Sales Training Blog

Am I the Grandfather…of Sales 2.0?

  My daughters (left), Jennifer(15) and Laura (19) were very confused at the announcement that I had become a grandfather. Said Laura, “Dad, if you are a grandpa don’t you think I’d be the first to know?”

But there it was, posted on the Sales 2.0 website  by CEO, Nigel Edelshain, crediting me as the “Grandfather of Sales 2.0.” Since Nigel speaks with a delightful British accent we know that everything he says is absolutely true.

Nigel bestowed my honorary title for my pioneering work writing the book “Selling 2.0” years before the current Sales 2.0 movement. If I was a pioneer, I have the scars to prove it. While the early bird may get the worm, it is the second mouse that gets the cheese, and there were many times during the writing and release of “Selling 2.0” that I felt like that first mouse.

The book took off fast and sold well in January 2001. The dot-com bubble was on the rise, all things high-tech were in vogue, and “Selling 2.0, Motivating Customers in the New Economy”, played well to the times. Over 6,000 copies zipped though stores in just the first two months. For a sales book, this was a spectacular start in a world where selling 3,000 copies over the entire life of a book is considered a big success. But by March the dot-com bubble burst and all things “new economy” became suspect.

Despite the setback I had high hopes. On August 29, 2001, all seemed possible as the guest of honor at a high end New York restaurant hosted by the publishing company doing the German translaton of "Selling 2.0." I also had high level speaking engagements lined up at the end of the year that would propel the substance of the book forward, despite the sudden change in the market. 

But the fate of that very restaurant would mirror the fortunes ahead. Thirteen days later, on September 11, that restaurant, “Windows on the World” atop New York City’s World Trade Center would crash to rubble in the worst terrorist attack on US soil. In the air travel restrictions that followed the September 11th attacks my speaking engagements vanished.

But along the way I had the true privilege of capturing interviews with Lee Iacocca, Ted Turner, Brian Tracy, and Guy Kawasaki and interviewed the great thinkers of the sales world including Neal Rackham, Mack Hanan, and Gerhard Gschwandtner.

While writing I tried to interview the author of a book on customer loyally. When I told him about the project he got very excited, too excited. He didn’t just want to be interviewed he wanted to co-write and publish the book. Being under contract, I passed. In hindsight, “Selling 2.0" may have sold more copies had Jeffrey Gitomer been its co-author.

If you have heard Jill Konrath speak you may have heard her story of how she created her iconic book “Selling to Big Companies” after her company failed and she had to completely rethink her selling strategy. While she was in that state of reconsideration, “Selling 2.0” was one of the books that inspired her.

It was an amazing journey and it is exciting to see others writing the next chapters of Selling 2.0. 

Thank you Nigel. Even though I am not really that old, I accept the accolade.

 

Josh Gordon

"Grandfather of Sales 2.0" 

 

Read Nigel's article on the Sales 2.0 Website

About the book "Selling 2.0"

Virtual presentations via linkinar

A linkinar is an online presentation enhanced with a numbered sequence of web links. Linkinars are the fastest and cheapest way to give an illustrated presentation over the Internet. They are called "linkinars" because they function just like a webinar, only they can be done by any salesperson, instantly, and for free.    

Example: You have a client who refuses to see you in person. Ask for a 10 minute phone appointment. When she agrees tell her you will be sending her an e-mail to be opened just before your call.  

As your call starts, ask her to open your email, which contains a list of numbered links. Then, ask her to click on the first link. After you talk her though your first point illustrated by content found at the first link, ask her to click on the second link, etc. Simple.

When I use them, make the first link a "grabber" that contains a surprise for my client that is about her customers or her company, not my products. 

To find these "surprise" links I do quick web search on her company, her products, or her CEO. I have used, an obscure piece of my clients company's history, news about her CEO, a news item on her competition, or an interview with the CEO of their biggest customer. I'm not trying to make a sale here, my goal is to have her think, "Wow, when this presentation is over I know five people I want to forward this link to." 

Next come links that are about their business and build context and a case for a sale. Often, I pull them directly from their own website. It is a constant amazement how many clients I call on who do not read their own company website. 

Sharing these links gets my client talking about their business, their problems, and their goals.  

If we strike up a dialog as result of these, I often don't get the rest of the links which is OK. The last few links are to pages on my company's website that explain my products specifics.

Which of these links I get to and how soon depend on the dialog we have.

Worst case: She is gives me my 10 minutes and passively sits back while I do all the talking. I use the links to illustrate my monologue.  In ten minutes it is over.    

Best case: She becomes actively involved in what I am saying and points to things on the web pages we are mutually viewing as a basis for questions and a deepening our dialog. I'm on the phone with her way over my 10 minutes and I have a lot of follow up when the phone call is over.  

The whole reason to add a visual part to any presentation is to share specific information that deepens a sales conversation. Links to specific information on the web can do this.

The beauty of linkinars for sales people is that they are quick and free to set up, can be customized for each customer in minutes. In addition, linkinars are more of a conversational and presentational.  

For more on linkinars, go to

Linkinar.com

Selling with survey drama

If your client is not emotionally involved in a survey’s outcome, you can do a Personal Sales Survey, have the results break your way, and still not win the sale.  

To win emotional involvement you need to add drama to the process. But survey drama? Many salespeople yawn at the mention of a survey on a sales call. But surveys that sell are different. You must win involvement or doing the survey is a wasted effort. Here are few approaches that work:

1. Survey their passion
What gets your client’s blood pumping? Their competition? New opportunities? Government intervention? While many surveys can seem dull, few things get a client more excited than a survey about the things that get them excited! After you have covered these things add in some questions that advocate for your product.

I once called on a large Japanese component company whose US division could not convince the home office manufacture a smaller scale product. I did a PSS to measure the trend in their market toward the smaller scale components. The survey created huge interest because the US people felt so passionately about it. 

When the survey proved the point for the US division, they really pushed the survey results internally, along with the answers to the questions that documented the superior aspects of my product…all the way to the very top of the corporation.

2. Turn the survey into a contest
Here is the pitch, “You don’t think my service offers better customer service? I’ll prove it to you by challenging the service you are using in a survey to an objective audience. We will do a Personal Sales Survey, just for you, and measure either an independent industry sample or the sample of potential customers you are trying to win over. If I lose I don’t bother you for a long time, but if I win you have to give my service a try.”

This is no longer just another dull sales survey, this is now a contest, bring on the shootout, its high noon. Part of the drama is in the possibility of watching your product or service fall flat on its face. But, if you have done your pretesting, you should have a good idea of the results before you start. 

3. Discover an opportunity
I once was trying to sell a company on doing a webinar services. The company buyer said, “Josh, Webinars are fine but my audience will never go for them.” I did a PSS. The client’s customers were very enthusiastic about webinars and could not wait for my client to offer them. No one gets excited about surveys for the sake of surveys, but everyone gets excited about a new opportunity. I made the sale.

When you do a Personal Sales Survey, don’t think of it as a survey, it’s an unscripted event where you and your client discover new things together. There is drama in that!

Best recession lead generator: webinar, whitepaper, or social media?

New sales leads are harder to come by in a recession, and new electronic sales tools can help. Which will work best for you could depend on the kind of company you work for. Some guidance as to which you should use comes from the survey I did for the Customer Collective, “What is Your Recession Sales Strategy.” 

When a national sample of sales and marketing mangers were asked which  tools they are using more often of as result of the recession, preferences emerged at different kinds of companies.  

Entrepreneurial companies have dramatically embraced the use of social media for sales prospecting, mid-sized companies and multinationals led in looking toward the use of webinars, while mid-sized companies look more toward whitepapers. Here are the specifics: 

Social media:

  According to the study, 74.1% of self described entrepreneurial companies report that as a result of a recession they will be using social media for prospecting more often. In addition, 67.3% of small businesses, 49.3% of mid sized companies, while only 45.9% of multinational corporations will do the same.  

Webinars:

 Mid-sized companies and multinational corporations lead in the use of webinars for sales lead generation.

The study found that 38.8% of mid sized companies and 36.1% of multinational corporations report they will use webinars more often to generate sales leads because of the recession. Only 28.4% of entrepreneurial companies, and 24.5% of small businesses will do the same.

White papers:

When it comes to using white papers, mid sized companies lead the way.

38.8% of mid sized companies report they will use white papers more often to generate sales leads as a result of a recession while only 24.5% of small businesses, 23.5% of entrepreneurial companies, and 19.7% of multinational corporations plan on doing the same.

The recession will mean a growth in the use of webinars by multinational corporations and mid-sized companies, growth in the use of social media for prospecting among entrepreneurial companies, and growth in the use of white papers for lead generation among mid-sized companies.

More about the Free Customer Collective white paper/survey

Download the study for free 

Starting a Personal Sales Survey program

One of the best new Sales 2.0 tools are online survey services that have made taking a survey so easy that Personal Sales Surveys (PSS) can now be used to sell individual clients. 

They are more just "nice" services, they are essential to meet new demands of selling as the differentiators between competitive products move more to intangible features.

These days, when your product has a unique feature it often does not stay unique for long. One lens manufacturer told me that just  few years ago a new feature would give them a sales advantage of four to five years. Today, that is down to about 8 months. With faster design and manufacturing techniques, the increasing software content of products, and outsourcing, competitors can replicate competitive advantage quickly.  

 But there are many less tangible features that can brought into the sales process when measured. Features like brand presence among a clients's customers, comparative customer service, reputation for innovation, ROI among existing customers, and long term product durability, are sustainable features easily measured.

Most salespeople “document” competitive advantage with enthusiasm, selected anecdotes, and relationship building. But imagine if you could document your product's advantages in the ways listed above. You could leave your relationship selling competition in the dust. It works, I’ve done it.

Before you start using Personal Sales Surveys to prove a competitive advantage, you need to be sure you have a measurable advantage.

The first step is to list the buying criteria active in your market that affect your product. They can be product speed, durability, customer service, etc.  Next, survey your market to measure which of these criteria your product dominates. In most markets different products have different advantages and it is rare for one product to dominate all.

In addition, you need to know why the buying criteria your product dominates in, is important to buyers.   
 
If you discover that your product has no measurable advantage against competition, you no longer have a sales problem; you have a product or marketing problem. 

But let’s say you have a measurable advantage in product durability. When surveyed, 43% of past customers say your product held up best over the past 5 years, 20% say your next closest competitor did, and the other 10 players in your market fight for single digit scores.  

If a buyer believes that product durability is the most important buying criteria you can prove your advantage using a Personal Sales Survey. Easy.

But what if the buyer believes a different criteria is more important. 

Then, you shift gears and use a Personal Sales Survey to document the importance of product durability specific to his situation.

Ask your client's customers:

How long have you  owned these different products?

How long did each one last?

How did not having to replace the longer lasting ones save time?

How much money did you save by having a product last longer? 

Having lived with these products for five years which product would you buy again?
Etc.

Now, the Personal Sales Survey measures experiences that support the case for product durability. By bringing these measurements forward you can show your client that product durability might be more important than he or she assumed.

Often, claims of intangible advantages are met with skepticism among buyers. "You say your product will last longer, have a better ROI, or has better customer support than your competition. How can you prove this?"

There is always a way to measure some relevant audience, somewhere, that has had experience with the range of competitive products. 

Buyers today want more proof and less lunches. Personal Sales Surveys can help you deliver.       

Look out! Multinationals leverage recession for exclusive buying programs

As a direct result of the recession, 44% of all companies are asking for more price concessions. But how customers pursue cost savings varies by the kind of company they are buying from.

According to the new study by Josh Gordon from The Customer Collective, “What Is Your Recession Sales Strategy,” customers of Multinational corporations are much more likely to be open to exclusive buying programs to reduce their costs while the customers of entrepreneurial companies are more be open to partnerships to achieve the same end.

According to the report, 20.9% of multinational corporations report their customers are considering exclusive buyer relationships to reduce costs. In contrast, only 4.5% of entrepreneurial companies, 6.8% of mid-sized companies, and 3.8% of small companies have customers considering the same approach.

This is a case where bigger is better. Companies that have the size to offer price reductions in exchange for exclusive buying programs can lock our competitors and lock in customers to higher volume buying as result of the recession. In good times exclusive buying progams can be considered risky. By putting all their eggs in one supplier's basket can cause problems if the supplier's performace fails. But the recession can drive a need for cost reduction that over shadows this risk. If you are not working for a multinational corporation, look out, if they consolidate buying in the product category you sell in, your business disappears.    

In contrast, more entrepreneurial companies report customers that are interested in partnership relationships to reduce costs. According to the report, 23.6% of entrepreneurial companies have customers interested in this approach. Customers also interested in this approach are 19.4% of multinational corporations, 19.2% of small businesses and, 15.1% of mid-sized companies.

More about the survey and download it for FREE on the Customer Collective website.

Surveys that sell: do more black men go to prison than college?

Surveys are the most powerful sales agents on the planet. They sell not by overtly asking for an order, but by creating the “persuasive facts” that decisions are based on.

Call me skeptical, but having crafted hundreds of surveys that sell, when I hear a "persuasive fact" I want to know who created it, what bias it has, and what its creators are trying to sell me.
Here is one such "fact" I've heard for years, most recently during the 2008 Presidential elections:

 "There are more black men in prison than in college."

Do you think this is true? 
This "fact" was used by several candidates during the 2008 presidential campaign by several candidates and is accepted as as true in many current social discussions. But the "fact" is misleading and should not be used. It first was introduced in 2002 as part of a study created by the "Justice Policy Institute", whose stated mission is “to promote effective solutions to social problems and to be dedicated to ending society’s reliance on incarceration.” A high minded organization, but not one without a bias on the topic. 

 The report compared two government statistics: In 2000, there were 791,600 black men behind bars while only 603,032 were in college. The numbers dramatized the shameful condition of American black men at the time.

But using this "fact" is not appropriate for two reasons:
First off, it is no longer true:
The same government statistics released in 2005 showed 864,000 black men in college and only 802,000 in prison. Still terrible numbers, but progress had been made, and as of 2005, a small majority now go to college.

But the bigger point is that this fact misleads because it is an apples to oranges comparison. Attending college and going to jail are different life experiences that happen in different time frames. A majority of people, black or white, go to college only between ages 18 to 24, whereas the "opportunity” to go to prison can happen throughout adulthood.   

The black male population of 2000 had a very high frequency of incarceration. If you compare their frequency of attending college, which would only happen in a four year window, to their frequency of attending prison, which could happen anytime during a lifetime, the comparison will skew toward prison. Just because the statistics of "going to college" and "going to prison" were gathered in the same year does not mean all comparisons between them are true. 

Take this 2007 quote from then presidential candidate, John Edwards:

“We cannot build enough prisons to solve this problem. And the idea that we can keep incarcerating and keep incarcerating — pretty soon we’re not going to have a young African-American male population in America. They’re all going to be in prison or dead. One of the two.”

Even as the basic statement about more young black men going to prison was accurate back in 2000, Edwards is stretching the comparison to mean things it does not.

Working with the 2005 statistics, the fact checkers at the Washington Post did an “apples to apples” comparison of just college age black men, in college and prison, finding that the number of black men in college is actually, "...five times the number of young black men in federal and state prisons and two and a half times the total number incarcerated.”

If you make the "fact" about black men an apples to apples comparison by limiting the sample to just black males of college age, the remaining fact just doesn’t sell:
"There are two and a half times more college age black males attending college, than there are in prison.”

Yawn.

Think about this: this "fact," about more black men going to jail than college was first presented almost 10 years ago by an advocacy group. The "fact" is still influencing decisions today even though it is not true anymore, and was originally based on a bias most people were not aware of.

Again, I state that surveys are the most powerful sales agents on the planet. If you are not using them to advocate your organization’s ideas and products, well, call me skeptical again.

Read the Washington Post fact check report

Read a review of the original report that shared "the fact" from the Justice Policy Institute 

Read a 2007 NYT article:  A black film maker tries to debunk the myth of more young black men in prison than college

 

A hemorrhoid, a toothache, and a recession

Mr. Obama's new chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is as "take charge" as they come. Democratic strategist Paul Begala recently described Emanuel's aggressive style as a "cross between a hemorrhoid and a toothache" then added, "I love Rahm, but that's a small group of us."

But speaking before a Wall Street Journal conference of top corporate chief executives Emanuel shared one sentence that summed up an opportunistic view we would all do well to embrace. Said Emanuel,    

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."

How great is this? Emanuel continued, "Things that we had postponed for too long, that were long-term, are now immediate and must be dealt with. This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before."

These are great lines and a great point of view that casts "crisis" as a friend to constructive change. For your clients who have stopped buying because they are paralyzed by their own economic crisis, this is a different way of looking at the same set of circumstance that calls to action, and companies in action will be more likely to be buying product and services from you.  

What changes are needed at your client's company? 

Are there old products that should have been retired years ago? Your client's customers who might be angered by a product being discontinued might shrug it off in a recession. 

Are there departments that need restructuring? Reorganizations that would devastate employee morale can be just seen as business as usual in a recession.

Are there new products, departments, or ideas that need to be pushed to the front burner? Company politics will step aside if helps get through the recession.

When you sell in a time of economic crisis, part of your mission is to advocate for proactive change. As we move into a new year, Emanuel's line sums up the proactive point of view both you and your clients will find greater success by embracing. 

Read about Emanuel's comments in the Wall Street Journal

Survey: Entrepreneurs dodge recession discounting by moving faster

In the "What Is Your Recession Selling Strategy?" white paper conducted for The Customer Collective, found that more than half of multinational corporations have customers who are asking them for additional discounts "as a direct result of the recession." But for self-described entrepreneurial companies the percentage was much lower, about one in three.

Mid-sized companies weighed in at 43.8% and small businesses at 39.7%. 

The question is, "What do entrepreneurial companies do, that multinational corporations do not do, that makes them less of a price concession target?"

I say it is that they move faster. A recession is not just a time of reduced buying activity, it is a time of profound business change. In changing times, companies that can adjust their value propositions quickly will keep the highest value in the eyes of customers. Entrepreneurial companies can simply move faster. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please post them!

Download the survey for free (registration required) at The Customer Collective

 

"Presentations" wins a gold medal

   The prestigious 2008 Sales Book Awards were announced today and “Presentations That Change Minds” won the gold medal award for being the best sales book in the “Presentation” category.

 The Sales Book Awards are sponsored by Sales Gravy and the entries are reviewed by a panel of 35 judges who score the qualifying books against five criteria.

I'm excited because I worked hard on this book and did not play to the lowest common denominator. Persuasive presentations succeed only as often as the strategies they are based on. I wrote "Presentations" to be the first presentation strategy book by establishing the 14 basic strategies and honoring each with it's own chapter. It was fun to write and I got a chance to use a lot of stories I had been collecting for along time.  

More about "Presentations That Change Minds" 

See a 3 minute video about the book

Buy the book on Amazon  

The contest, as reported on Jonathan Farrington’s blog, and on Salesopedia. 

About the Sales Book Awards