salespodder: sales blog with musings and tips from inside sales

Last night saw my fave programme on telly at the mo’, Dragons’ Den.  TV editing can of course be deceiving, yet it was noticeable last night how, beneath the shroud of pretending to ask for in depth P&L details, the potential investors actually made up their mind pretty instantaneously.

The first guy on was pitching an idea around a helpline for car drivers.  Ripped to shreds for an unviable concept, the real interest for me was when he was asked to explain the revenue figures.  He stuttered and spluttered, the pressure clearly getting the better of him.

Talking Numbers

I’ve often thought people are generally rubbish at talking through numbers.  If they’re good ones, you really need them to spring into the imagination.  They must be easy to understand.  I remember an old teacher of mine (the happy-when-miserable Martin Brough who once played hockey for Wales and, despite doing a forerunner to the MBA in 70s Britain, became a history and business studies teacher driving an ancient banger) bemoaning the fact people reached for their calculators, when a quick piece of mental arithemtic can get you close to the figure, which if necessary, should then only be verified by a calc.

I myself try and do this, whenever someone asks me for prices, I endeavour to frame them in easy to grasp terms, and always in context of either an RoI, or cost justification,  And even talk them through slowly, so each step of the way can register with the prospect.

Negotiation

There are so many sub-plots in this show, contributing to the overall addiction.  A juicy scene always develops whenever more than one Dragon wants to invest.  They jump around from either undercutting each other on percentage ownership, or join forces.  It’s when you get this happening that for the first time, the ‘power’ shift can be sensed in favour of the pitcher.  Alas, they usually fail to capitalise fully.

During last night, two terrific phrases came out in the heat of such negotiation.  When searching for a better deal, the entrepreneur implored the Dragons to “put a bit of sweetness back in the taste“, which unfortunately left his favoured Dragon unmoved, with a beaut of a rebuff “the offer is the offer“!

Ego Stroking

The bulk of this 2nd latest show homed in on a lorry-wash for motorway service stations.  During the final negotiation, one Dragon asked, clearly impressed with the idea and initial evangelist sales, why the entreprenuer hadn’t simply nipped into their local bank and easily borrowed a couple of hundred grand.  The response was awesome.  Yes, they could’ve re-mortgaged their house, but this was about more than the money.  What he wanted was to build a winning team, people with expertise and real interest in making it fly, and that’s why he wanted Dragon help.  They all loved this reply, and (a possible record) 4 of the 5 shuffled, competed and bid to get a slice of the action.

And finally, when someone was thrown out for a lame-brain idea, a final word was they needed a “check up from the neck up”!

Had a cheeky drink the other night with a few boys from one of the world’s largest solution sell organisations (IBM no less), and heard an outrageous story about how one of their number once achieved promotion, a decade or so earlier at a previous, also large, firm.  The story ran like this…..

At age 28, one fella was up for promotion against a 40-yr old bloke.  The younger guy thought he couldn’t compete on experience, although he was apparently pleased with his healthy track record.  So he decided to fight on turf he knew much better.  On the ‘opponents’ ground, he was even-steven, but on a patch he created, he felt he’d have a better chance.  What was this territory?  Well, he went around telling anyone that’d listen, normally in the pub, around the water cooler, somewhere similar, that the other chap was a cross-dresser.  A clear slander, eventually one of the big bosses called him in, demanding an explanation.  He said simply it was typical, idle, jokey, sales banter and meant nothing.  The result?  Incredibly, he reckons the other guy was discredited to such an extent, it helped win the youngster the job.

It is the perennial mystery for sales managers - how come there are so few good reps around?  In any profession, there are the top performers, a few percent that stand out.  Then at the bottom, are those who you wonder why they ever got into this game, about to be culled, sitting uncomfortably in departure lounges.  And finally, the majority, never setting the world on fire and, depending on environment, work away for how ever long it takes for them to do just enough to cling on or move around the industry, job-hopping into under-performance elsewhere.

How you find the superstars is a whole discussion on its own.  Where is the next Thierry Henry?  Madonna?  Tarantino?  Freddie Flintoff?  Such are rare indeed, yet finding someone who can nail 100% year in, year out, surely shouldn’t be hard?

I benefitted from a ‘management training’ weekend way back in 1991, ran by an English-based consultancy that featured a broad range of expertise, from world’s as diverse as academia and the military.  Their lead guy that group, was a bloke called Geoff Thomas.  I remember phoning him up once (as he’d invited us to do) to ask advice on how to get into his industry and he couldn’t get it out of his head I wanted a job within his organisation, when none were open.  Still, frustration in lack of help and genuine interest in me aside, he did pass on one nugget.

He apparently ran a course at Harvard called “CTC 83″ (aka, ‘cut the….”!) and one element was on teaching wannabe business leaders about Fast Failure.  If something is not working, you need to acknowledge rapido, and change tack.

When talking to a pal of mine who’s suffered the usual recruitment traumas recently, I realised one amazing Fast Failure indicator for sales people.

“Are they asking the right kinds of questions?”

When someone’s new to a role, industry, product in sales, think about what you think they’d be asking if they were enthused, capable and doing the right activities.  If questions are neither forthcoming, nor of any real relevance, then apply Fast Failure.  Put ‘em on a Plan, or make a mercy killing.

A number to remember.  Andy Defresne’s prison number.  And for those familiar with Shawshank Redemption, you’ll know that’s not pronounced as it looks.

It’s not really necessary to ‘review’ this outstanding flick as such - so much exists elsewhere as it’s always in the top 3 of any ‘best film’ polls that seem to dominate Sunday night telly.  I saw it again to relax and feel positive last night after a long hard day.  For the salesperson, two main themes rise up.

Persistence

As the years roll annonymously, tortuously by for our hero in prison, he keeps chipping away at people to get what he wants.  Whether it’s his breakthrough moment with toughest-nut screw Hadley (”do you trust your wife?”) or his sending a letter a week for more library books, then two when some amazingly arrive, he just keeps plugging away.

Goal-Orientation

Without giving away the denouement, the fact he enjoys such sensational success, against all the odds, at the end is down to him doing something, no matter how little, every single day that genuinely progresses his cause.  This is a vital lesson for the aspirant sales survivor, winner.  Did you move enough forward today?

I blogged some time ago about the usefulness of Leavitt’s book for the salesman, and raved about it being a sterling read.  I was in a meeting (in groovy offices near London’s Butler’s Wharf) pitching to a decent chap called Sanjay that’d set up his own business six years ago.  They were in the field of expenses claiming software, and theirs is uniquely an on-demand solution, even allowing text messages (and photos of receipts from mobile phones soon) to rapidly slash both form filling-in and repayment hassles.

He was talking about the 12 different benefits his system could yield.  One was that overall expense bills tended to drop.  He reckoned anywhere between 10 to 15%.  The reason being that this was the figure of spurious claims that no longer got submitted with such a simple, yet sophisticated system.

And the figure amazed me.  For it was exactly around the ball-park that the Washington guy in America came up with, as recorded in Freakonomics; he reckoned, worked out from many years of data, how honest white-collar people were, as he’d leave his bagels in the morning, with a small basket for the payment, so people could in theory, not pay.

So, there you have it, conclusive proof roughly 1 in 6 of us are clearly crims!  Is there any hope…?!

And it got me thinking about any expense-claim scams I’d come across.  From when I first started in sales, software existed that told you how long your car journey was, so fiddling petrol hasn’t come onto my radar.  And the only other area with scope I guess is with ‘entertainment’, but unless you completely make up a customer jolly, that surely only gives minor scope as well. Funnily enough, I learned the other day that one of the largest data firms in the world, Thomson, have a policy that all entertainment requires the names of those treated to be documented on each receipt!

If you know of any sharp-practice, then please let me know, as I could do with feeling better about what to be on the look out for when I approve claims!

In the early 90s I read a fascinating book all about how technology products need to alter their selling mindset when trying to break into the mass-market, once enthusiastic first-adopters had already jumped on board.

It’s by Geoffrey A Moore, called Crossing The Chasm.  My attention was drawn to his work by a company owner I once knew who was renowned for unsavoury, sharp practices, havng zero concept of the phrase ‘win-win’, that pronounced the ‘ch’ in chasm, rather than leave the ‘h’ silent.  Clown.

I must do a full review of it sometime, anyway, one main bonus of his theory is that when you are pitching something new, around 1 in 6 of the general population will automatically prick their ears up.

As I’m selling something in this mould, we’ve done some testing in our London boiler room, and it seems to back old Geoffrey up.  When pitching afresh, slotting a couple of these words in can lead to someone saying they’ll see us, without any need for a subsequent telephone objection handling routine:

• Brand New
• Different
• Breakthrough
• Innovative
• Unique
• Original
• Novel
• Ground-breaking
• New Concept
• Revolutionary
• First of its Kind
• Distinctive
• Fresh
• Radical

I learnt a new word yesterday; boondocks.  A pal of mine’s started selling in America, and when cold-calling (if they ever manage to get past the evil voicemail culture!) the fact that they’ve been successful worldwide appears to cut little sway.  Apparently, being big in England means little, as over there’s simply the ‘boondocks’.

This apparently means something akin to being stuck out in the sticks, as I would say, with you verging on being a yokel, years behind the times, or the outback if you’re an Aussie.  I find boondocks defined on the web as ‘backwoods: a remote and undeveloped area’.

My mate’s getting frustrated, and is waring prospects down with names of well-known businesses that operate in the US they have as customers elsewhere around the planet.

His current close is one of those fun ones; “if after 10 minutes you don’t think it’s the best thing you’ve seen, then we’ll leave you in peace”.  Yet yanks are quite negative with him, responding “I’m not unopposed to that idea”!

So much for being seekers of innovation.  This century will not be theirs, and they probably don’t even realise it.

From the start I’ve loved this show.  For those not in the know, this isn’t a pop-ideas show like American Inventor, Dragons’ Den uses 5 self-made multi-zillionaires who are pitched business brainwaves with a view to getting them to commit a specific wad of cash.

The Dragons shine only when they take an interest in something.  When they dismiss it out of hand it can be a riot with put downs Ricky Gervais would be proud of, but the real steel of the show comes from Gestapo-esque questioning.

Evan Davis significantly helps make it.  Most hosts would try and pinch the limelight, yet his phenomenal journalistic pedigree steers him to reminding links and terrific Q&As with those having just left the Den, usually with dreams in tatters.

Anyhow, tonight’s first show in Series Three served up the usual hair-brained hopefuls, and the intensity of a couple of legitimate go-ers.

For the hardened salespro, two of the aspirants suffered with lessons to glean:

Beating Nerves

No matter how much you practice, nothing compares to performing in front of your audience.  Just ask an England penalty taker.  When smooth flowing punch is interrupted by heavy breathing that in other circumstances would alert the ears of the local constabulary, it’s time to take stock or go under.  One way of overcoming such an attack, is to make sure you get the essential bullets out, and crucially, invite questions as quick as you can.  Entering into a conversation changes the balance, and the nerves ebb away as your mind moves on.

Proven Demo

I’ve demo’d software all my sales life, with my (un)fair share of disaster.  One guy tried to boil an egg.  Simple you’d think.  The first time, he forgot to put the egg in the ‘boiler’.  Pretty calamitous.  And then went on to conduct two more unsuccessful demos.  The lesson is obvious yet clear, try and give yourself a chance to demo in the environment you’ll be in beforehand.

Two other interesting bits, were the Dragons always asking for a deal (”how negotiable is it?”) and the hopefuls for some reasons blindly caving in.  And the statement “at some point, margins always get squeezed”.

Bizarrely I’ve just been reminded of a piece of PR put out by a company selling sales software.  It talks about the excuses sales people use for not getting sales.  Apparent reasons to explain away failure include hangovers, personal crisis, car problems, reports eaten by the dog, cricket, bad dreams and, in one case the wrong type of tie.

Technology breakdown also scored highly, and as one person writing about this wittily and sagaciously observed “…although we’re not told how often it was [the vendor’s conducting the survey]”.

Some examples of pathetic biscuit dunking behaviour that have also come to me since writing my last post include:

• “I can’t cold call now ‘cos it’s nearly lunchtime and nobody’ll wanna talk to me”
• “I couldn’t send off that letter last night because my email was down and I needed some info from someone”
• “Sorry you couldn’t get hold of me today, boss, but my girlfriend took my phone with her this morning by mistake”
• “I didn’t get the order because they’re in the middle of a takeover”

And then there’s one you need to approach delicately:

“My wife told me she wanted a divorce and I had to move out and not see the kids”

Hmmm.

I’ve for a long time used term that represents the unacceptable face of selling and sums up sales peoples no-nos; Biscuit-Dunking.  It was coined by often encountering this kind of situation:

A salesrep has a number of visits to make this day, as they do everyday. Trotting along their milk-round they amble into yet another reception. They are kept waiting. So they accept the obligatory cup of coffee. And what a result, there’s a Biscuit on the saucer! Even better still, it’s chocolate! The prospect (who in this case is probably a customer in the broadest, yet official sense) eventually grants them an audience and they sit, chatting away.
And the salesrep sits there, Dunking away.
Not a single proactive, intelligent selling question ever leaves their mouths.  No conversation that approaches anywhere near the nub of an issue that will help the prospect gets underway.  No value is added to the prospect’s day by seeing this salesrep.  The salesrep acts as little more than a carrier-pigeon of gossip, a social secretary.
And they sit there. And they Dunk some more.
Then at last, Hallelujah! They ask a Closing question!
“Can I have another Biscuit please?”
They are completely unaware of what the prospect should or could be taking from them. It means they are grateful for any order, scratched randomly on their precious order pad. Which means that targets are always a struggle on the distant horizon.
This salesrep is a Biscuit-Dunker. They give all salesreps a bad name. Death to the Dunkers! 

So what is a Biscuit-Dunker? It is someone who embodies all that can make salesreps held in such low regard by others in their organisations.

My Anti-Biscuit Dunking Crusade will draw attention to where I see people making mistakes in sales, and hopefully showing how such can be rectified.  Don’t let the Dunker’s stain taint you….