Sales Blog with Sales Tips

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When I was a freshman sales representative, the VP of Sales told me if I kept 95% of my customers happy, I’d be doing a great job.

That might have been good advice even a few years ago.

It represents 100% bad coaching today. Here’s why.

You’re On Stage And Everyone Is Watching
Things have changed dramatically in the last five years. I’m not sure we fully appreciate how exposed all of our actions have become and the resultant level of customer service that is expected of us.

Because of social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), if the company we work for makes a false step, or we do, the whole world knows about it. Instantly.

Decision makers use social media when purchasing, especially when it comes to capital expenditures. Blunders can have more than a trivial impact on our sales. Have you ever considered that potential customers are googling your name before buying from you? They are.

The old formula that said, “If you provide poor service to one customer they’ll tell 10 people,” is from the Paleolithic era. That number is now unlimited.

When You’re On Stage, There Is No Room For Mistakes
Why do you think film producers and directors are so obsessive about their work? They know that millions of viewers will be watching. With so many eyes focused on their work, shortcomings are quickly reported and exaggerated.

Because of social media, things are no different for us.

Sales Tips Wrap Up
In 2010, customers expect perfection from our employers and us. When I say perfection, I mean just that. No errors. There are too many eyes watching and reporting.

Ensure that you follow what is being said about you and your employer on social media. You can lessen any negative mentions by quickly responding before an ember becomes an inferno.

But don’t despair. All of your competitors are working under the same set of rules. The game can also work in reverse. If you do something great, the whole world can know about that too.

Further sales tips reading:
You Are Better Than Your Company’s Propaganda
The Voodoo Of Selling Added Value

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>©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
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Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
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Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
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Social media (e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook) can be used as a selling tool and it’s not nearly as difficult as you may think. It’s a 5-step process and you’ve probably already completed some of them. The fifth step is where it all comes together.

The Basics
Social media is a great way to build rapport with prospects and customers. It can also be a way to gather and give information. Isn’t relationship building and information gathering/giving the holy grail of what we do? Social media can be a powerful tool to help us.  Please see my May, 2009 article in Training Magazine to learn more about the essentials of social media.

Step 1
Sign up for a Twitter account. If you haven’t already done this, please don’t tell anyone and just do it.

What’s cool about Twitter for sales professionals is that the public can only see your tweets and replies (i.e. updates you make and your responses to others). Others can’t see the direct messages (i.e. personal messages) you are getting or sending, nor can they see replies to your tweets. This is important because it lets you control what your customers are seeing.

You’ll use Twitter to provide and receive tidbits of information that fit in the “short, fast and frequent” category. Twitter is weak in the biographical area. I’ll discuss what kinds of things you can include in all of your sales social media efforts at the end of this post.

Step 2
Set up a LinkedIn account – surely you’ve done this already. LinkedIn’s real intention is for professional networking and collaboration.

Don’t worry so much about status updates here. LinkedIn allows you to post status updates and send and receive direct messages, but that’s not its strength. Think of it this way: Twitter is a microwave oven when it comes to instant communications whereas LinkedIn is a conventional oven.

What’s important about LinkedIn is that it provides the best place for you to brag about yourself and your qualifications. It also allows you to easily create a substantive professional network in your industry.

Step 3
The final social media site you need to set up is Facebook. I can almost forgive you if you haven’t done this already because Facebook used to be somewhat of a kid thing – not anymore.

A convenient way to define Facebook is to place it right between Twitter and LinkedIn. It allows for status updates and direct messaging while simultaneously providing a place to put all kinds of biographical information about yourself.

Direct messages are completely private on Facebook but responses to your status updates can be seen by others. Paying attention to this fact and correctly setting Facebook’s privacy settings will keep you in control of the content on your Facebook page.

Step 4
What kinds of things should I include on these 3 sites that would give me credibility in my industry and with my customers?

Biographical

• Your tenure with your company
• Years you’ve been in your industry
• What industry groups or associations you belong to
• Awards and achievements you’ve earned
• Your education and training
• Reference customers (be careful to check with these companies first and know that your competitors will call on them)

Status Updates (usually done with a short comment and an informational link)

• Industry trends and announcements
• New technologies
• “How To” information
• Articles and white papers from “thought leaders” in your industry

Step 5
When you’ve completed the above, put your unique Twitter (e.g. http://twitter.com/scottsheaffer), LinkedIn and Facebook URL’s on your business card. This makes you transparent, available and current. Your competitors aren’t doing this – yet.

Gotchas To Be Aware Of

• Remember that everything you put on these sites will be viewed by your customers. You want to look as professional as possible while remaining approachable.
• Don’t spend too much time on these sites each day (15-30 minutes maximum) and do so during non-selling hours.
• Social media represent virtual networks. Be sure to reach outside of these networks and make person-to-person contact. This can be where virtual translates to financial.
• Social media can’t be a one-way street. You have to play with the kids in the neighborhood. In other words, don’t just make status updates, respond to updates you are receiving.
• Check with your employer to ensure this complies with your corporate communication guidelines.

Further reading:

• Use Social Media To Improve Your Prospecting Right Now
• Customers in 2008 vs. Customers in 1993. Are they really different?

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
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>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

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The following post is not intended as a political commentary about any candidate, but rather a sales analysis that uses a public figure as an example.

On January 7 while campaigning in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton was asked the following question by Marianne Young, “My question is very personal. How do you do it?” She was referring to the challenges that Hillary faces in campaigning for public office and managing her personal life. During her answer Hillary became emotional and began to cry.

Senator Clinton admits that this tear-up may have helped her win the New Hampshire election. Was it contrived or was it real emotion?

In January of 1993 her husband, Bill Clinton, became President of the United States and served until 2001. She undoubtedly had to deal with a lot of stress regarding her husband’s “extracurricular” activities before and during this period.

Since her husband has left office she has been very visible as a New York Senator and has been vigorously campaigning for the Presidency over the last year. In this entire time and through all of these events, is there any record of her crying or even showing any significant emotion in public before January 7 of this year?

On February 4 in New Haven, Connecticut Hillary welled up a second time while speaking to a small group of women at Yale. For at least 15 years Hillary has been in the global spotlight and we had never seen her cry, yet in a one month period she teared up twice in front of the cameras.

I feel confident in assuming that the crying was orchestrated. That kind of craftiness can get you in trouble with your customers and it may ultimately cause problems for Hillary. When we do things in sales that are not consistent with who we are, it ultimately turns our prospects and customers off. People resent being manipulated in any way.

What are some examples of ways we try to manipulate customers that almost always backfire?

1. Trying to exude a personality that is not our own, but one that we think the customer will prefer.
2. Pretending to deeply care about a customer’s personal life when we really don’t.
3. Acting like we are really having a bad month, when we’re not, in order to get a mercy order.

While Hillary won the New Hampshire primary she hasn’t done so well since. I can’t help but believe that one of the reasons is the lack of emotional authenticity that she has recently demonstrated.

Ironically – or maybe not – Marianne Young did not vote for Hillary in the primaries.

You’ve got to be real with your customers. Any time we are less than genuine or authentic our customers can tell and we lose credibility. Sales is a relationship game and the foundation of relationships is honesty.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Are you considering selling, or do you already sell, to a city, county or state? Are you eyeing that RFP from the GSA? Consider the following as you allocate your selling resources when selling to the public sector.

Everyone competes, or so it seems, for public sector business, which is part of the problem. Just like with very large corporations (i.e., the Fortune 500 and their ilk), public sector entities can require an inordinate amount of selling effort, are slow to pay their bills (ironically with your tax dollars in this case) and require you to sell at very low margins. They are normally worse in these areas than the private sector. If there is ever a time that you need to evaluate the return on your selling effort, it is when selling to the public sector. Put caps on the sales effort you are willing to make and the minimum margins that are acceptable. Build in a “stop loss.”

Have you ever played a game with someone and realized later that your opponent was playing with a different set of rules than you? No wonder you lost. That’s the case when selling to the public sector. Your company has to find customers, keep expenses under control and generate profit. The public sector has no real customers in the traditional sense; tax dollars are allocated to them and they don’t have to show a profit. You are playing a different game here; the motivation of public sector employees can be different than what you might be expecting. For this reason the selling principles that work in the private sector don’t necessarily translate to the public sector. Your everyday “off the shelf” game plan probably won’t work.

Government RFP’s can be interesting, but in most cases you’ll want to avoid their siren song. Unless you have an inside line you stand an almost certain chance of being the “designated loser” before the RFP is even issued. For all the fanfare about vendor objectivity in the public sector, there isn’t any. Give up that dream; move on with your life. Buy a lottery ticket instead. Use your selling time more productively somewhere else, like the private sector.

The public sector frequently buys outside of formal agreements and contracts, despite what their buyers may tell you. I’ve seen too many times where something was needed in a hurry and they bought within hours with no bidding. Witness the repair of the Pentagon after 9/11. There was no formal and tedious RFP process and it got rebuilt, quickly.

The public sector can be a challenge to sell profitably. Before you embark on the odyssey of selling to the public sector be sure to carefully and realistically weigh the costs and benefits. In many, if not most, cases your selling efforts are better spent elsewhere in my opinion.