Andrew Pogson I LOVE SELLING blog

Create a WIN Folder

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 01:45:00 +0000

Sales people live in a unique world, we are constantly judged by one question, “what have you done for me lately?”

It is very important that as a sales person you clearly understand your accomplishments and speak to them in detail. It is more important simply showing your boss what you have done for bonus time; you can gain a lot by recalling your Wins.

Create a Win Folder

Set up a folder in your email inbox and on your desktop. The Win folder in your email in box will be used to file and record positive emails recognizing your positive accomplishments. These emails are more valuable than you think. When sales slow you can open your Win folder and regain your self-confidence quickly.

The Win folder on your desktop should be used to file presentations that have been very successful or a key piece of analysis. You will be able to quickly reference your best work and cut down time when making future presentations.

Check out my article published by Sales Gravy.com http://www.salesgravy.com/sales-articles/business-etiquette/business-casual-dress-code-has-gone-too-far.html

5 Traits of Top Sellers

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:39:00 +0000

Right now we are in the middle of an amazing NFL playoff season as we get closer to the Super bowl. Yesterday the NFC and AFC Championship games were played with four teams offering a very different style of play. There is no one defining way a team should play football. In fact, if you ask 20 people what makes a great football team and you will get 20 different answers. There is one constant on great teams though, a great Quarterback.

The Quarterback is the leader of the offence and in many games can make the difference between winning and losing. How can one player be so influential when a team is made up of 50+ players? It is the same way a top sales person leads a company to success or failure. These are the 5 defining traits of what it takes to sell at the highest level. Your ability to understand and do the following 5 things will make the difference in your career:

1. Read the field

2. Scramble

3. Execute

4. Take Risks

5. Ownership

I read a lot of ‘sales self-help’ books and articles; and in my opinion there is too much time spent on the actual skill of selling. Understanding the basics of selling is very important; however the basics will not propel you to the top.

Skill alone will not give you the success you are looking for. There have been many ‘skilled’ Quarterbacks that can’t make it past their rookie year and spend years holding a clipboard playing back-up. If you don’t want to be a back-up player in your sales career then keep reading and implement what you read in this article.

Read the Field

It is the sole responsibility of the Quarterback to read the field when they approach the line of scrimmage and make the right adjustments to the plays being called. Depending on how the defense has lined up the Quarterback needs to communicate to his team how they will penetrate the defense and maintain momentum.

In selling you need to continuously be reading the field. During customer visits you will be able to observe your surroundings and look to see how your competition is doing. Perhaps it is small things such as; your buyer is using a pen given to them by your competitor. Pick up these mental clues and adjust your own approach accordingly. That doesn’t mean run out and get your buyer one of your pens; it does mean take note you likely have a skilled competitor playing against you and you will need to align your company with your buyer in similar ways.

Communicate what you learn back to your company. The other players are relying on the Quarterback to call-out what is happening at the line of scrimmage. The success of the other players is directly related to the Quarterback’s ability to communicate. As a sales person you need to communicate back to your managers what is happening on your line of scrimmage and how can you use your company’s resources to penetrate your customer. The rest of your team ie: marketing, supply chain, trade marketing, finance, demand planning, etc... Are relying on your communication to inform them on how they can be best utilized.

Scramble

Every great Quarterback has the ability to scramble. Scrambling occurs when the first option of the play has not worked and the defense is breaking through the offensive line to get to the Quarterback. The Quarterback’s only option in this situation is to extend the play by scrambling away from the defense to find another option.

The very best sales strategy can be thought up in your boardroom at your office however you never really know how your customer will react. Maybe your strategy is sound, but a supply chain issue has delayed shipment of goods and put your sale in jeopardy. When you feel like things are going wrong in a big way you will need to scramble. It is your job to work out another solution at a moment’s notice.

When a Quarterback is scrambling during a live play, he can’t stop and say, “This is not part of my job; you should be blocking me while I think about what to do.” If he did stop, even for a second, the Quarterback would get crushed by the defensive lineman. The ability to scramble and think in real time to find solutions is the difference between winners and losers.

Execute

Being able to execute your sales plan or strategy is a must for top level sellers. When a Quarterback starts a difficult drive from deep in their end you don’t see them try to reach their goal in one play. What is more sensible is to build executional momentum. Executional momentum is built by stringing together several smaller successes to gain the valuable momentum to help you reach your end goal. A Quarterback will use the plays he thinks will work most often to try and build momentum.

A top sales person should build executional momentum when trying to achieve any goal. Starting with smaller victories and building them together will help you reach your highest end goal. You will often see lesser skilled teams that are able to build strong momentum achieve much more than a ‘highly skilled’ team that over look’s the effectiveness of executional momentum.

Think of ways you can create momentum behind your goals. Is gaining internal alignment around your top customer’s strategy going to help you build momentum? Maybe gaining the support of key field sales people will help you? Maybe soliciting customer feedback behind an important idea or strategy will start your executional momentum. The key takeaway is not what you do specifically to build executional momentum; it is that you take actions to start to build momentum behind you.

Take Risks

I am sure we can all name at least one Quarterback (or other famous athlete) that took a risk that paid off. The hail-marry for a touchdown after the game had ended. The game winning homerun, the game winning shot, the big putt holed to win the tournament.

No one ever remembers the risks that weren’t taken. So taking a risk and failing, has the very same outcome as not taking a risk in the first place.

Playing a conservative game is not the way top Quarterbacks win games and it is not the way top sales people play either.

If you are not currently a risk-taker then learn from those around you that are risk-takers. Study how they approach taking a risk. I think you will find a risk-taker’s perception of taking a risk is very different to your own perception. You see risk-takers think that with proper skill and determination taking a risk is not ‘taking a risk’ it is more of a logical outcome. They have trained and prepared for success, so taking a risk that can lead to success is not strange, it is a logical thing to do given the proper preparation.

Ownership

All the top Super Bowl winning Quarterback’s in recent memory take full ownership of the victory, just as they would have taken full ownership of a loss. Being able to take ownership of an outcome is one of the most important aspects of winning.

Top sales people put themselves on-the-line and expect to win. They tell others they will win. They help their fellow sales people better themselves, so they too can win. They live winning. If you are afraid of a negative outcome or hide in the back of sales meetings not wanting to contribute, then you need to change your attitude.

Ownership is simple you take the good with the bad. You take the praise right alongside the criticism.

The best way to build your sense of ownership is to take on small projects and focus on accountability. The Apprentice a reality T.V show with Donald Trump puts contestants through a series of small projects to identify who out of the crowd will take ownership and who will duck responsibility. The project manager is always the owner of the group’s performance. I suggest you volunteer to project manage small tasks your team needs completed. Take full ownership and communicate results back to your team in a timely efficient manner. Once you have successfully completed multiple projects you will find yourself building momentum behind your sense of ownership and soon you will be ready for even bigger challenges.

These 5 traits of Quarterbacks are the very same needed to sell at the top level. You have already got yourself into the right mindset by seeking out and reading this article. Now continue to challenge yourself and keep learning new information to fuel your continued success.

Handle Tough Customers

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 20:23:00 +0000

Every person in sales has come across a tough customer that you needed to get along with. You could have a difference in personality, age, level of experience, personal backgrounds. I have come across a few difficult ones in my time selling and there is not one clear way to win them over. If you are in this situation with one of your customers then read on and I know you will come away with a plan to win your tough customer over.

I spent a few years managing bread Direct-Store-Delivery people that were quite difficult to win over. To me it seemed they gave me a hard time every chance they could, just for fun. I needed to win them over and it was difficult to figure out what would work.

Listen Closely

One of the drivers told me flat out, “he had been delivering bread for longer than I had been alive.” Perhaps you have heard a similar comment or objection on your age or inexperience. This fact was indeed true. I responded to him in a counter-intuitive way by agreeing with him, “yep your right.” I said.

You might be thinking, ‘even if it was true, why should you give him the satisfaction of demeaning me.’ That is certainly one way of looking at it. I agreed with him because it took the emotion and negativity away from his comment. If I had responded negatively then his next comment to me would have negative as well.

If I was to dismiss a fact I knew to be true; then I would be sending the message that I wasn’t listening.

Once you are able to convince your tough customer you are listening to them you need to put yourself in their shoes. See what your customer sees from their perspective.

Understand your customer’s perspective

Understanding is a poorly defined concept when applied to selling. You might have heard your sales manager say to you ‘yeah I understand where you are coming from’ the last time you asked him for a raise. Your sales manager most likely was dismissing you request without giving it much thought. If you seek to understand your customer in a dismissive way then you will actually worsen the relationship. So how do you understand you customer without upsetting them?

Questions, the number of questions you ask of your customer to understand their perspective will directly indicate to your customer how much you care.

1. Am I hearing you correctly when you said service is your main concern?

2. I hear that price is important to you, are there other areas of concern you have with our company?

3. Thanks for helping understand the needs of your business…

I have found that when I truly put my-self in my customers shoes then I would react in the same way. Think about how you react when a tele-marketer calls your house during dinner time, are you frustrated? Sure you are. If you are browsing in a retail store and the sales clerk won’t leave you alone, you probably have thought this annoying at least once before. When you think about it your reaction might be the very same your customer is having to you.

Knowing this put you in a great position to authentically say to your customer, “I get where you are coming from. Perhaps I should give you some time to think about how I can help you. Give me a call when you are ready.” You will find your customer really appreciates this approach.

Know you Goal Posts

Once you have convinced your customer you are listening to them and want to understand their perspective; you need to know what you can or can’t commit too. Think of these as your goal posts. You have a best case and worst case outcome for any deal with a customer. Your toughest customer will push you hardest to try and get you to commit to a deal in their favour. Staying within your goal posts will stop you from committing to a deal not in your favour.

The sides of your goal post will vary differently for each and every sales person, the constant must be that you clearly understand what you can or can’t do. Tough customers want to deal with decision makers and if you need to run back to the boss and get his permission to make even the smallest decision then your tough customer will want to speak directly to your boss; not you. Once you have defined you goal posts it is easy for you to tell your customer that you can’t commit to that, however you can commit to this.

Try these tips out with your tough customer and let me know how you do. If you have a real life example I can help you with I would be happy to answer your questions.

Be Yourself and Ace a Sales Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 01:54:00 +0000

If you Google sales interview tip’s you will likely find an endless amount of information. Most of what is being said on these forums, YouTube videos, and how to sites is generic information designed to draw you to the site. You’ll find buzz words and keywords optimized to rank highly in searches for the keen and eager sales person to find their site. You are another click on their pay-per-click advertising model designed to make THEM money.

The problem with sales ‘how to’ lists is that sales is an enormous topic which can generate an enormous amount of interest from the Internet public. Stay clear of the following types of headlines, if you want to do well in a Sales Interview:

1. Influence your Interview

2. One Best Sales Interview Question

3. Answers to Top Sales Interview Questions

4. Sales Interview Techniques

5. Sales Interview Must Do’s

I will end the list at five but it could go on forever. I will quickly tell you why the above are troublesome and time wasting.

Myth # 1 there are a list of top sales interview questions.

There is no standard list of questions you need to memorize answers too in order to be prepared for a sales job interview. This is not a multiple choice exam at school requiring a predetermined score to get the job.

The focus of a sales job interview is you. You are the only person who can answer questions about yourself. Trying to study what to say during a sales interview is a waste of time because all of your knowledge and experience is hard wired into your brain already. I might as well ask you to study how to breathe, before taking a breath.

You know who you are and what you have done. Your focus should be presenting yourself with confidence and making a great first impression.

Myth # 2 you need to learn sales interview techniques.

If you approach a sales interview with a focus of being anything other than yourself, you are setting yourself up for failure. There is no secret technique to being you. In every interview I have participated in I have always tried to be confident, humble, outgoing and respectful of the interviewer’s time.

You don’t have to convince anyone you are the world’s best sales person. In fact, if you are the world’s best sales person, it would be to your advantage to under promise and then over deliver after you got the job.

Give the best answer you have and try to make a point without rambling on, your interviewer will appreciate your ability to answer their question concisely.

Myth # 3 you should focus on the questions the interviewer will ask you.

I have never focused on what I will be asked during an interview. The list of questions you could be asked is endless so there is no point trying to guess what you will be asked. In fact I make a list of the questions I want to ask the interviewer once they have asked me the questions they want to have answered. Again you are not studying for a school exam. Memorizing answers is useless and will likely make you come across as over-rehearsed.

You will find writing a list of questions you want answered and determining what you think is a satisfactory answer to your question is one of the best ways to prepare for an interview. By having a list of thoughtful questions laid out ahead of time, you are subconsciously telling the interviewer you have given this interview some thought and preparation, which is exactly what an interviewer wants. They want you to care.

You are attending the interview to hopefully get a job that will increase your standard of living and help you provide for you and your family. You need to give satisfactory answers and you should also expect to receive satisfactory answers to your questions in return.

I have been in interviews where I asked a few questions of the interviewer and quickly realized this was not the job for me, whether they wanted to me or not.

This list of YOUR questions will save you from wasting time in interviews for jobs that don’t meet your standards and it will help you find the most suitable job for you.

Just be Yourself

I don’t see many articles across the Internet encouraging aspiring sales people to focus on being themselves during sales interviews. I see many quick fix, how to, or must do lists that serve the purpose of driving site traffic.

If you want to do well in a sales interview BE YOURSELF and write down a list of questions you want answered. In no time you will find yourself taking charge of the interview and your life.

If you lost your voice, could you still sell?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 02:52:00 +0000

I recently heard a story about a sales rep that lost his voice due to an acute infection on his vocal cord. A person losing their voice is not entirely remarkable in itself, however this sales rep was still able to sell and very successfully. This got me thinking about what I would do if I lost my voice. I confess that I rely on my voice heavily and I am sure if you are reading this article you would agree with same. As a sales person our voice is one of our most important assets, however it is not our only one.

Almost 100 years ago silent movies were a very popular form of entertainment. No one today would imagine entertainment without the luxury of dialogue and elaborate sound effects. One of the most successful actors today is Johnny Depp and he was very aware of how silent movie actors were able to successful communicate without words.

Charlie Chaplin is one of the most famous of the silent movie actors that was a master as non-verbal communication. Johnny Depp studied Chaplin and others to understand their movements and facial expressions.

Depp used what he learned in the famous movie franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean” playing the role of Captain Jack Sparrow he used his body language and elaborate facial expressions to enhance his performance. Sales people can use the same techniques to transform every aspect of their sales career. Here’s how…

Tomorrow you wake up and you have lost your voice, what next? Talking on your cell phone in the car on the way to the office is out. So your commute to work is going to be much quieter.

Greetings

Without a voice you will have to greet people and customers much more warmly than likely in you have in the past. Making eye contact will need to be your focus when you first meet someone to create an early connection with the person. Shaking hands warmly and extending your non-shaking hand to grab the elbow of the arm you are shaking will hold the persons attention. These non-verbal communications will be your only tool to send a positive message.

Presentation

Once you have greeted your customer you will need to conduct your sales presentation without speaking. The best way for you to present will be to use a PowerPoint presentation to take your customer through your sales presentation. To stop your customer flipping ahead in your presentation you will want to share the presentation making sure you hold the printed deck and control the speed of presentation.

Follow-Up

If your customer has asked questions during your presentation you will need to document the follow up items before concluding your meeting. Back at the office email will be your best tool to answer the questions and respond to follow up’s.

I am hoping this is just an exercise in examining your other attributes beside your ability to speak. I’m not endorsing not speaking during your next sales call just be aware of the non-verbal ways of communicating and how you can use them to your advantage.

Don't Just Sell; Make an Ever-Lasting Impact

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:57:00 +0000

Ray Lewis the famous linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL played his last home game this past weekend in Baltimore, USA. After 17 years of being the one of the best defensive players ever in the league Ray Lewis is retiring. A recent documentary on Ray Lewis has turned out to be very timely with the announcement of his retirement this year. In this documentary Ray Lewis made a simple statement, “He lives to impact people.”

Success to Ray Lewis is making a difference in people’s lives. Greatness is making a true impact; leaving an ever-lasting impression with a person they will never forget. Translating the idea of making an impact to selling forces us to move well beyond making the sale and understand how we impact people.

Do you feel in your sales career you have made an ever lasting positive impression on someone?

In my career I have made an impact in my last position during the launch of the company’s largest marketing program ever launched. I’ll share this story with you as an example of making an impact that may help you come up with your own ideas.

The company I worked for at the time was launching their single largest marketing campaign ever. The program was leveraging a major NHL Superstar to endorse the product. I was a field sales manager responsible for over-seeing the execution of this program at the retail grocery stores in my region. I knew this marketing program was BIG and I wanted my contribution to the program to be noticed.

The NHL superstar was the main driver of this marketing program; I thought of ways to make my execution the BIGGEST and BEST the company would see. I settled on my idea, I was going to build a hockey rink display in a grocery store in my region.

As part of the program I had Point of Sale displays to hold the products and a cardboard cutout of the NHL superstar. If I was going to build a hockey rink display I would have to do it myself.

I designed the layout of my display; the dimensions were 20’ wide x 10’ deep this would be a huge display. I purchased plywood sheets and painted them white in my garage to make the ice surface. When the white paint had dried I added the blue and red lines for the hockey rink markings. I purchased actual size metal goals to be placed at each end of the hockey rink.

I had been able to convince the manager of a major retail grocery store to allow me to build my hockey rink display inside his store. The day of execution I arrived at the store before opening and worked for hours building the display out of all the materials I had prepared at my house for the display.

Finally the display was complete and the store manager was amazed at the hockey rink display. The first shoppers through the store were blown away by seeing a hockey rink display inside their grocery store. One child actually laid down on the ‘ice surface’ and had his mother take his picture. Enthusiasm and excitement were high.

I took several pictures of the display and sent them into the marketing department to share my work. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of the response. The usual response was a ‘good job’ or ‘nice work’ from a marketing manager.

However, the response I got was much different. Emails started coming in one after another with strong words of praise for the hockey rink display. Each email was forwarded on to a higher and higher level of management at first the brand manager, then director of marketing, then the VP, CFO and ultimately CEO and President.

I received an email from the President and CEO of a $5 billion company congratulating me on my creativity and passion. Later that week the same President and CEO included my Hockey Rink display pictures in his weekly newsletter to the entire global workforce.

While this praise and admiration did not result in an immediate raise or large stock option. It did result in me achieving my goal of making an impact.

There is no one single way for someone to make this type of impact on people or an organization. You should focus on trying to set your sights high and strive to make the largest positive impact possible in your position to put you on the path to greatness.

Turn your job today into your Dream Job

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 01:56:00 +0000

It is no secret that people that read educational or inspirational materials are very interested in improving their lives. You’re open to new ideas, willing to invest in change and highly motivated to take the necessary steps needed for improvement. I write this blog with one clear goal; to provide the type of information you feel will help you be more successful in selling.

Motivation usually comes from a deep seeded desire to do one of two things; make more money and/or achieve significant accomplishments.

Let’s face it; life today is expensive. Most households require two incomes to cover the bills. It is not selfish for anyone to want a few more dollars in their families pocket at the end of the month. So how can you do it?

I can help you position yourself in the job market to earn more money, achieve significant accomplishments and be happier at work.

It is true. I have discovered something powerful that has changed my life and my family’s life. No I didn’t win the Powerball Lottery Jackpot. What I discovered is just as life changing as if I did win the lottery. I am excited to share this with you and I know you will want to share these ideas with friends and colleagues, just as I am sharing this with you.

Land Your Dream Job

I recently achieved a significant milestone in my career’ I achieved my dream job. While this job is not my end goal for my career; it is my dream job. I spent 2 years thinking about achieving this job and 1 year actively pursuing this job. During the time I was hoping to achieve this job; I was working hard at my present job then spending evenings and weekends searching for my dream job.

I was successful in changing jobs and achieving my goal of working on a National Account. Landing this position filled me with HOPE and EXCITEMENT for the future. If you feel you truly need to change your job to renew your hope for the future I will share with you the techniques and tips I used in my search. Before I do this, I want to make a clear point I realized after I changed my jobs. Hope and excitement for your career are creations of your own mind.

Therefore, you do not need to change your job to instill HOPE and EXCITEMENT into your mind.

We have been conditioned to think that change will provide renewal. This is a myth. You control your mind and you control how much HOPE and EXCITEMENT you bring to your job. Landing your Dream Job can happen tomorrow if you approach your current job with HOPE and EXCITEMENT.

Become Satisfied

Many of you reading this might currently be dissatisfied with your current position. Perhaps your salary is lower than you would like, maybe you don’t receive the recognition you would like. Your employer doesn’t support continuing learning, and this is preventing you from achieving your goals. All of the above are likely true; if you believe they are true. Bringing these thoughts to work is setting the foundation for your failure, not your success.

While you are quietly being discontent at work, your colleagues and in many cases your customers are well aware of how you feel. Hiding your emotions is very hard work. It doesn’t matter how well you think you hide your deepest thoughts, they have a way of surfacing.

Those around you are taking notice that you are not happy about______________you can fill in the blank with salary, work environment, job title, level of responsibility, perks, amount of vacation, etc.

The key to advancing in your sales career is to become highly satisfied at work. Enjoy your work and people will take notice. Opportunities will come your way. It will take time to change the minds of those around you; but it will happen. Maybe your sales manager will ask you to present at a meeting, or take on a test project. If you react positively to these opportunities then you have succeeded in positioning yourself for advancement.

If you ultimately decide you are not able to a HOPE and EXCITEMENT in your current position then you need to make the change. Here are the steps I took to successful change jobs for the better.

5 Successful Job Search Tips

1. Set clear goals for your new position including title, salary, total compensation, company, working environment, location, work type, customer base. Be as specific as possible and don’t take offers that don’t match your goals.

2. Network on Linked In. Many companies have incentive payouts for current employees to refer quality applicants to their company. If you want to be a district sales manager at a company then connect with other district manager’s outside of your local geography and see if your target company offers a referral payout. Most people are at least willing to consider referring a qualified candidate if they stand to benefit from a referral bonus. Note: not all people will be willing to do this so provide with caution and do not pressure anyone.

3. Create email job alerts. It takes time to check job sites daily so set up keyword email alerts to send your personal email account notifications when positions in your area are posted matching your job search goals. Too many people waste time scrolling through job sites looking at old postings. Set up the alerts and let the job site deliver the information you are looking for right to your inbox.

4. Set up Google News Alerts to deliver news stories about your target companies. If your target companies are experiencing change or integrations then positions will likely be created and an opportunity could be a fit for you. If you are not aware of the current news events about your target companies then you could miss a key window of opportunity.

5. Use YouTube to search interview tips and techniques for your target companies. Some companies post educational or recruitment videos on YouTube to attract applicants to their company. You can use these videos to gain valuable insights on interview questioning techniques, tips, styles and hear from current employees that had successfully gone through the process.

These are 5 major tips I used when searching for my Dream Job. Remember above all else to be HOPEFUL and bring EXCITEMENT to every aspect of your life and you will soon have your Dream Job.

Has Business Casual Gone too far?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 01:34:00 +0000

If you attend most major large company’s sales conferences or off-site sales training sessions you will generally find more golf shirts than at a PGA tour event. Golf shirts and dress paints for men have become synonymous with the term ‘business casual’. Is this a good thing for selling?

When I was a kid I don’t ever remember my Dad going to work as a sales professional in anything other than a suit and tie. Even as a young guy I thought it looked pretty impressive that my Dad wore a suit and tie to work every day.

I often struggle to know what to wear when the dress code calls for ‘business casual’. For me a golf shirt and khakis feels too casual, I try to limit the golf shirt to only the hottest of summer days. The rest of the time I feel most comfortable at work in dress paints and dress shirt with no tie for the days I will be only in the office.

I am fortunate the company I work for still has a suit and tie policy for customer visits. Likely this isn’t a written policy, more a generally accepted practice as part of the working culture. I like the idea of knowing that when I will be meeting with a customer, my colleagues and I will be wearing a suit and tie. It is simple. No guessing.

This is not common place anymore. When I see other account managers at customers I rarely every see others wearing a suit and tie. For me I gain a subtle hint of confidence from this. I know I and my colleagues have made the effort to dress for success during our customer visit.

You don’t have to look hard on the internet to find motivational coaches providing the benefits of dressing for success.

“You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure.”

By Zig Ziglar

So with all this being said, has business casual gone too far? There is too much of a good thing. Dress down Friday extends into off site meetings and trainings. Then business casual seems to fit in the hotter summer months. Before you know it you are only wearing a suit for Weddings and Funerals. When do you draw the line?

I suggest that you try to make an effort to steer yourself always towards more formal than casual. After all I have never met a customer or colleague that got upset because I was dressed well. Most of the time; you may hear, ‘why so dressy?’ The perfect time to reiterate the importance of the meeting or person you are meeting with.

The Image of Selling Needs a Facelift

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:37:00 +0000

When I was a teenager I remember being heavily influenced by John Grisham’s novels and movies. Grisham had taken the legal drama and elevated it to new heights. His books are international best sellers and his movies made millions. I know this was one of the primary reasons I wanted to be a lawyer when I was 18.

As one of the comments by a reader of this blog pointed out, ‘if you ask 18 year olds what they think about selling they will likely tell you something negative.” Why is this? At 18 I doubt they have had some overtly negative experience with a sales person to shape their outlook. I would guess it is the lack of information presented to them at 18. If there is a void in positive information then all it takes is one piece of negative information to cast a long shadow over selling in general.

In real life if you visit a court room or meet with a lawyer and find out what makes up most of the daily activities you’d find it pretty boring. According to a Grisham book your life would be filled with high energy drama from start to finish and you would end up being a hero. Who doesn’t want that? High School students are impressionable and these movies help draw their attention and shape what they want to study in University. It is no wonder that law, business and medicine are popular courses in all level of post-secondary education.

Hollywood has a way of making almost anything seem exciting.

Jerry McGuire starring Tom Cruise had one of the most famous lines in recent memory, “Show me the money” Tom Cruise played a sports agent that resigned from a position at a top sports management agency and lost all of his clients but one. Cruises character was forced to propel his one remaining client into the spot light.

Sales, and the profession of selling, badly need to give itself a facelift and inject some more positive images of sales in popular culture. Even movies that feature sales people in the story lines due it in a subtle way.

There is nothing subtle about “Wall Street” released in 1987 featuring Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas. The message is clear it is cool to be a trader on Wall Street. Follow up movies to ‘Wall Street’ such as; ‘Boiler Room’ released in 2000 staring Giovanni Ribisi and Vin Diesel or ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’ released in 2010 again starring Michael Douglas have carried on the message.

During the 90’s the medical show ‘ER’ starring the now ultra-famous George Clooney led the way in creating a very positive; high drama image of the medical profession. Following the show ER came the highly popular medical drama ‘House’ starring Huge Laurie as a colourful diagnostic genius Doctor.

I am not saying that everyone that sees a movie about investing, law or medicine pursues a career in those fields, but it does help their popularity. Find the right career is a long path however the journey starts with a positive image or feeling about the job.

It is no wonder that professions that appear in many best-selling Hollywood movies and TV shows receive the most demand from students to study them at College or University.

In my experience I have met lots of great men and women in sales. Most of the people I have met have been quite successful when you compare against national income averages. Selling needs to leverage these great men and women to spread the word about just how good a career in selling can be.

This blog is an effort by me to inspire current sales people and potential sales people to decide to excel at selling. I challenge everyone that reads this post to use social media to spread the positive word about selling. Remember, when there is a void of information, it is easiest to provide a negative point of view.

Use all social media outlets to encourage people to choose selling and we will slowly see the current negative paradigm of the image of selling change.

The ultimate goal will be to create a very positive image of selling that High School and University students will see and then attract them to want a career in selling. This will eventually force educational institutions to develop sales specific programs.

Happy Holidays!

Selling Is What the Customer Does

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 01:54:00 +0000

I recently heard a great quote by John Jacobs a legendary golf instructor, “Golf is what the ball does.” John’s explanation of one of the most complex sports was incredible. The simple statement hit on every aspect of the game with precise accuracy.

The idea behind stating, “Golf is what the ball does” was Jacob’s ability, and many others after him, to diagnose the swing fault from the flight of the golf ball. Too often golf instruction is focused on the golfer; analyzing every inch of the swing from address, to takeaway, to follow through. Was the error in the set up? Hand position? Golfer’s stance? Swing plane? The list goes on and on to the point where it is nearly impossible to accurately tell what the true problem was.

The result of how the golf ball flew tells a trained instructor exactly what the problem is and even in many cases what needs to be done to fix the issue. Selling is very similar. This leads me to coin a similar term, “Selling is what the customer does.”

Focusing on the customer, not the sales person can tell a great deal, to a trained instructor.

The fault of too many sales trainers is that they focus their attention on their customer, the failing sales person. The sales trainer is actually following my idea correctly and focusing in on the customer. The problem is that doesn’t help the flawed sales person better understand their customer. The trainer looks into how the sales person sells; not how the sales person’s customer reacts to them.

Let’s continue with the golf analogy to keep things simple. If the golf ball flight is a large slice; the club face is too open at the point of impact. If the golf ball flight is a large hook, then the club face is too closed at impact. These are the two most common mistakes in golf.

A slice in selling is not explaining the value proposition of your product or service fully; causing the buyer to be unable to see the reason for buying. A hook in selling is talking too much; not taking the time to listen to your customer and understand their position. These are two very common selling mistakes.

To improve your ability to sell and solve your slice (poorly explaining why a customer should buy your product) review your customers reaction. By focusing your attention on how your customer reacted you open your mind to be able to identify the problem and work to correct it.

Did you customer respond negatively to the price? Did your customer see a need for your product? Was your customer a fully qualified potential customer? Did your customer offer a reason why they would not be purchasing your product? Did your customer listen attentively or did their attention wonder?

From these reactions you will be able to understand what area of your sales presentation needs work. By focusing your attention on how your customer reacts to you; you will greatly improve your ability to understand how you are performing with each and every customer.

Now let’s look at the hook in selling (talking too much). How do you know if you talk too much? Focus again on your customer’s reaction. Did your customer ask you any questions during your sales presentation? Did your customer ask to try your product? Did you get any feedback from your customer? Did you learn key information about your customer? ie: name, age, family situation, reason for purchasing. If you know very little about your customer and seldom receive feedback from your customers; it is likely you talk too much when selling. You simply can’t learn about a person if you do all the talking.

Many sales people think by doing all the talking they are ‘taking the lead’ or ‘warming up the sales call’ or even better ‘reeling them in’. The only thing you accomplish by talking all the time is displaying arrogance and ignorance at the same time.

Effectively listening is harder than most people think. You will need to start slowly if you suspect you talk too much. The most effective way to get a customer to talk during a sales presentation is to ask a question about the person directly. Everyone is an expert on one thing, themselves. Take note of what the person says even make a quick note about one particular point. Taking notes helps commit a fact to memory and creates a pause when the customer may offer more information assisting you greatly in learning more.

If during a sales presentation, you feel you are talking too much and things are going poorly, come clean. Early on in my career I remember coming clean a few times. I would say something like, “I am having a tough time here; is there something in your opinion I could be doing better?” If the person blows you off you have really lost nothing because they were going to blow your off anyway. On the other hand, if the person senses you are genuine they might give you some free advice that you one day come in very useful. In my career I found many people were willing to help me after I came clean.

By reading your customer’s reactions you will be able to tell what area of selling you need to improve on. However, if you are really unsure and very new to selling, seek out an experienced colleague then explain how your customers react and get their advice.

You will see improvement in your selling skills just by focusing in on how your customer reacts to you. It won’t solve all your problems over night; but it will demonstrate your genuine interest in your customer and they will take notice of that.

Birthday Wishes

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 01:20:00 +0000

As I was learning the ropes as an on-the-road sales rep I found that I couldn’t keep track of my friends and families birthdays. I would realize it was someone’s birthday at the last minute; often too late to do anything meaningful.

I decided I need to make this more of a priority in my life to avoid constantly missing birthdays. My fix was to put important birthday dates into my work Microsoft Outlook email schedule. Most of the time I was at work when I realized I had missed an important birthday.

Integrating my work schedule with important personal dates did a good job of keeping me on track and prioritizing key dates. However, if that was the end of my idea I would probably leave you thinking that was lame, and you would be right.

I thought one day ‘if I could keep track of friends and family birthdays on my work schedule, could I do the same for my customers?’ I started asking my customers for the date of their birthdays, and soon the idea became very successful. Why did it work? Simply, I cared enough to ask and then remember.

Be Genuine

Don’t ask a customer for the date of their birthday and then forget to recognize it. If you decide this idea could work for you; then here is how it is done.

Ask your customer for their birthday date. Then put the birthday into your Outlook email schedule and set a reminder for 2 days prior. I send an email on the morning of the person’s birthday. You can choose to make a phone call, send a text or visit.

Keep it no cost

Many organizations have no gift policies. Don’t get caught up in being accused of trying to buy someone. The strength of this idea is simply being interested enough in your customer as a person to care about recognizing their birthday. Spending money on gifts can make people feel uncomfortable and even make them feel the need to reciprocate. The last thing you want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable; so keep your recognition no cost.

Who doesn’t love receiving birthday wishes? You will find if you use this technique effectively your customers will see you as more empathetic, caring and generally thoughtful.

This has worked for me in my career and I know it will help you strengthen your relationships as well.

Excellence is Exhausting

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Anyone that achieves a significant amount of success at almost anything will assure you that success is hard won. It doesn’t matter if you goal is to be the most successful sales person, athlete, parent, friend, family member, church member, fundraiser…the list can go on and on. You will have to win more than you lose. Balancing winning and losing, I have found, is difficult because for some reason people aren’t prepared to loose.

Unsuccessful people are actually expecting to not experience defeat; this idea of being able to win them all actually results in failure. I will quickly be able to show you what you need to do to be truly successful in selling and then in achieving your other goals as well.

If someone told you, “I can help you achieve your goals more effectively and be more successful than you imagined” would you be interested? If you’re not that could be part of your problem. If you are, then keep reading and open your mind to ‘the art of losing’.

I am hoping you have a sense of humor and decided to keep reading this article. The point I am making is a simple one and I will walk you through how you can apply it.

Don’t try to be perfect

Early on in your career you need to be thankful for the people who give you a swift kick in the ass. Honestly, the buyers that give you a hard time or push you beyond your immediate knowledge base have helped you more than you can know. Because even the idea of acting like you have all the answers or like you will never miss on a sales call is exhausting.

The appearance of perfection is flawed thinking.

I will give you an example almost everyone is aware of. Tiger Woods in his early career started his career with a stoic eye to perfection. His skills were exceptional and no one doubted he was talented beyond measure. However, at some point the people around him started marketing him as the of symbol perfection.

I don’t know if the perception of Tiger being above common mistakes grew organically or if a clever agent thought it up to sell clubs. Few of us will never truly know.

We can all recall hearing the news of Tiger Wood’s martial problems, extra material affairs, sexual escapades, and his image of a role model instantly vanishing.

I once heard a comment regarding Tiger; before his car accident and staged apology, ‘with Tiger in his inner circle it was a one and done policy’ regarding how Tiger trusted those close to him

The statement ‘one and done’ basically showed Tiger’s unwillingness to forgive those close to him . If in Tiger’s mind you broke his trust, for whatever reason, you could find yourself on the outside looking in.

The irony is clear that Tiger held loyalty so high in judging others and so low in judging his own actions. I personally don’t judge Tiger. What people chose to do in their marriages, bedrooms, personal life is basically up to them.

What I think we can all learn from the fall of Tigers ‘near perfect’ image is to not pretend we are even close to perfect in the first place.

Learn to Lose

You will not win them all; so start learning how to lose. The key to losing is being able to understand what was not successful.

Too many people internalize losing and make it an absolute concept. Statement’s such as, “I screwed up” or “I blew it” or “How could I have been so dumb?” or “Why me?” All carry meaning far beyond analyzing one situation. These statements judge the person rather than the actions.

One loss does not make you a loser. You are not your actions. You can learn from your loss and move forward to bigger and better things.

I find seeking out experienced colleagues to find out what I could have done better is one of the best ways to turn the tables on an unsuccessful sales call. Sometimes just sounding out what I did or did not do can identify a key insight or learning that will help you be more successful next time.

Tiger Woods spent too much time judging those around him and trying to project an image of perfection. Instead of making sure he was holding himself to a high moral standard he committed a selling Sin; Tiger ‘said one thing and did another’. He built a house of cards and all of his competitors were all too happy to watch it come crashing down.

Don’t try to act like you are perfect. You’re not, so get over it, be humble and sell like hell.

Why do Universities Ignore Selling?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 01:25:00 +0000

It has been almost a decade since I attended University and I see little change to the importance formal education puts on selling as a profession. My father “told me that selling was a great back up plan” and I believed him. I went off to University with the hopes of becoming a lawyer. Being a lawyer is a nice solid profession as most describe it. Sure there are bottom feeding lawyers, just as there are bottom feeding everything else. Generally society sees lawyer, doctor, dentist, accountant as worthy professions to endorse. Why not selling?

I had high ambitions of going to law school, passing the bar and becoming a respected member of society. I had no real intentions of selling as a career. Both of my parents had and are still currently sales people and they have made a nice middle class life. Nothing wrong with that I thought; I felt I would achieve more.

Before I arrived at University some of the doors had already been closed to the different areas of study. I was not a great math or science student so many of the math and science courses were off limits. I was disappointed to find that not doing well in advanced math would prevent more from taking business as a major. I have since learned to be in business you don’t need either calculus or algebra; nonetheless it still prevented me from studying business in University.

I settled on a Bachelor of Arts as a good back up plan. I was mildly interested in politics and law so I decided to pursue those subjects. I studied a wide array of courses from psychology, to political science, and philosophy. During my University career I quickly understood just how many other students had made becoming a lawyer a goal of theirs as well. Doing some quick math on the number of law school’s and the number of graduates from law school each year I quickly realized law was being over supplied; too many graduates and not enough jobs.

The pool of law school graduates was large and getting larger. Competition was fierce; not to mention the fact that I wouldn’t be getting a real pay cheque until my mid-thirties I decided being a lawyer was not for me.

After I graduated I needed to find a job. I decided to try a Government position due to my interest in politics. Civil service really has no interaction with politics (I learned this after taking the job); rather it is more the function of processing the business of Government. I was thoroughly bored at this job.

After six months my parents sensed my boredom and shear lack of interest in my Government job and suggested I look for a job in sales. This had been my back up plan and it looked like a good time to exercise this option.

With no prior training in sales I applied for and attained a job selling home appliances wholesale. I instantly increased my income and got into a job more suited for someone that liked to meet people.

Now having spent years in selling I realize what a fantastic career it can offer. I also question why selling has not been entered into the formal education system and fully endorsed by College or University. Even today you will struggle to find formal courses on selling at most higher learning facilities. Why is this?

If you were a high school student contemplating your future the option to choose a job that paid in the top 20% of salaries and required little to no physical labour, would sound like a good deal.

Likewise if you were a parent and your child came to you and said, ‘I am thinking of a career that could very likely pay $60-100k a year, with a company car or car allowance, paid expenses, and very strong long term career growth potential’, I am sure you would be thrilled. So why does formal education not make more of an effort to educate students on selling?

If you look at any major business your will find the following knowledge based departments:

Finance

Accounting

Marketing

Research and development (engineering)

Information Technology

Legal

Sales

All with the exception of sales are offered at Universities in either a degree format or at very least course format.

I was recently waiting in the lobby for a recent sales meeting and I overheard a conversation I thought to be particularly interesting. The receptionist was describing to the other receptionist her back ground. She had achieved a degree in Science but had never worked in a science field. She described all of her jobs had been in reception or office administration capacities. I realize this story is one of observation however I have to ask, what is the use of a Science degree in today’s job market if you are not able to find relevant work in your chosen field? It would be even sadder; if this person had gone into debt to finance her Science degree and ended up working as a receptionist.

With the trends of the globalization manufacturing is being moved to cheaper foreign markets moving the need for engineering jobs to those markets as well. IT is being outsourced globally to India and China reducing jobs for Computer Science majors. The list can go on; however, products still need to be sold. Selling is just as vital as production, marketing, public relations, legal, finance and accounting to any major business. So why don’t we treat it as an equal in education?

I would like to see sales be adopted into the ‘worthy’ professional category as it is a fantastic way to make a career. Sales people from all industries should be proud to be in sales; and try to educate students and recent graduates whenever possible of the benefits a career in sales has to offer.

Don’t let formal education’s narrow focus fool you. Selling can and does make a lot of people wealthy and very happy both at the same time. Selling does not have to be a backup plan or a fall back. We should look at selling as a viable career and education people accordingly.

Please comment: Why do you think higher education has neglected selling as a profession?

Avoid a Boom / Bust Sales Career

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:49:00 +0000

All of the formal sales training I have completed in my career has been paid for and provided by the companies I worked for. I am sure most of you have similar experiences. For some companies providing sales training is a reactionary response following a tough year. Implicitly your manager is saying ‘we could have hit our numbers if we had more training’ the most senior executives hear this and provide training to avoid a similar fate this year. This is typical of how most sales people come to attend sales training. The company they work for has identified a goal or desired outcome and bingo you are in training.

Disclaimer: A small percentage of companies provide ongoing professional training aimed at developing the individual. As noted this is the exception to the rule. If you work for a proactive company like this; you are among the lucky ones.

Training Focus

If you happen to work for a reactionary company that feels training is a quick fix or an easy alternative to a manager actually taking ownership of a sales gap; I will ask you to understand the environment you are being trained in. Don’t be afraid to take this opportunity to evaluate the job your company’s senior managers are doing in running the company.

Your company has probably paid a third party company to come in and train you. A practical set of sales skills that can be quantified go into making up a sales training program bought a paid for by the company you work for. The trainer’s intention is to increase your sales skills and thus solve your company’s sales problems.

Let’s stop for a minute. I want you to fully consider now that the training is being provided to solve some imaginary short comings of the sales department as a reason why targets were missed. I bet rarely if ever have you been in a training session and the trainer starts by analyzing the business model of your company; or the poor industry fundamentals negatively affecting your company’s sales. No; the sales team is the issue!

If a trainer did; it would be the equivalent of career suicide.

Financial 101

What they don’t teach in sales training school. I learned the following the hard way; so read the next part carefully so you can benefit from my mistakes. Understand how companies are managed is of critical importance to your career. If you are working for a poorly managed organization, all the sales training in the world is not going solve the problems.

Consider the following points that have a greater impact on your career success than most sales people truly understand:

1. Does your employer make cash?

2. Is your employer in a winning industry?

3. Would you buy this stock?

Take your sales person’s hat off and put your investor’s hat on.

Cash, Cash, Cash

Your company’s financial health should be very important to you. After all you have tied your immediate financial future to this company. If your company is publicly held it will be easy for you to understand its financial position. For the moment let’s assume you work for a publicly traded company. What should you look for?

Earnings per share are one of the easiest financial measures to check to see if your employer makes money. Don’t be fooled by complex financial metrics; you can flip to the stock listings in the paper or look it up online and see very quickly if your employer makes money. Ideally you will find consistent year over year earnings per share growth. Consistent growth shows strong financial management; responsible debt levels, strong industry fundamentals, and a return on investment for its owners, all very positive signs.

Don’t quit your job if your company doesn’t make money on an earnings per share basis; however you should take note of this because it could affect you in the future. How?

You see companies that don’t make positive earnings per share are losing money. When shareholders lose money eventually there will be a management shakeup. (No one likes losing money). Managers really don’t like losing their jobs either. So, if you are the captain of a money losing ship; the easiest way to cut spending is to cut people and then count the savings as income. In such a case the manager’s short term goal is to save his job, not yours. This certainly could negatively affect your career in the future.

Winning Industry

I am not a financial expert but I know that Warren Buffet is one of the most successful businessmen ever. Warren Buffet describes a winning industry as one ‘that doesn’t take a lot of capital investment to generate growth’. In short the purpose of companies in a capitalist market is to make money; not spend money.

If your employer has to keep investing heavily in research and development or product redesigns to generate growth it will limit how much a company can grow, including limiting your career growth.

Consider the highly competitive cell phone market. One minute Blackberry is the most dominate phone and the company could do no wrong. Then almost overnight Apple introduces the IPhone and Blackberry’s fall out of favour with the public. Now Samsung is taking a run at the IPhone and the next, then the next. Competition is so fierce that a sales person is at the whim of the market, rather than their own ability to sell.

Consumers are not very brand loyal to cell phones, rather choosing the hottest phone of the month. The sale swings in this industry a large, going from huge highs one year to deep low the next. One person’s ability to influence a sale is outweighed by too many competing factors for predictable success.

If you scan different industries you will see the automobile industry has to keep reinventing its product every other year to keep pace with competition. The result is that auto companies are forced to invest heavily in retooling machinery to build the every changing car designs substantially eating into profits.

Pharmaceuticals are another industry heavily dependent of research and development for growth. If you are selling the hot drug of the moment then your career will benefit greatly. However, the reverse will happen when your drug is out of favour or even worse pulled from the market.

These swings in industry fundamentals make it very difficult for companies to delivery consistent financial results. Meaning you will be challenged to achieve sales targets that could be unattainable from year to year.

Would you Buy Your Employers stock?

If your employer is carrying huge debt and not making any money for shareholders, would you want to become a shareholder? Would you invest your retirement money in this stock?

If not, why are you willing to risk your career prospects to this company?

Most investors look for healthy companies that consistently make money. Manage money responsibly, invest in areas of growth and operate in strong industries.

You should be looking for the same things in an employer. Don’t let your immediate needs to pay the bills limit your career potential. Not all companies are created equal and some do treat their people better than others.

The key to the success in your sales career is to find a company that satisfies the above criteria and will offer you the job. It may take you sometime. It took me two years to land my present job; but the wait was well worth it for me.

The next time your manager announces you will be going through some new and exciting sales training. Don’t be afraid to evaluate your employment situation and evaluate how well your employer is managing its own business, before they make it your fault they are not achieving their results.

Less is more: What Men can learn from Women

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 02:26:00 +0000

So far since I have been writing this blog; in an effort to inspire people to achieve more in their sales careers, one article I have written has received most of the attention.

The article, “Why Women Make Great Sales People” has by far been the most liked, responded too and commented article I have written. Like most writers I will follow the lead set out by the readers. Why is this article so popular?

My basic premise of the article was women have 5 characteristics that set them up naturally to be successful in selling. That does not mean men are not successful at selling. Simply; women can be more successful with less effort due to their natural coding.

Why was the article so polarizing? Were men hearing this information for the first time? Had I stumbled on a secret treasure map that would lead me to untold riches? Not likely. So I will look at some of the responses for clues.

One man responded perhaps women were better at selling because in their dating lives they were less likely to face rejection than a man was. If we go along with this idea even for a moment, we would see that the very inverse should be true. If men repeatedly are rejected in their attempts to date women, in theory men should be better prepared for success in selling because they have been accustomed to hear ‘No’ and continuing on.

Another person responded perhaps parenting is the dominate influence resulting in the female predisposition for successful selling. The idea parents are generally softer on girls than they are on boys. Boys may become more restrained due to stronger parenting versus girls.

Parenting can influence early development greatly however, I think most successful people men or women find a way to leave parental influence in the past.

So what is it?

I think a lot of success in any type of selling is greatly linked to your expectations. We all know that men are more competitive than women generally speaking. I don’t think I can remember seeing a women road raging another driver on the highway recently. However, on the male side of the coin it is almost a daily occurrence.

Competitive drive is a true double edged sword; I think many of us don’t fully understand. I think it is summed up nicely in this quote; “Anything in Excess is negative” Oedipus The King by Sophocles.

Being too competitive in essence can lead some sales people, mostly male, to try too hard to close the deal and often it results in putting off the customer. No one likes being followed around a retail store by an overly pushing sales person tracking you like a blood hound. Perhaps we and I say we because I have been included in this category before, want to live up to an outdated idea of being a hard driving salesman.

I have witnessed first hand playing sports and drinking; two popular activities that us men get caught up in; squaring off in competitive battles just for the sake of being competitive. Who hasn’t seen a pushing and shoving match erupt on a sports field or in a bar over some trivial miss-understanding? These are the competitive juices running amuck.

Conversely often women take a softer approach. You can categorize it in any way you like; more empathetic, more understanding, more right brain approach, more relationship based, the label doesn’t matter much.

I have seen this first hand in my Mom (a very successful sales lady). My Mom takes a very level headed approach to selling. Not too easily offended, persistent without being pushy, caring without being condescending, and above all successful.

Perhaps you know someone like this? Perhaps you are like this yourself? To me, the message is clear.

Focus on building relationship ships first, and closing sales second. Understand that no means ‘not right now’ and respectfully try again another time. Lastly, learn from the No’s. Getting upset and being defensive when not successful in closing a deal does only one thing; set’s you up to not close the next one. Understand what didn’t go well; course correct and move forward positively.

Anyone can learn and become a successful sales person; male or female.

Pay It Forward

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:43:00 +0000

Find a Mentor; Be a Mentor

This week one of the readers of this blog asked me if they could post one of my articles to their Facebook page. My response was yes; as I was confident the reader was posting the article because they considered the content valuable and she felt people in her network could benefit from the article. It was the idea of spreading and exchanging knowledge that motivated me to write this blog in the first place.

Find a Mentor

Some people are fortunate in life to have parents or other close family member who can serve as strong influential mentors to them. Mentors of any kind are great. I was lucky that both my parents were successful sales people; I was able to peek behind the curtain of selling well before I chose sales as my career.

What if you don’t currently have a mentor?

I strongly suggest you open your mind to finding a mentor. However, finding a mentor is tricky. First you need to identify what it is you want to accomplish. Without a clear set of goals for your future; it won’t matter if you have a mentor or not. Also a mentor will not know what to help you with if you don’t have goals you want to achieve.

I would suggest setting goals in the following way to aid you in finding a mentor. Answer the following questions:

1. If you won the lottery tomorrow what would you chose to do for work?

2. In 10 years I would like to achieve….?

3. If I could pick anyone in the world to be my mentor, who would it be?

The answer to the first question will give you an indication if your present line of work is one you enjoy and find rewarding. If you are only doing what you do for the pay cheque a mentor will not be able to tap into your deepest motivation because you don’t truly love what you are doing. If you are in sales and your dream is to be a writer. A natural fit for a mentor would be to find a person who has made a transition from sales to becoming a writer.

Perhaps you love coaching. Look into finding a mentor in a person that coaches; either full or part time. Don’t be limited by your job title when assessing what your true passion can be. Dreams and desires are only limited by one thing, and it is your ability to dream it.

Question 2 will point you towards a goal that is long-term in range. Mentorship should provide you a resource for long term advice and counsel. Trying to get the next promotion up on the corporate ladder is too short term of a goal or career ambition for a mentor to assist with. If you want to be your own boss in 10 years, perfect. Find a self-employed mentor, preferably someone that has made the same transition you want to make.

The final thought is to think big. The Internet has made global communication easy and efficient. Although you might want the President of the United States to be your mentor, you might want to think of a back-up plan for a person you can interact with regularly. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask someone to be your mentor. I can’t imagine any person being upset by such a request. By asking someone to be your mentor you are recognizing that person as someone who has accomplished a significant achievement in their life or career. Remember flattery is the best compliment. So go ahead and ask.

Pay it Forward

The best way to attract a valuable mentor into your life is to become a mentor yourself. You can mentor a person directly by providing advice and counsel to someone you know in your life. Or you can transfer your knowledge and experiences through a blog, community organization, volunteering, or otherwise committing yourself to help others learn and grow.

Don’t sell yourself short. It is easy to look at other people in life and aspire to have what they have. Keeping up with the Jones’ is common today. Don’t lose sight of what you have accomplished already in your life. Perhaps you graduated from a College or University; you could pay your experience forward by advising prospective students of what they can expect. Maybe you have a hobby and skills others would be interesting in learning. Find a way to share these skills and you will benefit greatly from it.

Looking forward and planning to achieve bigger and better is fine. But you can quickly lose track of what you have already accomplished in your life by focusing solely on the Jones’s. After I graduated University I volunteered as a Big Brother and was truly humbled by the little brother I was able to mentor. Big Brother’s and Big Sisters are fantastic organizations that are always recruiting people to mentor the young people in their programs.

The late great Zig Zigler built his core philosophy of selling around,“You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.” Helping others was at the core Zig’s approach to selling and life. Zig touched the lives of millions of people and we should all strive to follow Zigs example.

Let me know if you have a great mentor…….

Surviving the Yes!

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 02:12:00 +0000

If you listen to and read enough sales training material, like I do. You will find most sales training centers on the idea that sales people have to be able to handle ‘No’. You will often hear, ‘manage the No’s and the Yes’ will follow’ or ‘for every 10 no’s expect 1 yes’ The message is pretty clear. Most sales trainers focus on helping sales people handle objections and rejection. I disagree with this approach.

With such a wealth of sales training information out there on handling objections; I am sure you can find enough information on managing ‘No’s’. I have found in my sales career the no’s came very naturally. I didn’t have to go very far to find a customer willing to say ‘No’.

In my experience sales attracts naturally competitive people. You need to be a special type or person to want to sell. If you give up easily; sales is not for you. It is for this reason; I think sales people will be able to get past the No’s and move onto the Yes’. Once you get customers to say ‘yes’ next comes the real challenge.

Follow-up like never before

Now your customer has bought into what you are selling. You have successfully established trust in your relationship, now you need to protect that trust. Nothing will turn a sale sour like not returning calls or following up on issues AFTER you have closed the deal.

It might have taken you weeks or even months to close the sale. The buyer can chose to cancel a sale with a moment’s notice if they feel like you are not prepared to follow through on your commitments.

Think about how most people feel about politicians following an election. During the election politicians are all smiles and promises. As soon as they are elected it appears they instantly forget about the promises they made. In politics unfortunately you can’t simply vote the politician out for not keeping up their end of the deal. We are stuck with them until the next election and they are allowed to keep their nice salary that goes along with the job regardless on their ability to keep their word.

This is not the case in selling. If you close and deal; then turn your attention to your next prospect and forget to follow up on your ‘pre-close promises’ then the buyer can decide to make a quick phone call and cancel their order.

Visualize the Yes!

Most successful sales people are great visualizers. If you can clearly imagine your customer choosing your product or service then you will have an advantage in closing the deal. I find I can be most effective when I visualize the successful close of a deal and the next steps.

In the past I have visualized making the follow up phone call the day after I close the deal thanking my customer for their business. Then I imagine talking with order entry and customer service to ensure no mistakes are made when entering the order. Finally I imagine asking my customer for feedback on how I can improve. All of this visualization happens BEFORE the customer says Yes to the deal.

If your product or service requires your customer obtaining financing in order to close the deal. Stay especially close to the credit department and help them in any way possible. Sometimes it can be as easy as making your deal a priority to have it processed first. This will allow you to respond to your customer quickly and confirm the sale.

Identify Opportunities for Improvement

The last and possibly most crucial part of successful selling is to identify opportunities for improvements. Once your sale has been confirmed and finalized you have a short 1-2 week window that you can follow up for specific feedback on how you can improve. If you follow up quickly with a customer it will communicate your professionalism to your customer. If you wait a month or two and then call for feedback your customer will see this as a nuisance. It could even put them off buying in the future.

Soliciting feedback from customers that have purchased directly from you is the most important kind of feedback. Customers that have already bought from you have experienced every step of the sales process and are in the best position to offer insights for your improvements. You should take this type of feedback seriously and take action against important opportunities.

For example; you might have handled your part of the sale, but delivery could have been slow and frustrating for your customer. Instead of dismissing this type of feedback by thinking ‘that’s not my department so I am in the clear’ you are not in the clear. You need to take this feedback to your company and problem-solve ways to improve this area of service. As slow delivery could work against you in future sales; no company wants a reputation of poor delivery service.

Final Thought

Remain humble as you experience success and you will inspire your customers to want to keep buying from you. As soon as you take your eye off the ball and stop striving for improvement you will lose business.

The worse possible mistake in my opinion in selling is to believe you are better than you really are. Each and every day you can improve your skills and build stronger customer relationships. This is the only way to maintain your success.

Have you lost a sale due to inefficient order processing?

When was the last time you asked for feedback after a successful close?

Your change is a direct result on how many books you read and people you meet.

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:45:00 +0000

When I was a teenager I wasn’t really that interested in reading. I was more interested in sports regularly playing basketball on the drive of my parents’ house for hours. At the time it wouldn’t have matter what anyone said, I know my parents wanted me to read more, but it wasn’t my thing.

You might feel the same about reading in your life today. I understand where you are coming from. Perhaps you have a bust schedule, lots of family commitments, sports activities, and obligations to friends. If this description is you; I strongly suggest you try to change your impression of reading.

In my personal experience I started by reading John Grisham novels that captured my imagination, however I found I read the books faster than Grisham wrote them. More recently I have found I am truly excited by motivation and professional development books. If you are able to find a topic that excites you and expands your knowledge base you will benefit greatly.

The reason that you will benefit is simple. In the early days of the internet I can remember being impressed with the internet even with a dial up connection. Imagine running the internet on dial up in today’s environment. Lots of time trying to connect and then when you connect the transfer of information is slow.

No one would choose to run a slow connection; however that is exactly how your mind is running if you do not make it a top priority to read.

Reading motivational and professional development books will speed up how quickly your mind connects information. Your brain will start to function like surfing the net on a super-high speed connection. Information will appear instantly, you will quickly be able to recall information and people will recognize you have the ability to make connections.

Find your format

I don’t have the time to read. I don’t see this realization as an excuse, rather a simple problem that needs to be solved. I discovered audiobooks and now I listen to 2-3 books a week while I drive to and from work. If this is a solution that can work for you I suggest you give it a try and find out for yourself if listening to books can help you.

Meet more people

Meeting people is something most sales people takes for granted. Most of our days are spent constantly meeting new people and most of our interactions are short and relatively superficial. Sales people have been conditioned to focus on quantity instead of quality. Make the most of your meetings with new people. Ask in depth questions that take your meeting past a superficial “hi, how are you?”

It takes slightly more effort to engage someone of a deeper level. You don’t have to get their entire life story. Simply take an active interest in the person. Trust me they will take notice.

Sales-FREAK

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 01:41:00 +0000

I recently read the bestselling economics book “Freakonomics” by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner. Of course when I say read, I am using the term ‘read’ loosely, as I listened to the audio-book during my commute. If you are not currently familiar with my practice of re-investing your commuting time by learning then you need to read another of blog posts called ‘Own Your Commute’.

Economics for me has always been an interesting and overly complex topic. I am keenly interested in business; while at the same time not interested in Economics. To me economist use complex math equations and concepts beyond what most people can really follow. To me I am more interested in the social side of business or as I put ‘the business of life’. I must admit I was first tempted to pick up Freakonomics because of the cover illustration of a green apple with an orange center.

The premise of the book is that things are not always what they seem. Many different factors go into making up social economic events from the media, to politicians, to teachers, school administrators, abortion legal cases, and the list goes on. At the core of Levitt’s main concerns in the study of Freakonomics is getting to the heart of cause and effect.

I will confess I tried to replicate the funny and witty title of Freakonomics with a sales focus; but I am not that funny or witty. I came up with Sales-Freak.

When I hear the term Sales-Freak; my mind imagines a super-hyper individual spouting sales jargon, almost like a late-night infomercial pitch man.

My intent with the use of Sales-Freak is to make sales people aware of the reality behind the sale. Humour me for a minute.

Imagine you could be an invisible observer to a buyers discussion immediately following your sales call. What would that reality look like? What would it sound like? What would the buyer have taken away as the salient point to your presentation? What did they like or dislike? Peering behind the curtain would be enlightening and informative.

Perhaps you could hear why you didn’t get the sale and your competitor did (the REAL reason; not the explanation given to your face). Was your timing off? For example had a major budget decision been made the week prior to your sales presentation freezing spending? Meaning no matter what you had done, how you presented, how thorough your preparation; your result would be unsuccessful.

The authors of Freakonomics frequently mention that their study of social economic situations is sparked by an intense curiosity and the data they analyze is often freely available.

Is this true with sales people? Are you intensely curious? Is the data we need to analyze right in front of us?

Sales people do not have the advantage of demographic data or large databases collected for analysis. We can be intensely curious and always on the lookout for new information.

There are many soft data points that cross our paths each and every day; if we are paying attention. Perhaps while onsite at a customer’s office you see the delivery service that regularly picks up packages from their office has changed. Was there a purchasing decision to choose UPS over Fed-Ex? What were the deciding factors in that decision?

Perhaps a large renovation project is taking place. Maybe a new technology has been rolled out advancing your customers competitive advantage. Maybe the talk around the water cooler or the off-the-record comments you hear present an opportunity. Has a top executive recently left the company? Is your customer feeling pressure from a new competitor?

Your observations do not always have to directly affect your sales objective. Going through your daily routine with blinders on will not advance aid you in success. Our everyday life is full of cause and effect. Training your mind to pick up on subtle changes and link them back to your business goals will put you ahead of your competition.

Warren Buffet has made a fortune from his never waiving investment strategies that he has developed and adhered to his entire career. Early in Buffet’s career he trained his mind to pick up on subtle angels he was able to turn into profits. Many of these observations went years before the opportunity presented itself for Buffet to profit from them. Buffet’s key was that he noticed them in the first place. By no means do I mean to or intend to oversimplify Buffet’s vast accomplishments; however, he wouldn’t have been able to put his vast skillset to work, if he had not been able to spot the opportunity.

Understanding the cause behind results you see daily will enable to you present solutions that truly resonate with your customers. You will demonstrate a higher level of engagement in their business as well. After all people are a sum of their daily interactions and all their decisions pull from their frame of reference. The better you understand their reality; the better you will understand them.

Let me know if you have used a Sales-Freak Observation to build your sales relationship with a customer…

Why Women Make Great Sales People

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 02:17:00 +0000

As selling evolves with technological advancements and higher educational barriers to entry; women will be the most successful sales people in the future; the very near-future.

In the ‘good old days’ of selling (as some would describe them) a confident and outgoing man could make a great living selling by using his strongest assets; mainly being confident and outgoing. A University degree was not a prerequisite for a sales job and making sales calls was more like passing time with your buddies.

We have all heard of the stereo-types of the pushy salesmen or door to door vacuum sales guys drudging up and down the streets looking to conn housewives into trying their products. In the 70’s and & 80’s many successful salesmen were not much different than the ex-high school quarterback trading-in one kind of popularity for another. I can’t count the number of times I have heard ‘if you have the gift of the gab then you are a natural at selling.”

In many industries, selling being no different, holding on to these long standing social norms will quickly makes you obsolete. We are witnessing the Death of the Sales-man as defined in the past.

Fast forward to today’s professional selling landscape and you will see an entirely new set of skills are needed to be successful in selling. You will see that women can and will be the most successful sales people in the future.

I will touch on a number of key traits that are currently needed and will become more important for success in selling, as selling continues to evolve:

Ego

Empathy

Relationship building

Attention to detail

Ability to Listen

Ego

The sales landscape today is ever changing and one of the most important skills needed for success is the ability to manage your ego. Even better to not have an Ego. Yes, if you are a man reading this you are probably thinking ‘what does this guy know? What an idiot’ it is true; well not the part about me being an idiot, but rather being ego-less.

Today’s professional buyers and consumers are so well educated about products and services it is basically impossible to deceive them. Internet searches, product reviews, instant messaging, second by second direct RSS feed updates, social networking sites, etc. So the likely-hood you will be asked a question you don’t know the answer too is very high. Any attempt to fake a response will be found out quickly. Admitting you don’t know the answer to a question might hurt your man-pride; however it will be essential to maintaining your credibility.

Women on the other hand have much more control over their egos. In fact most women don’t have no egos at all. Not to say that they aren’t confident, competent, intelligent, and successful; they are. In most cases women simply have grown in maturity past the Ego. They don’t believe their own hype.

Variety of reasons could be the cause of the a reduced amount of ego in women; wage gap disparity, historical barriers to entry to certain careers or groups (Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore are the first two female members of Augusta Golf and Country Club) invited to join August 2012. Even worse, was in 2012 this made National headline news.

In a nutshell women are more able to interact with others without displaying a strong ego.

Empathy

We all know men and women are different. Empathy as defined in a dictionary is the ability to ‘recognize feelings that are being experienced by another ‘. Scientists have long studied the human brain in attempts to gain better understanding of empathy. I am not a scientist nor do I have any intention of pretending to be one; however I do understand women are more empathetic than men. Another way of saying this is empathy is more natural for women.

So what? You might ask. The answer to that simple question is; gone are the days of throwing a four letter word at the wall and seeing what sticks. Today selling is based on presenting solutions to the customer’s problems. You can’t present a solution if you aren’t able to identify the problem.

People generally buy from and choose to associate with people they like. Showing empathy to a customer is the most effective way, and likely the only way, to prove you care about your customer. Women care, more than Men and are more able to identify a customer’s problem and present a winning solution.

Relationship Building

When it comes to building and maintaining relationships women win hands down. Men are great a building relationships when they stand to benefit somehow. A man’s motivation is always stronger when a clear payoff is identified to building a relationship. A promotion, salary increase, lucrative bonus, a chance for your kid to be a starter on their baseball team, the list is endless.

Women are more content with the relationship as the benefit. Women are not focused on a payoff as a result of a relationship. It is this willingness and ability to build relationships that make women better at selling. Often women are able to disarm buyers or customers with their genuine interest in the other person. For men this is a more forced process. Men will have to be better at building relationships for the sake of relationships and not to attain a payoff.

Attention to detail

My wife often calls me to ask me to pick up a few items from the grocery store on my way home from work. I can’t count the number of times I have arrived home from the store and not gotten all of the items she requested. Sometimes I actually forget to go to the store completely!

My wife says it is because I have ‘selective hearing’ most likely she is right (I will touch on this more clearly in the next section) whatever the reason; her requests sometimes fall on deaf ears.

Obviously it is not my intention to forget. The last thing I want to do is not come through. I mean well but in her eyes I am only as good as my results. The same is true for selling. Being able to clearly recall details and follow-through on commitments is a clear strength of women. Men get caught up in big picture thinking, less focused on the small stuff.

Ability to Listen

The final section is that women are better listeners than men. It doesn’t matter if it is in a marriage or a sales relationship. Men listen with only one side of our brains, while women use both. Men engage the left side of their temporal lobe, the left side of the brain is most commonly associated with listening and speech. Women use both sides of the temporal lobe; the left side that is associated with auditory functions and the right side which is not usually associated with auditory function.

Engaging both sides of the brain can give women an advantage over men when it comes to building and creating meaningful responses during a conversation. I know my wife thinks I have ‘selective hearing’ and I don’t doubt it.

One tip I find really helpful when listening in important situations is to write down key takeaways. Writing things down slows your brain down and gives you a chance to comprehend key details from a sales call. As well you are not straining after the meeting to recall important facts.

Conclusion

In 2011 in Canada, a higher percentage of women (72%) than men (65%) aged 25 to 44 years had completed a post-secondary education according to Stat’s Canada. Most employers now require a University degree before interviewing for a professional sales job. More women than men are achieving University degrees, so going forward more women will be qualified for sales positions.

Whether you are a man or woman exceling at the above skills will help anyone be successful at selling.

Avoid a Laptop Malfunction

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 02:06:00 +0000

The word malfunction was made truly famous a few Super Bowls ago with Janet Jackson’s Wardrobe Malfunction. Unlike the malfunction of the wardrobe variety, a technological malfunction is no laughing matter.

I had a humbling experience on Friday that caused me to stop a think for a moment. My work laptop decided it had enough of this life and wanted to move on; without me. Yes blue screen of death. Like most large companies the server backs up your email; so there was no issue there. However, by sum freak technological glitch the rest of my hard-drive was inaccessible. The IT department is working on retrieving as much as possible. For a few moments on Friday morning I was totally dependent on the IT department. My success was no longer in my hands.

How many of us are totally dependent of technology for our continued success? With all of the IT touch-points in our lives today; does it ever occur to us how reliant we are? I don't want to launch into a rant about how we should all go back to rolodexes. Some of you might be ‘Googling’ rolodex to even figure out what one is. The idea is simple; the more technology evolves the more it allows us to move away from paper. Except that is, until the tech breaks.

I have made it a habit from job to job and company to company to keep an excel file of my contacts printed in paper as a back-up. Sure external hard drives and USB sticks are great; until you lose them. The key idea here is to not put your career in the balance. Sure you can get information back; but it takes time. That time can cause loss of productivity; not to mention stress.

If you lose your IPhone, Blackberry, or laptop the immediate panic sets into your body quicker than you would ever imagine. If you have key contacts on paper in hard copy you can continue with only a momentary interruption.

I can hear the techie’s going ‘I back everything up, I am covered.’ There are extremes that even the most prepared people can’t plan for. I am not an extremist by any means. I know that when my laptop screen turned blue I was panicked. The entire plan for the day had changed. I was no-longer in charge of my calendar, mainly because it was in Outlook inside my retched little computer that would not respond.

Take charge of your intellectual information and reduce your downtime if you ever experience a major tech malfunction. Record key contacts, phone numbers, email addresses and print them in hard copy. I would strongly suggest you keep theis file with you in your briefcase because you never really know when you will need to use it.

Like I said, I have a back-up file with all key names and phone numbers that I keep at my house. It did me no good when I was sitting in the office at 7am with a dead computer and no one in IT in the building before 8am. I wished I had had my printed excel file with me so I could have made calls and kept my day on track. Going forward I will and hopefully you will do the same.

When was the last time you had to recover lost files?

Have you ever lost your phone with all your key customer contacts in?

7 Great Audiobooks to Own your Commute

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:40:00 +0000

These are the last 7 audiobooks I have listened too over the past two weeks during my commute. Mostly I choose motivational titles to help get me in a strong positive frame of mind. However, as you can see there are some titles to learn a new subject matter. You should pick the audiobooks you listen too based on your tastes. Trust me; if you are not interested in the subject then you will tune out.

Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life

by Donald J. Trump, Bill Zanker

Think Like a Champion: An Informal Education in Business and Life

by Donald Trump, Meredith McIver

Leadership Mastery Course

by Dale Carnegie

Born To Win: The Ultimate Seminar

by Zig Ziglar

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (P.S.)

by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age

by Dale Carnegie & Associates

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

by Stephen R. Covey

Own your Sales Career

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:55:00 +0000

If you are like me and most other sales people I run into; you took your first job in sales as a great way to pay the bills. Professional selling offers a large number of people an ‘above average’ income without any manual labour. In short it is a great way to make a living.

I entered University with dreams of becoming a lawyer. It sounds silly to write it now, but during High School I really loved reading John Grisham books. No doubt that played into my decision to want to become a lawyer. Grisham’s books were exciting thrillers with lead character’s making lots of money and get into all kinds of trouble. Who wouldn’t like that?

The reality, I found out, was much different; long hours, grueling case work, working all through the night, pouring of tedious mountains of paper-work and that was just law school. I ultimately decided law school and being a lawyer wasn’t for me.

(I do find it funny that throughout my life I have gravitated towards professionals that make a hobby of writing John Grisham, David Chilton author of ‘The Wealthy Barber’, Donald Trump)

I graduated University with my degree and began my search for a job. I had really enjoyed Politics in University and I had even interned for a major political party one summer, so I decided to get a job in Government. The job I got paid well and was boring beyond belief.

I was 0 for 2 on career choices and starting to get a little nervous about my decision making skills. I did what most people I believe do. I found a career by falling back on something I knew very well. Both of my parents had been in sales their entire careers. I had grown up around the dinner table with conversations of selling and customer interactions. My parents had always told me, “you would be great in sales” and “you should try sales, you’re a natural” It turns out that this early education would result in success in my selling career.

My first professional selling job was selling Home Appliance Wholesale. Wholesale, meaning I represented the manufacturer of the appliances to their customer’s; retail appliance stores. After my first few rocky months I gained my confidence plus the trust of the customers and started doing very well.

Understanding Industry Fundamentals

I would quickly realize the importance of industry fundamentals when you are relying on the industry to provide you a long and prosperous career. I had become a Regional Sales Director and was making good money. I had noticed increasing competition to the independent home appliance retailers that made up my customer base, but I hadn’t paid it that much attention. There is competition in everything, right?

Soon the trend of Multi-National Big Box stores selling appliances at discount prices would be inescapable. More and more competition was squeezing the market making it very difficult for smaller retailers to compete. As a consumer it was great, lower and lower prices. For a sales representative relying on small appliance retailers to place orders it was a nightmare.

During this time my personal and professional lives were both doing well. I had gotten married in Jamaica, gone on my honeymoon to Jamaica, bought my first house, and was soon to become a father. I was doing what most young people do when starting out in life.

The increase in my responsibility to my wife and soon to be born child perhaps gave me reason to take a second look at my career. Was this the industry for me for the long haul? A book I was reading at this time started me thinking long and hard about the answer to this question. The book was “Jump In: Even If You Don’t Know How to Swim” by Mark Burnett. If you are not familiar with Mark Burnett he is the Executive Producer of Survivor and The Apprentice.

In his book Mark Burnett shares a story from his past that chronicles his life as he moves to the U.S.A from England, becomes a nanny, then sells t-shirts at the beach in California and turns selling t-shirts into a successful marketing company. His journey is very interesting if you haven’t read the book I recommend you to read it.

However, it is the turn Mark Burnett takes in his life that captured my attention. Mark Burnett was running a successful marketing company with all the appearances of success cars, home, etc…and decided he was being successful at the wrong thing. Mark Burnett decided his passion was not being served by his marketing company; it was this decision to change direction’s that lead Burnett to create ‘Survivor’ and then ‘The Apprentice’ with Donald Trump.

My story is not nearly as dramatic a Mark Burnett’s however I was about to make a major career decision.

Is your industry recession proof?

You likely know the answer to ‘is your industry recession proof?’ because we are in the midst of a multi-year recession. I decided I didn’t want to merely survive only during good times. I wanted to be successful regardless of the state of the economy. This led me to make a decision to leave the home appliance industry. At the time the real estate market was in severe decline, the auto industry was being bailed out by governments in North America, and the home appliance market was slowing rapidly.

As consumer purchases go in size and order of importance; 1^st is Housing, 2^nd is Car and 3^rd is Home Appliances. With # 1 and 2 in trouble I didn’t want to wait for the shoe to drop on #3!

People will always have to eat

I took a more rational approach to choosing which industry I would enter now. I looked at industry forecasts and growth projections. I learned basic principles of what goes into making an industries economic outlook and I came up with two criteria I needed to satisfy:

1. The industry needed to be recession-proof. ie: still strong during tough times.

2. The industry needed to have long term growth prospects.

With these two principles firmly rooted I looked for sales positions in industries that would make the grade.

I found a field sales reps job in the Consumer Packaged Industry (CPG) or as it is known in Europe the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). I took a 50% cut in pay and began building up my field level experience in my new CPG industry.

My change in career path has been a tough journey. Ultimately my family had to sell our cars and our house to move to a smaller house to manage on my lower salary. However, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

As I am writing this post I am a National Account Manager for the 3^rd largest food company in Canada and one of the largest food companies in the world. It has taken me 5 years to build up my experience and skills in the CPG industry and I am very confident about the growth potential the CPG industry offers.

If you are reading this post feeling you need to make a change in your career. I understand where you are at. It is not too late to make a change and find an industry that will allow you grow. I was able to make a major change to a long bright future for my family. Before you make a major industry change in your career understand the journey will be long and humbling. You will need to sacrifice; possibly even sell possessions to make ends meet. Know it can be done.

If you have questions about making a major career move please comment on this post or message me directly.

The Day ‘The Wealthy Barber’ Called Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:11:00 +0000

The first time I ever heard about David Chilton or his book ‘The Wealthy Barber’ I was a teenager in High School and my parents thought I should learn how to manage money. So I read the book ‘The Wealthy Barber’ that was full of practical advice for saving 10% of your salary and retiring wealthy. Chilton used a satirical barber character to weave a story of how to be frugal, watch your money, live within your means and finish financially free.

I know what you are thinking….he’s on his way to financial freedom now in his early 30’s due to the helpful advice of The Wealthy Barber, I wish! It would be too easy for me to have read helpful practical advice and follow it. In truth it is only now after I have matured considerably that I truly understand the value of The Wealthy Barber’s message.

I bring up David Chilton because I want to illustrate how you can expand your goals. I enjoy networking and I enjoy a challenge. I have long admired David Chilton for being a normal guy that fought to get his book published when no one wanted to take a chance on him. Now anyone that passed on ‘The Wealthy Barber’ is kicking themselves big time.

Back to you setting and achieving bigger goals than you ever thought possible. I set myself a goal of networking to get connected with David Chilton, author of The Wealthy Barber, The Dragon’s Den judge and Self Made Millionaire. I have had no previous contact ever with David Chilton, so I set out to get in touch with him.

The first step in me achieving this goal is deciding to take action. I set aside time each day to network and move my career forward. During this time I composed an email to David Chilton. What exactly do I say? Will you help me become rich? No. How did you become rich? No. Would you like to network with me? No.

So I decided to speak my truth. I really enjoyed The Wealthy Barber and I have been a part time writer for many years now. I respected David for writing a thoroughly entertaining and education book. So, I asked David why he wrote his book in the style he did and the date of his birthday.

I sent my email to David Chilton, expecting nothing. First mistake; you should be ready to accept success. Within 2 minutes I got a response. David Chilton wanted to call me!

After a few deep breaths I responded and instantly my phone rang. It was David Chilton calling me. He was kind, professional, humble and great. At the same time I was talking to David Chilton, he was live tweeting for the Dragon’s Den, the Canadian adaptation of Shark’s Tank. I was so surprised and excited I was talking to David Chilton that I forget to thank him for his call. So David if you read this, Thank You!

My message is simple, in the words of Donald J Trump, “Think Big and Kick Ass” Set your goals high and take action towards achieving them. Also pick up ‘The Wealthy Barber’ and ‘The Wealthy Barber Returns’ both amazing books that if you take the advice you will succeed.

Your feedback is important to me:

Have you ever achieved a goal you thought would never happen? Tell me about it @lovesellingblog.

Learn to Love Your Commute

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 19:09:00 +0000

It happens to nearly all of us. Driving to and from work can instantly become a nightmare when traffic backs up. Most of the time you have no other choice but to sit and wait. Taking an alternate route usually takes more time than your normal route, even with the traffic slow down.

As commuting times go in North America it appears most people face a 30 minute commute each way.

Toronto commuters have it the worst in Canada; according to a survey released by Statistics Canada. The average commute time Greater Toronto Area residents face is 33 minutes, slightly longer than the 31 minutes faced by those in the Montreal area. Commuters in the New York City area face a 38 minute trip to work on average, which is the longest in the States.

Based on this information it appears that most people spend at minimum 7 hours each week commuting. So how do most people choose to use this time? I think the 2 most common options would be listening to the radio or talking on a cell phone. Do these activities add value to your day? Likely not and talking on a cell phone can actually be harmful even causing accidents.

My personal commute is much longer than the average and I love it, even when traffic slows down. I have found a way to add value to the time I spend in the car every day.

This simple discovery happened when I was complaining to my wife one evening about how particularly horrible the traffic had been that day. You have been there too…..don’t lie. She listened patiently as she always does. When I had run out of adjectives to describe my commute she made a short and simple suggestion. “Why don’t you listen to audio books in the car?” My initial reaction was “that was not a good idea” because I was still heated.

Then I really thought about it, what did I have to lose? The time I currently spent in the car already sucked. I didn’t believe listening to a book would make it any worse. The next day I went to the library and picked out a few audio books on CD to give it a try. Wow! My wife’s suggestion has totally changed how I view my commute and I am far more productive than ever before.

The reason for this is simple; I am exercising my brain by listening to motivational and professional development topics twice a day. Each book runs approximately 7 hours; in my world that is 2-3 days of commuting. I am listening to 2-3 books a week! I have recaptured time that was previously lost to inactivity.

My frustration in spending hours in the car has completely gone. Now I see my commute as an investment in my professional development. I have more ideas at work now. I think more creatively due to the flow of new ideas I allow into my life now.

I strongly suggest anyone who commutes to work to start listening to audio or e-books. Most publishers offer books on CD as well as downloadable books for iPods.

You have nothing to lose….give it a try and I know you will thank me.