Patience & Persistence: Two Drivers of Sales Success

A couple of years ago I hired a new business coach to help me restructure my business and move it in a new direction. The first question out of his mouth before agreeing to take me on as a client was, “what is your business model?”

I’m embarrassed to say as business coach and consultant having been in the business for four years to that point, I couldn’t answer the question, at least not succinctly enough for his liking. He agreed to take me on anyway and that is where we started.

It’s been a huge transformation for me as I now have a systematic process for creating what he calls “marketing gravity,” which is having business prospects gravitate towards me instead of me always reaching out trying to attract them.

It’s been a great transformation, yet even with that approach some prospects who come into sphere of influence become clients quicker than others, and some never do. One case in point is that last January I met a business owner who attended my “End Procrastination NOW!” workshop after just two face-to-face meetings inside of 60-days we negotiated a six-month consulting project.

However, another who has been on my prospect list since 2003  and whom we have discussed various potential projects with which I could help him has yet to bring me onboard, that’s six-years.

The point of this post is that as marketing and sales professionals who are the “rainmakers” for our businesses it is vital that we, a) know our business model, and b) follow it consistently.

I recently read an excellent blog post by Robert Clay titled, “Why 8% of Sales People Get 80% of the Sales” in which he makes note of a various research sources that have consistently shown that 44% of sales professionals give up after just one “NO,” another 22% give up after the second “NO,” 14% more after the third “NO” and another 12% after the fourth “NO.”

The only “NO” I accept as permanent is the one in which the individual tells me to never contact them again and asks to be taken off my mailing list.

Other than that, all prospects once in my marketing reservoir are always considered prospects because you never know when they will need what I have.  One former mentor who helped me get started in my own business always encouraged me to ask the question, “is that ‘no’, forever, or just ‘no’, right now?” Few people ever say “no” forever and allow me to keep in touch with them and send them marketing materials for my latest product or workshop or  pieces of value like articles I’ve written that is pertinent to their business success.

My philosophy is the more value I can provide in my correspondance with the prospect it will gradually move them closer to seeing me as the expert they can turn to when they have a need.

In Robert Clay’s article he noted that only 2% of sales occur when parties meet for the first time. In my business I don’t believe I’ve ever closed a deal on first meeting. I have closed business in two meetings, however, and that is what I shoot for. And, I do it now with a systematic process where I know exactly what my purpose is at each stage of the interaction with my prospect.

Depending on where the prospects comes to me through my marketing gravity system is how I determine the purpose of in the intial and each successive meeting. You must pre-determine in your mind what the next step in your business model is to move towards closing the business.  Many times it will not be closing the business but just closing on a next meeting with a higher purpose that moves the process forward.

What’s your business/sales model look like and how patient are you in following it so that you don’t get ahead of yourself, and how persistent are you in making sure you consistently follow up?

Focus on Teamwork Is Misguided, Needs Paradigm Shift

There is much focus today on teamwork in the workplace. It’s about building more effective teams, working more effectively with each other in teams, supporting your teammates, etc. It’s become almost like muzak on an elevator ride to nowhere.

Focusing on teamwork in the workplace is misguided. It is misguided because most employees are rewarded for serving customers through direct sales or service, and/or manufacturing a product at a margin that leads to profitability, not for working as a team. Even if individuals are hired with “teamwork” in their job description or expectations it is a nebulous concept at best.

Many times working as a team means having to support a team member whom, a) they may not like and b) whom they may see as threat to their job security. Also, there is usually is no direct incentive for working as good team player. Company’s rarely reward based on the results of “teamwork” because it is hard to quantify, unless a specific team is brought together to achieve a specific outcome.

I believe we need to shift our thinking. We need to shift our paradigm on the concept of “teamwork” in the workplace. Let’s forget about it!

Instead let’s focus on customer service. “Internal” customer service.

Internal customer service takes a back seat to “real” or “external” customer service, which is servicing the end user of our product or service. Yet, its the internal interactions between team members (teamwork) that can drastically impact how your external customer service is applied.

Whereas many companies promote teamwork to the cynicism of the masses few encourage their workers to see their “teammates” as true customers, customers of their internal product/service delivery. What would happen if they did?

Most employees understand the value of servicing a customer and will do backflips to make the customer happy (many times to the detriment of company profits and building value in the eyes of the customer, but that’s a post for another day) while “internal” customer service and the treatment of co-workers is deplorable in many companies. As such I believe making this shift will help tremendously in raising the bar on performance for three reasons:

1) Employees understand the importance of “customer service” and adding to the definition of who their “customers” are should be an easy adjustment;

2) It is much easier to hold individuals accountable to customer service metrics than “teamwork” metrics;

3) It is easier to define in the workplace a “customer service” situation than a “teamwork” scenario thus allowing for the sharing of resources to be more easily facilitated. This alleviates the instance of those who hold back on resources in a teamwork setting due to uncertainty of the relationships necessary to achieve desired results (helps to break down the silo mentality that is ingrained in so many company cultures).

My entire shift in addressing issues of company culture and improving performance results is going to focus on “internal” customer service. As such I believe outstanding teamwork will become an easy and natural by-product of of this approach.

How to Sell Like a Champion in the 21st Century

One of my best friends and business colleagues called me today to tell me a story that offers lessons for all sales professionals in the 21st Century.

My buddy is a business development banker for a large regional bank. This afternoon he picked up a hard copy of a newsletter sent out by a regional CPA firm that his bank has been targeting to develop a business banking relationship for a number of years, but has had little progress in getting through for even a basic appointment.

While reading the newsletter my buddy, John, found an article he thought had tremendous value for those who are on his e-mail list which he invites to read his personal Business Banker Blog. So, he called the CPA firm’s principal partner and asked if he could have permission to run the article. The answer was a resounding “yes” and so now you can read it on his Business Banker Blog here.

During the discussion John learned that the CPA firm’s principal had just come back from a conference where blogging was a topic and was beginning to investigate how it can help the firm’s marketing. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

So, John and the principal of this firm imediately engaged in a deeper discussion about the value of blogging. By the end of the call John was invited to lunch to continue their discussion.

The moral of the story for all of us in the sales game in the 21st Century is to focus on giving value upfront first, with no expectation of reciprocation because it has the power of opening doors that have been being knocked on the traditional sales way for YEARS!

What opportunities do you have to give value or to contribute to helping your prospects first without expectation of direct reciprocation, doing it with a totally altruistic mindset to either a) open, or b) build a deeper, relationship with one of your most challenging business prospects?

Southwest Airlines' Champion Culture Fosters Creativity & Fun

This YouTube video below says it all. 

For years Southwest Airlines has been touted as an airlines with a different experience for its employees first, which fosters a unique experience for its customers. Here’s one outstanding example:

Penny-wise or Penny-foolish?

I went into McDonald’s yesterday to pick up one of the franchises recent new offerings, sweet ice tea for one dollar. I’ve been going there strictly for this product a couple of times a week as it reminds me of my eight years in North and South Carolina where the sweet sun tea is a staple. It’s one of the things I miss about living down there.

The large 32 oz. ice cubed filled drink is on their $1 menu, which with tax comes out to $1.08 in our area. I gave the young, teenage attendant taking my order and collecting my money the dollar bill and dime I brought in to the restaurant with me. 

She replied, “is it okay if I don’t give you change as I don’t have any pennies in my drawer?”

Despite my recent venture into the land of Improv comedy I was speechless, as she turned around and went to fill my order.

Upon here return, I said, “I’m just wondering, what if I had told you I didn’t have any pennies and only gave you one dollar and a nickel?”  The young girl, just smiled and shrugged.

Convenience stores have figured this thing out in most areas, with the “take a penny, leave a penny” cup near the check out counter. Why can’t fast food restaurant franchises do the same, or at least empower their front line personnel to make pennywise customer service decisions?