salespodder: sales blog with musings and tips from inside sales

Surfing last night for a bit of relaxation, I realised that there are a number of blogs I like, but the google reader app doesn’t make it as neat as it could be to have your ‘web inbox’ show you what’s of interest.  So I caught up with Tim Harford’s Undercover Economist.

The entry on Facebook’s impending doom sparkled, including the reminder of Brook’s Law.  This is simply that “adding manpower to a late software project makes it later”.

I’m confronted by many potential buyers that have seemingly insurmountable problems to overcome.  Remembering my universe revolves around sales team leaders, the issues with which they grapple are omnipresent since all reps got given expensive post-it note holders (aka Laptops) and beyond; reporting compliance, calls per day raises, enlarging pipelines, shortening sales cycles, sluggish new product sales, you know the picture.

I think there’s an evolution of Brook’s Law that’ll really appeal to these people.  ‘Throwing money at something never solves anything’.  There are tons of examples of where big spending fails to change things around.  The largest one in the UK at the moment is any project you care to mention about the NHS.  In my world, I shall now endeavour to check what investment plans my target decision makers have in place for improving whatever it is constitutes their current focus, and demonstrate how I can facilitate such joy through them spending less, not more.

Inhabiting a permanent mindset constantly thinking of new business opportunities to create myself, I always enjoy reading tidbits about how others engaged in similar pursuits fare.  I’m also fascinated with how many traits are shared with the behaviour of top reps and business founder-managers.

And then I read the advice of a French entrepreneur.  At the foot of the article is his 10-point summary for success.  The ones that resonate most for sales success illuminate:

Mistakes - if something goes pear-shaped, admit it in public with the prospect and rectify with their involvement

Communities - create them inside your patch, get your customers and prospects talking

Success - my favourite as I say this to people all the time, don’t focus on the cash, rather follow success, and then the financial rewards will come

Popping to the cash machine prior to a thoroughly enjoyable steak-fest at Gaucho’s in rainy London last night, I was reminded to always use language that does not alienate my prospects.

It stemmed from the truly woeful ad campaign Barclays Bank ran on their ATM screen.  Trying to tap into their sponsorship of the footie Premiership, next to a glistening red and white Nike football was a slogan tempting you to talk to them if you were thinking of “switching sides”.

I found this astonishing.  If you’re into football, there is no way you would ever comtemplate such a thing.  No-one ever, ever changes allegiance.  In addition, the phrase also has connations of, how can I say this delicately…., sexual preferences.  As in ‘if you play for City and United’, for instance, and where ’switching sides’ means something else entirely that I suspect would still further distance much of your target market.

When I first set up my current main company, I used to pitch to heads of sales teams regularly gently deriding crm, yet actually pointing out I was a big fan of what it set out to achieve.  I subsequently discovered that people never remembered the praise I gave, only the slagging off.  This was not a good thing.  So I changed tack ever since.

As you’ll probably know, I’m involved in ’solution selling’.  Several traits identify such an environment, like having to justify what the offering will make or save the prospect, or guaranteeing it’ll provide a return on investment in nano-seconds.

Pretty much all of my customers (solution selling sales organisations themselves) grapple with how to trigger a buying cycle.  Leave it too late, and every man and his dog gets invited in, start too early and you could waste precious time on a stifled bid.

Reading one of my fave blogs (’evanomics‘), I was heartened to discover wisdom that can help to earn that invaluable position as the person starting a campaign destined to complete, who ultimately gets to shape it their way.  The majority of deals you win, you probably instigate as first-mover.  (The rest you’re possibly last to come in at the death and sneak it.)

A “prompt” launches something that you might have expected to occur anyway at some point.

A “cause” brings something about that would not have otherwise happened.

I reckon that sharing this subtlety with potential buyers will:

• smooth their reticence to begin talks
• get to see you as prime deal mover
• morph a head-in-sand mentality, thinking the inevitable pending disaster won’t actually happen on their watch, towards one where they’re future-proofing

As surely, it is way better to generate the ‘prompt’ yourself, rather than fire-fight after the ’cause’ wreaks havoc, mister customer?

Here’s a concept that’s reared its ugly head for me recently.  What do you do when you encounter a requirement, stipulation or policy buyer-side that you know with which you do not comply?

When identifying initial needs, it’s quite common for the prospect to mention something that makes you aware that if the decision was on that one criteria alone, you’d not win. (No matter how trivial or irrelevant you may feel the issue to be).

The kind of thing is like when they say ‘it must be blue’, when you only have red.  It’s nearly always more fundamental than this though.  An example I was party to in S Africa involved (hold on to your chair…) religious conviction.  My self-employed pal Christian (ironic name given this scenario) was looking to do a deal.  The buyer suggested they sit down and consult his bible.  In a quest for spiritual fulfillment, Chris had once joined an evangelical sect.  This experience helped prompt him to flee the building immediately and run away from this particular red flag.

My first big boss instilled in me the need to get out every potential show-stopper early.  All part of qualification he thought, and if the prospect understands you’re trying to uncover all the worst-case-scenarios a strong bond of trust will build.  Subsequent colleagues have shied away from abruptness.  In analysis, I now spot the trend.  People with small pipelines ignore smelly issues.  Yet this is a vicious downward spiral, as surely you’re more likely to come second in such instances.  We’ve all won deals I’m certain where at the first meeting we thought it’d never fly, yet we managed to alter a key criteria away from doom.  But really, avoiding a future ‘train smash’ (as looming disaster in S Africa is often referred) may just avert a whole load of heartache (and lost commission).