Track Selling Times - April, 1999
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Track Selling Times
The Voice of the Sales Profession
Issue No. 113
April 1, 1999
Published by Max Sacks International,
Home of 100% Guaranteed World Class Sales Training, and
Developers of the Track Selling System™.
Author/Editor: Roy Chitwood, President, MSI
Archives of this letter are available at
http://www.maxsacks.com/newsletter.html
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In this issue:
Feature:
Sections:
Focus on the Professional: Michael Kiffmeyer
Ask Roy
Survey
Newsletter Archives
"In the Pursuit of Sales Excellence "
by Roy E. Chitwood, CSP, CSE
One of the problems in selling is the majority of salespeople only learn
enough to 'get by'. After half a lifetime in sales, instead of
accumulating twenty years of experience, most end up with one year's
experience repeated twenty times.
This approach won't work in the 21st century.
Today, due to the rapid changes in technology and information
availability, the role of the salesperson has forever changed. To keep
pace, you must work constantly to hone your craft, or you won't
survive. Even if you put in as little as ten percent of the time a
doctor or lawyer spends on learning, you'll reap rich rewards.
The big roadblock, however, is ignorance. Most simply don't realize
that they don't know what they don't know. With dedicated
professionals, however, the more they know, the more they realize what
little they know. Real pros continue to pursue excellence through
ongoing education. That's why I often see a predominance of already
productive sales people in Track Selling workshops. It seems those who
aren't performing well are much too busy for sales training.
Here, then, are some questions to ask yourself:
- How sharp is your sales 'ax' compared to earlier years?
Instead of continuing to batter away at the trees, take time out and
sharpen your ax. If you continue on, it will only become more dull, no
matter how hard you swing, until the day when a new, sharper ax takes
over.
- How often do you think back to the 'good old days?'
Some salespeople are stuck in their own past glories. Perhaps they once
made it to the "Million-dollar Club" or were awarded "Salesperson of the
Year" a decade before. Unfortunately, many of us get caught up in our
own success and start to believe everything that's written in the press
releases. But once you stop growing, there is only one direction to go
- down. Some try to convince themselves that they are maintaining an
even keel, with sales staying in the same range. More often than not,
that belief is hiding a long, slow slide into mediocrity.
- When things go wrong, whom do you blame?
Those destined to fail tend to blame external factors for their own lack
of results - 'the market has changed', 'the buyers are jaded' or 'the
competition is more fierce.' If it is always somebody else's fault,
it's time to find a large mirror and take a good look at yourself.
Optimistically, one or more of these questions gave you pause for
thought. If current sales are anything less than stellar, my advice
would be for you to ask a manager or close friend for their thoughts and
suggestions on how you could improve your performance. Go out on calls
with someone new, and gain fresh insight into better ways of selling.
Purchase a book or tape program that teaches you how to be more
positive. And most importantly, attend sales training programs on a
routine basis.
After all, if the best baseball players in the nation go through spring
training each year, maybe it's time for you to follow their example.
Who knows, maybe this is the year that you take the headlines away from
Mark McGwire by breaking all the records.
Integrity Pays:
"Don't Compromise
"
Don Estrin, now retired, formerly owned a successful transportation
company in Los Angeles. He is a past president of both the LA Chapter
of the Sales and Marketing Association as well as Sales and Marketing
Executives International.
How important is integrity in sales?
"Nothing is more valuable than
customer loyalty. You earn that by being honest and straight, and it
comes out loud and clear whether you have integrity. If they see that
you do, they are willing to buy from you and stick with you through the
years."
What about industries with a bad name?
"Certain industries like used
cars and auto repair have terrible reputations, but even in these
fields, integrity will pull you through. Take my car dealer as an
example. Since he's proven his honesty in his dealings with me over
many years, I don't even shop around any more. Although I never have
problems, if I did, he'd correct them at once. And I know that if he
doesn't have what I want, he'll refer me to someone who does. He'd
rather give the sale to someone else than sell me what I don't need.
But even in more ethical zones, there are always a few bad apples who
make it hard for the others."
Do you have an example?
"When I used to sell transportation, I once ran
into a guy who was on the take. Business went to those prepared to give
rebates to the buyer, and I refused to play along. I didn't feel I
needed to buy anyone's order as I had a good product with the most
benefits in the industry. The buyer was caught eventually and fired,
forcing him to leave the industry in spite of the training and
experience he had. The suppliers involved with him were also dropped.
Who ended up with the business? Me. The new buyer could see that the
benefits far outweighed the payoff."
Don Estrin can be reached at: Livleg@juno.com
World Class Sales Management:
"
Recognizing the Need for Change
"
By Michelle Ricco, Director of Midwest Region,
Tekra Corporation, New Berlin, WI
Tekra is a manufacturer of coated products and a converter of
engineered films and adhesives servicing the graphics arts and other
associated industries. Traditionally, we have always stressed the value
of the company and our products to our customer base and view this as
our strength.
Our sales force consists of many experienced representatives who
possess strong market and product expertise. We realized, however, that
it had been a number of years since we conducted any formalized or
professional sales training and were certainly overdue. We suddenly
recognized the need to ensure that our sales representatives are
positioned to move Tekra forward to attain our desired growth levels.
We contacted a wide variety of sales trainers and reduced the selection
to a handful that seemed to fit our needs. I found interviewing sales
trainers to be a revelatory experience. After all, if they aren't
convincing in their own presentation, how can you expect them to improve
sales?
Max Sacks International, however, created a good impression from
the start with an informative Web site and a professional presentation.
We felt their program would be the best fit for our wide range of sales
experience 3/4 from six months to 28 years. After consulting with the
other sales directors, we decided to start the training at our annual
national sales meeting, and Roy Chitwood flew in specially to deliver
the half-day course.
While all of our salespeople (novices and experienced reps) found the
workshop to be worthwhile, the challenge now is to utilize the
techniques in our day-to-day selling. This formidable task is incumbent
upon the sales representatives as well as the sales directors to
reinforce the training. We are in the process of investigating
attending the three-day workshop to build upon what has already been
learned. Although it has only been a couple of weeks since we completed
the initial workshop, I can see positive results already.
Michelle Ricco can be contacted at: MDRicco@Tekra.com
Focus on the Professional - Michael Kiffmeyer
Michael Kiffmeyer is Director of National Accounts at Interactive Media
Corp. of McLean VA, a company that specializes in human performance
improvement solutions such as long-distance learning and change
management. He has a total of 27 years sales experience.
"Although I'd always been good at identifying sales opportunities, I had
a tendency to ramble and not focus on people with actual budgets and
real time frames. I also tended to push the product a little too much.
As a result, I had a hard time differentiating between true prospects
and time wasters, spending way too much time with the latter.
How did Track Selling help you?
"It took me to the next level. As well as helping me to communicate 100 times better than before, I became able
to track people better and could sort out the prospects from the
suspects."
What impact did this have?
"Shortly after I completed the training
program, I had my first $1 million sale. Overall, I raised the size and
volume of orders by 50%. Since then, I've been able to complete orders
for Proctor and Gamble, IBM, Toyota and other large companies. I don't
think this would have been possible before."
How do you conduct your sales?
"I invest considerable time into
analyzing clients. I find out who they are, how they operate, what I
have that they might need and who the real decision makers are. I try
not to waste time with the lower levels and head for the VITOs (Very
Important Top Officers). If I get bumped down by upper management,
that's okay. I quickly handle any feathers I've ruffled.
"As my sales cycles are long, I focus on Chief Technology Officers (CTO)
who have training, human resources and information services under their
umbrella. At the very least, they can tell me who to go to in each
area. I also find that once those I'm referred to know I've made
contact with the CTO, they are much more likely to become excited with
the project."
Michael Kiffmeyer can be contacted at: Mkiffmeyer@interactive-media.com
Ask Roy
Maria Ortega, of Nogales, AZ, asks,
"
I did a Track Selling workshop a
couple of years ago, but I have a hard time remembering all the steps.
Although my sales are up, I know I still miss a lot of sales by not
asking the right questions or failing to qualify correctly.
Should I go
repeat the course?
"
Roy's Answer:
"Yes, absolutely. We've yet to have anyone repeat the
program and not state that they learned a lot more than they did the
first time. We've even had people do it six or more times and each time
they feel they become more proficient. It's very true that what each
individual takes from the program is relative to their own level of
selling. I always recommend that salespeople repeat the program each
year. In the meantime, I suggest you buy "World Class Selling: The Complete Selling Process", from the
Max Sack International Web site or from Amazon.com
"
Reader Survey
1. What do you think of Track Selling Times?
2. What else would you like to see included?
3. If you have sales questions for Roy, or know of a salesperson, sales manager or integrity story that should be featured in Track Selling Times, mail it
to:
The Editor, Track Selling Times
c/o Max Sacks International
Canal Place Office Park
150 Nickerson St. Suite 109
Seattle
WA 98109-1634.
Tel: (206) 217-0288 Fax: (206) 217-0286
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