Going to see the Wizard!

Even if you are not a big Wizard of Oz fan, you have to hand it to Dorothy. She had a clear goal: “We’re going to see the Wizard…” Her goal was so powerful, that she was able to effectively share it with three unlikely characters, and take them to greater heights with her. And they worked together to overcome a host of obstacles.

The Problem: One of the most common “areas for growth” identified by sales people before they experience our Integrity Selling® course is Goal Clarity. We define Goal Clarity as “having clear, specific, written goals of things or events you want to happen in your future.” Sometimes the goals are personal like Dorthy’s, which is just fine. Often they are business or sales goals, which are dear to a manager’s heart.

Helping Sales People Gain Goal Clarity: There are two major things that a sales executive can do to help people gain Goal Clarity; coach them and train them.

Coaching: Schedule regular coaching times with you and each sales person.
1. Ask them, “What specific goal(s) are you working on? How are you progressing on (it) them?”
2. Ask, “What is keeping you, if anything, from reaching these goals?”
3. Ask, “What actions, behaviors or skills will help you remove those constraints?”

Based on what the sales person says, suggest one action that will help them remove a constraint and make a note for future reference in your next coaching session. People can see themselves working on one step toward a goal. Ask for their commitment.

Praise specific strengths, behaviors, skills, attitudes or abilities the person has that you believe will help him/her reach the goals discussed. (Important: Do not critique or criticize the person during this conversation. Bite your tongue!) Every time you observe the person doing something you know is helping them reach their goal, or you see them doing what you have recommended as the action item, praise them. Be specific and timely. Example: “Jane, I noticed in our meeting with the people at Biffel Corporation this morning, you really did a great job with your new objective of maintaining eye contact. Did you notice how much more engaged they were?”

Training: Budget for training. Be willing to invest in specific training that a person needs, and be sure to ask about the learning that resulted. Any training provided should be specific to individual goals a person has set, or skills needed to achieve a goal. If you elect to conduct a course for your entire sales organization, be sure you participate with them. Lead your people through the training, don’t just “send” them to the course.

With effective coaching and quality training, you and your sales team can overcome obstacles and achieve your goals, too.

Customer Service: Making Money by Giving Stuff Away

I had an interesting experience with an automobile repair facility. My car would soon need new tires, so I stopped into a place I had never been before because I was driving by late in the day. I talked to Bobby. I said, “I’m going to soon need new tires, and I need some advice on whether I should replace the shocks, too. The car has 55,000 miles on it.”

Bobby and one of his associates said, “We’d love to sell you new shocks, but, unless you have a specific problem, you really don’t need to replace them till 100,000 miles. The quality of shock absorbers has improved so much, that they last longer now than they did ten years ago.” Well, that was an unexpected surprise, and good news.

Then we talked about tires and Bobby said, “Let me take a look at them.” We walked out to my car and he bent down, looking at each tire and feeling the tread depth. He said, “You don’t need tires yet, but you are close. This is as front wheel drive car, so you should have your best tires on the front. While you are here, why don’t you let me do a free tire rotation for you?” Another pleasant surprise!

It was the end of the day, so I could take 15 minutes for a free tire rotation. While sitting in the lobby, I thought, “While the car is on the lift, I wonder if he’d change the oil. It’s due now.” So Bobby’s technician changed the oil. The free tire rotation generated a little $24.00 sale, paying for itself. While I waited, Bobby printed out a quote for new tires based on the kind of driving that I do.

What’s the lesson?
1. Bobby established trust with me immediately by telling me the truth: I did not have to buy new shocks.
2. He made a goodwill gesture, almost like saying, “Thanks for stopping to get a quote for new tires,” rotating my tires for free.
3. I was going to get the oil changed anyway, so he took care of that with very little extra time consumed for me.
4. It was the end of both our days, so he spent a few minutes chatting with me, and further developing a friendly, trust relationship, something hard to find in the auto repair world.

Bobby would probably not have volunteered the free service if it had been the middle of the day, and his waiting area was full of people getting their cars serviced or repaired. But he had an idle technician, who was getting paid anyway. He had a genuine prospect for tires, and he wanted me to come back in a few weeks. So he did a smart thing: he showed that he valued my potential business, and he treated me with courtesy and friendliness.

Guess where I bought a new set of tires about six weeks later? From Bobby.

"Out-Behaving" the Competition

In his 2007 book, How; Why How We Do Anything Matters in Everything in Business and in Life author Dov Seidman makes the points that:
· We live in a commoditized world and our business will suffer,
· Unless we capitalize on the fact that human behavior cannot be commoditized, and
· We teach our people to “out behave” the competition.

How can you get employees to “out behave” the competition?

The work culture must:
· Be based on a clearly defined and constantly communicated set of values and mission.
· Place high value on the employees and the skills and abilities they bring to the job and the organization mission.
· Include a service mindset that enables and encourages a values-based approach to helping external and internal customers, and solving problems.
· Take advantage of the fact the people are created with a desire to help others.
· Encourage truly “engaged” employees who are friendly with coworkers and have “best friends” at work.
· Understand that people tend to thrive and produce profit-building results in trusting work environments.

Well, how do these culture attributes happen, especially if you did not start out with that environment in the first place?

At the risk of oversimplifying, there are four major ideas my research and experience show are necessary:
1. Identifying the ethics-based values on which the company or enterprise is based.
2. Having the right people on your team, doing the jobs that match their gifts and talents, so they help identify the direction of the enterprise – the business you are in.
3. Training that places high emphasis on “catching people doing something right,” builds on individual employee strengths, and is based on integrity and corporate values.
4. Leadership committed to “walking the talk,” and building up a values-based culture, not a rules-based culture.

Recommended reading:
How; Why How We Do Anything Matters in Everything in Business and in Life by Dov Seidman, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ.
Good to Great by Jim Collins, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York
The Greatest Management Principle in the World by Michael LeBoeuf, Ph.D., G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. (Out of print)
First, Break all the Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman, Simon & Schuster, New York
Vital Friends by Tom Rath, Gallup Press, New York
The One Minute Manager, Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson, Berkeley Books, New York
The People Principle, by Ron Willingham, St. Martin’s Press, New York

Who else???

Several years ago I was the regional sales manager for a small manufacturing company that was owned by a German company. One product line we sold was made by this German parent, and was often used in OEM applications.

We had a prospect in my Region who bought $500,000 per year worth of a product like one of ours, and we wanted their business. I worked through their Purchasing Department and Engineering Group to insure that we met or exceeded all their design specifications, and that our price was right. After more than a year, we still did not have the order.

I called the Purchasing Agent and asked, “We have the best product at the best price. Why don’t we have the order?” His answer floored me. “Our Vice President of Sales and Marketing does not want to change suppliers?” I asked, “That seems a little out of the ordinary. Why is that?” He responded with a story about a big problem with their present supplier which caused a major public relations disaster in one of their markets. They eventually got the problem resolved, but the VP of Sales and Marketing did not want to risk going through that kind of issue with a new supplier.

After verifying that he wanted to order our product, I asked the purchasing agent to set up a meeting. My Vice President of Sales, Director of Engineering, and Product Manager met me at their plant and we sat at the table with their Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Director of Engineering, Quality Control Manager, and Purchasing Agent. We got all the concerns out on the table and demonstrated how the problem they experienced in the past could not occur with our product. We then agreed upon a plan for a site visit to our facility by their people to verify that we could serve them.

From then on it was just a matter of working the plan, and we got the order.

What was the question that I had failed to ask one year earlier? After we became an approved vendor, I should have asked the Purchasing Agent something like this: “Who else needs to agree to this before you can place the order with us?” I could have saved a year of time and earned an extra $500,000 in revenue had I uncovered the issue with “changing suppliers.” Often there are factors in a purchase decision which don’t make sense to us, but which relate to a cultural issue or a historical problem like my customer had. You will only learn this when you ask questions to pull out the information.

Getting Agreement on the Value of Your Solution

I called on the Vice President of Sales for a company which sells highly specialized equipment and services into the law enforcement and military markets. I prepared carefully, researching his company and coming up with interview questions to ask to learn about his needs. He gave me 30 minutes. That is not long enough in my business to learn all I need to know. It is enough time, however, to establish rapport and to determine if he is a prospect. I am embarassed to admit that I allowed myself to get pulled into this retired military officer’s “no nonsense” quick decision style, and gave him a quote for a sales meeting coming up in six weeks.

As I thought about it later, I realized that I did not know enough about him and his company to make an effective proposal. We had identified a need, and he was favorable to the distinctiveness of my training methodology. But I failed to clearly get agreement on the cost to his company of the problem we identified. I also failed to learn the size of his budget for this meeting. Was he looking for a $2,000 speaker, or did he want the $20,000 culture change program I was thinking about? I made a great “customer focused” start, and at the first agreement of need, slipped into a product focus. Even an “old salt” will sometimes let an old habit surface and take charge. I estimate that happens to 85% of sales people every day.

What should I have done? If I could do this call again, I would say at the end, “Tom, my time is up, but I need to ask you one quick question: what kind of budget have you set up for this meeting? We have only a few short weeks, and I want to be sure I am working within your parameters.” Whatever his response at that point, my next step should have been to set up another meeting with him, perhaps over breakfast or lunch, to complete my interview. “Based on that, I can see that I need more information. Can we have breakfast or lunch one day later this week so I can get the additional information I need to help you?” And everything I would be saying is true. I did not do him a favor by quoting a price on something he did not agree that he needed.

I did not get the business because I did not deserve it. I am confident that he needed what I have, but I’m also confident that he was unconvinced of his need. I went for the “close,” rather than clarifying the needs and getting his agreement on the VALUE of the solution. This failure to focus on my prospect’s need and instead talk about my product features was an expensive lesson. I’m still learning and growing. I hope you are too.