Christopher Thompson

What Is Your Biggest Selling Challenge?

This month's expert, Christopher Thompson, is the founder and president of Catch 22 Solutions, a sales performance consulting company located in Manchester, New Hampshire that helps companies and sales professional accelerate sales performance by enhancing and improving their current selling processes.

Mr. Thompson is quite versed in this area of business gaining his experience through a number of accomplishments including years of employment at the director level for a fortune 1,000 company that sells technology products and services to consumers, businesses and government agencies. In that position he was responsible for the sales performance and professional development of corporate sales executives in their first twelve months of employment with the company.  He has trained more than 300 employees utilizing his result's oriented training methods and as a result of his many successes received numerous achievement awards.

Mr. Thompson is a certified sales trainer, recognized by A.S.T.D., AchieveGlobal and several other sales training methods. He is a contributor to the Union Leader NH Sunday News business section where his column, titled "Closing the Deal" is featured weekly.  Mr. Thompson was also recognized as an expert author through Ezine Articles.com where his sales and business columns are published.

Mr. Thompson's expertise is extensive and varied, therefore for this month's "Ask-the-Expert" forum we've elected to go with an open-ended format whereby readers are invited to submit any questions pertaining to sales; however, we welcome readers to share their biggest selling challenges to which Mr. Thompson will respond.

QUESTION: In your article Is it Really All about Price? you referenced that doing business online has almost become a norm. Do you feel that advertisements should then focuses on promoting and driving the potential consumer to the web site rather than directly to the product?

ANSWER: Depending on the purpose of the advertisement, my answer would vary, so I will give you a few different scenarios.

If you are trying to build brand recognition and not push a particular product or service, it may make sense to direct consumers to a general website.

If you are trying to promote a specific product or service, it makes sense to highlight the product or service you are trying to sell.

Either way, the web site should do both. It should be a vehicle to promote the company as well as the product or service.

The best example of this is to examine the different types of advertisements that direct consumers to a web site. Some ads state "visit http://www.abcde.com/ for more information". Other ads may say "visit www.abcde.com/product for more information".

If you have more details on the specific campaign you are focused on, I could give you more detailed examples of what I have seen work well. The answer will vary depending on the product, target market and goals of the ad among other things.

QUESTION: In an April article entitled, Data is there to be utilized, the topic of interest is CRM. For a new product entering the market, would you propose buying the consumer list from a competing/similar company and incorporating that information into the new companies CRM database to obtain a stronger potential market?

ANSWER: First off, thank you for your loyal reading of my weekly columns in the Union Leader.

Your question regarding lists being imported into a CRM is a good one and a topic I have seen many companies question.

Regarding the list itself, I am a big fan of investing in customer intelligence, which is ultimately what a list is. The beauty of buying lists is that you can filter the criteria and request specific requirements that you have identified as relevant to your new product launch. As an example, if you want to target businesses in a particular vertical market with revenues over $10,000,000 and a full time employee base between 50-100, you can request that criteria to be filtered before you buy the list. The criteria that you define is critical to the effectiveness of the list and your campaign.

As far as buying the lists from a company within your market, I personally have never done that. However, I have had great success purchasing lists from companies such as Info USA and Harte Hankes. Both companies can provide almost any list you can think of and you can drastically increase the effectiveness of your selling efforts by first defining the exact criteria you are looking for and then requesting the criteria to be applied to whatever list you are buying.

I have a rule with lists and other information that is imported into a CRM "Garbage in, garbage out". In other words, if you put a cheap, unqualified list into your CRM, be prepared to deal with the results of your selling effectiveness as a result of the list. When buying lists, you truly get what you pay for. I encourage companies to invest in their list and expect to pay more for better filtered and better quality results from companies who specialize in customer intelligence.

Question: Can you provide some tips for identifying specific target markets for products or services that are sold?

Answer: Let me start with the one step I have seen a lot of companies miss. That step is taking a look at your product or service and identifying all of the possible needs it can solve. By understanding all of the needs associated with your product or service, you will be better able to identify potential customers. An example I often use is how Alka-Seltzer can be used to unclog a drain, clean a toilet and remove residue from a pan along with its primary intended use of neutralizing stomach acid. When you think of all the different markets Alka Seltzer could go after, it's almost endless.

My next suggestion would be to sort through all of the needs your product or service addresses and decide which one your product would best serve and which market makes the most sense from a practical standpoint. What is your product or service actually designed to do. Although Alka Seltzer can clean a pan, does that angle make the most sense? They clearly didn't think so.

Another step I often see overlooked is the step of truly researching and understanding all of the potential markets your product or service fits well in. If you are trying to identify the best target market, it only makes sense to understand all of the potential markets. It takes time to fully understand each one, but it is critical to your future selling and marketing efforts. I worked with a company who did a heavy marketing campaign focused on Venture Capitalists with the goal of reaching the companies they and their company invested in. Come to find out, the Venture Capitalists didn't care much about what this company could offer and had minimal involvement in the companies they funded. The research you do on potential target markets should be based primarily on which markets offer the most opportunity for whatever it is you are selling.

In summary, I would suggest asking the following questions to better help in identifying your target market.

- Why would someone buy your product or service?

- What uses make the most sense and offer the greatest opportunity?

- Of all the markets, which will I go after and why?

- What do I know about the market?

- What markets have my competitor's products or services done well in?

- What markets may be untouched or less saturated?

QUESTION: Do you have any special tips for selling in a slower economy?

ANSWER: Great question and one that I have been getting often. It's no secret that the economy is slow and many businesses are seeing the difference. Here are a few suggestions on how to sell in a slower economy and most importantly, a few tips about how to handle the mental aspects of selling in a slow economy.

- Don't use the slow economy as an excuse for poor performance. It's too easy to get wrapped up in the negative and focus on what is going wrong. Instead, channel your focus into preparation, discipline and hard work. Implement a "No Econoexcuse" policy!

- There are only two ways to increase sales. You can sell to more customers or you can sell more to your current customers. Look for creative ways to do both, but selling to more customers tends to be more impactful in a slow economy. And there are only two ways to do that:  Working harder and smarter than you did before.

- With budgets being cut and consumer confidence at an all time low, companies have to get creative with financing and compelling financial offers to entice buying. The best recent example I have seen is the gas deal Dodge is offering for all new car and truck purchases. You only pay $2.99 a gallon for the first three years owning the car. That's creative! Relay ideas and challenge your finance team to get creative.

- When spending is down, competition is even fiercer. The same people are fighting for fewer dollars and you have to gain a competitive edge against your competition. Spend the extra time improving your skills and being a student of your profession.

- Identify all of the different ways you can overcome pricing or budget objections. Once you have identified all the ways to overcome the objections, refine your approach, rehearse your presentation and become an expert at handling any objection related to price, budget and spending. You know you are going to get them, so it's critical to be prepared.

- Qualify prospects early and quickly. If it applies to your selling process, identify budgets, decision makers and timelines as early as possible in the selling process. This will ultimately speed up your sales cycle and help you to move on to new prospects when the time is right.

QUESTION:  You said, "I have had great success purchasing lists from companies such as Info USA and Harte Hankes." I recently attended a seminar regarding e-mail marketing, and the speaker said buying a list is one of the worst ways to gain loyal customers. He suggested that by developing a personalized list, consumer loyalty rises. Do you have any thoughts?

ANSWER:  I believe the two different scenarios being referred to may be the cause of the opposing views. In that particular response, the person was asking about loading a list into a CRM to obtain a stronger potential market. In your situation, you were attending a seminar specifically about email marketing. Here is the issue: If you are interested in creating an effective email marketing campaign, you can't just buy a list of email addresses and blast unsolicited emails out to people. That is called spam and thanks to our lawmakers, it is illegal. If you want to build an effective email marketing campaign, you must first obtain permission from the people you are emailing prior to sending them solicitations. So I would agree with the speaker that it would be much more impactful to build an email marketing list using a list that is personalized and contains people with whom you have some sort of business relationship with.

I think it would be helpful for me to explain the different businesses needs that caused the companies to buy the two lists I was referring to.

When a company I was working with purchased a list from Info USA, they were targeting a general vertical market and wanted business names, addresses, phone numbers and contacts to develop an aggressive selling effort. They utilized the information to call and mail the companies on the list.

Harte Hankes specializes in more specific intelligence and can give you a list that contains criteria such as how many phone lines they have, their credit rating, executive team contact info as well as detailed descriptions of the technology they have in place. Harte Hankes was used as a way to gather customer intelligence which was then used to create strategic sales and marketing plays. The information was matched up with their current customer database and customer profiles were created for the sales people to utilize. Knowledge is power and the sales people had information at their fingertips that allowed them to drastically improve their selling efforts.

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding lists and their uses.

QUESTION: Today, consumers are more educated and savvy.  They know what they want and they research and compare products and price before purchasing.  Also, they tend to choose more carefully what they spend on in a slower economy.  How can sales people best build relationship with customers in such circumstance?  What's the best approach for salespeople to approach savvy consumers?

ANSWER: Your point is so critical for sales people in today's business world to understand. The internet has provided everyone virtually unlimited access to product information, pricing and information about your company.  Here are a few suggestions on ways I have dealt with savvy, educated consumers and buyers:

- Set the stage. I have found setting the stage or setting upfront expectations with savvy consumers and buyers is critical. Here is an example of a statement I have used with great success: "It seems like you have taken this decision very seriously and have spent a lot of time researching your options. My job is to understand your needs, understand what is most important to you and educate you on (what you sell). Your job as the customer is to decide if (what you sell) is a good fit for you.

- The one selling factor to always remember is that sales is a people business. Yes you have a product or service to sell, but people buy from people they like and people they trust. I have a rule that I consider one of my favorite rules related to connecting with people and building rapport: "People love to talk about themselves, they love to talk about what they know and they love to talk about what they do for work".

- Ask questions. One of the dangers associated with being too educated before you consider a purchase is that you make assumptions based on information you have read. Don't assume consumers know everything and your line of questioning can help determine if the consumer really understands all of the unique elements of your product or service. Questions will also help you gain the best possible understanding of their needs.

- Acknowledge their extensive knowledge and understanding of your product or service. People like to be complimented and recognized.

- Be confident. I refer to this often, but confidence is critical and even more so with savvy and educated customers. They want to know they are buying from someone who knows what they are talking about. People like to do business with successful people and nobody responds well to unconfident, unsure sales people.

- There is only one way to get someone interested in what you sell. You yourself have to be interested in what you sell. Enthusiasm, confidence and passion all shine through in the selling process and help influence the way people perceive a situation.

Good selling.

QUESTION:  When involved with face-to-face business sales, I would think that your first impression plays a big role in the outcome. Can you make some suggestions for how a business to business salesperson can make the best first impression? I look forward to your response.

ANSWER: Thanks for your question. You hit on one of my favorite sales related topics!

Your thought about first impressions is very accurate. The first impression you make with new prospects or customers has a major impact on the future of your business relationship. Face to face selling has many unique elements and advantages. It also requires you to be on top of your game, as there is not much room for error when you are meeting with someone in person. Here are a few suggestions that I have found to be helpful in making first impressions with customers.

- Remember that sales is a people business. Of course you are selling a product or service, but people do business with people they like and they do business with people they feel comfortable with and trust. I often speak of what your prospects are thinking when they first meet you. 1. Can I trust this person? 2. Do I like this person? 3. Does this person know what they are talking about? Focusing your selling efforts around these three important factors will help create lasting first impressions.

- My favorite rule of building rapport and connecting with customers: "People love to talk about themselves, people love to talk about what they do for work and people love to talk about what they know." Use the 70/30 rule and listen 70% of the time and do 30% of the talking. You will not only connect and build rapport with customers quickly, but you will uncover needs and opportunities that you otherwise would have missed during excessive sales chatter.

- Dress for success! People like to do business with successful, confident people. Leave the shorts and weekend attire at home. Dress for the position above you, not the one you are in. Although business casual is the norm in most business environments, being overdressed is much better than walking into a sales call not dressed appropriately and causing your customer to questions your professionalism.

- Make eye contact! I always question people who can't have a conversation with me without looking me in the eye. I find it very strange and have determined that it is caused by feelings of apprehension and feeling unconfident with the situation. I don't know about you, but I won't buy anything from someone who isn't confident in themselves and confident in what they sell. If they don't believe, why should I?

- Be on time and come prepared with everything you will need for the meeting (technology equipment, literature, business cards, proposals, etc.)

- And my last piece of advice revolves around being truly interested in what your customers have to say. It is important to be completely tuned in and at a high level of engagement throughout the meeting. If a customer feels you are not paying attention or there is a perception that you don't care, you can kiss that opportunity goodbye.

QUESTION:  I have a friend working in Bob's furniture in Portland ME.  According to our conversations about her job and all these years of friendship with her, to me, she seems like one of those good salespeople who are honest, trustworthy, listen and care about customers needs and have great product knowledge.  She is willing to spend times with customers to explain products and recommend the best solutions to their needs. She is hardly being pushy to close a deal.  However, she has difficult to reach her quota and often being written up by the manager.  Can you provide some tips for good salespeople who have bad performance?  Thank you

ANSWER:  It sounds like your friend is in a challenging situation. Every successful sales person I know has had periods of time where their performance was below expectations. Every sales person goes through the ups and downs and it is important to first recognize this reality.

Here are a few suggestions for your friend and other sales professionals who may not be meeting performance expectations:

- My first comment would be about your friend "hardly being pushy to close a deal". Although most people respond negatively to high pressure sales, there is something to be said for a fair amount of aggressiveness and a sense of urgency, especially in the type of selling situation your friend is in. She basically has people coming in to "look" at furniture. She has a very small window of time to engage the customer, understand their needs and persuade them to make a decision right there. If they walk out of the store without buying something, it is highly likely they won't be back. There is a fine line between pushy and professionally persistent and the best sales people I know walk that line well.

- Throughout my career, I have used a very simple formula to analyze my performance as well as others. The formula is known as the "Sales Performance Formula" and is as follows:

Attitude + Activity + Skill = Performance

Within each high level category you have numerous other factors. Take Skill as an example. There are numerous skills that impact your performance such as communication skills, product skills/knowledge, sales skills, etc. But the formula allows you to narrow the focus on what is negatively impacting your performance.

- Ask for help! When you are in the type of situation your friend is in, there should be above average levels of support, including coaching, one on ones and other guidance. It sounds like the company has a performance improvement procedure and is following that, but don't settle for what they offer. Go above and beyond and engage others around you to work on the skills you need to improve your performance.

- Practice your presentation. Presentation is everything. You have to know what you are going to say, how you are going to say it and also be prepared for the objections that are common within your selling process.

QUESTION:  Here's the scenario:  you finally get a shot with that new customer you've been prospecting for months, but things go wrong from the start.  Even worse - it's not your fault.  Damaged shipments, warehouse ships the wrong product, processing issues with the manufacturer, etc.  The customer is upset and ready to leave.  How do you save the account?

ANSWER: Remember, as the sales person and one that interfaces directly with customers, everything is your fault. In the eyes of the customer, you are the person who is responsible for orchestrating the details of your business relationship. The last thing your customer wants to hear is different reasons why things went wrong. They want to know that someone (you) is taking responsibility for the mistakes and fixing whatever issues there are to fix.

This type of scenario is a reality for every sales professional and one that is frequently repeated throughout your career. Here are a few suggestions on how to handle your specific situation.

- Notify the customer immediately and apologize. The sooner your customer is aware of the mistakes, the better. The last thing you want to do is put off telling your customer, as there could be impacts to your customers business as a result of your mistakes.

- If the mistakes are serious, you have to take a hard look at making the customer feel like they were compensated for their time and frustration. Offer your customer a little more than they originally purchased. It is also helpful to offer the customer discounts on future orders. As an example, you may say "I will give you 20% off your next three orders". This will help reduce the chances your customer will up and leave and give you an opportunity to show the customer what you are capable of doing.

- Take ownership. As I mentioned earlier, your customer doesn't want to hear excuses. Tell the customer what went wrong. Tell the customer you are responsible. Tell them what you are going to do to resolve the problem and finally, tell the customer what you will do to prevent the mistakes from happening in the future. Most rational people understand that mistakes happen no matter how good a sales person is.

- Communicate within your company. Make sure people who were directly involved in the mistakes are made aware of the problem. If problems are not called out, they will never get fixed.

- Engage your management team. One of the most effective ways to prevent customers from walking is to engage your management or leadership team. Have someone from upper management call them to speak about what happened. It shows the customer you care about and value their feedback. In addition, it also shows the customer how important their business is to your organization and what steps you are willing to take to keep them happy. They are reassured that everything will be taken care of.

- I'll leave you with a final quote: "Your customers don't care about your mistakes, they care about what you are going to do for them".