Driving Business: The Show That Never Ends...

“If the age-old rule in selling “80/20” still holds true, that 20%—the best, standout with their evidence and results. They make it happen over and over again... ”

There are lots of SELLING IDEAS and lots of ways to FAIL at them. But here's my short list on HOW we can improve the odds...and the RESULTS!

AUGUST—the beginning of a NEW MONTH and the old selling axiom, “What have you done for me lately?”

Congrats on a great JULY, and hopefully a great FIRST HALF of the year…NOW, let’s go out and do it all over again! That’s what we do in SELLING as Captains of Enterprise, right?

I was just reading about a long list of CHALLENGES facing dealers today in this NOW Economy. But today I wanted to share a SHORTER List with you based on a selling conversation I was having just this week. A business owner friend of mine was going on and on about just how POORLY individuals (salespeople) handle SELLING SITUATIONS…

He asked me what I thought about that and here’s basically what I shared with him.

When I was a Director of Sales for the better part of a decade, we always focused on some FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS that served our companies, and client companies, well.

“What Do You LOOK FOR?” My friend asked. To which I offered this short list—

• INTELLIGENCE
• IDEAS
• INTEREST
• INTEGRITY

Pretty straightforward list I thought and then he asked me to elaborate. Happy to…

Intelligence is more than just product knowledge. It’s pursuing your CRAFT, or that’s what it means to me. It’s everything from people skills to studying your industry and what makes up your customers’ wants, needs, current situation, etc. There’s more to it of course but the rest of the list offers greater clarity.

Ideas are something of a buzz word in SELLING. “I have an IDEA for you” is a great lead in and can often pull the individuals involved into a discussion of HOW this can work in a WIN-WIN outcome.

It is a RARE occasion indeed when I’ve had ANY sales professional engage me with “I HAVE AN IDEA FOR YOU.” They’re usually too quick to launch into a list of THEIR stuff that I have little interest in…YET.

Interest (being INTERESTED, not INTERESTING, which is what so many use as persuasion) is also about beginning a dialogue that can lead to the sale. It’s not just a bunch of “blah, blah, blah.”

It’s almost like becoming a GREAT INTERVIEWER—the way late night TV hosts USED to be.

Asking better questions and being INTERESTED in the prospective buyer’s situation, their line of thinking, what’s actually available or what’s possible. Again, too often, it’s something akin to “HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU!”

Integrity No explanation needed. Without INTEGRITY none of the rest of any list matters much. Becoming a person of TRUST, knowing you’ll do what you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do it and you’ll ONLY do it if it’s the RIGHT THING for all.

I’ve had clients tell me things like, “Don’t you think that’s a bit POLLYANNA?” Meaning I guess, it’s not very realistic.

If the age-old rule in selling “80/20” still holds true, that 20%…the best, standout with their evidence and results. They make it happen over and over again with a formula that shows interest in truly helping, bringing ideas into play (that get implemented), and creating TRUST that builds their reputation, their INTEGRITY, in the eyes of the client/ buyer.

All revealing a level of INTELLIGENCE that makes the client/buyer do business with them again and again.

One of my coaches once said about IDEAS that come up in discussions—

“Michael, it doesn’t matter WHAT YOU THINK…and it doesn’t matter what I THINK. What matters is what The MARKETPLACE and your prospective BUYER THINKS! Let’s TEST IT and see how it works.”

Great advice. And proof again that COACHING MATTERS.

One of the GIANT VOIDS in Selling today is COACHING!

Not managing. Not just interviewing and hiring but COACHING to a greater level of expertise. I don’t care about how many YEARS OF EXPERIENCE someone has at doing something, I care about the EVIDENCE they’ve created from their EFFORTS.

And if they’re NEW, how committed they are to GETTING BETTER…FASTER! How eager they are to learn and improve and create the EVIDENCE that leads to RESULTS and gets them into that 20%. Conveying to THEM HOW we measure their success.

I’ve seen it over and over - bet you have too at some point.

I wrote about it in my book, The Selling Idea, SALES is NOT a NUMBERS game-Sales is an IMPROVING game.

FUNDAMENTALS MATTER! And Champions do the Fundamentals EXTREMELY WELL! For now, keep doing what you do in the world of SELLING, this Marketplace needs you NOW more than EVER! I appreciate you and all that you do!

Have a great MONTH!