Why am I not Selling Anything?

While working in direct sales, I had the opportunity to help new sales people improve their results. Many of those I worked with were trying sales for the first time. Whenever someone was struggling, we would bring them in for some personal coaching. The coaching session consisted of 5 issues we had identified as the key reasons they wouldn’t be selling very well. I believe these are also relevant outside of the direct sales arena. Here they are:

1) Not doing enough appointments/calls
2) Not doing sales calls with the right people
3) Don’t believe in the product/price etc.
4) No confidence in their ability to sell.
5) No confidence in peoples’ ability to buy

What issues have kept you from achieving the results you want in the past?

Is Social Media the 'New Marketing'

About two months ago, I chimed in on a Twitter-conversation (twitversation?) about this:

Thought of the day: Marketing is no longer about "psychology", but rather
"sociology". Sociology is the new Psychology.

The conversation that ensued was interesting. (Check it out here. You can use the “show conversation” tool on my tweets and any of the others to see details) The discussion was a good representation of the friction between ‘old-school’ marketing pro’s and social media evangelists.
Is social media changing marketing? Sure. Technological innovations have a tendency to do that. But I am not convinced that social media is “the new marketing”, rather it is a branch of marketing. The reality is that consumers have always communicated with each other. Networks are not new. The change is in the way we communicate, isn’t it? Social media has made it easier for people/companies to communicate that maybe wouldn’t have before.
An article on emarketer.com addresses this issue as well. Is anyone surprised when they read this?

“Because online social networks do not capture the real social graph,
tapping into those extended, real-world connections are important for
marketers.”

Of course conversations happen offline as well! Yes, social media
offers a dramatically new and exciting way for companies to communicate with
consumers and vice versa, but the principles of ‘old school’ marketing still
remain true, and marketing and media are not synonyms.

Staying Focused on what is most important

It is easy in today's high stress, demanding world to get caught up in day-to-day activities. When we do this, we often lose sight of the big picture. On a deep level, why are we even here--what is the point of our existence? On a less deep level, what makes me the most happy? It is interesting that we often find ourselves devoting much more energy to work, school, or hobbies, than we do our family or other personal relationships. It is intriguing how differently we might treat daily acquaintances compared to how we treat our loved ones. Isn't it interesting that often our acquaintances, business partners, or school mates get treated with courtesy and respect, but when we get home, our attitudes change, and we seem to forget we are now dealing with the people who are the most important.Making ourselves aware of what is most important must be done everyday, and in many instances several times throughout the day. The better we are able to achieve this, the more aligned our priorities become.

Decide what is most important to you, and ask yourself: How much energy do I devote to this aspect of my life? This isnt always easy. In my own life, I often get bogged down with school and work, which leaves less time than I would like for my family. But I have found that when I make a concentrated effort to put more "energy" (and not always more minutes of the day) into my relationship with my wife, son and the spiritual part of my life, everything else tends to fall into place."...happiness then is not an event, but a journey"

Sales Tips--Direct Sales

While working in direct sales, I had the opportunity to help new sales people improve their results. Many of those I worked with were trying sales for the first time. Whenever someone was struggling we would bring them in for some personal coaching. The coaching session consisted of 5 issues we had identified as the key reasons they wouldn’t be selling very well. I believe these are also relevant outside of the direct sales arena. Here they are:

1) Not doing enough appointments/calls
2) Not doing sales calls with the right people
3) Don’t believe in the product/price etc.
4) No confidence in their ability to sell.
5) No confidence in peoples’ ability to buy

What issues have kept you from achieving the results you want?

3 Factors for Success

I have often weighed in on the debate of what makes someone successful. I.E. What makes someone good at sales? What makes someone land their ideal job? What gives someone that little extra something needed to succeed? I’ve read all sorts of books on the subject, listened to several speakers, and absorbed a hearty portion of advice.

Here are three key factors that I have come to hold as absolutely necessary.

1) Confidence and Enthusiasm-
In your product. In your service. In yourself. If don’t have it, others (customers) can tell--No matter how hard you try to mask it with clever slogans or polished words.
In other words, if you are selling a product that you believe is high on price and low on value, one that your customer shouldn’t buy, then why would they?

If you don’t have confidence and enthusiasm, you might still see some success, but you won’t last. You can’t last. Why would you want to last? You must love your product (service, self etc.). Study it. Know it. Use it.

2) Mental toughness-
This one gets all sorts of different names. Iron will, determination, tenacity…etc. etc.
I call it: Riding the Wave. Despite the fun sounding surfer reference, riding the wave is actually a very hard and dangerous thing to do.

Picture in your mind a wave with peaks and valleys. This horizon created by the wave in your imagination is like a timeline of life. We have ups, we have downs. People tell us YES, and people tell us NO. We make the sale, we loose the sale. We land a great job, we blow an interview. These things are realities. Obviously, losing a sale is not as exciting as closing a great deal, but we do have the capability to decrease the distance between the crests and the troughs. There are a lot of ways to do this, which just got my cogs churning for another blog post. Suffice it to say here that successful people stay above the wave. Their thoughts and emotions are independent of their environment. Their mind is not shaped by the daily ups and downs.

3) Hard Work
Yup. Sorry. Your dad/mom/uncle/grandma (whoa, weird visual…) was right. Its all about hard work. Hard work will trump talent—at least in the long run. In a boxing match, talent may take rounds 1 and 2. It might event take rounds 3, 4 and 5, but in the end it will be hard work with the huge golden belt and million dollar contract at the MGM grand.

Remember this: It doesn’t matter how phenomenal you are as a sales person, it doesn’t matter how mind-blowing your presentations are if THERE IS NO ONE TO GIVE THEM TO. Sales, especially, is largely a numbers game. Although it is important to increase your efficiency, hard work is vital.

The same is true in other areas of life. I have seen countless, seemingly ordinary people out work those around them and rise to great heights. Go to your local Barnes and Noble and you will find hundreds of books telling such stories.

Final thought: Here is the great thing about these 3 keys: they apply to all areas of life. Try it. Stop and think about any area of your life and apply these principles. Rinse and repeat.

Pringles: Don't call me a potato chip!

In an interesting case, a British tax court ruled that Pringles are, in fact, not potato chips (or crisps as the British call them). Proctor and Gamble, the company behind Pringles fought for the ruling in order to avoid at 17.5% tax on “potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch”.

Ok, so what are Pringles made of? Only 42% of the product is made from potatoes. And what makes a potato chip a potato chip?--Apparently more than just being made from potatoes. According to the high court’s decision, shape and crispness must also be considered.

Aside from the, ahem, deep soul-searching questions about what actually makes a potato chip a potato chip, the interesting thing here is that Proctor and Gamble fought to essentially prove that their product is not a potato chip. Now I don’t know all of the details about Pringles’ sales internationally (will the tax savings in the UK off-set any decline due to the new “we are not a potato chip” revelation?) or whether consumers already didn’t view the chip crisp potato flavored circular snack as a potato chip, but I certainly hope P&G considered the potential brand erosion by fighting this case.

What do you think? Was this good business strategy, or did Pringles just take a step toward being stuck between the pork rinds and yellow zingers on the bottom left hand corner of your grocer’s shelf?

How Much is Your Network Worth?

The other morning while brushing my teeth and brainstorming ideas for an upcoming breakfast meeting about social networking, I had a thought—How much is a network worth? Not in the mystical, invaluable way, but in the cold, hard cash way.

Obviously having a strong network and a reputation to match can often allow you to charge a premium for your service or product. It can also open doors to opportunities you may not have experienced otherwise.

So how about when it comes to something like salary negotiation? Is your network worth an extra $5,000? $10,000? $50,000?

If someone offered you money just to use your network, how much would you sell yours for?

Please share your thoughts…

Youtube adds Utility

Adage reports that Youtube is now offering audience tracking tools. It seemed only a matter of time before this would happen. Now that Google owns the video sharing site, it only makes sense that the company would utilize internal synergies. Surprisingly, it did take awhile for Youtube to take advantage of Google's analytics abilities, but some lag is to be expected with such an acquisition. Which begs the question, how effective would Microsoft acutally be at integrating the two different cultures should its bid for Yahoo be successful?

Kentucky uh....Grilled Chicken??

USA Today reported today that KFC is about to undergo some major transformations. What’s new? Oh, just an overhaul of their brand image. According to the article, in the plan is a makeover of the famous bucket as well as a new “Now Grilling Sign.” The goal is to give grilled chicken equal billing. It will be interesting to watch this transformation, and how well the company maintains its brand identity.

Here is the article: (Click for the entire article)

KFC goes to the grill
LOUISVILLE (AP) — What in the name of
Colonel Harland Sanders is going on at KFC? The chain built by his secret recipe for fried chicken is about to give equal billing to, gulp, grilled chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken customers will be greeted eventually by lighted "Now Grilling" signs, starting in coming weeks in select U.S. cities. Storefront signs will be altered to promote the new product — called Kentucky Grilled Chicken. Even the brand's ubiquitous chicken buckets will get a makeover.
HEALTHIER OPTIONS: KFC plans 'important' trans fat 'milestone'
RELATED: KFC asks for papal approval of new fish sandwich
ORIGINAL: KFC 'secret' recipe locked away
"This is transformational for our brand," said Doug Hasselo, KFC's chief food innovation officer.
Louisville-based KFC, a subsidiary of Yum Brands (YUM), hopes grilled chicken will lure back health-conscious consumers who dropped fried chicken from their diets, or cut back on indulging.
KFC announced last year that fried chicken at all its U.S. restaurants had zero grams of trans fat per serving after the chain switched cooking oils. KFC says the grilled chicken has significantly fewer calories and fat, plus much less sodium, than its Original Recipe fried chicken that launched the brand more than a half-century ago.

Building an Effective Referral Program (Linkedin ?)

Another linkedin question
Question:

I am looking to build upon my company´s referral program I work with a Marketing company with ties in the Cancun Travel, and Tourism industry. I am apart of their newly formed referral program, and was recently brought in due to my previous success in the sales department. They already had the following in place: Referral Program Promotional Post Cards (4 per Owner meant to be given to friends) Special Promotional Prices to recipients of Referral Program Specifically targeted Email & Direct Mail Campaigns Establishment of a Refer a friend discount (click here for the entire question and all answers)

My answer:

The first thing I would recommend is researching why(why not) an Owner
recommends his/her friends. Often, the reason someone won't do something is a
lack of understanding.

• Do they understand exactly what they are supposed to do?
• More importantly, do they understand what's in it for them?
• Do they understand what's in it for their family and friends?
• Do they know how you will follow-up with their family and friends? (I.E. are you going to pester them? High pressure sales?)

Secondly, I agree with the importance of follow-up, and as David mentioned, actually asking for referrals rather than relying on passive methods only. In my experience, the best way to increase referrals is to create a culture where giving referrals is exciting and completely normal. One way to do this is through the promotion of third party stories. Find some case studies of Owners who referred their friends and then went on vacations together and had a blast. (Don't forget to talk about all of the discounts, incentives etc. that both parties enjoyed as a result of the referral program

Taking the Leap

About 2 months ago (before this blog existed), the following question was posted on LinkedIn:

Taking a quantum leap...

From your experience, what is the biggest obstacle already successful individuals face in taking their lives to the next level?

Here was my response:

“I believe Jim Collins has an excellent answer for this in his book Good to Great. He suggests that "good" is acutally the enemy of "great". I believe this is why many people do not take it to the next level ( or become great). They are content with being good. I also believe the standards we set for ourselves have a significant impact on our results. We must constantly reevaluate our own personal (or corporate, family etc.) performance standards in order to grow. When the level you are at no longer excites you, drives you, impassionates you, you have to change your standards and push yourself further.”

I decided to start posting some of my answers to questions on LinkedIn because I don't have as much time to dedicate to the blog as I would like.

Best Business Books of All Time

Recently, on linkedin, I posed the question: "What is the greatest business/self-help book of all time?" The question had a great response that I thought I would share. Below is a list of the books suggested by fellow linkedin members. (The list is in no particular order, and duplicates have been only listed once.)

• Do What you Love and The Money will Follow
• Get Better or Get Beaten
• Eat that Frog
• One Minute Manager
• The Present
• Team of Rivals (History of the Lincoln Administration)
• Fred Factor
• Raving Fans
• Who Moved My Cheese?
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• The Eighth Habit
• Anything By Peter Drucker
• Road less Traveled
• Winners Never Cheat
• Greatest Salesman in the World
• 5 People You Meet in Heaven
• Atlas Shrugged
• The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization
• Co-Opetition : A Revolution Mindset That Combines ...
• The Secret
• The Monk and The Executive
• Success is no Accident
• Never Give Up Your Dreams
• Made to Stick
• How to be Rich
• How to Win Friends and Influence People
• Think and Grow Rich
• Good To Great
• Leaderhip and Self-Deception
• The E-Myth Revisited
• Ultimate Marketing Plan
• The New Psycho Cybernetics
• Becoming a Person of Influence
• How Full is Your Bucket?

I debated back and forth whether I should post the entire list. In the end, I decided to post most of the suggestions that were given to me. I was surprised at the variety. Have one to add? Please leave your suggestions in the comments section or email me.

Candidate, Know Thyself.

There is all sorts of debate about how a job seeker can differentiate themselves during a job search. Candidates has access to plenty of tips and tricks related to tweaking a resume and/or a cover letter to catch a recruiter’s eye. Suggestions on how to successfully interview are also most certainly not in short supply. But if everyone knows how to write a great resume, or can have one written for them, how can a job seeker really stand out? And more importantly, how can they make their job search much more than just finding another job?

Consider this: the difference is not in the resume, the cover letter, or even in the interview. Recruiters will FEEL it in all of these things, but the actual differentiation comes long before the job search even begins. Enter the title of this post. A candidate who knows what they want out of life, and the role their job will play in this goal have a power that cannot be matched by a clever cover letter or immaculate resume. It is truly astounding how many job seekers don’t know why they want a certain job beyond the basic need for cash to survive. The LEAST a candidate could do is fake it. But that won’t work for very long either. Most recruiters can see right through that.

If a candidate cannot not convey a compelling reason for pursuing the industry or position they are applying for there is a slim chance of hire. OR, even more importantly, there is a slim chance of ever making this job more than just another job.

Without diving into the conversation of living life with a direction (that is a topic for another post), my advice to candidates is simple:
1. Find a direction.
--Seriously, just about any direction will do. If you aren’t sure, pick a direction
anyway. Wishy-washy candidates end up in entry level jobs and are passed up for promotions
on a regular basis.
2. Become passionate about your direction. (See 3 and 3a for some help on this)
3. Research, research, research.
--Find out what recruiters in your target industry/company etc are looking for.
Specifically. (Now comes the clever opening paragraph on your cover letter)
3a. Network.
--Don’t try to get a job from everyone you meet, use your network to learn even more about
your target industry/job/company(ies).
4. Be prepared to provide COMPELLING, honest reasons for why you have chosen your direction.
--“Because it seems fun” or “I am looking for a change” are not compelling reasons.
5. Don’t be afraid to dream, but be realistic.
--If you are making a career change, understand that it may take some time to reach your
end goal.
6. Believe in yourself.
--Sounds cheesy, but confidence combined with ambition and direction are a dangerous
combination. When I say dangerous, I mean in regards to the defenses of the sometimes
seemingly impenetrable forces of HR recruiters.

Bottom line: knowing who you are and where you want to go might very well get you there.

You are being watched.

Forgive the creepy title, but it is true. I don’t need to tell anyone that we are in an age of extremely high visibility. Most people understand that what they do at work is monitored, and that your name will most likely be googled by potential employers, business partners, clients and vendors. But how about the way you act in normal daily activities? These may have more impact then we realize.

Recently while driving to a meeting with a client, I looked up into my rearview mirror and saw a big, full size van bearing down on me. Now WAY too close for comfort, the driver was obviously irritated. I briefly debated a quick tap on the brakes, but instead opted to change lanes and let them pass. Almost before I had left the lane, the van came roaring past. The kicker? This van had a big, bright vehicle wrap on it. (Anyone relate with this story yet?) As I sat back in my seat wondering if I had ever heard of the business, one thing was for sure, I would never forget it. To top things off, the van made a left hand turn from the straight lane exposing both sides of the beautifully wrapped vehicle to the entire intersection. No doubt the vehicle wrap had just served the purpose of creating awareness. Although I can’t imagine the business owner had hoped the mobile advertising would lead to the business name being coupled with some of the words likely uttered under several of the observing drivers’ breath. Most likely, the driver of the van was in a genuine hurry. Perhaps they were behind on a delivery, or maybe a client needed an immediate service call. Regardless of the reason behind the overly-aggressive driving, the damage had been done.

The reality is, we are being watched. You don’t need to have a vehicle wrap to be recognized in traffic, or at a restaurant, and it takes only a moment to erode what undoubtedly took months or even years to build.

It’s not just about WHO you know, but HOW you treat them

We’ve all heard this before: “It’s all about who you know.” I am a firm believer in this statement. I have been influenced in the last couple of years by several “hard-core networkers” (the reason I decided to start a blog was largely due to function I visited where Paul Allen presented on blogging; and a good friend, Robert Merrill, has been coaching me along the way). I now have a profile on linkedin and I try to visit as many relationship building/networking functions as my schedule allows. As I have worked my way through the process of building a network, I have experienced an interesting phenomenon that is likely familiar to most. How many of us have felt this coming from a “contact” before?—“You’re importance to me is directly correlated to how much business (leads, job offer etc.) I am going to generate from our relationship. If I can’t sell you something then I am not interested in building a relationship with you…”

How differently should networking contacts be treated than sales leads? Are they the same? I don’t think so. Relationships take time, and people like to feel like they are important, and not just another business card in a rolodex.

So what can we do to show our contacts some love? Start by communicating with them without selling anything. After attending a networking event I often receive several emails from individuals I just met. Some of these emails waste no time jumping into the great deal this person can get me on their product. Not too long ago, I received an email from a new contact explaining the great deal I could get on a new fence for my yard. The problem? I don’t own a house. He didn’t know that because he hadn’t taken the time to get to know me yet.

Collecting business cards and building relationships are two very different things. Relationships are built on trust, and that can take time. You don’t need to take every contact out to lunch every week (but if you do, I am available on Thursday and Red Lobster just started their Lobster Fest) but you do need to show them you care about them. Personally. Perhaps one of the greatest ways to do this is to change your mentality from “what can this person do for me” to “what can I do for them?”

Innagural Post

Break out the champagne, sparkling cider, or for me a delicious otter-pop--any color will do. This blog has officially been christened.