Sales Training To Grow People. And Grow Businesses

Are you growing weary, or should I say wary, of GM’s commercial about how they are reinventing the car business? If you are, it’s justified. Just walk into a GM dealership and tell me how much things have changed in the past 30 years.

They still expect you to have the desire for the car that’s on their lot. They spend no time helping you search for a used car, even though they have a network of thousands of dealers. And they rarely, if ever, call you after the sale is made.

What do these salespeople do all day, anyway?

I just talked to my in-laws yesterday, who had purchased a Cadillac two years ago from the local dealership (Lockhart Cadillac). I asked, “How many times have they contacted you in the past two years to a) see how you like the car and b) offer a test drive in a new or upgraded one?” Their answer: Never. Oh yea, a few mailings here and there, but never once have they picked up the phone and called my in-laws to see how they were doing.

You’d go out of business if you ran your business that way. (Oh, that’s right. They are going out of business.)

CarMax should dominate the car buying business.

If you want a good buying experience, go to your local CarMax used car dealership. If you haven’t heard of them, you soon will. They are today what the car companies could have become twenty years ago. But didn’t and won’t.

Because the mentality is just not there.

What about your business? How is your service mentality? Do you call people after they purchase your product and ask them periodically how they’re doing with it? Do you know that your customers have future problems that you can’t even predict, and that you’ll never hear about them unless you call and keep in contact?

If you’re in a business that requires constant, ongoing interaction, then you probably have this nailed (although don’t ever forget how the relationship is going).

But if you’re in a business where interaction is rare, then you’d better buy a little $20 software package that helps remind you about keeping in touch with them every few months. Don’t let your service level become extinct.

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This is a special treat this week because we have a client who just
landed a large deal with a new customer. And much of what he used
he learned right here at The Advanced Selling Podcast. In this episode,
Jeff spends 15 minutes telling you exactly what sales strategies and tactics he used and how he executed the sales process to land the deal.

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In Bryan Neale’s absence this week, I enlisted Phil Bounsall of Walker Information to talk about the issue of client loyalty. As sales professionals, a loyal client is a referring client. And since most of us count on referrals to grow our business, keeping your eye on loyalty is a MUST DO. Phil has excellent insight and tips on how to improve client loyalty.

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Last week I was with one of my clients who was thumbing through some resumes when he came across a marketing person’s application.

On the resume in the summary it said, “I think differently than most people, and I can bring new ideas—out of the box thinking—to your business.” As I reached over and grabbed it and put it up in the air, I said, “This is part of the problem. A person sends this in on a resume just like the other hundred that you got, but says they’re different. The fact is they aren’t different.

To you, the CEO or hiring authority, all of them look alike.

Which brings me to my conclusion: We all like to think we’re different, but we really are all clones of one another. I know that will piss you off, but think about it. If you’re a marketing person or a salesperson looking for a position right now when the market is crowded with other people looking, you do have to stand out. But you can’t stand out by a longer or more clever resume.

You really stand out by changing the whole dynamic of the hiring process.

I was talking to my friend, Mike Sigers (author of simplenomics), and he went off on a rant about what he would do if he were looking for a job today.

“I would record some of my experiences on an audio-podcast. Then I would hire a high school person to come and videotape me, and I would do three three-minute video-casts that had to do with something I had expertise in. Then I would make a PDF of my resume (include any portfolio samples of work that I’ve done) and put it on a DVD, go down to my local Kinko’s, have them take my picture, make a label out of it, and that would be my handout.”

“I would never hand out a resume, an application or a letter of introduction. All I would do is say, ‘Here’s a sample of the kind of thinking I do and the work that I’ve performed. Why don’t you take a look at it? If you want to talk to me further, I’d be happy to take your call and meet for coffee.’”

Mike has something there.

What about salespeople?

Are your really different? Do you really look different when you show up in front of the prospect? Is your sales process so different that a prospect can pick you out of a group and say, “I want to do business with that company because of how they execute the sales cycle”? Probably not.

So we’re almost halfway through 2009. It’s been a tough year, but still there’s a lot of business out there. So I challenge you over the next 30 days to think…really think…about your business and how different you really are. You can’t say you’re different, you have to demonstrate it.

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In this episode, Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale address a question from an audience member on how to prospect when you’re already busy. And Bryan reveals a communication technique that helps as you’re explaining to a prospect what you do. Watch the video below.

Advanced Selling Podcast-June Episode from Bill Caskey on Vimeo.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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I recently spoke at the Whale Hunting Women Summit (www.thewhalehunters.com) in Indianapolis. The idea behind Whale Hunting is that of conquering big deals, big clients, big ideas. All of the women who spoke had an incredible story of a whale they had harpooned, beached and harvested! I thought I would share the basis of my talk.

I realized, when thinking about what I wanted to share, the biggest whale that I have to conquer (almost on a daily basis), is the crap that I put in my head—how I speak to myself, how I think about myself, how I don’t trust myself.

I think all of us struggle with feelings of “enough.” As children, I believe most of us feel nothing but AWESOME and more than enough. Unfortunately, life kind of beats that out of us.

So, how do these thoughts show up in my life? I’m not present. I don’t take risks. It keeps my gifts from the world. They keep me “stuck.” I am sometimes afraid of my life’s potential.

When I realized it was a line of bull that I was feeding myself, I dipped my toe into the joy that is available when you let go of fear and doubt. I started my career at Caskey that I am in love with; I give all that I am to my clients and honor the trust that they have put in me to help them grow their businesses. I remarried and had a child (something I thought I didn’t want). I laugh—A LOT! I surround myself with a magical circle of friends that push me to be more of who I am.

It’s not easy. Here are some things that I would encourage you to do if you struggle with a whale of your own.

• Just do it! Do not procrastinate or self-edit. I will be now. I am now.
• Train to be strong in all ways: mentally, spiritually, physically. If you don’t, you won’t be able to take on all of the things you are capable of.
• Embrace chaos and joy—especially yours. Life is absurd, you might as well laugh at it.

A lot of the push for me came from reading a book by Michael Port, The Think Big Manifesto. There is a great quote in the book:

“I will be comfortable with who I am right now and know that I am good enough. I will use my talents and gifts to do big things in the world. I will not give up in the face of fear or disbelief – mine or others.”

What is your whale?

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In this week’s podcast, Bill is going “solo” and talks about the first call “protocol.” We’ve received a lot of mail recently on “filling the sales funnel,” but the first discussion you have with a prospect is still vital. You have to set the tone in the right way. And to do that, you MUST have the right frame of mind going in.

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My friend Dan runs a restaurant equipment company. As you can imagine, they’ve gone through some tough times recently and he has had to lay off several people in his firm.

But his heart really broke when he had to lay off Marvin, a 26-year employee who had battled prostate cancer and other illness over the last few years. But there was just no place in the company for Marvin anymore. A few days after he let Marvin go, he got a phone call—Marvin asking to schedule some time with him sometime in the next couple of days. Dan agreed, and Marvin came in with a proposition.

Let Me Make Cold Calls

At that meeting, Marvin talked about his tremendous commitment to the company and how he loved the business and knew a lot of customers. He wanted to cold call past clients, inactive clients and new prospects to see if they were interested in buying equipment. But there was a catch.

Marvin didn’t want any money for it; all he wanted was the commission that came from the sales if he made any.

Now think about this. Marvin is a guy who’s never been in sales, never made one cold call, never went on one appointment, but willing to work for performance only.

Sitting around tonight complaining about the economy and how you’re going to have to bail out the at-leasters, think about Marvin. If we had three million Marvins, we just might not have the unemployment problem.

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Sometimes we just need to have bold, bad sales moves. In this podcast, Bill and Bryan talk about two bold moves you can make as you pursue the sale.These moves are not intended to get someone to buy—that’s not cool. They ARE intended to move the sale along—or move it out.

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