A telling moment for me was when I was selling to a school board in the province of Quebec.  The account had not upgraded in 10 years and albeit a nice gentleman, the person that was recommending was very uptight everytime we sat down in his office.  I made him a promise on the 3rd visit.  I didn’t know him, he didn’t know me.  I would stop by every 2 weeks, for an hour, without a briefcase, only so that we would get to know each other.  I vowed on not trying to sell anything for one year.  He agreed.  Then, he opened the left bottom drawer and pulled of a Xerox Sales Training binder.  He said to me – “You are trained to sell  – I am not trained to buy from you”.  There we had it, he recognized that I was armed better than he was.  I stood up to my word.  A year later, we renewed the whole fleet that hadn’t moved in 10 years and as he was signing the paperwork, it was a Friday afternoon,  he opened the same drawer, gave me the training manual to take away, and while in the same drawer, pulled out a bottle and 2 glasses.  We took a shot together.

To date, this remains one of my best sale from a win win perspective.  Claude felt great, I felt great and the transaction was built on trust because the organization gave me the time to execute, the training to execute and the lattitude to drive the account on my own.  These are all things that are difficult to find in today’s sales management approach.

I am not saying that I am the best salesman there is.  I might think it, but I am not saying it.  I am saying however, that all along the career of a sales person, there needs to be a set of checks and balances that would make clients feel more comfortable with whom they’re dealing with.  A good dose of patience will go a long way in sales management.  Identify your stars, show them how to get revenue quickly and coach them on building long lasting relationships.  There is no shortcuts – relationship building takes time!

The best examples are found with online demonstrations with recorded audio.  There is a pletoria of words that have no value to the clients, words that I made sure were eradicated from presentations with my sales team.  Here are a few examples:

“This is a NICE feature” –     Nice means unnecessary, and as a client, I don’t want to pay for it.  Tell me it is key and why.

“This is why I like it” – Hmm..no offense, tell me why YOUR CLIENTS like it….tell me a story of how it is being used by other clients.

“I am happy that it happens actually”…When talking about a product malfunction during a demo…this is the sleaziest signal….of course you’re not happy, but you are telling your client that you will lie in order to get a deal.  Great way to start a business relationship.

“This is actually our last one” ….Really?  Am I that lucky to buy the last one or is this an old product?

“Trust me on this“…..  Why do you have to say it?  Should I have any doubts?

There are so many examples of what not to say to your clients.  You can get the same message across, you can create urgency, just think as a client before you speak.  What matters to you – the sales person – might not matter so much to your audience.

What is so magic about quarter end?   Why can we to some extent, condition our clients to make a decision by a timeline that we define?  Forget the discounts that will happen, the frustration on some clients that were never ready to close and should have not been pushed to begin with.  What is it that make it so special that it can motivate an entire sales team with a timeline to produce.  Can’t it be Quarter End Every Day?

You can always use the Dilbert Closing Statement at Quarter End

Make it special.  Make it unique.  Make a big fuss about it.  Reps will get fired up and want to be the one to win the prize.  I used to say that if there is only one blue pen in the office, run a contest with sales.  They will all fight for the blue pen because it is the only one.  Pride still exists in the sales community.  Dollars motivate in a different manner,  but along the way, during the year, a short term contest with a unique prize will provide the spark needed to close a month.

To make my point, a long long time ago(say 1991), the company I worked for ran a contest where the first 10 reps in the district to replace a competitive product will win a prize.  There were 108 reps in the district.  I wanted the blue pencil – I have always been one of those.  The prize, to replace a competitive colour copier, was a piece of “history”.  Inside a glass case was a piece of a motherboard from the first competitive unit we had knocked out as a company.  I remembered that because I found it on my 4 year old daughter’s shelf.  She thought it was “nice looking”.  Now, sales managers, find the blue pencil, run that contest and let your team’s competitive side emerge!

Glass Case Containing the Motherboard of a Competitive Replacement - The blue pencil of the story

Are you one that needs to put the client in a vice at quarter end?

I have probably tried all the techniques.  When I was  evaluating sales talent at the Xerox Document University,

Forget that you would be the best at discovering needs that the clients were unaware of,  or that you’d be the best at presenting the alternatives to the painful painful situation that these clients were in – if you couldn’t close, you couldn’t be ready for a territory.

20 years later, many 1000′s calls later and million dollars of order, one thing is still true.  Your closing technique will tell a lot about who you are.  Actually, today, if you still use a closing technique, whichever it is, tells even more than your style itself.

Over time, obviously, the client has evolved, become more educated and is more aware of the dynamics in thesales process.  While the sellingorganization is trying to aim everything to line up with their timeline, their quarter end, the client has a buying process that is quite sophisticated.  They have their own check boxes.  They have their own people that they will inject in the process.  And they have their timelines.  If you want to move those timelines, it will cost you- greatly.

Front loading the sales process is paramount in today’s world.  You need to understand what problems you are solving.  You need to understand who will benefit from your solution and how will those benefits translate for the organization and its key players.  You need to understand where the money is and how and when those funds will be allocated.  Most of all, you need to build relationships and mature those relationships as the sales process evolves.

If you have a solid business case all along, if you have real business relationships with people making the decision, if you are solving a problem that they want to solve, here is the real truth behind closing techniques.  YOU WON’T NEED ANY!!!

Closing techniques are sales tactics that are there to push the client to forgive or forget, a shortcoming in the sales process.  Period.  Otherwise, the client will tell you that they are ready to buy.

Imagine that…one of the most diversified stores in the country, was extremely focused when it started.   The diversification happens when you are successfull at doing what you do best.  You don’t start with “being everything to everybody”….the same goes with any companies.

It is a good lesson for entrepreneurs as well.   People in the biz call this “trying to boil the ocean”.  Be focused.  Take something you are good at, develop it and work hard at it.

This is what we are trying to do as well.  More to follow on that story….but now that the dog looks good and my wheels are shiny, time to head to the golf course!

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More often then not, the sales exec will get in a stage that I call a funk….where it is all mechanics, and by experience, none of that planning occurs….this is why it is good to throw a wrench in the process and not wait to be invited to a call, but to invite yourself.

Review your team pipeline, pick 2 or 3 of your top reps, and call them.   Tell them that you want to be on the next call with the client you are looking at, and ask them about the call objectives.  Ask for the call plan or the account plan.  You know that if you are invited to a call by the rep, he/she will be prepared, because they specifically asked you to be there.  Don’t wait, you will find the exercise quite telling.

This clip, not necessarily related and not endorsed as an organization….highlights at least the results of what can happen when you are not prepared…..if nothing, it will give you a good laugh at the sales exec expense!

The flip side of that is when you have a client, that has money to spend, you need to be able to direct him/her in a direction that will only lead to one decision – buying your product.

I was put in that situation a few weeks ago, and sitting deep in a chair, I saw a call unfold that was going nowhere but 90 miles an hour to a brick wall with no brakes on.

The client sat down with us and was asked by my partner if they had money….to which the client said no….than, you fast forward on….to us giving a lot, an awful lot of information….and asking…”Do you think you would need something like this”…and obviously, the client said no….

IF YOU ARE SELLING, THE CLIENT SHOULD NEVER HAVE ANY MONEY!!!

Let me clarify this….When a client has identified a need, and decided that the need is causing problems that need to be fixed, they allocate dollars to fix the problem.  You are also not selling, the client is buying! Selling is a long process in which you understand your client’s situation, you identify opportunities that can be improved, you maximize the pain felt by the client and have the client assign value to that problem.  Then, they allocated money to it, and if you did a great job, they might not have money but will have to get it from other services, and then they end up buying your solution.

When you answer an RFP, some sales skills are in play.  When you start the sales process(not buying process as you noticed) that leads to a sales, you have earned your full commission.

In the case of the prospect that came to visit us, I will not follow up with that client.  He is at the top of the foodchain, and we have helped him believe that he doesn’t need us.  Worst, after the call, I was told  -  ” See, they are too small and have no money…”

Although it was bad, it was not as bad as this…but if you want to see what happens(with humor) when a call is one-sided, have a look at this….

At one time or another, a person's true character will emerge....

A lesson in lack of judgment and character!

I write this post not as a sales enabling article, but as a story about what you should look for in an employee, a sales person or a business partner.    Before the work ethics and the great skills, you want someone with CHARACTER.   I always illustrate my comments best with a story.

I gave 10 years of my life to Xerox Canada.  I say give because although I was paid really well, I worked extremely long hours under huge pressure to deliver results from month to month.  When we ended our relationship ( you can read here that I was fired for refusing to move out of my job to a 6th location in 1o years) – as I said – when we ended our relationship,  I was extremely mad at my employer.  2 weeks later, I thought I was the luckiest cat in town.  I had worked for 10 years for one of the greatest companies in the world, made some money, learned a ton and met my wife during that time.  I had a lot to be thankful for .  I was leaving with my knowledge, a fresh start and a few hundred friends in my old workplace.  Since that day, in 1999, I have not stopped singing the praise of that company and hoping for it to be succesful.

After Xerox, I joined a startup in Moncton NB.  From Xerox and ties, to Whitehill and golf shirts.  From 45,000 employees plus at the time, to 35 .  I was one of 6 in the management team and we struggled to survive at the beginning.  Eventually, we built a good business with great people.  NOT the other way around.  Business was good – people were great.  And because of that fact, other companies started to court us.  We were sold in August 2007.  In 18 years, I have worked for one incompetent manager, and he was my last.  I also had the decency to tell him that I thought he was incompetent to be my manager when we first met.  I just thought he should know.  He came from the acquirer so that there would be personality clashes would be expected.  In 18 years, I have only worked with great people.   The people at Whitehill gave us products, support, great customer satisfaction.  They fed me for 8 years.  And the fed me well.  After I left, only great comments.  Only good people there.  When asked about the reorganization by business partners, I only have great things to say – “they are smart, they are in good shape, we are survivors here”.  Nothing to worry about.  After all, I worked with them, elbow to elbow to make it a success.  I know what they can do and the pride they have in the business.

In an unfortunate turn of events today, I read that not all are held by the same standard for character.   Or maybe they just don’t know what that notion stands for in the business world.  Trying to build up his own name or get visibilitiy for his new gig, one of my former employees talked about the demise of the remaining Whitehill employees.  I did the acid test and asked a few peers what would they say about Whitehill today?  All had the same thing in mind, great people, a good business out of Moncton and poised to grow.  What transpired in the papers was: ” It used to be great, and now it is not so great.  But look at what I am doing here”.  And with that, a view of how a little press can rapidly get to someone’s head.  I have nothing but respect and praise for the people at Whitehill.  Keeping with my own discipline, I will not post the name of that person….he doesn’t deserve my press.  I will, for the US readers following my blog, let you email me and request a copy of the article.  For the Whitehill employees, remember that the equation is always the same:  Success is the product of  Work Ethics X Great Skills.  You have both, so success is on its way!

IF all goes well tomorrow, he will realize his mistake, and understand that while trying to elevate his status, he hurt some great people.  IF all goes well tomorrow, he will write an apology.  Textbook behavior.  Damage done, judgement passed.   If you can’t contain your emotions on the phone with the press, simple answers are listed as follows:  1 – I don’t know 2- No comment 3- See no.1