Three Musts for Sales Success in the Future

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Three Musts for Sales Success in the Future

Written by Stu Schlackman

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A Distinction Shared by None

I was overly confident that all thinking people would make the same decisions as me. But, the truth is that people's experiences and values are the lenses through which they view life and it makes their perspective a distinction shared by none.

Around this time of the year, I always reflect on the one and only time in my life that I have been fired.

Here's what happened:

The year was 2003 and our revenues had been mostly good for the first six months of the year. While we weren't setting any records, neither were we dropping in share or doing anything else that would fire up warning flares. Although 2002 had been a tumultuous year, the advertising markets had settled down after the tragedies of 9/11/2001 by the time 2003 rolled around.

I was feeling good.

I was a veteran manager - having managed the sales department of KISS 104 for two different owners and three different General Managers over the course of four years. The little turnover that we had experienced on the sales team came from the bottom 30% of revenue generators - a not uncommon situation in our business.

Everything seemed to be sailing along. On a Monday, my boss, Tony, asked me to come in a little early on Wednesday to "go over a few things" before the usual sales meeting at 8:30. I asked him what kind of things so that I could be prepared for the meeting and he mentioned revenue projections for July.

On Tuesday, I gathered all the data. On Wednesday morning, I arrived early so that I could print out my reports - only to find that I couldn't log on to my computer. While I was trying to figure that out, Tony came to my office to see if I was ready to meet. I explained my computer problem and he told me not to worry about it for now. So, I grabbed my notebook and a pen and followed him to his office.

As we walked in, I noticed that the head of the HR department was seated at the circular table inside Tony's office. I was confused as Tony hadn't said anything about her being there. As I was trying to get my bearings, Tony closed the door behind me and asked me to sit down at the table. That's when I remembered the story of a previous manager. . .

"I walked in and Krista was sitting there with a manila folder in front of her and that's when I knew that this meeting was unlike any other that I'd ever had. . ."

Sure enough, Krista had a manila folder in front of her.

Tony started the meeting as Krista examined her fingernails.

"We've decided to make a change. You will no longer be managing KISS 104. In fact, you will no longer be an employee of Cox Radio. Krista has some paperwork that she would like to go over with you."

"Hold on a second," I said. "You are firing me?"

"We just think it would be best to make a change in management at KISS 104."

"But, I'm not going to have another job. So, that means the change you are making is firing me."

"Yes. So, Krista has some paperwork that will be important to you."

"First, I have a question."

"Okay."

"Why are you firing me? I mean, what is the reason for my termination."

"We don't want to discuss that with you."

"You don't want to discuss it with me? But, I'm the one that you are firing! How could you not discuss the reason with me?"

There wasn't much more to the meeting. Neither Tony nor Krista felt obligated to tell me the reason for my termination which was ironic since both always insisted that I have reams of data and written warnings to support any personnel decisions that I wanted to make. And so it was that on that day, July 17, 2003, Tony became the only person to fire me. A distinction shared by none.

Now, I could end this post right here and feel pretty good about getting all of this off my chest in a public forum. But, that is not the purpose of telling my story six years after the fact. Or, I suppose I could use the above example as an entrée into a discussion about the best way to let someone go. But, there's a more useful moral to this story.

While I have spent a good deal of time over the past six years wondering how it was possible for Tony to make the monumental mistake of replacing me with an inexperienced manager that was terminated only three months later, I have spent much more time wondering about my own mistakes.

How come Tony didn't value my skills and talents? Why didn't I know where I stood with Tony?

When I was the sales manager of KISS 104, I made decisions that affected the income of the sellers. Some of the sellers questioned my judgment and went directly to Tony to opine that my public declarations masked private reasons that were sinister and prejudicial in nature. While it would have been nice if Tony had come to me to ask me about my decisions, the real onus was on me to go to him and explain myself. And, the best time to do that would be in advance of certain sensitive decisions that are easily spun or misinterpreted.

My image with Tony was my own responsibility. I shouldn't have assumed that my decisions were self-evident and I should have sought his counsel on controversial or highly impactful decisions.

The problem with me back in 2003 was that I enjoyed the freedom of making decisions that were mine to make. I was overly confident that all thinking people would make the same decisions as me. But, the truth is that people's experiences and values are the lenses through which they view life and it makes their perspective a distinction shared by none.

May I suggest that before the second half of the year has a chance to flower, you seek out your boss for a first half review and gain some perspective on how those lenses are viewing you?

I believe Sales is a competitive sport. As we enter 2010, the successful sales professional will look at the economy and say - this will be a great year! In other words it doesn’t matter if we are or were in a recession and it doesn’t matter if the forecast for 2010 is iffy or bleak. Successful sales people always find a way to win despite a very competitive market where customers have many options to consider.

Today customers are more intelligent about solution offerings than ever before- thanks to the Internet. In today’s economy companies want immediate results and incredible response to their needs. The definition of P & L has now become “profit or leave.” The terms customer service or satisfaction have been thrown around like a commodity, yet if we don’t take care of customers to their satisfaction they’re gone in a nanosecond.

Whether we are looking to win new business with new companies or build our existing customer base there are three musts for sales success in the future.

The first one is to have a mindset of building long term business relations. In other words if we want to develop a customer for the future we must be strategic based on their long term needs and not for the immediate sale. The first sale should be the start to gaining credibility, trust and respect as we move forward and prove ourselves over time. Proving ourselves starts with the customer’s needs and not ours. We need to understand that even though a customer is asking for a specific solution it is based on two needs-business and personal. When more than two decision makers are involved we need to understand that their individual personal needs can be quite different. So how do we find them out?

Finding out all the needs of the decision makers comes down to the second must which is asking critical questions. Asking questions that go deep makes the difference. Presenting a solution in the beginning of a sales cycle is solution suicide. You don’t know what they need until you get all the information. In other words you need to be strategic in the questions you ask. We need a plan that shows the customer we are more concerned in understanding their needs than selling our products and services. If you want better answers from the customer-ask better questions!

The third must which is the result of asking critical questions is - differentiate or die! This happens to be one of the titles of Jack Trout’s books. If we don’t differentiate ourselves from all the options the customer has, we’ll lose every time. If we can differentiate our solutions based on asking excellent questions, we can propose a solution that will more closely meet the needs of the customer. Each time we obtain a critical piece of information it can put us a step ahead of our competitors and earn us the right to come back and ask more. Decision makers respect sales professionals that ask the tough questions. Proposing the right solution is directly proportional to better performance thus leading to repeat business. Remember that products don’t develop relationships, people do. You the sales professional make the difference in a world where customers have many options.

If you want this next year to be your personal best have the mindset of building long term relationships, prepare and ask the critical questions and remember we must differentiate or die!

Happy New Year and great selling for 2010!

Stu Schlackman
		About the author:
		Stu has spent over 25 years in sales management, sales and sales training with world class companies like Digital Equipment Corporation, Cap Gemini and EDS. His focus is on “the application” of the skills and techniques he shares. He is the author of Don't Just Stand There, Sell Something and Four People You Should Know. .