NZ’s e-mag for sales leaders

NZ SALESNOVEMBER 10 2010 / IssuE 45

Solving the prospecting dilemma

Using Powerpoint Make sure you have the

Power

sales star Sandy Geyer

– a South African perspective

IntervIew wIth

Developing Sales Capability

NOVEMBER 3Rd / IssuE 45

THIs WEEK's MusT REAd

WE INTERVIEW sANdY GEYER

salesperson, author, trainer, speaker

and business owner, sandy Geyer

talks to NZsM.

dEVELOPING sALEs CAPACITY

New Zealand's biggest opportunity

for economic prosperity.

NZsM CALENdAR

sALEs TRAINING dIRECTORY

TWO MINuTE TOP-uP

sOLVING THE

PROsPECTING dILEMMA

Making your prospect want

to talk to you

REsOuRCE CORNER

FLIP THE FuNNEL

QuICK FIx

It’s not what you sell,

it’s how you sell.

THE CLOsE

8

4

8

14

15

16

18

19

20

4

16

COntentS

“We make the call…

you make the sale”

www.ibexmarketing.co.nz

Call Murray Beer on 021 279 2783 or email murray@ibexmarketing.co.nz today!

Generating consistent and qualified appointments can be a mundane and time consuming process...

Let the experienced professionals at Ibex Marketing set them for you so you can spend more time meeting with

prospects and helping them solve their problems!

COntentS

3 / APR 7th 2010 / NZsM

ABOut /

short and sharp, New Zealand

sales Manager is a free e-magazine

delivering thought provoking and

enlightening articles, and industry

news and information to forward-

thinking sales managers, business

owners and sales professionals.

EDItOR / Paul Newsom

ARt DIRECtOR / Jodi Olsson

GROuP EDItOR / trudi Caffell

CONtENt ENQuIRIEs /

Phone Paul on 04 586 4733 or email

pauln@nzsalesmanager.co.nz

ADVERtIsING ENQuIRIEs /

Phone Alastair on 021 866 036 or

email alastairn@espiremedia.com

ADDREss / NZ sales Manager,

C/- Espire Media, PO Box 137162,

Parnell,

Auckland 1151, New Zealand

WEBsItE / www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

Many sales people learn to sell by trial and error.

Without being given the tools and skills, the road

to success can be a slow and challenging journey.

None more so than for sandy Geyer, who we interview in our

lead article. sandy is the Managing Director of educational

publishing company Allcopy Publishers Pty Ltd in south

Africa, and specialist training company Mind Action Mentors

in New Zealand.

sandy is not afraid to succeed in all areas of her life and her

knowledge, passion and enthusiasm for sales and leadership

are evident for anyone who meets her. the story of her

journey of learning how to sell is amusing, and probably more

adventurous than most, but at the same time is somewhat

familiar. sandy’s reflections on what made her successful in

sales, and her thoughts on how sales people view themselves

in New Zealand and south Africa makes this an insightful and

valuable read.

happy selling!

Paul

“We make the call…

you make the sale”

www.ibexmarketing.co.nz

Call Murray Beer on 021 279 2783 or email murray@ibexmarketing.co.nz today!

Generating consistent and qualified appointments can be a mundane and time consuming process...

Let the experienced professionals at Ibex Marketing set them for you so you can spend more time meeting with

prospects and helping them solve their problems!

From the editor

NZsM / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / 4

t h I s W E E K ’ s M u s t R E A D

sandy Geyer is a sales person, sales manager,

business owner, speaker, trainer and author. As MD

of an educational publishing company, a property

investment company and a specialist training company,

sandy moved from south Africa to hamilton to expand

her business. We caught up with sandy to find out just

how she became a successful salesperson herself, and

some of her thoughts on the contrast in selling in New

Zealand compared to south Africa.

NZsM: Tell us about your first ever job in sales, sandy

sG: I haven’t told many people about my first job as a door

to door sales person selling encyclopaedias. For the first

four days of being with the company each new sales person

was drilled with a pre-written script that was to be recited

word for word every time a door opened. I didn’t get the

chance to accurately measure the success of this type of

training as I was attacked on the street on my second day

by a threatening looking man who clearly wasn’t interested

in my vibrant personality. the attacker may have come off

second best though. I was very shaken up but he left the

scene bleeding profusely from a very deep bite wound on

his forearm and in need of medical assistance.

Fortunately I had been well trained in self defence tactics

from years of defending myself against my older brother.

however, when the team leader of my sales group offered

me a puff of his marijuana joint to calm my nerves I decided

I was definitely on the wrong career path. Within the sales

role I did feel awfully like the human equivalent of junk

mail though and this perception was strengthened by the

overwhelming number of doors slammed in my face.

NZsM: Wow, a pretty tough baptism into sales! Where

did that take you?

sG: During the next phase of my career as an air hostess

I committed the cardinal sin of the “trolley dollies” by

falling pregnant with my first child. I was rewarded with

the job from hell at the airline booking office where I

was confined to live out my bulging belly days with the

nickname of the “pregnant fairy”. those were the days

before direct internet bookings were possible and a

relentless stream of calls came in to one tiny office from

travel agents all around the country all day long. the

switchboard looked pretty scary and just complicated as

the airplane cockpit to me but I was rigorously trained

we Interview:

Sandy Geyer

5 / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / NZsM

"In my experience the benefit of genuine selling skills are completely underrated and often marketing functions are confused with, or actively replace selling functions. Marketing is really important but it doesn’t replace selling."

for two full days before being let loose on my own.

sadly I never achieved any job satisfaction but I was

very competent at placing the many rude, hysterical and

downright abusive calls through to the relevant people

from the start.

NZsM: so you have been attacked as a junk mail

messenger, and dealt with all the abusive calls, yet you

still went and got another sales job?

sG: Yes, my next job was in corporate sales for a copier

company and what really astonished me was that along

with a portfolio of important clients I received almost no

training. Although the company was one of the leading

copier companies in the world they seemed to assume

that self motivation and mobilisation was the key to

successful selling and only assisted us with numerous

glossy brochures to distribute enthusiastically yet often

unprofessionally along our call path. With my limited and

somewhat dangerous selling skills it surely would have

cost them a lot less to just post them!

NZsM: so what did you do about your ‘dangerous

selling skills?’

sG: It took me years of reading sales books and articles,

doing the wrong things and watching successful sales

staff closely to work out how to sell effectively. When my

brother and I started our educational textbooks publishing

company in 1996 we focused completely on selling to get

our products into the market.

Whilst competitive companies developed impressive

looking brochures, mailing systems and attended

conferences, we steadily grew our sales team and ensured

that they personally walked into every school to discuss

the benefits of our books with each subject teacher. this

was no easy task I might add as the school secretaries

were pretty difficult to get past. I remain convinced that

there is a “bull dog” school out there somewhere that

trains secretaries in “brick wall” tactics.

NZsM: How else do you differentiate from your

competitors with your personal selling skills?

sG: In my experience the benefit of genuine selling

skills are completely underrated and often marketing

functions are confused with, or actively replace selling

functions. Marketing is really important but it doesn’t

replace selling. I heard someone say once that unless

your brand is Coca Cola no one really takes notice. that

might be a bit harsh but the statement does encourage

us to remember that when we are giving client

information we shouldn’t focus too much on who we

are, what we do and what we look like. Our clients only

really want to know what we can do for them and our

logos, corporate colours and brochures simply aren’t

going to cut it on their own.

NZsM: And how did you get past ‘the bull dogs’?

sG: I learned that it was better to work with them than

against them. they believed that they ran the schools and

if we treated them as such they would eventually work

with us. In many cases their non approachable attitude

was due to the overload of sales people calling on them

and we needed to remain consistent and professional

in our approach for them to eventually let us through to

the teachers. I used to call on schools with my sales reps

around the country and one of these reps had perfected

an approach I had never thought of.

One particularly difficult secretary sat in an office with a

“window” in front of her at the entrance to the school. this

NZsM / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / 6

rep showed me how she would crawl under the window,

out of sight of the secretary and make her way into the

school, straight to the teachers. Although not a technique

I had taught her I had to admire her creativity and tenacity

and we still do a lot of business with that school.

NZsM: You have employed several sales people in

your business. What sets the top sales people apart

from the rest?

sG: It’s all in their attitude and work ethic. I have top

performing reps from completely different backgrounds

and various personality types and skills. they approach the

job differently but still stick with the basics of selling. With

commitment to the basics, accountability and consistency

anyone can sell effectively.

NZsM: so you have been in New Zealand for two years,

how is selling different here compared to south Africa?

sG: the sales process just takes longer. In south Africa

people can be less open and friendly to an approach

but they will make a buying decision more quickly once

engaged. In New Zealand customers tend to be far

friendlier but it actually takes longer to build the level of

trust needed to facilitate a successful buying process. As

appearances can be deceiving it takes one some time to

realise this and work accordingly. I have also noticed that

New Zealanders shy away from selling more which can

negatively affect their business growth or survival. In many

cases selling is the life blood of companies and it needs to

be happening on some level.

NZsM: Are there any differences in the way sales people

are viewed in New Zealand compared to south Africa?

sG: I don’t think there are any major differences between

the countries in terms of how sales people are viewed

by others. there is quite a big difference in terms of how

salespeople view themselves though. New Zealanders

come across as almost apologetic about being in a sales

role and seem to be quite open about the fact that

they don’t like to have to sell. In south Africa though,

if you don’t work you don’t eat so survival of the fittest

is a necessary business philosophy. south Africans have

therefore learned to be more tenacious about risking and

overcoming rejection. Of course this is a generalisation

and only according to my personal experiences.

NZsM: You have taken more than your fair share of

hard knocks - what’s your secret to picking yourself up,

dusting yourself down and starting again?

sG: understanding that failure is a learning process. If

landing on your face teaches you something then it’s

a valuable experience. sometimes a crash is a result of

something within our control and sometimes not. Feeling

sorry for ourselves is a natural response but it’s what we

do after that that really counts and in my experience,

eventually separates the achievers from the non achievers.

NZsM: do you have a favourite motivational quote?

sG: I have two:

"Kyk noord en vok voort" it’s in Afrikaans and a bit

rude but it’s the one I am famous for amongst my

family, friends and colleagues and revert back to when

all else fails. It roughly translates to "Keep your eyes front and just keep going!”&

"Learn from the mistakes of others, you can’t live long

enough to make them all yourself"

Eleanor Roosevelt

I love this quote for two reasons. Firstly because it

suggests that you can learn so much from others

which I have found to be so valuable. secondly

because it points out that failing is a necessary evil

and is going to happen so we may as well use it to

our advantage. ■

Find out more about sandy at www.mindactionmentors.com

"Understanding that failure is a learning process.

If landing on your face teaches you something

then it’s a valuable experience. Sometimes

a crash is a result of something within our

control and sometimes not. Feeling sorry for ourselves

is a natural response but it’s what we do after that that really counts and in

my experience, eventually separates the achievers

from the non achievers."

Find out more about sandy at www.mindactionmentors.com

MID STRENGTHFULL FLAVOURFULL LIFE

NZsM / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / 8

Paul Newsom Paul Newsom is the editor of NZ sales Manager and helps sales professionals and sales managers to compete and win in complex sales. You can visit Paul’s website at www.salespartners.co.nz

New Zealand’s Biggest Opportunity for Economic ProsperityBy Paul Newsom

$Developing Sales Capability

While the economy struggles to recover,

businesses worldwide are hoping that things

soon get back to normal. however, the new

normal will be different to the old normal, and businesses

that grow quickly will be building capability in their

organisations to take advantage of the opportunities that

this will present.

however, the biggest opportunity for growth seems to be

being overlooked by many. the opportunity is to improve

our capability in how we sell and market our products and

services, both domestically and internationally.

An Economic Perspective

‘New Zealand’s long-term trend of productivity under-

performance is the biggest economic challenge facing

policy-makers and both the public and private sectors

in New Zealand’ said John Whitehead, secretary to the

treasury in April 2008.

When the current recession is over, New Zealand’s lowly

OECD ranking in terms of GDP per capita (22 of 30)

will not have improved. New Zealand needs to improve

its productivity, however the biggest opportunity to

improve productivity and grow the economy is not on the

Governments agenda, and needs to be.

Improving productivity

While the statistics on productivity and the need to

improve productivity are widely commented on and

agreed by the economists, the means by which we can

improve productivity is perhaps not so clear.

We need to grow our way to economic prosperity, yet as

a farming nation it is clear that we can not 'produce' our

way to a resurgent economy. Planting more trees and

milking more cows will not change the picture.

9 / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / NZsM

The Opportunity

the biggest opportunity for growth however lies in how

we sell and market the products and services of the

Nation, both domestically and internationally. to improve

productivity, we first need to improve our sales capability.

Interestingly the Proudfoot Global Productivity Report

2007 identifies the top three routes to ensure profitable

growth in the near term as expanding into new markets,

selling more to existing customers and finding new

customers in existing markets. the economic climate over

the past two years has clearly changed the short term

focus, but in the longer term, profitable growth will come

from these routes.

so how good are we at selling?

According to the 2006 New Zealand census, there are

226, 854 people employed in sales or closely sales related

jobs in New Zealand which represents 11.4 per cent of

the workforce. this compares to seven percent in the uK,

and approximately 8.5 per cent in the usA. At 93,840

employees, the sales assistant is the largest category of

occupation in New Zealand.

so how good are we at selling? We are not good enough,

and here are three reasons why:

Kiwis don’t like to be sold to, and we don’t like 1.

selling in case we are perceived to be one of those

sales people that we don’t like. New Zealand is

predominantly a nation of people who don’t like selling.

Contrast this with the culture of countries like America,

south Africa and Australia where they are more

comfortable with the notion of being a sales person.

Like most other countries in the world, selling is not

viewed as a profession or a career in New Zealand,

and does not have a recognised career path as many

other professions do. the stereotypical perception

of a sales person that still prevails is of someone

The biggest opportunity for growth... lies in how we sell and market the products and services of the Nation, both domestically and internationally.

Recognising the need for growth, the Government is now

developing an economic strategy to match Australia’s

GDP per capita by 2025, with the following priorities:

Develop a growth-enhancing tax system •

Drive better performance across the public sector •

Encourage innovation and help firms grow by •

connecting them with scientists and improving access

to capital and world markets

Reforming regulations to make it easier for businesses •

to grow, invest, and create jobs

Boosting infrastructure, particularly in roads, •

broadband and electricity

source NZ Institute

Considering that Australia’s GDP is about 20 per cent

above the OECD average, and New Zealand is about 20

per cent below the average, and this is a moving target,

matching Australia in the next 15 years will be a big

challenge for the country.

the most recent Proudfoot Consulting Global

Productivity Report 2008*, identifies four levers of

productivity which firms should use to address the

critical barriers to improved productivity. the levers are

a focus on:

• Effectivemanagement,

• Thedevelopmentoftheworkforce,

• Clearercommunication,

• Targettedtraining.

(*twelve countries were included in the survey, including

Australia, but excluding New Zealand)

I interpret this to mean that to improve productivity,

we need to build the capability of management and

the workforce through effective training with a focus

on communication. this makes a lot of sense, and while

I agree the elements of the Government economic

strategy are important, I struggle to connect this to the

levers of productivity.

NZsM / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / 10

who puts on the ‘hard sell’, is highly persuasive and

manipulative and not to be trusted. however the fact

is that the modern sales person requires high level

interpersonal skills and business acumen if they are

to be consistently successful in today’s complex and

sophisticated markets.

Changing our mindset and attitude towards what selling

is in 2010, is vital if we are to get better at selling.

Over 96 per cent of businesses in New Zealand are small 2.

to Medium Enterprises (sME). the vast majority are

started by people because of their love of the product

or service, not because they love selling it. they open a

florists shop because they love flowers and are creative

with flowers, not because they love selling flowers, or

they like designing and building boxes, but not selling

boxes. this limits the growth of these businesses.

Other countries have a high number of sME’s too,

however in New Zealand an sME employs fewer

than 20 people, in the European union fewer than 50

employees is small, and fewer than 250 is medium,

while in the usA, fewer than 100 employees is

small, and fewer than 500 is medium. sME’s in other

countries are large enough to employ a small sales

team with the specialist skills required to succeed,

and these teams are led by a sales manager. In New

Zealand, sales people often have no leadership when

they report to a business owner who is not a sales

professional themselves.

there is no culture of ongoing learning and 3.

development in the sales industry, and insufficient

investment by employers and the sales people

themselves in developing sales capability and

competency. the common, but scarce, mentality of ‘I

train my people then they leave,’ is understandable.

Indeed, high staff turnover rates are identified as

the top barrier in the retail sector that prevents

companies improving productivity. however we

have to get over it, or find ways around it. It is being

shown that the Generation Y people now entering

the workforce are more loyal if they are given

personal development and training opportunities,

and recognition for their achievements.

the Proudfoot Global Productivity Report 2008, also

compares the number of training days by industry and by

country. As is often the case with these reports, sales is

not a category.

Workers in south Africa get the most training at 16 days

per person per year. the uK is the lowest at 7. 6 days.

Australia is just under 10 days. By industry, the retail

average is nine days. I doubt there are many retailers in

New Zealand who provide their workforce with nine days

training per person, per year.

Of interest is that a category high 86 per cent of

managers said their top plan to drive productivity

gains is to invest in skills, development and training of

the workforce.

Productivity improvement requires change.

to seize the opportunity to improve the economic

performance of this country, we need to change our

attitude towards building the capability and competency

of sales management and the sales workforce in our

largest sector of employment.

11 / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / NZsM

A look at how other countries in the world are

changing to tackle this same problem highlights how

quickly New Zealand will fall further behind unless the

attitude to developing sales capability is changed, by

the government, by employers and by the sales

people themselves.

American imperative to get sales right

In America, the university sales Education Foundation

has produced a documentary called ‘the NEW selling of

America’. this has reportedly been screened into 50 per

cent of the homes in the usA.

the documentary begins by reflecting on the changing

state of world business and markets. In the 1960’s, the usA

was the powerhouse of the world economy. today, it has

lost its manufacturing clout to Asia, and progressively India.

Industry experts comment on the realisation that sales is

the engine of the economy, and that they now must get

sales right if they are to remain competitive. they say the

imperative is to develop the one remaining competitive

advantage America has, and professionalise sales.

sales people in America are regarded more highly than in

any other country - selling is closer to being a profession

than in any other country. Yet experts still see selling as

the biggest opportunity for America.

the university sales Education Foundation is working

with industry to effect this change. there are now 26

universities in the usA offering sales programmes. And

while sceptics might say academic degrees don’t help

anyone to sell, I remind you that the role of the sales

person has changed, and that on the evidence of the

documentary, the qualifications have a high practical and

workplace content.

uK retailers invest in their people

In the uK, retailer Wm Morrison announced in July

that they have 24,000 graduates with the new Level 2

Certificate in Retail. In the largest vocational training

programme in the uK, 100, 000 Wm Morrison employees

are expected to achieve the qualification by 2011.

Norman Pickavance, group human Resources Director of

Wm Morrison supermarkets was quoted in the Guardian

on 6 July: ‘this commitment to training is one of the key

factors in our success as a business. Getting it right can

have a huge impact. Large companies have an obligation

to get more people involved in gaining skills – we have to

make this agenda more important for the economy and

more relevant to modern business.’

skillsmart, the sector skills Council for retail in the uK,

comment on their website that the uK is beginning

to realise that vocational qualifications are the way to

improve economic performance.

At their recent Retail Employer conference, Charlie Mayfield,

CEO of John Lewis Partnership said: “We can’t cut our

way to once again become a prosperous economy; we can

actually only grow our way into that position. We need to be

making the business case for skills. this is not a nice-to-do

activity. You need to look at the costs and the opportunities,

and you need to craft a business case for doing this.”

this year, iconic retailer harrods have become the first

retailer in Britain to offer an honours degree in sales. the

programme lasts two years, and is run in partnership with

Anglia Ruskin university. Funded by harrods the staff

receive a free degree, and lectures take place at the store,

during normal working hours. this prototype is expected

to be copied by many other businesses.

the Guardian, 21 June 2010, quotes Arkin salih, harrods’

Learning and Development Manager: "We're not shy to

admit that we're a business, we're here to sell, and it'll be

great to see our sales go up as a result of offering the degree

in sales. But, at the same time, the fact that this scheme is

accredited gives the training legitimacy. It will hugely boost

staff development, and bolsters the reputation of sales as a

career. We have staff with spectacular people skills who are

master craftsmen at making a sale – we want this degree to

nurture that talent, and promote it in other staff, too."

Productivity improvement requires change.

NZsM / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / 12

salih says he came up with the idea of offering the

degree because "a lot of firms restrict the availability of

accredited courses to managers, but I realised that, as a

retailer, our sales team are our frontline. they're the ones

serving our customers, and they, too, deserve some formal

career development and really good training."

Positive things are happening

It will take time to develop our capability in sales, and

grow our way to economic prosperity. After all, we need

to change the ‘snake oil salesman’ stereotype of selling

that has been created by sales people themselves through

decades of questionable, unethical and at times downright

dishonest practices. this won’t happen overnight.

the good news is that there are positive things happening

in New Zealand.

Recognised sales qualifications1.

For the past 12 months, the Industry training

Organisation, the Retail Institute, has been

working on the introduction of recognised NZQA

qualifications in sales. By sales, we are referring to

people employed full time in a job that requires

personal selling either face to face of by phone,

whether it be in retail or B2B field sales. It is

envisaged that a level 3 & 4 Certificate in sales

skills will be available during 2011, and proposed

that a higher level certificate or diploma will also be

developed depending on funding.

the fact that the Retail Institute is struggling to fund

and resource the development and introduction of

these qualifications highlights the lack of recognition

of the opportunity by the government.

Aut university offers New Zealand’s first

undergraduate business degree with a major in sales.

the sales major was co-developed with a group that

comprises some of the largest companies in New

Zealand. senior executives from Vodafone New

Zealand, New Zealand Post, ANZ Bank and AMP came

together to help create a qualification that meets the

requirements of business.

NZTE Capability development scheme2.

the new NZtE initiative to offer up to 50 per

cent discount from management training, strategy

and coaching, through approved providers is

very encouraging. It is great to see sales and

marketing included. It should be one of the most

highly used services.

National Personal and Professional development 3.

network for sales people.

A new national personal and professional development

network for sales people has been formed in New

Zealand.. Called "Rev" which is an acronym for the

organisations aim of bringing Respect, Encouragement

and Vision to sales professionals in New Zealand,

founder Richard Liew says, ‘Our purpose is to help

New Zealand build more world beating businesses by

creating a world leading sales profession. We advocate

the highest standards of professionalism and the Rev

Code of Professional selling underpins the network. It

is hoped that through the co-operation of the leaders

in the sales industry in New Zealand we can provide

some much needed direction and leadership to the

sales profession.”

sales people are the front line with the customer,

selling is the engine of the economy, and sales people

both deserve to be, and need to be, provided with

training and capability development opportunities by

the government, their employers, and through their

own initiatives, all supported by industry organisations.

Developing the sales capability of the nation is the biggest

opportunity for economic growth and to gain competitive

advantage for New Zealand as a nation, at an industry and

business level, and for individual sales people. this needs

to be recognised now, and action taken. After all, if you

are in business, you are in the business of selling.

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mindset-motivation

5 November

Business to Business sales skills

Auckland

Zealmark Group Ltd

www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz/profile_Business_to_Business.

php

sales Dynamics

Auckland

sales stAR

www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/9-

sales-dynamics

11 November

Consultative selling

Auckland

sales stAR

www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/5-

consultative-selling

18 November

Foundations for sales success

Auckland

Zealmark Group Ltd

www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz/profile_Foundations_of_

sales_success.php

22 November

Business to Business sales skills

Auckland

Zealmark Group Ltd

www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz/profile_Business_to_Business.

php

23 November

Negotiating skills (Day 1)

Auckland

scotwork

www.scotwork.co.nz

24 November

Negotiating skills (Day 2)

Auckland

scotwork

www.scotwork.co.nz

25 November

Negotiating skills (Day 3)

Auckland

scotwork

www.scotwork.co.nz

NZ Sales Manager - Sales Training Directory

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AchieveGlobal

Phone: 09 489 8308 Contact: Martin Percival Office: Auckland

www.achieveglobal.co.nz

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Dinanmite

Phone: 021 526 456 Contact: Jason Dinan Office: Auckland

www.dinanmite.com

Geewiz

Phone: 0800 433 949 Contact: Richard Gee Office: Auckland

www.geewiz.co.nz

Mayer Consultants

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www.mayerconsultants.co.nz

Momentum

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People Central

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www.peoplecentral.co.nz

Paul Kernot

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www.paulkernot.com

Rev Sales Network

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www.rsn.co.nz

RightFit

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www.rightfitrecruitment.co.nz

Sales Impact Group

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www.salesimpactgroup.co.nz

Sales Partners International

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www.salespartners.co.nz

Sales Toolbox

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Office: Wellington

www.salestoolbox.co.nz

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Phone: 09 362 0588 Contact: Kerry Swan Office: Auckland

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SalesFish

Phone: 09 834 6655 Contact: Liam Venter Office: Auckland

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Sales Star

Phone: 09 524 0999 Contact: Paul O’Donohue Office: Auckland

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The Sales Academy

Phone: 021 816 372 Contact: Tony Hillyard Office: Wellington

www.thesalesacademy.co.nz

The Foresight Institute

Phone: 09 478 4066 Contact: Jamie Ford Office: Auckland

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Sparkplug

Phone: 027 679 5027 Contact: Hugo Meares Office: Auckland

www.sparkplug.co.nz

Scotwork

Phone: 021 662 452 Contact: Adam Sands Office: Auckland

www.scotwork.co.nz

Top Achievers

Phone: 021 217 1633 Contact: Jean Barr Office: Auckland

www.topachieverssalestraining.co.nz

Zealmark Group

Phone: 09 573 1418 Contact: Grant Shields Office: Auckland

www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz

Team Success

Phone: 0800 TEAM4U Contact: Barry Watson Office: Auckland

www.teamsuccess.co.nz

Tweet Twins Social Media

Phone: 09 525 0411 Contact: Jenny Wilmshurst Office: Auckland

www.tweettwins.wordpress.com

NZsM / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / 16

When you approach a new prospect, what do

you have to offer? Whether you’re sending

an email or cold calling, you need to grab the

attention of your contact and make them want to talk with

you. But too often sellers spew on about their product or

lead off with a trap question that screams sales person.

the solution to this prospecting dilemma used to be to

start your discussion as a business conversation rather

than a traditional semi-scripted cold call. You based it on

needs you uncovered in research before ever approaching

your prospect.

But even that isn’t enough any more.

Business owners and executives are busy people with

too many responsibilities, too little time, and too few

staff to pick up the slack. they don’t have time for a

conversation unless it will help them do their job more

efficiently and effectively.

too often the prospecting business discussion is one

designed to gather a prospect’s needs and covertly qualify

if an opportunity exists. While you begin the conversation

discussing the business issue you uncovered in your

research, it quickly deteriorates into a series of questions

that feel much like a sales call.

Your contact ends the conversation without agreeing to

a first appointment and you don’t know why. You never

mentioned your product and you were only talking about

them. so what happened? It used to work.

What changed?

If you want to catch your prospects’ attention, you must

go beyond even the business discussion. You have to have

something important to talk with them about, something

that feels almost life changing for them.

Solving the Prospecting Dilemma

Making your prospect want to talk to youBy Kendra Lee

Kendra Lee is a top It seller, Prospect Attraction Expert and author of the award winning book “selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. specializing in the It industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the small and Midmarket Business (sMB) segment. to find out more about the author, read her latest articles, or to subscribe to her newsletter visit www.klagroup.com

t W O M I N u t E t O P u P

17 / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / NZsM

Solving the Prospecting Dilemma

here’s how it works:

Know your purpose. 1. In your first call or email, your

purpose isn’t to close for an appointment. I know

you’re shocked, but it isn’t. Rather, it’s simply to have a

conversation to get to know each other, begin building

a relationship, and see if you should have a meeting.

While you’re feeling the pressure to fill your pipeline

this moment, many of the people you’ll speak with

won’t be ready to make any immediate changes. But,

if you leave a positive impression as a thoughtful,

intelligent person who may be able to help their

business in the future, they’ll want to stay in touch.

that gives you a lead for 3, 6 or 9 months from now.

Better still, they’ll probably call you because they’ll

remember your discussion.

Offer to share your expertise freely. 2. Research

is important but it’s how you apply it that is truly

distinguishes you. Determine the business issue you

could assist with, then offer your expertise on what

they should be thinking about to address that point.

Don’t hold back because you think a prospect should

pay for your advice. Few companies you speak with

will be able to implement your suggestions without

your company’s help. Let go of that concern and open

up. share the great knowledge you have.

If you have ideas about how a company could

better control their It costs, tell them. some will

be recommendations that directly connect to your

offerings, but others should not. If, for example,

during your discussion you believe that some basic

training would help their office manager to administer

better system back-ups, tell them. You can sell them a

full-scale business recovery solution later.

Guide them with ideas they can implement right now

while positioning what you can assist with in the future.

Make them think about the possibilities.3. As you

share, discuss what you’ve seen other companies do

to address a similar problem. think about your clients,

the challenges they’re facing and what they’re doing

about those problems.

show prospects the possibilities of what they could be

doing to improve productivity, cut costs, or address

that need you uncovered in your research.

share one or two simple-to-implement ideas, as well

as one or two more complex, suggestions. Base your

ideas on how you’ve observed your clients address

those matters in their organizations, or how they have

implemented your solutions to change their businesses.

the executives you’re calling are so busy they haven’t

had time to consider other possibilities. they’re

surviving with the issues when they may not have to.

Help them re-examine their status quo. 4. By not

pushing prospects into a change with your first call,

you’re freeing them up to rethink their status quo.

Your conversation of suggestions and possibilities

allows them to take time out and think for a moment

about what could be.

suddenly training the office manager may not be

enough. they may want your recommendation on how

they can protect their business during hurricane season,

or secure their data, or better manage their whole It

infrastructure. they won’t want to wait 3 or 6 months

to talk again. they’ll want to pick your brain some more

and consider ways to eliminate the issues they’ve been

living with now that they know they don’t have to.

I know, you’re thinking that this sounds like a deeper

conversation than you usually conduct in a cold call. And,

you’re concerned that you interrupted the person. they’d

never stay on the phone for this type of discussion.

But, it works.

It works because you’ve grabbed your prospect’s

attention and made them want to talk with you. After a

conversation like this, they either want to schedule time

for a deeper conversation, or they want to hear from you

again sometime soon.

You can solve your prospecting dilemma by elevating your

conversation to one based on your expertise and ideas.

Before you know it, not only will your pipeline increase,

but your relationship database of potential new prospects

will be overflowing, too.

NZsM / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / 18

R E s O u R C E C O R N E R

Companies continue to

disproportionately spend

their budgets into the

'wrong' end of the funnel - the

mass media or awareness side.

What we haven't paid enough

attention to is the 'right' end of

the funnel - the word-of-mouth

component that essentially acts as

a multiplier for future business.

the economic impact of an

active, engaged and loyal

customer is tremendous. And

the same is true of the opposite

scenario, namely the impact of

angry customers and negative

word-of-mouth or referrals.

It is this thinking that Jaffe

has channelled to challenge

marketers to 'flip the funnel'

once and for all. With a

renewed focus and energy

on customer experience, it is

possible to grow your sales,

while decreasing your budget

- in other words, getting more

from less.

Engaging a few customers

to spread the word to many.

using this new 'flipped funnel'

model, together with a set of

new rules of customer service

and a revolutionary customer

referral and activation process

you'll learn how to transform

your existing customers into

your best salespeople..

Flip the Funnel

Author: Joseph Jaffey

Publisher: Behavioural science Research Press

$39.97 from Fishpond.co.nz

Flip the Funnel

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Using PowerPoint – make sUre yoU have the Power

If you use Powerpoint for your sales presentations, stop

and think about whether the slides are driving you, or

you are driving the slides. Powerpoint is a great tool

when used in the right way, yet it is regularly used

incorrectly for presentations.

too often the entire presentation content is written

onto the slides. the talk is then little more than

reading out the slides, and so the slides drive the

speaker. this results in the audience giving their

attention to trying to pick out the information they

need from the slides, rather than being focussed on

you, the presenter.

It should work the other way round. the audience

attention should be on you, the presenter, and the slides

used to reinforce the key point you are making.

so don’t create your presentation by writing it out in

Powerpoint. Write your presentation in full in words or use

a mind map, then put together a few Powerpoint slides to

visually support the key points you are making. then you

will have the power, and the attention of the audience..

It's not what you sell, it's how you sellQuick Fix

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at pauln@nzsalesmanager.co.nz. You will be in to win a high-powered laser

pointer pen, courtesy of the great guys at Brand storming Promotions.

20 / NOVEMBER 3RD 2010 / NZsM

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-Eleanor Roosevelt

“ “Learn from the mistakes of others, you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself