Sales Blog with Sales Tips

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I don’t agree with 100% of what Oprah Winfrey says. However, one thing in particular that she said has never left me. It contains an abundance of implications for sales professionals.

“One of the most puzzling things known to man…”

Oprah’s Ultimate Sales Tip
Fear is an important emotion in sales as I have mentioned several times before in this sales blog. It can limit us and can cripple our sales skills. It can also be our greatest tether in life as well.

What is the opposite of fear? Passion. Oprah believes, “We approach everything in life with either fear or passion. We are afraid of something or we are drawn to it.” We don’t let fear block us from things we are passionate about. When we feel passion, fear is nothing but an annoyance.

Why are We Afraid?
What makes us fearful as sales professionals? Fear of not hitting our sales budget. Fear of incompetent looking sales skills in front of our sales manager. Fear of not appearing sharp and knowledgeable with important decision makers. When it comes to what we are afraid of, we are only limited by our imagination. That is the irony. We create our own fear. The seeds of fear are always sewn by us. Quite literally, we scare ourselves.

Our Most Damaging Fear
I wish I had a dollar every time I’ve heard a sales professional say something like, “Scott, my sales were good last quarter but I’m not sure I can do it again this quarter. I’m just not that good. This won’t last forever.” I could fill this sales blog with dozens of these stories.

One of the most puzzling things known to man is the impostor complex. At just the point we realize great success as sales professionals we can begin to tell ourselves, “I’m doing great, but it’s only a matter of time until someone figures out that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m just faking it. I don’t deserve this success. It won’t last.”

Thinking we’re a pretender can be an imposing impediment to our success. We fear we’ll be found out. We’re just a stand-in for the real thing. We have trouble accepting our own success while everyone around us is cheering us on. We have a grand case of fear-of-success.

Sales Tips: The Antidote
Fear can’t coexist with passion. Being passionate about our customers, our job and our employer will help silence our fears. Every sales professional has moments of fear. Having a pure love of the sales game - a passion - gives us more power than we realize.

Further reading: Sales Managers and Dysfunctional Work Environments

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

May I be blunt? Talking heads (also known as news reporters) absolutely love to report bad economic news. They even have a little expression that says, “If it bleeds it leads.” These talking heads can make a small downward business trend sound like a tsunami of catastrophic economic news. If we listen too much it can hurt our sales skills. Here’s a sales tip on how to avoid being their victim.

“…it does demonstrate the incredible latitude we have…”

Time for Some Mental Drano
Too many sales professionals have let these talking heads get to them lately. This is the worst time to be diving for cover. “Weathering the storm” is not a good sales strategy right now. It ultimately comes down to what is going on between our ears more than what we’re hearing with our ears. We need to clean out all the economic bad-news-media gunk accumulating in our heads that causes us to retreat. It’s time for some mental Drano to clear out our brain pipes and get us selling again.

Sales Tip from an Island
I know there are a million shoe salesman stories out there but this one hits right where some of us are living right now.

Two shoe salesmen go to an island where no one wears shoes. What follows are their reports to their sales manager.
Shoe Salesman #1: “There is no opportunity on this island. No one wears shoes.”
Shoe Salesman #2: “This island represents an unbelievable opportunity. Not a single person has shoes.”

Sales Tips to Take With Us
All right, I know we’re tired of shoe salesman stories and this one is simplistic. However, it does demonstrate the incredible latitude we have in interpreting our sales environment. I have some uncomplicated, but important, sales tips I want us to remember:

1. Talking heads exaggerate negative economic news.
2. Perceiving our sales environment in a positive way is one of the most important sales skills we have.
3. This is not the time to withdraw; now is the time to stay aggressive, see opportunities that others miss and keep our sales skills strong.

Further reading: Direct Sales Tips: What the media does to ruin your sales career.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Barack Obama and John McCain have a commanding presence. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be U.S. presidential candidates. Are they making all the key decisions regarding their campaign? In large sales, does one decision maker, operating alone, ultimately make the decision to buy from us?

“They aren’t seeking agreement because they are kind or democratic.”

Sales Tip: Fear Factor
Fact: There is rarely only one decision maker in a large sale. I know we’ve all been given sales tips about the ultimate decision maker. But there is a variable that keeps all the decision makers in play right up until that big order is finally placed. Fear.

Don’t Confuse This with a Democracy
The person in the corner office likes to know he or she is supported in their decision to make a substantial purchase. They aren’t seeking agreement because they are kind or democratic. They want concurrence because they share a common human emotion, fear. They are fearful of making a bad decision and wasting corporate resources. They have to answer to someone and it sounds better to be able to say, “We decided to…,” if things don’t work out so well in the end. They don’t like being fired any more than the next person. Those overpaid high visibility management positions aren’t easy to replace. Just ask Carolyn Kepcher.

How to Sell Big Orders
While there is an individual who has to give the final authorization for a large purchase, they work with their official or unofficial team of decision makers, recommenders and information gatherers right up until their pen hits our contract. We have to keep selling to that team until the order is in hand.

Further reading: Decision Makers, Vertical vs. Horizontal

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

It’s a recurring question for sales professionals. Is my product expertise more important than my sales skills, or vice versa? I have an answer and it’s different from the answer I would have given ten years ago.

“This is the fundamental added value…[our customers] are seeking [today]…”

How to Sell 101
I think we all agree that we need to have strong sales skills and product knowledge skills in order to be considered capable sales professionals. We can’t be competent without both. However, today’s sales professionals need to focus more on one of these skills than they have historically. What may have been good sales advice ten years ago may not be right today.

It’s Changing Everything
Something has provoked a lot of change in the sales profession over the last ten years. The Internet. It has changed the dynamics of how to sell. Basic order taking sales skills can be handled by the Internet. If we are simply processing customer orders, then we are just competing with our company’s web site. What customers are primarily looking for in 2008 is product and industry expertise. We need to be viewed as experts in both.

Sales Tips for a New Customer Model
Let’s face it; most of our prospects and customers don’t want to be sold anymore. It’s too easy for them to find and order what they need on the web. They want our expertise and knowledge regarding the products and services our company sells. They want our industry wisdom. This is the fundamental added value they are seeking and will cause them to view us as a resource instead of merely an order processor.

In 1998 product and industry knowledge was important but it usually took a subordinate position to sales training. Our strong product and industry expertise in combination with our sales skills is how we will create strong and lasting alliances with our customers today. Sales ability alone is certainly not enough anymore.

Further reading: Sales Advice: Take this test to see if you have become an order taker.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

My first sales job was with a well-known Fortune 500 company. A few of the sales skills they taught me caused me problems later. One in particular. Their number one sales tip was to always “start at the top.” “Top-down selling.” “Call the highest level executive you can find at a prospect because they will always be the ultimate decision maker.” I knew absolutely nothing about how to sell so I blindly believed 100% of their sales advice, unfortunately.

“We must enter where we can get in.”

I had to learn through the school of hard knocks and by sales help provided by subsequent sales managers that this was not always a good strategy. Why?

• Executives hate when a sales professional actually does get in direct contact with them and they know very little about them or their company.

And…

• Executives won’t take our calls.
• Executives have built-in screeners for people like us; they’re called assistants.
• Executives don’t listen to voice mail messages.
• Executives don’t read their own snail mail; their assistant does and decides whether it should be passed on or not (usually not).
• Executives don’t make their email addresses commonly available and they treat emails from sales professionals like spam.

Sales Tips from My First Sales Job Were Not Working

I found I was wasting a lot of time trying to get in front of executives that were doing everything they could to stay under my radar. When they actually did pick up the phone, I had no idea what to say to them. I had no clue how to sell to them because I hadn’t built a foundation of information first. I didn’t know what their product or service needs were. I had no direction regarding their timeframes, budgets or current vendors. Information is always available outside of a company, of course, but it is usually limited and dated.

There is a Better Way

I learned to start at a lower level in an organization where employees don’t build a fortress around themselves. By doing this I could gather tremendous amounts of information about the prospect before I contacted an identified decision maker. This information not only made me more effective when I got to a higher-level decision maker but it made getting there easier too. I was building relationships along with knowledge.

We can bypass this bottom-up process if we know someone inside or outside a prospect that has intimate knowledge about that company. We have to find them and they have to be willing to share it. Unfortunately, this is not normally possible. There are sales professionals who deal exclusively with upper-management because of what they are selling (e.g., nuclear power plants, jets, etc.) but that is not the case for most of us mortals. We must enter where we can get in. Through information and relationships we are able to get to a high-level decision maker and sell effectively.

Further information: What do I need from a prospect? Hint: relationship, What do I need from a prospect? Hint: information

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

There is ultimately one thing in our sales skills arsenal that will make us successful sales professionals. Our verbal skills. And what drives our verbal sales skills? Our brains. How much of our brain do we actually get to use? Please indicate your answer below.

a. 5%
b. 10%
c. 11%
d. 100%

“We can no longer claim that…our brain is out of reach.”

And the Correct Answer Is
Despite what we’ve been told, the correct answer is actually “d.” That’s right; we use all of our brain. However, we don’t all get an equal share, unfortunately. As David Gerrold says, “The problem with the gene pool is that there’s no lifeguard.” As evidence that we use our brain in its entirety I’d like to point out that you have probably never heard a doctor say, “Good news, the bullet hit him in the 90% of the brain that he doesn’t use.” No, sadly a bullet to the head will kill someone in the majority of cases because we use every area of our brain.

Sales Advice for Our Brains
The primary way that our customers and prospects evaluate our intelligence is through our verbal sales skills. Since our brains are in charge of our mouths this is not an invalid conclusion on their part. When we speak with a prospect for the first time (phone or in person) they have decided what they think of us within about 15 seconds. Their primary determinant is how well we speak. Sales tip: it’s not only an issue with prospects either. We are constantly adding to, or subtracting from, our perceived value by how well we express ourselves even at our established customers.

Sales Tips for Our Mouths
Since we have access to all of our brain, there is no reason not to develop our speaking skills. We can no longer claim that 90% of our brain is out of reach. Just like a muscle, if not exercised regularly our brain and our ability to express ourselves will atrophy. We can develop our presentation skills by constant practice and by taking speech classes or joining Toastmasters.

With enhanced verbal skills we come across as more intelligent to our customers. This translates to higher perceived value which means a higher-level partnership. However, these abilities can’t be strengthened without actively pursuing improvement.

Related information: The Ten-Percent Myth, The Myth of Body Language in Communication

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

I have a German Shepherd dog named Fred that my wife swears I love more than her. Not true…on the vast majority of days. Fred has a behavior instinctual to all dogs that can ruin customer relationships. Fred doesn’t need to know how to sell, so his sales skills aren’t important. We, however, are sales professionals and we have to avoid this behavior of his, no matter how tempting.

“Good relationships…are based on honesty.”

What Is Fred Doing That Represents a Poor Sales Tip?
He brown-noses. He can’t help himself. Every living (and sometimes non-living) thing he meets will cause him to position his nose accordingly. It’s a dog law or something. Cesar Millan tells us that this is a handshake in dog language. Personally, I’m sticking with a handshake.

Why Do We Sometimes Use Fred’s Sales Skills With Our Customers?
We’ve all been given the basic sales advice that if we’re really nice to people they will like us more. We want our customers to like us so we brown-nose them. Studies have shown that brown-nosing is actually effective up to a point. Unfortunately, that point varies from one person to the next and we can’t be sure when we’ve doled out too much doggy language. When a customer realizes that we are brown-nosing, they immediately begin to question our sincerity which can cause all kinds of bad fallout.

Fred is Great, but We Don’t Appreciate His Sales Tips
We develop great customers by developing our relationship with them. Good relationships (as I’ve said many times in this sales blog) are based on honesty. Even though brown-nosing might provide us short-term gains, it usually causes the foundation of the customer/sales professional relationship to erode. Don’t fall for its siren song.

Related information: Is Integrity a Sales Strategy?

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

There is a theme in this sales blog that will never change. That theme is: We are most effective when we feel free to express our unique personality with our customers and prospects. Our customers like to see us, not some synthetic version of us. In my many years in sales I can honestly say that the sales professionals who are loved the most - and I do mean loved - are some of the quirkiest people on the planet.

“Oh no, it’s sales time.”

What do We Like About People?
Do we like someone because they are flawless? No. The irony is that we like people for their odd traits as much as we like them for their identifiable strengths. This is their identity. It’s a package. Our customers like us for the same reasons. Life is counter-intuitive sometimes.

What do Customers Hate About Suits?
I love to attend meetings when a large company brings in 20 suits to help make their case. And by suits I mean guys and gals who are clones of one another sharing the same clothes, hairstyles, verbiage, education, experience, disposition, training and age. Here’s a basic sales tip: customers hate this. When they see an army of suits coming their direction they immediately think, “Oh no, it’s sales time.” Customers like buying from real people, not people that look and talk as if they were put together on an assembly line.

We Keep Hurting Ourselves
The world is filled with generic sales professionals. The more generic they are the more they lose their identity. This diminishes one of the most important aspects of creating a relationship, individuality.

I’m not suggesting that sound sales concepts be thrown out (like those found in this sales blog, of course). I am advising that we give ourselves permission to relax a little in front of the customer and reveal our true temperament and character. It’s key to creating a lasting relationship with our customers. Quirky can be good.

Related information: Can Hillary Clinton teach us something about sales?

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Homeopathic medicine claims that consuming a miniscule amount of certain medicinal substances (even down to one molecule) diluted in a liquid will protect us from illness. Unfortunately, that is how we approach prospecting sometimes, as if one molecule of prospecting will help us grow our business. We have to prospect constantly and in large quantities.

I’m Tired of These Types of Sales Tips
I can’t seem to find a sales blog, sales magazine or sales book anymore that doesn’t have some version of, “Sales isn’t a numbers game anymore.” Well that might be trendy to say and real “Sales Management 2.0″ sounding, but they’re wrong. They’re especially wrong when it comes to prospecting.

“To think…we can intellectualize prospecting…is naive.”

Why the New Quantity-Doesn’t-Matter Sales Advice Doesn’t Work
Can we all agree on the following?

• Poor sales skills matched with low prospecting activity = poor results
• Poor sales skills matched with high prospecting activity = marginal results
• Good sales skills matched with low prospecting activity = marginal results
• Good sales skills matched with high prospecting activity = great results

The best and most prepared Olympic marathon runner in Beijing this month won’t win a medal if he or she doesn’t get out on the track and get those legs moving.

We Also Need to Know How to Sell
That’s right. Activity is necessary when we are prospecting, but we also need to know how to sell effectively. Proper preparation and skills have to be present. To think, however, that we can intellectualize prospecting to the point where we believe activity is not necessary, yet we can expect outstanding results, is naive. Every sales professional I’ve ever observed that excelled in bringing in new business makes a humongous number of prospecting contacts.

Let’s distill this down to one sales tip formula: Preparation + Prospecting Activity X Sales Ability = Results

Related information: Jigsaw CEO Tells Me Why You Need His Website, Sales Tips: What is Cycle Prospecting or Perpetual Prospecting?

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

As sales professionals we’ve all been manipulated by customers in order to get a better price, better service, etc. Sometimes we allow Gentle Bully Customers to maneuver us in the wrong direction because we don’t recognize their agenda.

“Don’t take the bait.”

I Must Have Missed This in Basic Sales Skills Training
A Gentle Bully Customer is one that pressures us in ways that are less than pure or straightforward in order to get their way. The squeeze they use is done in such a pleasant way that we miss their real objective, which is to exploit us.

Gentle Bullies in Action
This customer negotiation technique is best explained with examples.

• “I would love to buy from you but my manager wants an additional ten-percent discount before she will give you the order. You are such a nice man and your commission on this order would be large I bet.”
• “Our order for these parts needs to be moved ahead of your other customers. I can’t wait to brag on you again to your boss when I have lunch with him next week.”
• “We are really working hard to reduce the number of vendors we have. I know how to sell the Purchasing Manager. I could really make a better argument for retaining your company as a supplier if I could tell him that your company will provide free freight for the next 12 months.”

Gentle Bully Management Sales Help
We’ve all had this done to us and it is not indicative of a healthy partnership with our customers. I have two sales tips for addressing this. First, be on the lookout for this kind of manipulation. Second, when detected, ignore the manipulative message and address head on what they are wanting. Don’t take the bait. We could respond to the first example above by saying, “We would like to get your business on this order but based on the level of service we’ll be providing and the product you selected, we aren’t going to be able to discount any further. I’ll call your manager and explain this to her.”

Summary sales tip: We must keep our eyes open and not take the bait.

Further reading: Sales Tips Fiction: The Customer is in Charge

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer