Selling to Consumers | Sales Training Blog by Skip Anderson

Get Off the Commerce Freeway Once in a While

Society if full of sellers, all busily pursuing their next sale And that's how it should be.

But not all the time.

Just like worker bees, we get on the commerce freeway, encouraged by our sales managers and our compensation programs and our personal debt to travel faster, and periodically even faster yet. Fast was last year's goal; very fast is this year's goal. Next year we'll be seeking to make sales super fast. In sales, fast is better, and more is even better.

But it's important we get off the commerce freeway now and then. We can seek a new perspective, see where we are and verify that where we're headed is the best place to be going. We can all benefit from reading a sales book, taking a sales assessment, attending a seminar, or connecting with others in our industry that we've meant to connect with, but haven't.

That brings us to sales training.

Yes, I have a sales training company, and yes, of course, I want every company to hire us to train their salespeople. But this isn't just self-serving to me or other trainers out there, it's to encourage you to find identify and repair gaps between management's expectations for sales performance and the current skill sets of those doing the sales performing (or lack thereof).

I love to ask clients why they are doing this or why they're doing that. Answers vary widely, but the most popular answers - by far - are either, "That's a good question; I'm not sure why" or "I don't know, we've always done it that way." A fresh pair of eyes can provide a company with often extraordinarily valuable insight about a company's everyday sales operations that can lead to increased revenue production.

Just like in so many areas of human achievement, the difference between being a winner and an also-ran is often very small. But when you implement those small changes, sales can grow and even explode.

Get off the commerce freeway once in a while and get on the on-ramp to the fresh perspective freeway. Stay a while. And visit it every now and then. You'll be amazed and what you'll see if you just allow yourself to look.

 

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies that sell to consumers in all B2C sectors to increase sales by leveraging the buying potential of every prospect and shopper.

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Becoming a Better Manager: Counteract The Rumor Mill

 
As a manager, how do you communicate with your team? Do you have a systematized, reliable process for sharing both large and small segments of information with your employees? Or do you rely on the default communication structure in any organization?

That default communication structure is the rumor mill. In this day of incredible technology, many organizations, departments and teams still rely on the rumor mill to spread information throughout the ranks. The rumor mill runs at lightening speed thanks in part to your employees' use of incredible technology. But it has awful accuracy. And that awful accuracy could be hurting your management efforts.

COUNTERACT THE RUMOR MILL

Managers must counteract the effects of the rumor mill if they're serious about leading their group efficiently and proficiently. The best counteracting can be accomplished by committing to: 

1. Communicate often

In many work groups, the level of communication is high, but the frequency is too low. This often results in a communication-starved group, and when they're starved, the group will find information somewhere (even if it's outdated or inaccurate). The best way to fight information starvation is to give employees what they want: communication.

2. Communicate accurately

Don't tell your team that the executive in charge of your division has desired to create a new position of Director of Social Media Marketing if the executive in charge of your division is only considering creating a new position of Director of Social Media Marketing. Communicating often is only helpful if the information being communicated is accurate.

3. Communicate both "need to know" and "nice to know" bits of information

Some employees in a work group don't care about anything, so #3 won't help them (but then, what will?), but many employees like to know nice to know information just as much as they want to know the vital stuff. So go ahead and tell them that your company's employment ads will now be placed on CareerBuilder instead of Monster, or that the garbage is now being picked up by Ted's Sanitation instead of Waste Management. Employees like to be in the loop.

4. Communicate important information to ALL your team

Great damage can be done by cherry picking who receives certain bits of information, either be cherry picking intentionally or out of lack of discipline. Of course, there will always be times when only certain individuals or certain groups need to know some bits of information, but the general information (like "We're going to be moving our offices down the street to the 731 building") shouldn't be shared with a few people, thereby allowing the rumor mill to disseminate the information to the remaining employees.

Besides, as the game Telephone shows us, by the time the last employee in your group has heard the rumor, you'll be moving your offices not down the street to the 198 building, but to the suburbs on 198th street.

5. Communicate with proper timing.

There's a proper time and place for communicating particular bits of information. Make sure your timing is wise. The time to tell your group that Tina in payroll was let go is the same day or day after she was let go, not three weeks after Tina's employment was terminated (just ask your three employees who have been frantically emailing and leaving voicemail messages for Tina - to no avail - for two weeks). On the other hand, it's equally as damaging to tell your group on Tuesday that Tina has been terminated when Tina's manager wasn't going to terminate her employment until Friday. Ouch.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment.Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies that sell to consumers in all B2C sectors to increase sales by leveraging the buying potential of every prospect and shopper.

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What a Difference The Right Person Makes!

This post is about selling, customer service, managing, and relationships. and virtually all relationships.

I regularly visit two dry cleaners.

Dry cleaner #1: The front desk person always has a smile on her face, calls me by name, acts excited to see me, and we chat it up for a couple minutes every time I'm there.

Dry cleaner #2: The front desk person doesn't make eye contact with me, says thank you (but with no emotion behind the statement), and hurries to get me out of there.

Which customer experience is more satisfying?

Of course, dry cleaner #1 provides the experience I want as a consumer. Having the right people with the right behaviors in the front line of your company's work (receptionist, front desk, selling, installing, delivering, etc.) can make or break your customer service ratings.

Take this out of the retail setting. Isn't this the experience you want with supervisors and employees at work? With family members at home? With friends and colleagues and roommates and fellow committee members? Engaging others is a key to not only selling success, but all kinds of relationship success.

Selecting the Right People

> Have your job candidates role play during interviews.

> Ask experiential questions that ask for specific examples of how they handled this situation or that situation previously in their career.

> Ask what their proudest job achievement is. Use testing to hire the right personalities, the right strengths, and the right attitudes.

Getting the Right Behaviors

> Getting the right behaviors is easier when you hire the right people.

> Train your people , and when you're done train them again.

> But before you can train them, you must have complete clarity of your training objectives.

> Make sure managing and training are interlocked, each working toward the same goals.

* * * * * * *

Questions for discussion:

> What can you do differently to be the "right person" for your job?

> If you manage and hire, what do you need to do differently to hire the right people?

> And where are you falling short on training and managing those right people?

 

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment.Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies that sell to consumers in all B2C sectors to increase sales by realizing the buying potential of every prospect.

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The Carnival of Trust - April 2010 Edition

I've been asked by Charles H. Green of Trust Matters to host the April 2010 edition of The Carnival of Trust. I appreciate the invitation and the opportunity. Thank you Charles, and thanks also to Ian Welsh for his help with the project.

As a sales trainer and management consultant, I believe trust is at the very core of productive sales relationships, whether those relationships are ongoing, long-term relationships (as in the relationship between an insurance agents and her accounts), or very short-term (as in the relationship between a one-call sales sales representative and his prospects).

I've selected eleven articles for the April 2010 Carnival of Trust. There's some fantastic reading here, so let's get going:

1. To Sell is to Serve by Mike Plumstead at The Marketing Corner.

Mike asks by asking a question: "When was the last time you saw a movie praising the sale profession?" Mike suggests that sellers be an honest advocate for both the company that employs them and the customer. What a novel idea!

2. What Do You Sell? A Lesson In Personal Branding by S. Anthony Iannarino on The Sales Blog 

Anthony uses the Tiger Woods situation to discuss personal branding. He talks about the importance of staying true to your brand promise. This is a great read.

3. Marketing Strategy: For God's Sake, Sell Ethically by an "unnamed ex sales guy" on Tony Vi.

The author suggests that, instead of "buyer beware," sellers would be wise to practice "seller beware." He calls for banks and other entities to restructure their selling policies for the sake of long-term sales growth over short-term gains.

4. Profits, Ethics, and Trust by Vineet Nayar at The Harvard Business Review.

Although this post is over one year old, I wanted to include it in this month's Carnival of Trust because Nayar talks about something near and dear to me: "In addition to what a company does, it is equally important to focus on how it does it."

5. The Cultural Commandments: Germany by Richard D. Lewis at Cross Culture

Lewis takes a look at what he calls "Traditional German Culture" and should be helpful for those selling in Germany. He talks about Germans seeing themselves as being direct and honest, which requires directness and honesty from anybody dealing with them.

6. Articulating Value - Trust, Integrity, Commitment and Love in Business at Sales Training Drivers

This is a bold article that dares to suggest that love be a part of selling to customers. I love it!

7. Is it Better to Be Truthful or Interesting? by Ian Brodie at The Selling Professional Services Blog

Ian tells the story of how he disagreed with an online contact about the value (or lack of value) of Twitter as a business generation tool. Read the story, but Ian concludes "It's better to be truthful." And, it helps him sleep at night. Three cheers for sleep!

8. Touch Me by Vaughan Bell at Mind Hacks

I love psychology. And this is an article about a study that looks at the emotional significance of brief physical touches from another human being. In my sales training seminars, I frequently say "We are human beings selling to human beings, so let's be more human." Touch is human.

9. The Habitual Consumer by Steve Martin at Inside Influence Report

Read about the study that gave stale popcorn to cinema customers. Some at less than normal, but some ate just as much stale popcorn as they do when the popcorn is fresh and hot. How does this influence organizational and business leaders seeking to promote change within their organizations? 

10. The World's Greatest Salesperson! by David Brock at the Partners in Excellence Blog

David writes about OgilvyOne's contest to find "The World's Greatest" salesperson. The contest has some individuals upset. There's been a lot of discussion in the sales community about this contest. This contest has promoted conversation about what selling really is and what it isn't. It's a healthy discussion we need to have. Read David's article then add your thoughts to the comments section. The comments are fascinating, too.

And finally, one more. But before the next article, I want to thank everyone for submitting posts to this month's Carnival of Trust. There were many great submissions and I enjoyed reading all of them.

11. Speed, Trust, and the ROI of Relationships by Liz Strauss at the 1to1 Blog

Strauss knows relationships. She's one of the relationship gurus of our time. How do relationships effect a company's bottom line?

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment.Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies that sell to consumers in all B2C sectors to increase sales by realizing the buying potential of every prospect.

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The Race to Sales Competence: A Case for Sales Training

 
Like it or not, all sales organizations are participants in the race to sales competence.

How many sales leads will your organization, whether a sole-proprietorship or large sales department, burn through because your sales people are incompetent (or, at least, less competent than they should be) at selling? How many marketing dollars will you invest in various initiatives to get your phone to ring more or to get more customers into your brick-and-mortar location(s) when those dollars would be better spent getting your sales team to sales competence?

I know readers of this blog sell everything from appliances to fine art to RVs to cabinets to clothing and beyond. Regardless of the product or service your company sells to consumers, how much valuable time is being wasted by not getting your salespeople sales-competent? How many wasted marketing dollars will you spend before you decide to invest in teaching your salespeople to convert those pricey leads to sales? How many customer objections will continue to be answered ineffectively? How many opportunities for customer engagement will fall into the no-sale abyss? How many random sales interactions will replace strategic sales interactions with those leads you've so carefully (and at great cost) cultivated? How many sales of $1400 that could have been $1900 (or sales of $14,000 that could have been $19,000) will you allow to happen before you recognize your current position in the race to sales competence?

Someone is in first place in the race right now - it's either your company or a competitor. Someone is doing a bang-up job of presenting their products so they resonate with their prospects. Someone is closing sales at a far higher rate than someone else. Someone is likable and engaging and assertive and hard working and highly energetic while the also-rans are plodding along in the middle of the pack (or worse) in the race to selling competence.

Every day that passes means more missed opportunities for sales and missed opportunities for larger sales. What is the cost of not committing to sales competence today? You know your key metrics. You know what dollars are being made in promotions, marketing, and advertising. You know what commission plans you've tried, at times only being frustrated that the desired results haven't been achieved. You know how much time and energy of your sales team is being spent every day, every week, every month, and every year working with prospects that could have become customers, but didn't because the you're not winning the race.

What would a closing rate of 85% instead of 65% do for your company's bottom line (or 50% instead of 20%)? What would a 25% increase in your average ticket do for it? What marketing dollars could you save if your sales team sourced 15% of their own leads instead of 0%? 

This is real money. It's real potential profit. It's a real race.

But the real race is against yourself. What will it be? Marginal sales success? Or winning the race to sales competence now?

Sales training can help your team become sales competent.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment.Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies that sell to consumers in all B2C sectors to increase sales by realizing the buying potential of every prospect.

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When Sales Performance Incentives Don't Work

I have often been an advocate of increasing incentive pay and lowing base pay for salespeople in the B2C space. But increasing the portion of income that can be derived from commission won't work for all types of sellers.

Let's look at four different salespeople:

 

> Salesperson 2 is highly skilled at selling, and is also highly money motivated. This person will generally respond well to increased monetary sales incentives.

> Salesperson 4 is not highly skilled at selling, but is highly money motivated. This person will generally not respond well to monetary sales incentives, unless that money motivation motivates the salesperson to develop his sales skills as an intermediary step.

> Salesperson 1 is highly skilled at selling, but is not money motivated. This person will generally not respond well to increased monetary sales incentives.

> Salesperson 3 is not highly skilled at selling, and is not highly money motivated. This person will generally not respond well to increased monetary sales incentives.

Therefore, sales management throwing money at a sales performance problem results in a FAIL for three of the salespeople in our scenarios. Monetary rewards only work for those who are highly motivated to make more money.

Don't get me wrong! I want sales professionals in the business-to-consumer market to earn more money!

To improve the sales of salespeople 3 and 4, management needs to implement sales training that works. To improve the sales of salesperson 1, management needs to identify motivators that will increase performance, as more money clearly will not. It might be: becoming the top salesperson in the organization (ego motivation), being part of a winning team (team motivation), or something else.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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Skip Anderson Interviews Shane Gibson, Co-Author of "Sociable!"

Shane Gibson and Stephen Jagger have written a brand new social media book titled "Sociable! How Social Media is Turning Sales and Marketing Upside Down." I interviewed Shane on the new episode of The Selling to Consumers Podcast.

I recommend the book to B2C companies and individuals who are trying to figure out if or how social media plays a role in everyday business. Listen to my interview with Shane Gibson at sales training podcast.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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Humble Confidence

The manager, business owner, or salesperson who possesses humility allows engagement with other people (employees, partners, vendors, customers, prospects, suspects, etc.). They are accessible and present. They are not toxic. They are thankful for their riches and often flexible with others. The ego is successfully managed.

Add confidence to all that humility and you have an individual who is certain he will successfully handle the management issues with which he is faced, or the customer issues he will encounter. He is able to deal successfully with people of all types, change prospects into customers, move the business forward, and solve problems that need to be solved. Confidence instills confidence in others, so the humble and confident business person inspires those around him. He often takes a leadership role even when it is not a formal one.

Who do you know who possesses humble confidence? How have these traits helped their business? Their sales?

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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Do You Make Your Customers Bend Over Backwards? Or Do You Just Make Them Bend Over?

Customers are tricky creatures. Treat them well and you're likely to reap benefits of a long-term relationship. Treat them poorly and you're likely to lose them. We all know this, but sometimes we have lapses of judgment that result in treating a customer poorly.

I was put in an awkward position last week. I am a customer of Podbean, the web hosting service that hosts hundreds or thousands of podcasts. Our Selling to Consumers Podcast is hosted on Podbean. I think Podbean made us "bend over" and I hope you and your company never does anything likewise to your customers. Let me explain...

Last week, I started receiving emails and messages through our main website that our podcast site was down or not working properly. I investigated and found that I was unable to access our sales podcast site. I tried ten minutes later and got the same results.

I went to the Podbean bad podcast hosting site. They had a message posted at the top of their home page that one of their servers was being serviced or upgraded.

Podbean bendover #1: If Podbean was going to upgrade or service their servers, and this activity would cause customers' sites to be down, they should have notified customers in advance. If the server issue was something that was an emergency, they should have sent an email to all accounts affected by the emergency to notify them their sites were down, and inform them what was being done to handle it.

When I tried to access our site a few hours later, it was still down. I went to Podbean's home page again and noticed the server maintenance message was gone. So I decided it was time to contact Podbean.

Podbean bendover #2: No phone number on their site. I had to fill out an online contact form.

I inquired about the problem with our site. I hadn't heard anything a few hours later (the site was still down), so I went into my email archives and found an email I had received from Podbean when we first set up our account. I sent them an email asking (again) what was wrong with our site and when it would be up.

24 hours later, I still hadn't received a response, so went to the Podbean site again to fill out the contact form a second time. Eventually, I heard back from Podbean via email: "We are sorry about this issue. One server is down. It is expected to be fixed in 24 hours."

Podbean bend over #3: Our site was down 3 days.

To Podbean's credit, they did send an email after the site was back up to let me know they had installed new servers ("to better serve" us they said). They also told me my site might not work properly and the podcast episodes might not play on the site and what I had to do to fix it. (That's Podbean bend over #4)

Podbean bend over #5: It would have been great for Podbean to have offered to credit our account for a month or a week or three days of service, but no such offer was included. Our company paid them to host a website for the entire month, not just 28 days of the month. It's not a large amount, but proactively offering a credit would have let us know Podbean is a class act.

In the site hosting business, having customers' sites up and running is everything. It's the reason they're in business. I'll never know how many potential visitors in cyberspace had trouble visiting our podcast site during the outage, but I do know that Podbean made me, the customer, feel unimportant. I had to bend over backwards to get information, and in the process, felt like Podbean had bent me over.

Lessons we can all learn from this incident:

1. When there's a problem, be proactive. Don't wait for your customer to contact you.

2. Communicate profusely. Communicate more than you think you need to. Problems increase the need for communication.

3. Make it easy for your customers to contact you. Old fashioned phone numbers are still the contact contact medium of choice for customers with problems.

4. Compensate your customer when compensation is the right thing to do.

If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.

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New FTC Guidelines for Endorsements & Testimonials in Advertising

New Federal Trade Commission guidelines regarding the use of customer testimonials and endorsements in advertising will start tomorrow (December 1, 2009).

No longer will a mere statement like "results not typical" be acceptable in communicating to consumers that some endorsements may not reflect typical results for most users or customers. With the new rules, the advertiser will have to clearly describe what results should reasonably be expected by the average purchaser.

There are other changes in the guidelines, too, for bloggers and celebrity endorsers.

You can read a press release from the FTC about the new guidelines here, and you can download an 81 page pdf with even more detail here.

If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.

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How Well Do You Really Know Your Market?

Your market is made up of all the people who have done business with you, along with the people who have some likelihood of doing business with you. Everyone in business has at list minimal understanding of their market, but do you really understand yours?

Many start-up B2C companies and salespeople target people with lots of money, but these people are possibly only members of their imaginary market. People with lots of can't and won't buy every product or service out there, nor will they buy from every salesperson in the world.

One reason people lots of money is because those people don't spend it. If you're looking for prospects who will spend money with you, it doesn't necessarily mean you should look first at individuals who have lots of money. Sometimes, it's better to focus on other market segments.

When I was selling furniture and interior design related products, I can't tell you the number of big, beautiful homes I visited that didn't have any furniture. At the time in the Twin Cities, a $500,000 or $800,000 house was quite large and usually quite nice. But why didn't they have any living room furniture, or a dining table?

The answer is they either couldn't afford it (all the money was tied up in their home), or they could afford it but chose not to. After all, dining tables don't usually appreciate in value whereas real estate usually does over the long term.

Sometimes my best customers, even though I was selling what was perceived as upscale products for upscale companies, were average middle-class or families who wanted to revel in owning a beautiful piece of art or a beautiful console table for their living room. For these customers, owning these items made them feel rich even though they weren't.

Some businesses conjure up imaginary reasons why their customers buy from them. "They like our quality," the owner may say in a sales meeting. These imaginary assumptions can lead sales teams in the wrong direction by going after the wrong types of prospects.

But further investigation may reveal that the reason people buy from them is because they're located in real estate that is easily accessible by their market, for example, retired people who live in the nearby senior living facilities surrounding the company's showroom.

Collect data from front line sales reps, do market research, survey your customers who bought and those who didn't. Constantly work to refine and develop your understanding of your market. When you do, you're getting closer to key information that can have a significant impact on your business success.

If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.

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It's Fearless Friday

I hereby proclaim today a "Fearless Friday." Be fearless today:

- Call your wealthy great uncle (finally) about your buying your product. You've wanted to do it for years, so pick up the phone today.

- Contact a local TV station about appearing on their morning show in a segment to talk about how your product can help consumers.

- Plan a publicity stunt to get attention.

- Commit to impeccable follow-up from those who have not yet purchased from you. Be a stalker (but in a good way).

- Trick out your car with signage of a complete car wrap for an advertisement for your business.

- If you don't normally canvas door-to-door, do it today. Pick a street, take a deep breath, and go knock on 25 doors. Every B2C salesperson should do this at least once in their life to experience it. And you may be surprised and get a handful of sales opportunities.

- Get a sales related tattoo. Your tatt doesn't have to be visible (and maybe shouldn't be depending upon what you sell and who you sell to), but your now-permanent tatt will forever link you to the selling profession.

- Go to your competitor to check them out, or if they sell in consumers' homes, have them out to your home. I'm amazed at the number of sales professionals who have never sufficiently checked out their competition.

- Do something outrageous today. In a sea of sameness, find a way to be different, memorable, and interesting. You sell appliances? Make a goal to sell more microwaves than anyone in the company today. You sell real estate? Serve your prospect lunch in the home you'll be showing them today. Sell TVs? Play This is Spinal Tap on all your screens today, and dress like your favorite Spinal Tap character while at work.

- Give free five minute chair massages at your retail store today.

- Wear a tux to work. Or a long, formal dress. Everyone else will be having business casual Friday, and you'll be calling attention to yourself.

- Many businesses hold promotions and fundraising for breast cancer (a very worthy cause), but consider raising money for testicular cancer (the most common cancer in men in their thirties and younger).

What can you do today that would be fearless, and would help either your business, your sales, your visibility, or your attitude?

If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.

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The Value of the Extreme

We notice and remember:

.The young woman with hair down to her tail bone;

.The guy with the super cool glasses;

.When we're greeted by someone wearing a tux;

.Ferraris, Lamborghini's, and Rolls Royces; Smart cars, too.

In sales and in business, it is sometimes (often) helpful to get noticed and get remembered. What have you done to get noticed and remembered? What has your retail store or company done to do likewise?

.Any retail store can set out a platter of cookies for shoppers. But what about little cups of bread pudding? Or mini tartlets? Or your own brand of chocolates?

.There is (was?) a drive-through coffee establishment in Washington that had workers who wore bikinis. This definitely got the public's attention (unfortunately, the bikini baristas took it too far, apparently).

.If coffee shop baristas can wear bikinis at work, how about having guys at your surf shop go shirtless?

.When I was selling products in customers homes 10+ years ago, I would wear a dress shirt and tie on sales calls. All the competitors wore polo shirts or work shirts. I closed 82% of my appointments. They didn't.

.I know a retail sales guy who changed his name to Peter Pepper so he would be remembered. I met him over ten years ago, but I still remember his name.

.I sold a custom closet back in the 90's to the founder of Geek Squad when he lived in a modest South Minneapolis duplex. Parked out front on the congested street was a vintage car with black and white paint (ala 50's cop car) that had the now familiar Geek Squad logo on the doors. We all know Geek Squad now, and it all started with their distinctive visual presence in the marketplace.

Be distinctive, maybe even extreme. Do things differently. Don't be a "me too" salesperson or a "me too" company. Is there an opportunity to utilize "the extreme" in your business?

If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.

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What Your Employees Want

Your employees want to be listened to. They want to be heard. They want to be engaged.

As badly as they want to be listened to, heard, and engaged, they also want a manager who is decisive and quick (but not too quick) to act. Decisive managers get team members to interact, to talk through situations, to hash things out, and to identify weaknesses and develop solutions.

Sometimes the wildly successful manager moves forward with an initiative even if the team members aren't on board with it. And sometimes changes need to be made. Sometimes direction needs to be changed. Employees understand this, but what they don't understand is when a manager is unwilling or unable to make a decision, to set a direction, to be clear, to take a stand.

Employees of great managers understand what the goals and priorities of their managers are and how the manager envisions the team will go about reaching these business goals. These priorities are the foundation of everything these managers do.

Great managers share copious amounts of sincere appreciation for team members who have done a job well. This is verbalized profusely (not implied, not hinted at, and not merely suggested). Employees need and want to be praised for wins big and wins small if they are going to remain engaged. Engaged employees promote company profitability. Disengaged employees create business losses.

Employees of winning managers know how their doing, because their managers let them know. There is no guessing if they're meeting expectations - they already know. They know areas that are expected to be polished or improved. There are no surprises at review time.

Great managers are consistent. Surprises are minimized. They don't have the "initiative of the month" but then not follow through with the new initiative; there is a steadiness to their leadership that provides stability to the entire organization. Poor managers don't have consistency; they lead people around in varying (and sometimes competing) directions that creates an uncomfortable randomness and unpredictability (like a yo-yo on the end of a string being directed this way and that way).

Listen to your employees. Engage them. Be decisive. Be clear. Take a stand. Praise others sincerely. Communicate. Be consistent.

What else do you think employees want?

If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.

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Dysfunctional Employee Manuals: They Hurt Your Business

 
XYZ Corporation, a fast growing small business, spent five nmonths and several thousand dollars preparing their new employee manual. It includes policies and procedures for all employees. 

That was four years ago. In that four years, the company has experienced significant growth in the size of its employee group. It has expanded into new markets and started a new division with a new product. It has changed many of its policies and procedures.

Yet the four-year-old employee manual sits on a shelf (or a hard drive) gathering dust. On the rare occasion someone does look at it, the information in it is so outdated that it has be considered useless. It's hard to tell an employee that the company has a policy against having facial hair and it says so right in the manual when the manual also says the company pays mileage to sales employees even though it doesn't anymore.

All the time and money to create the thing has effectively been wasted. Why? Because the manual never became part of the fabric of the company and the people that work in it. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to invest in creating an employee manual if it isn't going to be used by all employees to guide decisions and behavior. And to be used, it must be current.

Here's the rule for employee manuals: Either keep it updated (thereby leveraging the time and effort that went into creating it in the first place), or do away with it (so it doesn't cause confusion and inconsistency, which it most certainly will if it is not kept up-too-date).

Organizations always decay to states of poor communication, inconsistency, lack of clarity, and confusion unless there is intervention. It is very hard work maintaining a company so that these maladies do not infiltrate it. That hard work is worth it, it just needs to be done every year, every month, and every week so those ills do not gain a foothold in the organization. 

Part of the problem starts when businesses grow to a size that the top dog decides they need a formal employee manual. I agree with her, but often the dysfunctionality of the new manual starts even before it's created. To help avoid dysfunction around your new employee manual, ask yourself these important questions before you begin creating your manual internally or hiring an external consultant to create one for you:

1. Precisely why do we need an employee manual?

2. How will we use this new manual to run our business and better manage our employees?

3. How will periodic revisions and updates to the manual be handled?

4. Whose responsibility is it to update the manual and ensure it is the foundation of our business operations?

5. How will managers within the company learn to use it effectively?

Employee manuals and policy and procedure manuals are fantastic; but only if they're current and only if they're used.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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Engage Your Customers the Coffee Shop Way

Retailers, if you haven't already, take a look at the way Starbucks, Caribou Coffee and Dunn Bros (and independent coffee shops) have made their places of businesses comfortable for their customers. Sofas, comfy chairs, soft lighting, attractive surroundings - all in the name of a nice cup of coffee for their clientele.

I spend a lot of time at coffee shops when I'm on the road training or advising, or in between sales appointments, and meeting prospects. It's a convenient place for me and millions of other business people to set up a temporary office for a few minutes or a few hours. Sure, I'll spend a few bucks on a cup of coffee or a latte, but that's an inexpensive price of admission for a couple hours of workspace so I can catch up on my emails, finish writing an article, or plan a client training session.

But let's assume you don't sell coffee. You sell appliances, or furniture, or cars, or something else. What can you learn from the coffee shops?

1. Don't make your store all about your product. Make it about the customer.

Of course your mission is to sell stuff, but when I go into the coffee shop, it's not all about coffee. It's about me, the customer. Make your store all about your customer, too. What would they appreciate? What would they want? What do they need (other than your products)?

2. Get them to stay.

How many times have I hopped up to the coffee counter to order a scone while working on the manuscript for a new speech? A bunch. The only way those coffee shops sold me scones is they're so good at getting me to hang out there.

Is your store set up to encourage lingering customers? Do you have places to sit and chill, to meet friends, to check email? No, car dealer, the customer lounge in the back with the vending machines and harsh fluorescent lighting and the sound of air tools clanking in the shop doesn't count.

3. Check your surroundings. Do they work for the customer?

I know, your store was professionally designed by an interior design firm that specializes in retail spaces. That's great. But did you tell your interior designers you wanted a retail space that uses design to welcome customers, make them comfortable, make them want to stay, and make them feel at home? Or did you just want to maximize the amount of product displayed for the space available?

Take a look around. Would you like to spend time at your store?

Don't put the water fountain in back where customers have to walk through a maze to get to it. Put it in the middle of your store, and put interesting displays all around the water fountain. Use thirst (or children's penchant for water fountains) to help engage your customer and create sales.

There's really good LED lighting now that's energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and easy on the eyes. It belongs in your store.

What kind of flooring do you have? Is it attractive? Comfortable? Visually stimulating? Or just utilitarian?

When a family of five visits your store, do they have a place to sit while mom tries on a dress? One or two chairs by the dressing rooms won't help your family of five. Are there magazines for the kids and dad to read during this ordeal? Are the chairs comfortable? Are the dressing rooms comfortable?

The design of your retail space can engage or disengage your visitors. Choose engagement.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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Are We Sales Professionals or Sales Hacks?

Six months ago, I published a sales learning poll on this blog asking the question, "What the primary way you learned how to sell." If you haven't voted yet, you're welcome to visit the page and weigh in.

As of this morning, the results are as follows:

• 30.9%  Trial and error and instinct
• 24.7%  Books, seminars, audiobooks, sales training
• 23.5%  Received coaching/mentoring
• 21.0%  Observed others

Now these results may change over time as more individuals weigh in, but that's where the results stand today.

I'm surprised and concerned by the majority response the last six months:

"Trial and error and instinct."

What members of other professions do you think would answer in the same way?

• Physicians?
• Accountants?
• Airline pilots?
• Attorneys?
• Athletes?

I hope not. Although "trial and error and instinct" is certainly a factor in all types of learning and all types of professional development, I hope the surgeon that's performing surgery on my neck later this month wouldn't report that the PRIMARY way he learned how to perform surgery was "trial and error and instinct." And my tax situation may be on very shaky ground if my tax accountant learned his profession in the trial and error and instinct manner.

What about the trades? 

• Carpenters?
• Plumbers?
• HVAC techs?
• Brick layers?
• Electricians?

I don't ever want to buy a house or walk into a skyscraper where tradespeople learned their crafts via trial and error and instinct.

My daughter spent another summer attending weekly swimming lessons. Every week she stroked and paddled and kicked under the watchful eye of her swimming teacher. She has learned to swim through training and coaching, not through trial and error and instinct.

And this makes sense. Swimming is a matter of life and death. We want our children to know how to swim not only so they can enjoy the recreational aspects of swimming, but the safety of it, too.

But selling can be a matter of business life and death. We should want our sales representatives prepared to do battle with similar expertise and finesse to the way a skilled airline pilot transports his precious cargo to his destination. How can we grow our businesses if we employ hacks as the front line to our customers (and therefore our revenue stream)? No wonder the sales profession isn't very well respected.

The world of business can change this. It can provide quality sales training for it's new hires and on an ongoing basis for its sales force (I'm not talking about product training here, I'm talking about sales training). Companies can set up mentoring programs with internal or external mentors to help people new to our profession (or not new). Managers can spend more time coaching and less time on everything else and senior managers can see to it that that happens. Collectively, we can make a difference.

If this poll was offered again in five years, it's my hope that "trial and error and instinct" isn't the majority response. If you own or run a business or manage a sales team, you can help make that happen.

If we ever want the sales profession to have the similar prestige to other professions, we've got to start taking the training and development of our sales professionals seriously.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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What to Do With New Employees That Will Boost Your Business

Okay, so you hire a new employee - one who has, let's say, ten years of applicable work experience. They show up at work and your number one goal is to get them up and running as quickly as possible, and indoctrinate them into your system, getting them to follow all the rules and procedures and doing things the right way.

But there's something very valuable that many manager's don't take advantage of, but you have a limited of window of opportunity to benefit from it. When this new employee first comes into your company's culture, he is bombarded with lots of new stimuli. And they can't help but compare this new stimuli to their existing paradigms of business thinking and behavior (the paradigms that they spent ten years developing).

So here's my advice: Don't miss the opportunity to sit down with your new employee after a month on the job and ask him a long series of questions about his observations of your company and your processes. You'll be surprised at what you might learn from your new employee. If you're hired the right person, you should welcome their feedback, their impressions, and their "compare and contrast" statements. Ask them:

"When you first started working here, what did you noticed that seemed odd or unusual?"

"How can we do a better job of selling?" (or serving our customers, or marketing, or fulfilling orders, etc.)

"If you were in charge here, what would you change to make us more profitable?"

"What flaws in our systems (people systems, order systems, IT systems, etc.) have you identified?

"What should we be doing differently?"

"What have you seen that leads to inefficiency?"

and so on.

Intelligent, sharp people will give you this information, but probably not unless you ask for it. Create a business culture that seeks out and takes advantage of this valuable information from new employees!

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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25 Ways to Show An Employee Your Appreciation

Employees want to be appreciated by management. This plays out differently in different employees depending upon differing individual needs, but everyone wants to feel appreciated.

On those occasions when you need to show appreciation or offer a thank-you to one of your individual employees, here are a twenty-five ideas to get you pointed in the right direction:

1. Write a hand-written note and say "You make working here fun." Include a really good joke.

2. Look him in the eye and say, "I don't know what I'd do without you around here."

3. Buy a lottery ticket and write a note saying: "We were lucky to get you when we hired you three years ago; Now let's see how lucky you are."

4. Thank the employee publicly.

5. Say, "Nobody has your unique set of talents and skills. I'm glad we get to use them."

6. Send a hand-written note to the employee's spouse or partner singing praises of the employee, and thanking the partner for their support.

7. Say "Bob, you're really good at what you do."

8. Say "I'm glad you're on our team."

9. Say "Your customers love you."

10. Thank an employee privately.

11. Do something out of the ordinary.

12. Give the employee more responsibility.

13. Take the employee out to lunch with you and your boss.

14. Buy a pair of tickets for the employee and her spouse to a movie or concert.

15. After a huge accomplishment: Have a limo pick up the employee at home and bring him to work.

16. Buy her a book you know she'll love.

17. Send her to lunch with three of her friends who don't work for your company. Pick up the tab.

18. Take his car to get it washed, or have a mobile car wash visit your parking lot.

19. Send the employee home with a thick, fresh Porterhouse steak.

20. Buy a subscription to a magazine the employee would love.

21. Prepare lunch at the employee's desk for the employee.

22. Get the autograph of the employee's kid's favorite sports hero and give it to the employee to give to his child.

23. Buy a coffee for the employee every morning for a month. Bring it into work with you.

24. Have some plants sent to the employee's home.

25. Take the employee and his kid fishing.

What other ideas do you have for expressing thanks to an employee, or to recognize their contribution? Please share!

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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You Can't Motivate Your Employees

"You can't motivate your employees. You can only help them motivate themselves."

-Skip Anderson

Just as you can't motivate a seed to grow (you can only provide an appropriate environment that will allow it to grow), managers can't motivate employees. Motivation comes from within. External factors can help create an environment where self-motivation can occur, however. Individuals have the capacity to motivate themselves...or demotivate themselves.

- Find out what's important to your employee. Then give him a chance to earn it.

- Find out what your employee fears. Then give her a chance to avoid it.

- Find out who your employee is (other than a generic employee). Then get busy creating a relationship with him.

- Find out what your employee has to offer, even if it's not in her job description. Then give her a chance to offer it.

- Find out what your employee needs to succeed, then help him with his needs.

- Find out how your employee learns, then teach her.

One of the biggest responsibilities of a manager is to create an environment of motivation for each employee.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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The 5 Stages of Sales Script Grief

Yesterday's post was on the topic of sales scripts and when to use them.

Today, I am writing about what happens when salespeople are introduced to a newly-revised sales script, or are directed by sales management to add a scripted presentation into their sales process for the first time. As a sales trainer and management consultant, I've been involved in many sales script role-outs, and they can be somewhat challenging.

In Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's well known 1969 book, "On Death and Dying, Kübler-Ross describes the five stages of grief we go through when we learn we are dying, or the stages we go through when a loved one passes on. With thanks to the late Kübler-Ross, I now present a summary of her five stages along with my "Five Stages of Grief During New Sales Script Role-Outs." 

STAGE 1: DENIAL

Kübler-Ross (death): A temporary defense mechanism. State of shock. Refusal to accept reality of death.

Anderson (sales script): A temporary defense mechanism. State of surprise. Refusal to accept reality of a new sales script. "I'm sure this is just some temporary push by management - it will all blow over and then we'll be able to sell the way we used to."

STAGE 2: ANGER

Kübler-Ross (death): Anger with self or others. Pain. Experiences feelings of being lost.

Anderson (sales script): Anger with management. Frustration. Experiences feelings of being abused or treated unfairly. Tells management why the sales script can't work. "I can't believe they are making us use this script. It's so stupid and it sounds so fakey - how could they do this to us? I'll sell more if they let me sell the way I want to." May quit job during this stage.

STAGE 3: BARGAINING

Kübler-Ross (death): Attempts to strike a deal with the individuals higher power or their personal version of God. May include some acceptance of reality, but looking for relief from other aspects of the death.

Anderson (sales script): Attempts to strike a deal with management. May include some acceptance of the reality of the new sales script, but will attempt to negotiate partial implementation. "I like the beginning part, I think that's really good. I'll do the beginning part, but then I want to put my own spin on the last part - I want to use language that I'm comfortable with." Or: "Sure, I'll try it for a while, but if it doesn't work, I'm going to go back to my old way of selling."

STAGE 4: DEPRESSION:

Kübler-Ross (death): Acceptance of death but with an ongoing unrealistic emotional attachment to the dead individual. Feelings of emptiness, sadness, or clinical depression. Withdrawal.

Anderson (sales script): Acceptance of the new sales script but with an unrealistic emotional attachment to the old way of selling. Feelings of sadness. Withdrawal. May quit job during this stage.

STAGE 5: ACCEPTANCE:

Kübler-Ross (death): Acceptance of reality. Still may not feel okay, but now understands the finality of death. Commitment to move ahead with life in spite of the loss.

Anderson (sales script): Acceptance that the new sales script is here to stay (or at least until it's revised). Commitment to make the new script work as best as possible even if he doesn't like it. Moving on even though salesperson may still prefer the "old way" of selling.

- - - - - - - - -

One comment: Death is final. But a new sales script can breathe new life into sales achievement. Sales scripts aren't always the answer to lagging performance (they usually arent'), but read yesterday's post for instances where a well-designed sales script may be the ticket to increased revenue.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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Mundane No More

One positive effect the economic crisis has brought to the table in many businesses is a rejection of mundaneness. Fighting for one's survival is, by definition, not mundane! Fighting banality is a good thing in any business, regardless if it is struggling or successfully overcoming the current economy's side effects.

Why does TV's Sham-Wow guy have an impact? Because he's different. He's the opposite of mundane. Billy Mays did the same thing in TV pitching starting a decade or more ago. His voice was different from all previous TV pitch men.

Okay, I know, you don't want to be like Billy Mays or the Sham-Wow guy. I don't blame you. So don't be like them. Be like you, but a fresher you. A fun you. A different you. Salespeople should resist  being boring,

So should managers and executives and companies. If you or your business are stuck in Mundane World, here are a dozen suggestions to help you step into some perhaps newfangled territory to aid in your fight against all things mundane:

1. Hold one of your weekly department meetings offsite: How about a truck stop, a shopping mall, a playground, a park, or a museum?

2. Wear a suit to work. Buy a new tie especially for the occasion...in a color you thought you'd never, ever wear.

3. Sales managers, take your people to the airport to get their shoes shined. Maybe one of your best customers would like to join you?

4. Record an audio testimonial from a customer. Send a CD of this testimonial to fifty other customers, asking them if they would record a similar testimonial. Publish the testimonials on your website or create a compilation CD which can be given out to prospects.

5. Sales department: do something nice for another department in your same company. Hand wash their cars, make them grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch, have a massage therapist come in and give them all a ten minute neck and shoulder massage, help them clean up their workstations, bring them a surprise malt or plant, or take them to a movie. Yes, I know, sales drives business, but other people are on the bus with you. Be kind to your fellow passengers.

6. Wear a Barney suit to work one day. Why? I don't know. But have you ever tried it?

7. Invite a high school soccer team (or other non-profit group) to provide car washes for customers in your parking lot one day this summer. Take donations from your customers and donate the money to the team. Give those who donate a free candle. Or a baby back rib. Or a fishing lure. Or a perfume sample.

8. If you sell landscape design, bring a houseplant to your prospect as a gift to your in-home meeting. Every time the prospect waters the plant, they'll think of you. Email them a care instruction sheet a week later. Engage your customers.

9. Department stores: mix up your departments for a weekend. Put a outdoor grill display in your men's clothing department (men buy grills, don't they?); Put a tie display in your Better Sportswear (women's) department (women buy ties for men, right?); Display coolers next to swim suits; Sell men's watches next to dress shirts; Invite men to try a foot massager while trying on shoes; Put a sandwich cart in the women's shoe department. I don't know if any of these ideas are good ones, but someone in your organization has to figure out a way to fight mundaneness!

10. Men's clothing stores: Have everyone associate wear a Columbia fishing vest at work this weekend. Invite a fishing resort to put up a display in your department. Serve fish tacos for lunch. Everyone get out your fish ties!

11. When you send your spray crew to spray (weeds, fertilizer) the lawns of your clients, give them a discount coupon supplied by a local window-washing company. Everyone needs to have their windows washed. Have your crew hand the coupon to your customers. Have the window washing company do the same thing for your company.

12. Ask your retail customers to vote for their favorite songs. Hand them a CD case (instead of a CD and the usual insert, put a special offer in it or advertise a brand new piece of merchandise), and ask them to hand the case to a store associate when they hear a song they like playing on the store's background music system. When they turn in their CD jewel case to an associate, ask them if they'd like to take another CD case with them so they can vote again. Tally the results and post them next weekend. When customers exit, hand them a coupon for the CD store across the parking lot. Make shopping fun!

If I could think of these twelve ideas in thirty minutes, imagine what you and your company could think of...

Be mundane no more! Fight boring business practices!

No matter how crazy, how unique, or how outside-the-box, please share your ideas to fight mundaneness by posting your comment now!

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter to read more sales tips and commentary about selling and sales.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is mad about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Firing an Employee? Ask Yourself These Questions First

Terminating employees is a fact of life for businesses and managers. But before you fire an employee, ask yourself the following questions to help prevent HR and business mistakes.

1. Is this firing caused by my management deficiency or by the employee's performance deficiency?

This is a tough, but crucial, question. It can help you to see what role you played in this employment situation. It can also help you understand options other than termination, and help you manage your next employee more effectively.

2. What are the short-term implications of the firing?

There are possible implications of revenue loss, political struggles within the company, and a potential impact on other employees (both emotional and practical). Responsibilities may need to be distributed to other associates. Consider what will happen this week, next week, and next month if this termination moves forward.

3. What are the long-term implications of the firing?

Will this employee become your competitor? Will she be in a position to hurt your business in a way that is greater than she currently does as an employee? Will you be able to retain long-term customer relationships without this employee? How will this impact your organizational chart? Think ahead 1-2 years to predict the impact this action will have on your department and your business.

4. Have you sufficiently counseled the employee?

This includes verbal and written warnings, coaching sessions, documentation of performance and behavior issues, performance improvement plans, training, etc.

5. Is there another manager in the company to whom the employee could report?

Especially if there has been personality issues between you and your employee, this may be a way to allow the company to keep benefiting from the employee while allowing another manager to take over the management responsibilities of keeping this individual on board.

6. Have you asked the employee this question: "What would it take for us to save your job and continue our business relationship?

This is a great last-ditch-effort question to ask. Just when it seems like you're at the point of no return, you may learn something that may help you keep your employee.

7. Might this action be putting me or the company in legal jeopardy?

The time to do research, get your ducks in a row, and consult your attorney is now, not after legal action is commenced.

8. Are we ready to terminate this employee?

How will internal and external stake-holders be notified of this action? How will you get all company property? Do you need to review the employee's employment agreement before he leaves? How will voicemail, email, mobile phones, laptops, and access to your computer network or intranet be handled?

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter to read more sales tips and commentary about selling and sales.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is mad about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Static: A Roadblock to Success

STATIC is distracting aural noise. It's unnecessary visual stimulation. It's wasted words and lack of clarity. It's missed opportunities, confusion, and misunderstandings. Static is like dirty water, polluted air and tainted food. Static prevents us from achieving excellence.

Is there too much static around you?

Sales static: You think you know what the customer wants but you don't know. You talk more than you listen. You assume. You babble and spew. Your timing is off. Your energy is too high or too low. You show brochures instead of engaging your prospect face-to-face. You're not connecting the dots.

Management static: You don't do what you say you're going to do. You don't walk your talk. Your team is dysfunctional - therefore it's not a team. You don't lead, you react. You are confusing, nebulous, and possibly irritating. You retreat to your office, avoid decision-making, you don't delegate, and you don't bring out the best in others.

Marketing static: Your message is not consistent. Your brand is not consistent. You're a "me too" entity. You're not memorable, unique, or particularly effective. You follow the crowd, even if the crowd isn't going where you want to go, and you're not even sure that you know where you want to go.

Personal static: You don't have clear goals. At times, you are a zombie-like creature going through the motions. You don't excel. You're in a fog and have quit looking for sunlight. You've built a box for yourself but you hate the box you built. You lack direction, passion, or both.

Will you stop the static?

Thanks to Drew Jones for the graphics in this post. If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter to read more sales tips and commentary about selling and sales.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is mad about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Illegal Interview Questions, Sales Panic, and Smile & Move

1. Troublesome Interview Questions

As a business consultant, I am sometimes involved in teaming up to do interviews with one of my client companies. Every once in a while I hear an interviewer ask an inappropriate question to a job candidate. There are certain things you can't ask on a job interview, at least in the U.S. Read forbidden interview questions to make sure you know what you cannot ask of a job candidate.

On a related note, I received a job notice this week from someone who wanted to know if I knew of a candidate who would be a good fit for a sales opening. The posting said, "Only men are encouraged to apply." That's perfectly acceptable in some parts of the world, but not in the United States of course.

2. Play "Sales Panic"

This is a free online sales game which illustrates the steps of selling. Make sure you read the directions first.

3. Smile and Move

Watch the Smile and Move Video (I learned about this video via Jill Konrath of Selling to Big Companies fame - Thanks Jill). This three minute video has a really positive message. Smile and move today!

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter to read more sales tips and commentary about selling and sales.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is mad about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Inspiring Ideas to Help You Sell Through the Retail Slump

The Customer Collective asked eleven leading sales experts to contribute to a fantastic free eBook to help sellers through the recession. The brand new eBook, "Selling Through a Slump: An Industry-by-Industry Playbook" is available at the Customer Collective site starting today. With authors like Charles Green, Jill Konrath, and Dave Stein and other respected selling authorities, I'm proud to be part of the author group.

Each author gives inspiring advice for overcoming the economic slump in one specific industry. My contribution is for the retail industry (although the information might also be helpful to those who sell in customers' homes or to those who sell real estate, financial products, and insurance). Many retailers have been hit hard during this recession, but there are still incredible opportunities for sales growth.

See the complete list of authors and the sales topics who contributed a sales strategy to the book. I've read the entire book and it is excellent. Thanks to Oracle and the Customer Collective for sponsoring the project.

Download the Selling in a Slump free eBook now!

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Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Marketing Gets it Wrong, SWOT Analysis, and Ben Stein Sells Shoes

Here are three nice articles I recommend:

1. Sean d'Souza writes about why marketing gets it wrong most of the time at Psychotactics.com.

Sean says it's all about wants. I prefer to use the term "desires" instead of "wants", but I agree with much of what Sean has to say here. Most of my client companies have some salespeople that sell as if it's all about their product, their company, and their expertise. But it's more about the prospect's needs and desires. Desire is a strong motivator. If you can identify and magnify desire, you can then position your product to meet that desire, and that's when prospects become customers.

2. Read "SWOT Yourself to Success" at FreelanceAdvisor.com.

Many of you are already familiar with SWOT analysis, the self-evaluation tool that helps you understand your:

-Strengths

-Weaknesses

-Opportunities, and

-Threats.

This article is intended for freelancers, but a SWOT analysis is an excellent tool for business owners, managers, AND salespeople to do. You have to be willing to be a analytical to pull this off, but a SWOT analysis can help shine a light on your business that can help you be a more successful salesperson, business owner, or manager.

3. The actor, writer, and lawyer Ben Stein wrote an interesting article in the New York Times about the sales profession (thanks to Guy Kawasaki and his practical blog "How to Change the World" for calling my attention to it).

Read "The Sales Profession: Attention Must Be Paid." It seems Mr. Stein is a bit nostalgic for his first summer job as a teen selling shoes at "Shoe Giant." You'll have to register at the New York Times site to view the article.

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Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Leverage Resources to Avoid Missed Selling Opportunities

Your resources are valuable. Collecting resources takes time, money, and energy. Some of the resources you may already have are: employees, positive brand equity, service capabilities, location, sweat equity, history in the marketplace, cash, etc.

As a salesperson, you need to leverage your resources, too. Your resources might be selling skill, high energy, product knowledge, likability, experience, technical knowledge, work ethic, etc. It's one thing to have those resources, but quite another thing to leverage those resources to create revenue with them. Leveraging your resources means you're using your resources to create revenue (sales). 

How do some salespeople and companies not leverage resources?

- Spending many hours to complete an intricate and highly customized landscape design that the prospect didn't buy because the customer didn't comprehend the value of your design. [Resources not leveraged: time, energy, design skill]

- Having a tile and stone showroom in a prime location, but not staff the showroom sufficiently to serve the foot traffic that is generated by the prime location. [Resources not leveraged:  location, expenses related to establishing and keeping the location]

- Getting your prospect to have fun laughing and joking with you during the "free market analysis" real estate meeting, but then not asking for the listing. [Resources not leveraged: likability, time, energy]

- Hiring good sales candidates for your insurance business, but then not training them how to sell. [Resources not leveraged: time, energy, money, people]

- Being hired by a well-respected wine shop, but than not bothering to read a few books to learn how to sell. [Resources not leveraged: reputation, prospects, time, opportunity]

- Spending hours attending networking functions that result in no creation of corresponding revenue. [Resources not leveraged: time, energy, gas, mileage, network]

- Being the most experienced person in your industry in your city, but only achieving mediocre sales results. [Resources not leveraged: experience, time, knowledge]

- Consistently working sixty hours per week while only achieving average sales results. [Resources not leveraged: time, energy]

- Having excellent sales skills, but not making enough prospect contacts to use those skills. [Resources not leveraged: sales skill, ability, talent, the market]

- Working in a men's clothing store spending your time stacking inventory in the stock room when customer traffic on the sales floor needs you there. [Resources not leveraged: time, customer traffic, marketing, shoppers]

What resources are you failing to leverage? What resources do you see others around you not leveraging?

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment, or subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

You Must Watch These Business Videos

Today I have two must-watch videos for you. If you haven't seen these videos, you must watch them now. Really.

1. The first is a TV ad for Red House Furniture in North Caroline. This is unlike any furniture store advertising I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them (I used to work in the furniture industry).

I definitely have some thoughts about it, but I'd much rather hear your comments (maybe I'll comment at a later date). Watch the vid, then click on comments below to weigh in. What do you think?

2. Here is a video from a talk given by Seth Godin a few years ago (via the marvelous Seth Godin's Blog. Every single person who works in an organization should watch this video titled "This Is Broken." I'm not kidding. It's great stuff. It's twenty minutes long. Watch it now.

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment, or subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Excellence, Not Perfection

"Perfection is usually not attainable;
but excellence often is."

Skip Anderson

Some people spend their careers trying to achieve the unachievable: perfection. The pursuit of perfection wastes time and resources, and causes missed opportunities. Why seek perfection if it's usually not attainable? For most people in most situations, excellence is good enough.

I propose that we in business focus on excellence, not perfection.

What does dysfunctional perfectionism look like? Here are examples of business people seeking perfection instead of excellence:

• A kitchen designer who includes a half-dozen intricate custom products in his design for his prospect that go far above and beyond typical custom cabinetry. In an effort to wow his client and pacify his personal need for perfection, he has to retrieve special pricing quotes from his production department and require the installation team to do intricate work that is beyond their scope of expertise. And if the prospect never buys, all the design effort was for naught. An excellent design within the comfortable capabilities of his company would probably have been good enough. 

• A business owner who spends months crafting his marketing campaign, but then never does anything with his creation. Her perfectionism got the best of her.

• The salesperson who spends eighteen hours researching his prospect before he cold calls them. Some research is often an excellent idea. Too much research is never a good idea.

• The retail manager who expects merchandise to be displayed perfectly. She has made it clear to her staff that this is her priority. But shouldn't selling that merchandise be the first priority? Excellent merchandise displays are very helpful in achieving business goals; perfect merchandise displays are unattainable (especially when customers are involved in your displays).

• The salesperson who rehearses his presentation to an important prospect ad nauseum, and therefore puts all his eggs in this one basket. If you have other prospects to sell to, other customers to serve, other prospecting to do, and other tasks on your to-do list, spending too much time on one presentation is not a good idea, especially if the customer doesn't buy from you.

When our focus is on perfection, we force ourselves down a path that  will almost never make the best use of our resources. Some people wear the badge of perfectionism with pride, but for most in business, perfectionism is a roadblock to success, not a route to it.

Strive to be excellent, not perfect.

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment, or subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

So What Should Retailers Do Now?

I have a prediction: Because of the recession, some retailers will begin to hire salespeople again, not just retail clerks, cashiers, and customer service reps. Others will (unwisely) continue to wait around for the economy to turn around, hoping it will return to "the way things used to be" (read Jim Mathis' article "The Recession Won't End."

Through the last couple decades, many retailers have moved steadily away from commission compensation and away from hiring (and then training) sales professionals. This has turned most retail establishments intro customer self-service environments with little or no added value for the shopper, and reduced abilities to turn shoppers into buyers and to turn buyers into bigger buyers.

Nobody likes pushy salespeople. But I believe nobody likes non-existent salespeople, either. Retail customers love to work with competent, professional, skilled sales professionals. So I say, let's not hire pushy salespeople, but let's also not hire robotic customer service representatives.

Retailers take a proactive approach with the prospects that come to their establishments, or they can take the reactive approach by merely showing their merchandise on their retail floors and placing human drones adjacent to this merchandise but who do nothing but answer customers' questions and ring up sales.

Can retailers afford to continue down the clerk/cashier path in a post-recession economy? I say no way.

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Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Missed Opportunities to Add Value

Are you missing opportunities to add value to your prospects and customers?

In today's complex world, prospects and customers have a deep desire for added value from the people they do business with. They want salespeople to make things easier for them, to help solve their problems, and to watch their backs. A salesperson who can add value is more likely to make the sale than the salesperson who doesn't seize "adding value opportunities."

Last week, I received this email from my daughter's school. The email itself was a "value added" communication, and I appreciate that. But as you read the message, can you identify how the school missed an opportunity to add more value?

- - - - -

TODAY AT WXY SCHOOL
County Public Health Department Recommendation

In light of recent cases of chicken pox among some District ABCD students, the EFGH County Public Health Department and the Minnesota Department of Health are recommending that a second dose of varicella (chicken pox) vaccine be administered to all students who have had just one does. (Please provide your child's school nurse with the month/date/year of the second dose.) This fall, a new state law will require two doses of varicella immunization for all incoming kindergarten and 7th grade students. For more information about chicken pox, please see the fact sheet developed by the Dakota County Public Health Department. [link followed]

- - - - -

Okay, did you identify the missed opportunity?

Parents of 700 students were asked to contact the school nurse when their child had received their second chicken pox vaccination. How many parents have an email address or phone number for the school nurse? My wife and I are active in the school and we don't have them. My guess is that few do.

Here's a very simple way the school could have added value to the clientele of the school:

Include an email address (or email link) or phone number for the school nurse directly in the email so dutiful parents of 700 kids who are following directions to notify the school nurse of the second varicella vaccination aren't forced to call the school office to get this information. Not only would this add value to the lives of the parents, it would make life easier for the school personnel who have to field all those phone calls. 30 seconds up front would have saved hours of cumulative wasted time in the end.

Sometimes little things can make life much easier for your prospects and customers. You just have to identify, and then do, those little things.

What opportunities to add value to your customers are you missing?

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Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Is Your Business Cluttered?

When a home gets cluttered, a family can lose efficiency, feel increased stress, and family members' moods can become lowered. When a business gets cluttered, it too loses its efficiency, and it feels more stress, and it is more difficult to earn desired profits.

Note that I'm talking about the cluttering of a business, not a cluttering of a workplace (although that can be a bad thing, too!). Clutter in business is the baggage (that can felt but not seen) that slows down an organization. It resides in employees' minds, in the marketplace, and in every nook and cranny of an organization.

Is your business suffering from business clutter? Here are seven causes of business clutter that could be hurting your organization:

1. Lack of clarity.

Businesses need clarity. Employees need clarity of expectations. Management needs clarity of priorities. Customers need to experience brand clarity. Business clutter accumulates quickly when clarity has not been woven into the fabric of an organization.

2. Lack of adequate systems.

Organizations need systems to run efficiently because they tell employees what to do in common business situations. Systems are any repeatable process used in the day-to-day operations of a business. Without systems, your business is working at less than peak efficiency.

3. Lack of communication.

Clutter starts to accumulate in an organization when there is insufficient levels of communication within it. If management doesn't communicate sufficiently with employees, and departments don't sufficiently communicate with each other, and employees don't sufficiently communicate with management, clutter can become a cancer that spreads quickly.

4. Lack of leadership.

Leaders get followers pointed in the same direction. When different employees or different employee groups within an organization are pointed in different directions, it's difficult to make forward progress. Lessen business clutter in your company with improved leadership.

5. Lack of decisiveness.

People need and want decisiveness. Without it, clutter forms in an around employees. Organizations become reactive rather than proactive. Groups spin their wheels and waste time and effort.

6. Lack of focus and consistency.

Businesses that lose focus or consistency are breeding grounds for business clutter. Did you follow through on the initiative you introduced six months ago, or did it die in the water? Decide what to focus on and then pursue it until the desired goals are met. Consistency and focus help keep business clutter to a minimum.

If you like this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Job Descriptions are Vital for Salespeople, Too

Every business should have a job description for every employee, including sales employees.

We all know the purpose of salespeople is to sell, but there are too many opportunities for misunderstanding and confusion if an accurate job description is not in place. If you manage a sales team but don't yet have an up-to-date job description for them, get busy and create one for your peeps. There are few management tools that can have as much impact as a job description that becomes part of the fabric of the sales team environment.

The job description should describe the exact expectations of the sales position with as much clarity as possible. The job description should be the basis for the performance review, so it's important that the written job description be congruent with management's true expectations for the position holder. The job description should also be the basis for the hiring process, so if you want to hire people that are a fit for your company, make sure the job description is accurate.

Things sometimes change rapidly in business. If that's true in your company, revise your job descriptions often. An out-of-date job description won't do anybody any good, so it's important that job descriptions be current so they can have their full impact on the organization. And job descriptions that sit in some file somewhere month after month aren't doing anybody any good. Use the job description regularly as a basis for sales meeting, sales coaching sessions, and sales training you present to your group. Job descriptions can only help your teams performance if you, the manager, use them.

I like to put three sections on a job description:

(1) Core requirement (my favorite "core requirement" for a sales position is to "generate maximum revenue in a profitable manner."

(2) Required activities. Here is where you list all the required activities. If employees are required to attend weekly sales meetings, it should appear here. I they are required to meet with their sales manager once a week, put it it on the job description. Whatever you expect of your team, write it down here, and describe the tasks accurately.

(3) Key attributes. Here is where you list desired attributes of new employees in this position, as well as skills that should be developed within existing team members.

I've created a sample sales job description for you. Of course, this won't fit every, or even most, sales jobs. But it might give you some ideas you could implement in the job descriptions for your salespeople. Download Sample Sales Job Description

If you have a sales or sales management job description that you're particularly proud of (either your job description or a j.d. for your sales force), please email to us. Use the address jobdescription [at] sellingtoconsumers [dot] com. I'll post them in a future post so the world can see them. Change the company name if you wish, and any other sensitive information if appropriate. I look forward to sharing your job descriptions with the world.

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TWITTER UPDATE: I currently have 686 wonderful people following me on Twitter. Take a look at my intelligent, friendly, dynamic, attractive followers:

Get your twitter mosaic here.

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I appreciate your comments. Just click "comments" below and share your thoughts with me and this blog community.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

Sales Tidbits to Help You Sell More

Here are some juicy tidbits from cyberspace. Read and learn.

Just yesterday, I spoke to a group about the importance of developing a "personal brand." If you're an employee, you shouldn't only see yourself as a member of your company, but you should see yourself as an individual with your own individual brand. Employees change jobs from time to time, but a personal brand stays with you throughout your career. Not only is the development of a personal brand wise for lead generation purposes, but it's also wise to help position you as an expert in your chosen field.

This morning I ran across a nice article about this very topic. Although this article is intended for start-up entrepreneurs, read it as if it's talking directly to you, Mr. or Ms. salesperson. Read How to Manipulate Personal Branding.

Trizle has an interesting post about model behavior in the workplace. Read How to Influence Your Employees. How might this apply to selling, too?

Many of you contacted me with positive comments about my You Tube sales training video that was released this week (thank you). But I have to admit that my video pales in comparison to this one. Even though it doesn't have anything to do about sales training or selling, it's incredible.

Finally, here are 10 Great Quotes from 10 Great Business Leaders. Which one is your favorite? Or, if you have a favorite quote that isn't listed here, please share it with us.

Your comments are always appreciated. Please share your comment by clicking "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.