We’ve all been there right? You’re on vacation and you’re offered a great deal to listen to a harmless presentation in return for a free dinner or boat trip or whatever. You decide that you have time to spare and it will help off-set the cost of the vacation so you decide to attend. You pretty much regret your decision as soon as you walk into the ‘welcome center’ and see all the other gullible people like yourself, who have been prepared to sacrifice 90 minutes of their precious vacation time to sit and be sold to!

I should explain that we had been persuaded to buy our timeshare many years ago on the recommendation of some trusted friends and it has proved great for us and the family, no regrets there. The ability to swap the timeshare always leaves something to be desired but that’s another story. I decided to treat this one as a field trip – to learn about how their sales process works. I was horrified.

In the first instance their initial approach to get us to attend was based on a false premise. They had ‘sold’ us on having a meeting on the basis that the system for swapping our existing timeshare had changed and they wanted to tell us about the new plan. That was their first deception. There was no such ‘new plan’. They simply wanted to sell us another timeshare on ‘their plan’. Don’t they realize that as soon as you start lying to the customer, you’ve lost any hope of a sale? No trust, no deal! And it didn’t stop there. They went on to explain that we could trade-in our existing timeshare and they would add the benefits of their new deal. Not true. What they were offering was a one-time ‘bonus-week’.

Their whole approach was based on bullying and lying. Their process was very well rehearsed, right down to bringing over their ‘manager’ to offer us an even better deal that we couldn’t possibly refuse! They could have saved their time and ours if they had pre-qualified us as not being people who were about to spend $40,000 on a timeshare we didn’t want just because we were going to get a free dinner!

Using deceit as a sales tool is misguided. At the very best it might work to close a deal but it will lead to lose-lose, not win-win. In fact, any sale that is based on one side losing will end-up as a lose-lose. The sales person might think they have won, and in the sort-term they might, but what they don’t realize is that every customer that was forced, coerced or deceived into a sale that they regret becomes a vocal anti-sponsor for that sales person and for the company they work for.

1. Your behavior, setting the example

Others form a picture of who you are by observing how you act. Your behavior tells others a story. The standard of behavior, the example you set and how you defend what you believe to be right all demonstrate your integrity. This is especially true during times of change when people will be looking to see if the leader lives up to the specific values and themes they are promoting. If you earn people’s respect and trust they will want to adopt your values, both personal and the company’s, which has a tremendous effect on the organizations culture and success.

2. Self respect

This is reflected by your appearance and actions, your punctuality.

3. Respect of others 

How you treat others, with sincerity, empathy and consideration. To build credibility  ensure that you are friendly and approachable. Make time for others, let the other person do a great deal of the talking, listen and be sympathetic to peoples’ opinions, ideas, concerns and worries. Make eye contact, know that little things count. Offer feedback and advice and take action to address their concerns.

4. Be honest and sincere 

Honesty creates a culture of trust. Be uncompromising about the truth keep your word, be honest yet modest. Defend what is right. Show people that you only expect from them what you are prepared to do yourself. Let your team know what you think is important. If you don’t tell people what your beliefs are, they’ll guess and hold you accountable for what they guess. Being forthright has the additional benefit of making people feel like they understand you, and it develops trust faster than any other way.

5.  Always defend what you believe is right

Make sure everyone knows what the organizations belief system is. Write it down, post it on the notice board. Ensure that all your actions demonstrate your adherence to this believe system and your values. Openly acknowledge and praise others who demonstrate this. Never be too important to apologize when things go wrong, When your strategy blows up in your face, take the responsibility.

6. Be magnanimous

Be magnanimous don’t bare grudges. Invite the opinions of others, ask them what values they think are important, what integrity means to them. Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view Share with them that you have accessed your own strength and weaknesses. Invite them to do the same, making yourself available to each individual to offer your help with this. Be prepared to apologize, if you are wrong admit it quickly and emphatically. Let other people feel that new ideas belong to them that their opinion matters. Only hire integrity. ‘Walk the talk’, be firm be consistent, be honest, be respectful, be fair and kind, be the leader!

Do you agree that integrity is the cornerstone for effective leadership and that these are the traits that exemplify leadership integrity? What are your thoughts, we would love to know?

Why do car sales people get such a bad wrap? The car sales person is one of those types of people that we all love to hate. Why is that? When we want to buy a car, we want someone to help us, someone to listen and understand our needs. Most people dread the idea of having to deal with the car sales person. Typically, within a few seconds, these type of sales people demonstrate that they are not sincere, that they care little about customer needs, they only care about selling us something – anything … or at least any car on their lot.

They are not all like that. Car sales people are not all created equal. Here’s a car sales story of a different caliber. I was fortunate to be in the search for a new car – in fact a car that would be ‘new’ to me but actually a used car … I had spent time researching the market; I had a pretty good idea of what I would need to pay for the car model and year that I had chosen. I had decided on a car that was several years old and one that had already taken a big hit in depreciation.

Get to know your customer, their needs and concerns

So what happened? Well, to my surprise this particular sales person took the time to get to know more about me. He didn’t parade around the car lot spouting-on about how great all the cars looked. He asked intelligent, searching questions about what other cars I owned; what I had driven in the past; what I liked and didn’t like; and why I was looking. He asked about me and my family and tried to build a picture of what I really needed, as well as what I said I wanted.

Ask questions, listen and probe, make the client feel you care about them

It became clear that the salesperson’s focus was on ME, the potential buyer. He asked good questions, listened carefully and then started to probe more deeply about my reasoning for why I wanted a used car, as opposed to a new one. He was then able to suggest that he might have a solution that would meet all my needs AND mean that I could be driving a brand new car, not a used one. I had never in my wildest dreams thought that that would be possible for the type of car I wanted. He showed me an exciting option, which was far better than the one I had original planned. Without pushing me in that direction he suggested, offered and compared alternatives – until I felt that I had made decision to buy new instead of used.

Be sincere and interested to build trust

How did he do that? Firstly he identified that my primary decision- making factor was my assumed monthly cost of financing a car. I had a limit, he didn’t try to change the limit, he respected the fact that I had done my homework but he presented a new solution – a lease which would enable me to have a fixed monthly cost within my budget. He explained the business rationale for leasing the car through the business and was able to talk as a peer. He was someone helping me to make an important decision. He was sincere and interested in my needs and as such made me feel comfortable and willing to trust his advice. At the same time he was looking to the long-term. What he saw in me was someone who could become a repeat customer and a source of referrals and recommendations.

So what does all this tell us? Sales people (even the dreaded car sales variety) would all do better if they focused on the customer first and their products second. Sales people should not be selling; they should be helping the customer to buy!

How to foster a culture which embraces innovation and change

1. Preparation and research

In times of stress there can be an impending sense of disaster but no sense of urgency to change anything. Increasingly today the new core competency is creativity. A leader’s role is to encourage the adoption of new approaches and ideas, but how? Trying to instigate change often means overcoming considerable resistance the ‘not invented here syndrome’. The ability to successfully turn new ideas into reality requires great perseverance. It involves creating a culture where creative ideas are welcomed and failures understood. Careful preparation and both external and internal research, through group and individual meetings, is essential. This determines where to focus energy, how to convey a sense of urgency, which factions need to be taken account of and what coalitions need to be forged.

2. Involve others

To enlist support, members of the team need to feel that they have a role to play, something positive to contribute, that their opinions matter. Regular meetings need to be scheduled to foster creativity and the generation of new ideas. The leader needs to be receptive, looking for solutions by listening, questioning, learning and following through with action. Highly skilled and forceful people need to be selected to execute these ideas. Once the process has begun the leader needs to galvanize the efforts of others and build on initial progress.

3. Acknowledge successes

It is vital to acknowledge early successes however small, to invoke a personal sense of urgency to ‘come on board’. Nothing is more likely to win the support of others than seeing visible results.  The team then needs to be further galvanized to consolidate progress, missions need to be launched to reinforce the initiatives and at the same time any lapses need to be identified and corrected.

4. Stay involved

Once momentum has been gained it must be sustained. Frank discussion meetings need to continue to agree further priorities, deadlines and responsibilities. Personal involvement of the leader through these and other individual meetings urges the initiative on and demonstrates commitment. Follow-ups via scheduled reviews and spontaneous meetings show that the initiative is still a priority. Progress then needs to be sustained by closely following progress, continuing to grab attention by continuing to announce and celebrate successes. There will always be an element of risk and the possibility of failure and this needs to be acknowledged, the leader needs to stay involved and not compromise on values and principles.

In conclusion my suggestions would be:

• Do your planning and research carefully.
• Quickly identify your supporters and the reasons why others might be hostile to change.
• Demonstrate your commitment and excitement, enthusiasm is contagious!
• Clearly articulate the direction and at the same time remain receptive to others ideas and approaches.
• Celebrate and acknowledge success however small and however early!
• Stay involved, observation and imagination can be greatest tools for innovation.

How willing are you to embrace change and innovation?

How successful have you been in helping others to accept new ideas and change?  What has worked for you?  What ideas do you have to encourage creativity and innovation in your organization?

“I would like to be spoon-fed please!” Sales training, any training, will only get sales results if individuals take selling initiative, think for themselves and apply the sales skills and sales process taught. You can be given instruction to drive a car but once you are alone behind the wheel you need to think for yourself, use your own initiative to apply what you were taught! Sadly too many sales people are looking for the silver bullet, even if they really know it doesn’t exist. As a sales trainer it is often difficult to strike a balance between providing a complete, end-to-end easy-to-follow sales process and asking the sales people to think for themselves. “Give someone a fish and they’ll eat for a day; teach them to fish and they’ll eat forever”. In a recent sales workshop we were asked for electronic copies of our sales training slides to create customer presentations. Although flattered that our sales training slides were considered that useful; what lay behind the request was that the sales person did not want to have to think for themselves. They wanted to be spoon-fed.

Successful sales people apply their sales training

Is this part of the modern world of ‘instant gratification’ and sound bites? Why aren’t we more willing to think for ourselves and put-in that little bit of extra effort? We are all rushing from one thing to the next, trying (or pretending) to multi-task. Sales training companies can provide examples. We can provide illustrations and we can create an opportunity for sales people to practice new sales skills. But when sales people get back to the real world they need to think for themselves and how they can apply these sales skills to their individual sales situations. Successful sales people don’t want to be spoon-fed – they know that to succeed in a consultative selling role they need to think for themselves, to think on their feet, to listen carefully to their customers, and then consider how to best position their products or services as the right solution for the customer.

Sales process provides a road map

Sales process provides structure to the role of selling. It provides a roadmap for success – but how people use the roadmap is still for them to decide. There are steps in the sales cycle but they are not intended to be something to follow rigidly without adapting the implementation of the sales process to suit the different customer types and different sales situations.

So, yes, sales people can have all the sales training slides they want, but what is really important is how they apply what they have been taught, how they work-out a way to adapt the sales process and the examples for their own sales situations. Go to it! It will pay more dividends in the long-term!

1. Make the other party feel valued

When confronted with challenging relationships make the other party feel valued and included by keeping them informed. Acknowledge and recognize their contributions. Be prepared to listen and encourage a healthy exchange of views to develop an open robust relationship, which allows room for measured criticism. Remember that it is possible to make an ally of an imperfect partner without having to sacrifice your own principles and objectives.

2. Stay firm on critical issues

In all relationships it is important to stay firm on critical issues and remained leveraged until you have established a firm relationship. Be positive and honest delivering bad news quickly and staying in close communication. Work hard to maintain a positive attitude even when one might be hard to come by!

3. Be accessible and approachable 

Your accessibility and sincere and positive approach is critical. Make people feel that you value their opinion. Be receptive, ask questions and most importantly listen. Recognize that your business partner has their own unique contribution to make, you alone don’t have all the answers. Building an effective partner relationship involves a dialogue, not a monologue.

4. Be sincere

Nothing helps to develop a relationship more than sincere gestures, supporting others at a difficult meeting or accompanying them to a special event. Understand that partners have a natural inclination to be kept in the loop and be recognized for their efforts. If you work hard to develop an open relationship you allow yourself room for criticism. This will help you achieve the ‘win win’.

5. Be empathetic, try to relate to others

Successful relationships are forged if you know how to get the best out of people by relating to them both individually and collectively. For some of us this comes naturally; for others, it’s more of an acquired skill. Fortunately, the more you do it, the more comfortable you become doing it.

In summary, know who you want to work with and why. Set the tone and example, show your willingness to accompany them on sales calls, answer the customer complaints, attend partnership meetings yourself! Stay in sync with these challenging people whether they be customers, employees or channel partners. What have your experiences been and what suggestions do you have?

1. Keep your channel partner’s mind share

Keep your company, your products at the front of your channel partner’s mind. Let them know why focusing on your product will be a benefit to them. Be visible and in communication with your channel partner, providing easily understood incentive programs, pertinent to their needs, along with regular training and discussion.

2. Explain the benefits of working with you.

Are you sure that your channel partner is clear about the benefits of working with you? Often partners may not immediately see these benefits, make sure they do. Keep following-up and refreshing the benefits of your products over the competition’s and how representing your products will mean increased profitability for you both.

3. Provide clear, concise training.

Make sure that the programs you offer positively impact everyone involved in the partnership, not just the top decision makers. Keep the training clear and easily understandable so that your product, not your competitor’s is the one that remains fresh in their minds and that your channel partner remains excited to be working with you!

4. Be in constant communication and recognize successes.

Ongoing communication and recognition of the team or individuals is critical to keep your channel partner engaged. Make sure that the channel realizes what support you are able to offer, ensuring that it is simple to access and use.

5. Involve your channel partner in long term strategy planning.

Involve your channel partner in your long term strategy planning. Let them know that you will support them through any market transitions and all technological developments. This will show the channel partner your commitment to a collaborative approach whereby you are both winners. Make it clear that your future plans involves them, and as such you are vested in their success. As part of this, send them qualified leads to show them your level of commitment to help them grow their business. Keep engaged and interested, providing reward incentives both at the company level and individual. Keep in mind that there is a difference between a channel incentive program and a channel promotion. A program should drive and change longer term behavior. a promotion drives short term goals.

6. Ensure your programs lead to attainable results! 

Partners are looking to represent companies who will make them profitable. Make sure that any programs you make available really offer the best sales practices, ones that lead to results. Support this by providing good sales tools and accurate information within an integrated communications network that allows reps to share best practices and interact with product experts. Ensure timely payment procedures so that partner feels immediately rewarded for their efforts and that their company’s cash flow is kept on track

7. Provide Partner Accelerator Programs

Consider offering Partner Accelerator programs to keep the channel partner’s mindshare and to drive the partner’s behavior in a direction which is mutually beneficial. In addition, provide them with good business analysis, weekly reporting of their success, of their upcoming renewal business for the year. Stay on their channel weekly pipeline calls to track closure and teach the channel sales force to use those opportunities to drive new sales.

Always be looking for new and innovative ways to create trust. If your channel partner trusts you he will listen to you and want to continue to work with you which will ultimately drive new sales going forward and give you both what you want, increased profitability. Let us know what you experiences have been!

How to successfully implement an effective channel strategy.

1. Think Win/Win/Win – Win for the Customer/Partner/ You

Channel partners must perceive a real win for them to want to work with you. The most powerful way to achieve this win is to help them achieve a business objective which is important to them. Once they have agreed to the plan and are willing to resource it, show them what the business win will be and ensure that this becomes an ongoing reality.

2. Be proactive and involved

Be proactive and involved showing how partnering with you will help the channel partner achieve their business goals. Focus attention and resources on areas where you can provide the solutions. Identify business opportunities providing a business win for both parties. Sell those opportunities to the channel partner and build the partnership around them.

3. Develop a Partnership Plan

The development of a partnership plan will provide a business focus for the partnership. The partner’s business win needs to be clear and concise. A clear plan will define mutual expectations of commitment and return, enabling both parties to plan for and ensure success. It will help to focus partner activity, maximizing productivity and reducing channel conflict, concentrating the partner’s attention and resources on their activity with you. It will also provide a method for monitoring and managing the partnership. A medium and long term focus will then promote long term, not deal-based partnerships. This will provide a means of ensuring that the channel partner commits the right resources to support the plan, fulfilling the role you had previously defined for them.

4. Build a partnership based on TRUST

There are three key decision criteria which people use when choosing a partner. The channel manager should apply all three: Can we TRUST this person, or company?  Can we GET ALONG with this person, or company? Can they PROVIDE THE SERVICE we require?

In summary, to develop successful, profitable, channel relationships, as the channel manager  think not about direct selling but about partnership selling. Go from being a sale’s professional to an expert consultant. Turn attention from the customer who might buy your product through the channel, to the channel partner themselves. Focus on the long, not the short term, not on closing the deal with the customer but on helping the partner to win and in so doing helping you to win and dramatically impact the bottom line.

What have been your experiences, either as a channel manager or as a channel partner, we would love to hear from you?

 1. Market Focus

Determine your potential partners’ specific target markets, whether they are based on geographic considerations or business type. Discover their current selling and networking activity. Is their existing customer base demanding better, more advanced solutions? Does their existing customer base suit your business in terms of size, location and application?

 2. Target Market

Look at the channel partner’s target market, their focus, their customer base and their marketing strategy. What experience do they have, what successes? How knowledgeable are they about their market and competition?

3. Business Stability

How stable and secure is the channel’s business model? Consider factors like size, viability, suitability for target market, management competency, their profitability and growth.

 4. Financial Security Soundness and Structure

Understand the the channel partner’s financial position. Request information about their revenue, size, growth, gross margin and profit, balance sheets and cash flow, are they a private or public company, how is their business financed?

 5. Does their process and practice fit with yours?

Will partnering with you create a ‘solution conflict’ potentially reducing maintenance revenue, territory size or services? Are you able to provide new business opportunities, services and competitive advantage? Will your solution allow them to sell more and provide maximum potential revenue for you?

6. Skills and Experience

Does the channel have the skills and experience to sell and support your solutions? What is their sales experience, what might your solutions be as a proportion of their total revenue? What specialist skills can they offer? Who are their employees, their background and experience? What is their SE capability, their marketing strategy, their staffing resource and their contact level for their customers and prospects? Do they have the staffing capability for field sales, telesales marketing etc? How do they measure progress and customer satisfaction?

 7. Technical Expertise

What specialist resources does the channel partner have? Do they have sufficient training plans, experience in network infrastructure, experience in presenting/demonstrations, knowledge of your implementation issues, the ability to be self-sufficient technically, a customer service mentality?

 8. Who else are they resellers for?

What is the channel’s track record, and their experiences, (good and bad) are they locked-in to any specific agreements?

 9. What Knowledge do they have of you?

Sales, Telesales and Marketing?

 10. What is their Partnership mentality?

How committed is the channel to partner with you? Are they willing to dedicate staff to your business? Do they have lead generation plans and lead follow-up processes? Are they prepared to invest in demo-capability and training?  Are they focused on a long-term partnership, willing to work together to develop a partnership plan and to commit to minimum targets ?

Remember that unlike direct selling, the sales relationship between you as the vendor and your channel starts after the sale. Finding the right partner is definitely the first critical step. After that the key to building a successful partner relationship will depend on the education and support provided by the vendor. What suggestions might you have, as a vendor, to maintain the mindshare of a channel partner and to help them sell, sell more of your product so that they win and you win too?

Developing a partnership with your channel

When developing good channel strategy much is said about being a partner with your channel but what does that actually mean? Google defines “partner’’ as: ‘A person who takes part in an undertaking with another or others, esp. in a business or company with shared risks and profits.’ Most vendors do indeed talk about their relationship with their channels as a partnership but all too often go on to complain about their performance; that they are not selling their products, they are not producing the results they had been promised or expected. Why might that be and whose initial responsibility is it to ensure the success of the relationship?

1. Selecting the right partner

I would suggest that success of this type of business relationship rests initially with the vendor. The first part of their strategy is obviously to select the right channel for their distribution. The ‘right’ partner is one who shares with the vendor a mutual desire to want the relationship to work. I will go into more detail about this selection in my next channel blog. The vendor should then ask themselves are they committed to this success and do they feel that their potential partner shares this commitment?

2. Provide on going channel support- “Ask not what the channel can do for me but what can I do for the channel?”

Once a partner has been selected, how much on going support is the vendor prepared to give the channel? To build a mutually successful partnership, I would suggest that the vendor consider the following questions:

• How do they intend to contribute to that model in terms of revenue opportunities and bottom line profits?
• Do they have the resources to implement a joint and formal business planning process with their channel partners?
• What programs and services do they have available to help the channel partner optimize their performance?
• Do they have the capability to implement new and innovative channel partner programs and make program improvements?
• Are they able to offer incentives, and promotions to the channel partner and do they have the infrastructure to be able to effectively support these initiatives?
• Are there performance measurements available to determine achievement?
• Are there systems in place to provide further support to the channel partner when required and decision processes to consider further investment in the partnership?

3. Communication strategy. 

The vendor should also consider their communicator strategy.

• Do they have effective communication strategies in place to successfully compel their channel partners’ participation and action?
• Are there channel communication strategies and tools to be able to leverage the partner portal(s) and social media effectively?
• Are there dedicated members of the vendor’s team responsible for channel partner communication tasked with accessing progress and providing support such as helping the partner develop a quote or close a deal?

4. Assessment strategy 

The vendor should develop an assessment strategy and view it as an on going evolving process and commitment.

• Are they able to devote time to assess their channel strategy based on market shifts and/or the competition?
• How up to date and aware are they of market trends and competitive strategies that may significantly impact their channel business?
• How effective and accurate is their assessment process?
• Are their partners capturing new customers and making inroads into new markets? Opening up new markets and acquiring new customers requires an innovative approach and more resources.

5. Training and support from senior management

• How is the vendor motivating and training their channel partners to invest in new markets and customers?
• Are they prepared to provide the support and training to make this a successful partnership?
• How vested is the senior management team in the channel’s success?

In essence is the vendor really committed to their channel partner’s success, to the partnership, truly sharing in the gains and losses, risks and rewards in working together? As a channel partner how much of this rings true for you and as a vendor how much of this do you think is relevant and accurate? Are both of you doing all you can to make a successful channel partnership? Maybe you have other great suggestions, if so I would love to hear them!