Is Selling A Blood Sport?

We are within 100 days of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  I can’t help but think that sports events are a good analogy for the profession of selling.

I’ve been sitting watching some of the curling play-downs that will lead to the selection of the men’s and women’s curling teams that will represent Canada in Russia.  It is very apparent that fitness is central to today’s professional curler.  A conversation with one of the team’s coaches confirmed that the attention to fitness and nutrition is much greater today than previously.  If you’ve curled, you know that beer drinking also plays a large role in the sport!  I’ve also been able to observe some of the practicing that marks the curlers’ preparation.  My most significant observation has to be the accuracy with which these players are able to execute their shots. It is quite amazing. Obviously, much practice has gone into each player’s preparation.

Are we approaching our selling efforts with the same type of preparation and dedication as the curlers?  For those of us who are paid for our selling efforts, we could easily think of ourselves as sales professionals.  But, do we approach our selling in a manner that befits a professional?  Our selling skills might have been learned a long time ago.  Or, perhaps we were thrown into sales with the ‘sink or swim’ approach.  That is, with no formal training whatsoever.  Regardless of our previous preparation, what are we doing as sales professionals to maintain our ‘A’ game?  After all, this is the occupation that we have chosen in which to make a significant investment for our future.

No one forced us to be in sales.  It is a choice that we made for ourselves.  However, are we proactively engaged in improving our selling skills and knowledge?  Are we preparing for the next big game?  Do we further our understanding by observing others, refreshing our formal training or simply reading about the subject?

We may not think about selling as a blood sport, but the reality is that we sell our products and services against competitors.  If our ‘team’ cannot succeed against the competition, then we know which team isn’t going to the ‘Olympics’.  In other words, failure in the marketplace for our company will likely lead to red ink on the P&L statement.

It is also incumbent upon us to maintain our personal performance at the highest level.  Failure to do this could find someone else shooting lead rocks, while we become the spectators.

We should all commit to making annual investments in ourselves that will keep us in the game.

Impending Success

I can’t help but think that fall represents a kind of dash to the finish line for many businesses.  We are starting to think about 2014 but we still have fifteen weeks to hit or miss the targets that we built for ourselves twelve months ago.  Are we up to the challenges that still lie ahead?

I’m off to an upcoming Brian Tracy Sales Certification workshop and I can’t help but wonder how many companies are in need of some sales help.  John Kenneth Galbraith once said that you “can’t expect improved results with unimproved people”.  Furthermore, a Dun and Bradstreet analysis of business success found that “businesses succeed because of high sales; businesses fail because of low sales.  All else is commentary”.  It can’t get much more succinct than that.

When we talk about our sales effort, we  frequently focus on those people that are charged with the responsibility of bringing new sales in through the front door.  Interestingly, anyone involved in a customer touchpoint can impact our sales performance.  The reference to touchpoint means any of a number of occasions when we interact with the customer.  It is possible that some of those interactions are not viewed by us as sales opportunities.  Examples that come to mind include such transactions as invoicing, product delivery and the provision of after sales service.  However, all touchpoints influence our customers and impact their decision to continue their relationship with us in the future or not.  Hence, at a minimum, they are opportunities to influence future sales.  But, do we invest in the training of all employees who can impact our sales performance?  Or do we perhaps tend to think that the selling stops when the purchase order is processed?

The major reason that existing customers decide to leave us is driven by a lack of courtesy displayed towards them.  Really!  In a world where it is tough enough to find customers, you would think we would do everything we can to hold on to the existing ones.  That would suggest that a modicum of sales training should be in your program.

On the new customer front, do we realize that selling is a process that can be taught?  Selling doesn’t need to be the hurdle that we often make it out to be.  There is no magic to the selling process and it isn’t that some are born to it and the vast majority of us simply can’t do it.  The truth is that we are all involved in the selling process, in some form or another, all the time.  We just don’t think in those terms.  Another truth is that we can all get better at it.  Are we doing enough to ensure that happens?

In closing, here is a sobering quotation to ponder: “the company that stops getting better gets worse” or so suggests Phil Kotler, a well renowned marketing professor.

BIZBUZZ – S. Godin, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

This is episode 1 of my version of BIZBUZZ.  I stimulate conversations that challenge business owners to consider new possibilities and to act boldly.

This video highlights some of my selections of the most significant comments made by Seth Godin in his book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable.

Hi, I’m Gary Brown a FocalPoint business coach.

Welcome to BIZBUZZ.  This is my attempt to help you generate some buzz in your business.

I’ve chosen to comment on Seth Godin’s book entitled Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

I really enjoyed reading this book and I found a number of very thought provoking ideas and suggestions.

I’d like to comment on three of them.

The first is the overall emphasis on differentiation.  Godin says this OUT LOUD when he claims that the opposite of remarkable is very good.  This bears repeating … the opposite of remarkable is very good!  If you think of a scale that has remarkable at one end and say, mediocre on the other end, how many of us would have placed our business on the wrong side of very good?

My second take-away is that it is safer to be risky than to play it safe.  In a crowded marketplace, Seth Godin suggests that playing it safe, or fitting in, frequently leads to failure.  Are we prepared to exchange safety for riskiness?

Finally, my third choice is the suggestion that your marketing message needs to be targeted towards the innovators and early adopters in the marketplace for your product or service.  Godin describes your message as an ‘ideavirus’ and your task is to find the early adopters who are most likely to ‘sneeze’ your message onwards.  Consequently, he strongly suggests that you avoid a marketing message that is aimed at the general marketplace.  It’s a waste of your resources.

That’s it for the Purple Cow and for me.

Let me know if this produces any insights for you.

BIZ BUZZ Introduction

I am a FocalPoint business coach and I’d like to welcome you to the introduction of BIZ BUZZ.

BIZ what?  Let me explain.

A long time ago, my father used to carry me on his shoulders as he took me to the local barber shop for a hair cut.  Apparently, I would pepper him with questions, as he walked (remember, I rode).  So, I’m a “question asker”.  I’m also aware that as I practice a habit of life long learning, I ask better questions.  So, as part of my coaching journey, I augment my experience with on-going learning and add to my question bank.

So, back to BIZ BUZZ.  I decided to produce a series of videos that will allow me to share the key insights that I’ve gained from the books that I’ve read or the workshops that I’ve attended.  My interest is to stimulate conversations with business owners that challenge them to consider new possibilities.  I’m calling these presentations – wait for it – BIZ BUZZ.

BIZ BUZZ is intended to pique your curiosity.  BIZ BUZZ is intended to provide you with a small jolt that might just indicate that you and your business would benefit from a change.  They might even generate some BUZZ in your workplace.

Since I’m a business coach, the subject matter of BIZ BUZZ will always relate to business.  That is not to say that other areas of your life can’t or won’t benefit.  It is just that my primary area of interest is on the business side of things.

The videos will be quick and as I get more comfortable in front of the camera, perhaps my sense of humour will occasionally appear.

Stay tuned.

Scaling Up This Summer

This isn’t a plea from your dental hygienist!

Have you encountered situations where your customer or prospect has given you the impression that new initiatives can wait until September? Do you sometimes get the sense that business owners mentally take the summer off?

Dun and Bradstreet conducted an interesting analysis of business failure. Based upon US data, firms with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years and only a 9% chance of surviving ten years.

When business owners put together their annual business plans, they might have to anticipate a seasonal softening of sales during the summer months. However, the expense side of their business will continue to function and with statistics like those in the paragraph above, business owners should continue to look for opportunities to move their business forward.

Businesses generally experience a life cycle that moves from start-up, to growth, maturity and then decline. The decline phase can often be preceded by complacency on the part of the owner on one hand or by success on the other.

Three tips that will assist you in avoiding the decline phase:
1) External focus – if customer involvement slows down, are there strategic alliance opportunities with key suppliers that can be pursued?
2) External focus – networking opportunities may increase significantly with outdoor activities. Ask for leads and referrals.
3) Internal focus – use the summer for training of employees.

By all means, take some time off so you can re-charge. But use the balance of the time to keep moving your business forward. If a business isn’t going forward, it is likely going backward.