Inside Our Head

Your client has certain expectations of you and your product or service. If their expectations are met, or exceeded, they will be satisfied. Simple.

Not always.

For your product to be successfully implemented into the client's daily working life, the client must move through a learning process. This process can be described through five phases, helping you understand the way people learn, and your responsibility in helping them.

Phase 1 | Unconscious Incompetence | Your customer does not know that he does not know.

Your customer has signed the order, product is delivered and they are enthused. They expect to realize the benefits of this product, benefits you have described and promised throughout the sales process. However, the customer's expectation of benefit is at its highest point right now, and their understanding of the learning required is underestimated. To derive benefit they must learn, you must teach them, but they aren't ready for the learning just yet.

Phase 2 | Conscious Incompetence | Customer knows he doesn't know.

Customer frustration mounts during this phase as they come to realize that change / learning will be difficult. Habitual ways of working must be altered. Productivity may suffer in the short term while people learn to use the new product. The customer may wrestle with a feeling that they are worse off than before.

Phase 3 | Conscious Competence | Customer works hard at what he doesn't know.

With application, the customer begins to learn how to operate the equipment. They begin to seen the benefits in the real work environment. The product begins to make a real contribution, as promised.

Phase 4 | Unconscious Competence | Customer begins to make the new habitual.

The customer has a real sense of accomplishment now that the product is fully integrated into their office and the daily routine. Results are being realized. Everyone is happy!

Phase 5 | Conscious Unconscious Competence | Customer easily explains the new benefits of the new product, and how to derive them.

In-house experts can now train others in the office as the entire team develops an appreciation for the equipment. It has become part of the family.

Other considerations: if the product is complex, expect the learning process to take more time, and expect it to be more frustrating for the customer. Likewise, have these expectations if the customer is inexperienced. Often, the people who actually make the purchase decision are not the end-users. Therefore you may experience outright resistance to the product by end users who did not participate in the buying decision.

Bottom line: meeting and exceeding customer expectations is not easy, but it is well worth it.

Buy-Learning Process consists of four stages with each stage made up of two steps.

The four stages are: 1) determining a need, 2) finding the best solution, 3) committing to buy, and 4) evaluating the outcome.

For the sake of simplicity these four stages can be named Need, Learn, Buy and Value. The effective sales person will move through these stages with the buyer by personally identifying with the buyer's hopes and fears, problems and opportunities.

NEED -- What the buyer perceives as desireable, beneficial, valuable and obtained for the purpose of providing improvement in working life: savings of time and/or money, peace of mind, security,productivity, status.

Step 1: Change
Changing circumstances and requirements fosters discontent.

Step 2: Discontent
Discontent brings Need into focus, then the issue becomes: How pressing is this need? When discontent drives need to the point of being pressing, the buyer moves to the Learning stage.

LEARN -- Process of researching options, comparing possibilities, information gathering and evaluation.

Step 1: Researching
Intangible need becomes a tangible solution through process of looking at and identifying capabilities. There are the "must-have" and the "nice to have" options and capabilites, carrying different values.

Step 2: Comparison Options compared.
Consider "must haves" vs. "nice to haves" and prioritize. Major decisions are often made based on MINOR DIFFERENCES!

BUY

Step 1: Fear
Emotional, not logical, it is the buyer's reaction just before making a commitment. Bigger the purchase, the more money involved, the greater the risk, and the more likely fear will kick in.

Step 2: Commitment
Overcoming fear the buyer buys, after negotiating final details.

VALUE -- Customer asks him/herself: Did I get a good deal? Do the results match up with what Iexpected?

Step 1: Expectations
Immediate value expected. Buyer takes the product for a spin. (Imagine the value of key op!)

Step 2: Satisfaction
Varies over time. We can certainly increase the sense of value/satisfaction the customer perceives with good/frequent visits after install to demonstrate more features/benefits!

Enjoy greater customer satisfaction--while increasing your sales--by changing your approach to match your customers' changing perspective throughout the sale.

To help learn these skills, do yourself a huge favor and download this free whitepaper: 15 Biggest Mistakes Salespeople Make

Is your industry becoming more competitive? Are your prospects taking a closer look at what your competitors have to offer? Selling in today's marketplace reminds me of that old line from ABC's Wide World of Sports: "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."

For the salesperson and the sales manager in the arena, it's winner take all. There are no rewards for second place.

This trend of intensifying competition makes selling more interesting -- but also much more difficult than it once was. If you want to stop losing sales to competition and make more money -- and we all do -- then you've got to sharpen your competitive selling skills.

Here are four of the most common reasons why competitive sales opportunities are lost -- and specifically what you can do to win more often. These are the mistakes to avoid if you want to give your competitors fits.

1) Your competitor understands the prospect's needs better than you do.

Sun Tzu wrote his classic book, The Art of War, 2,500 years ago. In it he said, "If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you'll also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will lose every battle."

Between you and me, Sun Tzu had it easy! In 500 B.C., all he had to do was learn about himself and his enemy. Today, it's not enough to know about yourself and the competition. You also have to know about the customers' needs. When you know the specific ways in which you're different from your competition - AND you know your customers' needs - you'll know which differences are going to be the most important to your customer. And that knowledge is what will put your name on the scoreboard.

One simple strategy for understanding your customers' needs better than your competition is to resist the natural temptation to talk about yourself, and instead, keep the conversation focused on your customer's needs. If your customer asks you about your product or service - as they often do - answer their question, then redirect the conversation back to your customer's needs. A good rule of thumb is to identify at least eight customer buying criteria before you start talking about your product or service.

2) Can't reach the key decision-maker.

All decision-makers are not created equal. In every buying decision there exists a "Power Broker," one person who wields more power and influence than anyone else. When the Power Broker talks, others listen. Think of an important prospect you are calling on now. If he or she is not the key decision-maker, who is? The first salesperson to identify and win over the Power Broker almost always wins the sale.

To identify the Power Broker, ask your contact questions such as, "How will your organization make the decision on this? Who else will you need to talk to? Whose budget is at stake here? Who's going to be the key decision-maker on this? Power Brokers derive their power because they have credibility with superiors, perhaps as a recognized expert. They tend to be strong-willed individuals who are goal-oriented and possess good communication skills. The Power Broker is an effective internal salesperson who you want championing your cause.

3) The salesperson overlooks seemingly minor differences between his/her solution and the competition.

A friend of mine sells voice recording systems for emergency 911 centers. One "minor" difference between his system and those of competitors is that his system has been approved by Underwriters Laboratories. For years, my friend and his fellow salespeople made nothing of this differentiator. Then one diligent salesperson was carefully studying her prospect's cost components, and discovered that installation of a product that was U. L. approved would qualify a 911 center for a significant reduction in insurance premiums. This translated into a huge cost savings for the customer - and a nice commission for the salesperson.

The point is - don't overlook anything! Differences that may seem minor to you could be of significant importance to your customer.

4) No game plan to beat the competition.

The one common thread weaving through all of these reasons for losing sales this: We don't slow down and think. For years, salespeople have been told that the key to selling is to think fast on your feet and to make lots of calls. This bias for quick thinking and a high activity level is exactly the opposite of what it takes to win competitive sales.

I'm not suggesting you make fewer sales calls. What I am saying is that you need to put more thought into each call you make. Think like a coach thinks, and make a game plan to win.

What's your understanding of your prospect's buying criteria? Which of those criteria represent a competitive edge for you? Which represent a competitive disadvantage? Who is positioned most favorably at this time - you or your competition? How can you influence the customer's buying criteria - or modify your offering, in such as way as to create a better match between what you have and what your customer needs? Your effectiveness in competitive selling situations will be largely determined by the questions you ask yourself before each sales call.

In sports, when two teams are evenly matched, the winner will be the team that executes its plays the best - the team that makes the fewest mistakes. To win more competitive sales opportunities, you must do the same.

I recently reread Jim Collins' book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't and found that many of his ideas can help you improve performance of your sales team.

Collins' book answers the question: How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? Using tough standards, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of "comparison" companies that failed to make the leap from good to great.

Over five years and 15,000 hours of research, Collins and his team deduced the key determinants of greatness – why some companies make the leap and others don't. Here are a few of their findings and what, I think, Collins' findings mean to you and the development of your team.

Good is the enemy of great

Some sales teams will never be great because their sales managers settle for being good. It's easier than being great.

First Who... then What

Collins expected to find that Good to Great leaders would begin by setting a new vision and strategy. What their research discovered, however, was that the best leaders first got the right people on the team, de-hired the wrong people, and got everyone in their optimal position... and then decided what the vision and strategy was. The saying, "People are your most important asset" is incorrect. It should be changed to, "The right people are your most important asset." Then, put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems.

Application questions: Is there anybody on your team who shouldn't be? Do you have any team members in a less-than-optimal position, a person whose skills are not being fully utilized? What, and when will you rectify these situations?

Confront the brutal facts, but never lose faith

One of the most important findings from Collins' research is that breakthrough results come about by a series of good decisions, diligently executed and accumulated one on top of the other. You don't need to be perfect, but to be great you do need to make many more good decisions than bad ones. And good decision-making requires accurate information, which can be difficult to obtain. Collins writes:

Indeed, for those of you with a strong, charismatic personality, it is worthwhile to consider the idea that charisma can be as much a liability as an asset. Your strength of personality can sow the seeds of problems, when people filter the brutal facts from you.

Winston Churchill understood the liabilities of his strong personality. He was concerned that he wouldn't get accurate information from his subordinates, so, during the darkest days of World War II, he founded the "Statistical Office", a separate department outside the command structure that fed him the most accurate, indeed brutal, facts of the war. Churchill also possessed the second requirement of greatness -- an unwavering faith that Britain would survive and thrive, even when things looked so bleak.

Application questions: What's one great dream you would dare to dream (for your team) if you knew you could not fail?

Your "Stop doing" list is more important than your "To do" list.

Many sales managers lead busy lives, accomplishing task after task after task. Interestingly, the leaders studied in "Good to Great" companies made as much use of "stop doing" lists as "to do" lists. They continually asked themselves:

What can we do better than anyone else? What type of opportunities are we passionate about? And, what segment of customers allows us to make the most profit?

Good to Great leaders instilled the culture of discipline - by teaching their team where to focus, and what to ignore.

Application questions: What opportunities, or customer segments, can your team make a compelling case of being the best choice? Which of these opportunities are most profitable, and why? Finally, what can you become passionate about?

Is your team brilliant on the basics? If not, you may be losing sales you should be winning. At TopLine Leadership, we help salespeople re-focus on the fundamentals of effective salesmanship, and sales managers to master the basics of management / leadership. We can help you and your sales team with these concepts. Contact us today.

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Negotiating power plays a major role in every type of negotiation, whether it's a labor negotiation, political negotiation, or a buy-sell negotiation.

Both the buyer and the seller have power in a negotiation. Power is each side's perception of its strength or weakness in comparison to the other. This perception of power affects the ability of each party to achieve its own goals. The more negotiating power you have in comparison to that of your buyer, the fewer concessions you'll have to make.

For each party in a negotiation, there are eight sources of power. These are:

• Need
• Options
• Time
• Relationships
• Investment
• Credibility
• Knowledge
• Skills

Just remember the acronym NO TRICKS

"N" stands for Need

The essential question here is: who needs this sale more, the buyer or the seller? The more intense the buyer's need, the more power the seller has. The more intense your need to make the sale, the more power your buyer will have.

"O" stands for Options

What are the options for each party if an agreement is not reached? A buyer who believes that your product or service is unique has no other options. Your other options consist of the other sales opportunities you have waiting in the wings. The more options you have, and the fewer acceptable options your buyer has, the greater your negotiating power.

"T" stands for Time

This refers to any impending events that place a deadline on either the buyer or the seller. If the buyer is under time pressure, it usually gives the salesperson negotiating strength. In commercial real estate, for example, the expiration of an old lease may put time pressure on the tenant to find new office space. The time factor also affects many other purchases related to the move, such as hiring a contractor, selecting office furnishings and business equipment, and so on. A deadline creates time pressure and limits the buyer's opportunity to shop around.

If you are feeling time pressure, perhaps to close the sale by the end of a quota period, your buyer will have time power. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to win my company's annual incentive vacation - a trip to Bermuda. On the last day of the year, I needed a $2,000 sale to achieve my annual quota of $3 million. I felt time pressure! I made some hefty concessions that day, but I won the trip.

"R" stands for Relationship power

How strong is your relationship with your prospect? If you have a high quantity of high quality relationships with your customers you have relationship power. But some customers may not allow you to develop these relationships. They may tell you that you can only talk to purchasing. In such a situation, you'll have a hard time developing relationship power.

"I" stands for Investment

How much time and energy has been invested in the buying process? The more effort someone invests, the more committed he or she will be to reaching an agreement. The more energy your buyer puts into a buying process, the more negotiating power you'll have. Conversely, the buyer's power of investment is enhanced when you've put a lot of time and energy into a prospective sale. If you put 20 hours into preparing a proposal, you'll have a hard time walking away from the deal.

"C" stands for Credibility

When I was selling dictating machines for Lanier Business Products, a salesperson in our Washington D.C. office, whose sales territory included the White House, sold a portable dictating machine in the Oval Office directly to the President. Subsequent photographs of the president showed his dictating machine on his desk. Lanier's credibility was enhanced by having the president as a customer.

"K" Stands for Knowledge

Knowledge is power. You have knowledge power when you thoroughly understand your customers' problems and needs and can foresee how the products or services you are offering will help them achieve those needs. If you do not have this knowledge, we suggest you attend on of our 2-day sales seminars to help you get a leg up on your competition.

Conversely, if your customers know as much as you do, or perhaps more, about the application of a particular sales solution, they're less reliant on you. A few years ago, IBM reorganized its sales forced to emphasize industry-specific expertise so that their salespeople would become more knowledgeable about their customers' businesses. IBM has 14 industry sales teams dedicated to areas such as health care, travel, and financial services. IBM recognizes that salespeople are not adding value to the buy-sell relationship unless they know more than the buyers.

"S" stands for Skill

Who is the most skillful negotiator? Buyers are making more buying decisions today, and are getting better at it. Many buyers have attended seminars to improve their negotiating skills, which means they're gaining more skill power. Today, you must constantly improve your skills, just to keep up.

For over 200 years the US Constitution has served as the system of fundamental laws and principles of our society. This amazing document has served as the cornerstone of our democracy. A reflection of our Founding Fathers' core values, the Constitution has kept our society on track since 1787, and has certainly contributed significantly to the growth and success of the United States.

What is the Constitution of your sales team?

Have you, as yet, identified and communicated your cornerstone? If I was to ask five of your salespeople to describe to me what is expected of them in areas other than sales results would I receive five different answers?

The Production Equation: B+A=R.

Behavior plus activities equals sales results. Or, another way of saying this is that every successful sale is the outcome of a series of behaviors (how something is done) as well as activities (how many times a behavior is performed).

Unfortunately, many of us sales managers try to manage results. We wait until a rep has a bad month before we decide to get involved in "coaching" them. So then, when a rep produces a bad month, we rush over and smother them in coaching trying and get their production back up quickly. Sales managers who try to manage results are like a driver of an automobile who only looks in the rear view mirror... chances are they will be surprised when they collide with something that is unexpected. Looking only in the rear view mirror is not an effective way to drive a car, but it happens to be the way that many sales managers drive their sales teams.

Sales results can't be managed, but behaviors and activities can.

To be the best sales manager you must get in front of the result, get the best sales management training possible, and put in writing your expectations of the behaviors and activities that contribute to sales results.

Think of this issue – a team without well-communicated performance standards - from your salesperson's perspective. As a salesperson, you have a clear understanding of the sales quota results expected of you, but you're unsure exactly how to produce those results. So you do what you think you should. You "make it up on the fly." Then, because nobody tells you you're doing it wrong you assume it is acceptable behavior. So you keep doing it, and form bad habits. It's an unproductive cycle.

How to Draft your Sales Team's Constitution

Think of your top salesperson... what specific behaviors does he/she do that contributes to sales success? For example, "makes at least five new business prospecting calls every day." Then, what attitudinal qualities does he/she have which contributes to success? For example, "attempts to solve problems before seeking help."

Make a list of behaviors and activities that describe your top salesperson, and then share this list with everyone on your sales team. Have each of your salespeople assess themselves on a quarterly basis against these behaviors and activities: Meets, Exceeds, Needs Improvement. Then, sit down one-on-one with each salesperson, discuss his/her self assessment, and put a plan in place to improve those.

Four Components of a Sales Constitution are as follows:

• Written
• Well communicated
• Understood by everybody
• Equally applied

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Make every single person an expert at something.

Arrange for training, coaching, and perhaps “certification” on equipment, software, processes, etc. Then make up a list of people and their special skills.

Start meetings and training sessions on time.

People who are prompt should not have to waste their time waiting for latecomers. That’s demotivating.

De-hire people not contributing to your team’s goals.

You know them – the people who have nothing good to say about anything or anybody… the ones who can suck the energy right out of the room. Keep them away from your important projects, your important employees, and your important customers. If possible, “encourage” them to take their sour attitudes elsewhere.

Acknowledge those who display initiative and take the time to train, help, mentor and develop others.

The opportunity for development is a prime employee motivator. And your “teachers” are at the very heart of that.

Hire for attitude, train for skill.

It can be tempting to fill a vacancy with someone who has the required technical skills but has questionable attitudes and behaviors. Do not give in to the temptation of adding this “warm body” to your team. Bad hires drag down the entire team.

Invite representatives from other organizations to see, firsthand, the good work that’s being done at your office.

It’s unbelievably motivating for employees to know that people from the outside are coming in to watch them perform their magic.

Create a “Wall of Fame.”

Look for people who have made positive contributions to the organization over time. Designate a place in a prominent hallway to display their pictures and a description of their contributions.

Periodically conduct “climate surveys” to stay informed of how people feel about their jobs, the type of work they do, and the quality of leadership they experience.

Share the results with everyone. And be sure to use the feedback you receive to develop improvement plans.

We hoped you enjoyed this 5 part series on Sales Management Training -- Motivating Your Team. To receive more hands-on training, please attend our next Sales Seminar.

This is the 5th and final blog post in our 5 part series focusing on motivating your team through sales management training.
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Hold a contest, for example an afternoon off of work to go golfing as a team.

Set a team goal that must be met for anyone to qualify, then set individual goals

Create an individual development plan for each employee.

Work with team members to create development plans that are customized to each person. The plans should identify things like: current and desired skill strengths; job interests; areas for development and enhancement; and strategies (training, assignments, coaching, etc.) for achieving the next step.

Respect people’s time.

If you expect team members to believe that their work is important, you have to believe it too. More importantly, you have to behave like you believe it! Don’t expect people to drop whatever they’re doing every time you need something. Instead, ask if they have a few minutes to chat. Better yet, ask for a time when they’ll be available to meet with you.

Reward initiative as well as results.

When someone tries something new, or wants to make a positive contribution, recognize their effort. Success may not be immediate, but repeated effort and initiative should count for something.

Add motivational notes to your written internal communications.

Look for opportunities to reinforce individual and team contributions, as well as acknowledge positive things that are happening within the entire organization.

Reserve an hour once or twice each month for people to come together and exchange ideas on any topic they choose.

It might be ways to improve customer service, how to enhance quality, or even where to find the best places for child or elder care. Sharing ideas enhances teamwork and energizes people.

Create games and contests that encourage healthy competition between teams.

Offer prizes for things like met or exceeded sales quotas, reduced absenteeism, improved safety days, received positive customer acknowledgements, etc. Post the on-going results for all to see. Games and contests typically energize people around a challenge. Just be certain to keep the competition positive and constructive. And look for ways to make sure that every team wins something.

Promote your key contributors.

Few things build motivation and a winning attitude more than seeing that good work pays off.

This is the 4th blog post in our 5 part series focusing on motivating your team through sales management training.
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Have an important decision to make? Let the team decide!

Or at least invite them to consult with you. They are, after all, the ones who will feel the impact the most. Besides, you’ll probably end up with a better decision – one that team members will support because they helped make it.

A Crash course on motivation:

Words that motivate others

• "That’s an honest mistake. Let's focus on what we’ve learned"
• "Let me pass along what I have learned"
• "I’m really glad you’re here"
• "You did a great job because…"
• "What do YOU think?"

Manage your negative emotions and anger.

Nothing can be more damaging to team morale than losing your temper in a group setting. The next time you feel angry do one of the following: take a deep breath and count to ten; take a walk outside; or simply go back to your work station and look at a prized photograph. No matter how angry you become, keep it inside.

Follow up on agreements.

When someone commits to do something by a certain date, make sure you follow up on it. If it’s done, recognize the achievement. If it’s not complete, find out why, and see what you can do to help it reach completion. You boost morale when your bias is to help rather than discipline!

Look for opportunities to show interest in all team members.

Ask about their life outside of work. Make an effort to learn about their families, their hobbies, their recent vacation, etc. Inquire but never pry. Keep track of names, dates, and events that are important to them, such as birthdays and anniversaries of employment with your company. Showing your team that you care about them as people is one more way to build team sprit. When the sprit is strong, the motivation follows right along.

Invite your boss into the recognition process.

Next time someone on your team does something really special, tell your manager. Ask him or her to write a note to that person. Not only does this make the employee feel good, but it also keeps the boss informed of the good work being done by people in his or her area.

Always tell people “why” something to be done is important.

There’s a much better chance that people will be motivated and give their enthusiastic support if they understand reason behind a goal, assignment or decision.

This is the 3rd blog post in our 5 part series focusing on motivating your team through sales management training.
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Keep a written list of your teammembers’ “bad boss” behaviors.

Refer to it often and consider things you may be doing that are similar. Do whatever you can to minimize or eliminate those demotivating behaviors in the future.

As Ken Blanchard, author of “The One Minute Manager says, “Catch people doing something right.” Take time to recognize the contributions of the people who are there every day, doing a great job. Don’t take them for granted by missing opportunities to let them know how important they are to you and your organization.

Involve your best people in hiring decisions.

Ask team members to participate in interviewing new-hire candidates, when appropriate. This gives your producer a say in how the team works – a significant involvement in something that truly matters. Make sure you provide pre-training on effective interviewing. Such preparation not only gives team members a new skill, but also helps them to help you choose the right candidates for the team.

Build a team culture.

Demonstrate respect for your team members – and confidence in their abilities – by having them sit in on your important organizational meetings. You might even consider having them represent you when you’re unable to attend. Besides sending an “I trust you” message, this gives them yet another opportunity to learn and grow.

Increase the job responsibilities for those who have proven their ability to handle more.

Once someone has mastered a job, look for ways to increase their responsibilities and the depth of their tasks. Involve them in that process. If the job is not expanded, or if there is no challenge to stretch, individuals are likely to become bored and less motivated over time.

Encourage team members to enhance their own job descriptions.

Make it clear that the descriptions must be in line with the goals of the organization, but give people the freedom to add a personal touch.

Turn failures into teaching lessons.

A failure is a failure only when we don’t learn from it. When people make mistakes, encourage them to share their experiences in order to help others avoid similar problems. This can be a great motivational tool because you focus on learning rather than assigning blame. Just remember that it takes guts to admit mistakes – especially in front of others. So be certain to thank each person for his or her courage.

Leadership is easy when your stock price is high. Be tough during tough times. As Vince Lombardi said: “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up again.” To keep your team motivated, you need to show resilience, recovery, and “contagious enthusiasm” for the mission of your team – especially when your job challenges are significant.

Help others on your team develop by delegating the lead on certain activities and projects. Most of us like “being in charge” – at least some of the time.

Get in the habit of inviting team members to challenge your ideas.

Encourage them to constructively (and positively) criticize your plans. Make it okay for people to disagree with you. This lets people know you value their input, and ensures that implemented ideas will be well thought out. By giving your people permission to disagree encourages teamwork, which, in turn, helps motivate everyone on the team. Do remember, however, when someone disagrees with you he/she should raise the issue with you in private, instead of blurting it out during a team meeting.

Solicit candid feedback.

Every once in a while, ask people for their feelings about the culture and the motivational climate of your team. Pay attention to team members’ perceptions, act on the feedback you receive, and let the team know what you have done (or will do) in response.

This is the 2nd blog post in our 5 part series focusing on motivating your team through sales management training.
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