To succeed in today’s selling environment, you’ll need to think out of the box.
There’s one revolution no one wants to think about, let alone discuss. It’s what’s happening to selling. Although the Internet has a profound effect on sales, it isn’t the only challenge facing salespeople. In fact, the Internet might only be the tip of the iceberg.
The issue is dramatized in a recent report from Conning & Co., the insurance industry research firm, indicating that P/C insurers must cut costs to remain competitive. Since most of these expenses are in acquisition and commission costs, one of the best ways to slash them is by having consumers serve themselves.
What Conning and others are suggesting isn’t just another change — it’s a revolution! What’s happening in sales is disintermediation with a vengeance. A quick translation: Traditional selling is history. Even with all the positive attributes, salespeople can be expensive, temperamental, and fickle. Eliminating them from the equation is making more sense than ever before.
Anyone who wants to succeed in selling can do so. But it means changing the way we think about sales and the role of the salesperson. Here’s what it requires:
STOP FOOLING YOURSELF
Those who try to con the customer only kid themselves. A man received a phone call from a telephone company representative who described a new approach to meeting the telecom needs of mid-size businesses. To provide these services, the phone company was partnering with another firm to conduct a needs assessment and make recommendations.
When the report was presented several weeks later, it noted the potential telephone service savings — if certain equipment was purchased from the partner company.
Who was being conned? Not the customer. He saw through the “report” instantly, because it was no more than a thinly veiled (and poorly prepared) gimmick to sell equipment. Did the phone company and its “partner” believe such a transparent, sophomoric approach could possibly succeed? If they did, they were only fooling themselves.
STOP GETTING IN YOUR OWN WAY
If a salesperson’s objective is to make the sale, they render themselves ineffective. This is why more and more salespeople fail today. Their managers tell them that their job is making sales. The president of a bank describes his company as a “sales organization.” He knows exactly which products are profitable and easy to administer. There’s only one problem: His dismal track record! He gets in his own way. Prospective customers recognize his objective; they sense that all he wants to do is make the sale. And no one buys.
STOP DISAPPOINTING CUSTOMERS
Ed Testa of Champion Capital Corp. received a call in February from his insurance agent’s assistant, who asked to schedule a birthday luncheon. The date was set. “I was really pleased,” said Ed. A few days before the scheduled luncheon, the assistant called again to reschedule the date to sometime in March. As unbelievable as it might seem, it happened again in April, May, and June. When the call came in July, Ed indicated that the agent was far too busy with pressing matters to have lunch with him. It’s a true story. Such behavior only occurs in real life.
Ed’s estimation of the insurance agent went from appreciation to disgust. The agent lost far more than a sale; he lost a customer.
STOP DECIDING WHO’LL BECOME A CUSTOMER
Salespeople are taught to look for “buying signals.” If they see them, there’s a sale on the way. If not, then it’s time to move on. Such an approach is, of course, nonsense. The task is far more difficult today. Instead of getting the order, the objective must be to create the customer, someone who wants to do business with your company.
START SETTING THE RIGHT GOALS
Hunton & Co. of Dallas is a highly successful women’s clothing sales agency. Unlike almost everyone else in his industry, Jack Hunton doesn’t travel the half-dozen states that make up his territory to call on his retailers. If a retailer wants to do business with Hunton & Co., they must come to him. They’re attracted by his reputation and by the success of his retail customers.
When it comes to prospecting, Jack knows exactly which stores he wants as customers and has a long-term plan to get them on board. “When they have a problem or feel they have a need, we’re there to help, but we want them to see the wisdom of doing business with Hunton & Co.”
Jack has the right goal: Creating customers. These are buyers who appreciate what he delivers, how he treats them, and the support he gives.
STOP THINKING YOU KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR THE CUSTOMER OR WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS
The insurance agent says, “We’d like to quote your insurance. I think we can save you money.”
Because unsuspecting business managers always want to save money, they say, “Sure.” What happens next is revealing.
Chances are the salesperson will say, “All I need is your policies. How about if I pick them up tomorrow?” With this information, the agent will send off the current insurance program — including the premium costs — to a couple of insurance companies to see who comes back with the lowest price.
Although customers like low prices, they also want their businesses protected. Unfortunately, the agent is only duplicating the previous agent’s work, which was probably the exact duplication of someone else’s efforts. No one is looking carefully at the business to discover its exposures. Brokers like Tacoma-based Raleigh, Schwarz & Powell do it differently. They insist on developing an in-depth understanding of a company before looking at insurance companies and pricing.
STOP BEING IN SUCH A HURRY
Sales professionals know that selling today is about patience and persistence, no matter what anyone else (including sales managers) might say or expect. This is what takes talent and skill. Hurrying or trying to rush prospects to buy just doesn’t work. In fact, it’s a turn-off to customers, because they recognize they’re being used. No one likes that.
Today’s expert salespeople are as adroit at managing many prospects as they are at managing accounts. They know that top prospects don’t make fast decisions or jump from one vendor or supplier to another. These are the customers who’ll test a company and its sales representative before making a commitment, and they write off anyone who comes on strong and then fades away because a deal isn’t signed quickly.
START GIVING PROSPECTS A PLAN
It’s surprising how stupid companies behave when it comes to selling. Stupid is the right word, because it describes their actions. For example, they’ll send one mailing and expect an extraordinary response. Why should anyone assume that the world is waiting for that particular piece of mail or e-mail to arrive? Just because you and I are ready to sell something doesn’t mean someone’s ready to buy. If this isn’t enough, there’s a follow-up telephone call three weeks later and the telemarketer says, “We sent you a letter a few weeks ago. Do you remember it?” This is why it takes a word like “stupid” to describe such actions. The result is only further rejection.
On the other hand, one company sets a year-long plan for prospecting that includes an initial direct-mail contact that describes what’s going to happen during the next 12 months. The company wants to become viewed as a resource for the prospects and to share business ideas with them. They offer a road map for the prospects, letting them know what to expect. The goal is creating credibility to earn the right to do business with them.
STOP FORGETTING WHO’S THE CENTER OF ATTENTION
A customer went to the bank to cash in a U.S. savings bond. “We can’t do that - the computer’s down,” were the first words out of the CSR’s mouth. A better response might have been, “I’ll be glad to take care of that for you. At the moment, we’re having computer problems. Can I call you to let you know when we’re back online?”
The focus of attention might be the salesperson’s highest hurdle. If you want a clue as to how salespeople view themselves, listen to their voice mail messages: “I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.” Or, “I’m away from my desk right now; I’ll return your call as soon as I can.” Listen carefully: It’s all about them, not the person calling. Minor issue? Perhaps, and then again, perhaps not. Unconsciously, words often reflect our focus of attention.
START TELLING THE TRUTH
If this sounds a bit rough, it’s also on target. Many in sales seem to have little interest in repeat customers. They only want to get today’s order and then move on. As a result, they tell customers whatever they think they want to hear.
Such salespeople spend no time qualifying the prospect; everything is directed toward getting the order. Worse yet, they attempt to finesse the prospect. A marketing company was working at finding a company to deliver online banking services for a group of smaller banks. Although it quickly became evident that one company on the list was a Web site design firm, its salesperson tried to finesse the situation. “No, we don’t do that but ...” On and on he went. Instead of saying, “No, that isn’t our business, but let me refer you to a company that provides those services,” he had to try to keep the conversation going in some ill-conceived effort to make contact.
Failing to tell the truth is a fatal mistake. Is this why so many salespeople never come back to a customer after making a sale? Perhaps they’re afraid they’ll be confronted with a dissatisfied customer. More than anything else, lying to a customer creates dead-end business.
STOP USING JARGON
The lead paragraph in a story on Proctor & Gamble noted that “P&G is transforming itself into a lean, risk-taking, new-product machine.” What a string of pearls! All the right words — all the jargon — came straight from a P&G press release, of course.
There’s so much jargon today. “Strategic restructuring” is another way of saying “we’ve been acquired.” Salespeople enjoy talking about “delighting customers,” although no one ever bothers to define the term. And, of course, “take it to the next level” is particularly popular in a selling situation, even though the salesperson hasn’t the foggiest notion of what the customer does or needs. But that’s not going to stop anyone. “We’re ready to help you take it to the next level.”
Selling is so much more successful if you just speak simply and clearly. You might even make sense to the customer.
STOP RELYING ON RELATIONSHIPS
In the salesperson’s kit, a good, solid relationship is the key to making a sale. This is the way it’s been for years. Unfortunately, relying on relationships to propel sales is dangerous. Today’s good buddy is somewhere else tomorrow, no longer in a position to help.
There was a time when friend Sam could influence decisions in a number of departments in a company. That’s fading. Today, department heads expect autonomy. They want to make their own decisions.
Perhaps the major development is the transfer of unilateral decision making to a group process. With the “buying committee” making purchasing recommendations, having a great relationship with the CFO might not be worth a ticket to an AAA ball game.
Following an outdated model of what it means to be a professional salesperson is the cause of lost sales. The shift is clearly to competence, knowledge, and expertise when it comes to making a sale.