Whether or not we like to talk about it, the sales profession is under siege -- and the end is not even in sight. It’s been going on for years. “What will happen when I can no longer get in front of people and work my magic?” This rather pathetic question was posed by a highly successful but confused salesperson who was losing access to the customers and prospects he counted on for sales. The year was 1998.
If he were still in sales today, he would be astonished at the impenetrable barriers that now isolate salespeople from their prospects and customers.
In many cases, salespeople not only can’t get through the door, they find it impossible to get to the door. Not only are customers isolated behind both communication and security barriers, the actual decision makers are hunkered down in the purchasing department’s relation-free environment, focused solely on their “lowest cost” mission. There are exceptions, of course, but these are becoming fewer by the day.
Beyond a doubt, it’s increasingly difficult for salespeople to find ways to “work their magic” --
• Through the dramatic uptick in business networking, whether through the social media or face-to-face groups, salespeople often find themselves talking to each other rather than customers, who avoid them by quietly gravitating elsewhere.
• The recession has shown companies that they can get by with less, whether it’s economically necessary or not.
• With customers so busy, meetings with salespeople are not an option unless initiated by the customer.
• With everything available to everyone on the Internet, more customers are going direct.
• No one has time to listen to a sales pitch. Even the vaunted 30-second “elevator speech” is too long.
• Even “consultative selling,” the thinly veiled attempt to re-position salespeople, has joined the growing junk pile of useless gimmicks.
• The only ones who advocate cold calling are sales managers who don’t have to do the dialing.
There are exceptions, like there are those who claim to get along fine without computers.
“Defining the Future” was the tantalizing title of a presentation at a recent sales conference. It must have been a tough one to pull off, since it seems the future is beyond definition. Even so, the task of the salesperson is too important to ignore or continue to offer naïve solutions. Here are some thoughts about the redefined salesperson --
1. Stop selling and start helping. Those who are helped the most when sales occur are salespeople, not customers. What we sell may be beneficial for buyers, but the salesperson is the real winner. Here’s the point: when someone buys from you, they are doing you a favor.
For most salespeople, the task is plotting how to get the customer to sign the order, a strategy, no matter how it’s cloaked, that becomes more and more transparent to the customer.
Instead of asking for the order, disarm the customer by asking what you can do to be of help. It may be identifying a problem and recommending a solution. It may be directing a prospect to new sources of business. It may be pointing out an inefficiency, or suggesting a way to reduce a particular cost.
Here’s an example. A few days after meeting with an executive in the financial services industry, a salesperson thought about an almost off-hand comment the prospect had made, and came up with an idea that could solve the problem. The goal of what some would view as a “sales call” became not to get the order, but figuring out how to assist the prospect.
By helping prospective customers, salespeople are given rare and valuable opportunities to demonstrate their competence and value, as well as build relationships that may well translate into sales.
2. Stop talking and start listening. Paul Cicone went into sales more than 20 years ago when his job as a school counselor was eliminated due to budget cuts. Today, Paul is a salesperson/principal of Hanson Printing in Brockton, Mass., where he has been employed for the past two decades.
“I use my master’s in counseling degree every day in sales,” says Paul. “I know how to listen.” Just as counseling kids is a helping profession, Paul sees helping as his sales mission, too. “This means asking questions to fully understand what the customer wants to accomplish, and not just getting the specs so I can come back with a quote,” he says. “The more I know about how the project is going to be used, what’s important about it, and who is pushing it in the company, the better job I can do for a customer.”
Paul goes a step further. The answers to his questions become a permanent legacy of the account, and serve as reminders for him and a source of understanding for his associates at Hanson Printing.
3. Stop pushing and start pulling. Getting through the barriers that separate salespeople from customers can be a daunting and discouraging task. In effect, the people we want to see don’t want to see us.
But that may be a minor issue compared to the fact that as salespeople we have no way of knowing who needs us. Even our educated guesses are still guesses, the story of the needle in the proverbial haystack.
John T. Phelan, Jr., the COO of TriFactor, LLC, a material handling system integrator in Lakeland, Fla., had no idea that ICS Logistics could benefit from an automation needs analysis for its 3PL cold storage operation in a proposed new distribution center. While he knew the company, he didn’t know they had a need until someone from ICS Logistics called him after reading an article in a trade publication written by one of Phelan’s systems engineers.
Instead of spending time trying to figure out how to push your way in, a much more productive approach is finding ways to help the customer find you.
4. Stop hunting and start marketing. After many years as a successful business insurance producer, Carl Zeutzius, a vice president of the UNICO Group in Lincoln, Neb., knew there had to be a better way to attract new business, besides getting lucky when sending out a stream of quotes.
He found a new direction through the Institute of WorkComp Professionals, a national group based in Asheville, N.C. that trains insurance professionals how to help employers reduce their workers’ compensation expenses. The concept of bringing unique value to clients captured his imagination.
At that point, Carl Zeutzius went through what might be viewed as a “career change.” Both Carl and the members of his team at UNICO have become expert marketers. They’ve partnered with occupational health facilities, as well as other professionals, and together they reach out and hold educational seminars for employers, write articles for business publications, and distribute information-based eBulletins to a growing database of clients and prospects. In less than three years, their reach extends far beyond their original market area and now includes the whole state. With his team’s strategy, Carl is already looking beyond Nebraska.
He sums it up simply, “We’re getting in doors that were never open to us. People look forward to seeing us because they are interested in what we know.”
With its marketing mindset, there are no limits to the UNICO workers’ comp group’s success. The best salespeople are the best marketers.
A business writer recently mentioned a comment in an article made by legendary marketer Al Ries. Not long afterward, a package arrived in the writer’s mail from Al Ries with a copy of his latest book, an intriguing statue, and a letter expressing thanks for quoting him. Al is not just a great marketer; he’s a superb salesperson.
It’s clear that there are salespeople who, whether they recognize it or not, put these four strategies into practice every day. They’ve adapted, quite naturally. However, others are still looking for the “silver bullet” that will get them in front of customers so they can “work their magic.” Unfortunately, disappointment will drive them to look for the next gimmick.
John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing service and sales consulting firm and the creator of “Magnet Marketing.” He writes for a variety of business publications and speaks on business, marketing, and sales issues. Contact him at 40 Oval Road, Quincy, MA 02170, 617-328-0069, [email protected]. The company’s Web site is www.grahamcomm.com.