June2007

Are you—or members of your team—walking away from sales opportunities that you spend vast amounts of time and money to find? Believe it or not, many people do.

I offer below three true life illustrations, of lost sales ranging from a few thousand dollars up to $250,000, and then further down a positive example of how to get it right.

1) Recently, I was a speaker at a conference in Pasadena for business owners. In between presentations I strolled through the exhibit hall where numerous vendors had paid for booth space to market their services and products. I stopped at the exhibit of a marketing firm that sells customized business-to-business mailing lists. After explaining what I needed—and was willing to pay for—I gave the rep my card, and he said he would call the next day. Never heard from him! Another lost sale!

2) A fellow consultant recently related that she went to a local, high-end auto dealership with the clear intention of buying a new car. Since it was a Saturday morning, she dressed very comfortably and casually in a sweat suit, with minimal make up and jewelry. She also happens to be African-American. Upon her arrival, she got the distinct impression that the sales staff felt that she did not fit their image of a likely prospect and was not worth their time and attention. Feeling slighted, she left shortly thereafter—and went directly to a competitor dealership, where she made a deal on a $40,000 car. For the first dealership, another lost sale!

3) Finally, the story of the lost $250,000 deal. When I was a senior officer with a major mortgage banking firm, we were seeking a major customer service improvement program to include training of all staff, from the CEO to receptionist. Upon receiving an invitation, I attended a half-day preview of the program of one provider. I approached the speaker afterwards and told him this seemed to be exactly what we were looking for, gave him my card, and asked him to call. You can guess the rest. Never heard from him, and we spent about a quarter of a million with a competitor instead!

In spite of the ascendancy of “consultative,” “non-manipulative” or “solutions” selling over the past couple of decades, most salespeople still see the sales process as a matter of talking someone else into something the other person probably does not want or need or can afford. It logically follows that if there is something you do want and can afford, it cannot be what they have to sell!

As entrepreneurs, we are all in the business of selling, whether we have a two person operation or one with two thousand employees. How we approach selling sets the tone for the organization—and for deciding who fits our sales team.

In assessing one’s own or others’ sales potential, keep in mind that all sales people have magnetic personalities. The catch is that magnets have potential either to attract or repel, depending upon their orientation. The irony is that those who repel sales, as in the examples above, often see themselves as high power, aggressive, no nonsense, “you eat what you kill” kinds of guys and gals.

Those who attract sales have a totally different mentality—they do not make strenuous efforts to talk people into what they do not want. Granted, they have usually worked hard to develop a reputation for quality, service, integrity, availability, and dependability. But these are virtues anyone pursuing any livelihood should strive to develop. They are not essentially “selling skills.” And the basic sense of integrity behind them can also be conveyed by the novice in the arena.

Recently I called Moe Plumbing Service Center in Glendale for some routine repairs on bathroom fixtures. Afterwards, I mentioned to Jeff Hachey the General Manager that while his plumber/technician did a very good job, he missed a lot of cross-selling opportunities, since he made no offer to check out other items while in our home. Jeff thanked me for the feedback and a few days later called back to ask if we would like him to drop by to personally conduct that no-charge spot inspection. Talk about a case of just listening and jumping at the sales opportunity! Naturally, we accepted. The result: considerable additional sales for him and the solutions to a number of our problems, not to mention improvement of the property value.

Notice that there was nothing extremely complicated or ingenious in Jeff’s “selling skills.” He simply listened for the sales opportunity, acted upon it, and then provided solutions to problems, some of which he detected and some of which we described. What could be easier? Yet over the years one plumbing contractor after another has walked right past these opportunities.

Success in business-to-business sales requires awareness of one deep-rooted motivation that drives successful business people but is rarely mentioned. We all know that people go into business to earn a living, get rich, help others, provide jobs, etc., etc. Yet there are many ways to do these things, many much easier than running an enterprise or earning commissions. One motivation to be in business, rather than in laboratory, classroom, or government agency, is the enjoyment of doing business itself. Making deals with other people that are mutually advantageous and that have the net effect of increasing wealth all around is one of the most profoundly satisfying parts of being a business person. This means that if people agree to see you and you are a reasonably likeable person, they would prefer all things being equal to somehow find a way to do business with you. In a sense, if you walk away with no deal, both sides are disappointed it did not work out!

I have found that operating from this assumption produces dramatically different results than approaching a sales situation with the idea that the person on the other side of the desk is a bundle of obstacles to be overcome. Those who like making deals also tend to be open to hearing about needs or solutions of which they were previously unaware.

This principle does not apply only in business-to-business transactions. Consumers delight in finding the plumber, the auto mechanic, the dentist, the financial advisor in whom they have complete trust and confidence, even when they pay more. The open, honest exchange of value for value is satisfying in and of itself. An additional advantage of operating from this perspective is that many employees who have heretofore been turned off by the idea of selling may become your best advocates and sales representatives.

If you, or those working for you, need help in operating from his assumption, then instead of providing the usual list of bullet point suggestions I offer five potentially life-changing questions:

Apart from the financial rewards, what do you find most satisfying about making a sale? Is it a service rendered and solutions provided, or mainly that you were able to “bag another?” If the latter, do you believe you can reach that enviable point where you attract business while going through life viewing yourself as a hunter and all members of your defined market as prey? (Some would-be sales gurus recommend that you divide your “target market” into “big game” and “squirrels” and to eschew the latter. Either way, your customers are “trophies.”)

To sum up: Though not all sales come easy, many do—if you don’t walk away from them. If you want not to lose those easy sales but to attract rather than repel them, keep your mind, ears, and eyes open for customers wants and needs; speak about what you believe in; don’t fake it; and be true to your word. In fact, this is not bad advice for the not-so-easy sales as well.

Do you have a story of a lost sale that you would like to share? We would love to hear it. Just use the e-mail link below.


	Mulkern Associates is a privately held consulting firm of Anthony J. Mulkern