The best salespeople are what I would call natural ‘memeticists’. They package ideas and spread them like mad.
The system of thought that explains how ideas spread is called “memetics”. Thinkers in that field (e.g., Dawkins, Hofstadter, Dennett) use the word ‘meme’ to refer to an “idea that spreads”.
Salespeople “position” their products and their pricing. A position statement is a meme. Leaders provide followers with a “frame” or view of how to see a situation. A frame is a meme. Slogans are memes. Memes are, well, memes (after all, we both know that, as of at least now, they’ve spread all the way to your awareness).
Genes are to genetics, as memes are to memetics. Genes are not fussy about whose genes they get paired up with (intra-species, at least); any genetic pattern will do. They just want to reproduce. Neither are memes fussy. And they too just want to reproduce.
Yup, ideas spread, especially when they’re nicely packaged and exposed to lots of people.
For example, you don’t want your kids introduced to drugs or sex or, darn it, even rock and roll, because even exposing them to the notion might start them on a path of no return. You KNOW those particular memes are nasty. On the other hand, surely you’ve packaged up a few favourable memes for the kids around you: “do a good deed for somebody every day”, or “let’s use our 'inside voices' please!”. Just this morning I heard someone at my office spread a client’s meme: “profitable volume”. Memes are everywhere.
Salespeople are one medium through which (hopefully) commercial memes spread. Really good salespeople spread memes like wildfire via the frequency, consistency, clarity, and allure of their utterances.
When you’ve come up with the right response to a price objection, and it seems to work for you, you’ve created a meme. When you and your colleagues say it again and again, it jumps from person to person and thereby reproduces itself — customers believe it and they even learn to justify your price to others.
When a customer is playing “hard to get” (that’s a meme), highly skilled salespeople know the most powerful response (another meme). When a customer complaint scenario arises, it too is a meme. And there is undoubtedly a series of memes to deal with it. “Been there, done that”.
So why are some salespeople better at meme spreading than others? The best salespeople seek, practice and master the phrases that work, the conversation steps that push the right buttons, the responses to challenges, the multitude of magnificent memetic maneuvers that make merriment and money for the masses. Mmmm good. That’s what Campbell’s soups are.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Sales Success Key #8 -- Building Rapport
Twenty-five years ago I was on a canoe trip pondering a name for a new sales model. I came up with “One Mind Selling”. It was meant to highlight the need for a salesperson to establish such finely tuned rapport with a customer that the two of them would become one. Their values would be aligned, their conversational direction would be mutually satisfying, and their pacing would match up perfectly. They would hum right along with the tune of the transaction.
Ultimately I dropped that name for the model because it sounded like hooey.
But it’s been in my heart ever since.
I think I also gave it up because of a deep frustration that when you teach someone a beautiful way of "being", and it sings for them, it eventually gets normalized and devolves into a simple technique. That’s a real problem.
It’s one thing for rapport to flow naturally from multiple dimensions of commonality; it’s another thing for somebody to be "doing" commonality on purpose. I have the same problem with the notion of "making friends"; if you try to make friends, then it's just not natural.
I swear on my life the resolution of this problem in the world of sales comes from integrating – not balancing – one’s self-interests with a genuine interest in helping the other.
Not that scientists can actually touch motives yet, in terms of motives being measurable, observable thingys, but it seems to me that motives define one’s integrity. For what it’s worth, this notion gives me hope in the possibility of commercial authenticity.
Ultimately I dropped that name for the model because it sounded like hooey.
But it’s been in my heart ever since.
I think I also gave it up because of a deep frustration that when you teach someone a beautiful way of "being", and it sings for them, it eventually gets normalized and devolves into a simple technique. That’s a real problem.
It’s one thing for rapport to flow naturally from multiple dimensions of commonality; it’s another thing for somebody to be "doing" commonality on purpose. I have the same problem with the notion of "making friends"; if you try to make friends, then it's just not natural.
I swear on my life the resolution of this problem in the world of sales comes from integrating – not balancing – one’s self-interests with a genuine interest in helping the other.
Not that scientists can actually touch motives yet, in terms of motives being measurable, observable thingys, but it seems to me that motives define one’s integrity. For what it’s worth, this notion gives me hope in the possibility of commercial authenticity.
Sales Success Key #7 -- Work Ethic
If the Platitude WORKS...
Work, tactics, strategy: A bicycle does its thing when effort turns the pedals, the back wheel actualizes the energy, and the front wheel steers the way.
Omphalopsychites (naval gazers) violate their wonderment via their sustained inactivity.
Requisite for work: work.
Knowledge is only half the battle.
Steam is to heat, as success is to industry.
Work, tactics, strategy: A bicycle does its thing when effort turns the pedals, the back wheel actualizes the energy, and the front wheel steers the way.
Omphalopsychites (naval gazers) violate their wonderment via their sustained inactivity.
Requisite for work: work.
Knowledge is only half the battle.
Steam is to heat, as success is to industry.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Sales Success Key # 6 -- Pattern Recognition Skills
You recognize patterns all day, every day. When a situation you’ve seen before arises yet again, you probably know what’s going on and you probably know how to address it. If a colleague says there’s a certain problem that pertains to your area of expertise, you know what to do about it. Perhaps your child comes crying to you about something that’s happened time and time again—you know exactly what’s going on and you know what to say or do. Or your friend plays out behaviour you’ve seen before, you recognize it for what it is, and either address it or go about your day.
I think it was the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead who once said, “Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them.” In other words, when you get good at something, you don’t rethink it every time the matter arises; you address it somewhat on automatic pilot so your attention can go to bigger and better things.
Similarly, experienced salespeople recognize patterns in client situations or selling opportunities and can crank out success with their eyes closed. Really good sales people recognize more complex patterns—situations filled with nuance—and they stickhandle with ease around all the obstacles and the details.
Some salespeople are better than others at recognizing patterns and responding appropriately. How come?
Basically, smarts, experience, and training. There is ample evidence that somebody with a high IQ is faster at recognizing patterns and more able to detect complex ones. It’s self evident that experienced people have, well, experience going for them. And when a salesperson is well trained on the patterns of client situations, in terms of what they are, how to uncover them, and how to address them, that salesperson will be more effective.
For example, a salesman who “gets it” might recognize through a quick conversation with a prospective customer exactly what features and benefits of his products he’ll need to highlight in a formal proposal in order to differentiate himself. He’ll also, from that one conversation, be able to predict what objections the buyer is going to get from her own organization and what it will take to equip her with ammunition to counter those objections.
Of course, recognizing patterns is also the root of bias. When we too quickly judge something to fit into one pattern, we might miss critical details. “Oh, I’ve seen this before,” our unconscious minds quickly conclude. And bingo, we screw up.
When sales trainers go to cocktail parties and get a little tipsy they are known to chat with each other about the trade. One might ask another, “Do you teach salespeople to go looking for certain problems or d’you teach ‘em to go in with an open mind?” The other might reply, “Upsides and downsides, my friend; upsides and downsides. But it sounds like you’re new to the game. Hey Billie,” he hollers across the room, “this guy’s a newbie!”
I think it was the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead who once said, “Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them.” In other words, when you get good at something, you don’t rethink it every time the matter arises; you address it somewhat on automatic pilot so your attention can go to bigger and better things.
Similarly, experienced salespeople recognize patterns in client situations or selling opportunities and can crank out success with their eyes closed. Really good sales people recognize more complex patterns—situations filled with nuance—and they stickhandle with ease around all the obstacles and the details.
Some salespeople are better than others at recognizing patterns and responding appropriately. How come?
Basically, smarts, experience, and training. There is ample evidence that somebody with a high IQ is faster at recognizing patterns and more able to detect complex ones. It’s self evident that experienced people have, well, experience going for them. And when a salesperson is well trained on the patterns of client situations, in terms of what they are, how to uncover them, and how to address them, that salesperson will be more effective.
For example, a salesman who “gets it” might recognize through a quick conversation with a prospective customer exactly what features and benefits of his products he’ll need to highlight in a formal proposal in order to differentiate himself. He’ll also, from that one conversation, be able to predict what objections the buyer is going to get from her own organization and what it will take to equip her with ammunition to counter those objections.
Of course, recognizing patterns is also the root of bias. When we too quickly judge something to fit into one pattern, we might miss critical details. “Oh, I’ve seen this before,” our unconscious minds quickly conclude. And bingo, we screw up.
When sales trainers go to cocktail parties and get a little tipsy they are known to chat with each other about the trade. One might ask another, “Do you teach salespeople to go looking for certain problems or d’you teach ‘em to go in with an open mind?” The other might reply, “Upsides and downsides, my friend; upsides and downsides. But it sounds like you’re new to the game. Hey Billie,” he hollers across the room, “this guy’s a newbie!”
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sales Success Key # 5 -- Goal Orientation
Let’s face it, some people don’t really want to get anywhere. And that’s totally fine with me. Sometimes I think trying to get somewhere just takes my attention away from what’s important in the here-and-now.
That being said, the best salespeople I’ve met do want to get somewhere. They effectively steer sales conversations, they tend to be deliberate in their customer relationships, and they guide their careers towards long-term targets. They are goal oriented.
Think of goal orientation as motivation-with-a-sense-of-direction. It’s emotion, put somewhere. It’s not just having a goal; it’s the disposition to go after it.
Where does goal orientation come from? Desperation can be a motivator. Even the most rambling conversationalists get a whole lot more focused in a threatening atmosphere, such as with a tough boss, big financial needs at home, or a suffering marketplace in a bleak economy. In the carrot and stick motivational paradigm, desperation comes from the stick.
Compensation plans and opportunities for recognition and career advancement are examples of carrots. They move people. They lure people.
Notwithstanding the power of these somewhat externally-based sources, there’s also the goal orientation that’s hardwired right into the human brain. Some people are just more competitive by nature and many people are quite inclined to hunt and farm like crazy—all of which are conducive to sales success. In fact the predisposition to move towards goals is something a good interviewer can uncover during the recruiting process.
What happens AFTER somebody is on board is one of the challenges of sales management. Beyond the standard carrot and stick strategies, what kind of education is called for? For that matter, how can YOU improve your goal orientation?
For one thing, you can’t reach goals if you don’t have them—so, as cliche as it sounds, set them. And create time-bound, tactical plans to achieve them. Be sure they are genuine goals (as opposed to objectives to which you give “lip service”) or they won’t really motivate you.
We become more goal-oriented when we officially commit to goals so it helps to tell others exactly what you are committed to accomplishing. When there’s “skin in the game” we become very focused.
One biggie on this: mindfulness helps a lot. It's a corny word. I know. In one sense the word 'concentration' applies here, but concentrating is about work. In fact many of us find it difficult to sustain concentration over a 2 minute period, let alone a whole career. Mindfulness suggests that when you get really good at it, you don't have to concentrate so much anymore. As with other things, being goal oriented can become second nature with proficiency.
What's it look like? Well, if you start a conversation knowing exactly what you want out of it, and you keep your eye on that ball, effectively juggling all the diversions that naturally arise in a dialogue, you become the true agent of your goal. That’s a beautiful thing. Throw in some authentic empathy and integrity, and, well, you’ll be famous.
It's those diversions that will challenge you. They work against goal orientation. There's the jumble of ideas in your head, and there's the jumble of ideas being thrown at you. Effective jumble management allows your will (you) to come to the fore.
And the essence of jumble management? Well, in the case of customer conversations, knowing the essential dialogue steps helps; it buys you some bandwidth so you have brain-space to concentrate. Knowing what your reactions are while you are having them helps because it allows you to self manage. Knowing how to respond when the other party wants to veer off your planned conversational path also grants you presence of mind. Oh, and and then there’s the goal itself; there’s got to be a purpose.
That’s why they call it capitalism.
That being said, the best salespeople I’ve met do want to get somewhere. They effectively steer sales conversations, they tend to be deliberate in their customer relationships, and they guide their careers towards long-term targets. They are goal oriented.
Think of goal orientation as motivation-with-a-sense-of-direction. It’s emotion, put somewhere. It’s not just having a goal; it’s the disposition to go after it.
Where does goal orientation come from? Desperation can be a motivator. Even the most rambling conversationalists get a whole lot more focused in a threatening atmosphere, such as with a tough boss, big financial needs at home, or a suffering marketplace in a bleak economy. In the carrot and stick motivational paradigm, desperation comes from the stick.
Compensation plans and opportunities for recognition and career advancement are examples of carrots. They move people. They lure people.
Notwithstanding the power of these somewhat externally-based sources, there’s also the goal orientation that’s hardwired right into the human brain. Some people are just more competitive by nature and many people are quite inclined to hunt and farm like crazy—all of which are conducive to sales success. In fact the predisposition to move towards goals is something a good interviewer can uncover during the recruiting process.
What happens AFTER somebody is on board is one of the challenges of sales management. Beyond the standard carrot and stick strategies, what kind of education is called for? For that matter, how can YOU improve your goal orientation?
For one thing, you can’t reach goals if you don’t have them—so, as cliche as it sounds, set them. And create time-bound, tactical plans to achieve them. Be sure they are genuine goals (as opposed to objectives to which you give “lip service”) or they won’t really motivate you.
We become more goal-oriented when we officially commit to goals so it helps to tell others exactly what you are committed to accomplishing. When there’s “skin in the game” we become very focused.
One biggie on this: mindfulness helps a lot. It's a corny word. I know. In one sense the word 'concentration' applies here, but concentrating is about work. In fact many of us find it difficult to sustain concentration over a 2 minute period, let alone a whole career. Mindfulness suggests that when you get really good at it, you don't have to concentrate so much anymore. As with other things, being goal oriented can become second nature with proficiency.
What's it look like? Well, if you start a conversation knowing exactly what you want out of it, and you keep your eye on that ball, effectively juggling all the diversions that naturally arise in a dialogue, you become the true agent of your goal. That’s a beautiful thing. Throw in some authentic empathy and integrity, and, well, you’ll be famous.
It's those diversions that will challenge you. They work against goal orientation. There's the jumble of ideas in your head, and there's the jumble of ideas being thrown at you. Effective jumble management allows your will (you) to come to the fore.
And the essence of jumble management? Well, in the case of customer conversations, knowing the essential dialogue steps helps; it buys you some bandwidth so you have brain-space to concentrate. Knowing what your reactions are while you are having them helps because it allows you to self manage. Knowing how to respond when the other party wants to veer off your planned conversational path also grants you presence of mind. Oh, and and then there’s the goal itself; there’s got to be a purpose.
That’s why they call it capitalism.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
