Power Up - Marketing and Selling for Greater Success

Sarah Palin and how not to break BIG news

Sarah Palin has resigned as Governor of Alaska.  The news is on the major stations and the Internet but her announcement sadly reflects a lack of sophistication about how to market your message effectively.

When a big announcement is made, and this is a BIG announcement due to her rabid fans and avid detractors, one needs to position the message, the timing, and the staging.  The staging was great - her home town with her loving family by her side.  The timing was not optimum.  Many people were already on their 4th of July vacation on Friday and her coverage was done by the second string of reporters.  The message was not tightly scripted.  Her extemporaneous comments left too much up to the reporters to misinterpret.

What Governor Palin should have done was wait until the middle of next week when the media was back to their desks and call a press conference.  Then staging the same way she did she should have laid out the deep concerns she has about Alaska, the plight of the poor and unemployed and uninsured, and the concern she has for "the lower 49 states."  She would acknowledge that she loves being Governor but that she has a bigger obligation to its citizens and that she needs to address the mis-direction that is being taken on so many issues nationally.

A crisp statement with her big smile her family hugs and the flag waving in the background would have made a stronger statement about her professional commitment that we are going to hear so much more about.

It will be a fun road trip with Sarah and her fans for the next several months.  I hope she assembles a communication team that is top notch and avoids the little missteps of the past.

Go get 'em Sarah!

Obama - best dressed and well spoken - a teachable moment

Brad Pitt lost out to Obama in a poll of the best dressed.  Obama is also often admired, even by his political opponents, for being well spoken and having great mastery of the English language and ability to turn a phrase into a memorable sound bite.  What is the point?  Obama is a master salesperson and his skills should be an example to all salespeople of how to attract the admiration of even one's opponents.

How well do you dress?  How well spoken are you?  Do you feel your customers need to take you as you are and appreciate you or are you insightful enough to know that how you "come across" will determine perception and provide influence?

The skills of great politicians should be studied to see which we can also practice for increased effectiveness.

Have a great week of selling!

Who is failing; You or the Market?

Business is down and you are feeling like a failure.  You are not getting the sleep you need and you are working twice as hard and producing a fraction of the previous results.  Are you a failure?

We all know the economy is bad for most companies - has had little impact on most attorneys and government continues to grow.  How much is due to the overall economy and how much of your business decrease is due to your poor performance?

The answer lies in doing the follow up.  I talked with a manufacturer and he was very glum due to the lack of sales.  Once we reviewed his numbers, the proposals he sent out, and the lack of response we realized that the prospects were not buying - period.  He did not lose to his competitors but the prospect, after asking for bids, did not follow through.

The lesson in this discovery is two fold: examine if your competition is gaining on you or not before beating yourself up, and why are we doing extensive bids when the prospect is not buying?

You need to put in place smart proposal writing.  Extensive work on a proposal that gains you nothing is a serious cost - time spent as well as emotional commitment.  We need to do a better job right up front in determining if the prospect is serious, have checkpoints along the way before we commit too much time, and try to get some level of commitment or payment before proposals become a significant cost.

He danced on the tree like a ballerina

A few weeks ago there was a strong storm that came through the area and in the morning I realized that one of our largest trees had been split in half.  The large section that was ripped from the main part of the tree landed in my neighbor's yard.  Immediate action was required since the neighbor adores her plants.  I got my trusty chain saw and went to work on the downed section of the tree.  Eight hours later and totally exhused the neighbor's yard was cleared of all offending limbs.

Now what to do with the rest of the standing tree?  My wife felt it could be saved, I felt it was beyond that point.  A professional arborist came and presented his opinion - the tree had to come down.

I contacted the local professionals, Ryan Lawn and Tree, and accepted their bid.

A few days later a crew of young guys came and put on their harnesses.  They climbed the tree without any fuss and started to "piece the tree out."  The tree was his stage and he danced like a ballerina cutting selective branches and moving on to other ones all the time maintaining his balance so delicately.

I was more than impressed.  In two hours the huge job was done.  The logs were stacked for firewood, the area cleaned up, and the crew had departed. 

How did they do it?  Yes, that is the message of this blog - training, teamwork, preparation before the job began, and knowing which team member was located where on the job site so no one was hurt.

All marketing and sales activities should go as smooth as the one performed for me by the ballerina in the tree.

The Long John Silver annoyance

As sales people we need to be excellent communicators. What does that old expression mean?  I feel it entails listening to the other person, answering their questions since we are paying attention to them and making meaningful comments.  However, how can we show interest and sincerity when we are glancing over the person's shoulder looking for other people?

This happened recently when I was at a meeting and the person I was talking with continually glanced over my shoulder.  It was as if I had a parrot on my shoulder and they were admiring the bird.  It made me realize that they were only paying half attention to me and more interested in who else was in the room, either coming or going.  I kept the meeting short since I knew they had no interest in continuing the conversation.  It would have been better if they had just said, "Thanks for the information.  I appreciated meeting with you but I need to see whomever before they leave." 

How we conduct our communications is very important for long-term relationships.

Learn how to respond to the detours in the selling process

I have created a game in my selling workbook for my training seminars, it is called The Detour Game.  The idea came to me when after a preplanned sales call, at which I arrived early only to find out that the president of the company I was calling on had not arrived yet.  I assured the receptionist that was not a problem and I would wait since I was a few minutes early.  After 10 minutes and the guy still did not arrive the receptionist tried to reach him on his cell phone.  No connection.  She apologized for is delay but I assured her that it was fine and maybe some family issue had come up and I would call him later and reschedule.

Doesn't that happen to all sales people - we dot all the "i"s but things come up to delay the sale.  How do we respond?

What do we do when we call and get the message, "She is out sick."  Or, "He is in a meeting and cannot be disturbed."   "Yes, she did have your appointment in her calendar but she had a last minute meeting out of town." 

Do we get enraged or energized to find a new way to get with the decision maker?  We need to keep a positive perspective and not take a change in plans as a personal affront.  We need to convey a positive reason for the person to reschedule our meeting and to not cancel it.  We need to realize it is not their purpose in life to meet with us but for them to find solutions to their challenges on the job. 

How can we solve their problems?  This is what needs to be conveyed to re-schedule our appointments, be they phone calls or meetings.  A positive perspective generates results.

Competitive difference

All salespeople know that it is essential to not be a commodity - you have to standout from your competition and be able to distinguish your product from others the prospect is considering.  When it gets down to very small differences in product qualities, and your price becomes the issue, you must remember the customer service side of the purchase.  Who will the customer turn to when there is a question?  Who will be there to answer questions about how to install the machine correctly?  How to maintain the machine?  How to expedite service turnaround for maximizing product usage?  How to locate ancillary products for the processes needed by the customer?

Customer service is essential - don't under value it!

Cut prices or ...?

In these tough economic times do manufacturing companies need to cut prices to get people to "Buy American" made products?

  

This profound and timely question was asked of me the other day. 

 

We are in a period of economic uncertainty and too many with knee jerk reactions - and short term thinking, would say "cut your prices!"  This is not the answer. 

 

The real response is what does the customer need in terms of product quality, service support, excellent price, and are they going to need an on-going relationship to solve long-term needs?

 

Domestic manufacturers have a decided advantage over lower cost oversears manufacturers in relationship building, service support, and on-time delivery of quality products at a great price.  Lowest price - maybe not.  Best deal for the customer - yes, when the entire purchase is considered: quality, cost, service, and long-term support.

 

The challenge that too many manufacturers have is that they have not had to market their products in the distant past - they just had to build a damn good mouse trap - and they did.  Times have changed and manufacturers must market more professionally, agressively, and consistently.

 

This does not mean a new brochure that sits on their shelves or have a handfull mailed to current customers and friends.  Full-court marketing is needed by manufacturers: Websites that have impact! Sales efforts that are personal and meaningful! On-going communications with customers and prospects!

 

It is worth the time and effort to conduct an in-depth self-assessment of marketing efforts and the return on that investment.

 

Until marketing becomes a serious on-going activity with manufacturers, the issues of price and overseas competition will always have them on the defense - which is not the way to win the game!

 

Enjoy the dinner menu during breakfast

How can we be more effective at cross-selling.  That term for the uninitiated is the process of selling more than just a product when you are selling - you want to maximize your time and sell several associated products.  E.g. selling the computer is fine but also selling the software, the consulting services, and the maintenance contract is the home run!

While enjoying breakfast with an associate I read over the dinner menu that the high-end dining established had displayed on the breakfast tables.  It made for interesting reading.  The menu's dishes provoked a desire to bring my wife to dinner there that evening.

What was the cost and effort of this simple cross-selling effort?  Minimal!

Think about your services and how often you even mention them to your current clients nonetheless your prospects.  Opportunities abound - make the most of the opportunities.

Be aware of your selling place

The doorbell rang and I interrupted my  work to answer it, only to find a stranger holding an orange. He explained that he and his associates were in our community to provide us with some excellent fruit - upon which he opened his pocket knife and cut into the orange and extended to me a slice to taste.  As the juices from the freshly cut orange dribbled onto my entryway, I tasted the orange and he proceeded to take out a grapefruit cutting it and offering a taste to me.  The selling patter continued as I continued to be amazed at the commingling of juices accumulating in my entry.  Next he produced an apple and as I ate a slice I wondered how many finger nails his pocket knife had cleaned?

I enjoyed the tasty fruit but declined his offer to buy a box of mixed fruit for the special "today only" price.  He was a pleasant salesman but I was left totally baffled as to why he felt, without asking, he could have his "taste this fruit stand" at my front door.

The term "permission marketing" is used in Internet communications so that the recipient agrees beforehand to getting your message.  I suggest that anyone who has a messy presentation also apply permission marketing before creating a mess on the prospect's desk or doorway.

His last gesture was to leave the cut fruit on the threshold and told me I could enjoy finishing it.  Clean hands?  Clean knife?  I don't know.  But I do know that my threshold was not clean.  A very interesting selling approach.

Something we all can learn from.  How do we demonstrate our products and are we sensitive to the prospect's environment?