Monthly Archives: July 2011

Generating Sales Leads Face-to-Face

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When you look at this picture, do you think, “I wish it was this easy to get a qualified lead.”? The truth is, many salespersons can be fooled into thinking this is the best way to generate leads. Their thought pattern I suspect is: “If I send 100 emails a day, I’m bound to get at least one qualified lead.” Now hear me out. I’m not saying this won’t generate any leads. In fact, I have seen it be marginally successful in the past. But at that rate, you would need to send out a hell of a lot of emails to get enough qualified leads that could potentially turn into a sale.

A Time Before Technology

I believe that I am fortunate enough to remember a time before iPads and Blackberrys. A time when it wasn’t even an option to send out an email pitch. A time when you had to meet face to face with a potential customer in order to tell them how your product could help them, and why they should invest in you and your company. In my experience, it has always been easier for a potential customer to say no to a computer, than to your face. While it is quite easy to give a quick email summary of your product, the fact is, you can always get the “key benefits” of your product or service across much better in person. By meeting face to face, it allows you to listen to your customer’s concerns, and help to come up with a solution that best suits them, even if it means that your product and/or service is not the correct fit for their business at this time.

Customize a Solution

As salespeople, we sometimes forget that the products and services that we sell are not for everybody. I would be pretty ignorant to think that the product or service I am selling is the only option available in the marketplace. If this were the case, everybody would be driving the same car, wearing the same clothes and drinking the same beverage. When a customer is shopping for a car, there are certain qualifying questions a salesperson asks. “Is this a family car?” “Will this vehicle be used primarily for business trips?” By asking these questions in person, a car salesperson is customizing an individual solution for the customer. You wouldn’t sell a family of eight a two passenger sports car, would you? Then why would you hope to convey your potential message by sending out an email?

In these times, while sending an email may be the easier thing to do. There is something to be said about meeting with your customers face to face. It brings me back to the reason of why I got into the sales industry to begin with… I like helping people identify their problem, and love getting paid to help them find the solution. So do yourself a favor and ask why you got into sales in the first place. I’ll bet you a dollar that the answer won’t be, “I chose the sales industry because I love sending hundreds of emails out, with the hopes of generating a sale.”

“The way you position yourself at the beginning of a relationship has a profound impact on where you’ll end up.” -Ron Karr

Make an appointment this week to meet a potential client face to face and genuinely listen to them tell you what they feel their business needs, and help them come up with a solution. This type of interaction is the key to generating lasting business relationships.

Happy selling!

Make Mistakes… and Learn.

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A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

George Bernard Shaw

Old style management

One of my pet peeves in business is when the culture does not allow for creativity, ingenuity and innovation. It is my experience that many companies – mostly larger corporations – tend to “play it safe”. You’ve heard all of the sayings…from “nobody moves, nobody gets hurt” to “make sure you cover your a**”. This is an unfortunate result of old-style management and leadership where many believe that the status quo is better than actually being progressive. The questions is: what do you learn from the status quo?

Hockey Players Are Being Smothered.

I have coached minor hockey for over 21 years now and every year we have the same issues with the new players that join our hockey team. It is a sad reflection on the state of coaching in minor hockey but most coaches work hard to “not lose” and therefore hammer the kids on making mistakes. They build a culture of “playing it safe” and therefore they stymie the creative process – the very process required for young players to develop. In business it is called “paralysis by analysis” but in hockey it is called players being scared to do anything. Some don’t even want the puck for they are afraid to get yelled at if they do something wrong.

So every year it takes four to six weeks for the new player to understand that my coaches and I subscribe to a different philosophy. We will not come unglued and yell at them when they make a mistake on the ice. On the contrary, we normally ask if they know what they did wrong and if they say yes we do nothing and if they say no we explain it to them – right then and there – in a very controlled manner. Pretty soon they figure out that they will not be chastised for trying something new and then a wondrous thing begins to happen – the player actually becomes creative. Then the next player becomes creative and pretty soon you have a hockey team made up of young men and/or women that become a force that nobody wants to play. They work hard; they try new plays; they look out for one another; they have success and most importantly they have fun. What a concept this is. What if you could do this in a workplace environment?

Make Your Culture a Culture of Learning

I once heard that the many First Nations languages throughout North America do not have a word that stands for the word “mistake’. The closest word they have to this word is “learning”. Wow – so simple and so brilliant. Instead of focusing on the “mistake” why would we not focus on the “learning”.

In our business model we have built a culture that pushes our associates to learn – to make mistakes – to try new things – to look out for each other – to strive for new successes and to have FUN. We are like that minor hockey team who learns by being innovative.

Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.

Samuel Butler

 

How does one get the Boomers to Blog?

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Boomers-Blogging

Baby boomer (definition):

  • a baby boomer is known to be someone born during the demographic post World War II  birth boom between 1946 and 1964, including 1964.

Let it be known that I am a “young” baby boomer and please note that I will ALWAYS be considered a “young” baby boomer. And I like to consider myself as someone that fully embraces the new media platforms available to us including blogging, Twitter and XBOX 360 (Red Dead Revolver rocks!) I am also fortunate to work with some younger people who are pushing for us Boomers within the company to blog more.

"Baby Boomer Graph"

United States birth rate (births per 1000 population). The blue segment is the postwar baby boom

What can a Baby Boomer Teach us?

Apparently these same young people believe that us folks with the “grey hairs” have something to contribute. They are probably right but the blogging world is new to us. Still we need to dive in and participate in this new social setting. I have and I need to say that I actually enjoy it. Blogging is an avenue for me to tell the stories and examples that I often use when dealing with clients in a private or group session. Experience is indeed a wonderful thing and blogging has provided me with a virtual soapbox to tell those stories and give you my perspective on the best ways to approach different situations. Indeed the other “grey hairs” have lots to share but how do we get them to particpate in a consistent manner?

Help the Boomer help the Boomers.

I’m looking for some input from the readers – young and old. Please comment about ways of convincing the boomers that their blogs are welcomed and appreciated. Is it free beer? Perhaps it is a DVD prize of old TV shows based on ‘x’ number of posts? What baby boomer could turn down the full season set of Get Smart or the original Star Trek series? How about the original Battlestar Galactica with Lorne Greene? This has got to make them take notice.

Please post some ideas below in the comments or on twitter – we need to get the boomers to blog. Your contributions will ensure the experience will not be lost before Alzheimer disease sets in.