Sales Blog with Sales Tips

I’m frequently asked to recommend a “motivational speaker.”

Old-school motivational speakers are the dinosaurs of sales training. Their sales tips represent nothing more than countless takeoffs from the book “The Power of Positive Thinking”  by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. This book was written in 1952 and was not endorsed by the mental health community at the time. Still isn’t.

We’ve all heard the famous speakers this book has spawned. They can be moving. They can inspire. I’ve even allowed myself to get a little misty-eyed once or twice.

However, motivational speakers are grossly out of sync with the needs of today’s sales professionals.

Tony Robbins’ Story
Tony Robbins. You know, the nine-foot giant with the piano keyboard smile. The guy that made walking on fire in your bare feet something akin to being Superman.

He is the definition of a motivational speaker.

The walking on fire thing demonstrates the superficiality of his kind of “training.” Everyone can walk on fire. We don’t need Tony Robbins to help us do it. And how does this change our lives in a meaningful way?

This is one of the reasons the viewing public made the decision not to tune into Tony Robbins’ recent new reality show. Two episodes and NBC yanked the plug. People are a little more knowledgeable than they were in the 70’s and 80’s.

Most of us understand that the inspirational antics of Tony Robbins don’t help us perform better in our jobs and in our lives.

Sales Tips That Make A Real Difference
Sales training based on research and experience will keep your sales skills sharp. You’re not looking for a feeling; you’re looking for results.

Fortunately, current sales training is moving in the direction of measurable outcomes. In other words, does this sales training improve the long-term results of the people who took it?

Don’t waste your resources on trainers whose content is purely motivational. Their message has a half-life of about 30 minutes.

Conclusion
Tony Robbins’ two-episode reality show tells me that most people share my opinion about the value of walking on fire. None.

Personally, I’m pleased that motivational speakers are on the endangered species list.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Find a New Sales Job

If you’re phobic about math, stay with me for one moment while I define a simple statistical term for today’s sales tips post.

Correlation. It’s the statistical relationship between two or more random variables. In short, if one thing changes, how much and in what direction does it affect something else?

See, that wasn’t too bad.

Example
As the collective IQ of the US Congress decreases (a purely anecdotal observation on my part), the American public’s dissatisfaction with their performance increases. Summary: smart is going down while unhappiness is on the rise.

There are many interesting correlations in sales (“interesting correlations in sales” is an oxymoron that you will probably never see or hear again the rest of your life). I’m going to talk about just one in today’s sales tips blog.

Sales Application
The example given above is called a negative correlation. As one number moves in one direction, the other moves in the opposite direction.

Did you know there’s a negative correlation between sales cycle duration and pricing? As sales cycles get longer, our pricing typically declines.

Our customers are very aware of this phenomenon and they can use it as a silent negotiating technique.

Why We Decrease Pricing As Time Increases

• We think any delay is caused by competitive inroads. The customer must really be checking out the competition and is finding pricing significantly below ours.
• Stalling is a form of a customer objection, and we instinctively lower our pricing in response to all objections.
• We’re afraid the customer has lost interest. Maybe a price concession will get them back in the game.
• We don’t know the customer’s budget, but we’re afraid our quote may have exceeded it. Just to play it safe, we’ll reduce our pricing.
• We’re impatient.
• Our sales manager wants us to close business as quickly as possible.

Sales Blog Wrap-Up
Getting out of this habit requires that we understand this is nothing more than a head game. One we play alone.

Its fundamental cause is a fear of losing the deal.

When we discount pricing because the buyer is delaying, we make pricing decisions from a soft position of assumption and conjecture.

There are a million reasons that cause sales cycles to lengthen. Most of the time we don’t know why. More often than not, it has nothing to do with pricing. Instead of discounting, we need to be asking questions.

There is little or no correlation. Resist the temptation.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Find a New Sales Job

Today’s guest post is by Russ Emrick. Russ is a sales professional with 25 years of experience. He focuses on sales coaching and specializes in lead generation. Learn more about Russ and his company at www.breakoutselling.com.

Recently I had a new water well dug at my residence. I realize now that the effort it took to find a good water supply is analogous to locating new opportunities.

Both start with a plan and changes are made as necessary.

Plans Don’t Always Work
Engineers studied my property. Their research identified the location and depth where water could be found. After drilling at the specified location and to the depth they calculated, no water spouted up. It was a dry hole.

Time for “Plan B.”

Selling often has the same outcome. After in-depth research and needs analysis, we may not uncover any customer opportunities. However, good preparation means having multiple options so that we have the flexibility to change course.

Muddy Water That Nobody Can Drink
On the second attempt, the drillers did find water, but it was undrinkable. The water was mixed with contaminants.

When we drill for information from customers, we frequently accept muddy answers instead of drilling deep enough to get good information.

I call vague customer answers, “stems.” In other words, they are just the beginning of an answer, but certainly aren’t enough to move the sales process forward. There are no flowers to be found here.

• “We have to drive costs out of the supply chain.”
• “We need to decrease our time-to-market.”
• “Our operational efficiencies need to be improved.”
• “We want more of a return from our technology infrastructure.”

Notice that none of these statements are quantifiable. I think George Orwell called this Doublespeak. They really say nothing. There’s a big difference between general customer issues and specific customer points of pain.

We have to dig deeper when we only get a trickle of muddy water from our customers.

• Reframe their answers by asking how a certain issue affects their business.
• Ask them to tell us what they think the solution to their problem looks like.
• Whenever possible, quantify their answers – in dollars and numbers.

Finding Clear Water Is Not Enough
On the third attempt, the well produced sparkling clear water, but not enough to supply the needs of my family.

Many times we immediately engage prospects and customers despite the fact that their well is shallow.

By digging down another 250 feet, a gusher of drinkable water finally erupted from my well. If we continue to ask informed questions of our customers – and wait for the answers, we can frequently find areas of opportunity.

Know What You Want To Achieve
It took four attempts to get a well that produced a large volume of clear water. Mission accomplished. Knowing what I wanted from that well guided me through the process. The outcome was established before we started.

We have to begin the sales process by knowing what we want to achieve. We also need to be prepared to walk away from some opportunities.

Flexible plans, quantifiable outcomes and persistence create winnable opportunities.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Find a New Sales Job