New Rules Teleseminar-August 10- 9-10AM

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As a blog reader, you’re invited to a FREE teleseminar on August 10, from 9-10AM EST. I’m calling it The New Rules Teleworkshop-a candid conversation with Bill Caskey about selling and issues of achievement.

I’ve heard from so many people saying they had a question about something we’ve written in the blog or recorded on the podcast (The Advanced Selling Podcast)– and they want to ask me personally.

So, we’re going to ask for questions to be submitted via email and I’ll take as many as I can in the one hour event. Once you register, you’ll get the following:
  *  An email confirming your registration with call information.
  *  A PDF file of some background to read prior to the call.
  *  A place you can email to ask your question

Register here and you’ll be confirmed via email:

The Future of Sales Training. How You Can Play.

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We get asked all the time, “Where is sales training headed?” No crystal ball here, but I do see some trends that every sales manager and company president should be interested in.

As you formulate your selling strategies for the future, and sales training becomes part of that, you should look at how to deliver training so it has maximum value.

Here are some trends:

1 A lot more process work. A lot less technique work. Not saying you shouldn’t have the basic sales skills (which so few really have), but I’m seeing it become a “process world.” Get the sales process right–and make sure it’s right for the prospect–and results will flow. Most sales companies have no coherent, useful, meaningful sales process. Get one–or hire someone to help you design one.

2 More frequent training touches. The idea of having your sales team together once a year for training is absurd. The market changes daily–and the sales team that is on top of those changes–and sharing best practices, is the one that is leading.

3 Better diagnostics before you train. If you’re going to hire a professional training company, make sure they / you diagnose what the REAL ISSUES are. This requires conversations with management, with sales team members and with others who observe market problems. If the training company wants to charge you for this, pay it. It may be $10,000 – $50,000. But it’s worth it so you make sure you get return on your investment. (HINT: Diagnose the real problems, be they fear, doubt, disbelief in product, self image. You can’t change behavior unless you’re working on the real problem. Few do.)

4 More soulful approach. We call it “soulful” but you may refer to it differently. This has to do with training the heart and mind, and letting the words follow. Gone in the future will be the “company script” where the company trains it’s sales force to “say this.” We have a concept we call HIGH INTENT, which is rewiring the sales mind to think differently about the sales process–and be there to help the customer identify and solve problems. If you operate from a place of HIGH INTENT, you control the process. Tomorrow’s sales training will be about changing the thinking of the sales professional–not just changing what they say.

5 Remote Learning. Get used to it. If you have a remote sales force that comes together infrequently, then look at podcasting, teleconferencing, or video blogging to train your people. People want training. The Generation Y’ers need it and value it. But they won’t be happy sitting in a training room for 14 hours at home office. You can’t use the excuse anymore that your sales people are “all spread out.”

6 Clarity of Value. Most sales teams are pathetic at expressing the value of their company. I had a call yesterday from a bank– a well known bank. They were introducing a Payroll Product. Her pitch? “We wanted to let you know our product is cheaper than Paychex–by as much as 30%.” Someone in that bank’s corporate office would stick a pine cone up their nose if they knew that was the sales person’s pitch. That is a result of a miserable training job of helping the seller see the true value to their offer. Result. I don’t buy. And she destroys a little of the brand that they’ve spent millions building.

7 Management Coaching. In all of our training, the managers get coaching as well. This is the future. The manager must believe in, and know how to reinforce the training. The manager should always be one or two weeks ahead of his/her staff when it comes to the content to be trained. If you’re a manager and don’t believe in the training your team is getting, then say so. Because if you aren’t reinforcing it–or think you’re above it–then you’re wasting money.

There is a higher need today to train your sales team than ever. The internet, globalization, and a confused, time-constrained buyer are just a few reasons that your sales team, in order to be high performing, must be well trained.

Their remoteness should never be a reason not to develop them.

Waiting is the Hardest Part

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By Brooke Green

What’s the hold-up?
Almost daily, I hear that one of the hardest aspects of selling is waiting for the prospect to catch up with you.  “Why do they take so long to make a decision? “ “They said they needed help.  I laid out my solution to fix their problem.  So what’s the hold up? “  Maybe this dilemma is a gift.

Discovery
Think about it.  Sometimes when we talk to prospects, we uncover problems that they didn’t realize they had; or, the problem is much bigger than what they had thought. Shortly thereafter, we work with them on how to solve that problem they didn’t realize they had – asking them to invest time, money, resources.

Then, when they can’t tell us immediately that we are the people they believe can help them fix this problem that is bigger or new to them, we get frustrated.

What is your intent?
We need to meet people where they are.  What does that mean?

A really good salesperson is really good at uncovering problems.  He/she also operates from a place of “how can I bring value to this situation?” not “how can I sell something?”  If your intent is to help, truly help, you’ll wait until the prospect can accept your help.

We’ve all been in the situation where we’ve pushed our solution on someone, and if they aren’t ready, it’s more painful for everybody than the original problem.

Sometimes it’s about the prospect believing that the problem is real, and then believing that you are the person that can help them solve it.  If you can help them get to that place (and be patient in the process), you become an invaluable resource, a trusted advisor.         

So remember, if it doesn’t happen on your time, it’s probably happening exactly the way it’s supposed to.

Executive Seminar – Sales Dream Team*

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Executive Seminar – Sales Dream Team

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Whale Hunting Women Launch

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My “Biased” Thoughts On Most Sales Training…

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With the podcast that we do (www.advancedsellingpodcast), we get a lot of questions on what we think of sales training. Well, it’s kind of like asking the chef if the food’s good in the deli next door. You kind of know what his answer will be.

Most of the time, these questionners are wondering because they are in the midst of searching for sales training, sales management training, or other professional development.

There’s a ton of training out there–and rather than me comment on any by name–I would prefer to suggest a very short list of things I would look for if I were on the other side of the desk–buying it instead of selling it.

1. Complete Assessment. So much garbage is “off the shelf” training that can’t be customized for your business. It HAS TO BE CUSTOMIZED for not just your business (and the language you use), but for your people, too. If you have a senior group, you’d better be speaking to some higher philosophies like comfort zones, high self image, and large deal negotiation skills.

Make sure the trainer, upfront, asks you (or your manager) a lot of questions about where in the sales process things stall out, how you feel about that, what isn’t happening that needs to, what do you want to get your prospect to admit to, and are there any emotional roadblocks to high achievement (self image issues)?

A Terrible Sales Training Story…I had a client tell me yesterday that he just returned from a 2-day training where the facilitator (from a global training company) read her PowerPoint slides from the screen and when finished with each one, said, “What do you think about that?” EVERY SLIDE!!! Wow, now there’s some real growth happening there?!?!?!!? (And I’m sure the company paid $000,000 for that content).

2. Content Philosophy. Most sales training has, at it’s core, an intent of helping you “sell more stuff.” That is totally wrong (as far as I’m concerned). A better intent is to help the constituent (seller) “discern” between someone who can and will buy–and another who can’t.

You can call that “qualifying” if you want but I actually think that word has been overused. Most often it’s used to make ANY PROSPECT FIT. The philosophy of great sales training content should be to help you understand and articulate the value you bring–and do that ONLY to people who have pains/problems that need to be solved. (Many people are willing to live in their own garabge–they aren’t prospects. Great sales training helps you discern the economically serious from the merely curious.)

Make sure the training content speaks to the inner game/soul of the trainee. That’s where all of the action is anyway. It’s not in the words you use, or how high up you call in the prospect company, or how elaborate your 12-step sales process is. It starts with the 6″ of real estate between your ears. If the content you buy doesn’t deal with that, then it won’t catapult you much.

3. Ongoing Nature. Training for adults can’t be delivered effectively in a one-day seminar. That’s just not how we learn best. Meaningful sales training, advanced or basic, must have frequent reinforcement to it. Personally, I think it should be every 2-4 weeks. It doesn’t have to be face to face (it could be via phone/web), but there has to be a regular way to reconnect with people in the training (and the trainer.)

A Suggestion:
One thing we do is the monthy TeleTraining Call. There is no new topic discussed. It is only a) a reinforcement of some of the work we’ve done already and b) a chance for people to bring issues/problems to the trainer.

If you have hired a trainer and they can’t stop talking about new techniques or how great they are, fire him and find another. Part of the great value of effective sales training is to allow the constituents to open up and speak freely about their problems, without the fear of getting jumped on. 

I hope this helps if you’re in the mode of searching for someone who can help you grow your business by implementing a sound sales strategy in your company. Remember, a trainer today should have much more knowledge than just sales techniques to share. He must understand people, human nature, how organizations (prospect) work, and how decisions are made.

If all he can do is recite from the book (or read PowerPoints), he’s not worth much, regardless of how little you’re paying.

The World’s Greatest Salesforce

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By Bryan Neale

On the eve of March 1st, it suddenly dawned on me that the world’s greatest sales force is once again in full force in their mission to dominate their market. Oreo’s sales people-take not. Archway sales support-time to step up. Keebler-all elves on deck………THE GIRLSCOUTS ARE HERE.

I believe the world’s greatest, most efficient sales force doesn’t use Salesforce.com, never makes PowerPoint presentations and can’t even find the power switch on a Blackberry. No, the Girl Scout’s do it the old fashioned way. They hit the street, use pure and honest techniques, find our pain and sweetly barter thousands of calories in exchange for even more thousands of dollars.

So what can we mature, seasoned, professional sales people learn from these Punky Brewster clones. More than you probably think:

1-Be Real, Don’t Fake It: I’ve yet to have a Girl Scout ask me transparent, contrived and often hokey rapport building questions. They never come to the door and say, “Hi Mr. Neale, how are the wife and kids?” when really all they want is a sale to meet their quota. No, they get right down to business. “I’m with the Girl Scout’s and we’re holding our annual cookie drive. Would you like to look at purchasing some to help us raise money for our programs?” The answer is irresistibly, YES.

2-Know Your Mission: The Girl Scouts do a terrific job of communicating what it is they do. They sell cookies to raise money for their programs. They give me the opportunity to participate in their learning/programs and get some of the world’s best cookies to go along.

3-USE leverage: Leverage is one of the most important concepts for a professional sales person to understand. It simply means making multiple sales contacts in one sitting. The Girl Scouts do this by placing themselves strategically in front of all entrances and exits in most metropolitan grocery stores. Hence one sales call puts them on front of thousands of shoppers who are already in the mood to spend money.

4-Referral Sources can make it Easy on You: Girl Scouts inevitably rely on their mom’s and dad’s work friends to propel their annual sales efforts. How many times have you received an e-mail at work…..”Just to let everyone know, my daughter Cutie Pie, is selling Girl Scout Cookies…..no pressure, but let me know if you’re interested.” What a brilliant strategy employed by these youngsters. I wonder what would happen if we were that pro-active soliciting referrals from our network.

I could go on, but you likely get the picture. So this spring, buy some cookies and pay attention to the sales process. You just might learn something. At worst, you pick up some killer cookies.

BN

Dear John – Saying Goodbye to Prospects in the Sales Process

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I don’t know how you feel about Karma, but I believe that in order for things to come into your life you need to make room for them.  The same goes for your Sales funnel.

If you have stagnant, energy-draining deals in your funnel, you must move them forward or move them out. It’s kind of like you have a mental bank account.  Stagnant deals are like the buddy who’s always borrowing a buck and promises to repay you. But you never see the money, and trust me, you’ll never see these deals.

If you continue to let the stagnant deals take up space in your mental bank account, it makes it tough for your mind to be “right” about the real deals that are in the funnel and out in the world waiting for you.

What to do?

How to get your sales process back on track?  I like to write  “Dear John” or “Goodbye notes” to these prospects.  It’s not that they’re bad people – it’s just bad timing, or maybe they don’t know how to say “no.”  Let them off the hook.  It could sound something like this……..

Dear (insert your prospect name here): Read more