One More Call

This is going to be short and sweet.  Of course I am passionate about trade shows, marketing, branding, that is our lives. That is what we eat sleep and breathe every single day.

I have a couple other passions, sales best practices and CRM best practices.  I guess after 30+ years of sales experience, you maybe learn a thing or two.

Cold calling is a brutal job and is not for everyone. When you finally meet or find that salesperson that is good at it?  Hold on to them with everything you've got. It is a gift and a rare talent. I am one of those really strange people that love to cold call.  I am not patting myself on the back to say that I am good at cold calling.  But, I am good at cold calling.  

Like anything, if you do something non stop for too long, you can get tired. Some days are better than others.  I have tracked for years my ratios of calls, connects and engagements.  These are critical metrics to know how many dials you have to make to back into your number.  Of course it is much more complicated than I make it sound, but it is a good starting place.

You know those days, you set a # of calls goal for your day (if you don't do this, we need to chat -- you need to set a call goal).  Some days, you just slog through.  Here are some common frustrating results of your calls (some are specific to our industry).

• We JUST bought a new "xxxxx" - we have no needs
• We make our own "xxxxx" - we have no needs
• Can I tell him/her who is calling?  What is this regarding?  Oh we don't need any "xxxxx" (right the receptionist knows that detail.
• We don't allow solicitation calls (I HOPE EVERY ONE OF YOUR PROSPECTS HAS THE SAME ATTITUDE)
• Can I tell him/her who is calling? Let me check.  He/She is in a meeting.  - OK, do we really believe this?
• Specific in our industry, "we don't do trade shows".   Hmmm I'm looking at an exhibitor list and you are sure on there.  Interesting.

Of course we all know, gate keepers lie. There are a lot of ways to get past gatekeepers but that is another subject.  

I am always amazed at how this happens.  The day has not been super productive (don't forget your cold calling should always be planting seeds - so never a complete waste of time).  I push through and say, 'I'm going to make one more call" and invariably, that call makes the whole day worthwhile.  I really should track how often it happens.  Thankfully it happened today after what was kind of a crappy day in general.

Chin up sales peeps, there is always tomorrow and there is always 'ONE MORE CALL'.

If you like what you read, please share it!

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Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years. She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients. Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David. They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers. If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com. She is an open networker, connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Read other Total Displays Blog posts at http://totaldisplays.blogspot.com/ or check out our website at www.totaldisplays.com    

This Prospect Is Not Worth My Time?

We have had a bit of an adventure with a couple of recent business development rep hires.  CRM usage and sales/business development have been my life for well over 30 years.  It was in my blood and in my DNA. Not everyone is a natural salesperson but they do exist. That doesn't mean a used car type sales person or a high pressure sales person. To me a good salesperson is one that builds trust, adds value and has rapport with customers and prospects. But that is not the point of this post.

I also am a CRM process fanatic. I have been hired to review many companies all over the United States and their CRM usage.  What I have found hands down is the top reps ALWAYS are the most proficient and dedicated users of CRM.  I am sure some will argue and share stories that bear out the opposite of my findings. That is life. Of course there are always exceptions to most rules.

BUT, what I can tell you, is you learn a LOT about a sales rep by consistently reviewing their call notes in CRM. It reveals so much about their sales attitude (more about that later), their customer service skills and their interpersonal skills.  Unfortunately with one rep, we didn't find this out until we went through an VERY nasty breakup with him.  That breakup included calling the police as we were fearful for our safety.  Again, a story for another day.

Here is what I found today.  

Background.

In 2017 a former rep called on this prospect.  An email reply from the marketing coordinator, the prospect contact, indicated that they wouldn't buy from us, because we don't use their product to build our trade show exhibits. We won't discuss (today) the elephant in the room that we may have been a prospect for their company?

The email was from a marketing coordinator.   Clearly not a high level decision maker.

This company does a lot of exhibiting at events and is a very good prospect for us.  You have all heard the old adage, that selling begins when you get your first no. Now, don't misunderstand me, I am not saying harass the prospect. You have to show that you have value beyond her limiting expectations.

Our sales rep?   This was his note on this account.

"S/W Cindy. They are not looking for any display materials this year. See the note from xxxx above. Ouch. Too many other prospects to call. Not a fit or a good use of my resource. Closing activity."

He then proceeded to mark the prospect as dead.   So here are my issues with this, in no particular order.

1. He was new, he maybe should have asked if there was a history with this account.

2. He made no effort to find out how many shows this prospect exhibited at.

3. "Not a good use of my resource".  I have written before about me-centric language and behavior as a red flag.  This shows an incredible amount of arrogance.  Read about that here!

4. We have other services and products that may have fit their needs. It should have at a minimum started a discussion with internal sales management before making a unilateral decision that they are a dead prospect.

5. The marketing coordinator has a boss that is a VP level.  It doesn't always work to go over their head, but it is worth at least one call since they are a good prospect from a size and number of shows standpoint. Besides, we should be working with decision makers, not coordinators.

Long story short or moral of the story?

Review in detail CRM notes from new reps.  Review problems with your reps right away.  Look for problem notes, unilateral decisions about prospects, rude comments, me centric notes, attitude and so much more.  I have so many examples of the wrong things being done in CRM there will be more to follow. Trust me, behavior like this, when fairly consistent, becomes a HUGE problem later on.

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Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years. She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients. Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David. They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers. If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com. She is an open networker, connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Read other Total Displays Blog posts at http://totaldisplays.blogspot.com/

You can also check out our website at www.totaldisplays.com

Word Choices - Me, Mine vs. Ours, Yours

There is so much we could talk about as it relates to word choices.   I am a big proponent of conscious language.   I have sales courses for business development reps and managers on the use of conscious languaging in the workplace.   I also coach women and mothers on the use of conscious language for self care, but that is another subject.

Right now, I am focusing on interviewing and hiring people into your organization.   Recently I wrote about 'little red warning flags'.   You can read about it here:

https://totaldisplays.blogspot.com/2019/10/little-red-warning-flags.html

The concept, is watching, acknowledging and tracking the little red warning flags that come up during the interview process and with new hires.   Ignoring them can have disastrous consequences.

But, let's talk about word choices. 

Rudyard Kipling once said, "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.  Not only do words infect, egotize, narcotize, and paralyze, but they enter into and color the minutest cells of the brain . . ."

In this case, I want to speak about ego centric word choices.   When you are in sales, you want to be focusing on your client and/or your prospect, not on yourself. 

Word choices of me, mine vs. ours, yours.   A good sales/business development rep can certainly be arrogant.   It is a fine line between arrogance and disrespect.   As an employer you must learn to spot the difference, ideally, during the interview process.

Watch during the interview or after hiring for language choices.   Here are some examples:

'I would love for you to visit my showroom'.

'I will check with my team and get back to you'.

'I need you to get back to me with your...'

'I suggest you set aside a time to come to my showroom.'

All of these statements exude arrogance and entitlement.   They are not focused on the prospect nor do they show respect of the company or the company's team members. 

Even as the business owner, I would never use language like that.  I would typically say, 'I would love for you to come visit our showroom, or I would be happy, if more convenient, to come to your office to meet you and your team.'  Change the 'I suggest' (me centric) to 'You should'

Every one of his emails?   The subject line was, "'Joe Blow' at Total Displays".  Email subject lines should entice you to open and read an email.   Does anyone really think that subject line is going to make do that?   No wonder his sales numbers were so low.  That subject line could not be more "me" centered. 

Another language issue to be aware of, is an employee that regularly does not call another staff member by name.   We had a recent example, where an employee would regularly refer to me, the business owner, and his boss, as 'she', 'her', and the worst one?  'The wife'.   If an employee is unable to talk about another co-worker or boss by name.   That is a HUGE red flag indicating respect issues.  If you EVER hear things like this, run, run far, far away!


If you listen carefully and start to be aware of tone, word choices and so much more, you can perhaps head off employee issues early on.   My biggest advice is to listen for all the me-centric language and conversation during the interview.   Is everything about the candidate?   Are they always sharing stories that don't relate to you, your company or the position for which you are hiring?  

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Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years. She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients. Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David. They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers. If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com. She is an open networker, connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Read other Total Displays Blog posts at http://totaldisplays.blogspot.com/

You can also check out our website at www.totaldisplays.com

Little Red Warning Flags

Do you know those things that happen during the day that make you go, hmmmmm?   Do they happen to everyone, or am I just special?   Don't answer that.     When you hire a new sales rep there is this honeymoon period.   You are in love with what that new sales rep can potentially do and they are in love with the potential of a new job.   Sales reps are famous at selling themselves to a potential new boss.   But when the rubber hits the road, can they deliver?

During the honeymoon, you might notice a couple of things.   You know, little red flags.   You notice them but you ignore them because, well you are on your honeymoon (of sorts).   Equate them to a marriage.   It might be like the spouse that puts the toilet paper on the roll wrong, or leaves the toothpaste cap off.   It isn't enough for you to get a divorce but you might take notice.

Here is what I want to tell you.   LISTEN TO THOSE LITTLE RED FLAGS.   Take note of them.   Actually even write a memo to the file and perhaps if they are severe enough, have the audacity to actually speak to your new hire about them.

Over my lifetime of hiring and firing sales reps, I have gotten better at listening and paying attention to those little red warning flags.   But it still hard.   I guess I believe in people.   I am a glass half full kind of girl.   I don't want to believe that these little warning flags could turn into great big red storm warning flags.   It seems though that unless you head those little warning flags off at the pass, they will inevitably turn into a much larger storm and problem.

CRM is your friend when it comes to a new sales hire.   Measuring performance and tracking metrics is incredibly important.  But what I will also tell you, is it is important to have those same metrics recorded for your best and top sales reps.   For example, if you generate potentials through a lot of cold calling, you need to track a couple of key metrics.

• Average number of calls per day (notice I did NOT say dials).  Watch for reps that artificially inflate their metrics by recording a new call for an immediate call back.  I actually had a rep that recorded in 5 minutes, 5 calls to the same prospect and logged them all as separate calls.  

• Number of potentials/opportunities recorded per week.

• This will give you an average # of calls to new potential ratio/percentage.   This is an important number so that you can back into the number of calls required per day/week in order to generate the number of potentials/opportunities you need to make your quota.

This also gives you a baseline metric/goal for your new reps.

When your average number of new potentials to # of calls placed is 10% and your new (supposed seasoned professional new rep) is only 3%.  This is a pretty big red flag. 

Good CRM usage and measurements will help you identify if your little red flags should be heeded sooner than later.

If you have made a bad sales hire?  Cut your losses quickly.  You can lose a LOT of money if you let it drag out too long.   Have those metrics ready, present them as expectations to the sales rep and you will find that they can't hide behind excuses.

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Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years. She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients. Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David. They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers. If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com. She is an open networker, connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Read other Total Displays Blog posts at http://totaldisplays.blogspot.com/

You can also check out our website at www.totaldisplays.com

BE HONEST - Just Say No

I believe that every person's time is valuable.  That is right, not just mine, everyone's.  There are many frustrating things in business, but one of the things that really gets me going is someone that wastes my time.  I try very hard not to waste anyone's time.  There are really easy ways to do that.

The easiest way?

BE HONEST.  

Sounds easy right?  There are so many passive-aggressive, can't stand confrontation, can't say no people out there.  If you can't say no thank you to someone, then you most likely should not be in a decision making position.  Really - how can you engage people in a project and then not give them the courtesy of an answer?  BE HONEST.  I would rather hear no, than no answer.

Let's face it.  Salespeople can take the answer no.  So why are people so afraid to say it to us?  Salespeople deal with different levels of rejection on a daily basis.  It could be as simple as the obvious gate keeper that says, "Oh I'm sorry, he just stepped out.  Would you like his voicemail?"  Or it could be someone yelling at you, "Don't ever call here again, we are not interested in you or your products".

Which one do you think I prefer?  #2 - hands down - all day - every day.  Just say no.  BE HONEST. It is ok.  I can take it.

We are a very service oriented sales organization.  Many consultants would say that we give away too much valuable knowledge and information during the sales cycle.   That we consult and offer things that we should actually be charging for.  Well, that may be true, but we are not going to change that.  If you decide to do business with us, we will offer you a lot of information and a high level of service.

Here is where we get burned.  Someone calls, they are looking for a new display.  Of course they are usually on a really short time frame.  They have a show coming up in just a few weeks.  We jump through every hoop imaginable, get our partners engaged, have production on stand-by because the prospect has said that they really want this booth.  Guess what happens?  They quit returning my calls, they don't answer emails.  Seriously - BE HONEST just tell me you bought something else or you aren't going to do anything.

Let's not forget the perennial tire kickers.  "Lori, we are going to look at updating our booth for the huge industry show this year.  Can you do some N/C product concepts for us and renderings and spend 15 hours with multiple meetings in your showroom, and come to our office to visit further?  Then I will decide (again) to not do anything this year and ask you to call me again next year?"

Ok, I exaggerate slightly.  But not much.

If you are just looking for budget numbers and considering an update, BE HONEST.  If you let me know that, I can gauge my time and responses appropriately.  Most likely I can get you what you need to make a good decision without jumping through all those hoops.  Will I jump through them for you the next time - most likely.  Should I pre-qualify the opportunity more?  Possibly.  But trust me, I do ask the right questions and often get the answers that indicate it is an opportunity that should be pursued.  What is your budget, do you have decision making capabilities, is the decision maker on board, what is your timeline etc. etc. etc.?

If you are not in sales, you need to know that a good sales rep gets really excited about a new opportunity.  What is the magic number where you have burned me with a no decision or a no response before I will quit responding? I honestly don't know.  If I did know, I would BE HONEST.

Will I change how I do things?  Probably not.  I still believe in full service sales and I believe it speaks to our culture.  Should I change how I do things?  There are probably a lot of opinions about that.  If you choose to share your opinions, feel free, be nice but BE HONEST.

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Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years.  She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients.  Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David.  They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers.  If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com.  Connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Read other Total Displays Blog posts at http://totaldisplays.blogspot.com/

People Buy From People They Like

How many of you can honestly say you like sales people?  Sales people have a reputation for being pushy, aggressive and obnoxious.  You hear the term, 'Used Car Salesperson' and you immediately have a negative impression.

If you were to take those traits and flip them around to more positive traits and labels you have a very different picture.  Let's take one of those traits and turn it around!

Pushy vs. Persistent

The word pushy brings images of a sales rep that won't stop talking.   They don't listen and they throw up on you about all the great things they are going to do for you, right?  We have all experienced those reps.  How many of you have seen Glengarry Glen Ross?  It is arguably THE iconic movie about sales.

ABC = Always Be Closing.  Watch the full speech here.   Please excuse the language.  If you are easily offended by foul language - don't watch!

How many of you actually like being hard sold?  I know I don't and I am in sales.

Let's compare that with persistent.  A persistent sales person finds a reason to keep in touch and provides value in those touches.  Here are some goals of a persistent sales rep.

• Build rapport
• Build a relationship  
• Make it personal 
• Don't just go to the hard sale with questions like, "What do you need right now?".
• Gently lead - don't push
• Listen 80% of the time and talk 20% of the time 
• Don't throw up on them with all your products and services and perceived value
• If you say you are going to follow up or do something - DO IT!
• Keep notes in CRM so that you can refer back to those notes in your next conversation*
• Those notes should include personal information you glean during conversations.

Utilizing some of these tips keeps you front and center in the person's mind so that when a need arises they will reach out to you!

For a long time I thought every organization needed the "hunter" mentality.  Take no prisoners, tag 'em and bag 'em mentality.  You all know those reps.  They never stop selling. They never stop looking for prospects.

The trade show business is very service driven.  At Total Displays we believe in more of a "fisher" mentality.  Many of our clients have been clients for over 20 years.  Cast out, reel them in.  Repeat.  Do you get a bite on the first cast?  Ocassionally.  Most likely it will take multiple casts and you better have bait on your line.  You will also hear this referred to as Hunter vs. Farmer.  The Farmer type of sales rep, plants seeds and grows relationships and businesses.  Same concept!



As I have matured in my sales knowledge and abilities my opinion of that has changed.  In this day of technology people are craving high-touch, high-service sales model.  Watch for another post on this in the future.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLES

There is a company that we have had a very bad experience with in the past.  They hired a new sales rep.  We will call him "Bob".  He was very persistent.  He called and called and called.  We put him off and put him off and put him off.  One day he showed up at our door.  He wasn't pushy, he just said that he knew we were very busy and that he was in the neighborhood and wanted to stop and introduce himself.  (More on that concept in a later post).  We chatted for a long time about a lot of different things.

• He made it personal and began building a relationship.  We talked about our daughter and her softball team.
• He provided value by leaving us a "tool"
• He didn't push
• He listened  
• He followed up.  When he followed up he referenced personal conversations and asked how an out of town softball tournament went.  
• He built rapport.
• My guess is he made notes in a CRM system (I will have to remember to ask him).  Either that or the guy has an AMAZING memory.
• He's a nice guy
• I liked him

We had a small personal project that we needed turned around very quickly.  I said to David, "We need this quickly let's give Bob a shot at this.  You know what he did?  He did this job for us for free.  I am not saying in any way that you have to give something away to get business.  Simply care about and for your customer.  People read that and understand that.

Our second project?  He price matched an inferior product with a better product.  When the job was done, he delivered it personally.

Are you getting the picture?

Will I give him another opportunity to provide us product or services?  Absolutely.

Recently I received a phone call from a desperate prospect that needed new graphics for a pop up booth that she bought in the UK.  It was not a frame or a system that we were familiar with and not having it here could mean our graphics would not fit.  I went out of my way to find her a supplier and contact in the UK that could help her out.  Did I get anything out of it?  No.  But I know when she is ready to purchase here in the US again that she will give me a chance at the business.  I provided value.  I also followed up to be sure she got her job done.

*See my post on Can CRM Help You Retain Customers

Stay tuned for the next installment - Customer Service Matters

Essential Oils and Trade Shows

Ok, what in the world do essential oils and trade shows have in common?  I recently made a discovery that I thought I would share.

Many of you know that I am quite passionate about the use of essential oils.  We use them for many things.  Most of those things, the FDA won't let me tell you about because we are not classified as a drug.  Therefore I can't even use any words like allergies, arthritis, asthma or anything else in relation to the oils.  I do love to learn about, try and share information about the oils.  I teach many classes and workshops so that others can learn too.

The first "ah-ha" moment for me is with our showroom.  We have a large showroom in our Trade Show exhibit and event company.  When we moved in we had a cherry picker to hang the large overhead in our showroom.  While hanging the sign the cherry picker leaked oil or transmission fluid on our gray carpet in our 20 x 20.  This is an area where all our prospects come to see our showroom and visit with us.  The stain on the carpet always bothered me.  It was clearly noticeable and honestly embarrassed me when clients and prospects came in.

One day I had a revelation.  I had heard so much about lemon oil being great for cleaning.  We have used orange oil mixture to eliminate pet urine smells and were amazed!  You can read about that here if you want.  All Natural Pet Odor Removal.  So I decided to try some lemon oil.

Seriously I dropped about 12 drops of lemon oil on the stain and got a rag.  I rubbed a little bit and the stain started disappearing.  I was honestly surprised.  So you ask again, what does this have to do with trade shows?

1. Do you ever find stains on graphics or on your flooring?
2. Do you try to clean it and it looks worse?
3. Do you decide to leave it behind and just spend more money on new flooring for the next show?
4. Do you try to cover it up with furniture or a reception counter?

Be sure to spot test it on things like graphics before you try it.  I have not yet tried it on dye sub graphics.

My hope is that this tip makes you look great and saves you some money.  I would be happy to sell you new flooring, but would feel badly if I didn't share my trick for cleaning this up!  We were going to throw this away and get new carpet when we redo our showroom this summer.  This little bottle saved us a bunch of money!  Essential oils are all natural and contain no harsh chemicals like traditional cleaning products.

Add a little bottle of Young Living Lemon Essential Oil to your trade show kit!  You won't be sorry.  It smells really fresh and wonderful too, like a little bottle of sunshine while we are trapped in convention halls for hours on end.  I always have one in my office if you want to stop by and sample it!

www.totaldisplays.com

www.wholehealth.vibrantscents.com

Can CRM Help You Retain Customers?

CRM, Customer Relationship Management?

When I speak about CRM best practices one of the first questions I ask is, "Do you have customers?"  The follow up question is, "Do you want to keep those customers?"

CRM systems are not just for new sales.  Traditional thought process on CRM is new business, sales funnel, opportunity management, etc.  All throughout your organization you touch your relationship with those clients.  Here are some areas where a customer can be "touched".

• Customer Service
• Service & Repair
• Credit & Collections

Let's say you go to make a sales call to a long time customer.  They have had some difficulties and were slow to pay a couple of invoices.  You call them up to ask for more business and you get slammed because your credit and collection rep has been hounding them for the last two weeks and has completely alienated them.   Another day we will discuss how to turn credit and collections into a customer service and sales tool!

Tracking those customer touches is vitally important to your overall relationship with your client.  Maintaining a strong relationship with the client makes them come back for more!

Customer Relationship Ownership

This is something that is often over looked by Sales Managers or owners of companies.   Often a company's biggest asset is their customer list.  Without that customer list it wouldn't matter how much inventory you had, you would not have any sales and any repeat sales without customers.

If your sales reps are keeping all their sales notes and or conversations on paper, you do not have access to a very valuable part of that customer relationship.  How many times have you heard the stories where a sales rep leaves, takes a copy of the proprietary customer list and all their notes and calls on them from their new company.  We all know how hard it is to truly enforce non-competes right?  As a business owner, you own that customer relationship and all the data that goes with it.

If you want to make the job easier for the next rep for that account, be certain that your reps are utilizing CRM to track their conversations.  There are some great tools and tricks to be sure that happens.  We will cover that in another post too!

Of course the same holds true for sales leads but we are talking about customers today.

Customer Turnover/Churn

Customer retention is incredibly important to any business.   The cost to acquire a new account vs. keeping and nurturing an existing account is significant.  Here is a great article to read on the true cost of acquiring a new customer.

Customer Acquisition Cost

 There is nothing worse for a sales rep to call a customer that hasn't bought from you for a while to find that they are now buying from someone else?  Do you know how many of those customers you have lost?

Or what about the customer where your contact leaves for a new job?  Will you build a relationship with the new person?  Will you know that there is a new person? Will you call on your former contact at his new job to see if they may be a prospect?

A good solid usage of CRM with a defined universal process within your organization can help with these issues.

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Lori Allaman Hanken has spent over 25 years working with various CRM packages.  She was part of a development and design team for a nationally released CRM product in the wholesale distribution market.  Ms. Hanken has been featured as a national speaker and has helped many clients create best practices procedures and documentation while consulting on CRM usage.  She has implemented hundreds of CRM installations.