Track Selling Times: The Voice of the Sales Profession

Track Selling Times - April, 2000

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Track Selling Times
The Voice of the Sales Profession
Issue No. 125
April 1, 2000
Published by Max Sacks International,
Home of 100% Guaranteed World Class Sales Training
Developers of the Track Selling System™.
Author/Editor: Roy Chitwood, President, MSI

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In This Issue:

Feature:

" Making Trade Shows a Sales Success"
by Roy E. Chitwood, CSP, CSE

Sections:

Integrity Pays:
"Sincerity Versus Integrity" by Flavio Veiga

World Class Sales Management:
"Teaching Your Resellers How to Sell, "
by Ron Holm

Focus on the Professional:
"Len Spratt"
A former professional hockey player reveals how he became successful in sales.

Book Review -
Business @ the Speed of Thought
by Bill Gates

Ask Roy: Ask Roy Chitwood
One reader asks, "Why do I hate trade shows?"

Survey - Reader Survey

Newsletter Archives

"Making Trade Shows a Sales Success"
by Roy E. Chitwood, CSP, CSE

Trade shows! Some companies swear by them, other just swear. So what's the difference between success and failure in trade-show marketing? From a sales perspective, here are some lessons I've learned over the years that create the biggest impact:

Take the time to set objectives before you ever get to the show.

If you don't set goals for the show, you sure aren't going to achieve much. It might be as simple as identifying a target of fifty highly qualified leads obtained through the booth. When you and your associates work hard to achieve that goal, you'll reap rich rewards after the show.

Selling is selling is selling, even at a trade show.

Some salespeople make the mistake of viewing trade shows as vacations. This is a big mistake. The ones who do well are there first thing in the morning and are last to leave. They see the show as the perfect opportunity to increase their prospecting rates tenfold. How do they do it? By behaving like a true sales professional. Rather than making small talk, they set up appointments and interviews and proactively look for new business opportunities.

Approach lots of people.

I always work with my salespeople on the "Approach" step before sending them to a trade show. You have to be armed with at least two good opening questions to either start the qualification process or break the ice. Once you have these, it's then just a matter of overcoming social barriers and contacting lots of people.

Qualify lots of people.

Trade shows get a bad reputation due to salespeople's failure to qualify prospects correctly. As a result, they spend far too much time on an individual attendee, only to find out she is the hotel electrician, or anyone else other than a decision maker. Even more so than in regular calls, find out fast if you are speaking to a qualified prospect by asking the right questions.

Send the right people to the show.

Some companies insist on sending low-grade people to trade shows. What a waste! When you calculate how much it costs in airfare, hotels, cars, booth rental and design, it becomes foolish to staff the show with anyone other than top-rank professionals. Determine, therefore, if you are prepared to make the investment in terms of money and personnel for a specific show. If so, don't let top producers miss these key opportunities because they are 'too busy," "have other prospects to work on," or "can't be spared."

Follow up at once.

Even if you do the first five steps perfectly, you still might be subject to the ruin of most shows - lack of follow up. So if you are going to spend all that money and take your best staff to the event, you'd better make sure every person involved understands that follow up is vital. Make it an ironclad rule that every qualified lead is followed up within forty-eight hours of your return. If you do, you'll not only see a jump in sales, you'll find it much easier to persuade your top producers to attend to the next trade show.

Integrity Pays:
   "Sincerity Versus Integrity" by Flavio Veiga
     Principal and Managing Director of
     Circulo dos Profissionais de Vendas in Brazil.

Everyone remembers the famous ad, "Would you buy a used car from this man?" featuring Lee Iaccocca. Obviously that ad was about credibility - a vital ingredient in sales. So why do we trust or believe in others?

Human beings are well equipped with subtle mechanisms that help us decide whether we believe in the person in front of us. Research shows that the first buying decision made by the prospect is whether he "buys" the salesperson as an individual. If he does not, nothing can be done to save that sale, no matter what company, product or price may be on the line.

Now, what must a person possess to attain credibility? Certainly sincerity is one answer. Sincerity, however, can be faked. So what it really comes down to is integrity. While some attempt to judge sincerity on the spur of the moment, deciding about integrity takes a little longer. Clients and prospects want to evaluate a series of attitudes and behaviors before they decide on one's integrity.

For example, one of our reps was having trouble with a prospect. He'd spent hours on this person without success. I went to visit the man and completed a sizable sale within twenty minutes. Afterwards I asked the customer, "Why didn't you buy the same product for the same price from my other salesman?" He answered that he thought he was a real nice fellow, but... well, he couldn't really put his finger on why.

Later, I took a good look at my rep - I suddenly noticed a stain on his tie, unkempt hair and an untrimmed moustache. No wonder the prospect was uncomfortable with that salesperson. If the salesperson didn't take care of his personal appearance, would he take care of the customer's needs? Clearly, you have to look trustworthy and professional to make an initial sale.

Over time, salespeople have the opportunity to demonstrate their ethics and decision-making processes. Did you make good on your promises? The ultimate test of integrity is, of course, your deeds. Were you concerned enough to check back periodically to see how the client was doing with the product or service? Doing so reinforces the sincerity decisions the person may have made about you in the initial interview. But more, it serves to establish a relationship built on mutual trust that will eventually translate into more sales and referrals.

Flavio Veiga can be contacted at fveiga@cpvendas.com.br.

World Class Sales Management:
    "Teaching Your Resellers How to Sell "
     by Ron Holm,
     President of Business Application Software, Inc.

During my twenty-year association with other resellers in the application software profession, I've noticed how uncomfortable and awkward many are in their selling efforts. Having mainly technical backgrounds, they were far more comfortable dealing with gigabytes and CPUs than qualifying and closing.

Being familiar with the Track Selling System myself, I arranged for Max Sacks International to deliver a one-day seminar to a group of resellers on how to sell accounting software. The results were impressive. Being a process-oriented group, they found that its simple and effective game plan for selling removed much of the mystery from the subject. As a result, they discovered it much easier to adopt a sales persona and became more relaxed about selling. That success then led to presenting the seminar to 700 other resellers.

Within a week of the first class, many of these resellers became quite accomplished. One, for example, tells the story of a prospect that he was guiding through the early steps of the sales process. Before he even arrived at "Fill the Need," the person asked for five accounting software packages. The buyer told me later that with every other company, all you hear are feature after feature, and that the prospect felt other sales reps had no idea what he really needed. With our resellers, however, he felt listened to, as they took the time to find out who his company was and what his goals were.

With impressive results like these, it became clear why school is never out for the professional. I now do reviews of sales books together with my sales staff and resellers, including the Tip of the Week from Max Sacks, in order to ensure they are continually learning and growing. By taking actions like this, we've been able to increase sales dramatically from our reseller channel.

Ron Holm can be contacted at ronh@basoftware.com.

Focus on the Professional -
"Len Spratt "

Len Spratt is President of the Management Development Institute, Toronto, Canada, a training and development company specializing in self-management skills. He embarked upon a career in sales after a successful period as professional hockey player. He's been selling for almost nine years.

How were you doing in sales prior to attending your first Track Selling System workshop?

"I'd had some success, but I also wasted a lot of prospects. I'd taken too much of a 'cookie cutter' approach - instead of listening, I just gave my pitch. If it didn't work, I'd move on."

What changed as a result of the workshop?

"Now, I take the time to really listen to what people say and fit my presentation to their needs. Take, for instance, the response, "Why don't you send me some information in the mail." Before, I would accept this and send a package. Now, I persist, find the business challenges facing the client and tailor my response to those requirements."

Anything else?

"I never used to have any questioning strategy to help me open the door. I'd stumble along and even if I got the sale, I didn't know enough to deliver our services properly. I'd have to go back later and find out enough data to be able to tailor our services to the client's needs. Today, by following the steps of the Track Selling System, I can quickly separate qualified from unqualified prospects and then get to the heart of the concerns of those who can take advantage of our services.

"I wish I'd had this training when I started out. It is applicable to any product or salesperson and opens up a new way of doing things that really works. The Track Selling System is definitely more effective than any other training I've received in selling."

Len Spratt can be contacted at Lspratt@spectranet.ca.

Book Review - Business At The Speed of Thought
by Bill Gates (Warner Books)

I found this book to be surprisingly relevant to the sales and marketing world. Gates himself is the consummate marketer, and it shows through in the various computerized sales systems he outlines in this work. But as well as just telling you how you ought to set up your digital sales network, he provides many concrete examples from companies that are actually doing it. From General Motors to Merrill Lynch, Marriott Hotels to Nabisco, there is hardly an industry that he doesn't cover, giving great case histories of how these market leaders are harnessing digital tools.

Early on, Gates gives a thorough education in layman's terms of his vision of a digital business world. The glossary at the end is also an excellent education in itself for those who lack computer savvy. Additionally, the book gives a detailed breakdown of how Microsoft uses the pattern described by its founder to improve efficiency, delivery and sales.

My only criticism would be length. After the first 150 to 200 pages, it became repetitive. My recommendation, therefore, would be to read approximately the first 150 pages and then choose the sections most relevant to you. I think you'll find plenty of useful material applicable to your work situation.

Ask Roy

Julia Mumby from New Orleans asks,

" I hate trade shows! No one ever comes into our booth. What can I do? "

Roy's Answer:

Microsoft

And don't be afraid to be aggressive. You might not believe this, but the biggest complaint of trade show attendees is that they feel booth personnel are ignoring them. So don't be guilty of this trade show sin. Next time, set yourself a target for how many people you are going to talk to and how many leads you are going to generate and then do everything you can to achieve them. I'm sure you'll do much better. "

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:

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