People Not Contacts

It was a great day in San Francisco on March 12th. The Sales Giants of Tomorrow braved the time change to attend Inside View's Insider Summit. It was a well put together event...great keynote, 1 minute sponsor intros and short/informative breakout sessions. A lot of information in a snapshot....such are times in which we exist.

Umberto Milletti eloquently delivered the message of the day.....selling is about people not contacts. Umberto told us that he, as a buyer, does not answer the phone and rarely replies to email. He then noted that commercial real estate agents are among the most pushy salespeople but when he requested information for commercial space on Twitter only 2 people replied. A reflection on the swinging pendulum of sales. It is no longer about having the gift of gab or an extroverted personality. It is about doing your research, differentiating your solution to the personality of your buyer, and finding a creative way to access them. The game is changing and if you stick to your old methods your forehead will start bleeding.....from running into walls!

Introducing the 3 Stages of Social Selling:
Personal Access
Differentiation
Silver Bullet

How did you know that?
....because it's on your facebook page.

Still to this day people are surprised when I mention their favorite baseball team or a current event at their alma mater - and this is the easily accessible information. Don't worry about freaking out your buyer. You can find out a lot about a person in a 15 minute review of their LinkedIn profile, Twitter page, Facebook posts and/or blog. If they put it out there it is yours to share in....the key is using the information in a differentiating way without creeping someone out!!!!!!

Information is not an Invitation!
Be an advisor not a stalker! Use the elements of a person's personality conveyed through social media only in ways applicable to your products/services.

Don't:
Tell someone their daughter is beautiful!
Revisit a political or religious opinion that may have been posted!
Ask if you can have permission to date the aforementioned beautiful daughter!!!

Do:
Mention an industry relevant article or case study that they posted, retweeted, or favored
Mention a common professional connection
Correlate the benefit of your solution in metaphor to their favorite team winning (...tricky...)

The introduction is over
People's time has never been more precious. They will smile and entertain your personal probing questions but they would rather you cut to the chase. You can now access the answers to all the stupid "ice breaker" questions before you check in with the receptionist.

With all the information at your finger tips everything you say should be direct and relevant. Formulate and customize a presentation (or conversation strategy) that is personally engaging. If you are smooth in your delivery (which every salesperson should be) you will come off as a subject matter expert: "This guy knows my business and his product matches what I do really well".

The New Age in Sales
* Everyone thinks sales people are pushy. You have a direct path to victory if you can dispel that presumption.
* Time is money: be relevant, precise and direct.
* Know not just what they do but why it matters and how you can help.

The tools are there but they are commonly avoided. The salespeople who are winning have put themselves on the buyers side of the table through research and the ability to differentiate. The salespeople who are losing think they can still rely on their big mouth to impress people.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"   - Albert Einstein

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Collaborate

Welcome to the first installment of the Employee Purpose Perspective. This is a 7 part blog series that will challenge you to breath the winds of change into your organization.

Salesforce.com has become one of the most profitable companies in the world over the last five years. The interesting thing about Salesforce.com is that they have developed camaraderie in the cloud. First, they developed a world class CRM tool, then they invited potential competitors to create apps to compliment their service suite.

Imagine that...an industry leader focused on collaboration not competition...?

In the advent of social media we have seen a shift from company logos to personal brands. We have found ways to share ideas instead of locking them away. An individual (who may not have a leadership position within the walls of their company) has an opportunity to reach far more people through their blog, twitter or facebook page.

We drive ourselves nuts worrying about the competition. What if that didn't matter? What if we could work freely without paranoia of giving away secrets? What if we could look our competitors in the eye and say, "this is what we do, try to stop us". What if we could coexist in an industry space without having blood money circumstance? My contention is that the transparency of open business practices forces us to have better customer service, better relationships and tailored solutions. We are not fighting for the same customers, we are developing lifelong partnerships. There is no blood in the water because we are all sailing in our own direction.

Companies like LinkedIn and Zappos have created a space on Twitter to address customer issues. Completely out in the open. It would seem that you would have to have great confidence in your customer service to open a complaint file for millions to view. Either that, or you are willing to share the hiccups and your ability to cure them. Honesty driving business efficiency....another shocking development!

There are 3 Principles to Collaboration:
1. Shared Vision
2. Profitability
3. Rewarded Resource Allocation

Vision
Everyone wants to work with the Fortune 500. If you run a 5 employee start up, you may not have the bandwidth to service GE. 'Tis better to understand your limitations than to drain the bucket pretending it can contain a big fish.

Profits
Would you rather spend all day trying to please one customer or service 100 customers with organic efficiency?

Our most difficult customers are difficult because we bent over backward pretending we could please them...and have been performing back flips ever since.

Rewards
Thank You is a great thing to hear. Great expectations and their according challenges are any customer's right to business elevation. But, this has to be an empowered process. If you are always asking for more by the entitlement of a paid invoice, you are missing the point of partnership. Say Thank You after every challenge is over come....and learn to forgive if the effort is there and human error wins over once in a while.

The first step in making the career you want out of the job you have is finding the right customers. If you force partnerships you will....drain your resources, piss off your co-workers, spend your days checking your phone and spend your nights awake.

Define your target market and utilize your time accordingly!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave