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.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
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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