You Sell Like A Second Grader

What's Your Carrot?

As salespeople we are trained to figure out a prospect's "hot button." Just what will make them buy? Yesterday, I realized that a bigger question is: what makes you sell? What is the "carrot" that makes you pull the donkey cart of sales?

This is an important question. Why do you sell? What is your personal motivator? It's easy to say money, but what does that provide for you?  It can be drastically different things for different people. For me its to provide my family a good home and future. "Things" don't really matter that much. Others might want that shiny new sports car.

But when I first started in sales, a "thing" sure did motivate me. A picture of the engagement ring I wanted to buy my girlfriend was tapped on the wall. It was my carrot. But it wasn't so much the thing as much as all the implications it represented. What's your carrot?

Knowing your carrot will get you through those dark days of sales that we all experience. Yesterday, thanks to our wise VP of Tremendous People, I realized I didn't know my salesperson's carrotts. Bad boss! Maybe they don't know it themselves? We're going to find out asap!

My guess is we will all find out, or reaffirm it.  Over the holiday sit down and ask yourself what yours is. I bet we will all sell more.

Getting Dirty with Interns

My second grade son understands the concept of chores. Do them and he gets an allowance. But "do" is a relative term. He has an endless array of methods to whittle down his actual work load while still expecting full pay.  It reminds me of what salespeople ask for and do everyday, like get dirty with interns.

I've heard salespeople ask for cold callers, appointment setters, folks to mail packages, write letters, market, and people to create proposals. But sales interns creating sales power points? Say what?!

You heard me. And not just for some lame meeting. We're talking BIG presentations. Power Point is often such an after thought that the intern does it. No wonder they suck so bad. No wonder "death by Power Point" is a common phrase. But this isn't about Power Points. This is about a larger question: what are your responsibilities as a salesperson?

If you have someone to make cold calls, set appointments, mail packages, write letters, market, make proposals and the intern does the  Power Point dirty work, what the heck do you do? "Well, it gives me more time to do my job," is a common answer to that question. Would "your job" be doing your homework before a meeting or presentation? Sadly, for many the answer is "no" which inspired the post "Do Your Homework, Dumb Ass."

Smile and shake hands? Okay. Present a Power Point the intern made? Check. Send follow up materials? Maybe. Here's a question: do you think the top 20 percent of salespeople allow interns and subordinates do the dirty work even if those resources are available?  I seriously doubt it. But I would bet the other 80 percent of salespeople do.

It seems impossible that you could deliver a unique solution for a prospect without knowing them inside and out. Unless you get your hands dirty. That means picking up the phone, prepping for your meetings, writing your own letters, creating proposals and oh yes, making your own Power Points.

If you don't do those things, you might as well change your title to PR because that is all you are. What do you think? What is a salesperson's job? Tell me it doesn't involve getting dirty with interns! My son would love an intern to do his work. You would never do that, would you?

 

 

Let's Be Honest

One of the coolest things about writing articles is the surprise of which ones "take off." Yesterday's post, Are You Checking In? about how silly it is for salespeople to "just check in" was the most popular ever. One of my best friends, Bobby who happens to be the GM of a luxury car dealership told me, "I used to call and just ask if they want to buy something yet so I could make a commission." Honesty. What a novel thought.

Let's face it, prospects know we make money off a sale. So why not acknowledge the 800 pound gorilla? They know it, you know it, why not just come out with it? Fact is Bobby moved a ton of cars to sophisticated luxury buyers when he was on the floor. We're talking rides that could run well over six figures. The buyers have bullshit meters set on 11. Schlocky closing techniques would be sniffed out like a second grader on fresh baked cookies.

No matter what the buyer, corporate or personal, they recognize that people get paid for what they do. Trust is one of the main motivators to a sale. Any sense of dishonesty will kill it. Most of the time, I would argue, prospects are looking for a reason to weed you out. Kind of like a job interview. So why not get the whole commission thing out there?

Being refreshingly honest and upfront makes you stand out from the crowd. It gives you a weapon to take advantage of the countless salespeople who Sell From A Throne of Lies and employ the Slimy Close. (You can read my thoughts on those by clicking either link.)  After all the BS, think how nice it would be for someone to say, "Hey, have you made a decision yet? You know, I do get paid if you say yes!" instead of "I'm just checking in."

Like I say to my second grade son. No matter what, always be honest, especially if someone asks you a question. Many times we seem to forget that lesson as adults and sadly as adults who sell.

Are You "Checking In?"

The car salesman strikes again. Last time one inspired me to write "Car Salesman Cold Call."  This latest guy made me realize just how silly it sounds to tell a prospect you are "checking in." Bet you say that, too. What does "just checking in" mean anyway? Have you ever stopped to think about it?

I have and I still can't figure it out. Checking in on what exactly? "Checking in" is something you do at the gym, or a security desk but checking in with a prospect? Nope.  What "checking in" really means when a salesperson says it is, "I have nothing better to say, so I will say "I'm checking in."

Synonym for checking in? Being a pain in the ass. Kind of like a second grader saying "please" a million times at the check out line after you say "no" to candy. It just gets old. It grates on your nerves. It eventually pisses you off.

Step back for a second and think about how many clueless salespeople call prospects to "check in." Lots! And you wonder why prospects won't take salesperson calls? Because 99% of the time, the calls are a useless waste of time.

Instead of checking in, why not call with something helpful, thoughtful or original. Be a breath of fresh air. Make prospects happy you aren't some numbskull "checking in." Don't sell like a second grader begging for candy at the check out line. Sell like someone with knowledge and skill. And you will sell more, champ!

 

Do Your Homework Dumb Ass!

Second graders hate homework almost as much as doing chores. Most of the time because they just can't see the point, even though homework is very important. Adults don't like it much either. But in sales, homework is vital. Are you a dumb ass who doesn't do it?

The homework reminder was delivered by one of my favorite things in the world--a cold call! This one was from a company selling e-mail campaigns. Well, guess what the company I work for does? Create content marketing, including email campaigns!

When I asked the guy if he had done his homework, he said, "Well, I know you are McMurry Publishing and you are publishers." True!  If we were talking say 2002 or so. Now, we are a comprehensive contentent marketing company encompassing print, interactive, video, SEO you name it. He had no idea. And while it may be harsh to call him a dumb ass, he was for sure lazy.

The other thing he asked was if I remembered the email he had sent.  Really? How many emails do you get every day? Of those how many do you remember? What about the ones from self-serving salespeople who only care about themselves? That's right, ZERO.

"No champ, I don't remember your email."

Homework doesn't have to take long. In just 10 seconds he could have gone to our website and learned volumes just by glancing at the home page. But he didn't. In a few minutes, he could have thought of something smart and interesting to say rather than remind me of an email that looked like hundreds of sales pitches. But he didn't. And he didn't get the sale. Fact is, he should have never made the call.

So many salespeople tell me that with the pressure of calling quotas they can't take the time to do their homework. Why managers come up with arbitrary sales goals, and dials is a whole nother story you can read here. Having "no time" is a lame excuse. People make time for what they want to do.

If you want to sell, you must find time to do your homework. If that means, making notes about the next day's calls after hours, then do it. If that means making a few less calls for the sake of quality, do it. Better yet, do both.

 

Pizza Hut Sells Right

Yeah, this is the second time I've written about pizza and sales. And just like "Pizza Seals the Sale" this story is about servant selling. Pizza Hut's new ad campaign featuring real employees is a 30 second gem of sales training.

The basis of the commercial isn't features and pricing. It's about caring. It features employees who talk about why they care about the food they make, serve and deliver. They say things like, "This isn't a pizza, its something that brings your family together" or "this isn't pasta its comfort after a hard day at work." In otherwords they are making an emotional connection to the product rather than try to play the "lowest price" game. Unfortunately Pizza Hut doesn't have their commercial on-line so you will have to catch it on TV.

In the world of fast food the campaign is nothing short of revolutionary. Food commercials out there are all about $0.99 meals here or two free toppings there. No real value, just price. With their new ad campagin, Pizza Hut steps above the fray and establishes themselves as something more than quick food. "The Hut" positions themselves as caring and making a connection to the true nature of their product and personal effect on the people who buy it.

If we all didn't sell this way. Oh, the money we would make! Second graders really care about how people feel and it works for them. This fades away when we are adults, especially adults who sell. We are pressured to "sell something", get a certain number of calls and make numbers and most of the time with piss poor training.

99 out of 100 of the sales communications I get are about product and price and have nothing to do with our company's needs, let alone my personal needs. Just like cheese on pizza, there's always a personal need no matter what you are selling.  Yes, even if the sale is to a corporation.

One of the first things I ask my team and myself when making a pitch is "what is a compelling reason for them to personally buy?  What is the emotional connection?"  If you don't make that emotional, personal connection, you aren't going to sell that much, champ.

Pizza Hut gets it right, simply by showing they understand what their product really means to people. It's not cheap food, it's an emotional connection. There's an old saying in sales that people don't buy drills because they want a drill, they buy a drill because they need to make a hole. Just like people buy pizza because they have a bunch of kids they want to make happy, or whatever.

Make the emotional connection with your prospects like a second grader and you will serve up some tasty sales.