Wow! It has been are too long since I have posted! That can't happen anymore!
So, how are you? Have you been working on your stories? I hope so, because if you want to influence, story is the best way to do so.
It is interesting to me how many companies, marketers, salespeople, CEO's and people in just about every walk of life are now using stories to get their message across. The fact that story is the best, and probably the oldest, form of communication on earth is starting to dawn on more people everyday.
I remember being at John Maxwell training last year when they announced that they had a guest speaker to introduce. The room started to murmur with excitement and they announced that they were going to have the great motivational speaker Les Brown provide us with some words of wisdom in a fashion that only can be delivered by Les! The energy in the room was off the charts! Everyone in the room knew who Les Brown was and then he walked out on stage! To have him walk out on stage as a surprise guest speaker was awesome! I was in the back third of the room but thought that even from that vantage point, he was larger than life.
Les Brown talked for an hour. He talked about "being hungry, you got to be hungry!" if you want to increase your business and reach the levels of success desired. The other thing I really noticed was how he really took command of the stage. I mean he owned that stage and that room. He made a connection with every corner of that room, which had just over a thousand people in attendance. You felt like he was talking directly to you.
Then he said something that I will never forget. He said, "never make a point without a story and never tell a story without a point."
So, why do I tell this story? Here is my point, whether you are in sales, a CEO or a parent (or all three).
If you are in sales and you want to make a point that will help you win over a customer, have a story that makes your point. Don't ramble on, make your point with your story and move on. If you try to use a lot of logic and reason, features and benefits and use some of the overcoming objections training you have received in the past, don't be surprised if you lose the sale. Meet your prospective customer in the part of the brain (the limbic brain) that is responsible for decision making by telling them a story about working with a customer who had the same issue or problem and how that issue was resolved by working together. Make the customer you worked with the hero.
Are you a CEO looking to change the culture of your company? Storytelling is the best communication method to help you reach this objective. Think I'm a little off base? Well, storytelling is what Steve Wynn credits for creating the phenomenal culture within his hotel chain. In fact, as his managers change shifts, they ask their co-workers if they have any good customer service stories to tell them. Everyday, three times a day. Don't believe me? Check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOesXyfJGI0 and start at the 12:00 minute mark and keep watching until the 18:02 mark. You will be glad you did.
Are you a department leader looking to lift the performance of others? Use stories that allow your co-worker to visualize how you have worked with others and were able to assist them in improving their performance. This is a much better communication method to use versus the "just do as I tell you" approach.
Are you a parent with a teenager? What is the one thing you don't want them doing when they are behind the wheel of a car? Right, no texting! Now, you can play your "authority card" and tell them they will lose their driving privileges if you catch them texting and driving and it might do the trick. But, try this. Find a story on the Internet about a teen who died while driving and texting (unfortunately these tragic stories are easy to find) and simply give it to your teenager to read. Then tell them that "if our names were in this story, it would break my heart." I bet this will have a bit more impact on your teenager.
Remember, no matter who you are trying to influence, facts tell and stories sell.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Do You Know Your "Why?"
"I did not want to live with the image or perception of being a salesperson, especially an insurance salesperson, so I did what I usually do when I have a decision like this to make; I called my Dad."
This is the opening of a story told last week to a group of twenty-four professionals, mostly salespeople, in a workshop I was co-presenting on using storytelling as an influence strategy. One of the stories that we help people build is their "Who Am I/Who I Represent" story. "Nick" opened his story with the line above.
Nick, a young man of about 24 years-old, but who doesn't look old enough to be out past curfew, had just been offered a job. As a new college graduate he was offered a position as a salesperson with an insurance firm that he had interned for during his senior year of college. The rest of his story had the entire group mesmerized.
Nick went on to say;
"My Dad reminded me about one of the toughest times in my life. As a senior in high school, I played hockey. During the junior varsity game, I received a telephone call from a person with my parents insurance company. She asked me a lot of questions and when I asked why she was calling me, she informed me that my parents had been in a car accident, but she could not tell me anything more, nothing about their condition, whether they were hurt, etc. So, I figured they probably had a fender bender, since I had not heard from anyone else in my family. I finished watching the junior varsity and then played in the varsity game. After the varsity game, I checked my phone and noticed that I had missed over two-dozen calls and texts. I contacted my sister and found out that my parents had been travelling across a highway intersection at about 55 miles an hour when another person ran a red-light at 60 miles an hour and "t-boned" their car. My parents were intensive care and the doctor was not sure if they would live. I got on the bus to go home. It was the longest two-hour bus ride of my life. When the bus got to the school, my sister and aunt were there waiting for me, both crying uncontrollably. It was about a week before we knew that my Mom and Dad would live. Over the next few weeks, I helped my uncle modify our house with handicap accessible ramps and other alterations for when my parents did come home from the hospital. My Dad owned his own company and it went from 22 employees down to nine. We lost quite a bit, but we didn't lose everything. My Dad reminded me that the reason we didn't lose everything was because of the insurance that he and Mom had taken out. That is when I decided that I could live with the image of being not only a salesperson, but an insurance salesman."
The room was silent. The old saying of "you could have heard a pin drop" ran through my head. The next thought I had was, if I was sitting in front of this young man thinking about purchasing insurance, wanted to know why he did what he does for a living and he told this story, I would simply be asking one question; "where do I sign?" It automatically would tell me that he has integrity, that he cares about being in the insurance profession and really does want to help other people if they end up in the same spot his family did when he was an 18 year-old kid living at home.
Another funny thing happened to me as well. I no longer saw some young kid trying to sell insurance. I saw a completely different person. I saw a man trying to help others through a chosen profession.
So, what's your "why" for doing what you do? Do you know how to tell it? Do you know when to tell it? I hope you do. Your "why" is a very powerful tool, if you know how to use it.
If you want to know more about creating, using and finding how to get stories from your customers, feel free to email me at rjs@storyseekers.com.
This is the opening of a story told last week to a group of twenty-four professionals, mostly salespeople, in a workshop I was co-presenting on using storytelling as an influence strategy. One of the stories that we help people build is their "Who Am I/Who I Represent" story. "Nick" opened his story with the line above.
Nick, a young man of about 24 years-old, but who doesn't look old enough to be out past curfew, had just been offered a job. As a new college graduate he was offered a position as a salesperson with an insurance firm that he had interned for during his senior year of college. The rest of his story had the entire group mesmerized.
Nick went on to say;
"My Dad reminded me about one of the toughest times in my life. As a senior in high school, I played hockey. During the junior varsity game, I received a telephone call from a person with my parents insurance company. She asked me a lot of questions and when I asked why she was calling me, she informed me that my parents had been in a car accident, but she could not tell me anything more, nothing about their condition, whether they were hurt, etc. So, I figured they probably had a fender bender, since I had not heard from anyone else in my family. I finished watching the junior varsity and then played in the varsity game. After the varsity game, I checked my phone and noticed that I had missed over two-dozen calls and texts. I contacted my sister and found out that my parents had been travelling across a highway intersection at about 55 miles an hour when another person ran a red-light at 60 miles an hour and "t-boned" their car. My parents were intensive care and the doctor was not sure if they would live. I got on the bus to go home. It was the longest two-hour bus ride of my life. When the bus got to the school, my sister and aunt were there waiting for me, both crying uncontrollably. It was about a week before we knew that my Mom and Dad would live. Over the next few weeks, I helped my uncle modify our house with handicap accessible ramps and other alterations for when my parents did come home from the hospital. My Dad owned his own company and it went from 22 employees down to nine. We lost quite a bit, but we didn't lose everything. My Dad reminded me that the reason we didn't lose everything was because of the insurance that he and Mom had taken out. That is when I decided that I could live with the image of being not only a salesperson, but an insurance salesman."
The room was silent. The old saying of "you could have heard a pin drop" ran through my head. The next thought I had was, if I was sitting in front of this young man thinking about purchasing insurance, wanted to know why he did what he does for a living and he told this story, I would simply be asking one question; "where do I sign?" It automatically would tell me that he has integrity, that he cares about being in the insurance profession and really does want to help other people if they end up in the same spot his family did when he was an 18 year-old kid living at home.
Another funny thing happened to me as well. I no longer saw some young kid trying to sell insurance. I saw a completely different person. I saw a man trying to help others through a chosen profession.
So, what's your "why" for doing what you do? Do you know how to tell it? Do you know when to tell it? I hope you do. Your "why" is a very powerful tool, if you know how to use it.
If you want to know more about creating, using and finding how to get stories from your customers, feel free to email me at rjs@storyseekers.com.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Are Stories Contagious?
Yesterday I attended a local Chamber lunch which is a great place to hear stories. The speaker representing the holistic health company providing the presentation told the story of an over-the-road truck driver who broke his hip and leg (in two places) after being blown off his rig by a large gust of wind while he tried to tarp his load. This truck driver went to the acupuncturist for treatment with a full leg cast, so the treatment was not provided directly to the areas where the breaks occurred, but he was still able to offer some indirect treatment to this patient. Not only did the patient get relief from some of the pain, but according to the doctor treating this man, he was amazed at the quick rate in which the swelling in the leg subsided after the acupuncture treatment.
The speaker went on to tell success stories about others who were relieved of back pain, leg pain and relief for people who have cold toes or feet. (Having neuropathy and continually cold toes myself, my ears perked up at this story!)
So, why do I tell this story? Because of the order of information in which the speaker decided to present his information and the response from the audience once he told his success stories. Let me explain.
The speaker started out saying he would hope the audience would forgive him as he was not a natural public speaker. This was unfortunate as he really turned out to be quite interesting and his apology was unnecessary. After this opening, he provided some basic information about acupuncture and answered a few most commonly asked questions of those in his profession. For example, he said that no, acupuncture does not hurt and is a pain reliever, not a pain inducer. Think of a salesperson who is a "feature creature" and simply gives product information to a prospective client. The acupuncturist then provided some additional information about his profession before launching into success stories. But here is the thing; the success stories were the most interesting part of the presentation.
That is why I opened this post with the success story he told. If I would have opened this post in the same order as the speaker opened his presentation, you might not have read this far. Don't get me wrong, I am not judging or criticizing the speaker. Public speaking is not something he has been trained in and being in front of a group of people is not something he is asked to do often. As I mentioned, he was quite interesting to listen to. But, I think salespeople can learn from these situations.
For example, the facts he provided at the beginning of his presentation could have been woven into the success stories. Using the examples above, he could have really grabbed the attention of the audience by launching right into the success story about the truck driver and then simply said something like; "and by the way, no, acupuncture treatment does not hurt, especially when you are dealing with the pain of a broken hip and leg!
The stories are really what made the presentation. But this even gets better, and maybe I should have moved this further up the order in this post, as an interesting thing happened when he finished telling his success stories, or what I would call "who I have helped" stories. A lady in the room raised her had and asked if she could tell a story of her spouse who had received relief from pain by receiving treatment from this acupuncturist and of course he said "yes." This was a very compelling story to hear from an audience member. Then to my surprise, the stories continued. Another lady told a story about how her friend had received treatment and relief from pain from a different provider, then there was another similar story told after that. To cap it off, another person told a story about a friend who had a dog that suffered from arthritis and the dog received acupuncture treatment and relief! (If you are a dog lover, you understand!) It was interesting to see how one story generated another story, and another, and another.
We can learn from this in the sales profession. Learn how to tell a good story, one that has a purpose, one that makes a hero of someone else (such as another client you work with) and see if you don't receive a story in kind from your prospect. That is the reason to tell a story in the first place, to get someone else's story. You do need to know how to craft a good story and I suggest the book "What Great Salespeople Do - The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story" co-written by Mike Bosworth. This book will provide you with the road map on how, why and the brain science behind the power of story.
Mr. Bosworth and his affiliates provide training on how to use storytelling as an influence strategy for business executives, salespeople and job seekers. If you would like to learn more, please feel free to contact me at rjs@mblstoryseekers.com
Now, let's see, where are those thin little needles....
Good Selling!
The speaker went on to tell success stories about others who were relieved of back pain, leg pain and relief for people who have cold toes or feet. (Having neuropathy and continually cold toes myself, my ears perked up at this story!)
So, why do I tell this story? Because of the order of information in which the speaker decided to present his information and the response from the audience once he told his success stories. Let me explain.
The speaker started out saying he would hope the audience would forgive him as he was not a natural public speaker. This was unfortunate as he really turned out to be quite interesting and his apology was unnecessary. After this opening, he provided some basic information about acupuncture and answered a few most commonly asked questions of those in his profession. For example, he said that no, acupuncture does not hurt and is a pain reliever, not a pain inducer. Think of a salesperson who is a "feature creature" and simply gives product information to a prospective client. The acupuncturist then provided some additional information about his profession before launching into success stories. But here is the thing; the success stories were the most interesting part of the presentation.
That is why I opened this post with the success story he told. If I would have opened this post in the same order as the speaker opened his presentation, you might not have read this far. Don't get me wrong, I am not judging or criticizing the speaker. Public speaking is not something he has been trained in and being in front of a group of people is not something he is asked to do often. As I mentioned, he was quite interesting to listen to. But, I think salespeople can learn from these situations.
For example, the facts he provided at the beginning of his presentation could have been woven into the success stories. Using the examples above, he could have really grabbed the attention of the audience by launching right into the success story about the truck driver and then simply said something like; "and by the way, no, acupuncture treatment does not hurt, especially when you are dealing with the pain of a broken hip and leg!
The stories are really what made the presentation. But this even gets better, and maybe I should have moved this further up the order in this post, as an interesting thing happened when he finished telling his success stories, or what I would call "who I have helped" stories. A lady in the room raised her had and asked if she could tell a story of her spouse who had received relief from pain by receiving treatment from this acupuncturist and of course he said "yes." This was a very compelling story to hear from an audience member. Then to my surprise, the stories continued. Another lady told a story about how her friend had received treatment and relief from pain from a different provider, then there was another similar story told after that. To cap it off, another person told a story about a friend who had a dog that suffered from arthritis and the dog received acupuncture treatment and relief! (If you are a dog lover, you understand!) It was interesting to see how one story generated another story, and another, and another.
We can learn from this in the sales profession. Learn how to tell a good story, one that has a purpose, one that makes a hero of someone else (such as another client you work with) and see if you don't receive a story in kind from your prospect. That is the reason to tell a story in the first place, to get someone else's story. You do need to know how to craft a good story and I suggest the book "What Great Salespeople Do - The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story" co-written by Mike Bosworth. This book will provide you with the road map on how, why and the brain science behind the power of story.
Mr. Bosworth and his affiliates provide training on how to use storytelling as an influence strategy for business executives, salespeople and job seekers. If you would like to learn more, please feel free to contact me at rjs@mblstoryseekers.com
Now, let's see, where are those thin little needles....
Good Selling!
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Don't Suffer from Premature Eloboration
"For the first time ever, I am very unhappy with the service I have received from some of your co-workers!" This was the first words out of a customers mouth to me when I happily picked up the phone. He also went on to say, "And I want you to do something about this! This customer was mad. No, more like livid!
So, the first thing I asked was "What happened that made you so unhappy with the service you received?" He went on to tell me his story about a technical representative who provided him with answers to some of his questions that he felt were unacceptable and how this person didn't seem to have the time of day for him. Since this was such a disappointing experience, he decided to call his Regional Sales Manager, who reports to me, and how he was very unhappy with the answers he also provided to some of his questions. I asked him to explain further.
This customer went on to tell me that the technical service representative did not know the target market for a new product recently released. He also provided some information that he knew was in error. He was getting no where. Then he contacted the Regional Sales Manager to try and get some of this information. All he received from him was advice that he needed to research the market more before presenting this new product as a solution!
So, I asked him, "Can you please explain to me why you are asking these questions?" He said that he had spoken with some experts in the industry he was approaching and they wouldn't use this new product and that no one in their industry would. Then I asked this irate customer, "Do you get a chance to ask these experts what they do use?" He said that no, he did not. "Did you explore other possibilities as to their needs? His response? "No." I then asked, "Do you know how averse they are to taking risks?" (Which is prevalent in this particular industry, depending on who you are talking to) "No." I knew I had found the real source of his frustration. He did not ask the experts the questions he needed to in order to find their needs. I provided him with some information on this industry and how some of these customers might look at this certain situation. I suggested that the next time he has the chance, please ask these questions and find out what they do use to see if we have a product that can fit their very specialized needs. I then asked him if he felt this advice answered some of his dissatisfaction and was fortunate to get a positive answer. I advised him to contact the supervisor of the technical service representative to discuss with him the level of service he received from that person as this was not something I would be able to address. I then told him that I would be sure to cover the advice I provided him with the Regional Sales Manager the spoke with. Would this make him happy? He again answered yes.
Now, you might think that this is the end of the story, but I also felt like there was something else, something he wasn't saying. So, I said, "It seems like there might be something else bothering you. Is there something else I can help you with?" He said that before he called in to the technical service representative, he had been contacted by two of his customers with complaints that he found to be unwarranted and did not quite know how to answer. I provided him with some suggestions on how he could answer these two complaints and he voiced his appreciation for this additional advice. You see, sometimes you also have to listened for what is not being said. Follow your instincts and your intuition.
The bottom line? It took me about 20 minutes to diffuse a situation that could have turned ugly if I had become defensive or listened with the intent to respond. I listened with the intent of trying to understand his situation. No judgments, no right or wrong, just to understand what he was experiencing. I could have labeled this customer as a complainer and one that would not take responsibility for his lack of question skills, but what purpose would this have served?
One of the main listening blocks that we all experience is the "being right" block. This is where we feel we have to show someone that we are right, which of course means they are wrong, when listening to their story. Now, you might say that this was not a sales situation, but I would push back on that comment. I had to influence this customer and point them down a path that would not only solve the issues he had, but to help him improve in situations like this in the future without alienating him. That is selling in my book.
If you are across from a prospective client and you offer a solution to their problem before they get their entire story told, you are experiencing what Mike Bosworth, in his book "What Great Salespeople Do-The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story" calls "premature elaboration." If you have enough experience with past customers to see the solution of a prospective customer before they get their entire story told, and you present this solution before they finish, you are experiencing premature elaboration. You can be right, and what my Dad would call being dead right. You will experience the feeling of being right, but the sale will be dead.
Even if, half-way through a sales call, you have the perfect solution for that client, try to practice artificial patience. What is this? It is where you know you have to be patient enough to get to the end of their story even when you know where it is going to end up. If you do this right, it will end up with a unhappy customer being happy, or a new client signing the agreement.
Good Selling!
So, the first thing I asked was "What happened that made you so unhappy with the service you received?" He went on to tell me his story about a technical representative who provided him with answers to some of his questions that he felt were unacceptable and how this person didn't seem to have the time of day for him. Since this was such a disappointing experience, he decided to call his Regional Sales Manager, who reports to me, and how he was very unhappy with the answers he also provided to some of his questions. I asked him to explain further.
This customer went on to tell me that the technical service representative did not know the target market for a new product recently released. He also provided some information that he knew was in error. He was getting no where. Then he contacted the Regional Sales Manager to try and get some of this information. All he received from him was advice that he needed to research the market more before presenting this new product as a solution!
So, I asked him, "Can you please explain to me why you are asking these questions?" He said that he had spoken with some experts in the industry he was approaching and they wouldn't use this new product and that no one in their industry would. Then I asked this irate customer, "Do you get a chance to ask these experts what they do use?" He said that no, he did not. "Did you explore other possibilities as to their needs? His response? "No." I then asked, "Do you know how averse they are to taking risks?" (Which is prevalent in this particular industry, depending on who you are talking to) "No." I knew I had found the real source of his frustration. He did not ask the experts the questions he needed to in order to find their needs. I provided him with some information on this industry and how some of these customers might look at this certain situation. I suggested that the next time he has the chance, please ask these questions and find out what they do use to see if we have a product that can fit their very specialized needs. I then asked him if he felt this advice answered some of his dissatisfaction and was fortunate to get a positive answer. I advised him to contact the supervisor of the technical service representative to discuss with him the level of service he received from that person as this was not something I would be able to address. I then told him that I would be sure to cover the advice I provided him with the Regional Sales Manager the spoke with. Would this make him happy? He again answered yes.
Now, you might think that this is the end of the story, but I also felt like there was something else, something he wasn't saying. So, I said, "It seems like there might be something else bothering you. Is there something else I can help you with?" He said that before he called in to the technical service representative, he had been contacted by two of his customers with complaints that he found to be unwarranted and did not quite know how to answer. I provided him with some suggestions on how he could answer these two complaints and he voiced his appreciation for this additional advice. You see, sometimes you also have to listened for what is not being said. Follow your instincts and your intuition.
The bottom line? It took me about 20 minutes to diffuse a situation that could have turned ugly if I had become defensive or listened with the intent to respond. I listened with the intent of trying to understand his situation. No judgments, no right or wrong, just to understand what he was experiencing. I could have labeled this customer as a complainer and one that would not take responsibility for his lack of question skills, but what purpose would this have served?
One of the main listening blocks that we all experience is the "being right" block. This is where we feel we have to show someone that we are right, which of course means they are wrong, when listening to their story. Now, you might say that this was not a sales situation, but I would push back on that comment. I had to influence this customer and point them down a path that would not only solve the issues he had, but to help him improve in situations like this in the future without alienating him. That is selling in my book.
If you are across from a prospective client and you offer a solution to their problem before they get their entire story told, you are experiencing what Mike Bosworth, in his book "What Great Salespeople Do-The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story" calls "premature elaboration." If you have enough experience with past customers to see the solution of a prospective customer before they get their entire story told, and you present this solution before they finish, you are experiencing premature elaboration. You can be right, and what my Dad would call being dead right. You will experience the feeling of being right, but the sale will be dead.
Even if, half-way through a sales call, you have the perfect solution for that client, try to practice artificial patience. What is this? It is where you know you have to be patient enough to get to the end of their story even when you know where it is going to end up. If you do this right, it will end up with a unhappy customer being happy, or a new client signing the agreement.
Good Selling!
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
How Well Do You Listen? No, Not Glisten, Listen!
An interesting thing happened to me yesterday. I set up a lunch with two friends of mine, let's call them Bill and Ted, that had never met before. The reason for the meeting was simply because it was beneficial for them to meet each other. During this lunch, I did something that I normally have a hard time doing, and that was simply sitting back, letting the two of them carry the conversation so they could get to know each other and do nothing but listen. To let you know how rare this is for me, both of my friends made comments about how quiet I was being during this lunch and they wondered if I was feeling alright. Now, neither of them will be in stand up comedy anytime soon, so I told them just to ignore me and continue their conversation. Sitting back in an observation role was amazing! (I should do this more often to practice my own active listening skills.) The things that you realize about yourself when observing others can be surprising.
What I found was that one friend, Bill, was a much better listener than Ted. When Ted would speak, Bill would be sure not to interrupt. He would sit forward and kept great eye contact with Ted. If he was talking and Ted began to speak over him, he would stop his sentence to listen to Ted. He would nod in agreement when Ted made a point to show that he understood what was being explained.
If Bill was speaking and Ted wanted to have input, he would have a tendency to speak over Bill and cut him off half-way through a sentence. Ted was easily distracted and he would change the topic quickly to something that he wanted to talk about if he wasn't interested in where the conversation was going. He also committed the communication sin of pulling out his cell phone (more than once) and looking at it while Bill was speaking and explaining a point.
Now, don't get me wrong, Ted is a great guy and a very nice person. Bill even called me later to thank me for arranging the lunch and told me how much he liked Ted. I don't think Ted was doing anything that most people meeting for the first time wouldn't do. But, I can tell you who got the most information out of the conversation and that was Bill. He knows much more about Ted than Ted knows about Bill. Bill came across as the more interested of the two. I also happen to know that Bill has had formal training in how to listen and I don't believe that Ted has had this same advantage. After all, only 2% of adults in the United States has had formal training on using listening skills.
So, what is my point? Well, if you want to be a Salutary Sales Pro, you have to know how to listen. Active listening skills, or what Mike Bosworth in his book, "What Great Salespeople Do - The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story" calls empathetic listening, are extremely important in the world of sales. If you don't know how to listen to what is being said, and to k now how to look for what is not being said, you can't reach the level of a Salutary Sales Pro.
Since I had the advantage of sitting back and simply observing this conversation, I saw a lot of listening inhibitors exhibited by Ted. Let's take a look at just three listening inhibitors that could cause us to miss some sure sales signs from your clients.
Being Right - This is a sure listening inhibitor. We all like to be right and show that we know what we are talking about. But, when I catch myself in this listening inhibiting mode, I think of a statement my Dad made to me (unfortunately in more situations than I care to admit) as a young man. Whenever I was adamant about being right with regard to a certain situation or conversation, he would say to me, "Rob, you're right. You are dead right and let me repeat that for you, you are dead, right. In other words, he was telling me that my desire to be right was taking over my vision as to what each party in the conversation was trying to accomplish. Not the course of action a Salutary Sales Pro wants to take.
Mind Reading - This one is pretty self-explanatory. You believe you know exactly what the other person is going to say, what their point of view is and you allow your mind to wander off to what you are going to have for dinner that night or the fact that you have laundry to do when you get home. Fight this urge! You really don't know where your customer might be going and you will miss important information. The best case scenario is that you realize you have entered this phase and you request they repeat some of the information they have already covered. The worst case scenario is that you miss important information all together.
Expertise - You might be thinking, What? Has Stenberg lost what little mind he had to lose? How can my expertise be a listening inhibitor? When you have seen a great deal of the situations many of your client's experience, you can, and will, have a tendency to cut them off and tell them what they need to do. Mike Bosworth calls this "premature elaboration." In fact, when Neil Rackham conducted the research for the book "Spin Selling" he found that new salespeople for Xerox would hit a sales slump in their 18th month of employment. In fact, he said you could set your watch by it. The reason? After 18 months as a salesperson for Xerox, the salesperson had seen just about all the different situations their customers would experience. Early in their sales career, the salespeople would listen to their prospective client's entire story and even sometimes have to go back to the office to retrieve an answer. But, after 18 months, they had encountered just about every situation they would face in the field. So, they would reflect back to other clients who had similar issues and cut their client off and tell them exactly what they needed to do to fix their issue. Now, the salesperson would not be necessarily wrong with their solution but they would not make the sale. Why? Because their client would not feel they were "felt" and never got to finish their entire story before being interrupted. Also, they did not like to be told what to do. No one does.
So, these are just three examples of listening inhibitors and there are many more. In a Mike Bosworth Leadership Sales Seekers workshop, we spend almost an entire day on the importance of listening, or what we call tending, to the stories of your client. We teach you how to listen and what to listen for. How to listen not only with your ears but with your eyes and with your heart. After all, what good is being a great storyteller if you don't also become great at being a story listener. Getting your customers story is the reason you tell your story in the first place.
Good Selling!
What I found was that one friend, Bill, was a much better listener than Ted. When Ted would speak, Bill would be sure not to interrupt. He would sit forward and kept great eye contact with Ted. If he was talking and Ted began to speak over him, he would stop his sentence to listen to Ted. He would nod in agreement when Ted made a point to show that he understood what was being explained. If Bill was speaking and Ted wanted to have input, he would have a tendency to speak over Bill and cut him off half-way through a sentence. Ted was easily distracted and he would change the topic quickly to something that he wanted to talk about if he wasn't interested in where the conversation was going. He also committed the communication sin of pulling out his cell phone (more than once) and looking at it while Bill was speaking and explaining a point.
Now, don't get me wrong, Ted is a great guy and a very nice person. Bill even called me later to thank me for arranging the lunch and told me how much he liked Ted. I don't think Ted was doing anything that most people meeting for the first time wouldn't do. But, I can tell you who got the most information out of the conversation and that was Bill. He knows much more about Ted than Ted knows about Bill. Bill came across as the more interested of the two. I also happen to know that Bill has had formal training in how to listen and I don't believe that Ted has had this same advantage. After all, only 2% of adults in the United States has had formal training on using listening skills.
So, what is my point? Well, if you want to be a Salutary Sales Pro, you have to know how to listen. Active listening skills, or what Mike Bosworth in his book, "What Great Salespeople Do - The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story" calls empathetic listening, are extremely important in the world of sales. If you don't know how to listen to what is being said, and to k now how to look for what is not being said, you can't reach the level of a Salutary Sales Pro.
Since I had the advantage of sitting back and simply observing this conversation, I saw a lot of listening inhibitors exhibited by Ted. Let's take a look at just three listening inhibitors that could cause us to miss some sure sales signs from your clients.
Being Right - This is a sure listening inhibitor. We all like to be right and show that we know what we are talking about. But, when I catch myself in this listening inhibiting mode, I think of a statement my Dad made to me (unfortunately in more situations than I care to admit) as a young man. Whenever I was adamant about being right with regard to a certain situation or conversation, he would say to me, "Rob, you're right. You are dead right and let me repeat that for you, you are dead, right. In other words, he was telling me that my desire to be right was taking over my vision as to what each party in the conversation was trying to accomplish. Not the course of action a Salutary Sales Pro wants to take.
Mind Reading - This one is pretty self-explanatory. You believe you know exactly what the other person is going to say, what their point of view is and you allow your mind to wander off to what you are going to have for dinner that night or the fact that you have laundry to do when you get home. Fight this urge! You really don't know where your customer might be going and you will miss important information. The best case scenario is that you realize you have entered this phase and you request they repeat some of the information they have already covered. The worst case scenario is that you miss important information all together.
Expertise - You might be thinking, What? Has Stenberg lost what little mind he had to lose? How can my expertise be a listening inhibitor? When you have seen a great deal of the situations many of your client's experience, you can, and will, have a tendency to cut them off and tell them what they need to do. Mike Bosworth calls this "premature elaboration." In fact, when Neil Rackham conducted the research for the book "Spin Selling" he found that new salespeople for Xerox would hit a sales slump in their 18th month of employment. In fact, he said you could set your watch by it. The reason? After 18 months as a salesperson for Xerox, the salesperson had seen just about all the different situations their customers would experience. Early in their sales career, the salespeople would listen to their prospective client's entire story and even sometimes have to go back to the office to retrieve an answer. But, after 18 months, they had encountered just about every situation they would face in the field. So, they would reflect back to other clients who had similar issues and cut their client off and tell them exactly what they needed to do to fix their issue. Now, the salesperson would not be necessarily wrong with their solution but they would not make the sale. Why? Because their client would not feel they were "felt" and never got to finish their entire story before being interrupted. Also, they did not like to be told what to do. No one does.
So, these are just three examples of listening inhibitors and there are many more. In a Mike Bosworth Leadership Sales Seekers workshop, we spend almost an entire day on the importance of listening, or what we call tending, to the stories of your client. We teach you how to listen and what to listen for. How to listen not only with your ears but with your eyes and with your heart. After all, what good is being a great storyteller if you don't also become great at being a story listener. Getting your customers story is the reason you tell your story in the first place.
Good Selling!
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
What Did You Say?
Of all the skills a salesperson needs to learn in order to increase their sales, which one do you think is most important? Let's take a look at just some of the skills a salesperson needs to possess and then discuss the one that I think is the most important. We will see if you agree.
Of course, you need to prospect for new clients. If you don't become at least average at the skill of prospecting, making a living as a sales professional gets to be a pretty tough gig.
How about great presentation skills? Yes, this is an area that will serve a sales professional, especially a Salutary Sales Professional, well. You want to deliver a message that is important to your client and there are many good ways to do this, but since this is not the main message today, we will move on.
Can I ask you a question? Do you need to know how to ask your clients insightful questions? Well, yes, I would suggest this is a skill that sales professionals really need to polish. It will also serve them well.
Ah, rapport building! This is a really important skill for salespeople to master, right? There is no doubt that building rapport is a skill that can, and should, be learned by anyone that wants to be considered a sales professional.
"Closing" the sale is high on the list of most sales managers as to a skill that should be possessed by sales professionals. By the way, let's get rid of the word "closing" in sales. I would hope we have evolved pass this point by now in the sales profession. Ask for the sale. What the heck are you closing? Nothing. What are you starting? Hopefully a long-term, mutually beneficial business relationship. I get a kick out of salespeople stating they are "power closers." Makes me want to lose my lunch. Definitely not the approach used of a Salutary Sales Pro.
Now, all of these skills are important to polish as a sales professional, and I would bet there are thousands of articles and books written to address each one of these skills individually. But, we have not mentioned the most important sales skill of all. The one that is probably talked about the least and should be mentioned the most. The one skill that will really help you excel in sales and as a Salutary Sales Pro. Have you guessed it yet? The most important sales skill is, did you hear it? Yes, you're right, it is the conscious act of increasing your active listening skills.
Calvin Coolidge once said, "No one ever listened themselves out of a job." I am here to tell you that "No one ever listened themselves out of a sale!" Think about it. Have you ever heard a client, family member or friend tell you they didn't purchase from a salesperson because "they listened so well. I just couldn't by from them!" Not a chance. You may have heard the salesperson didn't listen, but I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone say that a salesperson listened to well!
Listening is a lot harder than most people realize, believe or not. But if you are in sales, what do you want to get from your client? You want to get their story. How do you get that? You provide them with a story and then ask them what they have going on in their place of business. Then you listen. But, we can't listen to our customers the way we listen to our spouses, kids or other relatives (whom we should listen to even more intently than our clients!) which is to say we many times listen to them with one ear. We also generally listen to reply rather than to understand.
In the book "What Great Salespeople Do" by Mike Bosworth and Ben Zoldan, it states: "Everyone wants the chance to tell his or her story, but it's hard to find someone who will really listen." Isn't that the truth! You have seen the glassy eyed looked that others give you when they should be listening. Maybe you have given that look to others yourself.
There are a lot of "listening blocks" in the world today, and we will hit on those in our next post, but I wanted to leave you with this story. One event that happened while I was selling electronic security systems in which my listening skills were put to the test.
We were installing a fire system in a twelve-story building and drilling a hole in the floor of a janitors closet to run wires between floors. This was an old building and the blueprints were not always accurate. Well, there was no water pipe on the blueprints, but there was one between these two floors. The technician burst the water pipe, filled the bottom of the elevator shafts with three feet of water and burned up equipment in two different dentist offices. Needless to say, not a fun day. So, the owner of the company I worked for went to speak to the Vice-President of the realty company that owned the building. They got into an argument over whose company was at fault, whose company had more integrity and left each other in a pretty sour mood.
The order from my boss was to go back the next day, speak to the Vice-President and save the account. I thought to myself, this was going to be impossible. So, before I arrived in his office, I decided to sit and listen to this man until he stopped talking. What I didn't realize at the time of that decision was that it would be 30 minutes! Yep, sat there for 30 minutes pretty much getting my backside handed to me. He complained about the cost of the damages, the mess, the reputation of my company and the way he was treated by the owner of my company. I literally didn't say a word for 30 minutes (if you knew me you would realize how hard this was for me!) And at the end of this tirade, he finally asked me what I thought and what my answer was to this situation.
I simply said, "I agree with everything you have said." He was stunned. I told him that I agreed that the mess was an inconvenience, but that there was nothing either of us could do now other than to get it back in order as soon a possible so the tenant's of his building stopped complaining. As to the cost of the damages, that's why we have insurance companies. Whatever they decided as to the percentage of damages incurred by each company, we would live with. That no, the owner of my company should not have argued with him. And lastly, I told him that any dealings with my company from this time forward would now be handled by me. If I didn't follow through with providing the service we agree upon, "fire me." He looked at me and simply said, "ok, you can keep our business."
See, no one had listened to him. No one gave him a half-hour to get out all the frustration that he was feeling after having his elevator shafts full of water and ten floors of tenants calling him to complain, not to mention the dentist's who had to reschedule appointments and get their equipment replaced. It was a long half-hour, but it was worth it. We ended up putting fire systems in two additional office buildings they owned.
Active listening. That is one skill you will want to polish. Watch for my next post to get some tips on how to do just that.
Good Selling!
Of course, you need to prospect for new clients. If you don't become at least average at the skill of prospecting, making a living as a sales professional gets to be a pretty tough gig.
How about great presentation skills? Yes, this is an area that will serve a sales professional, especially a Salutary Sales Professional, well. You want to deliver a message that is important to your client and there are many good ways to do this, but since this is not the main message today, we will move on.
Can I ask you a question? Do you need to know how to ask your clients insightful questions? Well, yes, I would suggest this is a skill that sales professionals really need to polish. It will also serve them well.
Ah, rapport building! This is a really important skill for salespeople to master, right? There is no doubt that building rapport is a skill that can, and should, be learned by anyone that wants to be considered a sales professional.
"Closing" the sale is high on the list of most sales managers as to a skill that should be possessed by sales professionals. By the way, let's get rid of the word "closing" in sales. I would hope we have evolved pass this point by now in the sales profession. Ask for the sale. What the heck are you closing? Nothing. What are you starting? Hopefully a long-term, mutually beneficial business relationship. I get a kick out of salespeople stating they are "power closers." Makes me want to lose my lunch. Definitely not the approach used of a Salutary Sales Pro.
Now, all of these skills are important to polish as a sales professional, and I would bet there are thousands of articles and books written to address each one of these skills individually. But, we have not mentioned the most important sales skill of all. The one that is probably talked about the least and should be mentioned the most. The one skill that will really help you excel in sales and as a Salutary Sales Pro. Have you guessed it yet? The most important sales skill is, did you hear it? Yes, you're right, it is the conscious act of increasing your active listening skills.
Calvin Coolidge once said, "No one ever listened themselves out of a job." I am here to tell you that "No one ever listened themselves out of a sale!" Think about it. Have you ever heard a client, family member or friend tell you they didn't purchase from a salesperson because "they listened so well. I just couldn't by from them!" Not a chance. You may have heard the salesperson didn't listen, but I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone say that a salesperson listened to well!
Listening is a lot harder than most people realize, believe or not. But if you are in sales, what do you want to get from your client? You want to get their story. How do you get that? You provide them with a story and then ask them what they have going on in their place of business. Then you listen. But, we can't listen to our customers the way we listen to our spouses, kids or other relatives (whom we should listen to even more intently than our clients!) which is to say we many times listen to them with one ear. We also generally listen to reply rather than to understand.
In the book "What Great Salespeople Do" by Mike Bosworth and Ben Zoldan, it states: "Everyone wants the chance to tell his or her story, but it's hard to find someone who will really listen." Isn't that the truth! You have seen the glassy eyed looked that others give you when they should be listening. Maybe you have given that look to others yourself.
There are a lot of "listening blocks" in the world today, and we will hit on those in our next post, but I wanted to leave you with this story. One event that happened while I was selling electronic security systems in which my listening skills were put to the test.
We were installing a fire system in a twelve-story building and drilling a hole in the floor of a janitors closet to run wires between floors. This was an old building and the blueprints were not always accurate. Well, there was no water pipe on the blueprints, but there was one between these two floors. The technician burst the water pipe, filled the bottom of the elevator shafts with three feet of water and burned up equipment in two different dentist offices. Needless to say, not a fun day. So, the owner of the company I worked for went to speak to the Vice-President of the realty company that owned the building. They got into an argument over whose company was at fault, whose company had more integrity and left each other in a pretty sour mood.
The order from my boss was to go back the next day, speak to the Vice-President and save the account. I thought to myself, this was going to be impossible. So, before I arrived in his office, I decided to sit and listen to this man until he stopped talking. What I didn't realize at the time of that decision was that it would be 30 minutes! Yep, sat there for 30 minutes pretty much getting my backside handed to me. He complained about the cost of the damages, the mess, the reputation of my company and the way he was treated by the owner of my company. I literally didn't say a word for 30 minutes (if you knew me you would realize how hard this was for me!) And at the end of this tirade, he finally asked me what I thought and what my answer was to this situation.
I simply said, "I agree with everything you have said." He was stunned. I told him that I agreed that the mess was an inconvenience, but that there was nothing either of us could do now other than to get it back in order as soon a possible so the tenant's of his building stopped complaining. As to the cost of the damages, that's why we have insurance companies. Whatever they decided as to the percentage of damages incurred by each company, we would live with. That no, the owner of my company should not have argued with him. And lastly, I told him that any dealings with my company from this time forward would now be handled by me. If I didn't follow through with providing the service we agree upon, "fire me." He looked at me and simply said, "ok, you can keep our business."
See, no one had listened to him. No one gave him a half-hour to get out all the frustration that he was feeling after having his elevator shafts full of water and ten floors of tenants calling him to complain, not to mention the dentist's who had to reschedule appointments and get their equipment replaced. It was a long half-hour, but it was worth it. We ended up putting fire systems in two additional office buildings they owned.
Active listening. That is one skill you will want to polish. Watch for my next post to get some tips on how to do just that.
Good Selling!
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Funny Sales Stories from the Field
I happen to love funny stories from the sales field. Want a funny story from my past? Great! Sit back, relax and enjoy.
I was sales manager for an electronic security systems company and was training in a new salesperson named John. We received a call from a female prospective client named Lisa who was looking for a home security system. So we set the appointment to meet the next day.
John and I arrive at Lisa's house the next day, which is in a rural area, and she meets us at the main entry door that entered the lower level of the house. She invites us in and we make our way up the stairs to the main level of the home making small talk. Her first impression on us is positive and we make our way to the kitchen table, which is just off the living room. This is when we noticed something just a bit peculiar.
In the middle of Lisa's living room is a queen size bed completely surrounded by chicken wire! A structure that resembles a chicken coop, with two-by-four construction, is around the bed complete with a door to enter and exit this chicken wire room! John looked at me as if to say, "shouldn't we be asking about this?" Now I had been in security systems sales for awhile at this point and had seen some strange thinks, but this was near the top of my list. But, the one thing that I had learned when entering a home was not to be surprised or act like anything was strange or out of place no matter what I saw. So, I quickly shook my head "no" at John and acted as if EVERY house that I walked into had a queen size bed in the living room surrounded by a chicken coop.
John and I talked with Lisa for awhile to ask her about her security concerns. We asked her why she wanted a security system and her needs were what you would think for a lady who lived by herself in a rural area. She did not want to come home in the dark and find someone in her home and there had been a recent rash of burglaries in her area. Nothing out of the ordinary about her needs or the conversation (up to this point) and no one made mention of the chicken coop with the neatly made bed in the living room.
Just as we were getting ready to provide her with the final proposal for installing a security system, she asked, "So, did you notice that I have my bed in the living room surrounded by chicken wire?" I responded that yes, I did and I didn't offer anything more. The she asked, "Don't you want to know why I have my bed in the living room surrounded by chicken wire?" Trying to remain the professional, I responded that I simply thought it had to do with a personal choice or maybe the way the sun woke her up in the morning if the bed were in the bedroom. She said, "no, that is not it at all. Do you see those power lines out the window?" I looked out the window and saw power lines which were about a mile or more down the road. I told her that yes, I saw them and that we passed those power lines on the way to her house. She said, "Well, the government sends mind controlling signals out at night through the power lines to control our thoughts. That is why I have my bed in the living room surrounded by chicken wire. By putting my bed in here instead of the bedroom, there are more walls between me and the power lines when I sleep and the chicken wire deflects the mind controlling signals sent out so the government can't control my thoughts. You know, you can never be too careful. That is another reason I want a security system. To know if the government has come into my house."
It is not until this point in the conversation that this lady showed herself to be a bit, can I say, "whacky?" John turned a few different shades of red and of course we did all we could not to laugh, which was not an easy task. We simply agreed with her that you can't be too careful and left her with our proposal to install a security system. Then we exited quickly! We never did make the sale and I told John that I though it would be just fine if we didn't follow up with Lisa. I told him this client might be best left to the competition!
So, why do I tell this story? To make a point! (Which all stories should do.) If I am training anyone who does in-home selling, do you think this story would resonate with them? Do you think it would give me some credibility with them since they participate in selling to people in their homes? Do you think I might get some of their funniest stories about things they have seen in homes when selling? Do you think it could possibly lead to connection between me and this other person? Of course the answer to all these questions is a resounding yes.
Do you think if you can tell your client a story about working with a peer in their industry and show the positive results you have been able to achieve working together that you will make a connection? Again, your chances are high!
If you want to have the heart of your client, tell a story that will connect you. Go after the heart to get to the head. There is a Native American Proverb that goes;
Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth
and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it
will live in my heart forever.
and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it
will live in my heart forever.
Remember, we make decisions emotionally and justify them logically. Become a good story teller and watch your sales increase. Keep in mind that a good salesperson knows how to talk but a great salesperson knows how to tell a good story.
If you want an excellent book on how to construct a good story, read "What Great Salespeople Do - The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story" by Michael Bosworth. Mr. Bosworth is a NY Time Best Selling Author with two other great books to his credit, "Solution Selling" and "Customer Centric Selling" but I think his latest book is his best work.
Do you have any funny stories from the sales field that you would like to share? Please feel free to email them to me at rjs@mblstoryseekers.com with the subject line "funny sales stories."
Good Selling!
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