Is the Sales Mindset Shifting?
Doyle Slayton | Dec 09, 2009 | Comments 17
I’ve been thinking about things, and you know how I get when I’ve been “thinking about things.” Of course, I have to share it with all of you and get your opinion!
I’m wondering about mindset, and how sales people think. To share what I mean, I’ve got a couple of examples…
Recent Conversation:
I was talking to one of our business partners who I brought into a potential deal. I asked him…
“Have you been able to reach the prospect to discuss your services?”
“No,” he responded, and informed me that he had left one message.
To which I replied, “I’ll make another call as soon as I get back to the office.”
And he said, “As long as we’re not being intrusive… right?”
Recent Email Exchange:
I recently had an email conversation with someone who shared these thoughts…
“My feeling is that most people would prefer email communication over phone for several reasons:
- They can deal with it on their own time.
- They don’t have to feel pressured
- They don’t have to feel guilty for deleting an email where they might feel uncomfortable saying no on the phone.
- A prospect deleting my email means I can email them again later with a slightly different message… where I wouldn’t feel comfortable calling again after an outright no.”
Articles I’ve Read:
I’ve run across articles about “lead nurturing,” and most recently stumbled upon a blog post encouraging us to, “Stop Hunting Customers and Penetrating Markets – Start Speaking the Language of Caring.”
Ok, so I think I’ve shared enough examples to start asking questions. Is it possible for a sales person to do both… on one hand…
- Worry about being intrusive
- Be willing to have prospects deal with it on their own time
- Have a stop hunting mentality
…and on the other hand… also have the ability to…
- Be mentally tough enough to overcome the brutal challenges and the rejection to consistently exceed quota every month
- Be persistent enough to stay in front of the prospect
- Be hungry about attacking the market to find new opportunities
Can a sales person effectively manage this double mindset?
Do the most successful sales people exude one mind set more than the other?
What about non-performers… do they relate to one line of thinking over the other?
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Filed Under: Blog • Reader Questions • Sales • SalesTaxi
To paraphrase your summary paragraphs: How you keep hunting and not be intrusive?
I would offer: by being able to provide information or solutions to a problem that the prospect might face. To do this you need to do research (thanks Web 2.0).
So the email or call will go something like this: Hi John, I read your CEO’s comments about Alpha Co’s new strategy in the WSJ. If you haven’t already worked out how you can assist him deliver on this, here’s a couple of case studies where we’ve helped other companies do just that. You know the rest.
P.S. If you can’t explain how you can help, don’t call – you’ll just be another problem.
What I see here is a confusing to me. these are part of the sales function in a b2b and direct sales since R. Crusoe days. I feel there is a time issue here in that these can be done each in his own time in the sales process.
And this is way too general as a process to be accurate in the sense that you are unifying the universe here, some industries need more aggressiveness than others because i.e it is a one time in a long time sale like real estate etc… vs trying to supply a factory with cleaning services that can last years…….
non performers are either not made for sales or not passionate about the business i think……
I dont think it as complicated as mentioned in the article. It depends on the relationship I have with the customer and the value proposition. If the relationship is good and he sees value in my discussions, customer will feel absolutely comfortable to debate on proposals and points and even to say NO. Issues crop up when the client does not see value and Sales Rep does not understand NO.
I think all suggestions should be equally digested and relished on the merit they bring to you personally. I firmly believe that top sales people make their own sales strategies combining the strategies that best suit their target arena. For example when going after new potentials with a product(s) that are not perhaps cutting edge anymore or are several generations old then it would not necessarily make headline news and therefore you may not be able to understand nor research the pain areas to deliver your valued solution. In these circumstances I adopt the strategy of phone then email and follow up, finished off with calculated persistence knowing that to achieve my objective of being invited to tender will only happen if I (my company), is in the potential customers mind at point of the tender document. If your solution is a needs to solution you need to be on the ball and not rely on a customer thanking you for an email (if you’re lucky) and then falsely thinking you have the customer on board and topping up an inaccurate pipeline (which will come back to bite you later). You will be forgot as soon as your potential customer deletes or files your email! If you are fortunate enough to have a brand product that creates a lead generation pull on the target then you should change your strategy accordingly (less emails and more relation building calls) and of course that’s another story for another day
I love the current environment. The more sales people who buy into the new paradigm that prospecting is intrusive and the sales 2.0 thing to do is wait until the potential customer requests information on the website, the fewer incompetents fouling the well. Shout it from the rooftops: “COLD CALLING IS DEAD!”
Phone calls, emails, letters, and even “stopping by” the prospects office just to drop off a business card and information pertinent to them are still the tried and true ways to gain attention. 80% of the sales I have made in my 20+ year sales career have been preceded by a prospect saying “It was your persistence and commitment to getting my attention that finally convinced me to see you”. Intrusive is in the eye of the beholder. Don’t misunderstand… the many resources that allow you to research a prospect are valuable and will help you craft a more compelling message but it is still vital to get that message in front of the prospects eyes as many times as necessary to move the sales process forward. The decades old rule of thumb that states that it takes 6 – 8 contacts to gain attention still holds true today. Fewer and fewer sales people are willing to work that hard. Those that do are having great success and are the top earners.
I think that the subject “Is the Sales Mindset Shifting” is a confusing attempt to address the adaptation of or the need to align the sales methodology to the situation and the personality of the sales person. The examples used unfortunately are so superficial or simplistic that no real sales person can comprehend the real question that I think your attempting to ask. In the first email example there are 2 glaring points to be made 1) you did a poor job of bringing your friend into the deal and 2) your friend desperately needs sales training.
Sorry but your question needs re-thinking.
Very intriguing thoughts Doyle!
In the end, I think what’s really happening is those of us with years of experience and some level of success in selling are achieving a level of maturity in our approach to selling. That’s great!
However, I don’t think you can pluck a greenhorn off the streets and plug them into a sales role and expect success unless you get them pretty motivated and aggressive.
The softer approach to selling doesn’t work too well if you haven’t already mastered most of the mechanics of selling like organization, making your calls regularly, leaving effective voice mails, getting past the gate keeper, attention getting openers, etc… You can’t learn those things any way other than good old fashioned repetition.
The only shift in sales mindset is a direct reflection of shifts in customer and prospect mindsets.
People have not gotten over the fears and feelings of inadequacy attached to the lousy economy; they have simply adjusted their mindsets to deal more effectively (and protectively) with the reality that we’re going to be living with economic doldrums for some time to come … that it is not going to go away because government leaders and media puppets say so.
This means we are facing an entirely different set of personal circumstances with each customer and prospect than we have been used to dealing with for years.
It doesn’t necessarily require that we tip-toe around and worry about customer/prospect fragility.
It does mean that we need to be more conscious of the fallout from economic influences . . . that people are now more cautious about product and service durability and dollar value.
The benefits they buy need to be more focused on meeting and exceeding unspoken customer/prospect concerns.
So bottom line is that the “New Mindset” if you will needs to be one that is more sensitive to the ways information is presented, and the points of emphasis, not on what we imagine that others view differently about being intruded upon.
Going for the sale no longer means going for the throat. It means going for a clearer definition of benefits in a way that demonstrates understanding and emjpathy (putting ourselves in others’ shoes).
It’s often helpful to remember that we are, after all, also all customers and prospects ourselves as well as salespeople.
I think that there are different mindsets that sales professionals naturally have depending on a couple of different factors:
- Experience
- Confidence (can fluctuate daily, weekly, monthly)
- Opportunities (Pipeline)
- Risk Level of your environment (missing quota, keeping employment, losing long term customers)
- Product (High Ticket, High Value vs. Low Ticket possibly commodity)
My experience is that months where I am not successful in achieving my goal are based on my mindset and how comfortable or satisfied I am regarding my month, quarter, etc.
When I am behind the 8-ball and in jeopardy of missing my quota or losing a big deal, I naturally have a more fragile mindset and have to fight the tendency to second guess myself. In this situation I might be more inclined to overshoot my contact with them and make too many phone calls. I am more likely to make moves that could be perceived as “desperate” which is the kiss of death for a sales professional.
When I am doing well, have a few successful months in the bag and my pipeline is full and deals are coming in consistently, my mindset is more durable and I am okay being up front with a potential client. In this situation I am comfortable telling a potential client that I value their business and would love to work with them but that it has to make business sense for both of us.
I would agree that email is a very effective way of communicating. It allows the contact to control and have flexibility with how and when they react. However, establishing a solid rapport needs a combination of email and some more interpersonal form of contact such as face to face or phone.
To sum it up, I don’t think that the mindset is shifting in general. I do think that “pushy” doesn’t work and hasn’t for a long while. People buy from other real people, not slick salespeople. You can be too timid as well.
A good balance is leaving room for the sale to develop while ensuring at all times that the client knows how much you value their time and their business.
I do think that having confidence allows you to give the prospect more room if needed. If you have a pipeline full of good opportunities and you portray a consistent message that you would enjoy working with them if the opportunity is right for both sides, you have a better chance of gaining their respect and their referrals in the long run.
I don’t refer my friends and colleagues to people I “just know.” I refer them to people I trust because I know that my recommendations are a reflection on my professional and personal reputation.
Sell for the long term, just like investing. It will take a little longer to get you where you want to be, but the rewards will be much sweeter and long lasting. The time is worth the effort, regardless of what you sell.
I hope this is helpful to Doyle’s readers.
P.S. IF you have time and wouldn’t mind doing me a professional favor and providing some feedback on my personal blog, I would appreciate it.
http://takingcards.wordpress.com
Ben Wallace
takingcards@gmail.com
Sales as a profession is definitely evolving thanks to the internet. Decision-makers have access to a lot more information than they did just 10 years ago and can begin gathering data further out from the point of making a decision without the help of a single sales person. Sometimes the buying cycle (depending on what you’re selling) can take 6-8 months from the first interaction to the close. Hunting has evolved from a primitive form of selling to a high art form that requires a seller to be much more prepared and informed than ever before. It also demands strong empathy for the buyer who today is juggling more than they did just a few years ago thanks to staff and resource reductions. They don’t have the time or patience to deal with multiple inquiries from anxious sellers. Failure to balance your needs with theirs is what tips the scales away from the “mosquito” that keeps humming in their ears with nothing new of value to contribute. What brought many of the most successful sellers to the mountain top won’t keep them there. We all have to evolve. And not everyone will be able to do it.
I think it is a balancing act that has never changed, just new ways to reach out.
How many remember time before voice mail or caller ID? Now we have it and adjust to it. Email came and we manage it, Constant Contact is very profitable in this regard. The Internet came and we managed it. LinkedIn, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter all have come onto the radar since 2004 – and we manage them. Google brings the overload of information to sift through. New things are being added daily.
The balance between being persistent to contact and a caring trusted advisor will live on. The new communication channels make it easier to initiate and maintain contact. Today’s “no thanks” is many times followed by entering an email address to receive a weekly/monthly/etc. push-email of some sort. We are all getting smarter in handling the new channels – finding the right balance will remain the art of sales success.
You can be persistent without being intrusive. Share some new information,or have. Something to push the process along when you call. Have a purpose.To be sucessful in sales you must be persistent.
Tell them up front you know you are intrusive, but say something that will get their attention to keep them on the phone
I looked at the comments here and most of them are right on target. Be direct, keep persistent, only the ones who call again and again stay on top in the sales game.
Doyle,
It sounds like you want to be liked by the prosect when you contact people you’ve never met before. Prospects will tell you how they want to be contacted by salespeople. However, that information is pointless. When you are good at cold calling, cold e-mailing, or whatever
means you use to prospect and get new business, your client won’t even remember how you initially contacted him or her
once he or she becomes a client. Of course, this means you have to do what you promised to do, rather if it’s
save them money, increase their bottom line, or help them solve a problem.
The company I work for today has been earning millions of dollars by cold calling first to qualify and then sell services later. That works for my company. If you ask those clients how they heard about my company, most won’t even remember. They WILL remember that we did what we promised.
Long story short. Do what gets you sales. If that means e-mail, Web 2.0, networking, or getting more referrals then do that. Obviously, cold calling is not dead for me like it is for others. Forget this nonsense about how prospects want to be contacted. When you’re in sales,
initial contact is always suspect by gatekeepers and prospects alike. Your job is to ease their fears, convince them that you are not as slimy as many are in our profession, and do what you promise you can do.
This is an interesting problem, because I believe it reflects not only a change in the sales people mindset but also in the purchasing agent mindset. New sales people have had “caring and compassion” above “performance and profits” driven into their mushy brains by their educational institutions until they fundamentally believe that this “kinder-gentler” dogma can make a sale and pay the bills. They no longer believe that discipline, commitment, responsibility and accountability is the path to success.
Technology and age has affected the way we do sales. Purchasing agents now have immense technology at their fingertips. There is a shifting in the age of the average purchasing agent across all industries to the younger more technology attuned agent. They can now technology locate and separate most facts from most fiction when selecting a vendor. They are also bombarded daily with calls, emails, brochures and drop-in visits from sales people trying to get a minute of their time. And they are constantly being pressured to cut costs and be more productive in their daily tasks. Most of today’s purchasing agents have learned to screen out all the marketing and sales hype coming at them from multiple directions. A softer kinder-gentler approach will not make it past their survival filters. However, they are still individuals with personal problems and needs. And sales – is still about relationships.
In the past we relied on individuals with high social capabilities to establish the relationships at a multitude of “face to face” functions. Today, those opportunities for “face to face” occurrences are fewer and fewer (for a multitude of reasons). Thus, in today’s b2b environment, I do not believe in today’s economic environment, that the past strategy of brute force telemarketing campaigns by any salesman is effective. Today we need sales people that are technology savvy in both the actual technology of the computer and the technology of social engineering. As we become more separated by technology, finding creative ways to establish relationships through technology will determine if a sales person is successful.
So, finding the right sales person is no longer about simply looking for a person with a strong drive or one type of mindset or another. A good salesman in today’s world needs to have the right level of “Assertiveness”, “Social abilities”, “Patience” and “Attention to Detail”. All of which can be measured. They need to have creativity, diligence, patience and discipline to work their way thru the technology maze and to form the relationship with the purchasing person and then knowingly be accountable for their results or lack thereof.