Learning Curve

It has been awhile since I have posted anything, I did that partly on purpose. The reason it has been awhile is that--to be honest with you--my head has been spinning as I have been put into this new role for sales. The company I am with is so awesome! Let me tell you why. So for the past 20-25 years we have been growing organically, meaning we have been growing merely by our great name that is out there and it has worked great. However, with these economic times, as well as a change of pace that has become necessary, we have been going into the direction of sales. Of course not forgetting our foundational products and offerings. That is were I come in. In the past 6 weeks I would have to say that I have been pulled in every direction possible. Would I change anything about that? Absolutely not! Am I crazy? Maybe a little bit. :)

So as it is with anything else there comes a learning curve. I have done sales before but nothing of this magnitude. The sales I have done was purely on the phone and people were calling me. Yes a call center! It was great but to be honest it didn't really allow me to "spread my wings" and maybe that was for a good reason. I look back now and see the different jobs that I had, and my education, and see how each one of those jobs and my education has prepared me in some way for this job. At least that was the thought. When I started here I tried to call on my past experiences which helped a little bit but what I have really been trying to do is be open minded. I want to learn and grow and be the best at what I do. It has become very apparent that in order to do that I need to surround myself with people that are better than me at what I do. We have some sales consultants that have helped us a great deal. One in particular has been there as we have ventured into sales and has really opened my eyes to great things. He understands the hiccups that we will run into, because he has seen it before, and he has worked with me to find solutions. In the past 8 weeks we have more open proposals than we have had in years! Did this happen over night? Nope. Are we going in the right direction? If you would have asked me that question a few days ago I may have had a different answer but after this morning I want to say we are hopefully on our way. There is no doubt that we will get there, it is just going to take time and patience.

There is a learning curve with everything new that comes along. When new opportunities arise you can either embrace them or swim against the current. Those that swim against the current will get tired and those that "go with the flow" will be on board ready for what is up ahead. To be honest, I don't look at what I do as sales. I know it sounds funny. Of course I want companies to buy our product but it is the process that I love! There are so many steps that happen from someone showing interest to them becoming a customer. I get to be a sales guy, I get to be a consultant, I get to work with numbers for the proposals, and I get to help make decisions on the direction we want our company to go in. I don't talk to people because I want to sell them--I talk to people because I genuinely want them to benefit from what we have to offer and through that their business can grow. I would want that for anyone, except for maybe our competitors. :)

We will continue to learn for the rest of our lives if we are open to situations and circumstances that present a opportunity for growth. With that we are consistently embracing and learning, and furthering our understanding of business and our particular roles.

By the way, if anyone is looking to increase their sales or sales team, I can get you in contact with these guys that we have been working with.

Bucking the Trend

In regards to my earlier post I wanted to share a few things that I have learned since then. Interestingly enough one of the industries that is able to weather the storm of this economy is the grocery industry. I have come across several large grocers in the last week that are in the market to hire over 5,000 new employees in 2009 each. Why do you think that is? CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. They see the value in creating an experience for their customer and are seeing the results of that. So within all the doom and gloom of this economy it's the grocery stores that are able to stay afloat. What can be learned from this? The customer in today's "experience economy" is what the Brazilian people call a "Mao de Vaca" translated--Cow Hand. We are holding on to our money tighter these days and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is that people don't spend their money so the economy doesn't get back on its feet very quickly. Again that is the prerogative of the American people. Money, for as long as this earth has existed, has been a touchy subject to us all. Judas, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, betrayed the living Son of God for money. Judas was selfish and allowed money to determine his behaviors. On the totally opposite end of the spectrum, today, we hang on to our money tight and want to be taken care of. It's a natural human tendency to want to be liked and treated well. Think about your best friend. Why are you friends with that person? Because that person, when you met, created a customer experience, and you bought and you have been going back ever since. That is what today's economy needs -- that customer experience that creates a friendship to last a lifetime.

Growing Business

With the economy being the way it is there is no doubt that our economy is in trouble and some may call it an "Oxy Moron" but this is also a great time to grow business. I had an email sent to me from my boss that I believe said it all. The following is an exert of the email:

"In a recent interview with Dan Kennedy, Dr. Michael Roizen M.D. co-author of YOU: The Owners' Manual made this point about getting people to care about the solution you offer. "Our failure in medicine is failing to understand that we have to 'sell' health. Just telling a patient is not enough, if you can't get that patient to really understand why it's important to them."

We often assume that people will immediately "get" the benefits of what we offer. But as Dr. Roizen points out, unless we are explicit in communicating precisely what the benefits are, people won't necessarily make the connection. Although a lot of service-providers recoil at the term "sales", effective selling is really more about communicating benefits than it is any other single factor.

Regarding my earlier point about communicating what you do in a way that evokes curiosity and a desire to learn more, Dr. Roizen describes what he does this way. "My job is to help patients understand their bodies so they can understand how much control they have over the quality of their lives." By using the term "control over the quality of their lives" Dr. Roizen is getting his listener emotionally evolved with the advice he offers. Creating an emotional connection makes the marketing message all the more powerful and memorable. Moreover, establishing that connection is imperative if you want to motivate your clients to follow your advice."

I thought this was a powerful yet simple tool. How many times do we come across opportunites where it is just easier to say, "Hey this is what I do, it's a great product you should think about buying it." I know I have done that, but where is the benefit? How will this benefit the other person on the other end of the conversation?

As was mentioned you can't just tell someone they need to see the benefit.