I remember hearing someone say once ‘Bernadette, the answer is always no, unless you ask’ and I have always remembered that.

Whether I am lost in the car and can’t get the directions right, I will stop and ask someone for help, whereas my husband would rather keep driving until he finds the right road – and dare I say, wastes time and gets frustrated in the meantime and it has nothing to do with women not being able to read road maps!

If I am seated at a restaurant that is near the door and it’s a wet and windy night, I will ask to move whereas a friend won’t want to be an inconvenienced, won’t ask and is prepared to be miserable all night.

If I feel that something is wrong in a conversation, I will ask what the matter is or call the elephant in the room, whereas another salesperson won’t want to put someone on the spot and so puts incorrect meanings onto comments and ends up with pipeline bloat.

Most of us feel uncomfortable when we ask someone for a favor or for help.

The story of Amanda Palmer, a living statue whose job was to sell her art and connect with people by standing on a milk crate, dressed as a bride, handing daisies to those passer-by’s who tipped money into her hat struck a chord with me.

Some of us may see these street artists and immediately jump to the conclusion that they are beggars, or bludgers or lazy (get a real job) as they stand in the popular tourist spots attracting passer- bys.

But whose story is that – theirs or yours? And if it is your perception, then how does that belief serve you when it is your turn to sell your product or service.

You see, their story is that they are allowing people to choose to buy their art. And we, as salespeople are also artists. We are not managers, we are not all entrepreneurs risking our capital for the cause, we are wanting people to buy what we believe will make a difference in their worlds.

And the street artist’s story is that they are selling connection with the people whose eyes they look into as they stand statue like still. They’re selling trust as they reach out and they are also selling themselves on vulnerability by placing themselves in a position of potential rejection.

And isn’t that the same as us? Are we not asking the question of our buyers that they tip money into our hat? That we are artists selling a product, a service or an idea that will make a difference in the world of our buyers? That our buyers also buy our connection, our trust and our vulnerability as we ask them to buy increased profitability, improved productivity and proximity?

I read an article by Jeb Blount, from Sales Gravy, this afternoon on ‘The ONLY Closing Technique that Really Works’ and I, too, can share this biggest secret with you on how the top salespeople ask for the order, even though I haven’t sworn on Jeffrey Gitomer’s Bible and I am in total agreement with Jeb.

The biggest secret to winning business is to ask for the business and the biggest choke-hold to asking, running in parallel, is fear.

Let me share a ‘close’ with you that will work EVERY SINGLE TIME and you won’t have to swear on anything for me to share it with you – ‘How can I help you?’

Simple. Straightforward. Sincere.

And it doesn’t just start and stop with a close for business. I had a coffee this morning with a corporate sales manager turned start up entrepreneur and we aligned a lack of collaboration and marketing ideas, products and services to fear, as well.

Before coffee, I was on a Google Hangout and the interviewer Jenny Munn from Business Marketing Association, Atlanta GA, who asked me why people don’t publish their content to position themselves as experts when the platforms are right there, free and convenient. My answer was, ‘the same as what prevents them asking for the next logical step in a sale – fear!’

‘The Art of the Ask’ is not about closing or trapping or conning your buyer

Asking for the business is about learning to say ‘no’ and learning to say ‘yes’ and knowing the magic lies somewhere in between, but only after you are ready to say ‘Bring It On’ to uncertainty when your buyer asks you to go a little deeper with your request.

So, it’s over to you now…

And so ask all of us!!

The post The Answer Is Always No, Unless You Ask. appeared first on Head Of Sales.

It’s a question I’ve asked a couple of times in workshops and online, and it’s a question that was triggered by a few ‘posts’ I read, stating that

Salespeople today don’t execute on the basics.

And my response is – what are the basics then?

And as would have it on social, there was a plethora of responses, from which I randomly collected this bakers dozen:

1.    Understand your customer’s business issues and what they want

2.    Ask intelligent and strategic questions

3.    Listen a lot more than you talk

4.    Make your key objective to help the customer, not to close a sale

5.    Know your prospects.

6.    Know your competition

7.  Solve their problems

8.  Know your company story

9.  Build rapport

10. Understand the buyers needs and KPIs

11. Networking

12. Storytelling

13. Find the problem, discover solution, present why solution is best for prospect

Are any of these wrong? Far from it.

Whilst these are skills that every salesperson must have and is typically the focus traditional sales training provides, I don’t believe they are the basics, nor do I believe they are the focus for the future sales professional that business wants and needs.

Whilst they are a combination of general sales skills ie networking and storytelling, as well as role based sales skills ie account management and marketing, as well as communication sales skills ie rapport and listening, I would suggest they are, what I call, ‘surface basics’.

I believe there must be another layer beneath these ‘surface basics’ that make results stick, that make people execute and that provide an environment of growth – something essential, primary almost. Something that forms a solid foundation for these ‘surface basics’ to sit on.

And I’d like to refer to them as Identity Skills.

It’s almost a Simon Sinek moment with a fundamental circle missing. We know what we need to do, how and why we have to do things, and if your people don’t know any of those three areas, then they are taught, coached, mentored or shadowed until they do. We would hope!!

Even if that is the case, sometimes many still don’t get it!! There is a gap. And for those that feel there is a gap, then this might help… it’s drilling down into the WHO – and accessing what I term my ChangeMaker Circle. The Basics of any form of Leadership.

According to the World Economic Forum, ‘by 2020, more than a third of the desired core skill sets of most occupations will be comprised of skills that are not yet considered crucial to the job today …”

Based on this, the top 10 job skills you will need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, The Connection Economy or the Imagination Era are:

1.      Complex problem solving

2.      Critical thinking

3.      Creativity

4.      People management

5.      Co-ordinating with others

6.      Emotional intelligence

7.      Judgment and decision making

8.      Service orientation

9.      Negotiation

10.   Cognitive flexibility

(Source: Future of Jobs Report, World Economic Forum)

So, if we take the top three as a sample and reframe them as our foundational basics, our previously shared ‘surface basics’ seem a little lacking:

Complex Problem Solving Skills

How do we develop our complex problem solving skills? What part of the brain is defaulting to emotions or confusion which means you get anxious, overwhelmed or stressed because you can’t quite compute something fast enough, or deep enough? If most salespeople struggle with selling value or holding margin when they are in a crucial conversation, then what value would building their ‘problem-solving skills’ give them instead of ‘overcoming objection’ training? If the role of a sales leader is to lift others, then how are they teaching, coaching or mentoring their team to solve ever increasing complex problems or deal with the complexities in today’s economic climate. Somehow, focusing on ‘closing skills’ doesn’t seem enough.

Critical Thinking

How about critical thinking? Negotiation was one of the must have ‘basic skills’ a few years back as was ‘active listening’, but it has been overtaken, well and truly by the need to tap into the ‘executive brain’, assess what’s important and make connections between what you already know and potentially create new ideas and information that would create value for others. With so much data, insights, analytics and business intelligence, being able to see patterns, or keep an open mind and override those unconscious biases that rise-up when we hear things, or see or notice different things is crucial. Just uncovering the buyer’s problems or challenges is not enough today, it’s being able to make that mean something which is the skill we need to learn.

Creativity

And creativity. How often do we need to come up with fresh ideas. or need to be more creative in our approach, our conversations and our outcomes, especially with so much volatility in the market through new products, price fluctuations, new roles that haven’t even been thought of yet and new ways of working within this new economy. Artificial Intelligence may help us do things more productively and efficiently but those algorithms aren’t quite ready to be ‘creatives’ just yet. We need to tap into our ‘imaginations’ more to get those fresh and competitive ideas flowing more freely and to also help inspire ourselves and those around us.

So, the grass-root basics in this interconnected and imagination era look a little different today than they used to in the industrial economy, and even the previous knowledge/informationeconomy as shown in this ‘evolution of leadership’ model by the About My Brain Institute.

For us to move with the times means unlearning, learning and relearning what we need to, especially when it comes to the basics.

Respectfully, the basics shared earlier, whilst important, are certainly no longer enough, moving forward, for the salesperson of the future to hang their hat on.

Can you experiment with what it takes to be a real problem solver, a deep thinker and an inspired creative? If so, then you have a surefire head start as someone people want to work with.

Be Bold, Brave and Brilliant

The post The Science of Basic Selling Skills appeared first on Head Of Sales.

And for a couple of reasons:

1.    Because they were from sales leaders and

2.    Because they were from salespeople.

There is a saying many of us have heard, that a ‘bad workman blames his tools’ and that was what I was seeing in reading some of the answers so I split the answers out into two lists – A and the A+.

Answers as to why only 20% met budget included (word for word):

• Bad quotas
• Lack of training and no company investment in people
• Bad coaching
• Not enough resources
• More than 80% of customers don’t need the product
• Bad hiring
• Targets are set quarterly
• Shitty product
• Bad/lack of marketing and negative brand sentiment
• Too much admin, installation type work
• No follow up
• Not knowing customer’s environment
• Through no fault of their own
• Economic downturn
• No strategy
• No goals
• They underestimate the amount of daily activity

And then some more….

• Don’t believe in self
• Don’t feel engaged
• Complacency
• Lack of execution
• Minimal effort
• Don’t believe in product
• Don’t prospect enough
• Don’t invest in development
• Don’t ask the hard questions
• Don’t push-back to those who waste time
• Don’t follow a proven sales process
• Wing their calls
• They can’t accept success

As someone who works with business owners, sales leaders and salespeople alike, I have heard all of these and even a few more, and herein lies the problem.

There is a difference between reasons why quota is not being met and excuses as to why it is not being met.

It’s a fine line, so I went to Quora for some help in defining what I know is a key missing component to success – knowing the difference between an excuse and a reason, and I found this explanation, with which I agree:

An explanation typically explains the facts of a situation, what caused it, all the factors that lead to it, even if some of these factors are self-deprecating.

An excuse, however, tends to run along the lines of an explanation except that the language is usually defensive and tends to try to protect the speaker from involvement in the incident in question.

If you notice, I segmented the answers to why only 20% of salespeople are achieving quota, into two lists above.

Can you pick the difference between the lists?

Let me help you…

List A are Excuses Yes, most sales leaders and salespeople who answered the question posed, with these answers, and there were nearly 100, all made excuses either as salespeople or for salespeople. In other words, they blamed someone or something. And these are the people who are responsible for generating our revenue and leading our businesses.

So what separates an excuse from a reason?

Pure and simply, accountability.

You see most people say they want to be successful. How many, though, will do what it takes to be successful in their given role? That is, how many people will do what it takes to be successful in selling? The question is a powerful one.

Another powerful question to ask is, ‘if you didn’t have the excuses from the top list, then how would you make sure you reached quota?’ Think on that a minute or two.

You see, each one of the items from the excuses list can be whittled down to being a valid reason, that can then be worked on.

Let’s take a couple and I’ll share with you what I mean, and you might also see if anything resonates with you personally, or with someone you know:

Lack of Training– In an era of unprecedented content with people giving away their once coveted golden IP for free, what are you doing to invest in yourself? When was the last time you read a book about prospecting in today’s sales environment, or are you waiting for the company to do it for you?

Not Enough Resources – Have you got clear on what resources you actually need and the difference they would specifically make for you meeting quota? Sometimes we forget that the thing we need is not more money, more tools, more shortcuts – that it could be a matter of tapping into our resourcefulness and finding a bit more energy and effort in doing something new and perhaps putting a business case together instead of whinging.

Bad Coaching – Do you know what good coaching looks like, sounds like and feels like? If so, are you also clear on the specific outcomes you would want and need from a coach? Great! Now start coaching yourself or set out those expectations with your manager. Step up.

More Than 80% of Customers Don’t Need the Product – My first thought was why are you in business then? Who, if not you, is responsible for qualifying a buyer and what is the depth of question you are asking or not asking, and the real reason you are asking those questions, or not asking? Who is creating the value proposition?

Bad Hiring – So let’s say it’s valid and your hiring person made a mistake – what conversations aren’t you having with that person to remove the pain for them and yourself? Who is responsible for hiring processes and what might THEY need to do differently?

Targets Are Set Quarterly – OK, so break them down to monthly, weekly, daily or hourly if that turns you on. You are the captain of your own ship, the CEO of your own mini organization so think like one and break the odd process rule if it is to serve you and the business.

Shitty Product – The first sale is always to yourself, so leave the company or go and find a product you believe in where you can stop wallowing in this story. Chances are the story will follow you!

Bad Marketing – Then Marketing need your input. You (Sales) can provide Marketing with so much in the way of stories, case studies and feedback and if everyone is clear on what the ultimate outcome is (to serve the customer), then these are conversations worth having – how are you initiating them? What channels of communication are you opening to make change happen?

Too Much Admin – What responsibility is being taken to delegate, say ‘no’ or ask for help? When command and control doesn’t work, what does? Personal leadership?

No Follow Up – What processes are in place, what is the company ethos on caring for the customer and what can you do yourself to set an example? Stand for something!

Economic Downturn – With this being a fact, is the same being said by your competitor who is still selling and one of those 20% making budget?

They Underestimate the Amount of Daily Activity Needed – We have 8 hours in a work day. By getting up 2 hours earlier what have you increased your productivity by? What will that do to your revenue opportunities and stress levels? Think about it and then act.

Usually for each excuse anyone gives, there is a valid reason sitting in the wings and that reason comes back to the person’s level of responsibility, commitment and personal leadership.

List A+ Are Reasons – the real reasons, and only by owning that fact, in all aspects, will you really smash it out of the park and become the 20%er that you know you have the potential to be.

Systems and processes, analytics, technology and automation are all key components of sales success, but behind all of those tools someone needs to drive them. If your levels of discipline are not enough, and you are big enough to admit it, get someone else to help you, because until you do, you will continue to make excuses for your lack of success. You will stay on the A List and you know you are better than that.

B an A+er and also …

Be Bold, Brave and Brilliant

The post Meet The ‘A Listers’​ Ruining Their Careers appeared first on Head Of Sales.

I get it! And I agree with the sales leader that uttered those words because I have been guilty of not asking for help because of the meaning I put on it… ‘they will think I don’t know what I’m doing’ which would equate to ‘I am not good enough to be in this role’.

I also am witness to that behaviour when I begin to work with sales teams or salespeople – and statistically, they are typically male. I’m not sure if that is a guy thing where they don’t want to be perceived as weak by asking a woman for help, or I don’t know if it’s a girl thing because I am not a guy.

 Doesn’t matter. It is what it is. We get over it together.

 But I do come across three different types of salespeople when it comes to growth, change and learning.

There are those who are open and lead with a professional vulnerability and desire to be better.

There are those that push back, question you and throw out a healthy challenge.

Then there are those who really push you and as a result are totally negative and not open to change at all.

 What drives each of those behaviours is Ego.

 When we think of the word ego, what typically comes to mind are a couple of things:

1.  Someone who is full of themselves or,
2. Someone who is driven so much by fear that they constantly sabotage themselves

 But it isn’t quite that cut and dried. Especially in the context of selling.

History tells us that buyers feel pressured by salespeople. They sense a lack of trust. In fact according to the American Management Association who interviewed 1100 buyers on that topic, they ranked pushiness (24%) and refusing to accept a “no” (23%) as the most offensive behaviours, with not listening (18%) trailing close behind.

And that’s because salespeople tend to talk at buyers, ‘tell’ them what they should do and expect them to do it which makes the buyer feel they have to justify their decision if they don’t. They don’t let up and instead ‘tell’ them about their product and what they can expect and why they should buy and then why they should buy before Friday and if you can’t buy before Friday, we’ll tell you about other products we can give you for free to make you buy. Seriously!!

When salespeople find themselves in a perfect environment, with a prospective buyer, an environment that lends itself to asking quality questions, most don’t.

 So what will change this perception and behaviour?

Well, like most things – the answer is not found in a textbook.

The answer is right in front of you, beside you, behind you, within you.

Your Ego.

In fact, we have three egos, as the Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, shared with us and they relate SO MUCH to salespeople. Not to be confused with these three egos … but possibly very much aligned for some

They are:

 1.     The Parent (or Ego)

2.     The Child (or Id)

3.     The Adult (or Super Ego)

 Keeping it simple, let’s look at how each impact on a salesperson and the impact on their business relationships and results.

The Parent (Ego)

Think of a parent’s behaviour and how they typically communicate to the child. They tell the child what to do and what not to do to fit into the norm of society. They protect the child making sure that rules are understood and adhered to, are right and wrong and etiquette is understood. They chastise the child. They know more than the child. They will speak for the child. They don’t often listen to the child. (Note to parents – no guilt necessary J)

My question is – how many salespeople, because of their upbringing and conditioning (and there are always exceptions), continue that behaviour with their teammates or clients? They are uncomfortable in the silence, don’t listen well enough, don’t ask nearly enough questions and default to ‘telling’ about product and why they should buy.

 The Child (or Id)

There is an impulsive child within all of us that responds to instincts. And when we consider a child, that child operates predominantly through emotion – resourcefully and unresourcefully. The child can be the uplifter and one who brings immense joy and can also be the whinger and tantrum thrower you struggle to communicate with. Those of us with kids will understand this.

 My question is – how many salespeople continue this behaviour in the workplace? How many expect to have people do things for them at the drop of a hat, decide to ‘wing it’ in a sales call without any preparation, have an air of entitlement, complain because someone’s territory has more accounts that theirs, whinges because they can’t get their product delivered when they want it, are resentful of others success or bully other people. I have a saying, ‘heal the child and the adult will appear’.

 The Adult (or SuperEgo)

When we are with someone who is in their adult ego, we can feel it, see it and hear it. An adult is rational. Is logical. An adult weigh things up, is patient, asks questions before making a decision and is respectful of other people. The adult helps the parent bring values and morals to the table and a certain ‘lifting of the bar’ whilst also keeping the child and their emotions in check.

My question is – how many salespeople have the desire, or commitment, to shift the way they think about themselves in order to move more into adult? How many salespeople, or leaders even, would win more respect, generate more business and leave a lasting positive impact on the people they deal with, if they could learn to ask better questions, be more present, be more ‘in tune’ with the people they were sitting opposite and learn to use their parent and child ego in balance?

So, which ego is costing YOU business, relationships or results?

On that note, from me, myself and I….

Be Bold and Brilliant!

The post How Does Ego Cost You Business, Relationships And Results? appeared first on Head Of Sales.

As someone who is passionate about helping professional B2B salespeople and leaders to become more effective and up the ante in a time where the whole sales landscape has changed, I have listened intently to professionals in that space, digested the most up to date theories and tested the market by conversing with buyers and sales professionals alike, there appears to be three key areas that determine a higher level of success for salespeople.

The Sales Triad, consists of the following three keys:

Personal Leadership that we see interwoven in many messages and is critical for a sales approach that is strong and is led with conviction.

Thought Leadership where the insight selling philosophy shows its value driven face and where all strong sales conversations focus and

Sales Leadership leveraging the hard skills based on success outcomes around profit, purpose and people.

The internet gives us plenty of perspectives around Personal Leadership and Sales Leadership but not many perspectives around Thought Leadership, or as some would call it, Insight Selling. So I’m sharing my own insights and thoughts here from a B2B sales angle.

First of all it’s important to understand the meaning of the word ‘insight’ and then put that into context around selling.

ɪnsʌɪt/

noun: the capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something.

So how does a salesperson sell an insight?

They need to come to the table as an expert first and foremost, and the foundations of that expertise are set in the following 4T’s model:

• TRENDS across their industry
• TRIGGERS across their customer’s business environment
• TASKS across their buyers role and
• TYPE of person their buyer is.

Understanding these four categories is the cost of entry into insight selling allowing a salesperson to speak with relevance and currency.

Speaking with relevance around the obvious is a step up from not being able to have conversations that drive value at all, but when you can up the ante again and have a conversation or write an article leading with your own original thoughts, sharing your individual perspective and using your unique voice then you are tapping into a skill that successful salespeople exercise naturally. By doing so, it allows people to buy you, as well as buy into what you stand for, your ideas and your insights.

The following are some categories where the thinking of a salesperson must change. It sheds some light and ideas around what they must do and what they can no longer do especially when with a buyer who knows what their problems are and what they potentially want.

People feel good when they have spent time with someone who thinks differently, who challenges in a constructive manner, who is controversial in a respectful way and who is provocative because it helps others to become innovative and imagine… what if…. it helps them reverse engineer and benchmark their new ideas.

When we have something to aspire towards, we are more motivated to shift our status quo and change is more sustainable. We must provide the same vehicle to our clients by way of sharing our insights in an inspirational and transformational manner and not just educate them and instruct them on products or specifics.

So here’s three activities (and insights) we can both finish on:

1. Understand the implications of your buyers challenges before you meet and check in you are on the right track and use as a discussion point
2. Create a list of questions and statements that will uncover the real buying criteria – before you have your meeting so you can be present in the meeting
3. Create a messaging matrix that will allow you to be more agile and contextual in your value driven conversations and be familiar enough with it to go with the flow when you need to.

Lastly, as a bonus – be an ‘authentic authority’ in your field.

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