Author name: B-More Consulting

I have seen the future of sales and it is very BRIGHT! For one week this spring, the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Houston became the center of the sales universe for over six hundred collegiate Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) members, as they held their annual national convention and Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon® competition. PSE is the only national, professional, fraternity for men and women in the fields of sales, marketing and management. PSE gives its collegiate members a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience, participate in conferences both regionally and nationally, and network with top executives through PSE’s corporate partners. Currently, PSE has more than 60 active chapters at universities nationwide, and each spring they gather the brightest of these chapters for the national conference and sales competition. This past year, PSE selected Carew International to provide the Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon sales skills materials for each student to study and use in the competition, as well as sales skill trainers and coaches for the year-long competition. It was in this capacity that I had the opportunity to witness firsthand the exceptional opportunity provided by PSE in its Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon, as well as the impressive talent among the participants. This competition gives students interface with real-world sales professionals, allows them to receive training and coaching on current sales concepts, and participate in a hands-on application to sell a product in a professional setting. At the outset of our engagement with PSE, Carew team members viewed our contribution as a means to support an exemplary organization and cultivate sales excellence in these young, committed students as they prepared to embark on a professional sales career. We came away from the experience truly inspired and feeling as though we were the benefactors. From the quality of the sales presentations, it was clear that this year’s crop of business and sales professionals are ready to take the business world by storm. The student sales people were prepared, organized and focused on developing their buyers’ needs and offering solutions that created value for their buyers. Carew will once again support the PSE National Convention and Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon® regional and national competitions, and we encourage our clients to consider becoming involved as sponsors in this worthwhile event. The Pro-Am competitions are also a terrific recruiting opportunity for young sales talent demonstrating sales effectiveness and capabilities. All of us at Carew International are proud to be associated with Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) and to be actively involved in the development of sales talent for our future!

In Dimensions of Professional Selling (DPS) sales training, we identify five types of questions in the Exploratory process – Overview, Focusing, Realization, Closing and Dimensional – each with a specific purpose. Dimensional questions allow us to engage our customers who are “fully satisfied” and open our customers\’ minds to the possibility of improvement beyond what they thought possible. Dimensional questions reflect our previous explorations with customers and tend to be very specific to each individual customer and his or her situation, making it somewhat challenging to provide generic examples of Dimensional questions. To help you generate your own examples of Dimensional questions, apply your solutions and customer situations to the examples below: Are you aware that a number of organizations are [increasing productivity/decreasing costs/idle time, etc.] by [your solution]? What would the impact of that improvement look like at your organization?   You have been creating excellent results without using all the [technology/products/systems/insight] available to you. With your permission, I’d like to show you how using [your solution] could generate better results.   Several of my customers have noticed [a shortening of their sales cycle/reduction in costs/other benefit] with the implementation of [a sales process/other solution]. What impact would you expect from such a result?   If I could show you an approach that will [lower your production costs/other benefit], what effect would that have on your overall [manufacturing/other area]?   Your situation seems satisfactory; I have some thoughts on how you might be able to generate even better results. May I share those with you? [OR] Would you be interested in hearing my thoughts? I see a new issue emerging that could affect [the product costs/delivery time/etc.] of your [desired outcome], and I am wondering how you see that?   I wanted to share with you this [article/other reference source] that represents a situation similar to yours. How closely related is that issue to conditions in your organization? What are some areas we might be able to focus on that lend themselves to improvement?   When supported with a thorough Exploratory process, and thoughtful planning and positioning, Dimensional questions can reveal the most dramatic opportunities for value creation and drive improved position with customers.

Why is getting support for new ideas such a challenge? By nature, human beings are not fond of change; we are suspect of new things about which we know nothing and new initiatives in which we had no input. The following tips serve as guidance to help us understand these basic human characteristics, minimize their disruption to progress, and maximize our success when seeking support for new ideas: Leverage the minds around you: New ideas have a much better survival rate when they are nurtured, tested and then delivered by a group, versus a single individual. Our egos can cause us to seek absolute control over our best ideas. But taking sole ownership over our ideas and being reluctant to share the credit costs us the benefit of input and feedback (including questions, opposing views and pushback) from others in our organization or the customer organization. Mix it up: The format and time allotted for you to \”present\” your idea will fluctuate. Be prepared to articulate your idea in a written, spoken, and visual format, as well as in varying timeframes. Your immediate supervisor may read your 10-page proposal and sit through an hour-long presentation, but other decision makers may not be as generous. Therefore, it is essential that you be able to share your vision across many formats, whether it is via a two-minute elevator pitch or a two-hour presentation. Think in terms of a campaign, not an event: If your revolutionary ideas haven\’t been well received in the past, consider seeking incremental agreement to your new concept. In history, and in business, the most significant changes often come in small steps. Keep your focus on continual progress toward your goal rather than expecting one glorious and dramatic event. Propose a pilot: The level of resistance to change is reduced significantly if the change is temporary. Proposing a test, or pilot of your concept, with a provision for review and assessment, will disarm even the most risk averse in your audience. Whether making a sales pitch to customers or pitching a new idea within your own organization, there are many factors that impact your level of influence. Simple strategies like these will better position your next big idea for acceptance.

In his recent HBR blog, Why the Best Salespeople Get So Lucky, author Joel Le Bon asserts that there are tangible benefits to sales professionals believing in the role of “luck” in their sales success. Even more valuable than a belief in the power of luck are the specific behaviors he identifies for creating one’s own luck, and in turn, one’s sales success. Here is a summary: 1. Gathering competitive intelligence – The more insight you possess about customers, prospects, competitors and the market, in general, the more likely you are to “happen upon” pertinent information. It may feel “lucky,” but prolific research is the precursor to noticing relevant news and mining useful intelligence. 2. Striving for mindfulness – Building on the insight that comes with ongoing research, sales professionals should remain focused on customers’ objectives and alert to what is going on within the industry. Being mindful of the context surrounding the client will not only make you more intriguing to the client, but will also prepare you to act on unexpected opportunities. 3. Setting high goals – Ambitious goals keep sales professionals forward-looking. Goals that are far-reaching help to make us more creative, motivated and strategic. 4. Failing better – Failure is a fact of life in the sales profession, so it is important for us to remain positive in the face of failure. Set “failure goals,” such as being denied by X number of customers in a given day or month. Doing so recognizes the inevitability of failure within our broader sales efforts, and amidst successful sales outcomes. 5. Changing circumstances – Le Bon writes, “In sales, opportunities lie not among the people you know but among those you don’t.” He suggests getting out of your routines and comfort zone, meeting new people, doing new things, and expanding your network by going to unusual places and building new alliances. Sales professionals may be reluctant to rely on “luck” because of its uncontrollable nature. What sales professionals can rely on, is a belief in provoked luck—the kind of luck that results from arming ourselves with a positive mindset and productive behaviors like those outlined above. This approach will influence whether uncontrollable events become “lucky” or “unlucky” occurrences in our sales life.

Recently there has been a great deal of attention placed on the importance of offering new insights to customers to win their business. Insight is a critical element of sales, but only as one piece of a holistic sales process. Insight alone is nothing more than data, and it certainly isn’t enough to win new business or dislodge your competitors. The sales process is a lot like gourmet cooking, with insights/data being comparable to the ingredients used to prepare the dish. High quality, fresh ingredients are paramount to creating quality dishes; but on their own, ingredients are just groceries sitting on the counter. And the best ingredients in the world won’t matter if you don’t understand the tastes and needs of those who will consume the meal – like preparing the world’s best Lobster Newburg and then finding out your dinner guest is allergic to shell fish. Oops. Perhaps most important of all is the creative process of actually preparing the food. Once you understand the wants and needs of your dinner guest, have planned the perfect meal, and purchased the best ingredients, you still need the skills to take the information/ingredients, and make something amazing! Consider the quality and source of the “insights” you bring to customers in pursuit of new business. If your revolutionary insights have not been researched and vetted to align with the needs of your customer organization’s strategy and capabilities, they won’t be received with much enthusiasm/appetite. Only with the benefit of the customer’s perspective and input can we leverage our “insights” as a strategic advisor to the customer. Once insights are gathered, how well are we positioned and prepared to share them with customers? Without the relationship or the skills to engage customers, we will not have the credibility to share our insights; and certainly not to challenge the current thinking or practices of customers and their organizations. It takes specific skills – exploratory, relationship-building and diagnostic skills – to leverage data as the spring board to transform insights into solutions, win new business and become the preferred business asset to customers.

Sales is a stream of business, which may be safely defined as the spine and the nervous system. The entire life and sustenance of a business depends on the sales situations that the venture experiences, if the sales are high, the business may pull it through and grow, but if it fails, the entire venture may fail and collapse. This is the reason why a strong base in sales is essential for the smooth and successful running of a business. The sales personnel of a firm should possess retail selling skills so that they may be able to shoulder the responsibility of an enterprise and do so with expertise and ease. There are some simple measures that one may follow in order to make a successful sales pitch for their product or service. The first and most important is to understand the needs of the clients. Different people have different demands and each demand must be respected and worked upon, if the sales personnel wants to make a mark. The way in which the sales pitch is initiated towards a prospective client is also of importance and the skill must be developed if the professional wants to be a success. A good explanation of the products or services to be sold, when given to the client, serves as the best sales tool for anyone who is pitching the deal. Upselling and cross selling are important aspects of retail sales, when a client seems to be in the flow of investment, these techniques of sales are said to work the best. Apart from the function of sales, keeping an open mind to the problems and criticisms of a client are also important tools towards relationship building and future sales prospects. When a good rapport is built with a client, the process of sales becomes an ongoing one. These tips in retail selling skills, prove to be extremely effective in establishing a long term business relationship with customers. When a business venture seeks to thrive for a long period of time and there is a need to expand, the best way to do it is by having effective sales strategies and an effective and well trained sales team. If you are looking at honing your own skills in sales or the skills of your employees, you must place your trust in the professional and effective sales training from experts at RJA Sales training.

Want key customer insights that will facilitate valued solutions and dramatic results? Maybe all you need to do is ask… The Exploratory Process is critical to finding the area of opportunity with new and existing customers. Often, the absence of strategic questioning undermines effective diagnostics and, as a result, the development of exceptional solutions. In the Exploratory Process, we identify five types of questions: Overview, Focusing, Realization, Closing and Dimensional. Each question type has a specific purpose and optimal application, but Dimensional questions may best deliver the stand-out competitive advantage we seek. Questioning for needs identification is standard fare in every sales situation and for every sales professional. Unique insight demands unique exploratory skills. Dimensional questions allow us to engage the customer who is “fully satisfied,” and open the customer’s mind to the possibility of improvement beyond what they thought possible. Introducing an entirely new level of desired outcomes is an effective means of dislodging a current competitor, or further instilling loyalty and trust among existing customers. Dimensional questions reflect a more sophisticated and complex diagnostic effort, creating value in the sales process and earning trust and credibility in the relationship. They are a powerful tool and as such, must be used with care and skill. If not prefaced with the appropriate customer exploration, discussion and research, Dimensional questions could be perceived as manipulative or arrogant. When used amid thoughtful planning and positioning, Dimensional questions can reveal the most dramatic opportunities for value creation, as well as your progression to preferred position with customers.

Negotiation skills is a scary subject to most people.  I have met managers from various industries across India and the middle East and few if any believe that they have negotiation skills. I\’ve had some who say that they just hate it, and some who think its ungentlemanly to negotiate. Often there is one person in the office who is designated to have negotiation skills. He is not normally well liked by the office. So what is it about negotiation skills that makes everyone weak in the knees. Part of the problem comes from the Hollywood movies.  Wall housewife and such movies show men with negotiation skills to be cold evil and merciless.  Yet in everyday life, we are faced with situations that call for negotiation skills.  Be it a housewife, a student, a teenager or someone retired, everyone needs negotiation skills. Just as communication skills scare people, negotiation skills leave them drained.  Even if you never get to be a great communicator, it is always possible to be an effective communicator.  The came is true of negotiation skills.  You may never end up being the Wolf of Wall Street but you may be able to understand what you need to do if you faced one. People with an ability to be creative and imagine new solutions have an advantage where negotiation skills are concerned.  More than anything else, you know when you are being pushed, you know when you must fold up, and most of all, when to walk away. It is necessary to have some level of negotiation skills to be able to survive in this world.  What is more fascinating is that even though we may not consciously plan to develop our negotiation skills we subtly are drawn into doing so literally from the cradle to the grave.  Even infants without knowing the logic, definitely the power of being adept at negotiation skills.  This happens when they are able to get what they want be it milk or sleep before they can utter a single recognizable sound. At school, teachers and scholars are also constantly using negotiations skills to an optimum level as they try to communicate, excel, compete, win or defeat.  So negotiation skills can be learnt, acquired, pruned and perfected.  It simply requires one to understand the process of negotiation.  Knowing that equips the manager to handle negotiations.  And as you practice more, your negotiation skills become more reliable and you can be more confident.  

We are just three weeks away from a new year. By now you know whether your 2014 performance was stellar or not. At this point your focus should be on the future – 2015 and beyond. It’s likely you already have your sales objective for next year. After all, we wouldn’t dream of starting a year without a specific sales goal in place… but so often we fail to plan how we will attain the growth reflected in that plan. If you and your leadership expect improvement over last year, what will you do differently to drive that growth and change the outcome? What needs to change? Have you identified specific… Areas for improvement Skills to develop Support needed Tools, tactics and practices to drive better outcomes After you’ve pondered this question from your own perspective, consider what input you might get from your customers on this subject. What do you think your customers would like to see you and your company do differently? What practices and policies would most improve your position with customers? You know what they say about doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome… Or think about Tony Robbins’ well-known quote, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” If you are serious about performance improvement, talk to your leaders and customers to determine what needs to change. Now there’s a plan for success!

In the past, the Mentor has extolled the virtues of storytelling (Storytelling is a Powerful Sales Tool, MFTM, March 2014). In his recent HBR.org article, Why Your Brain Loves Storytelling, Paul Zak shares the science behind the art of storytelling, and it is fascinating insight. The entire article is worth reading, but here are the most relevant excerpts for sales professionals: Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling By Paul J. Zak | HBR.org | 10/28/14 “… Many business people have already discovered the power of storytelling in a practical sense – they have observed how compelling a well-constructed narrative can be. But recent scientific work is putting a much finer point on just how stories change our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. … These findings on the neurobiology of storytelling are relevant to business settings. For example, my experiments show that character-driven stories with emotional content result in a better understanding of the key points a speaker wishes to make and enable better recall of these points weeks later. In terms of making impact, this blows the standard PowerPoint presentation to bits. I advise business people to begin every presentation with a compelling, human-scale story. Why should customers or a person on the street care about the project you are proposing? How does it change the world or improve lives? How will people feel when it is complete? These are the components that make information persuasive and memorable. …don’t forget that your organization has its own story – its founding myth. An effective way to communicate transcendent purpose is by sharing that tale. What passion led the founder(s) to risk health and wealth to start the enterprise? Why was it so important, and what barriers had to be overcome? These are the stories that, repeated over and over, stay core to the organization’s DNA. They provide guidance for daily decision-making as well as the motivation that comes with the conviction that the organization’s work must go on, and needs everyone’s full engagement to make a difference in people’s lives. …When you want to motivate, persuade, or be remembered, start with a story of human struggle and eventual triumph. It will capture people’s hearts – by first attracting their brains.” Great Selling!