Antonio Falco

In this post I’d like to touch on the thorny subject of SALES. Thorny because many of us fear it, loathe it or feel that it’s just not what we do. So let me begin by dispelling one or two myths: First, selling is not about the ’gift of the gab’, what is that anyway? After 25 years in sales I’ve yet to find one: Second, selling is not about ‘brow beating’ someone into submission or speaking loudly or worse just telling someone how good your product or service is. Anyone that has watched The Apprentice over the past few years, will I hope appreciate that there hasn’t been one single person on that ‘show’ that has had any idea about selling but they’ve all been good at anyone or all of the above ‘methods’ and without going into an extensive explanation about that statement, I ask that you trust me when I make it. The third point is that all of us in some capacity, shape or form will be ‘selling’.

With the wide range of people that read this email, I can say that whether you are a business owner, director, senior executive or partner in a Law firm or other such profession or employed; selling will play a part of your daily life, even if you do not believe so. If at any point you are confronted with a potential new customer or a contact that can introduce you to new customers, then you are in a position where you will be having to influence that person, to a greater or lesser degree.

What to do? If you have little conscious experience of sales then begin simply; sales is the simple but complex exchange of your product or service for a potential customer’s money and to do that we need to understand more about them then they about us. Questions based on What, Where, When, Why, Who and How are a good starting point; it’s all about finding out what issues are affecting them, what it’s doing to their business, what solutions they’ve tried, why didn’t it work etc. If you give them a chance to tell you, you will discover how you may be able to help them.

The same applies at a networking event when you are meeting new people, one of the rules at such an event is to avoid being the ‘network bore’, they are the ones where it’s all about them and what they do. At these types of functions you may not meet potential customers but potential introducers, therefore your tone of questions whilst based on the Who, What … are going to be about trying to find out what circles they move in, which other events they find useful, how they find their customers, perhaps you can help, reciprocating is a good thing. More about networking and the rules on another occasion.

Back to selling; for those of you that are more experienced and maybe it’s a key role for you; what can you learn; check. Check that you haven’t become to blasé, that you are not above making sure that you are still learning and getting a better understanding of the skills and techniques needed to be an effective and competent sales person.

Sales is the lifeblood of any business, I’ve come across many good people, in a variety of industries with great products or services that have never gotten very far because they could not get to grips with the concept and the basic skills to make that most critical of exchanges – your product or service for their money. You don’t have to be a ‘super sales person’, you just need to put yourself forward and begin ask those questions.

The subject of sales is a complex one and very few understand or practice it well; I’ll be returning to it again, frequently; in the meantime set yourself a target for the month (sales is a target orientated job) – either meet 3 new potential customers or introducers / call that potential customer who’s been promising you the business or that meeting for months and ask them for it – outright! Or (and, whatever your diary allows) follow up on the last networking event you went to where you meant to get back to the one or two interesting contacts that you made. Yes it may be tough, it’s been too long and you just can’t bring yourself to do it; but doing it gets it off your mind and clears your conscious to help you move on.

Many of you will be in the new position of being asked to find new customers, something that you thought you’d never have to do when you first got into your profession. But the economy as it is and the pressure on businesses to get through requires all of us to become savvier and focused on this role. It’s has always been the case, but it feels more so now then ever. And many are nervous because they’ve never have been taught the skills needed for this. Seek out some sales books – I’ll start recommending stuff to read next month but the main thing to do is start speaking to people and asking those questions.

A brief word about – Motivation. I met a salesman last week at a networking event who proudly announced to me how much he enjoyed working for the local radio station and his job as an advertising salesman. He went on to tell me that he was very – self motivated! Mmm! I thought. I told him there’s no such thing; he looked at me inquisitively and I could see that I needed to explain. I said no one wakes up in the morning and shouts “I’M SELF MOTIVATED!!” – do you? He looked and still the need to explain was clear. I said something external must motivate him, the thought of getting that new car, pay rise, holiday or sales bonus. But that it had to be an external motivation; he looked again and agreed that that was indeed the case, he was motivated by a couple of specific goals that he wanted to achieve.

A couple of weeks back I met a couple who ran a successful business together from which they’d not had a break from it in nearly four years. I asked them if they ever got the chance just to sit in a wine bar and have a drink together; they loved the idea, but no, they didn’t. It was my first meeting with them and after discussing some of the issues that were affecting them and the direction their business was taking I quickly got a sense of a couple of key strategic issues that they needed help and direction on and boiled it down to a couple of action points that they needed to take before the end of the month. After talking through with them, the how, what where and why, they agreed with my thought process and committed to the points raised. I then told them that when they fulfilled them they were to take a couple of hours one evening to enjoy a glass of wine together (they could a have a glass each – but only one glass, let’s not get above ourselves). To some this may seem trite and something out of a book of ‘how to’ – but as many of you know that’s not how I work; I realised that for them the chance to be ‘normal’ and have a break for a couple of hours was not only something to look forward to but something they’d earned. And when you’ve really earned it somehow the wine tastes better and the sun feels more soothing. It doesn’t have to be big or clever, but find something that you can enjoy at the end of May knowing you’ve earned it. I’d love to hear what yours will be.