Sales Chump

Since we will be rininging in the new year next week, it’s time to look back on 2008 and see how you can learn and get better.  If you don’t keep notes on your sales or some kind of journal (which you should) remember back on your successes and failures. 

What were your best sales from 2008?  What did you do differently to make them successful?  Was there something particular that made the sale go through?  Think back on your top 10 sales and write down everything you can remember about them.

Now think to your unsuccessful sales.  What went wrong?  Was there something that you can put your finger on that made the sale crash and burn?  Again, write down everything you can remember about the sales.

Reflect on the good and the bad.  Try to continue doing the same things or building upon the successful sales techniques.  Look at the unsuccessful attemps and learn from those as well.  Try to do things differently and employ new techniques that can turn those failures into sales in the future.

Reflect on other aspects of your job and life as well.  Were you calling more people or knocking on more doors when you were selling more?  What was happening in your person life when sales were good and bad?  Attitude and mental clarity from your personal life carries over to your professional life.  The happier you are in your personal life, the more successful you will be in your business life.  Try to get back on track personally if you have been struggling.

2009 is the perfect time to make the changes you always think about.  It doesn’t have to be a New Years Resolution but write down these things along with your 2009 sales goals.  You can incorporate both to the new and improved you.

This is my own personal success story.  This sale didn’t look like it was coming in at all even though I completed a full sales process and everything made sense.  I was getting a little flustered as it didn’t make sense to me why they weren’t signing the paperwork.  I had to take a new look on the prospect and think to myself “What am I missing? Why haven’t they signed yet?”

The answer wasn’t the standard reasoning.  They liked the product, they trusted me, it saved them money and made sense.  The reason was I hadn’t related to what was going on in their business.  I called on a Monday and my goal was to figure out what was going on with them, what was at the top of their priority list.

Come to find out they were back logged with year end reporting and had just received September reports in December.  I immediately changed my tone and my approach with this.  I showed sincere thoughts about what the person must be going through with this backed up paperwork they had to sift through.

I said “I can only imagine what your desk must look like right now.  I apologize that I’ve been trying to get you to look at something like this at a time where you have many more important things to get done first. I know you’re going to have to get this paperwork for your other reports done before the holidays before even taking a look at my paperwork so I’ll contact you after the holidays and give you a chance to get caught up”.

Low and behold, the next day I had my agreement delivered the next morning.  It was unexpected.  What caused this to happen?  The sincere approach about was important to them got my paperwork moved to the top of the list.  They realized I didn’t care just about myself that I had genuine interest in what goes on in there business and was willing to push my items to the back burner while they took care of things that were more high priority.  This in return resulted in getting attention.

Now this approach doesn’t always work and wouldnt’ be something that you should try out of the gate.  But when you’ve done everything else and they want to do business with you, sometimes taking a step back and letting them know that you aren’t desperate for their business can have the reverse effect and have them pushing you.  In this instance it worked.

There are certain consistencies that you can find amongst the majority of successful people. They plan, act, revise and repeat. There’s an old adage that says, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail…” With the recent happenings of the financial crisis and bankruptcy scares of just about every major industry, these words have never rung truer.

In order for a plan to work, it must be realistic and adaptable. If you don’t have these two attributes incorporated into you plan, you might as well not have a plan. The ability to adapt along the way gives you power. There is no doubt that changes will have to be made. There will also be times that you just can’t change something. In this case, focus your energies on what is possible and don’t get caught up and what you can’t change. It’s the end result that matters the most, not the turns and speed bumps along the way.

“The ends justify the means…” – Machiavelli, The Prince

Sales can be lowest paying easy work, but it is also the highest paying hard work. Planning to make a lot of money in sales? You better work hard, because there is always someone who is ready, willing and able to work a bit harder. Time management and planning is what will make you or break you. The bar is always raised a little bit the more successful you and others become. You must learn not only what is working, but the why, when, where and how.

Anyone can have a stellar month, quarter, year, etc. But, in order to survive in a sales environment and make a successful career out of it, you must plan, act, revise and repeat. Planning makes the hard work easier and acting teaches you what to change and what to keep doing for success. By acting on a solid plan, you can justify to yourself, peers and bosses why you are successful or not. By revising it along the way, you make your plan stronger and by repeating the new plan, you have strong recipe for success. Book It!!!

“What are you doing right this second to reach your goals?” – The Negotiator

We see it all along the internet but what does it mean?  B2B Sales (Business to Business) can be defined from Wikipedia as:

Business-to-business (B2B) is a term commonly used to describe commerce transactions between businesses, as opposed to those between businesses and other groups, such as business-to-consumers (B2C) or business-to-government (B2G). More specifically, B2B is often used to describe an activity, such as B2B marketing, or B2B sales, that occurs between businesses and other businesses.

Depending on your industry your primary contact may be with other businesses (B2B Sales).  There is nothing wrong with B2C (Business to Consumer) sales but we will focus on selling to other businesses for a moment.  The type of buyer is different.  There are different needs that motivate each and within each different business there are different motivators or needs that will cause a business to buy.

I will sound like a broken record but it is important to realize what is important to the business when selecting the service that you offer.  Do you make it about price?  Well you should stop making it about price.

A consulting firm I know surveyed 1000 Canadian CEO’s two years ago. They asked: “What are the criteria you look at when making a buying decision. The first criterion was “trust”. Number six on the list was “price”.

There you have it, price is not a deciding factor in most circumstances.  While there are ultimate times where price is a factor, there are several other things.  As above, trust is a big concern.  It looks to me that if the person you’re dealing with trusts you, the price is the least of their worries.

So how do we figure out what compels them to make their decision?  We ask!  Yes it really is that simple.  If you don’t ask, they won’t tell. 

B2B Sales is normally a longer sales cycle than B2C due to the fact that you’re working with businesses rather than individuals.  Now that’s not always going to be true depending on the industry, customer, etc.  There will be short sales cycles time to time but be prepared for longer sales cycles with businesses.

What has worked for me in the past is not even talking business the first couple times.  Get to know the business and the person you’re working with and gain their trust.  This is the first step to a successfull B2B Sales process.  As stated above, trust was the top concern of buyers and can normally wipe out the idea of price being a factor.  Price is only an issue when you make it one.

We’ll hit many other topics in this multi part postings of B2B Sales over the next several weeks.  Please reply with topics or areas that you would like covered in this multi part saga covering B2B Sales.

My father was the quintessential salesperson. He believed completely in his product. He was confident but not arrogant. He truly cared about the well-being of his prospects and clients. And they knew it. It was a pleasure to watch him interact with his customers. Needless to say, he was very successful.

Let’s explore each of these aspects of the successful salesperson in more detail.

1. Belief in one’s product or service.

If you are going to sell something, you should believe it is the best thing out there. Understand what makes it stand out; what its benefits truly are. Be realistic. If there is something better on the market - know what it is and what makes it better. Then ask yourself – can I really sell my product?

I don’t know about you, but I would find it difficult to sell something I didn’t believe in completely. What you believe emanates from you. If you aren’t completely sold, people will know it. Then they won’t want what you have to sell.

On a separate note, your knowledge of and belief in your product will provide you with your marketing message. What you know and believe about your product or service is what you want to share with others. Small business owners have an advantage here. They believed so much in something that they were compelled to start a business around it. All that is left for them to do is share.

2. Confidence not arrogance

This is critically important. Being confident – in yourself, in your product or service, in your message – is essential. However, being overly confident or arrogant will destroy you. Arrogance leads people to ‘sell’. To talk instead of listen. After all, they believe they know best.

You simply have to think about your experiences with arrogant people to know this is true. They’re self-absorbed but not self-aware. A confident person doesn’t have anything to prove. They possess a depth of belief so they don’t feel the need to convince anyone of anything. You see, arrogance is born from insecurity – it’s overcompensating for what one doesn’t know or believe.

3. Truly care about the well-being of your prospects and clients

It is this caring that creates an environment where you are actively listening, and processing what you are hearing. You are realistic, honest, and capable of seeing things from the client’s point of view. It’s basic respect. You aren’t trying to ‘sell’ them. Rather, you are trying to help them solve a problem.

You care about their well-being when you:

-Care that they get their problem solved – whether YOU can solve it or not

-Care that they pay a fair price

-Care that they make an informed (not coerced) decision

You can see how when you believe in your product or service, are confident in yourself, as well as your message, and care about your client’s well-being, you will develop outstanding relationships. It is those relationships that will bring you quality business for years to come.