Are you really a relationship salesperson – or do you just think you are?  This article will help you decide.

For the past 5 years, I’ve recruited an average of a dozen people per year for my clients. For each of those jobs, I’ve interviewed anywhere between ten and 25 people; that means that I’ve interviewed somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 to 750 people in the last five years. I would bet that every one of them, at some point during the interview, described themselves as a “relationship salesperson.” Unfortunately, “relationship selling,” which should be one of the most meaningful phrases in selling, has become meaningless through overuse.

Over the course of time, some sales skills become more important and some become less important.  In today’s environment, one skill that is becoming more important is the skill of written sales communication.  Unfortunately, based on what I see, one skill that is rapidly going away is – you guessed it – written sales communications.

  Hence, today, we’re going to discuss the rights and wrongs of selling with a keyboard. First, however, I want to make one very important point: The very best sales letter, brochure, or marketing piece is no substitute for even an adequate face to face sales call. Written sales communications should be designed to facilitate the sales process, not replace it.

With that in mind, let’s think about our objective for a sales letter (for brevity’s sake, I’ll refer to all written sales communications as letters). The purpose of a sales letter (or for that matter, any form of sales communication) is to advance the relationship between seller and customer. Period. The litmus test for anything you’re about to send out, therefore, should be: Does this advance the relationship in any way? If it does, you’ve got a good start. (This is true for letters to prospects, as well – if the letter makes it more likely that a prospect will see you, it has advance the relationship.) Following are some ways a good sales letter can advance customer relationships:

Educate the customer. This is perhaps the all-time best way of advancing a customer relationship. If you can impart some piece of knowledge that helps your customer do a better job of running their own business, you win. If you’re selling to end users, think about ways to teach your customers how to better use your products and services; more successful implementations reflect on your knowledge and expertise. If you’re selling wholesale, consider teaching your customers better ways to sell, market, and price your products. If you sell to a vertical market, consider regular communications that help your customers identify industry trends quickly. You get the idea. If you hadn’t already figured it out, “Educating the Customer” is the primary purpose of the HotSheet.

Tell them about new stuff. Most companies add products and services from time to time, yet many of those same companies forget to tell their customer base about the new products and services. If you’ve ever had a customer say, “Hey, I didn’t know you did that, too,” you’re probably one of those companies. Remember – our objective with each customer is to sell them as much of our stuff as possible. A letter announcing new products helps advance the relationship by letting them know everything you could be doing for them. Make sure you remember to talk about the BENEFITS of the new products, as well.

“By the way, we also sell:” This is a close relative of the “new stuff” letter. If you sell multiple product categories or lines, your first sale usually will not cover the entire length and breadth of your product line. You still want your customer to know what you do, so after thanking them for their first purchase, send out a letter saying, “You might not be aware, but we can also serve your needs in these ways,” etc.

Personnel change notifications. Although it’s not pleasant, turnover in sales and service can’t be helped. If your outgoing salesperson has a large customer base, it’s probably going to be difficult to call them all (either by phone or face to face) before one calls in asking for Joe, who no longer works for you. Be proactive and let your customers know who will be taking care of them after the current person’s departure. Personnel changes tend to induce fear in customers (that their needs won’t be taken care of), so the more proactive and reassuring you can be, the better the relationship.

Of course, the types of written communications you might want to do encompasses much more than I have space for here, but if you give each letter the litmus test discussed above (does it advance the relationship?), you will be far ahead of those companies that send out communications that do nothing for either the sender or receiver.

I mentioned that I might have more to say on the topic of “Credibility” in the coming weeks.  I do, and here it is.

About a week ago, I was quoted in an article on Fast Company’s Blog site regarding credibility. The article was good, but there were some things that I said that I wish would have made the cut. However, since I do have the power of the keyboard, I’ll rectify those omissions here. The basic thrust of the article was, “How important is credibility in sales?” Here’s my basic reply, as quoted in the article:

“Credibility is the cornerstone of a successful selling career. As salespeople, we place ourselves in the product distribution process between the manufacturer and end user. The only reason for us to be there is that we can add value to the process. This means discovering customers’ needs and matching our products to those needs better than customers could if they were just leafing through a catalog or going to an Internet site.” Let’s take a deeper dive into this topic:

Credibility is the characteristic that causes people to believe what you say – because it’s you who is saying it. “Credibility” has less to do with the words being said, then, than the person who is saying them. Without that credibility, there is no way for salespeople to add the necessary value to become a part of the sales process. Then we are simply middlemen, and in some cases an obstacle to success rather than a help toward success.

Credibility has two basic components: Expertise and Trust. When the customer sees you as credible, they do so because they believe, first, that you know what you’re talking about (you know their needs and the product’s characteristics well enough to make a proper match), and that you are a trustworthy person (you’re not going to lie, fib, exaggerate, embellish, or any other word that means “deceive”). Without this credibility, there’s really no reason for you to be involved in the customer’s buying process at all. So how do we build these two characteristics?

Both characteristics have to be both built and demonstrated. Here are some ways of accomplishing this:

Building Expertise:

• Become a student of your product(s); keep abreast of new developments and applications.
• Know what your own company does well and not so well.
• Become a student of the process of selling; especially know how to ask good questions.
• Become a student of your customers; work to know their objectives, goals, and needs nearly as well as they do themselves.

Demonstrating Expertise:

• Solve problems for your customers live and on-the-spot.
• Write articles for trade publications.
• Blog or send out e-newsletters with helpful tips and techniques to maximize your product.
• Become a “go-to” person for your customers; be interested in solving problems beyond what you sell.
• Make the most out of your face time with your customers.

Building Trust:

• Commit yourself to never telling your customers anything that isn’t true.
• When a problem occurs, accept full responsibility (even if it’s not your fault) and fix it ASAP.
• If you don’t know the answer, take the time to find it rather than guessing or winging it.

Demonstrating Trustworthiness:

• Tell the truth – even when it hurts.
• Don’t sell anything your customer doesn’t need, or that is an inappropriate application.
• Commit yourself to being a problem solver.

I should tell you that true credibility in the eyes of your customers is not something that comes quickly or easily. But it is worthwhile, and probably the best investment of your time you can make.

One great way to generate selling opportunities is to create a teaching seminar.  Here are some guidelines on putting one together.

In this space, we talk a lot about the conventional selling approach; i.e. data driven prospecting, networking, and other “push” methods of getting to our prospects and selling them. There’s a good reason for that – those methods WORK. They worked 20 years ago, they work today, and I’m pretty comfortable with betting that they’ll work 20 years from now. But there are other ways of creating a selling opportunity, and that’s what we’ll talk about today.

One great way of creating a selling opportunity is to host a seminar for your customers and prospects. A seminar is a program that teaches your attendees something that they can take and use. The idea of the seminar is that, by teaching them something, you add value to their business as well as prove your expertise. Since expertise is one of the ways that people use to determine who they buy from, you become a potential vendor.

The road to hosting successful seminars is filled with pitfalls, though (believe me). I’m a big fan of hosting seminars as part of a successful sales approach, and hopefully in this article, we can avoid some of the pitfalls and give you pointers toward success.

Pitfall #1: Selling instead of teaching. When you announce a seminar, your potential attendees’ biggest fear is that they are in for a 60-minute sales pitch, rather than an educational opportunity. The timeshare industry is notorious for this, but they’re far from the only one. If you want to host successful seminars, you’ll make sure that your program is an educational opportunity for your attendees rather than a sales pitch. In my programs, I typically keep any sales messages (i.e. selling my own stuff) to no more than the last 1-2 minutes. If you do your job and teach them something of value, you’re better off than if you’d spent 30 minutes babbling at your audience about how you’re the best vendor.

Pitfall #2: Bad promotion. To maximize attendance, you should have more than one potential way of getting the message out. You’re best off to include current customers as well as prospects, and have channels for communicating with each. Salespeople can invite people personally, for instance. You can, and should, also promote via e-mail invitations. Web sites like Chamber of Commerce sites, as well as LinkedIn, serve as great ways to get your message out.

Success Point #1: Have a great topic! To drive attendance and enthusiasm at your program, you need a topic that is interesting and valuable to your attendees. For instance, instead of “How to operate the new ZXY-2000 printer,” you might have a workshop on printing with vivid colors and rich paperstock while still minimizing ink and toner expenses. “How-to’s” on your product rarely work; “how-to’s” that most of your customers can use, regardless of product, can be winners. If you’re in doubt about what constitutes a great topic, ask your customers! And remember, they won’t all be winners; I’ve held a few clinkers. Sometimes the topic that sounds great draws little interest, and vice versa. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t succeed at first.

Success Point #2: Have a good environment. Your seminar should be at a location that has a nicely decorated, professional appearing room for the seminar; you should have plenty of parking; drinks and other appropriate refreshments should be available, and most of all – COMFORTABLE CHAIRS are important! If you don’t have such a setting, many hotels, Chambers of Commerce, and other institutions do. Don’t be afraid to move off-site. If it’s a lunch-and-learn, the food should be excellent.

Success Point #3: To charge or not to charge? Early on in my business, when I hosted my own workshops and seminars, I gave much consideration to charging an attendance fee. For my own business, the right decision was in fact to charge, and I do so now. When I charge a fee, I get a much higher show-up ratio, and the people showing up are usually more qualified. That said, this is your decision, and has much to do with the quality and value of the information delivered. Whatever you charge should be a fraction of the value realized, though.

Success Point #4: Interactivity is better. The more you can involve your audience, the better; people stay more attentive if they know to expect someone else at some point. You should also build in some time – 15 to 30 minutes is plenty – for attendees to network together.

There’s a lot more to be said about having a seminar for lead generation and selling purposes (as a matter of fact, this could be a topic for one of my own seminars), but these guidelines will get you started. The key question to ask yourself is this: What can I teach my customers that is topically related to what I sell them, and that will generate value and interest for them? Answer that one, and you have a topic. Then give it a shot. Don’t feel bad if it takes you a few tries to get it right.  It’s another tool in the successful salesperson’s toolbox.

Can a poker tournament teach us something about selling?  Maybe.  I think it can.  Read and see why.

A couple of weeks ago, I played in a Texas Hold ‘Em Poker tournament hosted by a club that I belong to. It’s a fun event, and not at all a high-stakes event (the buy in is $20, with an option for one re-buy if you’re busted after an hour). The total pot is then split up and the top four players get varying payoffs. It’s a fun evening of cards and friendship.

Well, something unusual happened this time. I won. Now, I’m not a great poker player; I only play half a dozen times a year or so. Hold ‘Em isn’t my favorite form of the game. And, there are some VERY good poker players in my club; the kind of guys that go to the casinos and win regularly. One of the players (who came in second) basically makes his living that way nowadays. So, after the thrill of winning wore off, I took some time to think about HOW I beat this guy, because I wasn’t “supposed” to. Turns out that I beat him with a lot of the same characteristics that have made me successful in selling.

See, I tend to irritate some players when I play. Not because I’m obnoxious or anything, but more because I don’t play the “accepted” way of playing Hold ‘Em. I’m not going to take a deep dive into the game here – there are plenty of websites that do, if you don’t know much about it – but here are the basics. The game starts with each player being dealt two cards. These are the “pocket” cards, and they are the only cards that are individual to the players. Everyone bets or folds. Then the “flop” happens. That is when three “community” cards are dealt, face up, in the middle of the table. Bet or fold. Then is “Fourth Street,” another community card face up. Bet or fold. The “River” is the final card, bet or fold, then show the cards.

The default position of many players, including some very good players, is to fold. What I mean by “default position” is that they start the game thinking of folding as the first option if the cards don’t come up to snuff, and are persuaded to play based on the cards. Hence, experienced hold ‘em players fold early and often, many times based only on the pocket cards. Here’s where I differ, and here’s where the selling analogy comes into play:

I play to win. My default position is “play,” and I’m persuaded to fold by the lousiness of the cards. HOWEVER – I don’t fold often after the pocket cards; I see the flop cards on about 75% of the hands that I play. The reason is simple – you can’t win unless you play. Folding early is a defensive position, playing not to lose. As you know from my work, I dislike defensive selling, the prevent defense – and playing not to lose. Hence, my default position is “play.”

I like information. One of the reasons I don’t fold before the flop is simple. If I do, I’m giving up only knowing 29% of the possible information (2 out of 7 total cards). To me, that’s not enough, and unless someone is getting really froggy with their early bets, it’s cheap to stay in and see the flop. Hence, I’m in most hands through the flop, and then I can make a decision using 71% of the available information. In selling, I often see salespeople making bad decisions with too little information. The impact can range from giving up too early to losing the sale because you proposed before asking enough questions. Work with good information.

Being different than my competitors.   Here’s another issue: If I tried to play the game the “conventional” way, I’d get killed. I know this because in too many past tournaments, I’ve tried the conventional way and lost ugly. That’s because some of the other guys at the table REALLY know the conventional game – all the odds and permutations – and I know a little bit of the conventional game. Since knowledge is key, I’m their chump if I go that way. Instead, I go my way, which means that the low cards that the other guys fold, I’ll play – at least through the flop (see above). My 6-2 off suit pocket cards look lousy after the first deal, but when two sixes come up on the flop, I’m gold because it’s a pretty sure bet that anyone else at the table has folded with a 6 in their hand. I won several hands this way. In selling? If you’re doing “me too” selling with the same lame questions, the same “me too” benefit statements, you’re at the mercy of price and brand. Be different and effective.

Consistent activity is key. You’ve seen me preach multiple times that consistent activity is the key to successful selling. It is in these tournaments, too. The “blinds” (mandatory minimum bets) double every 15 minutes. If you’re not winning at least one hand every 15 minutes (and folding most of the time), the game quickly gets away from you, in terms of your ability to bet. I watched several players bust out exactly this way, by not playing until it was too late. Once again, my “play lots of hands” philosophy worked.

Don’t let yourself be intimidated. When the final table got down to the final four, the “pro” player (who had about 2/3 of the chips on the table) magnanimously offered to stop the game, the three of us that were below him could evenly split the money from 2-4, and he could have the #1 share. I don’t know if the other two guys would have gone for it, but I simply said, “No, I think I’ll make you beat me.” It’s easy to give up in the face of a strong competitor, or not to even try to get certain customers based on your perceptions. Don’t be that guy. Take every shot you can, and you’ll get more than you think to pay off. In this case, the “pro’s” chip lead quickly evaporated and he busted out against me on the final hand. He was most displeased, and even commented that he “hated to lose that way to a bad player.” Bad form, I thought, but I was too busy counting my money to worry about it. Which leads to my final thought:

Whatever you do, make sure it’s well thought out, have a reason for what you do, and make sure it works. My own poker playing style is anything but conventional, but I have a reason for every move I make. I’ve played in about a dozen tournaments.  Most of the time I’ve tried to do it “by the book.” I’ve failed badly. The two times that I’ve played 100% my way, I won a tournament and made it to the final table of a 100-person tourney in Vegas. Does that mean I’m a great poker player? Probably not. I’d get chewed up by the real pros. But in poker, or in sales, I have a reason for every move that I make, and that reasoning is backed up by the percentages of success. If you do things the same way, you’ll succeed more often than not.

There’s one thing that should be in every salesperson’s briefcase before he or she makes their first call.  Want to know what it is?

From time to time, I enjoy engaging practiced salespeople and sales managers in conversation about selling on a deeper level. One such conversation that happened this week centered around the question, “what is the most valuable quality salespeople can bring to the table?” Answers ranged from “product knowledge” to “likeability” to “good communication,” and on into “expert questioning” before one of the salespeople hit the correct answer – the answer that trumps all of the above.

That answer is trustworthiness. The reason it is the trump card is simple; if the customer doesn’t believe what you say, it doesn’t matter how well you know your subject matter, and if the customer doesn’t trust you, they won’t answer questions honestly. Trust, then, is a prerequisite for all activities that center on communication – selling in particular. In that spirit, this week I’ll share a few methods for building trust with customers, but first I have to share one of the most outrageous stories of a salesperson ruining his customer’s trust in him. It’s too good a story not to share.

It seems that this salesperson was employed by a cleaning company that was providing janitorial services to a group of hospitals. The hospital management liked him a lot, and liked the service provided. They believed in him and the quality and integrity of his company. Then came a charity golf tournament.

As a friend of mine (who happened to be in the same fivesome as this salesperson) explained, “It was a typical five-man scramble; one guy would hit into the sand, one into the woods, one way into the rough, one guy would dunk a ball and one would get stuck in a tree somewhere (sounds like my own lack of a golf game wouldn’t have been out of place – but I digress). The salesman would hit first on each hole, then drive the cart down the fairway to ‘spot’ for the team. When the rest of the group had hit and went down the fairway, a ball would have magically appeared in the middle of the fairway with the salesman explaining that one of the shots ‘kicked’ into the fairway.” Yep – he was cheating in a charity golf tournament. But wait – it gets better.

It seems that the key decision maker for the hospital account was also in this same fivesome, and what was happening wasn’t escaping him. In fact, immediately after the 18^th hole, the manager left in disgust, skipping the post-tournament party. Slick Salesman wasn’t done, however. He did the same thing a month later – at a tournamentsponsored by the hospital. After getting a feel for this guy’s character, the hospital management began watching everything that the janitorial company did, and lo and behold, they found bad billing, cleaning that was supposed to be done that wasn’t, and other problems. Long story short, the salesman is no longer employed by the company, and the company no longer has the account. The moral of the story? Some salespeople believe that trust is solely generated by work habits and activities; the truth is that anything you do that shows a lack of integrity can ruin your trust. In that spirit, here are some ways that you can build trust with your customers:

Do what you say, and say what you will do: This is so painfully obvious that I hate to even say it, but I encounter salespeople on a daily basis who think nothing of not fulfilling promises in a timely fashion. When you make a promise to a customer, they remember it. When you fail to fulfill that promise, they remember it FOREVER. It’s not that tough; only promise what you can actually do, then DO IT.

Do the right thing, even when you think no one is looking: Someone once said that this was the very definition of integrity. Sometimes, you’ll be tempted to behave in ways that you would never think of doing if you knew a customer was watching; guess what? They might be. Several years ago, I was in Minneapolis making calls with a salesperson as a favor to a branch manager of the company I worked for. On our second call, the customer got a look at my salesman and immediately threw us out. It turns out that, the night before, the salesman had been out at a bar, got a few drinks in him, and started a conflict with another patron over a particular seat at the bar. Huge stuff, right? Well, it turned out to be. The other patron turned out to be the person he wanted to sell to the next morning. Behave like a jackass in public at your own peril; you never know who is watching.

Keep your big yap shut when it needs to be: These days, customer confidentiality is huge. Salespeople are regularly trusted with company secrets of their customers. Unfortunately, many salespeople are “Instant babbler, just add beer.” I’ve seen salespeople who think nothing of telling me incredibly confidential details about their customers – stuff that their customers would probably have a heart attack if they knew the salesperson was repeating indiscriminately. If you want to continue to have your customers confide in you, you must respect and value that confidence by keeping it.

Respect your customer’s boundaries: Sometimes, there are pieces of information that your customer doesn’t want to give, or places they are unwilling to take you. If that’s the case, consider it a measure of the increasing bond of trust when your customer eventually gives you those pieces of information or takes you those places. Continue pressing immediately for them and your customer will back off.

Of course, because trust is such a huge subject, there are many more ways to build it. However, this has hopefully given you some things to look for in conducting yourself and building trust in your customer base.

Are you planning for a long career?  There are things you should know.

 As you probably know, I worked in the car business for three years at the start of my career. In that time, I worked for three different dealerships (one long engagement, two short ones) before pointing myself in another direction. Since then, I’ve rarely crossed paths with people from back then; the car business tends to be a bit insular.

However, this morning, I received a resume’ from the owner of one of those dealerships. I doubt that he remembers me; I only worked for him for a few months (his dealership was the one that convinced me that the car business wasn’t my long term gig). This guy had, at the time, a pretty profitable business. He had a great house, a ’58 Corvette, and was making money hand over fist – which is why the tenure and tone of the resume’ was so shocking. Since selling out over 10 years ago, he’s bounced from job to job, mostly in one year or shorter engagements, and in a downwards direction. His “job objective,” as stated on the resume’? “A stable living for my family and some means for retirement.” I have to be honest – it’s sad. But here’s the kicker; his is far from the only resume’ I receive like this, which started me thinking about the career trajectory of entirely too many salespeople.

When I work with business owners on hiring, I always advise them that it’s better to hire salespeople with less experience, but who are on their way up, than it is to catch a salesperson after their career has peaked and they are on the way down. The reason is simple – entirely too many salespeople peak many years before they retire, and then they ride a spiral of unsuccessful short engagements to – where? I honestly don’t know. Yes, this is the pattern of the dealer I’m referring to, but it’s also the pattern of probably 20-25% of the resume’s I see. Many salespeople tend to peak, in terms of performance, about 15-20 years into their selling career. Then they hit the wrong side of the bell curve, and go downward faster than they went up.

My question is, “why?” I still sell, after 22 years, and to be honest, it’s more fun for me now than it ever was. Part of that is because I’m self employed and doing something that I truly love, but part of it is that the zest for the sales call has never left me. I’ve interviewed enough of the previous types of salespeople to know that this is the key issue. For nearly all of the salespeople that are on a downward spiral, something happened – some event or turmoil – that knocked the pins out from under them. Psychologically, they’ve never been able to recover. Let’s talk about how to make you NOT be one of those people.

What I find, in talking to them, is that they literally can’t remember what they loved about selling; they have too easy a time focusing on the negative things that have happened. This typically leads to call reluctance (low quantity of activity) and poor call performance (low quality of activity), which leads to repeated failures. Since selling success is so mindset-dependent (I can’t think of any other discipline in business where enthusiasm is so critical to performance), a poor mindset equals a declining career. Worse, motivation is so individually based, it’s extremely difficult for others to re-energize a salesperson who has lost their zest for the job. So, maybe you should start building some “Career insurance,” on the idea that you’re going to be in the sales world for 30 years or so, and you don’t want to be like this guy.

One common thread of most of the people I’m describing is that they can’t remember details of past successes very well; they are able to focus on recent failures. So, here’s my advice to you: start keeping reminders of your success NOW. Keep a journal, and make sure to put in plenty of details about WHY, and HOW, you are successful. Basically it will be your own training and motivation manual, and it will help you get back on track.

And finally, if you truly lose your zest for selling and can’t get it back, find another way to make a living. It’s a big old business world out there, and there are spots for people other than salespeople. There’s no shame in leaving the profession; there are other ways to have success.

Don’t get me wrong.I’m not arguing against hiring senior salespeople.  I’ve made some great hires of people who were in their late careers; having a long career doesn’t mean that you have to have a declining period. But it’s worth taking a side trip from our normal discussion of sales techniques to talk a little bit about the long term implications of our business, and give a cautionary tale of what may lie ahead – IF you don’t make the right moves now.

Barriers can prevent success, but inconveniences just make it a little tougher.  Knowing the difference can be key to succeeding.

One thing about Kansas City – if you don’t like the weather, just wait a while. Or, as I’ve done today, drive around a bit, and you can get several different weather options. Today, I’ve had several out-of-the-office appointments, and I’ve encountered the following weather patterns: Clear and chilly, sleet, freezing rain, light snow, heavy snow, and back to freezing rain – all within a four hour period, and within about  40 miles of driving. Now, do I love weather like this? Nope (which makes my wife’s suggestion of ‘that winter headquarters in Miami’ all the more appealing). But it’s something that you just work around to make a living.

Which is why I was so surprised when I talked to a salesperson at 1 PM who, he said, was canceling his afternoon appointments (“for safety”) and heading for home. I couldn’t help but ask a few more questions, and found out that his basic philosophy was that the coming severity of the weather would mean that “nothing would get done” this afternoon, and that he might as well be safe and head for home. In his mind, the same weather that had inconvenienced me by forcing me to drive more slowly and had gotten me cold and wet while outside had become a barrier to him doing his job. Which, as the title of this article suggests, reminds me that what is an inconvenience for some is a barrier for others – and since, as salespeople, we make our living overcoming obstacles, it’s best to have as many inconveniences as possible.

The truth is that a lot of people are pretty good at turning inconveniences into barriers. Here’s an example: One of the most common things that I hear from people is that “cold calling doesn’t work in my business.” Really? So I start probing to get an understanding of the facts that led them to that conclusion. Seldom is there a strong database to support this position. However, their perception that cold calling doesn’t work has allowed the prospecting process to move beyond an inconvenience to become an obstacle. Here’s the thought process:

1. I (or my salespeople) prefer not to prospect (Prospecting is an inconvenience).
   

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2. Since I (or my salespeople) prefer not to prospect, I (they) do it as little as possible.
   

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3.  Since I (or my salespeople) prospect as little as possible, we have no success stories from our industry to share when it comes to prospecting.
   

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4.  Hence, prospecting doesn’t work in my industry. (Prospecting is a barrier).

Notice that the conclusion – that prospecting is a barrier – is driven not by experience and data but by a lack of willingness to push through and do what is inconvenient. This is the same as my salesperson friend who is unwilling to go to the inconvenience of completing appointments during the bad weather, and instead, goes home in front of a nice fire with a cup of cocoa (Okay, I’m imagining that last part).

Many times in selling, we have to be able to make decisions – good ones – regarding what is an inconvenience, what is an obstacle, and what is a barrier to selling. If you set your bar too low, you will cost yourself money by overstating the inconvenient as a barrier. Here are some examples:

Inconveniences:

• I can’t get to the decision maker.
•  They won’t allow me to present a proposal in person.
•  My computer is down.
•  I don’t have any prospects to call.
•  I’m not getting any referrals.
•  My quota is too high.
•  The weather is too bad to drive.

You get the idea, right? Each one of the above are inconveniences; they make the selling process harder or more time consuming, but none is a direct barrier to success. Barriers, on the other hand, can close off a path to success:

Barriers:

• Nobody buys my product anymore (hey, somebody sold the last buggy whip – the key is, do they really not buy it – or just not from YOU?).
•  My customer doesn’t have any money (if this is literally true, it’s a barrier).
•  My prospect is contracted to a competitor, and there’s no way to legally break it.
•  The roads are closed.

The truth is that I had a hard time coming up with a list of real barriers, because most of the things that we state are barriers are inconveniences of varying levels. Our job as salespeople – what we are paid to do, and what our employers and customers expect us to do – is to push through the inconveniences, overcome the obstacles, and adapt and improvise to make the right things happen and drive business. To do less is to fail. Make sure, when you think about bailing out of a particular customer, function, or duty, that you have examined the situation and found it not to be an inconvenience, but a barrier.

Often, salespeople forget, or are scared, to deal with the customer’s real benefits as it relates to their product.  This article shows how to deal with them the right way.

Yesterday, I was driving along the highway when I saw perhaps the most powerful advertising message I’ve ever seen. It was for a hospital and it said this:

More People Who Come Here….Live.

Wow. That is some powerful stuff. Think about it; if you visit the hospital, isn’t your #1 hope to simply survive the experience? And, if in fact that is your #1 need as a potential buyer (patient), why don’t more hospitals address that issue instead of talking about room comfort, staff education, technology employed, and other peripheral benefits? Well, it’s for the same reason that many salespeople shy away from the key benefits of their “stuff” – fear or assumption.

The fear – at least in the case of the hospital – is obvious. By addressing the key issue of survivability, the hospital acknowledges that some people who go there die. Since acknowledgement of the OPPOSITE of the key benefit is decidedly unpleasant, I’m sure a lot of marketing experts shy away from mentioning it. My response, of course, is, “Do you think people don’t recognize the possibility?” It’s similar to when Johnny Cash played Folsom Prison in 1968, and the warden asked him to stay away from playing songs that would remind the inmates that they were in prison. “Warden,” Johnny reputedly said, “Do you reckon they forgot?”

This is a key question for salespeople or marketers who, through fear, shy away from key benefit statements because they are afraid of reminding customers of the opposite outcome. For instance, if a freight line advertises that “98% of our shipments arrive on time and undamaged,” they are also saying, “Of course, you have a 1-in-50 shot of your stuff winding up in Nome, Alaska with big dents on it.” Is that a worthwhile risk to take? It depends, I suppose, on how the 98% stacks up against your competitors. If it stacked up well, I’d say that the risk is worth taking.

Let’s look at the other side of the coin: Assumption. “Assumption” in this case means that you believe that your customers already know where you stack up on the key benefit, so it’s only worthwhile talking about the secondary benefits. Apple has done a great job of this with their campaigns regarding the PC vs. the Mac. (I should point out that I’m still a loyal PC user, but I’m impressed with the campaign.) The key benefit of computer users is that the computer won’t crash; meanwhile, most computer salespeople talk about hard drive size, RAM, etc. Apple makes the statement, “Our stuff won’t crash.”

So how can you use this idea to make money? Simple. Compile a list of benefits for your product or products. When you do, remember that NOTHING IS TOO BASIC. When you’re done, figure out what is the key, ultimate benefit of your sales proposition, then don’t be too afraid or too assumptive to use it. Remember Johnny – “Do you reckon they forgot?”

Salespeople have a lot of control over our own destinies – but we also have control of the destinies of many others, too.  How often do you think about them?

This is another one of my articles inspired by a question or comment that came out in a training session. Yesterday, I was in Reno doing a program for a company in the agricultural industry, and the question arose, “How do you feel about using politics as an icebreaker?” Actually, it was phrased a bit more, uh, ruggedly than that, but you get the picture. Now, I am aware that the common advice is to avoid the topic of politics in selling. It’s advice that I often give, and to be honest, sometimes I don’t follow it myself. In fact, I would go so far to say that most of my clients, and even nonclients, have some inclination about my political bent.

HOWEVER – I am aware that this can cost me business from time to time. If it does, the only person penalized is ME. I’m pretty much a solo entrepreneur, and if I make choices about what to discuss, knowing that there is a chance that it could cost me financially, that’s all on me. It’s not that way if you work for someone else. The immediate thought is of your boss, but there are others. Read on and watch as I expertly weave together politics, salespersonship, and Charlie Sheen into one topical and enjoyable article.

Right now, Charlie Sheen is in the spotlight as he has never been before, even in his Brat Pack days. The reason? Because he’s exposing himself as a complete flipping loon who likely receives his drug deliveries via a loading dock. Every time Charlie talks about “Tiger Blood,” waves a machete in front of a video camera, or chainsmokes while babbling incoherently, the nation is captivated. I get it. It’s always hard to look away from a train wreck, and when said wreck is being broadcast in slow-mo into your living rooms, it’s even harder.

People have a variety of takes on what the ol’ Chuckster is doing. My take? He’s an incredibly self centered (insert your favorite perjorative here) who cares not a whit for anyone else. Sure, I enjoyed “Two and a Half Men,” and I recognize that the entire eight-year scenario has required less actual ACTING than anything Sheen has done (he’s just been playing himself, really). But, for me, the biggest thought that I have is, “Wow. How many livelihoods has he trashed just because he wants to be a very public jerk?”

See, unlike me (in one of the thousands of ways that Sheen and I are unlike), Sheen has hundreds of people who depend on him for their livelihood. I’m not concerned about Jon Cryer, Courtney Thorne-Smith, or any of the other actors on the show. They’ve made good coin and they’ll be fine. But a show like “Men” requires hundreds of people behind the scenes who do not make wealth wages, and who may or may not have another ready job to go to. For trashing those people’s livelihoods with his own self-indulgence, Sheen is slime. Frankly, I’m surprised that the group of support staff on “Men” hasn’t strung him up by his thumbnails.

But – and this is where we circle back to selling – salespeople have the ability to make the same kinds of decisions, with the same kinds of consequences, every day. And it’s not just undertaking activities (like discussing politics or religion) that could potentially drive away customers. Inactivity is just as bad. Every cold call you don’t make, every networking function you blow off, every appointment that doesn’t happen, has a real effect on the economic well being of your company and those who depend on it for their livelihoods.

See, the person who asked me the question about politics did so with a big assumption; he assumes that everyone in his industry looks at political issues the same way. Knowing his industry and his politics, I’d be willing to bet that he’s right a great majority of the time. However, for every rule there is an exception, and within those exceptions is the problem. Even if there’s only a 5% chance that he says the wrong thing to the wrong person, that 5% is a risk without any real reward. And the customer that he drives away within that 5% might be funding someone’s job at his company.

Now, risky behavior – risking driving away some customers – is fine if there’s a commensurate reward. For instance, we might want to build ourselves out of the market for smaller customers so as to be attractive to larger ones. This produces a win; our efforts generate more revenue and profits. In terms of politics, there’s really no win involved; I can’t think of a single customer in my 22 year career that I’d have won by discussing politics that I didn’t win with other conversation.

In terms of sales inactivity, there is absolutely no reward to doing a halfway job – but there is a high risk. Here’s the bottom line: In selling, we are confronted with opportunities every day to engage in behavior that has economic consequences for ourselves and those that depend on us. If you need motivation, how about this?  Even if you’re willing to live with the consequences of low or risky activity, are the people back at the office or the warehouse?