I was pleased to find another sales tidbit in the eco-agenda book I referenced yesterday.

In a well-argued demolishing of the unnecessarily fraught, ill-considered and mis-focused British Building Regulations, particularly in the context of failing to discourage dormitory towns and walkability, the following desire emerged:

“we need to move towards a system based on outcomes, not processes”

The similarities between the irrelevant demands of planning applications that hinder, rather than help, green-friendly initiatives, and those of sales reporting software (yes, I mean mainly crm) failing to map themselves onto what should support the realities of selling and sales routines, is striking.

In fact, substitute the final word of the aforementioned quote from ‘processes‘ to ‘activity‘ and you pretty much have your cause nailed down.

In addition, if you define the word processes as the author does, in other words referring to having to go through all hoops that could ever possibly occur, regardless of how once-in-a-million their likelihood, rather of course than the Sales Dept terminology whereby a sales process to follow is an essential precursor to sustainable long-term success, then here too, your compelling manifesto builds.

Regular readers will be aware of the paradox within which I personally battle; sales reporting is an integral and potentially hugely beneficial area of Sales, yet almost all sales reporting fails to engender its trumpeted goodness.

At the very least, if this oblique example could foster thinking that unclogs even a solitary compliance roadblock, then it’s proven its use.

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^{quote source:} p153, The Constant Economy, Zac Goldsmith (Atlantic Books, London, 2009)

In downtime lately I’ve been reading a couple of books that have an entertaining subtext; scientists can be wrong, you sometimes need to stand up to them. Sample quote: “…the arrogant side of science; a belief that it should have monopoly over the debate.”¹

The precise context of this feeling involved genetically modified food, and how it is not only quite possibly bad for our health but also that of the planet.

It got me thinking about the quasi-scientists that solution sellers come up against with annoying regularity. They are the tekkies.

Technical people in my humble experience are usually roadblocks. It is a source of constant bewilderment to me that their entire reason for being is at paradoxical odds with their outlook on buying something. They are typically paid to be change drivers within their firms, yet baulk at anything that might disrupt their ever-so-comfortable status quo.

I have come across several types of tekkie out there. People in roles like IT Manager and Design Engineer are the obvious examples. But if you think about it, those such as CFOs can be the worst kind of tekkie you can encounter.

So how do you challenge them? Well, reading the book referenced below, it would seem there are two main ways.

1. Rigorously check their facts
2. Identify the opposite polar position

What this will also hopefully conjure, is someone that can be an ally. There’s usually an individual or body that doesn’t share the tekkies view slowing you down. People that prefer the other pole of opinion can be dynamite. Understand and align with them, and politics can then trump science.

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¹ p58 The Constant Economy, Zac Goldsmith (Atlantic Books, London, 2009)

I can thank Michael Brooks‘ 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense for alerting me to Occam’s Razor. This is a principle that whenever you need to find or choose a solution, the simplest one tends to be the winner.

It is reminiscent of the well-worn sales mantra KISS (an acronym from Keep It Simple, Stupid) and the impositions sales managers regularly place on their charges to talk in terms a 5-yr old would understand.

A general rule in selling is that the more complicated something is, the less likely it is to work. Of course, this concept may not be restricted to solely the sales arena. If you feel your solution is slipping over the edge towards strangling complexity, cut it up with Occam’s razor, using straplines (as found on wikipedia) such as:

“The simplest answer is usually the correct answer” and “The simplest explanation is usually the best”.

Mark McCormack, as he likes to point out on every other page of this best-selling memoir, is the man ‘who made Arnold Palmer rich’. Indeed, Mark McCormack covets credit for founding the entire sports management industry.

He wrote many books aimed at telling a general business audience what you need to pick up, that is not to be found at Harvard Business School, Yale Law School (where he himself went), or on the Internet.

The one that’s of interest to winning salesreps is the first; ‘Harvard’. Another unashamed airport book, yet it manages to keep your interest throughout the heavily anecdote laden text, mainly because you get a feel for the fact that he actually appears to have lived his life according to the edicts he printed.

If you’re not into the sporting life, then most of the tales will leave you cold. Luckily, there is an absence of American-only “sport”  stories. Golf provides the bulk of the material.

Also, of the business examples, there’s often not a clear relationship between the point being made and the actual story itself. Compounding this, many of these examples do not tell you the names of those involved. Both are frustrating flaws.

What is great though, is that McCormack clearly revels in the selling sphere. And of the three main sections, some of the first and all of the second are thankfully devoted to sales.

This 1984 book is considered to have weathered well, so time for a refresher:

• Persistence is vital.
• ‘No’ may just mean now is bad timing.
• Extend, Renew, Renegotiate a contract when the other party is at their happiest. Not when the thing is about to run its course. And remember that Happiness may have nothing to do with your product.
• Make venues work for you. Why do all your deals in the buyer’s office?
• Don’t be a victim of the ‘your own worst enemy syndrome’. Don’t alienate people who may help you. Remember the people situations it always comes down to.
• Watch your Listen/Talk ratio.
• Beware giving buyers deadlines. At the end of the month, they know the deal will still be open tomorrow and you will lose credibility and probably the order itself. Don’t be definite, say ‘it’ll be tricky to keep this open…’
• A lot of reminders to use Silence to your advantage. Make others speak by shutting up.
• Think about why people feel good about using what you provide and sell on those emotions and values.
• Know your product, believe in it and sell it with total enthusiasm.
• Don’t be misled by titles printed on business cards whilst determining the decision making process.
• Find a Star in the buying company and make them shine brightly.
• “Get them a little bit pregnant” by getting them visualising life with your product.
• “Unite and Conquer” - Ask two people the same question and when both like the idea, get them together working for their common goal.

There are also some decent snippets on Negotiating, the top 3 pointers here are:

1. “The point of negotiation is to reach an agreement that is mutually advantageous to both parties”
2. Don’t Deal In Round Numbers. $100K is crying out to be reduced. Make it $98,450 or better, $104,379.
3. Remove ambiguity. Eg: when dealing with Time if you talk about a ‘day’, what does this actually mean? The full 24-hour period? 9 to 5? What exactly?

When discussing a one-page summary of a new venture, I was party to some revealing thoughts on how to further “sell” the idea to potential investors from someone involved in monitoring just such conversations. Here’s a selection that would help shape the resultant full business plan:

• Around 10 pages should be right for length
• Make sure there’s a comprehensive financial model, which reflects projections over any envisaged loan period
• Any pre-feasibility studies/market research data (or other substantiating information) that could be attached would be of benefit
• CVs are usually quite informative and form the basis of any Borrower/Sponsor Assessment
• Any amount of money that the Sponsors have already invested helps to convince potential stakeholders of commitment

Idling away downtime reading TechCrunch, I came across a summary interview with the chap credited as starting the race to Off-Shore business processes by dint of his Indian outsourcer creation Infosys, N.R. Narayana Murthy.

And delighted I was to discover his telling advice for entrepreneurs pitching their idea. The relevance it has for solution sellers with new products is delicious. As the final précis of the journalist goes, the two things you must do are:

One, be able to articulate what you do in one sentence. If you can’t, you don’t have a good idea.

And two, make sure the market is ready. Businesses are killed, not congratulated, for being ahead of their time.

Sales people the world over are creaking under the strain of corporate cost cutting. Those departing of self accord go with no replacement, basics are frozen, bonus plans squeezed. I came across a number of specific measures from Big Blue that, the sales team suspects, feature the further erosion of sales numbers as a facet.

The main issue was a “gate”. No commission at all is paid until 55% of target is attained. Whilst a floor of this sort is nothing new (and often an essential extra motivator), this particular threshold does appear eye-poppingly high.

Another measure seems destined to change the team-sales ethos of IBM for good. The days of multiple deal splits are over. Commission pay outs are now given to just one or two key people, rather than the old established prevailing practice of awarding pieces of the pie to all and sundry that claimed influence on the deal. Although I for one could never quite fathom how some deals made money in such culture, so perhaps is a more realistic shift long overdue.

One final rabbit punch is that items that qualify for commission are being reduced. For instance, Services. Once fully paid out on, they are now zero percent rated. That’s a huge shift.

There are of course mitigating forces here. Clients are undeniably spending less. Potential new prospects ‘asset sweat’ as they elongate cycles making do with what they’ve already got. Larger sales territories can slightly offset falling deal till-rings, but the overall trend is clear. Sales pay packets are not bounding ever upward.

For anyone involved in their own, one-on-one sales plan negotiations, right now or later in the year, the IBM approach can serve as a good reminder of what your opposite aims should be. Document accurate figures for market shrinkage as part of your prep. Yes, take a larger turf, but try and extend the net of what counts towards your numbers. And if you must conceded something, try a gate, but nowhere near 55% of course.

One FT columnist I like reading when waiting in corporate receptions is Lucy Kellaway. She recently riffed typically irreverent thoughts on messages to give long standing clients.

I was intrigued to see her document what she considered the four things that clients valued from their suppliers above all else:

• experience
• mastery of subject matter
• diligence
• punctuality

A thought provoking quartet. Two issues immediately struck me. Introspectively, how do I myself stack up on these. Then the real kicker was … are they really the top four?

No empathy? Whither understanding? And what about problem solving?

An interesting excerise would surely be to ask your clients what they value. Using Lucy’s four as a jumping off point these could be uncovered fairly easily. Whatever they say in response you can then make plans to ensure that you shine in such areas.

Louis Theroux and his Wierd Weekends. Over a decade ago he poked his nose in the world of tv shopping channels, centring on an American station in Tampa.

Our first exposure was to a room full of presenters, fully pumped and ready to rock. One guy was pitching magnets for health and sleep purposes. When Louis raised his vocal eyebrow with a knowing chuckle, the snap back was instant; they’d once sold $1m in one day. Whoa!

The next guy was about to promote a cleaning product. “What’s Oxy Clean?” Louis quizzed, bringing the again instant response, “it’s a cleaner that works so you don’t have to!”

Even in this fleeting moment of docu-telly, I couldn’t help wondering just how many salespeople could realy rattle off such apt retorts when put on the spot like that about their own wares.

Much of the show was a lesson in how to do a presentation as Louis grew increasingly nervous over his own product pitch live on air (eventually for a paper shredder) for the film’s denouement.

Here’s a flavour of the (terrific) tips from the experts:

• Flash is cash, make it look colourful
• People buy belief in the person
• Bring it to life, make it exciting and fun
• Preparation of materials/props and verbal out-loud practice were rigorous
• Referring to products’ full model names/numbers makes you look like an expert
• Describe your product, say what it looks like, then what it does and how it helps quick quick, then bang into the demo
• Get quickly into the demo, cut down all chat to almost zero before pressing any buttons

And don’t think that this is just typical American over-the-top zany dross. One mentor was an English guy who’d been there six years, with even the usually cynical Louis moved to acclaim his skill.