Ethical Selling. To the uninformed this sounds like an oxymoron like “Jumbo Shrimp” or “Marital Bliss”.  However, to those sales people striving to be the best these two words mean everything.  You cannot be a successful salesperson if you do not develop trust with your clients as well as with the company you represent. 

Trust = Results = $$ Commissions

Let’s take a look at Ethical Selling from two angles.  One is the Legal aspects and the other Cultural, or the good solid business reasons why Ethical Selling produces great sales results.

First the Legal Aspects:

There are overarching laws in the U.S. as well as internationally that governs how one conducts business.  Some of these include Contract Law, SEC Regulations, Anti-Trust laws, The RICO Act, The Economic Espionage Act, etc..  For those sales people conducting business internationally there are two more very important laws to understand.  These are the Federal Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the new UK Bribery Act.  The penalties for violating these laws can be severe and salespeople can be found personally liable under the Alternative Fines Act.  Penalties can include huge fines and considerable jail time.  Pleading that your boss had you perform the indiscretion (i.e. Bribe) is no excuse, and neither is ignorance of these laws.

So “Protect Thyself”.  Make sure your company provides you with adequate ethics and legal education and support.

The Ethical Sales Culture Rules:

Okay, we know there are laws we need to abide by when selling and conducting business but there are also Rules regarding Ethical Selling.  Companies that have solid reputations as ethical companies simply perform better.  Websites for organizations like Ethisphere and Corporate Responsibility magazine contain studies illustrating that highly rated Ethical companies outperform the S&P 500 and The Russell 1000.  Ethical Selling = Results.

To ensure that you are always mindful of creating and maintaining client trust I have condensed the Ethical Selling Rules into Ten.

Here they are:

Rule #1: Do Not Disparage the Competition:

I know what you’re thinking.  How can I not say something to my client about the things I know are wrong with my competitor’s products?  The answer is you can, but you have to do it right, but first let’s get one thing straight.  You need competition!  Without competition you my friend don’t have a job.  There is no need for salespeople if there is no competition for your product.

How then do you point out the advantages of your product vs. your competitor?  There are several ways — here are just a few:

a)      The Ben Franklin Approach.  Remember this one?  You construct a matrix with the client’s derived buying criteria comparing your product with your competitor(s)’.  With your client you put an “x” next to each criterion under either you or the competitor.  Of course, you should role play this first before engaging with the client. Remember the 5 “P”’s (Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance).

b)      Stress the benefits of your product.  Get back into the habit of reciting Feature/Function/Benefit to the client.

c)      Offer to help write the RFP if you expect one.

d)     Get in front of the competition by proactively bringing them into the conversation.  I have seen clients react very well to my statement that “XYZ” and “ABC” can also provide what you need but let me show you why my product can provide you with so much more.  This demonstrates your integrity as well as your confidence.

Rule #2: Do Not Un-Hook a Competitor’s Contract:

Trying to convince a client to terminate an existing agreement is just plain bad business.  In addition, it could present legal issues for your employer and they can be accused of “tortious interference”, “inducement of breach” or “contractual interference”.  I recommend you find ways to co-exist with an existing competitive contract in order to establish your credibility.  When the contract expires — pounce!

Rule #3:  Don Not Bribe the Customer:

Oh, so you think this is an obvious one?  There are new Ethics & Compliance rules that get real specific about what constitutes a bribe.  What was at one time considered customary entertainment and gifts are now considered bribes that I outlined earlier.  Your best bet here is to know what your company’s rules are on entertainment and gifts as well as your clients’.  Specifics can be found on your client’s website in their “Code of Conduct” section.

Rule #4:  Do Not Overhang the Market:

Your client cannot sign a contract based on a feature or capability that is not available today.  You must be careful about describing the features provided by your product.  Of course you can show your client a product “future” but you must be crystal clear that it is not presently available.

Rule #5:  Do Not Misrepresent your Product:

This is just plain stupid and bad selling.  However, even the best sales people with honest intent can get overly exuberant about their product and inadvertently induce a client into believing that the product can do more than it’s capable of.  Again, make sure you are clear with your client about your product’s capabilities in both conversation and writing.  As a salesperson it is your job to create customer excitement with your product but make sure they understand 100% what they are signing up for.  As in Rule #4 above, the amount of time , energy and reputation you have to invest is damage control is not worth it.  One can say “that’s why we have contracts” which is true but a client mainly goes by what he or she remembers you told them.

Rule #6:  Do Not “Bait and Switch:

We’ve all been on the wrong end of this one.  How did you feel about the salesperson and the company they represented?  By definition, this means you offer a product to a client knowing full well you can’t deliver on it, get the client interested, and then substitute it for another product or service.  My most memorable “bait ‘n switch” experience was when I signed up for a golf membership to a course that was not yet built.  After the course was finally built they doubled the membership fee!  If you really want to upset me mess with my golf!

Rule #7:  Do Not Alter a Contract:

You know not to change or alter a contract but I have seen many clients pull a reversal on the salesperson.  Experienced buyers know how to “work” the salesperson.  They are very aware of month-end, quarter-end, and year-end selling pressure.  So it happens more times than not that at the 11^th hour, when you really need that contract signed, that the client will demand one more contract change.  I have see clients actually handwrite in a contractual change and ask the salesperson to co-sign with their initials.  My advice to you is to stop, take a breath and tell your client you are not authorized to make revisions but “if you give me five minutes I will call my boss and get and answer”

Rule # 8: Do Not Take Competitive Information:

Under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 theft or misappropriation of trade secrets is a federal crime.  This act is intended to cover competitive information that is not available in the public domain (i.e. brochures, websites, etc.).  If the information is private and confidential and you get your hands on it and use it to your advantage you have violated the law.  Even if your client hands you a competitor’s proposal you must refuse to accept it.  My advice is to simply ask the client where you need to be to win.

Rule #9:  Do Not fudge your Pipeline and Forecast Numbers:

In fact, take the time to very accurate with your sales numbers.  Accurate sales figures are the “Holy Grail” for your Sales Executives, CFO and CEO.  As a sales leader I have had the pleasure of managing some very successful salespeople who couldn’t forecast worth a lick.  Upon inspection I found that this was usually the result of insufficient time spent on the forecast process or they simply didn’t want sales management to know.  The cure for this was giving the salesperson the “option” of converting to a 100% Commission Compensation Plan as accurate forecasting was a requisite for receiving a Base Salary.  I always had 100% forecast accuracy compliance after that.

Rule #10: Don’t Ever Say “Well to be honest with you”:

When I was a young salesperson starting out at IBM I picked up a bad habit.  I got into the habit of saying “well, to be honest with you”.  I further added twists like “in all candor” and “to be perfectly frank with you”.  I noticed that when I said this to a client they drew closer to me so they can hear the next words out of my mouth that I had teed up with this declaration of honesty.  Then one day while presenting to a prospective client I went into my “well, to be honest with you” bit.  The client then said to me “so Carl, now you’re going to come clean with me?  You haven’t been honest with me up until now?”  I froze in place and went silent.  The client then smiled at my discomfort then told me to never declare my honesty again.  Even though it was an expression he assumed that I was honest until proven otherwise.

One simple method I use to establish trust with a client is to ask the client” It is important that I establish trust and credibility with you.  What is the best way I can do this with you?”  I will pretty much always get the same answer – “just be straight with me”.  Clients appreciate this approach and I do believe it always gets me extra credit.

Conclusion:

As a salesperson, the brand you want to establish is like a two-headed coin.  You want your client to judge you as an honest salesperson and you want your employer to recognize you as a sales producer.  As you hopefully learned these are all linked like hand and glove.  The benefit to you the salesperson is that you will sell more, make more money and go to heaven.

Good luck and good selling.

Integrity

This has to be right at the top, because if the team has cause to doubt the integrity of its leader, then it will fail when the team is exposed to stress or a risk. If a person is capable of minor lapses in their personal integrity, they fail to keep faith and then they could let their own team members down when they are under pressure. Once the team doubts the leader, that doubt greatly limits their chances of the fullest success.

Good Memory

To enable them to recall peoples names and the few essential facts that are pertinent to a wide range of problems.

A Genuine Interest In People

Those that you are responsible for leading will know at once if you are genuinely interested in them – and particularly in their development. Show this and you create that personal bond which is essential to the success of your team. You cannot fake an interest in people – they always find you out. A leader can only be successful by ensuring the success of every individual in the team.

The Ability To Communicate Effectively

A good leader must be able to talk and write simply, clearly and persuasively. They must also listen and digest information intently – communication is a two way process.

Decisiveness

There is a time when a decision must be made and a risk taken, even though the facts may be incomplete. A leader must recognize when further analysis is unprofitable and action is needed. It helps if the cost of changing the decision is known. If the cost is low, the risk is low.

The Ability To Relax

If the team is kept tense and under pressure, irritation arises and performance fails. This is overcome by deliberately introducing a break – just a light remark or opportunity for laughter. The importance lays in the frequency and the need for the break to be related to the task, or the people – not a funny story. The break should be brief, even momentary. It should also come at an opportune moment.

Genuine Enthusiasm

Inner conviction, belief in the team and the objectives before it, gives rise to enthusiasm. This must be visible to the members of the team. It provides the motive power they use to tackle their jobs with courage and hope. If the leader has no belief in the task, why should their team even attempt it?

Those are my top seven, and tomorrow, I’ll reveal the five main drivers, which point organizations towards success ..

News: Lots of comments about my Hardtalk interview with Dan Waldschmidt  “The Problem With Sales Trainers” – if you missed it, simply go HERE and look in the right-hand column.

We are putting the finishing touches to our new project – topsalesmanagement.com – which launches next week, plus finalizing the details of the Top Sales World magazine, which publishes next Tuesday …

This month’s highlight is undoubtedly Linda Richardson’s interview with genuine thought leader, Neil Rackham. Plus, in my new monthly column – JF Uncut – I take a tongue-in-cheek look at the reasons why any imminent marriage between sales and marketing is unlikely, and we also have superb articles from Colleen Stanley, Tibor Shanto and John Doerr.

Finally, we announce all the categories for this year’s Top Sales & Marketing Awards. It is certainly going to be a bumper edition!

For those of you who have not been to a Rudy’s, they are located in upscale gas and C-stores in Texas. I recently visited the one at 620 and 2222 in Austin and took this photo of their mission. I love this mission statement and I believe it permeates through the staff at Rudy’s. They are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. They want you to be delighted.
I’ve read about a phenomenon that takes place in crowds where if someone needs help, they are less likely to get it. It seems that in a group of people they assume someone else will help. It works that way in business and in life. It’s not my responsibility, it’s someone else’s.

In the past year our church has grown over 30%. In that timeframe our Children’s church has grown from 22 to nearly 80 with the same amount of volunteers. We could not get anyone to sign up when we asked for it. We suggested it, and told them there were signup sheets in the hallway. No one signed up. Last week I shared with the congregation this photo of Rudy’s mission. I suggested it wasn’t someone else’s problem; it was a challenge for all of us and then passed around signup sheets immediately after I addressed them. We had 43 new volunteers.

In our consulting business we see this frequently. When we identify new opportunities and build a go to market strategy for our customers, their teams are apprehensive about the change. We have around 20% of the population in a customer’s team that sees the vision and moves forward to execute on their own. An additional 50% straddle the fence, do nothing and wait to see if the new strategy is going to work. Finally 30% of the population actively resists the changes and fights to keep the status quo. Our leverage point is the 50% who are waiting to see if it works. We encourage them to act. Don’t wait on the strategy to work, drive it to work. Don’t depend on or wait for others to take action. If it is to work, it is because of me. Just like Rudy’s.

Look at your life, your business. What are you looking for others to do before you take action? What can you do to delight the “customer”? What can you do to “guarantee that every customer is delighted because of me”?

Step One: We have to feel MOTIVATED to make a purchase, irrespective of its type or size.

Step Two: At some point after we’ve become motivated to want to buy, we make a DECISION to buy.

Step Three: Then, after we have made a decision, we want to feel CONVINCED that our decision is the right one and at this stage we may seek approval and input from other people. Then we’ll make our purchase.

Step Four: Finally, after making our purchase we seek REASSURRANCE. Interestingly, if sales people haven’t nurtured newly acquired customers, this can result in ‘Buyers Remorse’ and the customer may get ‘cold feet’ and cancel their order.

Every step of this process requires careful handling, yet if the sales person lacks the ability to motivate their prospect to talk to them, let alone buy from them, the other steps become redundant.

It is now common knowledge that people are fundamentally motivated in two main ways:

1. What problem or pain they can avoid and move away from

2. What pleasure or benefit they can move towards

Imagine your alarm going off in the morning and you realise that you have to get out of bed. It’s just too warm and comfortable where you are, so you give yourself another five minutes. Then, after this time, you decide to lie in for another few minutes until you suddenly get a picture in your mind of your angry boss! The consequences of being late for your meeting with him scares you into jumping out of bed.

Alternatively, imagine your alarm going off on the morning of your holiday. The prospect of sun, sea and Sangria fills you with excitement as you jump out of bed to start your two week vacation.

If a prospect feels content with their current supplier or their current situation, then it will be a huge challenge to motivate them to want to buy your product or service. That’s why every pain your prospect feels is an opportunity for you.

Your task, during the initial fact-finding stage is to uncover their ‘pain’ and help them to dwell on their problems. The stronger the pain or the bigger their problem, the greater their motivation will be to move away from it. If you can convince prospects that your organization can reduce one or more of their ‘pains’, then you will have suddenly discovered a powerful way to unleash their motivation to buy from you.

Here are some examples of questions that probe for pain:

● “What areas of your current situation don’t you like?”
● “What is this costing your organisation each year?”
● “How do you feel about (problem)?”
● “Who else is aware of these issues?”
● “How do they feel about it?”
● “Why haven’t you tackled this before?”
● “How do your issues compare to those in similar organisations?”
● “Which of these problems is causing you the most concern?”
● “What have you done in the past that’s not worked?”
● “When did you begin noticing this issue?”
● “Why is this such an issue for you?”
● “When will you decide to resolve this?”

When probing for pain it’s more effective to start with general questions to build rapport, encourage discussion and plenty of input from the prospect.

As you begin using questions that probe for pain you’ll notice shifts in their body language that can provide you with important feedback that your questions are hitting the mark. Ideally, encourage the prospect to define the consequences of their problem, this magnifies the problem in their minds eye and consequently builds their motivation to want to get it solved.

Finally, you need to gain their commitment to resolving their problem by asking, “How committed are you to resolving this issue?”

“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.” Anthony Robbins

My friend & colleague, Jill Konrath, just came out with a new book to address this key issue. It’s called: “SNAP Selling: Speed Up Sales and Win More Business with Today’s Frazzled Customers.”

I highly recommend it. It’s already soared to the #1 Amazon sales book!

Here is an excerpt from the book…

Make Decisions Easier for Your Prospects

By Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies

Crazy-busy prospects can’t handle complexity. They hate it when things are difficult to decode, decide or decifer. It grinds them to a screeching halt – which is the normal human reaction to being overwhelmed and stressed out.

Because of the chaotic business environments we work in, simplicity has recently emerged as a key factor in sales success.

As a seller, your job is to make things easier and minimize the effort for your frazzled prospects. This is especially true when you’re dealing with people who seldom make decisions like the one you’re proposing.

Here are some strategies you can use to make things easier for your frazzled prospects.

Augment, Don’t Replace

Your prospects already use something or someone to address their needs. You can make it a whole lot easier for them to get buy-in for your product or service by positioning it as an “add on” to an existing program, process, or technology.

For example, when I talk to VPs of Sales, I always stress that my workshops on selling to crazy-busy buyers or cracking into new accounts compliment their existing sales training initiatives. I even assure them that I’ll tie my strategies in with their current methodology.

By coexisting with the status quo, you can get your foot in the door without encountering a major battle. Once you’re in, you can work to expand your relationship and win additional business.

Sometimes your “competitors” are internal staff whose number one concern is job loss. I knew this was going to be a major obstacle recently when I proposed a new idea to a prospect. So I dealt with it head on.

First I showed them how we could bring much-needed services to an underserved customer demographic. They loved it. Then, I talked about leveraging outside resources to “jump-start” the new program. And, I clearly stated that the ultimate goal was to turn it over to their IT as soon as possible.

Not only did I avoid an insurrection, but I quickly got their support because it provided them with more job security. Augmentation is good. It simplifies and speeds up the decision process.

Think and Act Small

If your prospects like what you’ve proposed, they’ll want to get it approved as soon as possible. However, big ideas with big budgets are riskier and require more buy-in.

As a result, they’re harder to get through the system. When you start losing momentum, your whole proposal is at risk.

So even if you have a big idea, be realistic with your prospects. Talk about starting small. Show them how you can get started, demonstrate your success, and build from there. For example, you could:

• Propose an initial assessment to understand the scope of the problem.
• Tackle a small problem where you could demonstrate immediate short-term results.
• Focus on bringing in just one of your products, services, or solutions.
• Suggest a change in only one of the departments or a single facility.

IT seller P. V. Bhaskar frequently proposes pilot projects to his clients. With a 90 percent conversion rate, they’ve become his secret weapon to simplify the decision-making process.

Prior to getting started, he allows the CIO and CFO to set the success parameters. As he says, “When a pilot exceeds the incumbent’s performance, all I need to do is demonstrate that the success can be scaled to an actual project as well.”

Going for the whole shebang at once makes things more difficult. And when you’re working with frazzled customers, that’s a setup for having your opportunity get derailed, delayed or dismissed forever.

But once you get your foot in the door, the hardest part is over. If you do a good job on your initial piece of business, it will be logical for your prospect to move to the next stage with your company. Your next proposal simply augments what they’re already doing.

Root Out All Complexity

In many cases, your prospects don’t know what to look for or how to decide. If things get complicated, they’ll quit and you’ll be gonzo.

That’s why it’s imperative for you and your company to ask these questions all the time:

• At which point do our prospects tip into overwhelm?
• What are the complexities that grind decisions to a halt?
• How can we reduce the ease and effort needed to make a decision?
• In what ways can we minimize decision-making risk?

Discuss these questions with your colleagues. Observe what happens in conversations with your prospects. Talk to your existing customers to get their feedback.

Then eliminate as much complexity as is humanly possible.

If you don’t, it can easily become a major showstopper – which is not a desirable outcome. When you embrace the first SNAP Rule: Keep it Simple, you’ll win more business with a whole lot less effort.

Of course, there must be almost as many theories on leadership as there are leaders themselves and models for the best kind of leadership change with the times.

In the 15th century, Niccolo Machiavelli advocated a combination of cunning and intimidation as a way to more effective leadership. His philosophy, if not his practices, became unfashionable some time ago – thank God!

“Great Man” theories, popular in the 19th century and early this century, are based on the notion of the ‘born leader’ who has innate talents that cannot be taught. An alternative approach that is still in vogue is based on trying to identify the key traits of effective leaders.

Behaviorist theory prefers to see leadership in terms of what leaders do, rather than their individual characteristics, and it tries to identify the different roles they fulfill. More recently, attention has moved away from the individual in the leadership role, to embrace a more holistic view and investing less in what some commentators refer to as the ‘myth of the heroic leader’.

Much recent work in this area has concentrated on trying to understand why some leaders are more effective than others by looking at their environment and the context in which their acts have been carried out. Situational theory views leadership as specific to the situation, for example, rather than to the personality of the leader. It is based on the idea that different situations require a different style of leader.

The basis of Situational Leadership is to provide a means of effective leadership by adopting different leadership styles, in different situations, with different people.

Situational Leadership is a model – not a theory. The difference is that a theory attempts to explain why things happen, whereas a model is a pattern of existing events which can be learnt and therefore repeated.

Requirements of a Leader

An effective leader needs to be:

• A good diagnostician who can sense and appreciate differences in people and situations

• Adaptable – have the ability to adapt the leadership style to circumstances

A leader must realize there is no one best way to influence people.

The Basis of Situational Leadership

Situational Leadership is a way of describing and analyzing leadership styles. It is a combination of directive and supportive behaviors.

Directive behavior involves telling people what to do, how to do it, where to do it, when to do it and then closely supervising this performance.

Supportive behavior involves listening to people, providing support and encouragement for their efforts and then facilitating their involvement in problem solving and decision-making.

There are four leadership styles: Directing, Coaching, Supporting and Delegating.

Each style is appropriate in certain circumstances. They can be shown as follows:

• Delegating – i.e. Low Supportive & Low Directive

• Directing – i.e. Low Supportive & High Directive

• Supporting – i.e. High Supportive & High Directive

• Coaching - i.e. High Supportive & Low Directive

In Summary

To those who would suggest that great leaders are born, not made, I would say this: We can examine all of the great leaders in history – and I have examined most of them -  and identify some common characteristics, but we cannot say they were “Born Leaders”. They all developed into their leadership roles over a period of time, learning the skills along the way.

I do believe that leaders can be developed – I have to believe that, because currently we have far too few of them in the world.

1.  Take a Vacation – Why do we always feel guilty about taking a vacation?  Most of us have gone years without taking a full week of vacation.  That’s part of the reason for burnout.

2.  Get Some Sleep – Lack of sleep turns into fatigue, sluggishness, and headaches.  Why put yourself through that?  Get at least seven hours of sleep every night this week and see how it affects you mentally and emotionally.

3.  Eat Healthy - It’s easy to get frustrated and irritable because of the way we look and feel.  My dad is a former college football coach.  I used to love being in the locker room before the game.  One of his running backs used to primp in front of the mirror before hitting the field.  I remember him saying, “You look good, you feel good, you play good…”  It’s funny… but it’s true!

4.  Exercise – This one closely resembles to the last tip.  You look good, you feel good, you…

5.  Try Something New - Have you ever had something you’ve always wanted to do, but never got the chance?  Go do it!

6.  Strengthen Relationships – There are people who love you.  Go spend time with them.  Don’t think about anything but strengthening your relationship with them.  Enjoy the time.  Embrace the process.

7.  Take Some “Me” Time – We all need people, but we also need some time for ourselves.  My wife is one of those who feels guilty for needing some “me” time.  If you are like her and you give… and give… and give… it’s important to allow yourself to give a little time… to yourself.

8.  Simplify – How complicated is your life and your work.  Is it self-imposed?  Look at everything that you are doing and get rid of the things that don’t add value.

9.  Have Fun – We’ve heard motivational speakers discourage us from wasting our time watching TV, playing video games, and other mindless activities.  Maybe it’s OK to be mindless when we are “resting.”  If you enjoy doing those things… then go ahead… RELAX… have some fun!

10.  Get Some Wins – Do all of these things to keep yourself mentally and physically refreshed… you know you are unstoppable when you are sharp… and winning is the best way to burn down burnout!

STOP with This 10 and That 10! Enough already!

Review it?

Okay, if you’ve nothing else to do.

Dwell on it?

Not okay, unless you’re a stalk of celery waiting for a dip.

Give it up! Get back to work! Unless there was some outstanding, earth-shattering play, nobody in their right mind sits around watching more after-game replays of the game that they’ve just watched (including the 14,786 replays that they already watched during the game!)

New Year’s always does this. It makes people nuts!
Business and professional practice owners rush to look back at who and what did better and worse than they did in the past year, which is (ahem!) past?
Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard that the past is over and nothing can be done to change it . . . so, who cares who was best and worst and in-between?
What’s happening this minute? Ah!

If we could pull together all the collective time we waste looking back at who did what to whom and why B happened when A was supposed to happen, and could apply that to productive forward movement, small business would be in the economy’s driver’s seat, where small business belongs, instead of our inept government ”servants” (who do indeed serve themselves admirably).

Wallowing in the past has never –N~E~V~E~R– moved anyone forward. Now, I’m not talking about remembering stuff, nor even occasional reminiscing (which can serve to relax the stressed-out mind that’s overloaded with here-and-now focus).

No, I speak of the guy you went to high school with. You know him. He’s the one who’s still hanging out in the same local bar with his 30-year-old winning touchdown as conversation topic one.

Okay, so we can put this disastrous 2010 year behind us, right?
Now that’s a good thing, but that doesn’t authorize us to jump ahead to the point of worrying about 2011.
And kill off those empty New Year’s Resolutions that waste even more time deciding on and pursuing.
It simply means it’s time to roll up your sleeves, get your glove and get back into the game . . . get back to work.
Forget about those philosophical Tweets you read: It’s time to work harder, not smarter.

You’re already smart enough to succeed or you wouldn’t be here reading this. Working harder doesn’t mean physical labor or adding hours or wearing 20 hats instead of the 18 you’ve had on.

It means working harder to keep your mind in the here-and-now present moment as much of the time as possible — because it’s the only way to make your business and your career succeed.

You thought this was just a modus operandi for surgeons? Wrong! You are, in what you do and the ways you do it, a surgeon in your own right.

You take a history, do an examination, test, interpret results, form a treatment plan, perform the necessary procedures, decide on a prognosis, start therapeutic action to accelerate recovery, re-examine, and set up a maintenance plan.

So the bottom line, Doctor, Business Owner and Manager, is to stop wasting time analyzing 2010, and start attacking 2011. Now. One patient’s needs at a time!

Note: I attempted to contact Mr. Sales Guy to do a telephone interview before posting this article but he has not responded to my email, possibly in an attempt to remain anonymous. As a result, all I can share with you are my opinions and observations regarding his motivation to create this video and exactly what he is trying to communicate.

NSFW
If you have not yet seen this video, let me warn you: It is NSFW (Not Safe For Work). There is a great deal gratuitous obscenity along with a number of very rude sexual references and threats of violence. If you are easily offended, don’t watch this video and don’t read the transcript below. But, being as you are in sales, I think it’s unlikely you will see, hear or read anything you haven’t before.

When I first watched it, this video struck me as very funny as well as clever: an intelligent yet biting look at all the crappiest parts of being a salesman – from the salesman’s perspective. It’s immediately obvious that Mr. Sales Guy is an experienced top-producer with a razor sharp wit and a huge axe to grind with management.

It then occurred to me that The Joy Of A Salesman is an excellent vehicle through which I can illustrate a number of my Theses to management from the perspective of the person on the front line. I also hope that Mr. Sales Guy and others of his ilk will gain some perspective into why management does some of the unwise things they do.

My Approach to This Deconstruction
Here is my approach: First I’m going to show you the video itself so you can come to your own conclusions about what it means and why it was created. Then I will present you with a complete transcript of what it said, broken down into sections, along with what I believe can be learned from it – by management and salespeople alike.

One last NSFW warning before you click play. Make sure there is no one within earshot who is likely to be offended.

Ready? Enjoy.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVLAvix-dX0

Complete Transcript:

The video starts out with a discussion of quotas; how they’re set and how they’re viewed by both salespeople and sales management. My comments will always be in italics.

Management
We need to discuss your numbers from last month.

Mr. Sales Guy
What is there to discuss? I am at quota every single month which is a miracle in itself considering quota is an unobtainable watermark.

Management
Quotas are set based upon realistic objectives. Back when I was selling we would blow out our numbers every month. And we didn’t have cell phones, email and the Twitter to help us.

Mr. Sales Guy
I don’t care what you did 100 years ago when you were riding dinosaurs and actually sold things. Now you just sit behind a desk all day languishing in middle management and come up with ways to complicate my job and ruin my life.

This last statement points up a basic dynamic between management and front-line people regarding the age, experience, productivity and usefulness of sales managers. The younger salesperson sees his older manager as a useless old codger who couldn’t sell something today if his life depended on it. The older manager sees the younger salespeople as coddled brats whose jobs are made much easier by technology.

Management
Since we are being honest here, then yes, quotas are actually designed to never be hit. This way we don’t have to pay you commission for all your had work. If you continue to meet quota every month then we are just going to be forced to change the compensation plan to an even more unrealistic level. However, we will spin it to the team as if we have just made the compensation plan even more lucrative for them.

Every time management decides to change the comp plan they are making a mistake. It takes a long time to figure out how to maximize your earnings based on a given compensation plan and changing it cannot appear as anything other than a ripoff to the folks in the field. Nonetheless, management always tries to “spin it to the team as if we have just made the compensation plan even more lucrative.”

Mr. Sales Guy
Satan must really miss not having his prized demon with him in hell right now.

This next section does an excellent job of pointing out why it’s so important that management’s objectives be in alignment with the compensation plan. Kudos to Mr. Sales Guy for making this point so dramatically.

Management
We need to discuss your closing rate. It is beneath the company’s performance expectations.

Mr. Sales Guy
But I closed 85% of my deals last month.

Management
But you could have hit 86% if you had closed the Botkin account. But you waited to sign the paperwork so it would count for this month instead. You are sandbagging.

Mr. Sales Guy
Of course I am. I would be an idiot not to considering all the traps you have set for me within the pay structure. How does the 1 extra percent matter when the company eventually gets the sandbag sale either way? What is the fucking problem here?

Management
We needed the extra 1% in order to hit our company revenue goal this quarter.

Mr. Sales Guy
Luckily your company goal doesn’t mean shit to me. I don’t get paid more if the company meets its goal or not because your because your compensation plan is total bullshit and designed to screw me at every turn. I make more money if I hold onto a deal and apply it to the next month. But maybe if I was properly incentivized, I’d make it a point to close every active deal each month.

Management
You should be a team player and look at the bigger picture. This company is your family and by sandbagging you are hurting your family.

Mr. Sales Guy
If this company is my family then I have been molested for years now, by being financially raped up the ass with no lube.

The phrase “You need to keep the bigger picture in mind” is another big red flag for salespeople. If stock options or some other type of equity participation is not included in their compensation, there is no picture larger than their next commission or bonus check. If management pays solely on production – which is inherently a short-term objective – then there is no long-term focus in the salesperson’s mind. Expecting me to take one for the team is unrealistic because I’m not really a member of the team. I’m a hired gun looking out for myself.

Management
Your attitude is concerning me. We value you here. You are our best salesman. We want you to succeed.

Mr. Sales Guy
All lies. Should I just bend over now or would you rather force me into the ass-rape position?

Do we have a trust issue here gentlemen?

Mr. Sales Guy
When are your going to start paying me?

The next section discusses non-cash incentives. To a certain, small extent, non-cash awards and recognition do generate some benefit for salespeople. The more emotionally-needy a person is, the more benefit will accrue to them. But, for most salespeople, it’s all about the money and oftentimes these types of recognition backfire because they are perceived as worthless, gratuitous and a lame attempt to compensate you without paying you. Again, kudos to Mr. Sales Guy.

Management
Why should we pay you more when we instead have given you worthless prizes to make you feel special?

Mr. Sales Guy
A Blu-Ray player is not a prize. An iPod is not a prize. These are cheap pieces of shit everyone already owns.

Management
What about the Starbucks gift cards? That was a nice prize.

Mr. Sales Guy
Are you fucking kidding me?

Management
But we rewarded you with a cheap but seemingly expensive trip to Mexico. And we called it Chairman’s Club to trick you into thinking it’s exclusive and important.

Mr. Sales Guy
A trip to Mexico I can do for cheap all by myself. And then I wouldn’t have to attend a meaningless awards ceremony and dinner with a bunch of people who are actually my mortal enemies. That trip was corporal punishment, not a reward.

Management
What about the company-wide email we sent congratulating you and recognizing you? Didn’t that make you feel special inside?

Mr. Sales Guy
I printed out that email and was able to deposit it at the bank for $5,000.

Management
Really?

Mr. Sales Guy
Of course not you douche. Because that email, just like your company recognition, isn’t worth shit.

Management
What about the gold star we put by your name on the sales board for everyone to see? That was very nice of us, wasn’t it?

Mr. Sales Guy
What? Are we in the first fucking grade? Not only did the gold star mean absolutely nothing to me, but the fact that you gave me that instead of a cash bonus almost drove me to the brink of insanity. I nearly came to the office with a sub-machine gun to mow everyone down in a bullet-fueled rage. The bloody carnage would have brought justice and peace to my soul.

Management
It is very concerning that you just threatened to murder myself and all of our employees. But we can’t fire you because you are our top salesperson. So we will continue to allow you to get away with things as long as that means we don’t actually have to increase your pay.

This is an incredibly true statement: top producers can (figuratively) get away with murder. It goes without saying but I’m glad he said it anyway.

Mr. Sales Guy
Fuck my life.

This next section, though it mentions Salesforce.com specifically, is an indictment of overbearing paperwork requirements of all kinds. While I certainly understand and support Management’s side on this one (it’s absolutely critical to track every prospect, process and piece of business systematically) we have all seen cases where a salesperson was unfairly penalized for not completing their paperwork correctly. Let’s face it, most successful salespeople are not terribly detail oriented. They went out there, chased down and killed a sale and got the check – BUT they didn’t fill out the proper forms and so lose their commission and/or bonus because “the same rules have to apply to everyone.” PUH-leeze.

Management
Oh, I just got an email for our operations department. It appears that you didn’t include your biggest sale last month into Salesforce.com. If it is not in Salesforce it doesn’t exist. You will not be paid commission on that sale.

Mr. Sales Guy
I will pray tonight that you get an inoperable brain tumor and that your children are left orphans by month’s end.

This section alludes to two important challenges: 1) separating the Sales and Customer Service function (thus freeing salespeople from that burden and giving them more time to sell); and 2) selling an offering that is either inferior or requires a great deal of support without building the cost of that support into the price.

Management
Your customer churn is too high. It’s sub by 2%. What is the problem here?

Mr. Sales Guy
I’m a salesman, not a customer service rep. That is another department altogether.

Management
But our clients like to deal with the person who sold them our service.

Mr. Sales Guy
Maybe if your service wasn’t designed by morons and didn’t suck balls so bad in the first place, the clients would not need so much customer support.

The next section speaks to me of a manager putting undue focus on a particular facet of the salesperson’s job even though he is producing at a very high level already. Sometimes this type of thing happens just so the manager can feel like he/she is doing something when actually nothing needs to be done.

Management
I just got an email from the assistant sales manager. You need new accounts in your pipeline. It looks like your funnel needs to be filled.

Mr. Sales Guy
Yes, and your ass-funnel needs to be filled as well.

Management
Now get out there and start cold calling.

Everyone enjoys and recognizes the benefits of cold calling – NOT! The last section points up the importance of listening in the sales management relationship.

Mr. Sales Guy
I am going to cold call your kids and tell them their dad was murder at work today by one of his employees. That means I am going to stab you in the neck with a letter opener and watch you bleed, then hide your lifeless body in the service closet while I escape to Panama with all of my American Express gift cards you awarded me.

You are truly an idiot of the highest order. You are not even listening to a word I say.

Management
Sounds great. Now get out there and hit the pavement. Let’s see those sales numbers improve. Remember; I don’t get paid unless you get paid. So kick butt and take names. Ciao.

Well, that’s my take. I hope you enjoyed the video and found some value in my analysis.

Now it’s your turn. Tell us all what you think about “The Joy of a Salesman.”

Ciao!

Have you ever been around a superstar who has deals poppin’ one right after the other… POP… pop… POP… Pop… pop! Everybody looks on, in awe, and wonders, “How the in the world does (s)he do it?”

The answer is in the pipeline!

It begins with being a great listener. You have to develop your instinct for understanding when a prospect is willing to buy now… or if they are stalling for legitimate reasons… or if they are really not interested at all. Your follow-up schedule must match the reality of the situation.

I live and die by my CRM. It is unbelievable to me that so many sales people prefer not to use one! I know… I know… “it doesn’t work right,” “it’s too slow,” “I’m selling and don’t have time for admin work,” “I’ll do it later…” I get all that. I live it daily, just like you. BUT, I’m here to tell you that if you don’t commit to your CRM, you’ll be selling like a rookie for your entire career. Rookies are…

Selling to Prove Themselves – Rookies are rookies. They are new and have to prove that they belong. Everyone is watching. Management is praying they made a good hire. Teammates wonder whether there is a new competitor to challenge for top dog.

Selling for an Identity – Rookies often get a few deals early in the process and begin to wonder, “Is this the type of deal that will produce the greatest results?” “Will accounts like this get me to my quota and earn me the income level I need to achieve?”

Selling for Today – Rookies are prospecting, all of the time, until they uncover a new prospect, they are hammering their lead base just to find an appointment. They would love nothing more than to open their database and find a prospect record with notes that say something like, “prospect is interested, frustrated with current provider due to X, Y, and Z issues… too busy closing out quarter end… wants me to call back in 2 weeks to schedule an appointment.”

A veteran superstar has a database filled with leads and notes like these. If you want to stop selling like a rookie, you have to build your pipeline!