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Best Way To Make a Sale Is To Find a Person Who Can Make The Sale For You

10/19/2014

 
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We all get a boat load of sales advice. Unfortunately, most of them simply don't work. They cost you money, but worse, you end up wasting a lot of time and energy following these advices. In this blog, I  offer a very simple sales advice that's free and it works.

Next time if you have to sell anything, spend time and getting one person who has the credibility to sell for you in the company or whatever the situation may be.  Your focus should be on coaching that one person and make him a hero.  You don't want to be the hero; you just want to succeed.  


Find That One Person Who Can Make The Sale

In the book "The Flight of the Phoenix," which has been turned into Hollywood movie twice, a model airplane designer named Stringer has to sell his idea that could save the survivors of a plane crash in the Libyan desert.  

In the book, a Skytruck plane runs into a dust storm after taking off and crashes somewhere in the Libyan desert. During the crash landing, two passengers die and 10 survive.  If the survivors are not rescued within few days, they will die in the hot desert conditions, and also because of lack of food and water.  What should they do?  They have to make a decision on whether to stay put or leave the crashed site.  Stringer comes up with an out of the box idea to build a plane from the wreckage and fly out of the desert to the nearest airport.


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Stringer thinks that their best chance for survival is to build a plane; however, first he has to make the sale.  He knows that he can't make the sale to the survivors.  He will need Moran, the flight engineer, to help him make the sale. He asks Moran, "Will you explain to them what has to be done?  I am no good at that type of thing."  Moran has to motivate others and convince Towns, the pilot, to fly the plane.

Loomis, a Texan, makes the following observation about both Stringer and Towns:  "Stringer is our key man, naturally---we're all in his hands; but he does not look like the leader of anything, does he? And he doesn't have very much interest in. . . humanities.  Towns is the one who can leads ---he 's the oldest among us and he's the captain of the aircraft.  That's why we need him."

Moran pleads with Towns,  "Frank ... We can't hang on here much longer. And it's no use going out there [dessert]....Stringer's got the only answer and we need you in with us."  Towns, though hesitant in the beginning, finally agrees to fly the plane. They succeed in building a makeshift plane and Towns flies the plane, and they all rescue themselves.  

Though the example above is from a book/movie, there is a very important sales lesson here.  The real selling is often not done by the salesman at all, and it shouldn't be done by a salesman if he wants to succeed.  It is a salesman's job to get someone that is trusted to sell it for him since the trusted person has the credibility with the people you have to win over.  It is much easier for people to dismiss you since you are an unknown commodity and are not going to pay much attention to what you have to say.


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Is Stringer a designer more than a salesman?  Yes.  But he has to sell his idea to Moran for it to have any chance of realizing it.  He does something that we all can learn from, especially if you are a techie. He gets Moran to help make the sale.    

This method was cleverly used in reverse in the movie "The Sting" to con a crime boss named Doyle Lonegan, played by Robert Shaw.  The two con artists (Henry "Shaw" Gondorff, played by Paul Neuman, and Johnny "Kelly" Hooker played by Robert Redford) run a "wire," where they get the results of a horse race minutes before the results are announced. The delay creates an opportunity to run a scam to make a certain winning bet.  

Even Crime Bosses Are Susceptible

Hooker proceeds to engender trust with Lonegan and tells him that he wants to take over the  money making operation run by Gondorff, but he needs Lonegan's help.  To show that Hooker had the juice, Hooker tells Lonegan that he can prove his mettle by helping Lonegan win a big bet.  To test Hooker, Lonegan places a bet on a horse race that turns out to be right, though he didn't win since he was late in placing the bet.  Impressed with Hooker's tip, Lonegan tells Hooker that he is going to come the next day to bet $500,000 on a horse race.  The sting was on and Lonegan loses and gets taken away by a police lieutenant.  

This example comes from an Oscar winning movie, but it shows that to make the sale, you need someone in the inside. Hooker is in the inside, thus, was able to win over the crime boss like Lonegan.  Lonegan knows that he can't lose if he gets an inside tip.


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Relationships

This concept was discussed on the James Altucher Show (Ep.48 - Marni & Kristen: What Women Really Want).   If a man wants to meet a woman, his best chance is not to go directly to the woman he is interested in.  He will have a better chance by convincing one of her friends to introduce him to her friend that he is interested in meeting.  A man is not going to be of much help to another man.  The man may know 95% about this woman, but that 5% that will make a difference will only be known by a woman's close girlfriend.   Even in relationships, you have to get someone in the know to help you make the sale.

Business

Seth Godin agrees that often you can't make the sale not because you are not a good salesman, but you just don't have the credibility with the people you are trying to sell. In his book "Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?" he writes, "Understand that there’s a difference between the right answer and the answer you can sell. Too often, heretical ideas in organizations are shot down. They’re not refused because they’re wrong; they’re refused because the person doing the selling doesn’t have the stature or track record to sell it. Your boss has a worldview, too. When you propose something that triggers his resistance, what do you expect will happen?"

What do you need to be persuasive?

In order to be persuasive, you need to make sure you are using the right messenger more than having the right message to make a sale, according to Steve Martin's blog in HBR titled, "How Doctors (or Anyone) Can Craft a More Persuasive Message."  He writes that in order to be persuasive, you need expertise, trustworthiness and similarity. 

Expertise
If you have to persuade someone then get an expert to convey the information.  People tend not to counter argue with what the exert is saying.  For example, in sales, if you have to present a technical aspect, you want to first credentialize the technical resource who is going to present the technical aspect of a solution and nothing else.

Trustworthiness
To establish trust, if you start with a slight uncertainty and then state your message, it makes you more believable.  Let's say you are a startup in sales and you are dealing with an objection about doing business with you, you can say, "We don't have a lot of customers, but all our customers have been very happy working with the value we have provided for them."

Similarity
People believe people who are more like them.  For example, in sales, prospects are interested in hearing from other customers who are using your products, solutions or services.  Hearing from customers is more persuasive than hearing from vendors.

In real sales situation, salesman often tries  to do too much and not realizing that sales are about outcome, not heroism. 

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Jay Oza is the founder and business development consultant at 5ToolGroup. We help companies sell products and solutions using our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to be constantly looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This way of doing business is the only insurance for success today.

You can reach me at jay@5toolgroup.com

Enjoy The Game More Than The Other Guy To Win

8/8/2014

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One of my favorite scene from the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is when Indy and Marion are trying to steal an airplane at a Nazi airfield to escape. But before he gets to do that he has a little problem: he has been notice.  Indiana has to quickly dispatch a soldier who is trying to prevent him from stealing the plane. While this is going on, a tall, bald muscular guy comes out of his cabin and notices a fight going on.  He is happy since he wants to be in the fight.  The muscular guy takes off his shirt since he lives for a good fight. It seems like he is a fighter based on how he urges Indiana Jones to get into a fighting position. 

Indiana Jones is in no mood for a fight, but the muscular guy is not going to go away. Indiana Jones will have to beat him first before he can get into the plane and fly away.   The muscular guy and Indiana Jones duke it out. Indy is losing till the muscular fails to see the propeller of the airplane and thus ended a one way fight.

The thing I like about this scene that is applicable to what we do is that we have to love the game more than the other guy.  The muscular guy is focused on the fight and winning.  Indiana Jones is interested in escaping and is losing, but is forced to play the muscular's guy's game.  In real life the guy who enjoys the game more usually wins. But this is Hollywood and Indiana Jones triumphs.

The lesson here is to get pumped up to play the game and then make sure you enjoy it more than the opponent.  You may not always get the result you want but at least you will have fun playing the game.  


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Jay Oza is the founder and business development consultant at 5ToolGroup, a company that specializes in helping startups and small companies bring innovation to market within 90 days through our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology to enable frugal or ("Jugaad") innovation with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to constantly be looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This has proven to be the only insurance for success today.

You can reach me at jay@5toolgroup.com
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Cold Call to Sell Couple of Minutes of Prospects' Time

6/29/2014

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Many sales people hate making cold calls. You constantly read blogs on social media that cold calling is dead. I don't think this is correct.  If you do not like making cold calls then sales, perhaps,  may not be your thing.  The reason is that cold calling is the most fundamental tool in sales to start a sales process.  Sales just doesn't happen; there has to be a beginning. 

Cold calling has gotten such a bad name that you think that prospects can easily find you over social media and contact you when they have a need that you can satisfy.  We all wished we lived in this fantasy world. This may be the future, but this is not happening today. The only people who make money doing this are those who promote this malarkey.  I believe that cold calling gets a bad name since people are simply bad at it or don't think much about its importance.  In this post I will define cold calling, outline what to focus on when cold calling and how to avoid some common mistakes.  If you give some thought to these, then not only will you embrace cold calling but become a pro and start generating results. 

What is cold calling?

According to Anthony Iannarino in his blog titled, "What Cold Calling Means," he says that cold calling means calling
"someone who is not expecting your call in order to initiate a sales conversation. What makes it cold is that they aren’t expecting your call."

Why you should cold call?

One of the things we underestimate is the power of our voice.  According to Julian Treasure, a voice expert, who says in his Ted Talk that a human voice is "one of the most powerful sound in the world."   To be effective,he recommends that you follow these four qualities: 
  • Honesty  -- be straight and clear
  • Authenticity -- be yourself
  • Integrity -- doing what you say; trust
  • Love -- wishing people well

Tips on cold calling

I am not going to give any cold call script here since if you are in sales you know how to talk and know what to say. Below I have listed some of the things I pay attention to that may help you when making a cold call.  Just because the prospect does not know you does not mean you don't know the prospect.  I don't make a cold call unless I know a little bit (and sometimes a lot) about the prospect through research, social media,  news, press release, blogs, etc.  It isn't really a cold call if you do this, but more of a "room temperature" call.  

1. Record your message on your voice mail or an audio recorder and then listen to it.  Would you call yourself back? Get an objective feedback from others and see what they think and how they would make it more effective. Be open to criticism.  It is better to hear a brutal face-to-face criticism then a polite no from a prospect.  A lot of people in sales can't deal with the former and keep making the same mistakes and then blame it on cold calling.  

2: Put yourself in your customers' shoes who is probably very busy, scared and time constrained, so what do you think would make him talk to you or even return your call? He is living in his own world and he is asking himself: "Who are you?" and "Why are you bothering me?"

3:  Refrain from selling anything on the call.  You just want to "sell" couple of minutes of prospects' time.  The purpose of a cold call for me is not to sell anything but sell time, and the initial call can't be more than couple of minutes.  If you can't sell couple of minutes then you are probably not resonating with prospects. Also, speak slowly and remain under control but let the prospect be in charge of the call at all time.  You are taking up his time.  He has the clock. 

4:  Are you solving a problem that is cheaper, faster, better and smarter than how they are currently doing it?  If you need more than five minutes to get prospects excited then the answer is no. You have to do some research before you make the call.  The burden is on you to know this not the prospects.  

5:  You have to pretend like you are calling to get a job---a job to sell.  Unless they hire you and let you in, you can't sell.  Note, prospects have the keys to their needs, and unless you get the keys, you can't enter their dungeon of problems to rescue them with your solution. 


6. Practice saying "hello," since it is the first thing you are going to say and you definitely  don't want to lose the sale at "hello."  We have all seen this famous scene from the movie "Jerry Maguire"  where Jerry gets Dorothy back with a simple "hello," (At least that is what she tells him.) Now It may not be that easy for us with prospects, but why blow the sale at "hello."  All good conversations start with this word, so don't rush it and start pitching.

7. Next, introduce yourself and simply ask for couple of minutes.  Once given, give a straightforward 90 second sales pitch and then ask if this is something they would like to know more about.  Since you asked for couple of minutes, don't go over since you want the prospect interested and know that you stick to your word. This may not seem that important, but note it is not what you sell that matters today, but how you sell, so sell with honesty, credibility and integrity right from the start.

8. Create if-then plans.  I got this idea from Heidi Grant Halvorson who describes this in her post at 99U titled, "How to Use If-Then Plans To Achieve Any Goal."  You need to plan this before you make the call since you don't want to think on your feet.  You may think you can, but you will not be that effective as you would be if you have put together an if-then plan on what potential scenario will play out.  It could be as simple as if (the call goes to voice mail) then (leave a message with a 30 second pitch and request two to three minutes of their time).  You can create this so you can handle just about any scenario that is likely to come up.  

9. Focus on impact of the call rather than volume of calls.  If you don't know for sure that you can help a particular prospect, do not call them.  The old way of thinking cold calling as a numbers game means that you are selling a commodity and you will find that most of your prospects don't buy commodity products from salesmen today. The only time cold calling works is if there is a value that the prospects accrue through working with you in his buying process.  

10. Know what is working.  It makes no sense to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.  If what you are doing is not working, then change it and try something different.  Do not be afraid to experiment.  There are no hard and fast rules to success.  You will have to learn, think, act, and tweak till it starts working.

11.  Cold calling is not the only thing.  There are a lot of other ways to get customers and cold calling should be just one part of the equation.  For example, social media is very powerful, but do not underestimate the power of the voice and connecting with someone by talking to them.


12. Watch out for Fluid Buying.  I got this idea from the Gartner webinar by Tiffani Bova. titled, "The Future of IT Sales."  Just because you are starting a call does not mean that the prospect is also starting from the same point when it comes to buying.  The prospect may be at any of the following stage: Identify, Qualify, Propose, Approve or Deploy.  You have to be able to able to have the right pitch at the stage where the customer is so you are adding value.  This is why cold calling is not for newbies but everyone from inside sales to the CEO.  Your success will depend on being part of a cold calling culture.  

13. Don't view cold calling as a hit or miss. If you view it as a numbers game then it is all about you and not the prospect.  If you want to target a CEO then get your CEO to make the call.  If you have a technical product then get your CIO to target a company's CIO.  The C-levels should be your best cold callers since they have the position, knowledge and gravitas that will likely get their calls returned so you don't end up wasting a lot of time. Remember your job is to guide the process not be a lone ranger.  Selling is a team sport.  

14. Change is your number one obstacle with prospects.  People don't embrace change no matter what they may say.  When you call, the gain of change has to be greater than the pain of change in your message so you don't get eliminated quickly.

15. Enjoy the process.  If you are not having fun doing what you are doing people will detect your lack of authenticity. It is hard to fake joy.    

The two most important things to remember when you make a cold call: Do not waste your prospects' time and make sure you repeat the key soundbite you want the prospects to remember after you hang up.  

What are common cold calling mistakes to avoid?

According to Jill Konrath in her video "Top 3 Cold Calling Mistakes," she talks about these three common mistakes to avoid:

1. Conduct your pre-call research and make sure you have a real tight 90 second pitch that sounds like you are talking to your grandmother. 
2. Avoid self serving verbiage such as "state of the art," "leading edge," "seamless," etc,  instead focus on customers' needs the way he understands them.
3. Don't quit too soon. You may need to try call, email and even use social media to get through.  If you can help the prospect then go for it.  


What if you are an introvert?

This was what Rhonda Ramos commented in a thread in LinkedIn she initiated in the group "On Startup - Community for Entrepreneurs." She comments that "I feel what is mostly holding me back is fear of rejection. I am very much an introvert, until I can warm up to someone and that does take time."

We all go through this when we face rejection so what I do is go for a walk and say "hello" to everyone who walks by. Believe it or not almost all will say "hello," some more friendly than others. Talk to people with dogs since they love talking about their dogs.  Since I don't know much about dogs, I always ask what kind of dog it is and then it normally leads to a conversation. If I see someone the first time it will be simple as that and then talk more once there is familiarity.  I have run into so many interesting people, including an ex-Air Force hero of the First Gulf War, who I call Captain Art, who rescues Basset Hounds.  He does not talk about his heroic feats to anyone but me since I showed interest in his dogs. 

I like to say to people that all conversations start with a "hello" and similarly all sales conversations start with a "hello" too, so just get good at saying this one word and who knows where it will lead.    

As I said cold calling is fundamental to sales.  Focus on selling yourself by getting five minutes and nothing more. You have to start small and not overwhelm the prospect since if you make them think too much, then they are going to say no. Focus on selling five minutes and get a quick win and then you can go for the next quick win and so on. Think of it as a process and the cold call is the first step.  You do want to make it with the expectation that you are going to be successful.  Do not play numbers game but a success game.  


Finally, as you know when a rocket is launched, most of the fuel is used up to get the rocket off the ground, so I say use up most of your fuel to launch your sales effort off the ground for the cold call. If you can't launch your sales off the ground with cold calls,  very few of your sales opportunities will reach the orbit.   

Good Luck!
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Jay Oza is the founder and business development consultant at 5ToolGroup, a company that specializes in helping startups and small companies bring innovation to market within 90 days through our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology to enable frugal or ("Jugaad") innovation with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to constantly be looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This has proven to be the only insurance for success today. You can reach me at jay@5toolgroup.com.

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Preparation and Creativity Are Keys to Good Negotiation

6/2/2014

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In the HBR blog by Jeff Weiss titled "Even Small Negotiations Require Preparation and Creativity," he writes that "whether you’re aware of it or not, you’re negotiating all the time."   This is no different to selling, as Dan Pink says in his book, "To Sell is Human" that "like it or not, we're all in sales now."  It all comes down to what you have to do to negotiate well.  

According to Weiss, it comes down to preparation and creativity.

Preparation in negotiation has to take place early, way before you are about to meet someone.  He writes that  "it’s helpful to start asking yourself what your key interests are and what the other party’s might be, thinking of creative solutions, and identifying persuasive standards."


During preparation, start coming up with several creative options. You want to brainstorm and come up with as many options as possible--- good, bad, unrealistic --- and then narrow them down to few.  Weiss writes that "each solution you come up with may not address every need you and your counterpart have, but each should address at least a subset for both parties."

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The one thing you have to focus on is be creative and ensure that the option you consider addresses your interest and the other party's interest. 

I used this approach recently when I had to negotiate some roof work for my parents house.  We received an estimate from three contractors and than narrowed it down to one and asked him to give us a detailed estimate and to go over it with us.  After he gave us the price, I did not negotiate the price since it was close to the other contractors but the chosen contractor was very specific on the scope of the work.



Instead of negotiating the price, I focused on other items that meant a lot to my parents and would not incur a major cost to the contractor and that was to get two toilets and a vanity replaced and a door fixed for no charge.  This additional work served my parents interest and it also served the contractors' interest in not lowering the price for the roof work.  The additional work was not much a cost for him since the can do the additional work very fast and by asking us to pay for that would also get us to negotiate on the price.  We both got what we wanted. 

So I agree with Jeff Weiss that in order to negotiate successfully in anything, you have to prepare in advance and look for creative options so that both sides feel like their interests were served.
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Jay Oza is the founder and business development consultant at 5ToolGroup, a company that specializes in helping startups and small companies bring innovation to market within 90 days through our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology to enable frugal or ("Jugaad") innovation with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to constantly be looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This has proven to be the only insurance for success today. You can reach me at jay@5toolgroup.com

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Sales Lesson from Moses: Your Snake Better Be A Killer

4/29/2014

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So you want to sell to the Big Man?  Who better to learn this from than Moses from the movie "The Ten Commandments."

What Moses does in this short movie clip titled "Let My People Go," is to convince the Pharoh---with a gentle persuasion----of the power of his God to free his people from bondage. The Pharoh has his ego to protect and also he is in no mood to give in to his step brother who his father liked more than he and whose wife wanted to marry him over him. This is what I call a real tough sell. 


Instead of using more logic, Moses resorts to a little show and tell. He tells his older brother Aaron to drop the staff on the ground in front of the Pharoh and it immediately turns into a menacing King Cobra.  

Pharoh, not to be easily swayed,  dismisses this as a cheap magician's trick.  He orders his assistants to bring two staffs and drop them next to the the King Cobra and they also immediately turn into snakes. 

Game on! 

Now Moses is little concerned. He is thinking that his snake better kick Pharoh's snakes' asses otherwise his people are totally screwed.  Not to worry, Moses' cobra swallows Pharoh's two snakes and it finally gets Pharoh's attention. And you know how this story ends.

Now look, we don't have Mount Horeb nearby to go to and get some sales coaching from God, but we do have this great movie to turn too.   If you want a similar ending when you have an opportunity to be in front of the Big Man,  make sure your snake can swallow the Big Man's snakes, otherwise the thing that will certainly get swallowed up is your sales deal.

Good Luck!
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Jay Oza is the founder and business development consultant at 5ToolGroup, a company that specializes in helping startups and small companies bring innovation to market within 90 days through our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology to enable frugal or ("Jugaad") innovation with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to constantly be looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This has proven to be the only insurance for success today.

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Sales is Like Women's Figure Skating in the Olympics

2/21/2014

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Quick Takeaway: Winning a big sales deal has a lot in common with winning a gold medal in women's figure skating in the Olympics.


Out of all the sports played in the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, no sport comes close to trying to win a big sales deal than women's figure skater trying to win a gold medal.

Like sales reps, women figure skaters have worked hard to get an opportunity to compete in the Olympics to have a shot at winning the gold medal. In sales you want to be invited to win a potential big deal for the company and be the top dog in sales and all the good that result from winning.  But big deals are like being in the Olympics; you are going to run into some real some stiff global competition. Everyone is hungry and is competing for the gold, but only one can win.  

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You have worked hard on your short program (sales presentation) and the long program (a day long demo). To have any chance of winning, you have to do well in both in front  of the judges (customer). You are going to judged not only on how graceful you are through your routine in both programs but how well you nail those difficult jumps and combos to have any shot for the gold. 


Furthermore, your long program will make up two third of your final score so you can't let up at all. And If you are behind, then you will have to throw in at the end of your program a triple axel and execute it to perfection to earn extra points to eke out a win.  A salesman is nothing more than a figure skater trying to win the gold for her company, her family and herself.  

Like a customer, the judges are tough.  You have to dance to the music they like.  This means no hip-hop disco, rock or country; you have to dance to the music the family of the Romanovs danced to: The Russian classical music masters.  Unlike the Olympics, in sales there is only one medal given out: gold.  Others get the standard second prize: thanks and good luck in four years.  


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Like the Olympics, the outcome will undoubtedly generate a boat load of controversy; there will be accusations by the losers of a fix taking place. The losing reps will agonize and will be in great disbelief for some time that they lost.  There will be the usual protests leveled against the customer of  "judging bias" and demand for  reversal and future rule changes and more transparency.  


Typically the outcry will last for days, or perhaps weeks till the media find their next big controversial story. The losing companies and their sales reps will slowly come to the realization that it's indeed over.  They will get back to the gym or ice and try to learn from their loss and start preparing for the next big dance in four years.

Sales is also about competition and you give it your best even if you don't sometimes win, but there is always a next deal around that you have total control over.  Unlike the Olympics, you don't have to agonize for four years to get your gold medal.  


Learn. Think. Act. Win!

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Jay Oza is the founder and business development consultant at 5ToolGroup, a company that specializes in helping startups and small companies bring innovation to market within 90 days through our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology to enable frugal or ("Jugaad") innovation with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to constantly be looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This has proven to be the only insurance for success today.

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How to Sell Anything Using the PFE Method

2/19/2014

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Quick Takeaway: We are all selling all the time so try the PFE method to increas your win ratio.


We are selling all the time.  We may not consider what we do as selling since most of us are not on a quota or see the person we are selling to make a purchase.  As Dan Pink aptly puts it his book, "To Sell is Human:The Surprising Truth About Moving Others," that "you are likely spending more time than you realize selling in a broader sense— pitching colleagues, persuading funders, cajoling kids. Like it or not, we’re all in sales now."  And he is right.

We are all indeed in the sales "business," so how do you do it well so you have a high success ratio.  To sell well means you have to be effective in conveying an idea that resonates with the person you are communicating with so that he knows you understood his problem, came up with a solution and that he can understand without thinking too hard.  If you can do that then you are a good salesman whether you are on quota or not.  


How do you sell an idea?

It is simple if you use the PFE Method. To convey and idea effectively, as Dr, Matt Mcgarrity, lecturer on speech from University of Washington, explains in this video lecture from the online course he teaches titled, "Introduction to Public Speaking," that you have to make a point, support it with evidence and then elaborate it.  Th interesting thing that he points out is that the point or sub-point and facts can be obtained from any where, it is the elaboration that makes you unique and impactful.  If you just make a point and then  support it with facts then you are not adding any real value to your customers.  Your customer can get that without you.  You are the filter and be a very good one if you want to succeed in selling.

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The method that I think does this real well is the PFE Method:

P - Point/Subpoint:  What is the point you are making?
F - Fact/Evidence:  What kind of evidence or facts support your point?
E - Elaboration:  What can you add more to it that the customer will remember afterwards?

Your ability to elaborate will determine how good you are at selling.  If you just present a point and facts, then you are resorting to fact dump that really can be done without you.  You want to avoid that when you are selling.  You want to be the difference maker in how you can get to the heart of the matter.

 
Example of the PFE Method

I will give you a very simple example of how my eleven year old son  sold me in purchasing an iPod Touch Fifth Generation for Christmas.  How he did it, I write about it the blog titled, "Sales Lesson Learned From My Son."  He makes a subpoint about a feature of long battery life  and got my attention very quickly:

He makes his sub-point with "IPod Touch Fifth Generation has a long battery life."
He next provides a fact with "It can last for over eight hours."  
He then elaborates that makes the sale for him, I think: " Dad, this means that next time when we go to Virginia Beach to visit our relatives, I will not be nagging with 'Are we there yet?' "  This resonated with me immediately and I am sure other parents since we know how annoying it is to parents who travel on a long trip with their children.

He sold me and I learned a very good lesson that will make me a better salesman in whatever I am trying to sell.

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Jay Oza is the founder and business development consultant at 5ToolGroup, a company that specializes in helping startups and small companies bring innovation to market within 90 days through our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology to enable frugal or ("Jugaad") innovation with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to constantly be looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This has proven to be the only insurance for success today.

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Improve Your Sales Skills From Flowing An Impromptu Speech

1/20/2014

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Quick Takeaway: If you want to become better at sales, then learn how to outline an impromptu speech and flow it.


When you are being sold, do you now how the salesman did it?  
Have you ever dissected the technique the salesman used to get you to pay attention?  
Do you think that the technique the salesman used influenced your purchasing from him?

I think to be a good salesman, you have to be very good in understanding techniques that a salesmen use on you.  To understand this better, let's take a look at what you can learn from outlining a speech and flowing a speech. 

I will look at this using how one delivers an impromptu speech and flows an impromptu speech that is delivered.  Thsi seems simple but how often do we flow someone's speech outside a speech class to see how it was organized and whether it was well thought out?

Impromptu speech is a quick two point argument that could be used in wide range of settings such as a business meetings, job interviews, conversations, community events, any Q&A  sessions, etc.  It is not an elevator speech, since it would follow a 30 second elevator speech if someone wants to know more after you gave your elevator speech.  The impromptu speech helps you quickly organize your thought and present it within 4 to 7 minute time limit.  


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When you give an an impromptu speech you organize it using the outline shown below:

Introduction


Body

 I Point 1
  A - Support 1
  B - Support 2


II Point 2
  A - Support 1
  B - Support 2

Conclusion


This is what you would do if you are giving an impromptu speech, but what if you are the one who is on the receiving end of one?  


Can you flow it?  


By this I mean can you reproduce the outline (by taking notes) of the speech during the delivery.  If you can then you know how the person's speech was organized to convey what the speaker wanted to say.  You may not agree with the speaker, but at least you know what the main message was and the two points to support the thesis and the supporting evidence of the two points.

What does this have to do with sales?

In fact the way you organize your sales approach and "flow" someone's sales approach is not much different than outlining and flowing an impromptu speech. Flowing is a very useful concept in evaluating speeches not just in terms of taking notes, but also serves as a guide for your performance.  Whenever you are communicating you are performing, and in sales you are communicating so performance is very important in how you are getting your message across to customers.

Before you sell, you have to organize your sales approach in a way that makes sense to the customer so it increases your chances of making a sale.  The thing you have to ask is can the customer "flow" your  sales approach.  If the other customer can, then you have made it easier for the customer to process the information you wanted to convey. 


Occasionally the customer may not purchase from you but at least you have provided all the information the customer needs to make a decision.  Often this is not the case because the salesmen don't make it easier for the customer to process the information clearly and accurately.  Before you can sell, you have to convey the information and ensure that it was received the way you wanted the other person to receive it.  The best way to do this is by "flowing" your sales approach the way you can flow someone's outline of a speech.

If you want to become a better sales person, learn how to outline and flow a speech and apply this technique to organize  your sales approach and make it easier for the customer to "flow" it.  Conversely, you must also see if you can "flow" someone else's sales approach. I think this will make you learn and help you become a better salesperson. 


Good Luck!

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Source:

EdX,org course "Introduction to Public Speaking" by Dr. Matt McGarrity, This was from video lecture 2.2.

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Jay Oza is a founder and senior innovation business development consultant at 5ToolGroup, a company that specializes in helping startups and small established firms bring innovation to market within 90 days through our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology to enable frugal or ("Jugaad") innovation with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to always be looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This is the only insurance for success today.

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Do You Classify Your Prospects as Buy, Sell or HoldĀ 

1/9/2014

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For this post I will be assuming you are selling something that is complex and requires you to be very good at selling. 

It is very important to quickly  qualify very early in the sales process whether your prospect is buying, selling or holding.  You have to assume that you are dealing with a very sophisticated prospect and if you qualify your prospect well, then you can make a sale and potentially secure more business later; if you don't then you may make a quick sale under distress or, worse, increase your cost in an attempt to make a sale and fail.

This is how I do it and I wanted to share it with you since I find it helps me in my sales efforts.

HOLD

This is a prospect who is not likely to make a decision and will be a time sync for you; it is possible he is not ready or simply fishing for free education.  Qualify this one very early otherwise he will increase your sales cost and make you look incompetent to your sales team and executives.  As far as you are concerned this is no sale and you should move on.

BUY

This is little tricky.  If a prospect is in a buy mode, then he knows what he wants and he only cares about his winning. Either you are responding to either a verbal or formal RFI (request for information), request for quote( RFQ) or request for proposal (RFP).  Unless you are desperate, you should try to see if you can reach some kind of a middle ground that satisfies both of you quickly. If not, you have to seriously consider walking away from this prospect too.   This is a decision that many salespeople have to deal with at the end of the quarter to make their numbers;  you have to decide what your situation is and how your company feels about getting business from these types of prospects who have to feel like they won and you lost.  I avoid these too unless overruled by my sales VP.  

SELL

This is the best prospect to go after.  He will be very engaged; he will not be buying or holding,  but selling too.  You will have to be on top of your game if you don't want to be sold on why he can't buy from you.  If you are not attuned, you will definitely be sold.  You will not like this customer during the sales cycle since he will make you work your tail off, but he will be fair and he is not really looking to buy, sell or hold, but to make a fair trade.  I typically fight for this prospect since once you get him, he will remain loyal to you as long as you are on top of your game in both selling and delivering outcomes.  He also wants you to feel like you won too. 

Qualify your prospects and customers well and focus only on those who are aggressively going to be selling to you too.    

Good Luck!
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Jay Oza is a founder and senior innovation business development consultant at 5ToolGroup, a company that specializes in helping startups and small established firms bring innovation to market within 90 days through our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology to enable frugal or ("Jugaad") innovation with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to always be looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This is the only insurance for success today.

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Sales Lesson Learned From My Son

1/7/2014

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Sometimes a dad can learn a lot about sales from his eleven year old son.

Right after Thanksgiving holidays, my son comes to me and tells me that he wants an iPod Touch Fifth Generation product from Apple for Christmas.  I asked him how much would it cost?  He said it wasn't much, about $300. Upon hearing the price, I said, "No way you are getting an iPod."  And I thought that was the end of it.

What my son did after that was he did not let my decision not to get him the iPod Touch deter him, so he did research on the web, Apple's web site, and even Apple store and created two presentations: one technical and one non-technical.  He rehearsed it and made it appear to me at that time that it was some kind of a school project so I was very generous with my feedback to him he could get an "A." (As of this writing I am not sure if he ever was presented in school, though he keeps telling me that it is going to be soon.)

He kept on revising his presentations and started presenting it to relatives, grandparents and others.  Eventually I started hearing from them on what a great job he was doing and my father even came to me and told me that he and my mom wanted to get him the iPod Touch after they were so impressed with his presentation and his passion for the Apple product.  (It seems that the old getting grandparents on your side trick always works.)  My wife and I kept hearing this from others as well such that when people came to visit us they would ask to see his presentations; it generated such a buzz about his being such an Apple expert that everyone thought he had already had the product. When they found out he didn't people would exhort us to get him the product.  He gradually broke down our resistance. 



The key lesson I learned is that sometimes to make a sale you have to persuade those people who can influence the decision makers.  Not sure if he knew this but it worked.

Well you don't have to guess what my son got for Christmas. 

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Jay Oza is a founder and senior innovation business development consultant at 5ToolGroup, a company that specializes in helping startups and small established firms bring innovation to market within 90 days through our unique 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology to enable frugal or ("Jugaad") innovation with a strong business focus.  We believe that to thrive today, you have to always be looking for ways to do lot more with lot less. This is the only insurance for success today.

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