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November 17, 2007

A good example of charisma






A good leader has charisma. So does some of the best CEO's. This is a prime example of highlighting charisma.

Its also the person I am caucusing for.

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November 14, 2007

What to do about Johnny ITKS?!


I have some bad news for you.

Johnny ITKS works at your company. And he works at everyone's company.

Who is Johnny ITKS?

Johnny ITKS is that salesperson that likes to be "in the know" with their customers. They think its a good thing to keep customers informed of every little detail about a plan or a product launch to make themselves look good. Johnny ITKS (in the know salesperson) is a very bad thing for your business. What Johnny likes to do is pretend to be friends with your customers by providing 'inside' information to them. What Johnny is afraid of is losing the customer. Therefore he tries to add value to the relationship by giving information to them that shouldn't be passed along. Not only does this devalue the brand in the customer's eyes but causes fear and doubt about company ethics. Remember all that money you spent on building you brand in an area? Johnny ITKS can make that a mute point in no time fast.

Now don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of your salespeople making friends with customers.

But you see, Johnny ITKS does so at the expense of the company. He plays friends with your customers on the pretense that he adds value to the relationship by 'helping' the customer cut through the clutter, mess, and evilness that is your BIG company. YIKES! In effect what he does is play good cop to your bad cop with a customer. He puts them under the impression that without that relationship they would be doomed! Doing business with your company would be a nightmare. But no worries Johnny ITKS is on their side.

What Johnny doesn't understand is that he can provide value to the customer relationship in ways that don't compromise your company's intergrity and value. He can provide meaningful solutions to the customers problems and by not wasting the customers time with frivious phone calls. And knowing when to say no.

So what can we do about a Johnny ITKS?
The first step is identifying one. This isn't easy and I don't have a fool-proof method for this. But before you start sharping your pitchforks and digging out your torches to go after the rookies you should know a thing or two about a Johnny ITKS. They can be any one of your sales team--rookies or veterans. Maybe one day you will get lucky (like I did) and have a customer forward you an email from a Johnny ITKS with the simple words "should I have received this?" My best advice is look for those within your staff who have an apparent disregard for sensitive information. Also, and hear me out on this one-always take the customer's side on everything and don't try to understand the who, what, and why of new policies or procedures.

The next step is to build loyalty to the brand in your sales staff. Start by not talking down to them, but up.
Huh?
In a recent Fast Company article one editor wrote about his experience working at an Apple store. He noted, "Many companies fail from the start by talking down to their new hires and using training materials geared for the lowest common denominator. Gap started employee orientation on the wrong foot by showing us a video about the perils of employee theft. Starbucks handed out Orwellian handbooks telling us to "Be Authentic." Such approaches produce cynicism and engender a fake sense of belonging, if any at all. Apple treated us like adults."
So talk up to your salespeople, make them want to have your brand as their next tattoo.

I realize all this may sound like a 180 degree turnaround from how this post started. But I believe the best way to get the most out of your team is to treat them in the highest regard. Too often I see companies treat their salespeople as well... salespeople. And you know that mentality will only breed that behavior from them

So here is an idea for you....
The next time your sales staff is in town. Treat them like the rock stars that they are. When they come to the corporate headquarters have ALL of your staff out front cheering them on as they walk in. (See iPhone launch) When they are to walk into the conference room for the meetings introduce them like professional athletes. Really! Have your ever been to a pro football, basketball, hockey game and not got chills down your spine?
Why do all this you ask? Well its my philosophy that Johnny ITKS can't exist in a company who treats him so well. You see it would be Johnny ITKS's guilty conscience that would get the better of him.

November 13, 2007

The 100th Post!

A lot of thought went into this post. Its the 100th!

That's a big milestone. Great TV shows hit 100 episodes.

So for this post. I will do a some shameless quick promotion and we will move on.

Here is the link to my website.

If you click here you can quickly navigate to my Linkedin page.

And the last one. My mom just opened her consignment store. So here is her website. And if you ever find yourself in eastern Iowa-- stop by and say hi to her!

November 6, 2007

R.I.P.- Door-to-door selling

Every Thursday evening this summer I religiously sat in front of the television and watched Mad Men on AMC. Thanks to my friend Nick who pointed it out, I became addicted very quickly.

That being said. In episode 11 a 1960's suburban housewife (Betty, wife of the main character) is called on one day by a door to door salesman who is selling air conditioners. Now, set aside all of the 1960-isms, think for one second about the success of a door to door salesman back then versus now.

Then: The chances of the door being opened were pretty high. Most housewives in suburbia stayed home, you could target affluent neighborhoods and get a good 'open door' rate.

Now: The chances of the door being opened are relatively slim. On the off-chance one is open it could be someone who works overnight. I Googled "door to door salesman" looking for a picture for this post and found this article. It sheds even more light on the environment that salespeople would face if they continued to do door to door sales.

So in this series I want to look at what trends in what I will call the modern era (1960-present) of selling that have died off. The first being door-to-door selling.

When did "the knock on the door" become more costly than a phone call? There had to have been one day when the CEO of Electrolux sent a memo to his sales staff calling them in off the streets.

When that day did happen what was the results and how did that change the landscape of sales? We can all look back now and see the that the next logical step in sales was the cold call and the catalog. However that is hindsight, so what was their foresight?

The point of all of this is to see what will be changing in our landscape and what we can do to anticipate those changes. I have to believe that one day sales will evolve from relationship selling to what?

Please post your comments.