Greg Bennett Sales Blog

Watching the Whole Thing Take Shape

I've never been around an annual political convention.  In fact I think I've only met one or two politicians in my lifetime (and they were at the state or regional level). After being up close and personal with putting on this massive Democratic Convention (now just 6 days away, and only about 4 days away from the parties and things that  surround it)...I realize just how unique a people we Americans really are!

• We love to do massive, complicated, elaborate, spectacular projects and events...just to rip 'em all down and move on to the next thing...
• We love complex plans with layers of teams and groups and meetings involved...all cranking out  to-do lists, Ghant charts, timelines, lanyards, badges, and scads of do's and don'ts...
• And of course...We LOVE the drama...sometimes we're anxious...then mad...then frustrated...then defeated...then (somehow) resurrected...then ecstatic...then exhausted...all the while swearing it will never be pulled off...and then discovering (miraculously, though we've known it all along) it all comes together in the end to create our spectacular achievement...

Only Americans would pay huge amounts of money to hold a convention where folks tell them the purpose of the convention is to get them elected so they can make sure the people will never have to pay huge amounts for anything.  And I'm not talking from a partisan perspective, both parties are the same way, and will always be the same.

For we're all just crazy Americans after all (and we'd never want to be anything else!!)

Reporting from VERY near the DNC...

GB

Posting on the DNC

I thought I'd take a break from my normal posting schedule to just focus on writing about the events surrounding the Democratic National Convention coming to my hometown here, Denver, Colorado all next week.

As some of you know, in addition to my training, speaking, writing, etc.  my company, APC, of which I'm a founding partner, also does apparel design and manufacturing for pro teams, colleges, and corporate clients.   We also received the licensing rights to produce the official "gear" of the Denver DNC (you'll see the logo on this shirt).  It's a huge undertaking that is going to require an all-hands-on-deck deal from everyone in our company (up to about 20 folks now).

We start this coming week with an interview with Greg Moss of 9 news on Wednesday (broadcast Thursday probably), then my partner Bob and I are making a live appearance on 9 News Saturday morning, August 23rd...should be in the 7 a.m hour (I know most of you won't be up, so TeeVoo it if you want to torture yourself).

We're also going to have merchandise at the "Presidential  Experience" out at Invesco all week, so stop by and say hi if you're there...

If you want to see the rest of the "goods" you can go to the web site www.DenverDNCGear.com there's also a list of places you can find the merchandise (like most Conoco stores in Colorado).

Going to be wacky, check back for updates!

GB

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #18

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought on Successful Selling #18:   Sales is Full of Opposites

I like to occasionally shut my brain down and think about ideas and concepts I've had in the past while - doing client work, training salespeople, or drinking in a bar.  One thing that popped up out of the abyss was that "Sales is full of opposites" -- what we think, imagine, or believe would be the truth, or the norm...is exactly the opposite when it comes to selling.

Here are some examples:

• We THINK the more we talk and explain our product the smarter we will appear...the exact opposite is true; the less we talk, and the more we let the client talk, the smarter we will appear...
• We IMAGINE we will burn out in sales by prospecting hard every day and filling the pipeline with new prospects...the exact opposite is true; we will burn out in sales by NOT prospecting hard every day and by not filling with the pipeline with new prospects...
• We BELIEVE clients will not like us if we go to NO in a sales call...the exact opposites is true; clients will like us MORE if we are waving around the reality of NO...
• We THINK we can save more sales by getting a MAYBE vs a NO...the exact opposite is true; we will save more sales by Embracing NO and getting at underlying reasons than we will playing the guessing-then-stalking game we play in the Neutral Zone...
• We IMAGINE we will be bothering clients if we contact them after they buy to see how they're doing...the exact opposite is true; what is really going to "bother" clients is when we DON'T contact them after they buy...or EVER!!

There are many more I could list, but you get the point.

While there are opposites in all areas of life, why are there SO many in sales? I believe the main reasons are -- the whole 'Role playing' thing: where we step into roles of seller and client and act out of the roles vs our "normal selves"...and the Conflict Avoidance issue...the fear of conflict causes us act in ways we normally wouldn't in order to avoid a particularly touchy situation.

So what do we do with this knowledge? I believe we stay aware of it and just do a "Costanza" (you remember in that Seinfeld episode where George decides to do the exact opposite of everything his instincts tell him to do?)...and what do you know, everything works out!

GB

(Just one of Greg Bennett's "99 Rambling Thoughts on Successful Selling")

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #17

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thoughts on Successful Selling #17:   Focus First on the Patient's Lab Results and X-rays Before You Start Talking About Your Medicines

Why do almost all proposals focus mainly on the seller's (doctor's) "medicines"...aka their products and services...and very little on the client's (patient's) condition?   I mean these proposals are nothing more than page after mind-numbing page of features and facts and features and facts and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....

Clients, like patients, don't understand all the gobbldygook we spew out...they just want to focus on their own situation. 

Did you comprehend that fully?

If not, let me make this perfectly clear...PATIENTS ONLY CARE ABOUT THEIR CONDITION...AND THE ONLY THING THEY CARE ABOUT YOUR MEDICINE IS HOW IT MIGHT IMPACT THEIR CONDITION!!!!!!!

So a simple suggestion I make to my training clients is to make at least the first page  of the proposal about their client's condition -- their pains, problems, hopes, wishes, dreams, etc.  Then I suggest they pull that page out and set it to the side as they roll through their features and benefits in the proposal...this way the "pain page" remains in the forefront of the conversation and allows the seller to directly tie features and benefits to client problems.

If you want a great sales movie watch Patch Adams with Robin Williams...Patch showed that being a great  doctor was more about bonding with the patient through knowing about their hopes and dreams, and about how their present sickness may have impacted those dreams...than it was about knowing everything about medicines.   

Powerful proposals should start not with a disertation about how wonderful we are, but with an understanding of what we know about the client's condition...for it's all  they care about.

GB

(Just one of Greg Bennett's "99 Rambling Thoughts on Successful Selling")

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #16

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought on Successful Selling #16:  Have Someone Else Help You Apply Pressure At the Close

I developed this strategy years ago after helping sellers deal with several slow, deceptive, neutral-loving clients (several meaning most of them)...that they just couldn't move across the goal line.

You know what this situation looks like, right?  You're working a prospective client through the process... you've done the Mini-Steps, you've written proposals, you're asking the client to take action... and they just aren't moving ahead to a conclusion (either YES or NO).  And you try asking...and pleading...and begging...and just about anything else you can think of...and still, there is no definitive answer.

You and the client are stuck in an endless circle dance...where you, the seller, continue to ask, and ask, and ask (usually the same quesitons)...and the client hears and responds in the same way, usually with being "VERY interested", then stalls, promises, deception, and delays.

At this point you need to break the circle-dance cycle, by introducing a 3rd party questioner to the equation...  someone else associated to your product or service, particularly with the execution of your product or service.   And this 3rd party arrives to ask the prospective client some questions about what they MIGHT be looking for...here's how it might sound:

You:   "Hi Bob...it's Greg Bennett...glad I caught you on the phone..."

Client:  "Yeah, Greg...what's up? I still can't give you the green light yet if that's what you're calling about"

You:    "I understand...I actually would like to get our service coordinator, Janet, on the line, because I know she had a few questions...hold a second please...hi Janet...it's Greg and also I've got Bob Edwards from ACME on the line...did you want to ask your question?"

Janet:  "Sure...first of all, Hi Bob...Greg said that you all were contemplating moving ahead with the large XYZ package this September...but that you still had a few questions or concerns...that's fine, I was calling more about potential training execution...we have several clients coming on in late August, so I wanted to see if you WERE TO MOVE AHEAD, what are your internal requirements for outside training?"

You then listen carefully to how your client responds to this person.  If they're on board and planning to go ahead (but just haven't told you), they'll respond in a more positive, participatory way...if they're not, chances are they won't give up much info, may be a bit elusive, etc.

Of course like all strategies, this one doesn't work 100%, 100% of the time...sometimes clients surprise you, but at a certain stage in the sales process you have try just about anything, right?

By the way, this 3rd party person can also be your manager or company owner, and he or she is just doing a ride along with the seller to who is realistically going ahead and who's not.

Have fun introducing a 3rd party, and let us all know how it goes.

GB

(Just one of Greg Bennett's "99 Rambling Thoughts on Successful Selling")

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #15

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought on Successful Selling #15:  Create Your Own Leads Group

I don't know about you, but I've never had much luck with large, structured "leads groups" or "tips clubs"...maybe it's because I'm more of a specialized, b-to-b service provider and lots of folks in those groups sell services to individuals...or maybe I just stink at "working a large room" (which is true, I DO stink at that)..whatever the reason, I haven't found much success using those things to grow my business.

And I don't think I'm alone, it seems many of the salespeople and managers I work with say the same thing...so what can we do to build a network if we're not joining a structured club?

One answer is to build your own leads group!

I don't think you have to make it anything fancy, or overly structured...and it doesn't have to be that big to be effective.

You start by figuring out which "players" should be on 'the team".  The first people to invite are people calling on the same type of clients that you are, but in a different field.  Then you gather 3, 4 or 5 of these folks, and start holding informal gatherings (for lunch, drinks,etc.)

The rules are simple...we do personal introductions only...we cross promote each other...we sometimes offer spiffs to each other when there is business that comes from an intro.

Simple...easy...casual...and VERY effective.  So why not start your group today?

GB

(Just another of Greg Bennett's "99 Random Thoughts on Successful Selling" )

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #14

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #14: We MUST Be Out of Our Minds

To succeed at the highest levels in sales, I believe you must be out of your mind...but not in the way you would normally think of such a thing...I don't mean you must be crazy, I mean you must learn to get out of your mind long enough to realize what is really going on in the world around you.

Our mind is our greatest tool, and it's our worst enemy. 

Our  worst enemy because it's tricked us into believing that we are nothing more than our mind...we are sustained by a never-ending stream of thoughts, ideas, visions, stories, beliefs...all generated by a 24/7 engine that sits packed inside our dome.   Our mind creates the ego.  Then the mind works to sustain, support and defend the ego. 

In sales, our minds go into hyper-drive, working overtime because the emotions are so raw and the dramas are more passionate.  You've got two humans engaged in a battle, each bringing a past, each wanting something from the other (money or power), each deep in roles acting out little melodramas as the seller tries to move the ball down the field.

And because our mind is always working and always spinning and defending, it makes it very hard to find any silence...any space...in which to fully engage the client. 

See our problem in sales is NOT that we don't know enough...it's that we know TOO MUCH...and we THINK TOO MUCH...and we PROCESS TOO MUCH...

The reality we must discover is that we are something much more...much deeper than just our mind...there is another part of us...an infinitely bigger, deeper thing (God?)...that can actually observe our mind at work...fully detached from thought...in a sense, we can step away from our mind and can watch it in action.  And when we can watch it...we discover that we can make choices about the thoughts, ideas and emotions the mind spins out.   This is very deep self awareness, and a great place to be as a salesperson.

Also (and this might be the best part of detachment), when we are out of our minds...we are in silence...open and able to focus on something or some one else...and to give that something our full attention.

This is how you form relationships...this is how you establish trust...this is how you sell in the coming years.

GB

(Just one of Greg Bennett's "99 Rambling Thoughts on Successful Selling")

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #13

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #13: Ask the Client For the Best Way to Stay in Touch and Follow Up

Instead of making an assumption about the communication process and the follow-up plan, why not ask the client for guidance?

It's pretty simple:

"Mr. Client...how often would you like me to stay in touch?"

"Ms. Client...what is the best way to communicate with you?"

"Mr. Client...what types of communication would you like to hear about?  What would you like me to contact you about?"

A good follow-up question to the last one is to ask, let's say the client said something like, "Well, let me know when you have any special offers, or new products"

It gives you the perfect opportunity (and the right) to say, "Well let me ask you this...if I WERE to contact you with with that type of information, and it fit what you're looking for...honestly, would you purchase it?"

Just because someone says "let me know what you've got" doesn't mean he wants to buy it.

GB

(Just one of Greg Bennett's 99 Rambling Thoughts on Successful Selling")

GB Live is Coming Back to the Blog

I know I'm a bit skitzo with this radio show bouncing around, but I've decided to move the show back to the blog here on Friday mornings from 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. mountian time.

Just come to the blog at that time, turn up your speakers and I'll be hear rattling away about sales, sales management, having some fun,...you know, the usual...

Thanks and tell a friend...

GB

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #12

Greg Bennett's Rambling Thought #12: Dissolve the Delusional Barriers Between You and Client

For this thought I'm going to do a "mind freak" on you...I want you to imagine that there are two ingredients sitting on a counter top in a baker's kitchen, one is a liquid (like oil or water), the other a solid (like flower or sugar)...at first they're separate, but the moment they touch...the moment they come together...both are changed and they become something else entirely.   And that something else, while still containing both ingredients, exists only because of the joint efforts of both entities...AND, obviously both parties must commit to remaining in the partnership once it's formed, because you really can't pull them apart fully once they've mixed.

Now...I want you to imagine that the sales situation is just like the counter top...with two ingredients, the liquid (let's make that the seller), and the solid (the client)...for us to make a great partnership together, we must give some of ourselves to the partnership to become one...we must be willing to blend, to mix, to let down the ego and lose a piece of our own identity in order to be a part of something bigger, different, hopefully a better expression...it doesn't mean we don't retain our root identity (the remaining water is still water), it just means that when we give a piece of ourselves to the engagement (the partnership with the client), it must be with the thought that I'm giving it with a willingness to be changed, and I'm committed to remain in the relationship after we've mixed.

Unfortunately, most salespeople (and most clients) approach the sales process with the idea that I must retain my own identity ALWAYS while trying to interact with the other ingredient, and still hope for the best outcome.

So sellers walk around in what I call a delusional view of the sales world.  Where I, the seller, am over here...and you, the client, are over there...and our relationship is nothing more than I tell you who I am...and you tell me who you (the client) is...then we offer a little of ourselves up for a possible connection, BUT we put that in a little clear plastic bag...both bags are then tossed in a bowl and are swirled around, but never mingled...what they create is usually just a combination of two bags sitting together not doing much...there is no mixture...

This plays out in the way most salespeople view the sales process...where we, the seller, own our stuff before THE SALE, then hand it off to the client (but being careful never to touch the other)...and now THEY own 'the stuff' after the sale, and they have to figure out what to do with it going forward.

I believe we must drop this delusion a.s.a.p., and start to see the interaction between seller and client as a true partnership, where we need to dissolve this mine and yours nonsense, this separateness, this ego creation we believe is real...and we start to seek a mixture of ingredients.

The partnership we're building is then much bigger than an exchange of goods...a "sale"...it is truly the creation of something much bigger, and hopefully better for all parties.

I believe this speaks to a bigger, deeper, conversation about how you experience the world in general, but we'll get into THAT at a later time...

Good mixing!

GB

Just one of Greg Bennett's "99 Rambling Thoughts on Successful Selling"