Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
I had two conversations that were in stark contrast to one another.
The first was with an executive who told me that the company must have their salespeople selling more consultatively to better differentiate themselves in the global market, so they began training on SPIN selling - a year ago. I told him that was a good start and wondered if they experienced the same thing as most companies that train on SPIN selling - it is a great questioning strategy but their salespeople simply can't apply it or execute it.
[Note - SPIN is a questioning strategy developed by Neil Rackham but it is not a sales process. If you are familiar with my Baseline Selling sales process and book by the same name, SPIN would take place between 1st and 2nd Base.]
Back to the story...This executive said that their salespeople aren't able to demonstrate any more competance than they were a year ago but he didn't want to upset anybody, anything, any apple carts, any vendors, any salespeople, etc. He believed he had all the answers despite his own evidence pointing to the contrary. I mentioned that he was talking out of both sides of his mouth and he even agreed with that! He was simply too invested in maintaining the status quo and keeping the peace to change anything. A powerful, consistent formula - for failure.
You may have read my article from earlier this week when I described 10 CEO's and the Impact They Have on Their Sales Forces. The executive above was a combination of #1 and #9.
My second conversation was with an effective CEO who is completely unlike those that I described in the other article. My good CEO has the following 10 qualities that have a positive impact on the sales force:
- He asks questions and listens when he doesn't have the answers;
- He has very little patience for incompetence;
- He holds people accountable;
- He lets people know where they stand;
- He demands the best from everyone;
- He leads the way and drives change;
- He sets clear expectations and has consequences for failure;
- He isn't afraid to terminate anyone;
- He is very decisive;
- He knows that revenue is King.
He has many more good qualities but these ten stand in contrast to the ten I wrote about in the previous article.
If you lead a company or a sales organization, which leader would you like to emulate?
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Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
Just like the salespeople who work for them, CEO's come in all different sizes, shapes, styles and flavors. As you can imagine, those variances influence the outcomes of sales force evaluations, sales infrastructure, sales and sales management development and sales recruiting. Here is a sampling of how some of the CEO's react to what I tell them about their sales force:
#1 - "Thank you for your advice. I'm not comfortable with that". Who says that YOU have to be comfortable? You have to do the right thing for your company!
#2 - "I'm not quite ready for that. How about if we do that in six months?" A less honest version of #1 - at least be straight with me!
#3 - "Whatever you say. You're the expert." This tends to work out a lot like #1. Yes, they agree with whatever I say but are no stronger with management than with me and can't drive change.
#4 - "This is B*ll S*it. They're just going to have to do what you say, right now, or they're gone." That's the spirit, but it isn't driving change. You can't pound people with a sledge hammer to drive change, you have to inspire them to change.
#5 - "Let me see if I can get some consensus for this." Oh-oh, this isn't going to work. You never get consensus from people who don't want change in the first place!
#6 - "OK. Let's talk about how we're going to accomplish that given our challenges." Much better! At least we're going to talk about how we can implement...
#7 - "Great - can YOU deliver that message FOR me?" This is even worse than #5!
#8 - "I'm not going to drive this. One of my senior managers will have to drive this." OK, how many years are you willing to wait to find a genius who finds value in this AND isn't threatened by it or me?
#9 - "Why aren't my people doing what they're supposed to do?" Because you have to be strong enough to tell them that it's a condition of continued employment rather than quietly sitting there, without saying a thing, and expecting something to change!
#10 - I don't want to do it your way. I think it should be done my way instead." Ah, excuse me, but isn't that the same way you were doing it for the last 10 years - and it didn't work then either?
I don't mean to paint a picture that depicts CEO's as the problem, but in some companies, they are the problem. In 9 of the 10 examples I described above they were the problem but unlike this article, it happens in only about 50% of the cases, not 90%. So if you are a CEO or know one, what should you do when getting help for your sales organization?
The change begins with you, not us. We'll help you change your culture and your results, but you have to show your people your commitment to that change by setting your expectations and holding the organization accountable. If you aren't strong enough to drive the change, don't even start. In most companies where the CEO is the problem, it's either because the CEO is fearful of confrontation, or the CEO mistakenly believes he/she is a sales expert and has all the answers. If you have an open mind, are committed to change, and can drive the change in your own organization, that is all you need in order to achieve significant revenue growth as a result of working with an experienced, talented, practical sales development expert.
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Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
Getting salespeople to recognize how badly they sound and how ineffective they are when selling on the phone isn't easy. And just so you know who I'm talking about (and to save you from commenting about how these nuances are different) I'm including prospecting, cold-calling, telemarketing, telesales, inside sales, inbound marketing, outbound marketing and lead gen roles as "selling on the phone".
There are two methods that I prefer to use:
- Have them make a call to me and then I make the call to them and we compare the two calls. After the comparison, I help them optimize their tonality, content and strategy.
- Method #2 works best if we have already conducted method #1. Have them record their calls. At least, after method #1, they should have a better sense of what they are comparing their calls to. Without method #1, they may recognize how bad they sound, but rarely will they recognize how ineffective they are.
In most calls, the first 10 seconds are the worst and it only takes the first 10 seconds for a prospect to make these three crucial decisions:
BE ATTENTIVE OR IGNORE? RESPOND OR GRUNT? ENGAGE OR HANG UP?
In this day and age, there isn't much of a chance to get prospects to be attentive and engage unless your salespeople sound great and ask effective questions at the right time. And if prospects don't have a reason to be attentive and engaged, they can't make the next decision:
INTERESTED OR NOT INTERESTED?
If your salespeople are unable to interest their prospects there is zero chance of reaching the goal for the call which, depending on the salesperson's role, could be anything from a qualified lead to a scheduled appointment to a transactional sale.
One problem that most salespeople have is that they mistakenly attempt to go from Hello to Interested in one move. That's like trying to go from start to check-mate in one move in Chess. Or putting for an Ace from the Tee Box! You can try to do it all day long but it won't ever work.
If you're working with salespeople who must do at least some of their selling on the phone, observe and listen to how they sound and what they say in the first 10 seconds. Put yourself in their prospects' shoes. Would you choose to be attentive, engage and be interested? If not, the work starts right there.
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Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
Sometimes, when your salespeople are trying to close a sale, the deal stalls, gets put-off, or simply doesn't close. This is followed by, well, follow up, leading to more put-offs. There are many reasons why this happens but for the purpose of this article, let's simply assume that the prospect has every reason to buy and the salesperson did not do anything glaringly wrong along the way. Simply a closable opportunity that hasn't closed yet. In situations like this, there are usually two things going on:
- The prospect has some unresolved fear, discomfort or risk;
- The salesperson is trying too hard to close.
The fascinating thing about these two scenarios is that the harder the salesperson attempts to close, the more fear, discomfort and risk it creates for the prospect. Their resistance gets stronger.
The solution? Stop trying so hard!
The strategy? Lower the resistance.
The tactic? Acknowledge their fear, let them know you understand it, and lower their resistance. Get them to admit to it and then you can ask them why they are afraid, and what you can do to resolve it.
This new information is not an objection or even a reason. It is simply a new problem for you to solve and your solution should be revised to address this problem. If you can do that, you'll close the sale.
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Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
I always said to myself that if I could apply the same discipline I applied at work to my eating and my golfing I would be a thin scratch golfer. One down...
Please read this article the way I intended to write it. First, what it is not.
It is not an article about how I lost 40 pounds. Nor is it an article about why I lost 40 pounds. Instead, please read this as an article about how to get people to change.
Awareness? I knew I was forty pounds overweight and your salespeople know they are under performing. I also knew I wasn't very healthy. Awareness alone is not enough and when you continue to tell people what they already know, it makes them more, not less resistant.
Reasons? I had one reason for not changing and it went like this: "I don't have any other vices. I don't smoke, drink, gamble or carouse. Just let me have my food!" I found a way to justify my weight, health and eating, but in the end, it was just one, big excuse. Your salespeople have excuses too. "Prospecting is a waste of time" and "I'm too busy doing that CRM stuff you want me to do" and "I'm working on a proposal". Just excuses.
What changed? I was ready, but I had been ready before. I was committed, and a few times in the past I had committed to diets. This time, it had to be permanent. This time it had to be for the right reasons. This time it had to be lifestyle, not diet. What must change with your salespeople? They have to be ready. They must be committed. They must be committed for the right reasons. It has to be permanent. It has to be a work style change, not an exercise or experiment.
A number of things made my transition successful:
- I was inspired this time - by my wife - who assured me that I could do this.
- I knew what had to change - not my 40 pounds of excess - that was too overwhelming. I had to change what I ate. So I simply eliminated processed food, specifically sugar and flour. I could manage that every day, three times per day, with no problem. Even though the staples of my diet were ice cream and bread, when I eliminated them, everything else tasted spectacular. You know what your salespeople have to change and it begins with their prospecting behaviors. The revenue part is overwhelming to them. Change what they have to do each day and it becomes simpler. Clear the path!
- I knew how to measure the change. This part was easy because I could measure how I felt and what I weighed each day. You know exactly which forward looking indicators you must measure for sales performance and they are all at the front end of the funnel.
- I know how to hold myself accountable. I performed a daily huddle with myself and held myself accountable for what I ate and what I weighed each day. Do the same with your salespeople. Hold them accountable to what they do each day relative to building their pipeline.
- I committed. And with no exceptions. Exceptions ruin everything so I don't make them. That "no exception" rule leads to discipline and consistency.
- I tracked my progress and today, exactly one year later, I am 40 pounds lighter, I don't take any medications, and I'm really healthy. (I did this without exercising, too) Track the progress your salespeople are making and show them how much healthier their pipeline becomes and how much better their bank account looks.
Speaking of your salespeople, EcSELL Institute is conducting a national research project that looks at sales management through the eyes of a sales rep. It is asking sales reps, from across the US and Canada, what they want and need from their sales managers. The research project is trying to define a wish list that sales managers can use to guide their own sales management behavior. It takes 3 minutes to complete. Have your salespeople visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EcSELL_SalesRepSurvey.
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