The Sales Archaeologist

Have you noticed a change in the economy lately?  Most of the business leaders with whom I speak would say so.  It seems like everyone lately is “crazy busy” or “good busy” and I include myself in this category.  As we say in Boston, it has been “wicked busy”.

Every now and then I find myself helping a well-intentioned sales professional to get better.  I describe them as so because they have developed techniques and tactics over the years which they see as a vital part of their sales toolbox, yet to me they sound tired and gimmicky.  It can be difficult to get away from these bad habits and unfortunately some people are still teaching these verbatim.  In my book  Sales Shift – How inbound marketing has turned sales upside down making it more difficult and more lucrative at the same time, I discuss the ways in which sales tactics and methodologies have changed over the years.  I believe that our marketplace (more informed and astute than any before) is forcing the following 6 most tired and ineffective sales tactics into retirement:

I feel compelled to start this post with a disclaimer – I don’t usually buy things spontaneously when watching TV.  But the other night I saw a commercial for “Side Socket” and immediately picked up the phone, pulled out my wallet and dialed the number.  Why I did this (it fit a real need in at least 2 locations in my house) is not important.  What is important is that I was SOLD.

Sometimes during my travels, I meet someone who tells me how much they love Boston.  They may have been here many times and talk about how great Boston is.  When I ask for specifics, some can rarely name their favorite places, the restaurants they frequented or where they stayed.  On the other hand, there are some people know more about my home city than I do!  Clearly there is a difference between loving Boston and LOVING Boston.

If as a CEO or Vice President of worldwide sales, you heard that one of your sales people “went above and beyond”, how would feel?  Probably pretty good and no doubt that you would love to hear feedback like that about everyone in your sales organization.  If you regularly heard that about your team, numbers would be up, new business would be strong and attrition very low.

Let’s start with a question – What is the difference between something that you are willing to pay $3000 for and something you are willing to pay $30,000.00 for?  Hopefully you think “a lot” and that’s the right answer.  The space between the two is something which we call VALUE.  In this case, value translates into 10X the first number.  Regardless of whether the value is justified or not, what matters in selling often has to do with perception – does your prospect agree with the value which you are claiming to provide?

One of the mantras that seems to be getting louder and louder involves the need to provide great and timely content to your potential market – content is king!  I have had great response to some of my previous e-books and they continue to be downloaded with regularity.  My e-book on inbound lead conversion has been the most downloaded item and if you missed it you can download that here for free.  I also have two e-books for sales managers: my first one discusses effective sales meetings and the second is on motivating a sales team.  That said, it's time for something new, so I'm enthused to announce my new e-book which was just released to help companies have a great 2013.

I have written several posts lately on the changes which sales people should be making in order to succeed in the modern economy.  We know that things have changed, but sometimes we simply talk about it and don’t take the time to analyze the details and consider what affect the combination of changes might be having on our business and sales model.  When we do, we might find a "perfect storm."

I've been asked to speak at another conference which is exciting, but they want me to cover the topic “Turning No into Yes”.  That's an interesting request, I thought, and sounds a little 1985, but in this day and age, how often does “No into Yes” really happen?

As I sipped on my coffee this morning, I came across this article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) which made the bold claim "MARKETING IS DEAD!".  Many of these articles seem to have titles designed to stir up controversy, but once you read the article, you realize that what they really mean is something which Brian Halligan and the other folks at Hubspot have been saying for years now – marketing has changed drastically and changed permanently.  So, although I clicked on the article expecting something new and exciting, I was disappointed to read something that was such old news.