ocT 15Th 2008 / Issue 12

Why AreCustomersso IndeCIsIve?The Full story Factor

ProduCtKnoWledgehow much is too much?

mentAl toughness:how lessons From salespeople Are Being Applied to the rugby Field

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 2

ocT 15Th / Issue 12

4 IntervIeW

mentAl toughness

Applying lessons in

mental toughness from

salespeople to the

canterbury crusaders.

8 thIs WeeKs must reAd

Why Are Customers

so IndeCIsIve?

The full story factor

10 nZsm CAlendAr

11 tWo mInute toP-uP

ProduCt

KnoWledge

how much is too much?

12 BooK revIeW

PrInCIPle-Centred

leAdershIP

13 sAles trAInIng

dIreCtory

14 the Close

4 8

11

12

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 3

selling is often likened to

competitive sport and

many lessons and prin-

ciples from the sports field have

been applied in the boardroom.

Discipline, persistence, hard work and preparation

are just some of the skills learnt by top sports people

and not surprisingly many sporting greats have gone

on to great careers in business. In fact, many of you

reading this will no doubt credit part of your success

in selling to lessons you’ve learnt through your own

sporting endeavours.

however, when it comes to mental toughness, the

one trait Kiwi sportspeople are most accused of

lacking, it seems that top salespeople are now

teaching sportspeople a thing or two.

Jamie Ford has been studying and working with

salespeople in the area of mental toughness for the last

two decades, and has recently been chosen to teach

these principles to the canterbury crusaders rugby team.

Be sure to check out our interview with Jamie to find

out how studies of salespeople are now benefiting the

sporting world and why we love to hate those Aussies!

And just for a bit of fun, if you think your sales meetings

are rough, check out this short scene from the movie

Glengarry Glen Ross starring Alec Baldwin. coffee

drinkers take note!

(I would say “some language may offend” but knowing

what I know about salespeople… it won’t!)

Richard

ABouT /

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fortnightly e-magazine delivering thought provoking and

enlightening articles, and industry news and information

to forward-thinking sales managers, business owners

and sales professionals.

eDIToR / Richard Liew

DesIGNeR / Jodi olsson

ADVeRTIsING eNQuIRIes /

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coNTeNT eNQuIRIes /

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ADDRess / NZ sales Manager

Magazine,127a Ponsonby Road,

Ponsonby, Auckland, NZ.

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www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

Got any thoughts on this topic or articles in this week’s issue? We’d love to know what you think. email your

comments to richardl@nzsalesmanager.co.nz and we’ll share the best ones in future issues.

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 4

nZsm: Cutting straight to the

chase Jamie, in your experience

dealing with sales professionals

and business owners over the

years, what separates top sellers

from the rest?

JF: They have the mental toughness

“X factor” attitude to continue

persevering towards their goals

when others fall by the wayside,

and despite well meaning friends

advising them to give up. If you ask

any group of people what makes the

difference when it comes to results,

the vast majority will say, “Attitude!”

Thomas edison and colonel sanders

are great examples, as is sir William

hamilton.

nZsm: you’ve done a lot to apply

the work of renowned American

psychologist Professor martin

seligman in new Zealand – for

those who haven’t heard of

lessons from sport are often applied in business but Jamie Ford’s work with salespeople has recently seen his mental toughness training be taken from the board room to the sports arena. he explains to nZ sales manager the mysterious attitudinal ‘X factor’ and why seemingly positive salespeople often crumble under pressure. ]

I N T E R V I E W

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 5

seligman can you explain what

he does and the significance of

his work for sales managers?

JF: Professor seligman is regarded

as one of the ten most important

psychologists in the history of

psychology, and he specializes in

motivation. his studies of over 1

million salespeople enabled him to

unpack the “X factor” attitude in

motivation that makes the difference

between the average salesperson

and the super stars. he also designed

a test for this

attitude, called the

sAsQ which is now

being used by the

canterbury crusaders

and the Wallabies

rugby teams, as

well as business

organizations such as

ANZ National Bank.

Perhaps the most

valuable aspect of his work is

that he proved that the X factor

attitude is learned, and that puts

us in the happy position of being

able to actually help sales people

can develop this attitude, with big

improvements in their results.

nZsm: A “positive attitude”

and “mental toughness” are

always high on the list of

managers when they’re looking

for salespeople but many

salespeople appear outwardly

positive yet crumble under

pressure. Is mental toughness

part of a positive attitude or are

they two separate things?

JF: No! They are not the same and

managers will make progress faster

with their salespeople if they get

to grips with this vital difference.

Most of us learn the importance of

presenting ourselves with a “positive

attitude” at an early stage in life.

But it’s a superficial front, and

doesn’t indicate that the fundamental

mental toughness needed to

persevere against the odds and

succeed, is present.

Mental toughness is something much

more fundamental and valuable.

Think of it this way. Mental toughness

is the foundation of the house you

are building, while a positive attitude

is merely the interior decorating. one

is absolutely vital to everything that

follows, while the other, the interior

decorating, is open to personal

preferences without creating any

great risk of structural failure.

A positive attitude is a “nice-to-

have”, while mental toughness is the

“must-have” X factor attitude.

nZsm: you mentioned that this

type of thinking can be learned

- aren’t some people just born

more optimistic than others?

JF: optimism and pessimism, as

styles of thinking, are learned. While

we are somewhat pre-disposed to

one or the other, the major factor by

far is accidental learning when we

are very young.

The impact of this accidental

learning is huge. More than 1,000

studies with the seligman test show

that those salespeople with the more

optimistic thinking style outperform

those with the more pessimistic

style, by 30% on average in sales

results. In some industries it goes as

high as 300%.

But the good news is that this old

learning can be

replaced by new

learning.

nZsm: to date

most of your work

has been done in

the business world

with salespeople.

Can you tell us

a bit more about

your work with the Canterbury

Crusaders? many readers would

suggest the Auckland Blues are

the ones who need a bit more

mental toughness...

JF: The work with the canterbury

Rugby union and the crusaders

Franchise is focused on developing

their resilience and optimism - that

X factor attitude we talked about

which is often referred to as mental

toughness.

This involves assessing their present

levels of that critical attitude; working

with their leaders and coaches to

embed that attitude into their culture

and practices; providing coaching

expertise and resources.

The intention is that optimistic and

resilient thinking habits of high

Mental toughness is the foundation of the house you are building, while a positive attitude is merely the interior

decorating

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 6

performance become the norm.

As for the Auckland Blues... Well all

NZ sports teams would be wise to

follow the Crusader’s lead! In fifteen

years of using seligman’s test we

have come to the conclusion that

pessimism is endemic in our culture

and action is needed urgently on all

fronts, including sport.

nZsm: some sales managers

deliberately seek out salespeople

those who have excelled in

competitive sport – what’s your

take on this?

JF: sports people are

comfortable with goals and

targets. They are competitive and

want to win. They understand the

fact of failing and having to get

up for next week’s game. They

are also comfortable with regular

training and individual coaching.

Those are the norm for top

salespeople, and therefore the

probability of a person who has

excelled is sport excelling in sales

is quite high, and the risk of another

recruitment failure is reduced.

nZsm: last year you correctly

predicted on national tv that

both the All Blacks and silver

Ferns would lose their respective

world cups based just on the

language they were using. Can

you explain what happened in a

bit more detail?

JF: It’s as obvious as the nose on

your face to a trained observer.

We give away clues to our deeply

embedded thinking style habits

in the way we talk about why we

have succeeded or failed in our

endeavours. Technically this is

known as our “explanatory style”.

I’ve been using the All Blacks and

silver Ferns in case studies for

many years now, and this provides

insight into their thinking style

habits. What makes this relevant to

my predictions is that the science

behind it proves, beyond doubt,

that those with the more optimistic

explanations beat those with the

more pessimistic explanations.

With the silver Ferns there is a

strong pattern of more pessimistic

explanations, while the Australian

Diamonds are more optimistic in

their explanations.

similarly for the Black caps

(NZ cricket Team) winning is an

aberration while losing is the

norm. It’s the other way around

for the Australian cricket Team.

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 7

In the fact the Australian cricket

team were once asked to name

the second best side in the

world. Their answer was Australia

B! Now they were not intending

to be perceived as arrogant.

That’s the way they think.

nZsm: Kiwi’s versus Aussies…

we often accuse Australians of

being arrogant yet we praise

their mental toughness… is this

just symbolic of Kiwi’s being

more pessimistic in general?

JF: My observation is that it is more

than symbolic. I think that Aussie’s

have a more optimistic thinking

style, and this comes across as

“arrogance” to Kiwi’s, but it’s not

intended that way by the Aussie’s.

It’s an outcome of accidental

learning at an early age. Fortunately

for them!

Kiwi’s on the other hand are accidentally

learning a more pessimistic way of

thinking from an early age.

What ought to concern us all is the

way that Australia has been able to

maintain a high oecD ranking for

many years. I think it is currently #3,

while NZ has slipped to 23 from # 3

in the early 1950’s.

It’s my strong opinion that this has a lot

to do with optimistic and pessimistic

attitudes, alongside other factors.

In fact, treasury people are studying

this connection. If we had a national

optimism project, like scotland, I think

a surprising degree of improvement

would be achieved in a relatively short

period. A national optimism survey

would be a good start.

nZsm: you worked as country

manager for the international

sales training organisation

learning International (now

Achieveglobal) quite some time

ago – have you noticed any

improvement in the way Kiwi

salespeople sell since then?

JF: This was in the early 90’s. I

have noticed some improvements.

unfortunately there are still

appallingly low standards of sales

practice being accepted, and

I’m sure we have all been on the

receiving end of some of that.

A good number of corporate’s do

provide their people with quality

skills training. unfortunately there is

far too much reliance on “product

knowledge training”, when the

evidence is strong that sales go

down after product training. Instead

of asking questions to help define

how to assist clients achieve their

goals, salespeople engage in

unloading all their newly acquired

“product knowledge”, and turn off

the customer.

one very good indicator of

progress is the growing practice

of appointing “sales coaches” to

work with the sales team members.

In some cases the coach is a

consultant, in many others the

coach is an internal sales expert.

Jamie Ford is currently working on a new book called Mental Toughness – The X Factor In Your Attitude and you can find out more about his work at www.foresight.co.nz.

Why Are Customers so IndeCIsIve?The Full story Factor

Do you know why your cus-

tomer won’t buy? You’ve

given her the best price,

possibly even the best options. Yet

she fidgets. Maybe, maybe not, she

ponders.

You stand by the wayside and sweat,

praying the sale will go through. Then

almost inexplicably, it slips out of your

hands, and you don’t even know why.

You curse, rant and rave silently at her

indecisive nature. Yet ironically, the

fault is all yours.

Don’t agree? hold your horses and

you’ll learn a simple, fundamental

psychological factor you’ve been

missing in your marketing strategy,

and how you can rectify it in a flash.

Why The Trees In Our Front Yard Are

Still Looking For a Barber

Let me tell you a story about our front

garden. Any time now, I’m expecting

Tarzan and a couple of chimps to

swing merrily by. Like something out

of a horror movie, the foliage has

spread its tentacles, and now hangs

menacingly over several parts of the

house.

Yes I know we need an arborist to

lop off those branches. And yes, we

have called in at least half a dozen.

Incredibly, we haven’t made up our

minds on whom we should choose.

Like deer caught in the headlights,

we’ve been frozen in indecision. one

itty-bitty factor would have made it

easy to decide, but it has eluded us

completely.

I Know What You’re Thinking, And

It’s Not Price…

oh boy! We have estimates up to

our ears. one quote is as high as

$800 (aaargggh!), while the other one

blushes at $250, and all the rest do a

merry dance in between. You’d think

the cheaper quote would get the

thumbs up right away, wouldn’t you?

Well it didn’t.

In fact, it has added to the confusion

because we can’t understand why

there would be such a huge difference

for what is essentially the same job.

And Here Is The Reason Why We Can’t

Decide...

It’s a factor called the Full story. While

every single one of those arborists

provided us with quotes, not one

of them gave us a single reason to

choose them. Any reason would have

been better than none. Ten reasons

would have clinched the deal, even

with a higher price.

This is one of the main reasons why

most deals seem to disintegrate

before the eyes of most business

owners and sales people. We fail

(and fail miserably) to educate

our customers about the unique

advantages of working with us.

By Sean D’Souza

It’s An Impossible Puzzle If It Doesn’t

Have The Pieces

People need to be gratified

psychologically. our brains are dying

to know more about the companies

that bid and all we get are terms and

prices. The arborists should have

educated me about the quality of

their cutting, their comprehensive

insurance policies, their warranties,

their skills, and their service

guarantees in detail. I needed to know

anything and everything that would

help me decide in someone’s favor.

Not one of those bids included that

kind of information.

Look at yourself. Let’s say you hire

someone for your firm. How little

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 9

Sean D’Souza is a marketing strategist, speaker, author, and the principal of Psychotactics. visit sean’s website at www.psychotactics.com

would you like to know about him?

or say you go out on a date. how

little do you want to know about your

partner? every piece of the puzzle is

absolutely necessary. Don’t forget to

give your customers a reason to buy

from You. Tell them about yourself.

Provide all the juicy details, and you

will leave your competitors crying in

their beer.

What Is The Psychological Reasoning

Behind The Full Story?

The strong, silent type is the one our

mamas told us to watch out for. We

instinctively trust people less who tell

us less. even if we do like the person,

we want them to open up. If you want

people to trust you, you have to tell

them about yourself.

This instinct of distrust is hardwired

in our brains, and you’d do well to

pay attention to it. A lack of adequate

detail doesn’t help to build trust,

which is why customers go from

hello to sayonara very quickly. once

you have their attention, stop saying

stupid things like, “Buy from me,”

and start giving them all the reasons

WhY they should buy from you

(read the article on The Power of

Why). Add spices to your marketing

strategy curry, and your customer will

be captivated by the aroma. churn

the gastric juices in their brains.

Make them salivate. Get them to

drool. And when they’re ready to eat,

feed them well.

Ta-Ta Risk

Telling the Whole story eliminates a

big hurdle called risk. The less your

customers know about you, the more

they are frozen in indecision. When

faced with this scenario, they resort

to the only thing they know—price.

Just like you, they make a decision

on the cheapest, trashiest option

available… because that’s all you

gave them!

Abolish the hazard of your customer

choosing to buy solely on price. Give

her a first class education about why

she needs to buy from you.

The worst thing you can do is leave

her hanging without sufficient info.....

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 10

FRI 14 NoVThu 13 NoVWeD 12 NoVTue 11 NoV

MoN 10 NoVThu 6 NoVWeD 5 NoV

Tue 4 NoVMoN 3 NoV

WeD 29 ocTTue 28 ocTMoN 27 ocTFRI 24 ocT

Thu 23 ocTWeD 22 ocTTue 21 ocTMoN 20 ocT

FRI 7 NoV

suN 9 NoV

sAT 8 NoV

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sAT 1 NoVFRI 31 ocTThu 30 ocT

suN 26 ocT

sAT 25 ocT

suN 19 ocT

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FRI 17 ocTWeD 15 ocT Thu 16 ocT

suN 17 NoV

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NZsMcALeNDAR

NegotiationDavid FormanAuckland

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanAuckland

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanAucklandNegotiation skillsNZIM NorthernAucklandPresentation skillsuniversity of AucklandAucklandFundamentals of sellingTop Achievers sales Traininghamilton

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanAucklandNegotiation skillsNZIM NorthernAucklandPresentation skillsuniversity of AucklandAuckland

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanNew Plymouhsales PlanningDavid FormanAucklandAdvanced selling skills (healthcare only)Pro-Formance DrivenAuckland (oct 20 - 22)

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanNew Plymouhsales PlanningDavid FormanAucklandsales Leadership WorkshopTop Achievers sales TrainingAucklandsales BasicsGeewizAuckland

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanNew Plymouhsales ManagementGeewizAucklandNetworking skills WorkshopTop Achievers sales TrainingAucklandProfessional Telephone sellingDavid FormanAuckland

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanNew PlymouhProfessional Telephone sellingDavid FormanAucklandcold calling WorkshopTop Achievers sales TrainingAuckland

Fundamentals of sellingTop Achievers sales Trainingchristchurch

Prospecting & New Business DevelopmentDavid FormanAucklandFundamentals of sellingTop Achievers sales TrainingWellington

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanAuckland

Key Account ManagementDavid FormanAuckland

Prospecting & New Business DevelopmentDavid Formanchristchurch

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanAuckland

Key Account ManagementDavid FormanAuckland

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanAuckland

sales DevelopmentDavid FormanAuckland

Negotiation skillsPro-Formance DrivenAuckland

Presentation skillsDavid FormanWellington

Presentation skillsDavid FormanWellington

Presentation skillsDavid FormanWellingtonThe executive healthcare Representative(healthcare only)Pro-Formance DrivenAucklandsales Managing – outstandingly successful sales TeamsGeewizchristchurch

Negotiation skillsPro-Formance DrivenAuckland

The executive healthcare Representative(healthcare only)Pro-Formance DrivenAucklandAdvanced serious sellingGeewizWellingtonMotivation & AttitudeGeewizWellington

The executive healthcare Representative(healthcare only)Pro-Formance DrivenAuckland

Prospecting For New BusinessGeewizchristchurch

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 11

The problem of the self serving ‘sales patter’ inflict-

ed by many salespeople on their prospects, stems

from sales training and inductions for new recruits

still being too focused on product features and benefits,

rather than the problems and issues that clients have.

I learned this lesson myself the hard way many years ago

selling scientific instruments in England.

During the first couple of weeks of my employment I was

sent to the laboratory to learn the product. I soon knew the

product range inside out and couldn’t wait to impress an

unsuspecting customer with how much I knew.

A full demonstration took about half an hour. It took me a

while to figure out that success of a sales call was inversely

related to how far I got through the demonstration!

understanding the problem the client was trying to solve,

and demonstrating the relevant features of the analyzer was

a much more successful strategy.

hoW muCh Is too muCh?When too much product knowledge can hurt your salespeople

By Paul newsom

In the book, Business Think, a story is told of a

furniture store that found its salespeople became

less effective after 18-24 months on the job.

Researchers found that it took about 6 months

to gain good product knowledge. For new

salespeople with little or no product knowledge,

they were keen to have conversations with clients,

and asked lots of questions.

For the experienced sales people, they spent

their time trying to impress clients with their

fountain of product knowledge. In the end

management attributed the problem to too much

product knowledge. They solved the problem by

rotating salespeople every 18 months to a new

department to keep curiosity alive.

I don’t think the problem was too much product

knowledge. salespeople can’t have too much product

knowledge, but they can misuse their knowledge.

No-one wants a meeting with a walking/talking brochure.

Brochures are for reading and on a first meeting, the

feature and benefit information is usually best left in the

brochure for the client to read in his own time.

Product knowledge should be used by salespeople to

enhance the conversation about your clients business

by:

• Building the perception of value in the mind of

the client

• Asking insightful questions

• Answering questions with an informed opinion

• To further the conversation in the interests of both the

salesperson and the client

Product knowledge – aim to express no to impress!

Paul newsom is learning & development manager of the rev sales network overseeing the content and quality of the rsn’s executive sales training programs.

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 12

B O O K R E V I E W

how do we as individuals and organizations survive

and thrive amid tremendous change? Why are ef-

forts to improve falling so short in real results despite

the millions of dollars in time, capital, and human effort being

spent on them? how do we unleash the creativity, talent, and

energy within ourselves and others in the midst of pressure? Is

it realistic to believe that balance among personal, family, and

professional life is possible?

stephen R. covey demonstrates that the answer to these

and other dilemmas is Principle-centered Leadership, a

long-term, inside-out approach to developing people and

organizations.

The key to dealing with the challenges that face us today

is the recognition of a principle-centered core within both

ourselves and our organizations. Dr. covey offers insights

and guidelines that can help you apply these principles

both at work and at home -- leading not just to a new

understanding of how to increase quality and productivity,

but also to a new appreciation of the importance of building

personal and professional relationships in order to enjoy a

more balanced, more rewarding, more effective life.

PrInCIPle-Centered leAdershIPBy stephen coveyPublished by Free Press

$28.26 from www.fishpond.co.nz

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 13

NZsM / ocT 15Th 2008 / 14

“ “- Rodney Dangerfield

A girl phoned me the other day and said... come on over, there’s nobody home. I went over. Nobody was home.