You can’t get away from it. But you can learn to manage it.

Added stress is inevitable in sales.

Whether they admit it or not, most people in this industry are affected in some way by the stress of this career. While I feel strongly that the excitement and benefits of this business are worth more, you still must be able to handle the stress that comes with a sales career in I.T.

There are a few things that I have found to consistently manage stress when things get crazy (too many opportunities to manage, quarter end pressure, new product launches, excessive travel commitments). They are simple, reasonable and effective.

1. Drink more water. Cold water is better. Your brain functions better when your blood is more hyposmolaric (the word used to describe increased viscosity in your blood, from higher water intakes). Stress increases cortisol levels in the blood, which the renal system has to deal with. Increasing water intake can help minimize the negative effects of this hormone. You will go to the bathroom more frequently, but the stress reducing effects are well worth the visits.

2. Get more sleep. Sleep is critical to managing stress. I actually plan for it near the end of a quarter when I know that my efforts and activities are increasingly critical. Sleep also helps manage cortisol levels. Chronic stress can lower productivity and mental acuity, both of which can be minimized with more sleep.

3. Meditate. Ok…I’m not talking about loin cloths and medieval chants here. Rather, I’m suggesting you try this. See if you can find a quiet place to sit still with your eyes closed for at least 60 seconds. Don’t move. Don’t do anything. Don’t open your eyes. Sit perfectly still. Just focus on your breathing. Think about the air going in an out of your lungs through your nostrils. It is amazing to me how many people CAN’T do this! If that’s you, chances are there is way too much “white noise” in your mind which is dramatically affecting your ability to sell. People say to me “…but Brooks, I’m too busy to even take a minute out to do something like this!” My response is always the same, “That’s exactly when you MUST do this.” Get rid of the clutter in your mind that stress creates and do this daily.

These three practices I feel reduce my stress levels by 50% or more on any given day. More importantly, they make me feel more in control and focussed.

In New Economy Selling I recommend further ideas on how to manage your mind and body to increase productivity.

~ Brooks.

Cold calling is so dead.

There is no faster way for you to burn your company’s brand, waste precious time and mistake activity for accomplishment, than to spend time cold calling.

Nothing says to a decision maker that you:
1. Have no higher value activity to do
2. That you are desperate,
than to pick up the phone and randomly call someome you’ve never met before.

I can’t understand why this one prospecting method won’t die. It’s just so counterproductive. There’s so many other ways to build a solid sales pipeline. Such as:

• Selling more services and products to existing customers (any good I.T. company “should” have a sales force that sells 30% of its revenue from the existing customer base)
• Asking happy, existing customers for referrals or introductions to others who might benefit from your offerings (properly implemented, this only method could keep you very productive and effective at new business development. This should represent at least 20% of your sales pipeline)
• Following up on inbound leads (if you are considering working for or work at an organization that isn’t capable of generating a steady stream of inbound leads, this is a red flag. In a well run organization, this should account for at least 25% of your pipeline).
• More proven ideas can be found in New Economy Selling.

On these last points - I must share the following: Marketing departments in this industry have had it way too easy for way too long. They must be held accountable to sales production. I KNOW from experience that the right marketing program, properly integrated with “mind of the prospect” messaging, can drive tremendous interest.

If sales is not seeing a steady trickle of interested parties ringing your company’s doorbell, this is a major red flag. Please note - I did NOT say “qualified” parties, that’s your job; to qualify or dis-qualify.

Anyway, if you’ve been presented with the modern day equivalent of ‘pounding the pavement’ or ‘ working the phone book’ as the main business development activity for your company, you are on the wrong team. You are merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic of your soon to be burned-out and then sunk sales career.

Please stop cold calling. It’s bad for your company’s brand. It’s bad for your self esteem. It’s bad for the public image of sales people. It’s bad for productivity. It’s a bad addiction that must be stopped. It’s just plain bad and it hasn’t worked for over a decade.

In this extremely tight labour market, it seems like great talent is getting harder to find and retain.

Something I’ve seen for the last decade seems to increasing in intensity - people being promoted to Sales Manager positions when they’re not ready or equipped for the role. When this happens, it is usually to help retain people who are usually good sales performers. The idea seems to be one of rewarding these top sales people with a promotion with the hope that they will teach their ways to to those they are now expected to lead.

However, this isn’t always the case. In fact if often backfires and torpedoes morale and performance. In really poorly run sales organizations this sales manager is then ‘demoted’ back to a front line sales position. This is usually followed abruptly by this individual quitting and moving onto another organization.

All of the above is generally avoidable if two things happen:

1. Organizations put in the time and effort to help people become good managers.
2. People becoming sales managers understand what they are getting into.

The best transitions I’ve seen from rep to manager include some kind of ‘job shadowing’ or manager in training program. Becoming a sales manager is not easy work…and it’s a completely different type of work than direct sales. You are always balancing team performance with never ending operational requirements.

I like how Jack Welch (of GE fame) describes a managers mandate in his awesome book Winning. Jack says that managers have to do two things very well, they have to be able to continually squeeze revenue and growth out of the operation AND manage the operation.

Not easy work. But when you get it right, you can derive a lot of personal satisfaction out of seeing other people succeed AND make some good cash through the combined efforts of others.

Teaching people what all this means is the responsibility that good organizations must do. Those who don’t understand this responsibility just promote our peers to our managers because they’ve been around for a while and have shown consistent sales performance. But those who do aren’t always those who can teach.

You’ve seen it happen so many times. The person who worked the next desk becomes your manager and then has no credibility with you professionally. The relationship dynamics get off the rails and suddenly the person who was your friend is now the person telling you your numbers aren’t where they should be.

This kills morale, team performance and simply doesn’t work. This is because that person hasn’t developed the requisite skills and abilities to manage a sales team.

Your manager (actually your company) fails you.

Being a sales manager isn’t for everybody. It is a role with many moving parts and a HUGE requirement to teach, do in addition to leading PEOPLE.

If you have the opportunity to become a manager, seek out the adivce and guidance of those who can help you with the transition. Don’t just jump into and bask in the glory of your new title.

I think that in enterprise tech, sales teams should be about 8 reps to a manager for most inside and field sales teams for decent territories. This model will generally produce at or above quota performance in most organizations where 2 reps are producing above target, 4 are at or near expectations and 2 need to be either managed up or out the door. Experience has taught me repeatedly this is a fairly common configuration in tech organizations running what I call an “absolute”sales model. A well trained manager can handle this many reps without burning out.

If you find yourself reporting to someone whose experience and ability doesn’t match the title, you have to make the choise as to whether you’re going to see this as a problem or an opportunity. I’ve done both and suggest the latter.

The problem is that your sales manager has failed you and is incapable of helping you and you’re on your own. The opportunity is that you can see this a chance to learn what the role is all about and support that person so that if you ever choose to become a sales manager, you’ll be far better equipped to succeed in that role.

How do you qualify whether or not someone you’ve just spoken to is in fact a “hot prospect“? Are they interested in what you’ve got to offer? Just because they sounded excited and interested in what you’ve got to provide, what makes them anything other than someone who is hopeful. You’re job is to manage that energy. Do you really think they’re going to buy something from you? Did they tell you that they are in the market for you type of solution?

The thing that used to drive me crazy about all of the sales training interventions that I have endured (and there’s been many in my career to date) is that they all seem to focus on the concept of QUALIFYING a buyer. But what about DIS-QUALIFYING the buyer? What about eliminating buyers who aren’t willing to put ’skin in the game’ with next steps that actually mean something? I’m talking about committing to introductions to others who will either be using or implementing your capabilities. I’m talking about making commitments to further evaluate what it is that you have to offer. These are the kinds of dis-qualifications that I’m talking about.

I love the saying “bad news early is good news“. In other words… if you can’t get a commitment to move forward in a meaningful way that proves your prospects really wants to invest some of their time and effort in learning about your offering, then you’re merely succumbing to “happy ears”. This is a term that if often used to refer to a “hot prospect”, that never goes anywhere, but keeps you answering the phone, doing more demos to the same non-decision makers…and of course bringing them “coffee and donuts”.

DIS-qualify sooner and more often: you’ll be a better time manager and have great success. I promise.

The right company to join is always a conundrum when it comes to choosing the next step in your sales career. When it comes to selling I.T., there’s no question that RIGHT NOW is the best time to be a skilled sales professional. Stop thinking about it. Just do it. If you are thinking about it, get in the game. You can do it. I did!

Where I live in British Columbia, Canada…there have been articles recently in many local publications that there’s something like a 9,000 Information Technology worker shortage.

Having said that, if you are a sales addict, as I’m I, you’d be crazy to sign up for anything less than a leveraged compensation plan.

What I mean by this is as follows: Let’s say that the company you join gives you a two million dollar quota (not uncommon in many tier one and tier two vendors). The sad thing about this kind of comp. plan is that you get the usual (and bloody boring) 1% on the first $500k and 2% the next $500k, etc., ad nauseam).

These compensation plans are for the “typical” organizations with established brand recognition where the sales force is predominantly taking orders. That is NOT SELLING!!!!!!!

Simply put, a leveraged compensation plan will provide you with a MUCH HIGHER COMMISSION RATE on anything that you sell…to the point where every deal you sell is WELL WORTH THE effort. I’m talking about 10% or better on deals. That’s where you want to be when you’re really good at selling software.

True selling…true prospecting is causing people who are NOT thinking about changing to begin thinking about changing…with your company’s solution(s).

Anyway, back to my original point. If you KNOW HOW TO SELL, you are in the very rare position of being able to command a compensation package that is highly leveraged.

In other words, it is a compensation package that exceeds the usual comp. details that I have laid out above and instead provides for much juicier pay rates/ commission rates on your new sales.

If you learn even some of the stuff that I talk about in New Economy Selling you should be able to command a significantly more leveraged (IE higher commissions) on the sales that you eventually DO make.

The reason for this is simple. In this new world of Web 2.0, it is no longer about the technology, because competitors are springing up all over the place, but rather, how well you are able to bring a prospective customer to vision with YOUR S O L U T I O N ! ! ! !

This is the key to deciding which company to join. If they don’t have a highly leveraged compensation plan, consider this a red flag and move on. Most of the big companies in Canada are still stuck in this archaic mind set.

I really believe when it comes to I.T. companies that “small is the new big”.

If you have more questions, please don’t hesitate to email me. I have worked with over 200 I.T. companies globally and been employed with many I.T. organizations in that last decade in sales, sales management, sales training, sales management coaching, executive direction, marketing and compensation plan development.

If there’s one thing in this business (or just about any business for that matter) it is the concept that if price is your only competitive advantage…you’re dead before you begin.

When selling technology, you HAVE TO manage the only four resources available, to your advantage.

1. Information

This is anything to do with your product or service. Information can be shared verbally or in a written format such as email, word documents, white papers, etc.

2. Resources

This is one usually falls under the category of people. They could be people who are referenceable customers for you. They could be pre-sales engineers or implementation consultants or subject matter experts.

3. Price

This one should be self explanatory. However, I believe that price should be introduced at a very specific point in the sales cycle. Usually sales people make the mistake of sharing pricing information too soon. Unless you are selling a simple subscription based service that doesn’t change or require any add-ons to complete then price should not be shared immediately. Another time when price should not be shared is if you are a service provider or consulting organization where you need time to properly build a scope of work. In short, you should never share price until it is clear to you that the prospect understands the

4. Value of your offering

In the absence of value, you don’t have anywhere to go and the prospect will assess your offering on the lowest common demoninator: price. Learn how to help buyers understand your value and you will win more sales. More importantly, you will disqualify time wasting prospects sooner. This is because research shows time and again that if you go the distance in a sales cycle with a buyer who doesn’t undertand and believe in your value, they usualy don’t buy. Then you have wasted valuable time and effort. So you might as well use value as the litmus test as to whether or not you’ll proceed with the client.

Too much of this type of ‘price-based’ selling is deadly. It is deadly because soon you will be commoditized in the marketplace and competitors who know how to sell on value will land your customers…and that’s why I say ‘don’t rely on price - it’ll kill you.’

At present, we are finding ourselves in a world where we’ve got less time to do what’s important. If anything, you and I are bound to our cell phones, pagers, emails, voice-mails, faxes, printers and monitors to name a few.

That’s why learning how to be effective is so valuable in today’s world. New Economy Selling is about exactly that. Now, more than ever we need to master the skill of sales effectiveness before we drown in a sea of mundane details.

I talk to people every week who are starting to realize that they just can’t keep up anymore. The supermom’s of the 90’s are burnt out from working and child rearing. The employee of yesterday is doing the work of 3 today. You know it’s true. Take a look around you. Mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, industry restructuring and doing more with less people is the basic tenet of the business world.

And the gap widens every year between those who have less and those who have more. The difference is no longer in working harder. I’ve learned from talking to people all over that a person can work hard all their lives and wind up at age 65 broke and confused. I’ve also learned that people are retiring today earlier than ever with substantial amounts of money - and many of them were sales people… I.T. Sales People!

The difference lies in personal effectiveness.

Working smarter not, harder is what today’s game plan is all about. That’s what this book is all about. You need this information today more than ever if you’re going to thrive, not just survive in today’s new world.

The good news is you’re a few clicks away from the foundation for moving towards ’smarter, not harder’. This book will provide you with simple, effective ideas on how to create the results you desire by going to work on five key areas:

1. Your sales mind
2. Your sales body
3. Your sales time
4. Your sales relationships
5. Your sales future

We’re hearing a lot today about ‘good time management’. We’re hearing that the way to the top is to have a smokin’ ‘to-do’ list. Well, that’s partially true, but it’s not all that’s you’re being told it to be. There is a distinct difference between efficient and effective. Let’s consider the use of a day planner for example. You know the kind…where you write down all of your ‘to-do’s’ and commitments for the day. Let’s say that you’ve got thirty things to do today.

You get them all done. Not a minute wasted. Wow! You think. If only I could get that much done everyday! However, you know that there’s no way you could do that every day.

Upon reflecting on this most busy day, you realize that you’re so tired. You can barely wait to hit the pillow at night. However, you’ve completed every item on your list and didn’t waste much time doing it. That’s efficiency.

The other way to look at a day full of errands and business like this is to say, well, I know how much effort this is going to take. Do I really want to spend the entire day running around on all this stuff? Isn’t there some way that I can avoid having to be present for all of these details?

The answer is yes!

You can! But it is going to take some advance planning and some thinking about how to do it. Let’s say that one of the items in your list is to get the grocery shopping done. I know from selling reporting software that most people buy the same things at the supermarket 90% of the time.

The supermarket in my neighborhood will deliver for free if the order is over $25 dollars. What’s better is that you can now purchase the odd items you don’t buy 90% of the time by looking at their inventory online and making use of your internet connection. You can even send an order in for the purchase which is guaranteed to be delivered within 24 hours.

There, you just saved about an hour. What did that cost?

Well, first you had to know what you buy most of the time you go to the supermarket. Next, you had to spend a few minutes checking out the other items you will need. And finally you simply needed to place the order and wait for it to arrive. Easy. The best part is that you’ve invested 10 minutes to earn 50 minutes.

See if you can do this for all of the other items on your list. I have found with some creativity and usually less than $10, I can get most of the non-face time errands done without having to do them myself and free up considerable time in the process for more important activities. Now THAT’S being effective!

The differences here are slight. But the end result is tremendous and it gives two materical benefits in your sales career:

1. You don’t have to burn mental energy thinking about the administrivia of your life.
2. You have the choice to invest that time in either most sales activity, or other areas of your life which will improve your selling ability.

This stuff takes some thinking ahead. If you don’t already have a list of what you usually buy, sit down and write it out. Most of my clients never stopped to figure this one out. Yet, it’s such a productive little exercise.

If you can’t remember what you usually buy, then next time you hit the ailes, bring your journal or PDA along with you and make a note of all the items you purchase, or study your grocery receipts for the month. Look for recurring items. This one idea has the power to give you four hours per month. Find ways to apply this to all of your other non-critical activities.

The purpose of these ideas is to place you in the top 20% of people in terms of effectiveness. Then, once you get there, you’ll have the base, the foundation to go as far as you want with it. In my mind, I want to be in the top 20% of the top 20%, which is the top 4%.

Then, you really are living an effective life.

And it doesn’t matter what area of your life you’re going to work on. If you’re in sales, the results of these ideas are easier to measure. That is the whole purpose of New Economy Selling. By the way, once you get into the top 20% of this industry, you’ll never have to worry about money again.

…and you gotta love that!

Learn How to Listen Well

The reality of this skill, is that it has more to do with the other person, that it does with you. I think that’s the essence of selling: aligning with the other person. And it starts with you. In other words, the whole point of interpersonal sales situations is to have an impact on the other person. One of the most important ways to do this is by learning to listen well. This is a key philosophy of New Economy Selling.

This is one that you’ve no doubt heard many times over. However, it is a sad truth that of all the disciplines taught in schools today, none include as part of a regular program, skills on how to listen. Taking the time to develop this skill will improve every area of your life. I know. Before I knew how to listen well, I didn’t realise how poor the quality of my relationships and communications really were. In my opinion and experience, the five best rules to effective listening are:

1. Look at the other person. Don’t look over their shoulder. Don’t look at your watch. Don’t look away unless it is a part of the conversation. But don’t stare at them either! They’ll think you’re weird. Move your gaze from their mouth to their eyes. And look back and forth between their eyes. This isn’t easy because paying attention to anything, especially people (who generally talk way too much) is HARD WORK. But the rewards are well worth it. The point here is to focus on the person with whom you’re talking and that involves rule number two.

2. Focus your body directly at or generally towards the other person. Use your judgement here. If you’re having coffee with a friend, a body posture that you’d use in a job interview is sure to look odd. Just make sure that when you’re listening to someone, you LOOK like you’re paying attention. Pretend that someone is scoring your listening body posture from across the room. Sit in a way that shows you’re interested, even if you’re not! This is a very strong compliment to other speaker because it shows that you care enough to orient your body in such a way to maximize your relations with them.

3. Listen for emotions and ideas not words or poor speaking ability. It’s the message you’re listening for, not whether this person speaks like prince charming. You want to know what makes the other person feels good and bad. People are motivated only by fear of loss and desire for gain. If you listen for the things the other person wants and doesn’t want you’ll be on your way to making a friend for life. Then, if you can catch the reasons, or ideas behind why that is the case for the speaker, you will understand their point of view. This is a critical milestone in developing trust and confidence. All good negotiators and salespeople understand this. Everyone can benefit from this one!

4. Pause once the other person has finished speaking. Wait a few seconds. Let their words sink into your brain and use the second or two of silence to make sure they’ve said everything they can for the moment. I can’t tell you how many times I used this technique only to have the person say “AND…” Then share some critical piece of information with me. Next, in your own words, paraphrase what you’ve heard. If you’re unclear on some of the points, ask for clarification. Say, “I understood the part about how you got to the store, but I didn’t get it when you said…” You get the picture. These actions are the highest compliments that you can pay your speaker because it shows two things.

A. You were actually listening and heard what mattered to that person. (Emotions and ideas)
B. You cared enough to see things from their point of view and put it in your words. (Paraphrased their words)

5. Don’t finish other people’s sentences or give the word that they are looking for unless they ask for. It takes the ’sense’ of power and the spotlight away from the other person. Not a good thing to do when you want them to feel important. This is so hard to do because we are always thinking of what we’d say next or trying to figure out what the speaker is going to say next. The reason for this is simple. Studies show that people speak at an average of 200-300 words per minute. But since we think in terms of pictures, the verbal equivalent is that we think at a rate of 600-3000 words per minute. Now it’s easy to see why it’s so hard to focus on the other person and not our own thoughts and desires.

These are five rules that I rarely break in social and sales situations. I hope you find them as useful as I do.

I’ve had a lot of feedback and questions on the previous post of handling objections - so I’ve decided to clarify this subject further with the following content:

Question: What exactly is objection handling?

Answer: Objection handling is a process for answering your prospects questions (and remember, they are ALL questions) in a way that helps them better understand how your solution supports their business requirements and to clarify the difference between what the prospect thinks is true and what is actually true.

Question: Are there specific types of objections that I should be on the lookout for?

Answer: Yes…I think there are three types and they are self explanatory in description. First, there are general misunderstandings (the most common and usually related to the buyer’s ego defending itself). Second, there is the competitive trap where buyer has a pre-defined, competitive solution in mind and they want to see how you stack up when some pressure is applied. Last, there are what is known as the “showstoppers”…where the buyer puts a requirement on the table with the caveat that if you can’t do “x or y”, then you are no longer a consideration.

Question: Why should I even worry about handling objections if the model you suggested gets rid of 90% of objections anyway?

Answer: Actually, I have three points to share on this question. First, good objection handling helps you keep the conversation focussed on how your solution delivers on the prospect’s goals or business requirements. Second, good objection handling gives you a way to avoid show stopping issues. Last, these questions are an opportunity to set the record straight and build competitive advantage.

What about objections?

The truth is that most salespeople create 90% of their own objections because of the way they handle themselves and because of what comes out of their mouths. What I mean here is that they are causing the buyer to defend themselves because the buyer doesn’t feel aligned with the seller.

Aligning yourself psychologically with the buyer and seeing the world through their eyes will solve most of this problem. This is a problem caused very simply when salespeople make presentations. Their companies teach them how to “pitch” the product, but not how to align themselves with the buyer. This is a training which sadly has salespeople merely “telling”…not selling.

True selling is having a conversation, not “making a presentation”. Conversations invite participation and facilitate the alignment concept I introduced above. Conversations also require good listening skills.

Presentations are one-sided. They are designed to “tell”. Hence this is the reason why presentations invite objections. Because very few buyers will just sit there and listen. Instead they “object” to parts of what is being said to defend their ego while being “talked to”. Until salespeople stop making presentations…and get out of “telling” mode all the time, they are going to be facing a never ending barrage of objections in their careers.

So if you must learn how to handle objections, you can use this framework I call the FOUR P’S.

1. Pause

Take some time for the buyer’s objection to sink in. Let them get it out. They might say something else that adds context to their position. This also shows that you are a good listener and not thinking about the next point you want to “tell” them.

2. Paraphrase

Re-state in your words that you think is the buyers issue. This furthers the concept of being a good listener in addition to beginning the very important process of alignment between you and the buyer. Here you are also moving out of presentation mode into conversation mode.

3. Probe

Here again, you are moving further down the path of having a conversation. Ask the buyer for clarification with questions like, “What exactly do you mean by that?” or, “What is causing you to think this?”. This probing concept also helps you to understand if this is a real objection, or just the buyer’s ego defending itself.

4. Provide a response

Now is the time to reply, but do it this way: I strongly suggest that you respond to most objections in for the form of an answer to a question. Do this even if the buyer didn’t ask you one. The reason for this is that it shows you are thinking like a buyer. It also gives you a way to handle the objection in a manner where you can provide a credible response and avoid being on the defensive.

For example, if the buyer says to you, “I heard that your product doesn’t scale”. First, go through the three points above. Then, rephrase that sentence in your mind to sound like this: “How does your product scale?”. Last, provide a meaningful response such as, “Our product scales based upon the following requirements…”

In conclusion - stop telling, start having conversations and you’ll experience far fewer objections. When you do get them, use the framework above to handle them and move on.