisk 4 gb flash drive.  It wouldn’t allow files to be copied to it and would repeatedly prompt me to format it each time I plugged it into a computer - clearly, a defective device.  I contacted Sandisk, explained my issue, and started the RMA process.  The CSR explained that they needed a proof of purchase (normal), a photo of the item (odd) and that I needed to call back again to complete the RMA once they verified my proof of purchase and photo (ridiculous).  Annoyed, I did the first of the two and waited.  Then, I tweeted my frustrations.  That evening, I had Rachel, a senior PR person from Sandisk, following me on twitter.  She and I started talking via twitter and she asked for some details on my experience.  I happily explained to her that I am a big Sandisk fan (have about 10 of their products) and told her about my frustrating experience with their RMA process.  She assured me that she would forward the information to the right people and she did!  Thursday, I received a phone call from Lance at Sandisk, who expedited my RMA issue and is getting a replacement taken care of for me.  Additionally, I scheduled time to meet Rachel at CES in January 2009.  Rachel took a frustrated customer and provided a remarkable experience.  She and Lance truly became the face of Sandisk, represented them at an outstanding level and sold me on continuing to do business with them.  Do you have a person look out for your good name on Twitter?

Yesterday we talked about how smart phones are going to hurt the un-sellers! We get remarks all the time about the term un-selling. Today we had a unique project that required selling the decision makers in our office building to attend a grand opening of a tenant conference room/lounge. The rudeness we encountered and the negative faces were beyond belief. It was actually a positive experience for us to be exposed to this, as it reinforced a common problem. Gatekeepers think the guy that walks in selling copier supplies is the enemy! Get real! These are humans. They may annoy you, but they are still people. Keep in mind, if you have gate keepers, they may often be rude or extreme un-sellers! Those people walking in the door might be influential one day. Those sales people talk, and if they are good, they influence others to do or not do business with you!

photo by neonbubble

If what you sell has a great scent, let your customers smell it.
If what you sell has a great feel, let them feel it.
If what you sell has a great taste, let them taste it.
If what you sell has a great sound, let us hear it.
If what you sell looks great, let me see it.
If what you sell is fun, let me play with it.
If what you sell is fast, let me see how fast.
If what you sell is safe, let me see how safe.

So if you have a service or a product, unwrap it and let your potential customers (fill in the blank) with it. If it is a service that cleans carpet better show me what it will do! If you have great food, let us sample while we are in line or while we wait so we know what to get when we come back! You want us to come back right?

Here’s a great example.  The items below look like a pair of doors.  In fact, these are the Magnepan MG 20.1 speakers that run $12,500.  Many note these as some of the best speakers in the world, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at them.  Your potential customers may be thinking the same about your products and services too.

My meetings sometimes surprise me. We live, learn, and teach sales and marketing! Today I was asked to speak to 75 people and the focus needed to be both. I cringe when I learn that sales departments loathe marketing and/or vice versa! It is common, but it takes both to win! I rarely speak to groups anymore as our clients get nearly 100 percent of our time. If your sales and marketing teams are not a team, you have a problem. Consider getting everyone together at one table and use this as an agenda:

News (personal or professional)
Numbers
Hurdles

Do all of these things without any judgment and watch your teams begin to gel together.

photo by seikatsu