Don't be stupid in 2010

"Companies spend 95% of their marketing budget on making the phone ring and only about 5% on what to do when it does" - source unknown


Here's the reality folks and my statement is based on 10 years research and the analysis of more than 40,000 recorded sales calls in a wide variety of industries.


Incompetence is the standard in American business.


"Most sales people are not competent with respect to the two most important skills required to be characterized as a good sales person and to achieve lasting success. First, they do not know how to build trust and credibility on a consistent basis and secondly, they do not know how to make commitments and ask for commitments".


This incompetence shows up on a daily basis in our analysis of recorded sales calls in the following ways;

• Sales people think that just because a prospect asks for a price on the phone they are obliged to give one.
• As with prices, sales people spend countless hours talking about technical issues without attempting to create a relationship with the prospect. Again, customers ask for information and sales people feel obliged to simply hand it over.
• Sales people consistently fail to make sincere commitments and personal promises, yet these two moves are exactly what prospects and customers are looking for. It is clear to me that sales people are simply blind with respect to the dance of commitment. They've never been trained. Not in their family, not in the community and not in business.
• Sales people regularly push prospects and customers away because they have a lack of energy and a 'why bother' attitude. They don't understand that every prospect and customer senses exactly what is going on with them and reacts accordingly. Nothing is hidden.
  
  I could write for hours about what is missing in the domain of sales, customer service and leadership, however I want to get the point that is the title of this blog post.
  
  Don't be stupid in 2010
  
  You need to think of your business they way that a professional sports team approaches the season. The only difference is that you have a game every day.
  
  Here's what I mean.
  
  Would the World Champion NY Yankees show up on the field without practicing? Of course not, but sales people throughout the country show up every day without a clue. They open their mouth and whatever happens to come out is ok with them and most of the time with their company.
  
  If you are going to put a sales person up to bat with a new prospect, you need to make certain that they can hit the ball... close the deal... make and ask for commitments.
  
  If you allow them to show up in an unprepared manner, if you don't make sure they are competent... then guess who is being stupid. And it doesn't have to be that way.
  
  What comes first?
  
  Business people ask me all the time, "what comes first... the chicken or the egg? And what they're referring to is, "What do I do first, expand advertising initiatives or train my people?"
  
  As far as I'm concerned, we can get most sales teams to the next level in about eight (8) weeks, so the answer has got to be A.) set standards in the sales department, train your people, develop competence first B.) then spend your hard earned money on advertising.
  You'll enjoy putting your staff up to bat when they are confident and competent.
  
  Be smart in 2010
  
  Call me I'll show you how easy it is to get your entire sales staff up to speed... quickly.

Help Wanted: People Skills!

Question: From your perspective, what people skills do you see MOST lacking in the companies you visit?

- Bonnie

Hello Bonnie - Great question! My company and I have listened to more than 40,000 recorded sales and customer service conversations. We've analyzed the conversations, listening for what's missing, and based on careful analysis I make the following assertions:

Most business people are stuck in the information age. That is, through no fault of their own, they are trapped in the information age because we have been born into it. The skills learned in schools and on the job are good for exchanging information, but blind us to the real game of coordinating action and building relationship with others.

Another issue is that most of us are on automatic most of the time. That is, as humans we are in many ways not unlike computers. Much of our biology is fully automatic (breathing, heartbeat, waste elimination, etc.) as is our speech communicatoin. For instance, if I ask you, "What food do people eat at the movies?" The answer is most likely going to be, "Popcorn!" If I ask you how you are doing, the answer is mostly automatic: "Just fine, how are you?".

After analyzing 40,000 discussions, I can safely state that most people in business today are on automatic mode and are fluent in the world of information, but that's as far as it goes for most.
The skill most lacking, again based on detailed analysis, are the abilities to design relationships, coordinate and generate action in the future with others, and using language for superior communication.

Whether you're dealing with sales and customer service or with leadership and management, building trust/credibility and coordinating/generating action using language is the area of expertise lacking across all industries.

We are a generation of information experts. The only problem is that the information age is over! It's dead! There is little competitive advantage, for the average person, in more information or prettier information, because it's ubiquitous.

From my perspective, we have an entire generation that is mostly incompetent when it comes to building trust and credibilty and generating action - all of it by design.

Thanks for asking the question,

Dan

This is a fascinating area of research and if there are any consultants out there interested in discussions about something I call the Language Of Commitment and how it can impact your own clients, get in touch with me. You may email me at dmolloy@molloyllc.com or give me a call at 877-212-6001.

Do you have to believe in your products to be a great sales person?

I love this question which was brought to my attention during a LinkedIn discussion. Here's my reply to that group:

You're a singer (like I was years ago), it's 2:00 AM and you have one more set to do. At the same time you're exhausted and you have a cold. What do you do?

You're a triathlete (like me now), it's 90 degrees as you begin the run. Someone hollers that you need to catch one more guy and you win your age group. What do you do?

You're a professional sales person, it's the end of the month and you need to make your numbers and bring home the bacon and make customers happy... all of it.

Let me ask you this question: Why are you working where you are working? No one forced you to be where you are. So the question about what you believe in and don't believe in is a silly question. If you are being paid to perform, then perform or get out. Professionals BRING IT for one reason and only one reason, because they said so. Our power as people rests in being able to give and keep your word. A.) to yourself and B.) to others. When we give our word honestly and we mean it and we are professionals, then even asking this question is silly. The answer to the riddle is found in answering the following yes or no question, "Are you a great sales person?"

Also, when you get into it, deeply, there really is no such thing as sales. One of the reasons people suffer about being great at sales is because they don't fully understand what being great at sales is.

Question? Was Bernie Madoff a great sales person?

Looking strictly at the numbers, there was a time, when many would have said, "Bernie is a great sales guy!" But the reality is he was a con man. So does greatness in sales show up only in the numbers? Or in belief in what you are doing? Or is it something else?

I say that the word sales describes another phenomena where people use specific language and human energy to design a mood of trust (the key word is design) and then within that mood of trust, make commitments (in time) to take care of someone else's concerns and ask the other to commit in return. The act of commitment by one human to another is paramount. It's one of the most fundamental acts of being alive and yet most people and most sales people are lost and do not understand the dance of commitment or something I call the Language Of Commitment.

The issue has nothing at all to do with the product, but with one's competence when it comes to building trust and both making commitments and asking for commitments. True professionals have figured this out and so this question is not an important question. True professionals would not have to worry about believeing in the product. If they didn't think the product/service was good, they would not represent it in the first place.