My goal, my mission in founding Culture Sells is to unify sales representatives, sales managers and home office partners in order to foster greater synergy and create environments where sales teams can thrive and excel. To that end, this series of articles will focus on the roles and responsibilities of these three groups, because each has an obligation to the others to execute their part to the best of their ability and in a spirit of genuine collaboration.
This article will concentrate on what the customer-facing, field-based salesperson is expected to bring to the table as part of this collaborative triad.
In my last article, Don't Neglect to Respect, I wrote about how much I respect the sales representative and manager roles and how important it is that they respect each other. I talked a bit about my dad, the Super Salesman, and how he instinctively knew how to go about the “blocking and tackling” of sales, using skills that are still relevant today and that transcend products, services, markets and industries.
And while the methods, modalities and media have evolved, and in many ways accelerated the communication process, time still needs to be taken to maximize your effectiveness during customer interactions.
Take Your Time (Do It Right)
So, back in 1980, when I was rocking out at my prom to this recently released hit from the SOS Band, I never thought that I’d be referencing it in an article about sales on a social media site dedicated to business networking on something called the internet…whaaatt?? But, although I think the actual song lyrics are about something other than selling, the title certainly fits today’s topic perfectly, and you could make a case that closing a sale is a pretty satisfying feeling too.
So, from the formidable list of all the components and factors that go into an effective selling process, I’d like to cover off on four core areas where taking your time in advance will help you to do it right when the pressure is on. Since these are fairly meaty topics, I will discuss the first two in this article and the other two in my next.
Organization
Preparation
Product Knowledge
Account Management and Development
Organization: Part of my definition for a quality sales interaction is that it should be an organized conversation that leads to a logical conclusion. In order to organize the conversation, you need to organize yourself. I have been on countless calls where reps spent the majority of the meeting bent over in their chair digging for some critical piece of evidence in their briefcase because they weren’t organized. Customers have looked at me like, “Are they coming back?”, and sometimes I haven’t been sure of how to answer! I know I have it in here somewhere. I thought I had it. I'll have to bring it next time. None of those lines are going to instill the level of confidence that we want our customers to have in us and our companies.
My dad’s organization skills were unparalleled – in fact, I kid around and tell people that I was raised Orthodox OCD but am now Reformed. Back in those days, records were all kept in hard copy. He had scores of large binders with the detailed specifications of every forklift model that Caterpillar offered, as well as each allied manufacturer his company represented, and every other attachment or other option available. There were volumes of books with pricing, availability, used forklift inventory and rental fleet information. These all had to be maintained and updated manually as new pages and sections were sent out to the field. My dad kept these databases impeccably current so that he always had the correct information for himself, his peers, and, most importantly, his customers.
Today, we get a multitude of updates automatically sent to our computers and other devices. Emails with attachments, zip files, share rooms, etc. That’s great in some ways, but this onslaught of information creates a scenario where it just bounces off of us or blows right by. We’re not forced to go through the actual content, mentally process it, and then file it away both in our minds and in our records, as we were with the manual process. So much information comes at us that we become oversaturated.
Slow down. Take a look at what you’re downloading, uploading, updating, whatever, and think about how it fits in with what you’re trying to accomplish in certain accounts. Just “skimming” emails and other important information from your company may speed things up, but you will most likely miss some important details that are relevant to your daily goals. Digging in a little deeper will help you to have strategic touchstones when you are in conversations and negotiations and drastically increase the value you bring to your prospects and customers.
Preparation: Preparation for your sales calls, presentations, meetings, trade shows, etc. is every bit as critical as making the actual calls. Athletes don’t play without practicing, musicians don’t play without rehearsing; the list of analogies could go on and on. And yet, many times, we as salespeople think we can just roll into our week, our day or any individual call and just do whatever comes to mind. I cringe when a rep tells me that the plan for the call is to “have a talk” or “check in on things” or “drop something off”. Is that enough? The short answer: No.
We all know how precious and scarce time with a customer is, so why waste it? Why waste a single interaction when your goal is to get them from No to Go with as much expedience as possible? What if you get an extended amount of time to interact with one of the key decision makers at the account? Do you have enough to say? Or will it be like when the girl or guy you had a crush on back in school walks up unexpectedly and says hi. Will the words be there? Will the right words be there? Are you prepared?
Even the most improvisational jazz performance begins and ends with the core of a song, a score, a chord progression. Then, the players weave in and out of that structure and each other, pushing the limits of what fits and what doesn’t, what sounds good and what falls flat, before finding their way home to meet up at the end of the song. That’s your sales call. Know your opening lines, your attention grabbers, the tone you want to set for the call and what you want to accomplish by the end, and then be prepared to craft the message as the situation dictates once things start rolling.
Like all great salespeople, my dad engaged in methodical preparation for sales calls, proposal development and pricing negotiations. He would work every component and every angle and play out how the conversations would flow. He would practice the word sets he was going to use to drive his points home. He kept track of how much each customer liked to haggle and tweaked his starting price to accommodate the quid pro quo he knew would ensue.
You need to know your core information cold, know exactly what you hope to accomplish with that visit. Best case, worst case and everything in between. Then, as the conversation ebbs and flows and objections pop up, interruptions pop in and other surprises pop around, you’ll know where you need to get back to by the end of your allotted time with your audience. In keeping with the counter forces of nature, the more you want your selling to appear effortless, the more you need to practice, prepare and plan it out.
It's like the old comedic question, “Do you know how long it took for me to look this natural?”
I encourage each of you to set your personal performance bar high and hold yourselves to lofty standards. Don’t take the easy way out by making average and uninspired sales calls. Make them powerful, make them memorable and make yourself the best salesperson you can be – it will not go unnoticed by your customers and management and you will gain a new level of satisfaction from your chosen career.
We’ve all heard of (and experienced) call hesitancy, that feeling you get before you go into an account where you’re not sure if it’s worth your time to make the call or if it will make a difference. If you can find the discipline to follow some of the approaches described in this article, you will experience call certainty. You will be eager to make your calls because you’ll have everything locked down and planned out and you’ll know the outcome will be positive and worthwhile.