April 24, 2012
It's been a while since I've posted. Left a company after nine years of service. Honestly, the best job I've ever had but, it was time to move on. Once you've been at a place that long, leaving is almost like a divorce. Lots of stuff has been intertwined and has to be undone.
The good part though, is that I get to sell something new. I've been in Information Security for nearly 10 years and had all but abandoned my roots in Networking. Well, here I am selling...wait for it....Networking. Application Delivery to be more specific.
Now back when I was young (let's say the late 90's) we called Application Delivery - Load Balancing. That's about all that has changed in 10 years. I'm amazed that the messaging really hasn't budged since then. The speeds and feeds, players and amount of data has changed but the basic premise of getting information to the right place as fast as possible, remains.
What also remains are the customers trying to squeeze every bit of performance out of their networks. This is what is going to drive the product I am selling now. I cannot wait to tell my prospects/customers about this stuff.
So, it's back to the basics of salesmanship. Numbers count and here are the numbers I am holding myself to:
1. 20 touches per week (I need 20 appointments with partners/prospects/customers)
2. Drive at least 2 new opportunities per week
3. 2 marketing or networking activities per month
4. Get to every major population center in my territory in the next 30 days
What numbers do you hold yourself to on a weekly or monthly basis? How often do you touch your 30/60/90 day plans?
Food for thought.
Happy Hunting and here is my new contact info:
Jeff Patton
Regional Sales Director - North Texas and Oklahoma
jpatton@a10networks.com
http://www.a10networks.com
jlptexashunter (twitter)
214-405-1340 (mobile)
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
CRM Tool soap box and my new gig.
April 10th, 2012
Starting a new gig next Monday and in cleaning up my inbox, dropbox, documents, download folders and assorted packrat places I noticed that I may keep way too much information. You see, I'm actually pretty good about using the CRM tools that I've been given over the years.
Today's CRM tools really aren't that much better or different than ACT or similar tools we were using in the early 90's. The most important thing I've found is that you load valid information, keep it updated and make sure to clean the crap out occasionally. Simple, right?
Well from being a manager for a good portion of my career, I can tell you that it is indeed not simple. Most people fail in the "load valid information". They'll put whatever minimal information they can get away with. It's amazing. Updating is out of the question and clean up is worse yet.
For the Advanced Persistent Salesperson, the ability to use a CRM is key to uncluttered sales life. You can keep relationships, product history, contact info in one place. Why not use it?
I'll jump off of my soap box now.
Anyway, April 13th is my last day with Accuvant. It has been the best 9+ years of my career and I'm really going to miss everyone. April 16th, I start what is hopefully my last sales job working for someone else. I am heading to A10 Networks and the familiar world of Application Delivery. This is my second gig in this space. The first time was with Alteon Websystems. That was a pretty good run and I really cannot wait to jump back into networking.
Wish me luck and happy hunting everyone.
http://www.accuvant.com
http://www.a10networks.com
http://www.netsuite.com
http://www.salesforce.com
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Go out of your way
April 1, 2012
What makes customers buy from you over an extended period of time? I have customers that I've worked with for as many as 17 years now. I can think of two in particular that are now VP's that were Unix/Windows Admins when I met them. Hardly the decision makers they are now.
Another customer of mine that I've worked with for about 12 years now, tells a particular story as to why he does business with me. It involves a piece of equipment being down on a Saturday and me finding a replacement that day and hauling it up to their building. I've done it at least 20 times over the course of my career with at least 15 customers but for this one, it made the most impact.
So, what little extra things do you do for your customers? I have two things that I tell all new customers and constantly remind old ones.
1. If you're working, I'm working.
2. My phone is on 24 hrs a day, please use it.
Now, the problem with these statements are that someone is going to take you up on them. You have to be prepared to back this up. For me it means that I have to have a network of people, like minded, that are prepared to help me. It also means that I need to know where equipment can be made available. I have to likewise know where the closest food delivery place is, once I find said resources.
Don't forget to go out of your way a bit. It can make all the difference in the world. It's what persistent sales people do.
Happy hunting.
What makes customers buy from you over an extended period of time? I have customers that I've worked with for as many as 17 years now. I can think of two in particular that are now VP's that were Unix/Windows Admins when I met them. Hardly the decision makers they are now.
Another customer of mine that I've worked with for about 12 years now, tells a particular story as to why he does business with me. It involves a piece of equipment being down on a Saturday and me finding a replacement that day and hauling it up to their building. I've done it at least 20 times over the course of my career with at least 15 customers but for this one, it made the most impact.
So, what little extra things do you do for your customers? I have two things that I tell all new customers and constantly remind old ones.
1. If you're working, I'm working.
2. My phone is on 24 hrs a day, please use it.
Now, the problem with these statements are that someone is going to take you up on them. You have to be prepared to back this up. For me it means that I have to have a network of people, like minded, that are prepared to help me. It also means that I need to know where equipment can be made available. I have to likewise know where the closest food delivery place is, once I find said resources.
Don't forget to go out of your way a bit. It can make all the difference in the world. It's what persistent sales people do.
Happy hunting.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
You're the new account manager on an old account
March 24, 2012:
One of our top reps left this week. This was the second company we had worked for together. Really going to miss him being on our team. He had about 10 very good buying accounts with lots of deals on the table.
So this weeks blog is about; What do you do when taking over someone else's account? How do you establish your brand and your style while keeping a customer happy?
Over the last 20 years there have been literally hundreds of sales reps leave the companies I've been with. The algorithm that I've learned over those 20 years is: 33% of the customers stay, 33% of the customers leave and 33% of the customers are up for grabs.
What can we do to maximize that 33% that are up for grabs?
First, identify who the flight risks are. If you're the rep taking over the accounts you need to quickly make appointments with everyone that will meet with you. You're going to have to dig in. I like meeting with the field staff first and on very friendly terms. Happy hour, sporting events, somewhere away from the office. I need intel and these guys generally have it.
Second, ask the "champion" in the account what they liked about their old rep. If the departing salesman and the champion went to grade school together, just hope your former co-worker didn't go to a competitor. What we're looking for here is, if the champion likes our company as much or more than they liked the previous sales person. Also, we need to refine our intelligence gathered from the field staff.
Third, meet with the decision makers and get your brand established. Here it is very important to find a new project or continue any current project with military precision. The execution of this project is, I think, key to keeping this account.
It is also very important that already established relationships with engineers, product managers, executives get revisited during this transition. It's going to take a team effort. Don't go down alone. Make sure that all eyes and hands available touch this account and make them feel important because, THEY ARE. We all know the old axiom, "it is far easier to keep a customer than to find a new one".
With that, I picked up three of my friends accounts. Next week looked like a nice leisurely swim into the end of the quarter but, not now. I'll be on the phone and in the car meeting with my new customers.
Stay persistent my friends.
One of our top reps left this week. This was the second company we had worked for together. Really going to miss him being on our team. He had about 10 very good buying accounts with lots of deals on the table.
So this weeks blog is about; What do you do when taking over someone else's account? How do you establish your brand and your style while keeping a customer happy?
Over the last 20 years there have been literally hundreds of sales reps leave the companies I've been with. The algorithm that I've learned over those 20 years is: 33% of the customers stay, 33% of the customers leave and 33% of the customers are up for grabs.
What can we do to maximize that 33% that are up for grabs?
First, identify who the flight risks are. If you're the rep taking over the accounts you need to quickly make appointments with everyone that will meet with you. You're going to have to dig in. I like meeting with the field staff first and on very friendly terms. Happy hour, sporting events, somewhere away from the office. I need intel and these guys generally have it.
Second, ask the "champion" in the account what they liked about their old rep. If the departing salesman and the champion went to grade school together, just hope your former co-worker didn't go to a competitor. What we're looking for here is, if the champion likes our company as much or more than they liked the previous sales person. Also, we need to refine our intelligence gathered from the field staff.
Third, meet with the decision makers and get your brand established. Here it is very important to find a new project or continue any current project with military precision. The execution of this project is, I think, key to keeping this account.
It is also very important that already established relationships with engineers, product managers, executives get revisited during this transition. It's going to take a team effort. Don't go down alone. Make sure that all eyes and hands available touch this account and make them feel important because, THEY ARE. We all know the old axiom, "it is far easier to keep a customer than to find a new one".
With that, I picked up three of my friends accounts. Next week looked like a nice leisurely swim into the end of the quarter but, not now. I'll be on the phone and in the car meeting with my new customers.
Stay persistent my friends.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Luck be a lady...
March 19, 2012
Do you ever wonder how many times you've been lucky in sales? I know, I know, preparation meets opportunity, blah blah blah....but, sometimes it's just good ol' craphouse luck.
I was assigned a big target customer about 3 weeks ago. I haven't thought two seconds about them since they were assigned. Figured that I'd try to close the quarter out strong and tackle them next month.
Then I got lucky. Prospect called a good integrator partner they've worked with for a while asking for a skill set that they didn't have. The integrator's VP came from one of my current customers and VOILA, I have a new customer. Just like I said, craphouse luck. I will take it, thank the Lord above and go about executing this project with my new customer.
All of that being said I still believe that you make more luck than not. Persistence is the key. Here is one of my favorite quotes from Ray Kroc - The Milkshake Mixer Salesman who made McDonald's a household name:
"Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
Stay persistent, my friends.
Do you ever wonder how many times you've been lucky in sales? I know, I know, preparation meets opportunity, blah blah blah....but, sometimes it's just good ol' craphouse luck.
I was assigned a big target customer about 3 weeks ago. I haven't thought two seconds about them since they were assigned. Figured that I'd try to close the quarter out strong and tackle them next month.
Then I got lucky. Prospect called a good integrator partner they've worked with for a while asking for a skill set that they didn't have. The integrator's VP came from one of my current customers and VOILA, I have a new customer. Just like I said, craphouse luck. I will take it, thank the Lord above and go about executing this project with my new customer.
All of that being said I still believe that you make more luck than not. Persistence is the key. Here is one of my favorite quotes from Ray Kroc - The Milkshake Mixer Salesman who made McDonald's a household name:
"Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
Stay persistent, my friends.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Dealing with frustration
Feb 27, 2012
My muse has escaped me for the last few days but what days they've been. Picked up one new customers and two new prospects. That's pretty salty. Again, contacts from the partner community have paved the way. If you're not meeting with your partners, your force multipliers, at least a few times a week, you're missing the boat. Why make it hard on yourself. Spend the time to get to know the folks that you work with outside of your company. You'll be surprised.
How many people are sick of hearing about the "cloud". I know I am. However, I'm starting to understand the "why" of the cloud. Now that I've walked through with a customer moving their crapplications (pure commodity apps) to the cloud and hitting the = button on the calculator with them. I GET IT!!!!! If your customers are having a hard time getting it. Educate yourself on it, get with your partners, and show them the light. They can save a pile of money.
Speaking of educating yourself. How much time to you really spend on the web or in a book learning. I try to at least squeeze in one hour per night. A colleague of mine does something very interesting around this. He tries to spend 4 hours of uninterrupted time just coming up and brain panning new ideas. Incredible. He shared some of his ideas recently and they're awesome. Where he finds 4 hours without a golf course, fishing boat or hunting blind is beyond me. I'll have to try that one for myself.
That's if for tonight.
Stay persistent.
My muse has escaped me for the last few days but what days they've been. Picked up one new customers and two new prospects. That's pretty salty. Again, contacts from the partner community have paved the way. If you're not meeting with your partners, your force multipliers, at least a few times a week, you're missing the boat. Why make it hard on yourself. Spend the time to get to know the folks that you work with outside of your company. You'll be surprised.
How many people are sick of hearing about the "cloud". I know I am. However, I'm starting to understand the "why" of the cloud. Now that I've walked through with a customer moving their crapplications (pure commodity apps) to the cloud and hitting the = button on the calculator with them. I GET IT!!!!! If your customers are having a hard time getting it. Educate yourself on it, get with your partners, and show them the light. They can save a pile of money.
Speaking of educating yourself. How much time to you really spend on the web or in a book learning. I try to at least squeeze in one hour per night. A colleague of mine does something very interesting around this. He tries to spend 4 hours of uninterrupted time just coming up and brain panning new ideas. Incredible. He shared some of his ideas recently and they're awesome. Where he finds 4 hours without a golf course, fishing boat or hunting blind is beyond me. I'll have to try that one for myself.
That's if for tonight.
Stay persistent.
Trust
March 8, 2012
How do you earn trust with your prospects and customers? It's essential to earn some trust before any transaction can be done. Do you rely on your past accomplishments and references? What about demonstrating that you can be trust worthy? How would you go about that?
Lately these questions have been running through my mind. I've sat with brand new prospects that didn't know me from Adam and guys that I had met through associates/associations over the last few weeks and was taking a mental inventory of what I was going to do for each of them to earn some trust.
The largest prospective customer couldn't have cared less what I or my company were bringing to the table. They had everything figured out and didn't need any of our services. Normally I don't take much offense to this but my employer has some of the most accomplished security practitioners on the planet, bar none. So I couldn't immediately earn anything with him but, I fed him a ton of information regarding our 3 or 4 most famous guys and what they're currently working on. Fish on!!!! Something caught his attention. I still haven't earned any personal trust but I've at least earned the right to talk to him some more because of my company's smart guys. Baby step.
Next guy was an IT Director for a very small shop. They don't spend a bunch of money on security but are about ready to. They're going to have to get their act together quickly because of industry regs that their largest customers are pressing down to them as part of vendor management. This one was easy. We just sat and had a long, long, long talk about what was going to be expected of them. I read the letter their customer had sent and then we went to the web for more info and resources. Instant credibility. Once this Director figured out that I was friend not foe and that I knew at least as much, if not more, than he did, we were set. I think we'll have a nice relationship.
What are you doing to earn trust? It's not the old days of seeing a pic of some kid playing baseball and striking up a conversation about baseball. I've always thought that was more IFF (Identify: friend or foe) than earning any trust.
I've recently re-discovered a small technique for gaining trust that I'll share. EARNING IT!!!! Execute on one thing. If it's a project, an assignment, an RFI...Whatever. Execute that one thing perfectly. Nothing will earn you trust faster. Now finding this opportunity can be tough. You'll have to ask lots of questions and listen but something will present itself. Know your product, prepare some questions and if I may briefly channel Jim Rome, "have a take, don't suck".
Sorry, I wish this one were a more profound blog but, it's not. Let's recap real quick.
How do you earn trust with your prospects and customers? It's essential to earn some trust before any transaction can be done. Do you rely on your past accomplishments and references? What about demonstrating that you can be trust worthy? How would you go about that?
Lately these questions have been running through my mind. I've sat with brand new prospects that didn't know me from Adam and guys that I had met through associates/associations over the last few weeks and was taking a mental inventory of what I was going to do for each of them to earn some trust.
The largest prospective customer couldn't have cared less what I or my company were bringing to the table. They had everything figured out and didn't need any of our services. Normally I don't take much offense to this but my employer has some of the most accomplished security practitioners on the planet, bar none. So I couldn't immediately earn anything with him but, I fed him a ton of information regarding our 3 or 4 most famous guys and what they're currently working on. Fish on!!!! Something caught his attention. I still haven't earned any personal trust but I've at least earned the right to talk to him some more because of my company's smart guys. Baby step.
Next guy was an IT Director for a very small shop. They don't spend a bunch of money on security but are about ready to. They're going to have to get their act together quickly because of industry regs that their largest customers are pressing down to them as part of vendor management. This one was easy. We just sat and had a long, long, long talk about what was going to be expected of them. I read the letter their customer had sent and then we went to the web for more info and resources. Instant credibility. Once this Director figured out that I was friend not foe and that I knew at least as much, if not more, than he did, we were set. I think we'll have a nice relationship.
What are you doing to earn trust? It's not the old days of seeing a pic of some kid playing baseball and striking up a conversation about baseball. I've always thought that was more IFF (Identify: friend or foe) than earning any trust.
I've recently re-discovered a small technique for gaining trust that I'll share. EARNING IT!!!! Execute on one thing. If it's a project, an assignment, an RFI...Whatever. Execute that one thing perfectly. Nothing will earn you trust faster. Now finding this opportunity can be tough. You'll have to ask lots of questions and listen but something will present itself. Know your product, prepare some questions and if I may briefly channel Jim Rome, "have a take, don't suck".
Sorry, I wish this one were a more profound blog but, it's not. Let's recap real quick.
- Have a take, don't suck (learn something worth sharing)
- Be an ambassador or conduit of information
- Execute that first thing perfectly
- Stay persistent
That's all for tonight...Let me know what you're running into out there.
Happy hunting.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Symmetrical or Asymmetrical? Who are you?
Day 11 - Feb 21, 2012
Admin day in the office and now that I've have 23 accounts to cover, I've discovered that I need some tools to help me organize. I am not naturally organized. In fact my office has been described as Asymmetrical Sh__ Stacking. Organized for me is Symmetrical Sh__ Stacking. I can work in this environment but, I need to get the stacks into a place where I can use them.
For those of you not on Evernote, you're missing something special. I can put notes, URL's, pictures and all manner of things into one place and then organize them into the way my brain works. It's beautiful. The part that I had to work around, because of my job, is how to keep the data confidential. I've worked out a system so if the data is compromised my customers won't be at risk. It's not that I have a bunch of customer sensitive data but I always worry about this stuff. Six years of Air Force Intelligence has made me paranoid.
Another tool I'm using is Netsuite. I've always been a proponent of using a forecasting tool to keep you organized and focused. Salesforce, Act or any other CRM will work. The key is to put all of your contact data, notes and opportunities in them. Crap in - Crap out. It takes as many data points as possible. Don't leave out anything.
I also went on a short fishing expedition. Using my targets from last week I sent some Linkedin messages, cold called, left messages and invited all of them to an event I am putting on next month. I'm thinking about drafting an email to blast out but, if they're like me, they won't read them. I doubt half of them even listen to the voice mail. Stay persistent, right. So far my most successful account penetration technique has been blasting my account list out to every partner that will read it. As always, personal relationships trump everything. I've managed to get 4 Fortune 500 accounts this month to at least talk to me and three of them have opportunities. It's far easier working off of a personal recommendation.
Last but, not least is an interesting article I read. This gives me a lot of homework. It is a pretty good list to start with given the title of the article. Business Insider Article.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-10-thinkers-that-executives-actually-listen-to-2012-2#
That is some useful information. I don't like reading business stuff but I must hone my craft. So, read I shall.
If you're reading this, let me know what tools you use. How do you organize your business life? What books are you reading?
Forgot one thing: HUNGER GAMES TICKETS GO ON SALE TONIGHT!!!!! My youngest daughter (15 yrs) has reminded me at least 200 times. So parents or fans or both, don't forget to buy them starting at 0001 hours tonight (tomorrow). Maybe I'll see you at opening night, around midnight at a theater in Dallas.
Admin day in the office and now that I've have 23 accounts to cover, I've discovered that I need some tools to help me organize. I am not naturally organized. In fact my office has been described as Asymmetrical Sh__ Stacking. Organized for me is Symmetrical Sh__ Stacking. I can work in this environment but, I need to get the stacks into a place where I can use them.
For those of you not on Evernote, you're missing something special. I can put notes, URL's, pictures and all manner of things into one place and then organize them into the way my brain works. It's beautiful. The part that I had to work around, because of my job, is how to keep the data confidential. I've worked out a system so if the data is compromised my customers won't be at risk. It's not that I have a bunch of customer sensitive data but I always worry about this stuff. Six years of Air Force Intelligence has made me paranoid.
Another tool I'm using is Netsuite. I've always been a proponent of using a forecasting tool to keep you organized and focused. Salesforce, Act or any other CRM will work. The key is to put all of your contact data, notes and opportunities in them. Crap in - Crap out. It takes as many data points as possible. Don't leave out anything.
I also went on a short fishing expedition. Using my targets from last week I sent some Linkedin messages, cold called, left messages and invited all of them to an event I am putting on next month. I'm thinking about drafting an email to blast out but, if they're like me, they won't read them. I doubt half of them even listen to the voice mail. Stay persistent, right. So far my most successful account penetration technique has been blasting my account list out to every partner that will read it. As always, personal relationships trump everything. I've managed to get 4 Fortune 500 accounts this month to at least talk to me and three of them have opportunities. It's far easier working off of a personal recommendation.
Last but, not least is an interesting article I read. This gives me a lot of homework. It is a pretty good list to start with given the title of the article. Business Insider Article.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-10-thinkers-that-executives-actually-listen-to-2012-2#
That is some useful information. I don't like reading business stuff but I must hone my craft. So, read I shall.
If you're reading this, let me know what tools you use. How do you organize your business life? What books are you reading?
Forgot one thing: HUNGER GAMES TICKETS GO ON SALE TONIGHT!!!!! My youngest daughter (15 yrs) has reminded me at least 200 times. So parents or fans or both, don't forget to buy them starting at 0001 hours tonight (tomorrow). Maybe I'll see you at opening night, around midnight at a theater in Dallas.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Put a wrap on the week
Day 7 - February 18, 2012
For those of you not in touch with Jeff Snyder, he is the man behind SecurityRecruiter.com and one of the most interesting guys in my industry. I've only talked with Jeff two or three times, ever. Each conversation has generally started with us talking about candidates for a particular position he's trying to fill then evolves into at least one hour of general business and life stuff. He's quickly becoming a person that I'd like to have at my fantasy dinner party with Bill Clinton, Thomas Jefferson, Frank Cano and Ted Nugent. He's that interesting. You need to check out his blogs, musings and speaking engagements. I guarantee you'll learn something.
When starting this blog I wanted to wrap up each week with a few things that I learned. So we'll see if I can keep this commitment:
1. Know your product cold - Learned this from the guy who sold me suits
2. Continual self assessment is a must for anyone in sales - Courtesy of Jeff Snyder
3. Even the most stubborn prospect can still be a customer - Fortune 500 Sourcing Manager
4. Persistence again is a constant in the equation of sales (preparation/effort) x persistence = quota
5. Cold calling will always suck and a great lesson in humility
Moving back to sales from sales management has been exhilarating at times and good old fashioned boring at others. It's been 45 days now and I feel the sales juices flowing. Should pick up a couple of new Fortune 500 logos by the end of the month and will increase my company's F500 penetration in my region by 20% by the end of the quarter. Progress is being made.
I will close this blog referring back to item #2 in the what I learned this week and a couple of nuggets from Jeff Snyder's Blog (http://blog.securityrecruiter.com/). Heady stuff if you allow yourself to stew on it for a bit. How are you Mr. or Ms. Salesman going to help yourself and your clients? How are you hard wired? What behavioral changes have you made or need to make? I don't know the answers but I do know that I'll be tuning into Jeff's blog and doing some soul searching to figure it out.
For those of you not in touch with Jeff Snyder, he is the man behind SecurityRecruiter.com and one of the most interesting guys in my industry. I've only talked with Jeff two or three times, ever. Each conversation has generally started with us talking about candidates for a particular position he's trying to fill then evolves into at least one hour of general business and life stuff. He's quickly becoming a person that I'd like to have at my fantasy dinner party with Bill Clinton, Thomas Jefferson, Frank Cano and Ted Nugent. He's that interesting. You need to check out his blogs, musings and speaking engagements. I guarantee you'll learn something.
When starting this blog I wanted to wrap up each week with a few things that I learned. So we'll see if I can keep this commitment:
1. Know your product cold - Learned this from the guy who sold me suits
2. Continual self assessment is a must for anyone in sales - Courtesy of Jeff Snyder
3. Even the most stubborn prospect can still be a customer - Fortune 500 Sourcing Manager
4. Persistence again is a constant in the equation of sales (preparation/effort) x persistence = quota
5. Cold calling will always suck and a great lesson in humility
Moving back to sales from sales management has been exhilarating at times and good old fashioned boring at others. It's been 45 days now and I feel the sales juices flowing. Should pick up a couple of new Fortune 500 logos by the end of the month and will increase my company's F500 penetration in my region by 20% by the end of the quarter. Progress is being made.
I will close this blog referring back to item #2 in the what I learned this week and a couple of nuggets from Jeff Snyder's Blog (http://blog.securityrecruiter.com/). Heady stuff if you allow yourself to stew on it for a bit. How are you Mr. or Ms. Salesman going to help yourself and your clients? How are you hard wired? What behavioral changes have you made or need to make? I don't know the answers but I do know that I'll be tuning into Jeff's blog and doing some soul searching to figure it out.
"Your Hard Wiring
Seriously, have you ever invested the time to slow down to determine just how you’ve been put together? Do you know why you do what you do? Do you know why you react to certain situations the way you do?"
"Do you think positive behavioral change just might improve your personal stock value? I do!"
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Supplemental Blog - Best part of my day
Day 5 - Feb 16, 2012 (Supplemental)
After my long day of meetings and admin work I had the pleasure of working with two true Sales Professionals at a place that I usually don't stay longer than about 20 minutes in.
Men's Wearhouse is having their monthly (seems like) BOGO sale. Since I've lost about 60lbs in the last year I figured it was time to get some new threads. For those that don't know me, I'm not a shopper nor do I like pretending to be a shopper. It's usually a 20 minute affair for me to pick out clothes in general. Whether buying one suit or an entire seasonal wardrobe, 20 minutes and I'm out of there.
I am here to tell you, James Massey and Catherine (didn't catch last name) at the Mesquite, TX Men's Wearhouse were incredible. James knew suits, casual clothes, belts, shoes and ties better than any body I've ever worked with. He managed to talk me into two suits, two sports jackets, two pair of slacks, two pair of shoes, two belts, two dress shirts, two casual shirts, two packs of socks and even two lint rollers....
He did this by doing three things. New sales people take heed:
1. Knew his product cold
2. Did some research on my buying history
3. Asked me lots of questions
Then he played me like a fiddle. Catherine was brought in for "chick checks" on the combos and colors he was throwing together and together they danced the sales dance better than most. I knew what was happening but was powerless to stop it. I ended up right at 2 hours in the store and frankly would have stayed longer and purchased more but my stomach was growling.
Well done James and Catherine and I look forward to buying from both of you again.
After my long day of meetings and admin work I had the pleasure of working with two true Sales Professionals at a place that I usually don't stay longer than about 20 minutes in.
Men's Wearhouse is having their monthly (seems like) BOGO sale. Since I've lost about 60lbs in the last year I figured it was time to get some new threads. For those that don't know me, I'm not a shopper nor do I like pretending to be a shopper. It's usually a 20 minute affair for me to pick out clothes in general. Whether buying one suit or an entire seasonal wardrobe, 20 minutes and I'm out of there.
I am here to tell you, James Massey and Catherine (didn't catch last name) at the Mesquite, TX Men's Wearhouse were incredible. James knew suits, casual clothes, belts, shoes and ties better than any body I've ever worked with. He managed to talk me into two suits, two sports jackets, two pair of slacks, two pair of shoes, two belts, two dress shirts, two casual shirts, two packs of socks and even two lint rollers....
He did this by doing three things. New sales people take heed:
1. Knew his product cold
2. Did some research on my buying history
3. Asked me lots of questions
Then he played me like a fiddle. Catherine was brought in for "chick checks" on the combos and colors he was throwing together and together they danced the sales dance better than most. I knew what was happening but was powerless to stop it. I ended up right at 2 hours in the store and frankly would have stayed longer and purchased more but my stomach was growling.
Well done James and Catherine and I look forward to buying from both of you again.
Can I create some value? We'll see.
Day 5 - 16 Feb, 2012
The great fishing expedition went pretty well. Got some calls in, a couple of appointments and a new list of people to call. Learned a few things from the junior reps and hopefully shared some knowledge with them. Linkedin is the most accurate of all the intel spots but, still about 90%, as people forget to update their profiles.
Today, was a lesson in patience and negotiations. First the patience. A prospective customer wants to buy a product from us (wants may be too strong). They haven't done business with my company for a couple of years and being that we start with an A, we are near the top of a list of companies they could buy from when the manufacturer of the product would not sell to them directly. Having no real "value" to the end customer, I cut our price down to what I thought was a fair price. We had not earned anything really so, no harm no foul and I get put their logo back on my brag slide. Here's the good part, they disagreed with my pricing and asked me to cut the price to 2% over cost. WHAT!!!!
For those not in the IT business, we generally sell products in the 16% - 25% profit range. When the words two percent came out of their mouth, I almost audibly chortled into the phone. Turns out, they were serious. After 4 phone calls and about 90 minutes of discussion, both the prospective customer and I have decided to take the conversation under advisement and touch base again tomorrow. My patience were worn to a nub.
Now the negotiation piece. I have to somehow create value to this customer. How can I get them to move their position? It doesn't have to be far, just enough to cover a sandwich and diet coke. I am mostly trying to add their logo back to our customer list and earn more business down the road.
What did I try you ask? I tried everything. First, I went over their budget trying to show how I was saving them money. Second, I separated hardware from software and support to create a bargaining position on any one of the three fronts. Third, I went over their payment history with our company, btw they average about 90 days on Net 30 terms (I wish my mortgage company would let me do that) and asked them to pre-pay the invoice and I'd ship product once payment was received. Still not at 2% above cost but lower than my previous price. And lastly, I tried to get them to commit, in writing, to giving me all of the business that they do with this manufacturer for the next 12 months. A signed cost plus volume purchasing agreement.
As you can tell, I clearly don't have their attention. I'm stewing over what else I can do to help them and my company but, I've hit a wall inside my brain pan. Alec Baldwin keeps playing in my head. AIDA, attention, interest, desire, action (if you don't know what I mean check out Glengarry Glenn Ross). We'll see how it goes tomorrow.
If anyone out there is reading this and has a bright idea, I'm all ears.
Stay persistent and happy hunting.
The great fishing expedition went pretty well. Got some calls in, a couple of appointments and a new list of people to call. Learned a few things from the junior reps and hopefully shared some knowledge with them. Linkedin is the most accurate of all the intel spots but, still about 90%, as people forget to update their profiles.
Today, was a lesson in patience and negotiations. First the patience. A prospective customer wants to buy a product from us (wants may be too strong). They haven't done business with my company for a couple of years and being that we start with an A, we are near the top of a list of companies they could buy from when the manufacturer of the product would not sell to them directly. Having no real "value" to the end customer, I cut our price down to what I thought was a fair price. We had not earned anything really so, no harm no foul and I get put their logo back on my brag slide. Here's the good part, they disagreed with my pricing and asked me to cut the price to 2% over cost. WHAT!!!!
For those not in the IT business, we generally sell products in the 16% - 25% profit range. When the words two percent came out of their mouth, I almost audibly chortled into the phone. Turns out, they were serious. After 4 phone calls and about 90 minutes of discussion, both the prospective customer and I have decided to take the conversation under advisement and touch base again tomorrow. My patience were worn to a nub.
Now the negotiation piece. I have to somehow create value to this customer. How can I get them to move their position? It doesn't have to be far, just enough to cover a sandwich and diet coke. I am mostly trying to add their logo back to our customer list and earn more business down the road.
What did I try you ask? I tried everything. First, I went over their budget trying to show how I was saving them money. Second, I separated hardware from software and support to create a bargaining position on any one of the three fronts. Third, I went over their payment history with our company, btw they average about 90 days on Net 30 terms (I wish my mortgage company would let me do that) and asked them to pre-pay the invoice and I'd ship product once payment was received. Still not at 2% above cost but lower than my previous price. And lastly, I tried to get them to commit, in writing, to giving me all of the business that they do with this manufacturer for the next 12 months. A signed cost plus volume purchasing agreement.
As you can tell, I clearly don't have their attention. I'm stewing over what else I can do to help them and my company but, I've hit a wall inside my brain pan. Alec Baldwin keeps playing in my head. AIDA, attention, interest, desire, action (if you don't know what I mean check out Glengarry Glenn Ross). We'll see how it goes tomorrow.
If anyone out there is reading this and has a bright idea, I'm all ears.
Stay persistent and happy hunting.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Gone Fishin'
Day 2 - Feb 13, 2012
Second day of blogging and I'm getting ready to take some of the younger sales reps on my team on an adventure in cold calling starting at 0730 tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. I think this is a lost art.
This takes me back to the beginnings of my career. Two great salesman, Dwayne Nagel (now with Cisco) and Leon Luckey (now running his own business Net54Baseball) taught me most everything I know about cold calling. Heather Goodnight taught me how to make it an art form.
I'll sum it up for you; Preparation and PERSISTENCE are everything. From where I sit now the internet has changed the game on the preparation end of things. Nothing has changed on the persistence end.
The amount of information available on company, social and information websites is crazy. I can read some of my prospects musings, get to know a bit about him/her, find where their last four jobs were and depending on their social media addiction, where they had breakfast this morning. All that being said, it hasn't gotten any easier.
The proliferation of information has made prospects a little more wary of the random caller trying to get their attention. Also, I believe you have a little less time to get on their radar. Here is where a little more preparation is needed and a lot more persistence.
What I've done tonight is find 10 prospects at 6 companies that I am targeting tomorrow. I've done the usual Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Hoovers, Jigsaw and RainKing searches and have done a pretty good network reconstruction on their org charts. What I've also done, is listened to or read their CEO's take on the coming quarter/year and have written some notes as to how I can try to work this nugget into the conversation with the prospect. What is your responsibility to _______ (insert CEO's vision here)? Who knows, I may make a complete ass of myself.
I will continue to target these 10 prospects until they either get sick enough of me to take a meeting or I get a cease and desist letter in the mail (not really but you get the picture).
I'll report back tomorrow on how our little fishing expedition went.
Stay after it and good night.
Second day of blogging and I'm getting ready to take some of the younger sales reps on my team on an adventure in cold calling starting at 0730 tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. I think this is a lost art.
This takes me back to the beginnings of my career. Two great salesman, Dwayne Nagel (now with Cisco) and Leon Luckey (now running his own business Net54Baseball) taught me most everything I know about cold calling. Heather Goodnight taught me how to make it an art form.
I'll sum it up for you; Preparation and PERSISTENCE are everything. From where I sit now the internet has changed the game on the preparation end of things. Nothing has changed on the persistence end.
The amount of information available on company, social and information websites is crazy. I can read some of my prospects musings, get to know a bit about him/her, find where their last four jobs were and depending on their social media addiction, where they had breakfast this morning. All that being said, it hasn't gotten any easier.
The proliferation of information has made prospects a little more wary of the random caller trying to get their attention. Also, I believe you have a little less time to get on their radar. Here is where a little more preparation is needed and a lot more persistence.
What I've done tonight is find 10 prospects at 6 companies that I am targeting tomorrow. I've done the usual Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Hoovers, Jigsaw and RainKing searches and have done a pretty good network reconstruction on their org charts. What I've also done, is listened to or read their CEO's take on the coming quarter/year and have written some notes as to how I can try to work this nugget into the conversation with the prospect. What is your responsibility to _______ (insert CEO's vision here)? Who knows, I may make a complete ass of myself.
I will continue to target these 10 prospects until they either get sick enough of me to take a meeting or I get a cease and desist letter in the mail (not really but you get the picture).
I'll report back tomorrow on how our little fishing expedition went.
Stay after it and good night.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Day 1 - Feb 12 2012
Woke up this morning and started reading Linkedin threads on Advanced Persistent Threats and other information security buzzwords of the day. After my ADD kicked in and a cup of Community Coffee, I found myself reading on sales and the secrets to selling.
I've been a professional salesman since 1993, working for some of the most successful companies in the technology industry and some of its most epic failures. I've nearly starved to death and thought about giving it up and have made what to some seemed like a mountain of money. In all of these ups and downs the one LAW of sales that I've been able to put my finger on is persistence. Then an idea popped into my ever shrinking brain...I wonder if anyone has ever thought about doing a blog called Advanced Persistent Sales? Turns out, nobody has.
So, after the second cup (I say cup but, really it's more of a bucket shaped like a cup) I decided to start this blog to talk about sales, the secrets of selling and hopefully someday a few other professional sales folks will join me to impart years of missteps, failures and blunders to pass our collective wisdom onto the people deciding that sales may be their chosen profession.
I hope you enjoy.
I've been a professional salesman since 1993, working for some of the most successful companies in the technology industry and some of its most epic failures. I've nearly starved to death and thought about giving it up and have made what to some seemed like a mountain of money. In all of these ups and downs the one LAW of sales that I've been able to put my finger on is persistence. Then an idea popped into my ever shrinking brain...I wonder if anyone has ever thought about doing a blog called Advanced Persistent Sales? Turns out, nobody has.
So, after the second cup (I say cup but, really it's more of a bucket shaped like a cup) I decided to start this blog to talk about sales, the secrets of selling and hopefully someday a few other professional sales folks will join me to impart years of missteps, failures and blunders to pass our collective wisdom onto the people deciding that sales may be their chosen profession.
I hope you enjoy.
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