Rid Yourself Of The “Insert Name Here” Style Of Selling, And Become Human Again!

April 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Every person and organization you are selling to is different. They have different needs, different problems, different internal politics, different personnel, different goals, different challenges, and their very own array of different customers.

So why in heck do we try to fit every sales call into a scripted process, where we try to execute the sales call the same way every time by inserting the prospect’s name here?

Is it because we think we will save time doing it the same way? Is it because we think we will be more efficient?

Well, sure, if your goal is to report a bitchin’ number of completed sales calls for your end-of-month report. And if you are talking to robots on your various sales calls…

No. Actually, you are talking to human beings. And your goal is to make actual sales…not sales calls.

Right?

Right?

[I truly think some sales folks think they are in the business making sales calls...not closing real business]

In my humble opinion, it is more time-extensive work to mold a unique sales opportunity into a pre-chosen process and script — than to create a unique sales approach for each opportunity…

And as a result, you are more free to do what you feel is right for that particular prospect…

You are doing more to treat this person as an actual human being…

You are coming across as someone who actually cares about the interaction…not just some boob more worried about following a script written back at the home office last fall…

In fact, if my sales manager were to give me a script that I had to follow, I’d run. I’d run far away…

And I’d look for a place where I have the freedom, where I am empowered to craft a personal, meaningful, creative approach to sincerely work with, help, and support my prospect.

Just remember, a script is written from a past interaction with a particular individual. It simply won’t fit the next person. She is different…

What do you think?

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[cartoon by hugh macleod]

Filed Under: Sales

Sales Leader Tibor Shanto on Intrepid Radio!

April 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Tibor Shanto

Pleased to announce Tibor Shanto as a recent guest on Intrepid Radio.

Tibor is a speaker, trainer, and author of Shift: Harness the Trigger Events That Turn Prospects Into Customers. You can find Tibor here.

We had a good discussion on the importance of executing verses endless prep, the difference between proactive and reactive sales, the value of process and methodology, and the impact of Sales 2.0.

You can listen to the interview here:

Filed Under: Radio, Sales Tagged With: ,

Thinking About iPads And Tablets – 6 Ways To Help Your Sales

March 24, 2011 By 3 Comments

I am thinking a bit about how we will integrate the iPad 2 into the sales process.

I am only thinking, as I have yet to get an iPad. Oh, I certainly know all about it. And my business partner has an original iPad. But last week, we interviewed Mark Howe on Sales Thinker Radio, and the three of us discussed this tool for a little bit. And that conversation got me noodling…

1. The iPad 2 has front and back cameras. How cool is that? So, ostensibly, you could record a two-screen interview of you and your interview subject. Just think of the possibilities here? You could interview a customer. You could interview a prospect. You could interview an engineer back home and capture his thought knowledge on video. And, this is my favorite, think of the cool footage you could capture on the floor of a trade show? You wouldn’t have to worry about content for your blog or social media apps again…

2. Imagine how you could handle challenges with an iPad 2? With the cameras, I am assuming that you can (or soon will) be able to Skype with people direct from your tablet. So this is what I would do: You are on a sales call with a prospect. He throws out a question about your product that you cannot answer. Why not just Skype directly with a guy back in the home office, and let him answer the question? Talk about a process to shorten the sales cycle…

3. Worst case, let’s assume you can’t Skype with your tablet. You can probably anticipate the questions, objections, and challenges you will get on a typical sales call. In fact, YOU MUST anticipate. Because you can record videos answering those questions in advance. Make them really solid. And on the spot when a question is raised, pull out the tablet and present the video. Boom.

3.5. And then, right then and there, I’d email the video to the guy to he can review again when you leave, direct from the iPad.

4. I fondly remember the old Madden CBS chalkboard, where John Madden was the first guy to draw on screen and show how football plays developed. That technology exists today on the internet, as I remember using that on Google Wave. I have to imagine something like that is – or will be – available on a tablet? If so, what a cool way to demonstrate something to a prospect! When they ask for a schematic on how something would work, pull out the tablet and draw a hand-made schematic. And again, then email the sketch direct to prospect when done…

5. If you use images to sell, visual presentations to show and demonstrate a product and/or a result. An iPad is a way cool way to pull up the portfolio, and slide your finger across the screen to show a prospect a range of images that tell a story.

6. As you are meeting with your prospect, I’d video parts of the conversation, especially if he is giving you a tour of their facility. For example, if you are going to replace or repair a conveyor system, video the old one using the iPad (or any video camera for that matter). Post meeting, include the video and explain how you will improve their internal processes with an upgraded system, perhaps by showing video demonstrations of your solution…

Just a few initial thoughts. Rest assured, I will continue to explore how to leverage this technology. I am sure there are countless other ways to use an iPad tablet in sales. Please share your ideas!

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[photo from inc.]

Filed Under: E-Rep, Sales

Mark Howe: Perspectives From A Sales Support Guy

March 17, 2011 By 1 Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

It

Filed Under: Radio, Sales Tagged With: , , , , ,

Email Marketing: You Are Doing It Wrong

March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Many organizations execute an email marketing strategy. And most are doing it wrong. Here is a list of the common mistakes most organizations make:

1. You add email addresses to the database from people you’ve had face-to-face meetings with.

2. When you send out an email message, all you do it sell.

3. You make it virtually impossible to unsubscribe, sometimes even requiring a sperm sample.

4. You keep inactive people on the list. You know, just so you can have a bitchin’ high count!

5. Spam. If you’ve ever done this, you deserved to be slapped. And slapped again.

6. You add all the names from the business cards you collected at the last trade show (aka “lazy”).

7. Are you a member of an association? Some have even added all the other members into their email list.

8. You send out emails too often.

9. You send out email too infrequently.

10. You purchase/rent lists to inflate your email count numbers.

If you are guilty of even one of these, you are doing it wrong. And it probably explains why your open rates are so low. Or that your email campaign isn’t converting.

Shame on you. But it is not too late to turn it all around. Here are some simple handy tips to increase the effectiveness of your campaigns:

1. Make it easy to join your list, but do NOT add people to the list yourself. You should want people to join themselves, with the double opt-in feature. (Double opt-in is where someone submits their name, and then receives a follow-up email to confirm their interest.) This ensures you only have people who WANT to be there.

2. Get out of the mentality that your list has to be large. So what? I’d rather my list be small and convert sales, instead of large and dormant.

3. Give value. Help. Teach. Educate. Be of service. Make it a message that people look forward to getting. Don’t send an email that gets immediately deleted upon arrival. Don’t sell. You are building trust, which will lead to sales.

4. If people haven’t opened an email in a year, get rid of them. They aren’t worth it. And they aren’t buying anything. A cleaner, more efficient list converts more.

5. Some still need reminding, but don’t spam. You are literally KILLING your brand when you do this.

You might view the list of mistakes above and realize that most of your list has been added without their express permission. And this is why it isn’t working for you. This is why your open rate is so low. Email may be cheap, but not following the rules is costing you…

…costing you a lot of opportunities. Email marketing remains a very effective means to deliver a message and cultivate legitimate prospects. Don’t mess it up by not following a few simple guidelines.

Size is important in many things. But not your email list. You are better off having a tightly controlled, carefully tended-to list of contacts who truly want to hear from you, and see value in what you offer. This is when it will start working!

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[cartoon by hugh macleod]

Filed Under: E-Rep, Sales Tagged With: , ,

The 14-Step Arrows In Your Quiver Content-Generation Strategy

January 27, 2011 By 8 Comments

“Oh Todd, I understand that we should blog, but I just don’t know what the hell we would blog about,” he said.

I hear this statement far too often.

You Have Answers To Your Prospect's Most Common Questions, Right?

Let me offer one simple solution. I call this my “Quiver Full of Arrows” solution. Here is the 14-step process to begin to solve the content-generation problem:

1. Sit down with your sales force.

2. Ask them to list the most common questions, challenges and objections they get when are making a sales call.

3. Prioritize the list, and try to come up with at least 10 to 15 common questions heard on all sales calls.

4. Engage in conversation with sales force about how you deal with the objection. Jot down the answers. Better yet, also video the session. Come up with solid answers to the questions, challenges and objections.

5. Now go through each question, and identify a customer engagement where you have effectively dealt with that question. Quickly jot the story down.

5.5. Or better yet, shoot a quick video of the customer explaining how your company dealt with the question, challenge and objection.

6. Assign each member of the sales team to organize the thoughts on a particular question. This involves the whole team in the process.

7. Prepare an article identifying the question itself, along with a discussion on how the company handles that question, challenge and object. Include helpful videos in the post.

8. Publish the article on the company blog. [and reference the articles on your personal blog too...]

9. Be certain to properly optimize the article with the proper keywords and search query phrases, so that others in the marketplace might stumble upon the content in the search engines.

10. Now, and most important. In the future, when prospects throw out the question, challenge and objection – in addition to addressing the issues yourself, you can select the specific article that addresses the question, and email it immediately to your prospect. And observing an existing customer explain how you handled the issue should be quite powerful for your prospect.

[sidenote: these articles are arrows in your quiver. When a prospect asks a specific question, you can pull it out of your quiver and fire the bolt right away!]

11. You just might see deals move along a little faster with rapid fire ability to address prospect objections with helpful, meaningful content.

12. Observe sales cycles become shorter.

13. Go to the bank with increased profits.

14. Retire to your island.

Any questions? What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

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[photo from flickr]

Filed Under: E-Rep, Sales Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Are We Overthinking Things?

January 20, 2011 By 4 Comments

Are we overthinking things?

There are people who want what you have. Period.

That’s your target audience.

If someone isn’t interested, they don’t need what you sell. Or, at least, they don’t need it today. Or perhaps they just don’t understand how your solution fixes their problem…and that’s your fault.

When a man wants a new flatscreen, by God, he will go out and buy a new flatscreen…no matter what the Mrs. says.

You have to find a buyer who wants your “flatscreen.” Right now.

We can talk all day about sales funnels, incubators, pipelines…but at the end of the day…people don’t want to be harassed and mercilessly pursued…they want what they want.

They want to be valued. They want to be loved. They want to be needed. They want to be respected. They want to be appreciated. All you have to do is have one serious conversation with them, and you’ll know what to do.

Are we overthinking things? I think so.

Just talk to people. Get to know them. Care about them. They key to selling, in my experience, is to find a way to strike up a meaningful conversation with them. That’s the hard part. The selling is easy (if they want to buy). The truly hard part – starting the dialog.

That’s the key to success.

When I need a financial advisor, I am going to call the guy I met two years ago at an event who connected with me, who took the time to get to know me, and asked about my life.

I didn’t need him two years ago. But, I need him now. And since then, no other financial advisor has given a crap about me, so that guy from two years ago is still my guy.

The key? Forge relationships. Right now. And yeah, there is no overnight ROI on that method. So get over that hooey. Relationship building takes time. And yeah, it also takes love and devotion.

Most sales guys can’t (or won’t) do the love and devotion thing. And that’s why they fail. That’s why they’re stuck in this miserable existence called cold calling.

Are we overthinking things? I think so…

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[cartoon by @gapingvoid]

Filed Under: Sales Tagged With: , , , ,

Gutless Marketing. Yeah, I Mean You.

January 6, 2011 By 2 Comments

I am going to write a lot about company culture over the next few months. Company culture (or lack thereof) is a big reason why a lot of companies struggle with their sales + marketing. It explains why so many organizations fear adopting new, innovative ways to go to market.

And they don’t do anything about it.

Here are the common tales and excuses I hear the most often, stories that quite honestly, make me sick:

1. The economy is slow, so we are slow. A synonym for this statement is: “I am lazy, and I whine like a little school girl.”

And hey, I run a business too. The slow economy impacted me too. I know it is hard. But you adapt, you change, and you find new ways to grow your market, and THIS is how you grow and thrive.

I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but I will. A slow economy weeds out the bit players, and only the strong survive. Which one is your organization? Whining about the economy, in case you didn’t understand this, sends a signal to your people that you are weak, NOT bold.

2. Our people just don’t have the time. I call hooey on this one.

Proud of your company? Proud of what you do? Then show it. You need to make time to fight and scratch and gut it out. If your work (and culture) inspires you, you will stop wasting time on meaningless drivel, and invest your heart and soul changing the world.

3. My prospects don’t play in this sandbox. And yeah, Neil Armstrong should’ve stayed on Earth, because no other man ever walked on the moon.

Two things:

1. You are a damn fool if you think you don’t have sales prospects in the sandbox. You are just too frickin’ lazy to go get ‘em.

2. Find new prospects. Or would you rather not be an aggressive sales force, creating new opportunities out of grit and sass? Yeah, you are right…we sure wouldn’t want to be an executive team that encourages creativity and innovation. That is so, 2011… Better to go the old way.

4. That’s the way we’ve always done it. Are you having the kind of year you really want? Not making the revenues you expected? Wishing your sales guys would do better? Then the way you’ve always done it sucks.

Shake it up. Try new things. Test and experiment. This process alone will stir up your creative juices that will make you better.

But if you insist on doing it the way you’ve always done it, go ahead. In fact, heat up a Swanson’s TV dinner, and watch reruns of All In The Family while you are at it…

5. Management doesn’t like change. When I hear this statement, what you are saying to me is “I’m scared to death, and I have NO courage.” This is just fear talking. Nothing more, nothing less.

I don’t mean to cliche you to death, but the hardest part about change is taking the first step. Seriously. Once you start going down the hill, the momentum will carry you. What most companies are too gutless to figure out is that the newfound momentum is invigorating. But most will never know that feeling. And that’s criminal.

Change is hard. No doubt about that. But deciding to change, not the actual change itself, it what really makes us men.

Down the road, we will talk about how to go about changing your culture. And yeah, that’s the hard part. But for now, let’s get these gutless excuses out in the open, acknowledge them, and fight to get over our fears and laziness.

What do you think?

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[cartoon by @gapingvoid]

Filed Under: Sales

10 Ways To Get Your Conversation Groove On (Hint: Key To Sales!)

December 16, 2010 By 9 Comments

I have been doing a lot of thinking about conversations.

As I reflect on my marketing successes over the years, I realized that all of my sales happened as a result of conversations.

Mine…and those of others who were talking about me.

I sometimes wonder if we spend too much time worried about incubators, funnels, tactics, strategies, methodologies…at the end of the day, it seems the process is simple: First, identify someone worth knowing. Next, find a way to initiate a conversation. This leads to a relationship. A trusted relationship leads to sales.

So, here are 10 ways – using the social web – to initiate conversation:

1. Twitter is the easiest, simplest, and most obvious means to start a conversation. Except it doesn’t seem obvious to about 90% of the planet. Here is a post I wrote on Intrepid to give you simple, easy-to-recognize cues to start a dialog with someone you want to know.

2. If I hear “I don’t understand Foursquare or Gowalla” once more, I am going to find a looney bin on Foursquare…and check-in myself. If you followed the first step stated above, and identified someone important for you to get to know, the point of using the social web is to then MONITOR them. Watch them, listen to them, see what they are doing. If they check in on Foursquare at a cool restaurant, or at Barnes + Noble, or at a local movie theater, it should be obvious what to do next to launch a conversation. [Hint: ask how their meal was, what book did they buy?, what film did you see?]

3. If you read blogs, that’s great. Great learning to be had there. But if you aren’t COMMENTING on them, you are missing out on amazing opportunities to meet and engage with people, especially the blogger herself. So, if you tell me social media doesn’t work, AND you aren’t commenting on relevant industry blogs, then you might as well fry burgers for a living. [by the way, if you asked my opinion on what the most important sales task one should perform on the social web? I'd say commenting on blogs is #1, by several lengths...]

3.5. Write and publish your own blog. Blog about things that matter to you. Blog about things that matter to your target audience. Encourage participation. And when people comment? RESPOND! That’s the whole bloody point. If you aren’t the number one commenter on your own blog, you deserve to be clubbed over the head with a baseball bat.

4. Host a radio show or participatory podcast. Far and away the easiest way to meet people who matter, people who matter to your business. So you tell me…which is easier? Cold-calling? Or inviting someone onto your radio show… [you have one second to answer...]

I thought so.

5. Got someone you want to get to know? And they have a blog? Subscribe to their RSS feed. Right now. You will be notified when their latest post has been published. This is your cue to read the post and comment. Easy.

6. Monitor what people are saying and posting on Facebook. Wish them happy birthday, and ask what they are doing to celebrate. Don’t care about their family photos to Disney World? Then you are a fool, because that’s an obvious conversation starter. Facebook gives you THOUSANDS of clues every day about how to start conversations. Unless you aren’t reading people’s Walls, or have your head buried in the sand, there is a long list of the things they LIKE. These are prompts for you to start conversations… [Important note: this assumes you haven't bought into this crap about Facebook only being for friends and family. Pull head out of fanny and join 600 million of the rest of us...]

7. If you are a business person, you are probably on LinkedIn. But most people don’t use LinkedIn to start conversations. Got someone you want to get to know? See what groups they are active in. Are they posing and/or answering questions? Well then, join the fray. [I mean really...if they pose a question in a group discussion? Come on, they are ASKING YOU TO ENGAGE!]

8. Oh, another thing about LinkedIn. I have made the decision to NOT connect with anyone who forwards me the GENERIC invitation message. What a waste. What a joke. And what DAMN MISSED OPPORTUNITY to ask someone a relevant question…and start a conversation…

9. Be sure you apply storytelling in your marketing. People love stories. People love to talk about stories. People love to share stories with others. Question: What do you do when you are sitting around the table drinking wine and making conversation with close friends? [answer: for those not paying attention, TELLING STORIES!]

10. Remember sites such as YouTube and Flickr are social interactive tools too. There is a reason videos on YouTube and photos on Flickr solicit COMMENTS. The people posting those items would love to engage and hear feedback… Did the video resonate with you? Did the photograph mean something to you?

So, there are “ten” ways to initiate and find conversations using the social web. There are more. Lots more. Care to share any other ideas? Please do so in the comments.

Point is, there is a ton of conversation going on already. You are requested, in fact encouraged, to jump in, engage. So speak up!

[cartoon by @gapingvoid]

Filed Under: E-Rep, Sales, Social Media

Your Trade Show Marketing Planning Checklist

December 10, 2010 By 8 Comments

You have a trade show coming up soon. Time to prepare.

Unfortunately, most organizations fail to take advantage of the opportunities that now exist to get maximum benefit. Here are a few simple ideas we have to share from our recent experiences:

PERSONNEL I will be honest, I would think long and hard about who you bring to a trade show. Wandering the halls of convention centers recently, I have observed FAR TOO MANY guys standing around, hands in their pockets, semi-proudly wearing their logo wear that don’t fit, itchin’ to get out early so as to avoid clean-up duty…

If someone isn’t going to work the hall, don’t bring them. If someone is there for the post-show cocktails, don’t bring them. If someone isn’t equipped to engage thoughtfully with booth guests, don’t bring them.

You are better off just having a card table with collateral, and a bowl of tootsie rolls, than a bunch of yawning fellows standing around. Think strategically about who attends…

BOOTH RADIO Looking for a way to make your trade show booth memorable? Looking for an easy way to connect with prospects? Looking for a solution to make the prospect follow-up conversation easy and welcomed? Then conduct trade show radio at your booth.

People forget collateral and meaningless gifts. They won’t forget their appearance on your radio show. And they won’t forget your company.

PROSPECTING STRATEGY In recent interviews I’ve conducted on trade show floors, most folks say they come with a plan. But I get the feeling that most don’t, because I mainly see people standing around. But, to NOT come to a show with a strategic plan on the people you plan to call on and engage, is a waste of time in my opinion.

The internet, which I’ve read is a really handy tool, can help here. All the trade shows I attend have a listing of the exhibitors attending published well in advance. There are very likely organizations on this list that you need to engage with. They are existing customers, suppliers, referral partners, and certainly prospects. Map out in advance who you want to connect with.

PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS OK, I admit…I really hesitated to include this. Because I generally hate all the “crap” you collect at trade shows. One, it is a pain to deal with all that stuff, and two, I worry that most organizations are wasting dollars on something that will NOT lead to new connections and potential business relationships…

I mean, honestly, do you look at the flashlight pen and say to yourself, “Gee, this is a bitchin’ pen. I should really call these guys and spend 1.7 million dollars on a water filtration system…”

That said, I really think there are some ways to be creative with your promotional material. If you are going to hand out bags with your logo (presumably so that others can more easily collect the “crap” from other booths), at least insert some clever material that invites them to sign-up for a specialized newsletter, register for a personalized product demo, invites them to beta test your next product or at least some discounts…

Or maybe, hand out coffee mugs (or some other such product) that uses…

QR CODES QR codes (as seen below) are the only thing, in my opinion, that make promotional products relevant. These have been around for a little while, but most still aren’t taking full advantage.

This is a code you can generate for free, and place on anything…a website, collateral, magazine ad, t-shirt, and yes, even trade show promotional marketing materials.

Why does this matter? It is a fun way (assuming you have the function on your smart phone to read QR codes) to encourage an action. When people scan the code, they are given information, such as a special website to visit, a special message to read (such as coming by the booth to win a prize). These are clever, fun, and unique ways to move people to action.

[hint, if you want a discount on your next Dreamland trade show booth radio experience, scan the code above. supplies are limited.]

GEOLOCATION Yes, you can even use a service like Foursquare to add some pop to your trade show presence. The trade shows I have recently attended all offered an “event” location to where you can check-in.

What should you do? Create your own booth location (including booth number) and suggest that if people check-in to your booth, they will get a free product demo. Or better yet, offer a “Foursquare Special” so that when people check-in to the main event, they will be notified about your “special” – which could drive traffic to your booth…

DATA GATHERING How will you gather and collect leads? Sure, you could collect business cards in a fishbowl. You could have people fill out a survey. Or some shows offer a system where you can scan their name badge and their contact data is already collected.

And while I generally support booth babes, don’t hire one to show her talents just to con men into handing over their email address to join your newsletter. Yeah, you might add a lot of names to your database, but they are worthless, and most dudes will unsubscribe when they forget about the vixen…

But be sure to have a meaningful system to collect this data. And more importantly, a means to record what the conversations were about. Their problems, their questions, their challenges, their specific needs. This is the real money in collecting the data.

Better yet, pull out your FlipCam and record a short video to yourself about the conversation so that you can remember the relevant bits of info afterwards. This makes the follow-up conversation much more powerful…

EDUCATION What I’ve discovered about trade shows is that some the best reasons for going are educational. Some attend the shows to visit booths to learn about new products, ascertain industry trends, or attend the side shows that offer demos, lectures, training, etc.

You are foolish to travel all that way and miss out on relevant new learning. Opt to get ahead – and get that edge – in your industrial space – in lieu of getting out early to hit cocktail hour…

FOLLOW-UP Ok, so the show is over. Now what?

The main reason Dreamland is excited about “booth radio” is the easy, fun opportunities it provides to connect with prospects following the show. You now have an easy, welcome reason to connect with these folks.

But I saw a stat that said most companies don’t follow-up appropriately with the names they collect at the show. WTH? Why did you even go? Come up with a plan to appropriately follow-up with these folks, in a timely manner, offering relevant, helpful information that advances the conversation.

Don’t make your first contact a sales call. Make it an offer to provide helpful ideas, answers to questions, or forwarding an article they might find beneficial.

Or send them the mp3 file from their radio show appearance!

What have we missed? Please add your additional ideas in the comments. Note that this content will be continuously updated…

Filed Under: Sales, Trade Show Radio Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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