salespodder: sales blog with musings and tips from inside sales

Anyone following the remarkable world of ‘arrers’ will be aware that they’ve had in their midst for the past twenty years their own ‘Don’, ‘Tiger’ & ‘Daley’.  The player that always takes the major title when push comes to shove.  Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor though, suffered a recent slump.  No World Final appearance and shoddy league showings.

After getting back to something approaching his old dominating form, I saw an interview with him asking how he’d reversed the decline.  He explained that he’d forgotten how much work he needed to be putting in to stay at the top.  He had to go back to “living like a monk”, putting aside everything else for a regime of “dedication”.  He even quoted grainy black-and-white footie legend Stanley Matthews, who when asked why he went out running at 5am answered it was because his “opposition wasn’t”.

With the annual Snooker-fest completed recently, this also reminded me of their greatest ever talent saying similar words each time he falls of the rails and scrabbles back to the top.

I’ve a brand new product to sell at present, and I’m currently facing up to the fact, that the only way it’s going to be a success, is by following this self-same formula to make it happen.

Bob Woolmer transformed cricket with his views on coaching.  The success they bought included making my own following of Warwickshire so much more enjoyable as we dominated the early 90s English scene, before he moved on to S Africa and then, tragically, Pakistan.  I myself came into contact with him when using the same golf course as the Proteas (deliciously called The Warwickshire) one day when they toured England, and was impressed at how he was clearly seen by the squad as their leader when banter flew about whilst some players found their lack of personal skill ‘frustrating’.

In Cape Town I chanced upon an obituary from his dear friend, a Professor at the local Uni called Tim Noakes.  Bob had introduced himself to him with a promise, “you teach me science and I’ll teach you cricket”.

The stance he promoted, was it seems not one of ‘how’, as in ‘how do we do this?’  Instead he altered that to ‘why’.  As in “why is this the way it is”.  And on this subtle yet vital slant alone, he changed coaching and cricket forever.  Another great angle to introduce when solution selling to those that come across as reticent to change.

Adam Gilchrist single-handledly changed cricket.  Very much for the better, I might add.  He built on the exceptional mid-90s groundwork of Alec Stewart to show how wicket-keepers should not only be expected to contribute valuable runs, but that they should also be readily accumulated at a fast pace in the then all-too-often torpid Test arena.

He just retired to trot off and receive the end-of-career rewards the Indian Premier League promises.  This tournament by the way is generally a good thing.  I regularly attend at least one English domestic Twenty20 match a season (following Warwickshire where possible although we always lose at home in our derby with Worcestershire for some reason) and I went to the inaugural World Cup in S Africa last year, which despite England’s appalling selection criteria and Collingwood’s surely complicit lap-dance club visit the morning of a key game, was utterly fantastic.  The IPL should not become another international tournament though, competing for diary time with the Future Tours Programme, which is where it’s headed.  That is bad and must be reined in.

So why the stream of cricket consciousness on my sales crusade?  Last night I tuned into to get an update on England in the first day’s play from Hamilton.  During the Lunch interval, Adam Gilchrist gave an interview.  For all his decent-bloke charms, Aggers makes a useless interviewer.  Despite Gilchrist wanting to chat away, he uncovered little.  What was revealed though gave a lovely selling reminder.

Gilchrist changed the game because he was never afraid to play true to his natural style.  If the ball was there to be hit, hit it he invariably would.  Which is how come a No.7 could finish with a Test average of 47 and the highest strike rate of all-time.  His philosophy was pretty much ‘never hesitate’.  If you do hesitate, he said, then you’d suffer.

It’s a fine mantra for sellers.  The number of times I’ve been adversely affected by not following my hunch on a campaign… aargh!  Make that phone call, ask that question, do what you feel best and succeed as well as ‘Gilly’.

A senior sporting administrator just swapped circket for football.  Richard Bevan is apparently adept at raising the influence and profile of a previsouly ignored constituency within a game.

When representing professional cricketers, he helped gain them extra clout in part through a type of Ambassador programme, whereby he could leverage chances to listen to and meet players.  Now he intends to do the same for football managers.  And the riches must surely be around the corner; what price a lunchtime session on selling a vision with Arsene Wenger, or leadership and motivation with Alex Ferguson?

On this subject of the universally admired, an interesting quote for us humble reps appeared:

“Bevan learnt in cricket how ‘names’ can help to secure business, estimating that 50 per cent of deals were sealed on an emotional level.”

So, contracts get signed half the time purely due to emotion?  I think many of us would go even further than this.  Isn’t the decision to buy always 100% an emotional one?

As an additional aside, you do hear from reps that have worked for huge concerns with a well-know, lauded Boss, that when introducing said celebrity to a sales campaign, they nearly always won the deal.  There are several blogosphere examples of people within Apple getting Steve Jobs to rock up, chat for an hour with a prospect, and despite not really talking turkey, winning a deal as a result.

I was lucky enough to just take on a team of Italians in a football friendly that I’ve played against twice before over in Rome.  This time the match was at Leyton Orient’s training facilities in North London.

With a large squad, banter was flowing before the game with us all excited.  Me and my fellow veterans got to joking with the youngsters about the make-up of the Bench.  A couple of years earlier, we played a game and in our changing room, the previous occupants (a rugby XV) had left their game plan papers plastered on the wall.  One of them bore the big-lettered title ‘Impact Players’.  In the olden days, this meant ’substitutes’.  And no-one likes being a sub.  Ever since, we’ve used the term collectively ourselves, as at the time it ensured much hilarity.  But now I can see how such ’spin’ is actually a cracking device.

B2B solution selling by definition involves talking to several people prospect-side, at many different levels.  What can often separate a winner rep from an also-ran, is how your own personnel resources are marshalled.  Who will you bring off the bench to make an impact, at what time, and with whom must they talk?

The best ‘impact players’ for me have always been outright tekkies.  Such people earn the instant trust of the buyers.  Tending to show initial nerves, their impressive knowledge soon garners respect.  The insight they gain, conversations they kick-off and the previously closed doors they open, can usually mean the difference between winning and losing.

The more impact players you can draw on and the more you bring them onto your pitch, the greater the likelihood of your sales success.

With rain pumping down this washout of a Summer in London, I ended up watching the Open golf from Carnoustie on telly Sunday afternoon.  It was gripping drama, with Sergio folding under the challenge from Padraig Harrington up to and during the eventual play-off.

Commentators rarely offer insight of note.  Witness the risible Peter Alliss on the Beeb.  Pompous at the best of times, his ability to underhwlem was never more noticeable than when he called Sergio’s final put on the 72nd as missing before it lipped out, removing much of the tension.  What an idiot.

Luckily, the legend that is Sam Torrance was on hand to save the day.  Remember how he reacted to sinking that Ryder Cup winning put on the Belfry’s 18th in 85?  And then there was the interview with Steve Rider late on the Sunday night when clearly the worse for wear after he’d won the Ryder cup again, this time as Captain, also at the Belfry?!

As pressure was getting the better of most of the competitors, Sam recited a quote. He attributed it to 50s golf star Ben Hogan, said to Tiger Wood’s first coach (and also brilliant TV pundit), Butch Harmon, with the preface ‘ten two letter words’:

“if it is to be, it is up to me”

After all, who else can you rely on to make things happen…?

As an aside, Harrington attributed part of his success to US sports psychologist Bob Rotella.  During his commentary, Sam Torrance (who’s father coaches Padraig) mentioned that Segio needed to calm down and not swing too much with the highs and lows.  And that is precisely what Padraig reckoned Rotella had helped him with; dealing with adversity and not letting the emotion of winning take over him before it had actually happened.

Another insight from the habits of sport stars, courtesy of a pal of mine that is one of a veritable cider farm of Bristol City footie supporters I know.  On their dressing room wall were plastered these ten points on a day-glo green piece of paper, under the heading “Champions”:

Togetherness
Respect
Hard Work
Discipline
Desire
Mental Toughness
Preparation
Communication
Fun
Confidence

Manager Gary Johnson led them to promotion this season, so the list must have something in it!

People that ’sell’ for a living, particularly those male in gender, like to be spurred on by what motivates sporting heroes.  I came across another couple of gems from cricket legend Viv Richards yesterday.  When interviewed by Mark Nicholas as rain prevented England polishing off the Windies on the 3rd day’s play he talked about how their current crop of under-performing, less skillful team members could improve their mental approach.  Many of his points can be applied to how you approach selling - here’s a sample from the man that if Botham referred to as “the king”, then must surely have been truly spectacular:

“cricket is a simple, simple game”, you tend to come unstuck when you try an over-complicate it, make it simple and you will succeed

“you can have talent, but you must work on it”, never rest on your laurels

“there’s nothing wrong with looking someone in the eye and letting them know what you will accomplish, you might be dealt nasty cards ocassionally, but if you let them know you always back youself and deliver, there’s nothing wrong with that”, Viv was often accussed of an arrogance due to his determined swagger and often outrageous shot selection, but he reckons if you believe you are good enough, don’t be afraid to let people know - of most relevance to your relationship with that sales manager getting on your wick, I suspect, to get him to back you more….

Many salesguys I meet love to talk about sportstars and their approaches.  And this week two attitudinal crackers surfaced as various seasons climax.

Dallaglio 

A couple of my mates were lucky enough to blag tickets for the Heineken Rugby European Cup final Sunday, and I was out watching (the woeful) FA Cup final the day before with them in a London juicer.

All the rugby chat was Leicester were overwhelming favourites.  Yet I view Wasps’ main man, Lawrence Dallaglio, as a colossus ever since seeing him take on the All-Blacks single-handedly at Twickenham when we drew 26-all.

In a pre-match interview last week I heard him say something like this.

“winning is all about belief, if you don’t believe you can win then you won’t, I look around our dressing room and I know that all of my players believe they can win”

Which contrasted bizarrely with their coach’s words, citing in none too enthusiastic tones that they were underdogs and given the opposition’s current stature, they’d enjoy their biggest ever victory if they caused an upset.  As for the game?  Well, Wasps took the game to their opponents and hammered them 25-9.

The sales moral unsurprisingly is, truly believe you will clinch the deal and you can make it happen.

Gerrard

The European Champions League final Wednesday, pits Liverpool against AC Milan once more.  If just half as good as Istanbul two years ago it’ll still be a belter.  One of my two current favourite players, Steve Gerrard (the other being Arsenal’s Thierry Henry by the way) has done plenty of media rounds during the build-up. 

He’s constantly asked about his reaction to how Milan’s bad-boy, Gattuso, has supposedly said he’ll nail Stevie G and stop him from playing.  Gerrard’s answer was a class act. 

“I’m worried about my own game and if I get that right, then we’ll see if he can stop me”

He’s focused solely on Liverpool and how they will prepare so that he himself performs to the best of his abilities.  He doesn’t take any notice whatsoever of any personal duel hype or whatever words emanate from the Italian camp.

Again, sales lesson bullet, don’t get wound up about the competition.

An unashamed cricket fan, I’ve suffered from England coach Duncan Fletcher’s misguided thinking since that bizarre Oval Test last year.  His demise took place this week, with his replacement promoted from within the current international set-up.  I wish Peter Moores all the very best, and in the dozens of web pieces about his promise, one stood out for me by his former colleague at Sussex Robin Martin-Jenkins at The Times.

I’ve mentioned before that business/sales people are always trying to take tips from sporting motivation, and this article gives a couple of cracking insights.  If you’re a sales manager, they include:

• identify whether everyone is giving to or taking from the energy of the team - if someone’s taking energy away from your organisation, let them know they must sort themselves out (a great quote around this is “You’re just neutral . . . which is even worse in my book.” )
• think of instilling intensity, passion & drive and ensure no-one is ambivalent about their role and the company
• introduce a new vocabulary of intensity, honesty and belief
• introduce innovation and energy, even thinking about things like ‘warm-up drills’ so people don’t go through the motions before a call (I loved this insight, as how many times do you go on a call with someone and only discuss it as you rock up to the punter’s car park?!)
• challenge sales people to be mountain people, not valley dwellers - and make them givers not takers