Calling On The CEO. I Know I Need To. But How?

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A study recently conducted by www.siriusdecisions.com in conjunction with the H.H. Gregg School of Sales at Ball State University, revealed (not surprisingly) that sales people, when calling on CEOs, are ill prepared.

And the CEOs don’t like it.

The report says 82% of the CEOs experience sales people who have not done their homework.

So Now What?
Good information. But if you’re a sales professional who “should be” calling on higher level contacts, exactly how do you do your research? The report didn’t talk about that, (most reports don’t tell you how to solve the problem) but I will.

Here are a few ideas:

  1. Web Research. I suggest you go to the company website but don’t just take what they say. Remember, a website is a brochure. Not too many websites talk about the pain the company is experiencing–and that, after all, is what you’re looking for. You can get a “lay of the land” of the businesses they’re in–and some of their objectives.
  2. Blog Research. What I’m doing more and more is going to blog.google.com and search there. Search on terms like “trends in the industry” or “company by name,” or even the contact himself/herself. You can get a lot of good information that way. And much of it is unfiltered by the company.
  3. Zoominfo.com This is a great site to learn more about the person you’re calling on–where he went to school–where she last worked–how he came up through the ranks. It gives you a sense of who this person is and how they have experienced the world. All great stuff if you’re going to be having a conversation with them.

The Bottom Line
Be careful that you don’t do so much research that you fail to ask questions because you think you know it all. I’ve seen that happen. Nothing is more annoying (not even an unprepared sales person) than one who thinks they have the answers before they ask the questions.

Get serious about your pursuit of the CEO’s pain and dreams. Then you can position your solution in a way that is meaningful for him.

Are You Looking At Your Team As An Asset?

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Here is the definition of an asset: “An asset is a resource controlled by the enterprise as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the enterprise.”

Your Sales Force Could Be a Killer Asset 

We have been teaching for years that your sales force is a killer-asset, a super-asset of sorts because it creates wealth for the organization.

As with any asset, it can provide mediocre returns, profound returns-or returns anywhere in between. I prefer to think about your sales asset (sales team) as a machine that prints money. Think about the three ingredients of such a machine:

  1. It must be maintained. Let your car go 40,000 miles without a tune-up, and you’re in for big trouble. Why? Because there is a level of maintenance that helps the car run smoothly. Same for your sales team. Are you working to grow your team so they can perform at a higher pace? Is it running smoothly? Are you constantly working with them to improve their skills in approach? In finding the client’s pain? In controlling the process? In getting the truth?
  2. It needs to be measured. Think of a machine on a factory floor. It gets inputs and delivers output. How do you know what’s possible for your sales force if it’s not measured. But don’t just measure the output (sales). Instead be clear about the ‘inputs.’ After all, that’s the only thing you can control.
  3. You need to test new ways. What if you altered the machine in a way that allowed it to throw off 50% more than it was. Maybe you souped it up–or modified the governor–or did something that you weren’t even sure how it would benefit you. An asset should never be left alone. Don’t leave your sales asset alone either. Play with it. Toy with it. (Don’t toy with people – just with the processes).

What you can learn from this is to begin looking at your sales team (and all supporting tasks) as an asset that can deliver multiples of what it’s delivering now. Begin making a list of the things you see that could be improved.

Then sit down and review these with your VP sales and review the team one by one. When you start looking at things this way, you’ll be amazed at the possibilities this creates.

What Happens When There Is No Bright Light?

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[Editors Note: I’m guilty of this next topic. So, before it starts to sound like a sermon, I want you to know that I struggle with this very issue.]Last week, a neighbor came over and was lamenting that his daughter was having trouble getting in to the college of her choice. He said, “All her friends got in, but her letter hasn’t come yet.” Next, I asked him the question that showed me the real problem. “What does she want to study?”
“Well,” he said, “she really doesn’t know yet. She just wants to go to XX University.” What? Doesn’t know yet? No inclination of what juices her?

So she’s upset that she can’t spend $160,000 of your money going somewhere where all her friends are going.

Makes no sense. Yet it happens everyday. In fact it happens in another phase of adolescence – when there is temptation to take the wrong path (drugs/alcohol/deviant behavior).

I’m going to give it a name – and an explanation why it happens to all of us – adults, too. There is NO BRIGHT LIGHT.

The concept of NO BRIGHT LIGHT means there is no long term vision for what one wants their life to look like/feel like. When you have no long range goal – or vision – you get quite distracted by life’s choices. And when you make a wrong choice, it can screw you up (especially in the case of a young person in a tempting world).

A BRIGHT LIGHT is a vision for the future – a way you’d like your life to be – a place you’d like to live – a cause/profession that brings meaning to your days.

In business (sales), a BRIGHT LIGHT is what you’d like your customer base to look like. What you’d like your income to look like. What you’d like to accomplish in your business.

Brian Tracy talks about this when he says 80% of companies he sees have no long range vision. How can you get the troops behind a goal if it’s not clearly defined? You can’t. And when you’re tempted to sell to someone that doesn’t quite match what you expect your client vision to look like, then ask yourself why you’re doing it.

The $50 Million Deal

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We often hear that our “way” of training and coaching is “great, as long as you’re not going after big deals.” We’ve never bought into that. Yes, it’s harder to detach from the outcome of bigger deals, but changing the way that you think is effective on any deal—$1 or $1,000,000.

We recently had a client land a $50,000,000 deal!

If you’re reading this, you know who you are. For the rest of you, it wouldn’t be cool to “out” our client, so you’ll have to keep guessing!

I wanted to share with you 3 of the fundamental principles that we’ve worked on with them. Please don’t get me wrong, we are not taking credit for the deal – they get that all to themselves. However, I do think they would agree that our work with them helped lay the foundation for a win.

Principle #1: Identifying and Communicating Your Value

• What is value? It is the relief that your prospect feels when you can find and solve a pain they have. Or, the excitement they feel when they recognize the possibility you can help them create with your product/service.

• What it is not. Value is never platitudes, claims or opinions. The more you claim and opine in your statement, the less believable it will be, and the more your prospect will tune out everything else you say.

• It is as if there is a conversation going on inside the prospect’s mind and your expression of your value meets him where he is.

• In creating your value statement, you should make two lists—one of the conscious pains that you help people solve. And the second of the unconscious pains you fix. The secret in this is that the true differential value you bring is in the discovery and solving of the unconscious pains.

Principle #2: Detachment

• What is detachment? The ability to emotionally divest yourself from an outcome that you can’t fully control anyway. We learned from an early age that there was a WIN and a LOSS—a winner and a loser. And we didn’t want to be the loser, so we became attached to the outcome of winning.

• What it is not. There is a difference between detached and “disengaged.” Disengaged is when you don’t care or your mind is distracted. Sometimes people use disengaged as a way to hide their true attachment. They will say things like “do what you want to do,” or “I don’t really care what you do.” Don’t be disengaged. You are attached to the process and detached from the outcomes. But if you become disengaged, you cross the line.

• What happens when you become attached to the outcome?

1. You are unable to take risks
2. You are unable to do the right thing for your prospect or client
3. You sell yourself short, trivializing your value in the process
4. You default to using someone else’s process even though yours has been proven effective

• How do you get out of it? Simple. Change thought. Thinking must change from “how will this effect me?” to “how can I contribute to the well being of another (prospect/client)?” Have you heard the saying, “when you’re depressed, go help someone else”? It’s true. So one way to “get out of yourself” is to help someone else. In sales, that usually means the prospect.

Principle #3: Clear Future / Presentation of Solution

• What is a “clear future”? You need to understand the decision making process of your prospect. How does the decision get made? Who makes the decision in their company? Are you talking to them? Can you live with that process of getting to them? When you get really good at managing your process, you will be the only one laying down the decision process – not them.

• Presentation. Present to the pain. If it’s a written presentation, then a review of the pain is in order at the top of the document. If it’s a spoken, delivered presentation, then a review of the pain should happen first. This is not the time to talk to them (your prospect) about all of the other great things you can do for them. DO NOT take your eye off of the ball, and by all means, don’t force them to take THEIR eye off of it either.

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You Might Be Calling on Someone Who Hates Their Job. What Should Your Sales Strategy Be?

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This fits in the category of “things-you-should-be-aware-of-that-are-under-the-radar-screen.”

Our friends at Walker Information just released their 2007 Walker Loyalty report. Surprisingly, employee loyalty leveled off in the last year to 34% of employees being TRULY LOYAL.

Every sales company on the planet should read this report in it’s entirety. Why?

According to the Walker Report, there’s a 1 in 2 chance (59%) you’re calling on someone right now who isn’t particularly ecstatic about their job. (Walker calls that TRAPPED or NEGATIVE about their job). So how much of a champion do you think they’re going to be for your cause if their heart isn’t in theirs? Not much.

Most of the study has to do with what employers should do in light of this data.

But, you should read this report with an eye toward your prospect and how you call on them. We’ve been preaching (sometimes it feels that way) for decades on how you should talk to ALL STAKEHOLDERS of the problems you’re trying to solve — not just the decision maker.

By doing so, you eliminate the risk of putting all your eggs in one basket (one person).

According to the data, If you look at your sales pipeline right now (sales funnel) you can safely conclude that half of your contacts are in that area of Not Truly Loyal employees. Sales Managers – talk about that at your next sales meeting. See if there are some sales strategies you can execute to address that issue.  Ignore this one at your own peril.

Salesperson Stereotypes and How to Avoid Them

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by Bryan Neale

If you’re reading this, you’re likely a salesperson or thinking of becoming one. What you may not realize is that you probably scream “SALESPERSON” when you simply enter a prospect’s office without even knowing it. I find many salespeople, including the most seasoned professionals, do things to perpetuate the stereotypical salesperson.

So what does the world think of “our noble tranche of peddlers?” In several recent sales training meetings, I asked my classes to do the old “I say a word (in this case ‘salesperson’) and you write down the first thing that comes to mind” trick. Here’s a sampling from the list they came up with:

  • Used Car Salesman
  • Greedy
  • Pushy
  • Talk too much
  • Aggressive
  • Money Hungry
  • Egotistical
  • Annoying

Ouch!  Nothing positive here. As a salesperson you ask, “What can I do to avoid being saddled with any of these descriptors?”

1-Recognize this is where it starts:  No matter what you do, people will pick up on the fact that you’re a salesperson and will form the above opinions of you UNTIL you give them a reason not to. If you even demonstrate a morsel of the behaviors above, you’re dead.

2-Think Differently:  A good deal of the training I do involves teaching people to think differently. Most of the negative characteristics above stem from flawed thinking. Salespeople either think they have to be a certain way OR their thinking drives them to behave accordingly.

3-Shut Up and Relax: The greatest sales calls are those where you as the salesperson literally don’t say anything. Calls like these typically involve the client sharing pains and problems you can help solve. You think you are breaking the rules by sitting there and listening vs. talking (and presenting) the whole time. Be OK with NEVER presenting anything. Often a very simple one-page synopsis of the client’s problem and how you intend to solve it is all you need. Don’t feel like you HAVE to present. You don’t.

4-Don’t Fake It: “Who you are screams so loud I can’t hear what you’re saying.” I love that quote. It’s so true. We all give off a VIBE that others can pick up and analyze. You do it everyday. You talk to someone who’s happy. You talk to someone who’s unhappy. Neither has to tell their state of happiness—you can just tell. Prospects are the same. They can tell when you’re after the sale. They can tell when you’re reaching for their wallets before they do. They can tell when you’re having a bad month.

Just be you. In the moment. Present. Objective. Nothing else.

New Rules Teleseminar

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Hope you enjoyed the seminar last Friday.  As promised (although a little late), here is the audio version.  As I said earlier, this is not the quality we had in mind, but the content is there – so hopefully you can look past some of the audio glitches. 

It’s about 50 minutes – I edited it down a little. 

download_new_rules_teleseminar_here.mp3