I gave my “Sales Advice for Start-ups” presentation to a group of budding Entrepreneurs recently at a local business incubator. I enjoy doing meetings like this. The people who attend are desperate for knowledge. They want to know how to make the bell ring and start earning a living from the business of their passion. Was it all happiness? Not really.
Practical Advice
On a scale of ten, I believe that my material is very close, if not a ten. I have taken a very difficult challenge (selling) and distilled it down and made the key points easy to understand. These ideas, tips, strategies, tools and tactics have served me well over the years. They are the truth.
Bad Grade?
At the end of the evening, my contact at the incubator solicits feedback for the class. Last night she had gone home early, so I had to pass out and collect the forms myself. I would rather not be faced with critique one minute after delivering a presentation, but I had to do it. One thing I didn’t want to do was to read any of the grades, but I did. The very first one had my presentation and material rated a three out of five.
The ordinary grade instantly bothered me. At the bottom of the page the comment was that the presentation and material was too elementary and not challenging enough. I have now mulled that over and have decided that this person got it wrong. He or she didn’t get it.
The reality of selling is that it is a very easy and simple activity when done correctly. It isn’t hard when salespeople or Entrepreneurs (same thing) do the right things and avoid the wrong things. I laid out a road map for success for the class. If one of the participants thought my advice was too simple he or she was right on. My advice is simple and has proven effective over and over again.
Why so Difficult?
My question to this unnamed person would have been “Why do you want to complicate something as simple as engaging in activity based on a fair exchange of value (selling)?”
Reality Check
I looked at a few more reviews before going home. They rated the speaker and material five out of five stars. That was more like it. I guess that I shouldn't be so sensitive.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Experts Have an Edge
The three elements of a successful sales career are activity, skill and knowledge. My feeling is that if one of these conditions is lagging behind, the other two can become more robust and keep us in the game while waiting for the lagging element to improve.
All things being equal, subject matter experts have an advantage over their competitors. Any buyer will prefer to deal with someone who exhibits a cold, spot on, understanding of the topic of the sale.
My advice to all salespeople, at any level of their careers, is to continue to learn as much as they can about their product or service and the industry they serve. A good starting point is a degree in the field choice. However, that advantage can be met and eclipsed by someone who really wants to become an expert.
Information is everywhere these days. You don’t have to go any further than the Internet to fill your head with relevant facts and figures that will develop your product knowledge. You can subscribe to trade journals and attend national, regional and local conventions. These events always have an array of industry seminars that can fill your head and push you ahead.
Finding time to invest in your ongoing education is not always easy. That is exactly why prioritizing your tasks and optimizing your time are so critical. You will never raise your knowledge level to expert status without a commitment to learning and staying informed.
One final suggestion…do not ever wing it with a prospect or customer. If you don’t have an answer, always say that you are unsure and will get back to them with the correct answer. If you misinform people you will go to the back of the sales line quickly. Tell them you will find out and then do it. Not following up on a question is almost as bad as getting it wrong.
An investment in becoming an expert in your product or service and industry is an investment that will pay off in future sales victories and increased income. I promise.
All things being equal, subject matter experts have an advantage over their competitors. Any buyer will prefer to deal with someone who exhibits a cold, spot on, understanding of the topic of the sale.
My advice to all salespeople, at any level of their careers, is to continue to learn as much as they can about their product or service and the industry they serve. A good starting point is a degree in the field choice. However, that advantage can be met and eclipsed by someone who really wants to become an expert.
Information is everywhere these days. You don’t have to go any further than the Internet to fill your head with relevant facts and figures that will develop your product knowledge. You can subscribe to trade journals and attend national, regional and local conventions. These events always have an array of industry seminars that can fill your head and push you ahead.
Finding time to invest in your ongoing education is not always easy. That is exactly why prioritizing your tasks and optimizing your time are so critical. You will never raise your knowledge level to expert status without a commitment to learning and staying informed.
One final suggestion…do not ever wing it with a prospect or customer. If you don’t have an answer, always say that you are unsure and will get back to them with the correct answer. If you misinform people you will go to the back of the sales line quickly. Tell them you will find out and then do it. Not following up on a question is almost as bad as getting it wrong.
An investment in becoming an expert in your product or service and industry is an investment that will pay off in future sales victories and increased income. I promise.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Play The Game
It is a cliché, but a truth that if you don’t play the game you can’t win. Winners not only play well and win; they take chances and calculated risks to achieve results.
In the world of sales and business, the unsure, reluctant or lazy are lapped by the fearless hard working competitors that prepare and compete. They are in the arena, on the playing field, in the game and in play.
The funny thing about doing extra, taking chances, being creative and out of the box, is that you don’t often get credit for it. People that place, show or worse tend to explain your success as luck or Divine providence. There is no luck. God gave us all gifts that some of us use to their fullest while others don’t.
The irony in my life is that I did some volunteer work the other day and the guy next to me turned out to be a very important person for my business. We struck up conversation and he invited me to visit him at his office to see if we can do business. I really was reluctant to go to the function and was debating if it was a waste of my time. I went anyway. I was visible, in play and on duty and I got my reward.
Get in the game, play the game, win the game. It’s up to you.
In the world of sales and business, the unsure, reluctant or lazy are lapped by the fearless hard working competitors that prepare and compete. They are in the arena, on the playing field, in the game and in play.
The funny thing about doing extra, taking chances, being creative and out of the box, is that you don’t often get credit for it. People that place, show or worse tend to explain your success as luck or Divine providence. There is no luck. God gave us all gifts that some of us use to their fullest while others don’t.
The irony in my life is that I did some volunteer work the other day and the guy next to me turned out to be a very important person for my business. We struck up conversation and he invited me to visit him at his office to see if we can do business. I really was reluctant to go to the function and was debating if it was a waste of my time. I went anyway. I was visible, in play and on duty and I got my reward.
Get in the game, play the game, win the game. It’s up to you.
Friday, September 16, 2011
You Have to Want It
Before taking a deep dive into sales careers and sales excellence, I would like to bring up the obvious. You have to really want to sell to be a success. The reason is because selling is challenging.
Competition
You have competition. Anything worthwhile to you is most likely worthwhile to others. If you are in a sales situation alone, without competition, there might be something wrong. Your prospect might be a bad person or company to deal with because of the way they do business. Others might have disqualified the opportunity for a variety of reasons. The reality of selling is that you have to compete to win.
The Sales Environment
Selling is an environment of constant rejection and failure. That’s the world we live in. We do our best, using every bit of energy, skill and product knowledge to win every order. The reality of selling is that you lose most of the time and win some of the time. Top producers learn to live with rejections and setbacks. The good news is by getting your share of the business you can do well enough to move your career along.
Stepping Out
You can grow your market share. There is a way to get a bigger piece of the business pie. That way is to invest in yourself and your career growth. There are a lot of ways to accomplish personal and professional growth. In doing so, you will naturally develop a competitive edge and begin to win more and lose less.
Commitment
You have to want it. The intangible ingredient in the mix is you. Are you dedicated to becoming the best that you can be? Do you want to become a top producer and earn top dollars for your effort? If you do, you are on the path to success, because a whole lot of people in sales are content and do just what they need to do to get by. If you want to be the best salesperson ever, you can. It’s up to you.
Competition
You have competition. Anything worthwhile to you is most likely worthwhile to others. If you are in a sales situation alone, without competition, there might be something wrong. Your prospect might be a bad person or company to deal with because of the way they do business. Others might have disqualified the opportunity for a variety of reasons. The reality of selling is that you have to compete to win.
The Sales Environment
Selling is an environment of constant rejection and failure. That’s the world we live in. We do our best, using every bit of energy, skill and product knowledge to win every order. The reality of selling is that you lose most of the time and win some of the time. Top producers learn to live with rejections and setbacks. The good news is by getting your share of the business you can do well enough to move your career along.
Stepping Out
You can grow your market share. There is a way to get a bigger piece of the business pie. That way is to invest in yourself and your career growth. There are a lot of ways to accomplish personal and professional growth. In doing so, you will naturally develop a competitive edge and begin to win more and lose less.
Commitment
You have to want it. The intangible ingredient in the mix is you. Are you dedicated to becoming the best that you can be? Do you want to become a top producer and earn top dollars for your effort? If you do, you are on the path to success, because a whole lot of people in sales are content and do just what they need to do to get by. If you want to be the best salesperson ever, you can. It’s up to you.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Welcome to the Future
Welcome to the Future
I met with a young man yesterday over coffee and a bagel. He is a terrific young man and an emerging Entrepreneur with a great start-up business. His product is a search engine like platform that integrates, optimizes and leverages all current and future online technologies, including social media. I sat there and watched the next level of technology arrive and I was just amazed and somewhat dumbfounded by what I was looking at.
Technology Laggard
I sat there like a big stupid. I didn’t totally understand how the product worked, but what I did immediately understand was that there is a technology train heading down the track that left me behind a few stops ago. How could that happen? I have been on the leading edge of technology over a forty year career. I received a “Technology Pacesetter” award (top 100 in America) four years in a row in the mid-2000’s. What happened? I have a website, a Blackberry and a blog. I’m LinkedIn. Isn’t that enough? Apparently technology is moving faster than I am. I suspect that technology is moving faster than most of us understand.
What does it mean?
Looking back objectively, there is no doubt that technology has revolutionized business, sales and my day-to-day life over time. In the 1980’s I invested in a bag phone for my car and paid $1.00 a minute for my mobile telephone. Having that phone actually paid off in many ways. Now I have unlimited text and can search the Internet from my smart phone. Fortunes have been and are being made in technology. Smart people are still staying up nights working out the next thing that will change how we live.
Can we still sell?
Of course we will still sell stuff. The technology world will never replace a smile, eye contact, a handshake and a relevant conversation.
My Advice
Do not ignore emerging technology and the value it delivers. All of our lives are better off because the great entrepreneurs, visionaries and risk takers who made it happen.
Best Wishes
Good luck my young friend. You are what America is about. I’m going to keep my eye on you and will attempt to catch up.
I met with a young man yesterday over coffee and a bagel. He is a terrific young man and an emerging Entrepreneur with a great start-up business. His product is a search engine like platform that integrates, optimizes and leverages all current and future online technologies, including social media. I sat there and watched the next level of technology arrive and I was just amazed and somewhat dumbfounded by what I was looking at.
Technology Laggard
I sat there like a big stupid. I didn’t totally understand how the product worked, but what I did immediately understand was that there is a technology train heading down the track that left me behind a few stops ago. How could that happen? I have been on the leading edge of technology over a forty year career. I received a “Technology Pacesetter” award (top 100 in America) four years in a row in the mid-2000’s. What happened? I have a website, a Blackberry and a blog. I’m LinkedIn. Isn’t that enough? Apparently technology is moving faster than I am. I suspect that technology is moving faster than most of us understand.
What does it mean?
Looking back objectively, there is no doubt that technology has revolutionized business, sales and my day-to-day life over time. In the 1980’s I invested in a bag phone for my car and paid $1.00 a minute for my mobile telephone. Having that phone actually paid off in many ways. Now I have unlimited text and can search the Internet from my smart phone. Fortunes have been and are being made in technology. Smart people are still staying up nights working out the next thing that will change how we live.
Can we still sell?
Of course we will still sell stuff. The technology world will never replace a smile, eye contact, a handshake and a relevant conversation.
My Advice
Do not ignore emerging technology and the value it delivers. All of our lives are better off because the great entrepreneurs, visionaries and risk takers who made it happen.
Best Wishes
Good luck my young friend. You are what America is about. I’m going to keep my eye on you and will attempt to catch up.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Business Development - Your Database
My First Database Management System
Years ago, my customer and prospect database was a very large loose leaf binder or two that had plastic sheet protectors. Each sheet held ten slots for business cards, front and back. These binders were my prospect and customer database. The business cards were my link to business. I could find the prospect and call them on the phone. Their cards had their address, so I was able to write or type an envelope and send them something. It seems like a very inefficient way to catalog prospects and customers, but it worked. It was very labor intensive.
Manual Automation?
In the early 1970’s I had a 3” x 5” card system. Each customer or prospect had their very own dedicated card. The card holder (a metal box) organized the cards by alphabet, day of the month and month of the year. I moved the cards around, based on my activity with the lead. If I had an appointment on the 20th of the month, I slid their card behind the 20th tab. If they said call them in September the card was filed behind the September tab. Every morning I had the cards for the day and knew what to do. This primitive system was called a “tickler file”. It worked just fine.s
Changes
Things have changed in the customer and prospect data base world. Now, everything is electronic. Spreadsheets, text files and databases containing vital demographic information have become the mainstream. Now, you can buy or search for prospective customers on the Internet. There are list provider services that you can use to download everything you need to know about prospective customers.
CRM Gets it Done For Me
I use a popular CRM software system to host and manage my customer and prospect database. You have a lot of options for a home for your database. These days, software can automate a lot of the tasks that were formerly tediously and time consuming.
All said, you need to clearly know who your prospective customers are. Who are they and why will they give you money. If you know, you can find them and build and maintain a data base.
An Important Tool
Your customer and prospect database is a most important business development tool. It is just about as important as your time. If you don’t have a robust and targeted database, you are wasting your time.
Years ago, my customer and prospect database was a very large loose leaf binder or two that had plastic sheet protectors. Each sheet held ten slots for business cards, front and back. These binders were my prospect and customer database. The business cards were my link to business. I could find the prospect and call them on the phone. Their cards had their address, so I was able to write or type an envelope and send them something. It seems like a very inefficient way to catalog prospects and customers, but it worked. It was very labor intensive.
Manual Automation?
In the early 1970’s I had a 3” x 5” card system. Each customer or prospect had their very own dedicated card. The card holder (a metal box) organized the cards by alphabet, day of the month and month of the year. I moved the cards around, based on my activity with the lead. If I had an appointment on the 20th of the month, I slid their card behind the 20th tab. If they said call them in September the card was filed behind the September tab. Every morning I had the cards for the day and knew what to do. This primitive system was called a “tickler file”. It worked just fine.s
Changes
Things have changed in the customer and prospect data base world. Now, everything is electronic. Spreadsheets, text files and databases containing vital demographic information have become the mainstream. Now, you can buy or search for prospective customers on the Internet. There are list provider services that you can use to download everything you need to know about prospective customers.
CRM Gets it Done For Me
I use a popular CRM software system to host and manage my customer and prospect database. You have a lot of options for a home for your database. These days, software can automate a lot of the tasks that were formerly tediously and time consuming.
All said, you need to clearly know who your prospective customers are. Who are they and why will they give you money. If you know, you can find them and build and maintain a data base.
An Important Tool
Your customer and prospect database is a most important business development tool. It is just about as important as your time. If you don’t have a robust and targeted database, you are wasting your time.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Business Development - Trade Shows
Trade Shows are a great venue for opportunity and business development.
Over the years I have found that participating in trade shows is a very effective business development strategy.
The simple proposition is that a lot of prospective customers, vendors, alliances or people of interest are assembled in one location at a point in time. To an Entrepreneur or Salesperson (same thing), having access to this type of group is a gift that they (we) know what to do with. Think, “kid in candy store”.
There are trade groups, user groups and events for virtually every industry or specialty. Some of the regional events are put on by local chapters of organizations to serve their memberships. state organizations typically host annual meetings, as do their national affiliates.
Your opportunities to participate in these meetings are many and varied. Your industry group might be so important to the viability of your business that you become a member. If you serve the members of the organization, you can participate in the shows as a vendor. As a vendor you can pay to attend, sponsor something or display your goods or services at a display booth. If you are a subject matter expert of interest, you may even have a chance to make a presentation to an audience of potential customers. It will give you a leg up on your competition.
At first glance, you might think that these shows are cost prohibitive, but the reality is that they are one of the best investments in business development. What other ways are there for you to meet and talk to dozens, hundreds or even thousands of prospects in one or two days at one location? There aren’t many.
When I sold medical supplies and equipment, the Hospital Purchasing Show was mandatory. When I sold billing software systems to physicians, the Michigan State Medical Society annual event was the place to be seen by thousands of doctors. For a couple of thousand dollars rental for display space I had access to thousands of doctors. Using simple math the investment is just a dollar or so per prospect. It just made (makes) sense.
Your investment in trade shows is scalable. Small shows cost less than big shows. It’s that simple. There is an industry event for every budget. If you are a distributor, many suppliers/vendors have co-operative marketing programs and display materials to help offset the cost to attend.
If you need to find relevant meetings, ask around to your peers or customers. Look up industry organizations and events on the Internet. They will be delighted for your participation.
Getting the most out of a trade event is up to you. Trade shows put you in front of target clients, but your results are directly tied to how you perform. This means that you are in control of your message, materials, delivery and in your overall professionalism. Bring your “A” game and win new customers and grow your business.
Over the years I have found that participating in trade shows is a very effective business development strategy.
The simple proposition is that a lot of prospective customers, vendors, alliances or people of interest are assembled in one location at a point in time. To an Entrepreneur or Salesperson (same thing), having access to this type of group is a gift that they (we) know what to do with. Think, “kid in candy store”.
There are trade groups, user groups and events for virtually every industry or specialty. Some of the regional events are put on by local chapters of organizations to serve their memberships. state organizations typically host annual meetings, as do their national affiliates.
Your opportunities to participate in these meetings are many and varied. Your industry group might be so important to the viability of your business that you become a member. If you serve the members of the organization, you can participate in the shows as a vendor. As a vendor you can pay to attend, sponsor something or display your goods or services at a display booth. If you are a subject matter expert of interest, you may even have a chance to make a presentation to an audience of potential customers. It will give you a leg up on your competition.
At first glance, you might think that these shows are cost prohibitive, but the reality is that they are one of the best investments in business development. What other ways are there for you to meet and talk to dozens, hundreds or even thousands of prospects in one or two days at one location? There aren’t many.
When I sold medical supplies and equipment, the Hospital Purchasing Show was mandatory. When I sold billing software systems to physicians, the Michigan State Medical Society annual event was the place to be seen by thousands of doctors. For a couple of thousand dollars rental for display space I had access to thousands of doctors. Using simple math the investment is just a dollar or so per prospect. It just made (makes) sense.
Your investment in trade shows is scalable. Small shows cost less than big shows. It’s that simple. There is an industry event for every budget. If you are a distributor, many suppliers/vendors have co-operative marketing programs and display materials to help offset the cost to attend.
If you need to find relevant meetings, ask around to your peers or customers. Look up industry organizations and events on the Internet. They will be delighted for your participation.
Getting the most out of a trade event is up to you. Trade shows put you in front of target clients, but your results are directly tied to how you perform. This means that you are in control of your message, materials, delivery and in your overall professionalism. Bring your “A” game and win new customers and grow your business.
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