The Prospecting Professor

My First Sales Job

My first sales job was selling ollalieberries at the Farmers Market on Alemany Blvd., in San Francisco.

Although I grew up in San Francisco, my grandmother had a ranch in Watsonville, CA...110 miles south of the city. Picturesquely nestled against the coast range, and within site of Mt. Madonna, it was a pretty modest operation. We grew ollalieberries...which are a cross between a Logan and a Young. They are a hardy berry...tart and sweet...a perfect black berry for pies and cobblers.

The ollalieberry season is short...they ripen in June, and are pretty much done by July. During the weekends in June, our family had a stand at the Alemany Farmers Market in The City. (Today, there are two farmers markets in SF...the newer, trendy, and very spendy market is on the Embarcadero, by the Ferry Building. In my youth, there was only ONE farmers market.)

On the Fridays in June, my mother and four younger brothers and I would arise at the crack of dawn, and hit the berry fields...and begin picking the berries that we would sell at the Market on the following day. Fruit-picking can be a numbingly mindless activity...the only ancillary benefit is that you can pop a berry in your mouth when you're hungry. By 3 or 4 in the afternoon, our picking was done...and we loaded the crates into our Chevy Carryall for the two-hour drive up the Coast Highway to the city.

On Saturday morning, we'd get into the truck (which by now had this amazingly concentrated berry smell)...and drive out to our stall at the market. We set out the berry crates...and away we went. The regulars...who would wait all year for the ollalie season...would swoop in and load up on the amount needed for their jams and pies. The neophytes needed more guidance...you needed to give them the "Ollalieberry Elevator Speech,"...the history, background, uses, etc. By this point, the 'free samples' closed the deal...although the tartness of the ollalie was a surprise to those who were anticipating the sweetness of the blackberry.

Initially, I wasn't a very good 'ollalieberry salesmen.' I was shy, and the smalltalk was a challenge. Soon, when I realized how convivial the whole atmosphere was, I developed my rudimentary selling skills. In retrospect, it was a perfect way to learn how to 'sell.'

Today, Watsonville and the entire Pajaro Valley, is surprisingly unchanged from days of my berry-picking youth. Watsonville remains the Berry Capital of the country...most strawberries and blackberries that you find in your grocery store, will show a Watsonville address.

However, development and growth pressures are fast encroaching. The monied interests from the other side of the mountains are looking longingly at this fertile California idyll. It would be a shame if this area was too soon...stripped and mauled.

Your Style is Your 'Voice'

Today is the birth anniversary of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the essayist and philosopher.

Emerson once said, "A person's style is a person's mind's voice." Although Emerson was probably not thinking in these terms, his words could apply to the sales profession...and the power of making a positive first impression. Research indicates that we form 'first impressions' within 5-7 seconds of meeting someone for the first time...and it can often take as many as 20 additional interactions to alter whatever that 'first impression' was.

Emerson was also one of the first Americans to make a living from the lecture circuit. In the nineteenth century, public lectures were increasingly common. Emerson used lecturing a one of his main sources of income for him and his family. He oversaw the advertising and ticket sales. Tickets, $2 for twelve lectures, could be purchased at Boston bookstores.

Emerson was a great public speaker. He  had begun his career as a Unitarian minister, and enjoyed giving sermons. His lectures drew 300-400 attendees, and he often scheduled 3-4 lectures weekly. Soon, his reputation grew and he was traveling as far west as St. Louis, and also to England and France. By the end of his life, he had become a celebrity in America and Europe and was making $100 per lecture.

By the way, last year Donald Trump was paid a cool $1,000,000 for his lecture, "How to Succeed in Real Estate." Somewhere, Ralph Waldo Emerson is smiling...with irony.

Low Hanging Fruit

Seamus Brown is a refugee from the high-powered sales world of Silicon Valley...who now runs a sales training and coaching firm out of Grass Valley, CA, from his website, www.industrialego.com. In a recent newsletter, he describes the danger of picking of "low-hanging fruit"...from a sales perspective.

Verbatim...here is what he says:

Have you ever heard another salesman say "I'm going after
the low-hanging fruit"?

Or "There's lots of low-hanging fruit in this territory"?

I certainly have heard this sales cliché hundreds of times.

The low-hanging fruit is the stuff that is "easy to pick",
because it hangs low and you don't have to "work" to get it
by climbing the tree or getting a ladder.

Likewise in sales, low-hanging fruit is supposed to be the
"easy sales".

What is attractive about the low-hanging fruit is that we
typically define these deals as ones where the prospect is
ready to make a purchase.

Now if you already have a relationship with the prospect and
you have gotten into the account early before all the
others, then a prospect who is ready to make a purchase is a
*very* qualified deal.

But if you are just finding out about a deal that is ready
and in the market make a decision, then you should be very
concerned.


OVER-HANDLED FRUIT GOES BAD

Unfortunately there is a problem with the low-hanging fruit.

Do you know what that problem is?

The "fruit" has been handled too much.

You see, when there is low-hanging fruit out there,
everybody knows about it.

And everybody wants to touch it, have it, have it, pick it,
and eat it.

Every salesman in the territory knows about the low-hanging
fruit.

So what seem to be the easiest deals are instead the *most*
competitive deals you can play in.


ONLY ONE CAN ULTIMATELY HARVEST THE FRUIT

In the end though, only one person can pick that piece of
fruit and eat it, and only one salesman can close the sale
and fatten his wallet.

So the next time you get a lead that says they are ready to
make a purchase, and "Can we come and look at your product",
beware.

This is probably a piece of fruit that has been handled too
much.

Such potential sales should be qualified extra hard.

Here's a few questions you should ask of the deals that
sound to-good-to-be-true:


o Why are they calling You?

o Why are they calling You Now?

o Who is in the deal besides You?

o How long have they been looking at Your Competitors?

o Why don't they just purchase from one of Your Competitors?


Now I am not telling you to pass on every piece of low-
hanging fruit. Some people can do very well playing here as
long as you know your's and your competitor's strengths and
weaknesses really well.


LOOK HIGHER UP ON THE TREE

What I do suggest if you want to have the most success in
selling, is to look higher up on the tree.

The fruit that is higher up on the tree hasn't been handled
very much. It is harder to get.

There are accounts in your territory right now that could be
a prospect for you. They may need something a few months or
more later on this year.

Those are some of the best accounts to prospect in.

But you have to prospect differently.

When you are looking for the low-hanging fruit, typically
all you do is ask someone if they are in the market to
purchase the type of product you sell.

I call this method of prospecting "polling".

When you look higher up on the tree, you prospect for
problems. You look for problems that you can solve well with
your product.

When you prospect higher up the tree like this, you get
better access to decision-makers, and you have significant
influence over their decision criteria.

Its ultimately about being proactive in your territory, and
focusing on finding the prospects that are best for you to
sell to.

"Educating" the Prospect

In the March 13th issue of "B to B", author Wayne Pollard makes a good point in his article, "The Education Fallacy."

Ofttimes, a salesperson will give an 'educational presentation to inform a prospect about his/her offering.

However, for certain prospects, an 'educational presentation' will fall upon deaf ears...and may even be counterproductive.

Let's assume that a prospect is reasonably knowledgeable about the marketplace of whatever you are selling and leaning against purchasing what you are selling. If the salesperson delivers a presentation to a prospect who is already emotionally committed to another course of action...the prospect will be more resistant to any new information that threatens their rigid perspective.

Here's a good example of how this works. An educated smoker who has seen and heard all of the evidence on the evils of smoking is presented with evidence that smoking causes cancer. However, the smoker is completely committed to continuing their smoking...and will resist the 'new' evidence by discrediting it.

'Educating' them will not change their minds.

What's the answer? In the first place, 'educating' a prospect is not the same as persuasion. Persuading a prospect to change their minds requires empathy...what are the propects' emotional reasons for holding on so tightly to their viewpoint?

'Educating' the market without persuasion does not result  in sales.

Sell Like Archie Leach

In 1922, Archie Leach was unemployed. (Note: Archie is pictured at left.) He was 18 years old, and had been touring the vaudeville theaters of America with the Pender troupe...a group of young vaudevillians and physical comedians from Brixton, London. Looking for work, Archie managed to get an advertising job with the family that owned Steeplechase Park, the amusement park in Coney Island. This "advertising job" entailed Archie's use of his acrobatic background...he walked around on six-foot stilts with a sandwich-board that promoted the park's various rides and other sundry amusements.

In later years, Archie moved to Hollywood and began a successful acting career.

In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the sandwich-board was prominently used by by local businesses...who took advantage of the legions of unemployed men who were eager for any sort of gainful employment.

In a recent edition of Entrepreneur magazine, author Roy Williams describes "10 Unusual Ways to Advertise." Listed below are his 10 suggested strategies. Although he doesn't mention sandwich-boards, he easily could have...sandwich-boards are certainly in the same vein.

• Door-hangers on doorknobs
• Flyers under windshield wipers
• Purchased word-of-mouth
• Virtual showroom
• Nighttime silhouettes
• T-shirts and vests
• Hand stamps
• Publicity stunts
• Self-publish a book
• Spray-painted signs

In his classic book, "Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut", author David Shenk describes how the average American is pounded with 3000+ advertising messages daily. Since this book was first published 10 years ago, one would estimate that the number is significantly larger today.

In light of this bombardment, how does one craft a message that can be heard today?

Maybe the idea of a sandwich-board isn't so crazy after all?

Bad Sales Behaviors

A few years ago, Purchasing magazine surveyed their audience, i.e. purchasing professionals, and asked what traits they liked best...and least...in salespeople.

The #1 most admired characteristic was thoroughness and follow-through. Coming in #2 was market knowledge and willingness to keep one posted.

The least desirable trait was a basic lack of knowledge, and a lack of preparation on the part of the salesperson. Similarly, a lack of interest and/or purpose on the part of the salesperson was viewed negatively.

Interestingly, in a survey completed in November of 2005, Herbert Research uncovered that 62% of salespersons spent 20 minutes or less for sales calls. 33.3% spent 1-10 minutes on preparation.

Another interesting finding of the survey is the sources that salespeople used, 44% used Google as their principal source. In contrast, only 2% used the Wall Street Journal, either print or online, as their go-to source.

This last point is a topic worthy of discussion by itself. With the ubiquitous presence of Google, many of us have forgotten about the distinctions between the visible, and invisible, web. The "visible web" is what you see in the results pages from general web search engines. It's also what you see in almost all search directories. The "invisible web" is what you cannot retrieve ("see") in the search results and other links contained in these types of tools. The "invisible web" includes most databases, and sites that are password-protected, e.g. the Wall Street Journal Online.

Depending upon who you  listen to, Google indexes between 4-8 billion pages. In comparison, the 60 largest "invisible web" sources contain 84 billion pages of content.

In other words, Google is not God...or his son either.

Bad Sales Managers

Shamus Brown is a Northern California-based sales coach, whose sales career began in the Silicon Valley, where he sold business-to-business technology sales. His sales training organization, Industrial Ego Sales Training (www.industrialego.com), is based in Nevada City, CA...the heart of the California Gold Rush Country. (Special Note: the accompanying image is NOT a depiction of Shamus Brown. However, he is a very persuasive person from the annals of history. Any guesses?)

Recently, Mr. Brown discusses the Top 5 Lies of Bad Sales Managers:

1. It's a numbers game. Although there is a grain of truth in this statement, it is buried within a giant sand dune. Of course, if you make 10,000 sales calls you will close a small percentage of them. The problem is the amount of time it would take to make 10,000 sales calls. For most sales persons, time is a precious, finite quality...and not to be wasted. Salespersons who play the "numbers game" blindly, are often led down dead-end alleys. In sales, skill and attitude matter as much as "numbers."
2. You're not working hard enough. I was once working with a financial advisor who was consistently making 100 sales calls daily (via the telephone.) He was not having much success. One day, his sales manager called him into his office and proclaimed that the advisor must make 200 sales calls daily. Hmmmm. If one is not effective at setting appointments or closing sales while making 100 calls daily, how would doing the same thing...twice as much...improve matters?
3. Everybody's a prospect. If everybody's a prospect, then no one's a prospect. Focusing on a niche audience and/or prospects who are most likely to purchase your goods/services, seems to be a much better way to go.
4. The solution is simple: Just make more calls. See #1 and #2.
5. You're not motivated enough. If you are giving your sales pitch to unqualified and uninterested prospects, the amount of your motivation is irrelevant. Moreover, a lack of sales success will lead to frustration and burnout on the part of the salesperson...which points to an ignominious end to your "glorious" sales career.

Shamus Brown has more selling nuggets from the gold fields of California, that he dispenses though his sales newsletter, EgoPower...which is available via his website.

Salesperson U.

In 2002, Russ Berrie invested $6.2 million to establish the Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales Laboratory, at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ. Russ Berrie, who died in 2002, began his career as a manufacturer's representative and founded Russ Berrie and Company in 1963 with his first product...the Fuzzie Wuzzie.

The Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales Laboratory simulates real-world experiences using a state-of-the-art technology conference room and training rooms that re-create various office environments. The rooms are monitored by video and one-way glass, connected to a control room housing an enormous video command console. Students practice their presentation, cold-calling, and other sales skills under the watchful eyes of a lab technician and instructors.

The lab supports the Russ Berrie Institute’s undergraduate curriculum and development programs for sales professionals which include modules on coaching, business acumen, strategic account management, negotiation, customer relationship management systems, and professional sales, as well as customized training and certificate programs.

The contemporary graduate of the professional sales program will understand and recognize how to effectively apply sales theories within the firm, utilize skills concerning selling foundations, understanding buyers, affect effective communication skills, implement selling strategies including initiating customer relationships, approaching customers, and delivering sales presentation delivering. Graduates will be prepared to utilize well-developed and rational decision making methodologies in handling customer dealings, team selling, and self-leadership, as well as coordinating and executing those activities that support the creation of goods and services.

Tuition for one year of full-time studies at WPU ranges from $8,700 for state residents to $13,800 for out-of-state residents.

Door-to-Door Selling

Door-to-door sales has a rich tradition in this country. In the early years in America, The "Yankee Peddler" walked or rode from door-to-door or farm-to- farm. They sold items like pins, needles, hooks, scissors, combs, small hardware, and perfume. Those who walked carried their goods in tin trunks slung on their backs by a harness or leather strap. The more prosperous used wagons.

Today the direct selling tradition continues with more than 300 companies selling direct to customers through consultants and home parties. While direct sales is still just a small proportion of total retail sales (1%)...that is still a figure in excess of $30 billion annually.

The older direct selling companies are well-known, with names like: Amway, Fuller Brush, Mary Kay, Shaklee, and Tupperware. However, the industry is experiencing a growth spurt. There have been more start-ups within the past five years than have been seen in the previous twenty. The Direct Selling Association, www.dsa.org now has more than 150 active member companies.

Direct selling means low overhead and offers customers a chance to test, touch, and taste a product before buying. However the key to success appears to be the enthusiasm of the consultants...who use and believe in the products they sell. It's also about interaction and socializing, especially for those companies that emphasize the sales party as the primary selling vehicle.

The industry received a big boost from Warren Buffett. In 2002, Berkshire Hathaway purchased Pampered Chef ,which markets house and kitchenwares.

Doris Christopher founded the Pampered Chef in the basement of her Chicago home in 1980. The stay-at-home mom had a simple idea: offer professional-quality kitchen equipment directly to consumers through in-home cooking demonstrations performed by a sales force of "kitchen consultants". Let customers see how the product works, try it out, and taste the results.

Reportedly, Mr. Buffett's company paid Doris Christopher a cool $900 million. Not bad for a former home economics teacher.

Persistence

One of the best lesson's on sales persistence comes from Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham." The protagonist of the story, Sam-I-am attempts to get his friend to eat a noxious-looking concoction of green eggs and ham. The friend refuses, yet Sam-I-am is relentless. He asks his friend if he will try green eggs and ham under an endless number of scenarios. Finally, the friend succumbs...and discovers that he loves them. Sam-I-am would have made a fortune in sales.

Another instructive source on the power of persistence is the life, and words, of Winston Churchill. One of his most often quoted speeches was given at Harrow School on October 29, 1941. These were among the darker days of the war for England. The Nazis had wreaked havoc on the country with a series of intense bombing raids that had lasted for months. The U.S. had not yet entered the war. As Churchill addressed the students of Harrow, he said:

• "...Never give in, never give in, never, never-in-nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy..."

Granted, sales persistence is not the same as defeating the Nazis in the face of overwhelming odds, yet Churchill's words have been inspiration to many.

Deluxe Recipe: Green Eggs and Ham

Ingredients: 2-4 ounces of ham. 8 eggs. 2 tbs of milk. 1-2 drops green food coloring. 1/4 cup chopped chives. 1/8 cup chopped fresh parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. 1 tbs of butter.

With an adult's help, cut ham into small pieces. Mix all ingredients together until eggs are frothy. Heat butter in a large frying pan, and add egg mixture. Stir until eggs are firm but not too runny. (Yuk!) Transfer to individual plates and garnish with parsley sprigs.