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What Sales People Can Learn From Following Instructions

2009-12-27T18:21:50-08:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

What Sales People Can Learn From Following Instructions

Assembly instructions are usually more trouble for some of us then they're worth. It takes too long to follow the directions, they're too elementary, and most of us think it's pretty obvious what we need to do. That's why most of the time I don't bother looking at assembly instructions. Usually, I find looking at the picture, and using my creative talents will work just fine with assembling the project. So what if there are a few spare parts? I've always believed this to be a bonus from the manufacturer in case you misplace a part, or that they are just trying to mess with us by letting us think we forgot something.

Sometimes, you'll even find instructions about the location that you should assemble your product – like we're idiots. Okay, I'm guilty of this one… Back in the '80's, I assembled my daughter's crib while watching a Suns Basketball game in the family room. It became apparent that I had a problem when I tried to fit the crib through the doorway of the nursery. So, I had the opportunity to take most of it apart and assemble it again. It wasn't until later that I saw a suggestion in the directions (when I filled out the warranty card) that you should assemble the crib in the room where it will reside (a great tip).

Normally, my policy has been that instructions are merely suggestions, but not something that we need to follow. My practice has been to open the box, toss out the instructions, and begin building a creative masterpiece. Most of the time, this practice has worked out just fine for me. The only exception to this practice has been when it involves health and safety issues (like assembling a gas BBQ, swing set, and now we can add crib to the list).

Recently I had the opportunity to assemble an Elliptical Cross-Training piece of exercise equipment. Since this fell within my "health and safety" guidelines, as well as some encouragement from my wife, I actually followed the assembly instructions. While this seemed to take a little longer than my usual method, I found these instructions to be very well laid out. The process went smoothly, there were no injuries, everything fit, and there were no "extra" parts or surprises. The instructions began with organizing the parts, informing me of the required tools, and then a step-by-step set of assembly instructions. What a brilliant concept!

This process may actually work in many sales situations. Plan your work – then work your plan. Follow a process to make sure you don't miss anything, and that you are providing the best alternative and service for your customer. Curve balls will be thrown at you from time-to-time (so you need to be able to think on your feet and respond accordingly). However, most of the time, "this process thing" will work well for you. An effective sales plan will save you time, improve the level of services you provide to your customers, improve your sales results, and reduce the number of "surprises" you may encounter.

Have a great sales week!

What have you done for me lately?

2009-12-15T22:27:09-08:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

What have you done for me lately?

Hero to Zero within 10 minutes. As an ASU Alumnus, it's taken me a couple of weeks to come to grips with this – but it's a great message for this blog. On November 28, 2009 Arizona defeated Arizona State in the annual "Territorial Cup" football battle. ASU's Kyle Williams had a game-tying acrobatic TD catch that will be worthy of highlight film clips for years. About 10 minutes later, he muffed a punt that was a "rookie mistake" and also will be featured in film clips (except these will be UA highlights) for years to come as the defining moment of the game. Okay, this really hurt, and many people will remember this player for this particular play – as opposed to the great college career he had at ASU.

Let's look at how this translates to sales people… Annual performance reviews should cover the entire year (not just the highlight or lowlight). Sales Managers should take notes throughout the year and make sure all of the information is included in an annual review. Look at one-on-one meetings, coaching notes, sales call observations, and customer feedback. Keep an active file on your sales person’s activities; just don't use the end of year results (final score). For performance reviews, "how you got there" may be as important as the final results. Your company's compensation plan should be based on sales results - which is how most sales people rate themselves at the end of the day. Sales is a black and white business – meaning the rep is either making it – or not. If there are some challenges, the manager needs to look at coaching and then ultimately counseling to remedy the situation (or this may become the sales manager's problem). However, when we are talking about a performance review, we need to look at the total picture – not just "what have you done for me lately".

Have a great sales week!

What Sales People can learn from their children.

2009-11-30T22:24:37-08:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

What Sales People can learn from their children.

Sometimes we can make what we do for a living sound confusing, boring or just difficult to understand. In the movie "Philadelphia", Denzel Washington's character asks his client to tell the story to him like his was 6-years old. The purpose here was that anyone in the jury (audience) should be able to understand what he was saying. At times, we tend to make things more difficult than they need to be. For instance, is your introduction or networking commercial too complicated? The goal of a good networking commercial is to let people know how you can benefit them, and to create interest (setting the stage for future dialog).

Ania Kubicki from Angles PR helps illustrate this point. Ben, her 5-year old son, has hit the "nail on the head" as far as succinctly articulating how Ania benefits her clients… "Mommy makes people famous!" This is brilliant - so why do we make this harder than we have to?

Have a great sales week!

What Sales People can learn from the game “Battleship”

2009-10-31T17:10:58-07:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

What Sales People can learn from the game "Battleship"

No matter how busy a sales person is currently, a portion of their sales time on a daily or weekly basis needs to be in Business Development. The art of Business Development is a mix of cross-selling & up-selling existing customers, networking, asking for referrals, warm calls and cold calls. These activities will help pave the way for future business, and reduce our dependency on merely surviving on repeat orders from existing customers. Caring for our existing customer base is critical; however, without additional focus on new opportunities we risk losing a chunk of our business revenue by experiencing a customer loss (caused by either a competitive or economic issue).

A client of mine recently told me that he compares Business Development to playing the game "Battleship". While he makes only a few prospecting calls per week in addition his other account management activities, he tries to make a game out of it. If you have played the game you know that there are a lot more white pegs for misses than there are red pegs for hits. This is the norm for prospecting as well (especially cold calling). When playing "Battleship", many people utilize some sort of strategy in trying to find their opponent's ships. And yes, occasionally "winging it" may work as well. However, pre-planning lays the foundation for running an effective strategy. This approach also works in other board games - as well as works in my favorite topic - sports.

Overall, you will find blending in some sound Business Development strategy along with your other activities - a winning combination.

Celebrate your successes!

You Better Have a Warrant

2009-10-07T21:56:55-07:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

"You Better Have a Warrant"

The topic of this blog is about "Dressing for Success" and is based on a true story about one of my first sales calls.

At the end of October 1981 after 3 months straight of training with AT&T, I was out in the field and ready to finally see customers. These were the last couple of years of the traditional AT&T Bell System, and the divestiture of AT&T was already being planned. I was part of the "new" AT&T sales force which would operate in the competitive post-divestiture environment.

The new AT&T employees were indoctrinated to a very formal training process that rivaled companies such as IBM and Xerox. On our first day, we were given the book "Dress for Success" and instructed to use this information to create our wardrobe. The corporate dress code in 1981 Phoenix was primarily "business casual". It was rare to witness someone dressed in a suit and tie; especially during the weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

After completing my training, I reported to my office on Phoenix's Central Avenue in my navy blue suit with a solid white long sleeve dress shirt (I don't recall the color of my tie, but would be willing to bet it was red). My assigned territory was the lodging/hospitality market, and I had scheduled an appointment with one of my new accounts. These were exciting times, and after 3 months of training I was glad to be out in the field. Instead of driving our own cars for our business appointments, we used vehicles from the Mountain Bell Motor Pool. The car I was assigned was a mid 1970's Dodge Coronet (a popular car model of police departments at the time). The Mountain Bell logos on the doors were faded, and the 4-door white car was also equipped with spot lights, simple hub caps, and black-wall tires.

The account I was visiting was located on Van Buren St (the "red light" district of the city). As I pulled into the parking lot of the motel, people started scattering and I wondered what was going on. I got out the car, put on my suit jacket and walked in the front door. Some additional "guests" made a quick exit as I approached the registration desk. The motel manager, wearing a tank-top style t-shirt and shorts, quickly walked up to the desk as I was taking off my sun glasses and said, "This time you better have a warrant". I was stunned by this comment and responded by saying, "Sir, I'm from the phone company, and…". The angry manager cut me off said, "You’re not a cop… so get the #$&% out!"

I was devastated as I returned to my office. My manager and some of the veteran Account Executives had a hard time containing their laughter when they heard my story. I thought I was set-up and this was some sort of rookie hazing. It wasn't. I was one of three Account Executives assigned to the Lodging market and had a variety of property types ranging from the Van Buren motels to some of the larger resorts in the valley. Our directive was to dress in business attire (suit and tie) for all sales calls. This worked fine for the business hotels and resorts, but I still had a number of lodging properties where this attire wouldn't work. It took me over 2 weeks to get special approval to "dress down" to visit the balance of my accounts.

Finally, approval came and I dressed in a Mountain Bell polo-style shirt and business casual slacks. At the motor pool, I picked up an AMC Gremlin (hardly confused with a police car) and returned to the motel where I was asked to leave. This time, no guests scattered as I entered the property. I introduced myself to the manager who was dressed about the same as he had been the last time we "met". After we both apologized to each other about the event from a couple of weeks back, we had a great business conversation. Within a week from that point, I closed the sale.

Bottom line: I suggest working to find a balance between respect for the customer's comfort level and the image you are portraying as a representative of your company. This is a major factor in building business relationships.

Have a great sales week!

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

2009-09-22T20:19:28-07:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

I used to think the saying was just "practice makes perfect" but several things have helped me change that perception. First, I heard Harvey MacKay say several years ago – "what good is it to say practice makes perfect, when you're not doing it right"? Second, the story below brings it all together for me.

A few years back, I had the opportunity to hear NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Montana speak. One of his topics was about a rookie wide receiver named Jerry who had just come out of college and had reported to the San Francisco 49ers training camp.

Joe shared with us that the 49ers offense was practicing formations and signals from their own 20-yard line. The defense was lined up, but this was not a contact drill. After the play ran for a few yards, the players would flip the ball back to the coaches standing on the field and return to the huddle for the next play.

When the ball was thrown to Jerry, he ran 80 yards uncontested down the side line and into the end zone. After a couple of times doing this, his teammates as well as the coaches gave him a hard time about "show-boating" and slowing down the tempo of practice (since they had to wait for him to return to the huddle after each play). The veteran players accused him of being a "hot dog rookie". Jerry said to his teammates and the coaches that he was merely practicing the way he would play in a game. Why should he practice stopping after her caught the ball, when the object was to score a touchdown? Jerry practiced scoring touchdowns every time he caught the ball.

Two things happened as a result of this comment. (1) Every player started running into the end zone during each practice play. (2) The coaches moved the players to the opposite 20-yard line so they could run more plays (having the players run 20 yards instead of 80).

Jerry Rice went on to have a stellar Hall of Fame career, and is thought by many to be one of the best wide receivers of all time.

Let's practice our skills like it matters – all of the time. Every day is game day!

Have a great sales week!

Flawless Execution of the Perfect Plan

2009-09-07T17:39:56-07:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

Flawless Execution of the Perfect Plan… My daughter's epic engagement weekend

Okay - so it's not really a sales tip this time…

For a variety of reasons, Stacy's guard was down on Labor Day weekend. Seth had shared with us a couple of months back that he wanted to propose to Stacy. Somehow, Stacy had discovered that this conversation had taken place, and her radar was up thinking it could be anytime. For the last couple of weeks – she was thinking could this be it?

On Friday of Labor Day weekend, Stacy thought she had a Doctor's appointment (in Washington, DC) in the late afternoon to review some new medication that was coming onto the market. When she arrived at the Doctor's office, she found out there was no appointment (Seth had scammed her) and a car was waiting for her to take her back home to pack - and onto the airport. Her surprise, she was going to Phoenix for the long weekend. Stacy hadn't been home for several months, missed us (and especially our dog). However, she didn’t think we were going to be home that weekend. Seth was still at work and staying in DC for the weekend to visit friends coming in from out of town, and knew how much she wanted to go to Phoenix. Seth and Stacy see the same doctor, so this part was easy to plan.

Phoenix was in the middle of a few days of thunderstorms, and luckily Stacy’s flight was on time. I picked her up from the airport and took her to the restaurant for dinner. She thought my wife and son were going to be meeting us there. As we were being shown to our seats, I realized I left my cell phone in the car and had to go back to get it. In the meantime, the host took Stacy to the table and I got back into my car and left the restaurant.

Surprise!!! It was Seth at the romantic table behind a curtain with flowers and the ring… and the rest is history (…she did say "yes").

Seth's flight had arrived a few hours before Stacy's, so he had time to finalize the logistics. This was so cool! Everything worked out perfectly – and both families are very happy! Special thanks to McCormick and Schmick's in Scottsdale for helping us execute this plan.

Okay – that is my sales tip – it's all in the planning!

Have a great sales week!

Taking Flight

2009-08-26T22:20:26-07:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

Taking Flight

The baby bird was getting ready to fly. For the past few weeks, we watched nature take its course, and now the time had come. As we drank our morning coffee, our eyes were glued to the nest.

The bird peered over the edge of the nest (which was on top of one of our patio pillars). It was a long way down. The half way point was our patio table, where the bird would make its first stop. After some mental preparation the bird left the nest for the table. It was a semi-crash landing, but the bird quickly popped up and jumped to a nearby chair. The mother bird, who was carefully watching from the distance, flew over to the baby and appeared to further encourage the baby bird to fly. The mother even demonstrated a take-off and returned back to the baby as if to say "now you try it". This was very fascinating…

Several minutes passed as the bird seemed to calculate its options. It seemed that short range flights were a good way to practice, and that's what the bird did. These short flights were just a few feet at a time, but it gave the bird confidence. Then suddenly, with the mother bird intently watching, the baby bird took off. The first real flight was about 20 feet long. The mother bird flew over to the baby as if to congratulate it, and then they went airborne and left the yard together.

What we observed: getting ready to leave the comfort zone (the nest), fear, planning, more fear, revised planning, encouragement (coaching), crash landing, re-grouping, re-positioning, more fear, more coaching, short range goal execution, and then long-range goal execution - translating into success.

Witnessing this event has given me a new-found respect for birds - at least until they make their next aerial assault on my patio furniture.

Have a great sales week!

How to Overcome Sales Call Reluctance

2009-08-16T14:43:22-07:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

How to Overcome Sales Call Reluctance

"Pick up the damn phone!"

If that doesn't work, I suggest you contact Connie Kadansky at this link.

Have a great sales week!

How to Email someone with A.D.D.

2009-08-02T18:19:20-07:00

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

How to Email someone with A.D.D.

Basically, assume everyone has A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder) and you'll never go wrong. To maximize the chances of people reading your emails (especially those with A.D.D.), please consider the following tips:

Embrace the Subject Line. What is your email about?
Get to the bottom line in the first 2 paragraphs (assuming the first paragraph is an intro/welcoming paragraph). Just Say It!
Details and the back-story should be optional reading later on in your email. Some people will read it, while others won't. Be careful not to introduce an important nugget of information at the end of a long email since many people will miss it.
If at all possible, fit your email into one screen shot so people don't have to scroll down to get more information. If it has to be a long email, you're increasing the chances of important information being missed or the whole message just being deleted. You must get the reader's attention in that first screen to compel them to scroll down.
A.D.D. in one form or another is more prevalent than a lot of people think.

Special thanks to the creators of Cliffs Notes and Spark Notes.

Have a great sales week!