Ok, the title is overly dramatic, but I did see a company encounter an email storm this week which was…well, laughable.  This is a large company with thousands of employees.  One gentleman sent out an email about a specific account with a Word attachment.  What he didn’t know was that one of his distribution lists was wrong – it included everyone in the company.

One person on his list replied to all about printing the document.  That email started the storm.  Person after person started replying to all to remove them from the email list.

It gets better, the original author then sent out another email that simply stated “please reply if you received this email.”  Now it was a tsunami.  People started replying to all to the point where it overburdened the email servers and the entire company email was delayed 4-6 hours.  Of course this all happened in the morning so that email was effectively lost for the day.

Brutal.  One lesson here is to be judicious in your use of reply to all!

Comments(0)

A bumper sticker I saw coming back from lunch today:

My dog is smarter than your honor student.

Comments(0)

Isn’t there an old sports axiom that states games are won or lost before you ever take the field?  Well, at least some form of that saying.  JustSell.com lists a handful of self-defeating thoughts from the sales world (email newsletter – sorry, no link).

Here they are:

• Defeatist (accepting, expecting, or being resigned to defeat)
• Cynical (contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives)
• Vindictive (seeking revenge)
• Blame/ Fault (who cares? what are we going to do now?)
• Wishful (do what you can to influence the deal and keep moving)
• Self-pity (get over yourself… complain less… especially to yourself)
• Worrisome (it won’t help, costs time, and can drag you down)
• Jealous (want it? earn it)
• Pre-argumentative (the imaginary argument you have to prepare yourself for the argument that may never happen)
• Post-argumentative (the imaginary argument you have where you’re quicker than you were in the actual argument)
• Procrastinatory (if you’re going to procrastinate, you might as well do something fun instead of thinking about how bad it is that you’re procrastinating… dummy)

I find that fourth one (blame/fault) to be especially common in sales…and quite detrimental.

Comments(0)

Selling Power provides another good article – Expert Advice for 2009 – that makes 4 relevant suggestions for this year.  Clearly the economy is foremost on everyone’s mind and is affecting sales in a negative way.  As they say, the show must go on.  You can read the article for the 4 suggestions from 4 different sales trainers, but I especially noted these two:

Shift to opportunity mode. Are you in survival mode or opportunity mode? A survival response to the economy is rooted in the “we just need to stay afloat” mentality. Leaders in this mode react by reducing head count, decreasing employee development, and controlling expenses, resulting in employee cynicism and a sacrifice of the company’s long-term ability to sustain growth. Leaders in opportunity mode, on the other hand, view the economy as a chance to improve their business. In times like these, they typically focus on upgrading the work force and on strategic cost cutting. The result is greater employee commitment and a strengthened ability to sustain growth. When “opportunity” leaders must cut head count, they eliminate their “C” & “D” performers. Lee Colan, president, The L Group, www.theLgroup.com.

Focus on leads. Sales organizations that bolster dedicated investments in lead quality and demand generation will be rewarded with significantly higher sales productivity. That goes for 2009 and beyond. The typical company is struggling in the area of leads. The length of time it takes to close a deal is longer than ever and an increasing number of opportunities are culminating in a “no decision” outcome. Moreover, marketing support has already dropped about 20 percent and may go deeper in 2009. That drop in support means sales teams will need to do more work on their own to fill up the front of the pipeline at a time when the number of leads required to close the same amount of business is going up. The good news: by honing in on this one area, you’ll see a significant impact on your results. Lee Levitt, program director, IDC Sales Advisory Service, www.idc.com.

Leads and opportunities are the key in this economy…in any economy really.  The importance of this topic is heightened during a downturn.  I was on the road last week and can tell you that there are still deals occurring, companies are still growing and new opportunities are available.

I agree with the author’s statement that companies need to be in opportunity mode right now.  Survival mode is similar to the prevent defense in football – usually it prevents you from winning.  Survival mode may lead to death.  It is important to stay aggressive and move forward.  One benefit is that some of your smaller, less financially stable competitors may disappear.  But be wary for the last move of a dying company is a desperately low bid.

Comments(0)

Interesting article from Selling Power’s sales management newsletter – Think Small.  Here is the opening set-up for the article:

Yet in times like these, the Big Deal is more difficult than ever, if not impossible, to come by. That’s why Small is the new Big. Find ways to close smaller deals and take on smaller projects than you might have considered in the past. By doing so, you’re not settling for less; rather, you’re taking a more achievable step toward a potentially lucrative, long-term relationship with a customer.

I agree.  Downturns are an opportunistic time to establish a relationship with a large company.  I take the same approach – any port in a storm.  The good news is that prospects do have more time right now and are more receptive to contact.  Right now, small deals help keep companies afloat.

The suggestions from the article (my editing):

1. Smaller deals are easier to negotiate and close. They take less time, are typically less problem-ridden, and they allow you to ease into a relationship. And when a deal takes less time to close, you have a better chance of getting in the door before changes in the players or situation occurs.
2. Smaller deals are less risky. They’re less risky to the buyer because they involve a smaller investment and give buyers a chance to reap a tangible benefit before making a larger investment. And they’re less risky to the seller because they allow you to focus on delivering better results with fewer resources.
3. A smaller deal can secure irreversible steps toward a bigger deal. If your goal is ultimately a large, multi-year contract, small steps can get you there faster and more securely. On the way, you learn how to work with the other side and you’ll get their full support based on your proven success.
4. A smaller deal can reduce disclosure requirements. If public companies are involved, a large negotiation might require unhelpful and premature disclosures, whereas a smaller deal can keep it under the radar.

Comments(0)

A lever is “an inducing or compelling force.”  Selling in a down economy is best handled through the use of levers.  I recently discovered a lever with a material that has certain properties and uses that are not offered by the market leader in this space.  The market leader has such a dominant position that most prospects are unaware of the alternate option.  In talking to customers and prospects, the lever became quite obvious.

Of course, discovering a lever is one thing, defining it within the marketplace is another.  The work that now must occur is to translate the lever into the prospect’s world.  Brevity is key.  Real-world application is needed.  Solution-based, problem-solving, market-expanding wording is the template.

Once the translation is complete, it is time to test it with cold prospects to see if it snaps them out of their dismissive state.  The bar here is low – I simply want them to do a double take.  What is this?  How do they do that?  Could we use it?  Simple, straight-forward intrigue is the target.  From there, it is up to the salesperson to qualify the prospect for fit.

Levers work well in any economy, but I think they are heightened in this economy.  Features/benefits are nice for marketing, but you’ll get run over like a speed bump attempting to sell that way in this economy.  Money is tight so the best way to shorten the sales cycle is to couch the discussion completely in the prospect’s world.  Don’t make them translate your solution.  Find the lever and define it in their world by their terms.

Comments(0)