The Pleasure of giving and receiving excellent service

Feeling better through providing great customer service

I am out in Budapest on work at the moment.

Thanks to the BBC World TV news in my hotel room I have been cheered up by the news that Chelsea won their game against Fulham and stand at the top of the English Premier League football table.

According to Scientists in the specialist neuro biomedical fields my ‘Pleasurableness’ index for this wass 67% just 4 % above the excellent service I got from the BA team at Terminal 3 check  top flight steward of the on board flight team on BA 868 who offered me a roomier seat up the posher end of the plane ( an upgrade) so I could comfortably do some work.

I went out for a walk in the evening to the Danube to swoon at the Elisabeth Chain bridge lit up and reflected in the mighty river which is a natural wonder apparently 61% on the Pleasurability scale.

My chatting with friends at present limited to the virtual world scores at 50%  and kissing someone ( I should be so lucky) would be 61%. When I meet my delegates tonight and reunite with work colleagues it should up to 68% but doing a top rate job and provide great service to my delegates on the course will give me a spike of 84%

Of course we have know for years giving good service is great for business and account relationships but did not have any empirical scientific proof. American Express  and Neurosense published a fascinating study this year.

Why does giving and receiving excellent service make us feel good ?

 Neuroscience has come up with the answer they have uncovered a correlation between great service experiences and improved health, proving that it really does pay (at least health-wise) to give and receive great service.

 Conducted across a global sample, this cognitive research study found that great service can improve feelings of wellbeing, reduce feelings of anxiety and sadness, and even make people feel less lonely.

The American Express Service study found that both providing and benefitting from great service triggers the same basic cerebral reactions as feeling loved, and that it positively affects our emotional state of mind

Amex know that its Card members want to feel like more than just a customer and partnered with global neuroscience organization Neurosense to investigate the physiological and psychological effects great service has on customers. 

The study used  specialized technology including, a patented psychological testing and biometric testing to measure the impact of service on the mind and body.

"Our research shows great service experiences rank as peak pleasures, which are known to decrease stress and improve feelings of wellbeing," said Professor Gemma Calvert, Managing Director of Neurosense Group.

 "The physiological, emotional and psychological effects of great service were recorded to have a positive impact on the body's overall wellbeing, which in turn has positive effect on the subject's health."

The American Express Service Study reveals:

Great acts of service cause a chain reaction of positive responses in the body, increasing heart rate and galvanic skin response (or perspiration level) as excitement and exhilaration builds.

68 % of people felt their breathing rate decrease from 16.7 cycles per minute to 10.2 cycles per minute-as they relaxed and became happier-when thinking about great service.

74 % of people felt their heart rate increase from a baseline of approximately 76 BPM to 87 BPM when thinking about providing great service.

Over half of those tested were found to feel pride when on the receiving end of great service (55 %).

The 'personal boost' of someone going out of their way for you can help to build self-esteem, further underpinning the far-reaching impact of great service on our wellbeing.

The study gives a valuable insight into the science behind amazing service and the positive effect it has on others and ourselves."

The experiment was conducted in two phases.

The first tackled the psychological response to good service, capturing participants' unconscious feelings using the patented Neurosense BrainLink™ software, which measures response times to certain concepts and related words or images.

The second phase measured physiological reactions (heart rate, breathing rate and galvanic skin response) to good service.

Reactions were monitored using biometric equipment at the University of the West of England in Bristol, United Kingdom.

As physiological reactions are consistent and show a basic human reaction, to provide a scientifically robust result the biometric tests carried in one country.

This is illustrated by nearly three quarters of participants whose heart rate increased when exposed to great service (74 per cent).

A total of 1,620 participants in the UK, Canada, Mexico and Australia were tested. Ages ranged from 18 to 60 and 50/50 gender split.

So there it is Customer Service Training will help not only the business, cheer up customers it will improve the health of service providers.

Related Links

Neurosense    http://www.neurosense.com/index.php/media-news/interviews-and-tv-programs/323-amex-good-service

University of the West of England in Bristol, United Kingdom.

6 challenging customer types and how to handle them

Most of the time Customers are fine but sometimes they can become a touch animal like .
Like a Zoo keeper you need to deal with different temperaments in the zoo.

The bulldog, the grizzly bear, owl, the myna bird, the mouse, the sheep. the hyena.

1. The “Bulldog” (Persistent)
How to recognise : Painfully persistent, often asking the same question more than once to check you weren’t lying the first time.

How to deal with them : The bulldog needs reassurance that they know that what they are buying is right for them. Ideally, the way to overcome the bulldog is knowledge and patience. No matter how many times they ask the same question, offer the same polite response. If you don’t know the answer, don’t lie. Find out and ring them back.



2. The “Grizzly” (Rude)
How to recognise : Blatantly rude for no obvious reason! They have little or no manners and don’t care about your feelings whatsoever.

How to deal with them : Always remain calm. Follow complaints handling technique, and apologise for any problem they might have encountered. Don’t react angrily, because this will just worsen the situation further!




3. The “Owl” (Know-it-all)
How to recognise : Often very knowledgeable, and likes nothing more than to show that knowledge off, even if it means belittling you. The owl loves to be right.

How to deal with them : Don’t compete! Allow them to show off and even offer compliments and flattery to win them over. Never say or imply they are wrong; it will only upset them.


3. The Mynah bird ( talkative)
How to recognise : They can speak for England! Once they start, they’ll never stop and often ask you personal questions or talk about issues completely unrelated to their enquiry.

How to deal with them : You must aim to control the call. Use the customers name, steer them using questions, and paraphrase to get them back on track. Stay polite and avoid being rude or letting them know you are bored.



4. The “Mouse” (Quiet)
How to recognise : Customers with this personality type will often be very hard work! They offer the bare minimum responses to any questions asked, and engaging them in conversation is an uphill battle from the start.

How to deal with them : Ask open, probing questions (e.g. “what”, “when”, “how”, etc.) to force them into answering with more than one-word responses. Invite their opinions, but don’t be too pushy or they may become even less willing to talk.

5. The “Sheep” (Ignorant)
How to recognise : Doesn't know what they want or understand why they want it. Often, they will become flustered and upset if not dealt with properly.

How to deal with them : Again, ask open questions to clarify what they are looking for, and summarise key points to confirm that your understanding is correct. Listen carefully and be patient! Don’t make assumptions.

6. The “Hyena” (Obnoxious)
How to recognise : Easily upset and often very flippant and sarcastic at every opportunity. Unlike the “Grizzly”, they don’t need an excuse to get nasty – indeed they enjoy winding you up.

How to deal with them : Remain calm and professional at all times. Agree to disagree and give up, because their main objective is to upset you. Don’t let them upset you, simply pity why somebody would choose to be like this.

Event Selling the new season Sale

On Sales for Non Sales course many delegates at the beginning of the programme tell me that they " are not really in Sales". By the end of such a programme most have change their mind both about 'Selling' and the importance of their role in their business

The ‘S’ word ‘Selling’ especially in the UK,  holds a certain embarrassment  ; hence the proliferation of titles for Salesperson on business cards. e.g. Account manager, portfolio manager, 

Current poster in September 2015
 from Dorothy Perkins' window

As we enter the Autumn season ( today is the autumn equinox) I notice in my local High Street the word ‘Event’ is replacing ‘Sale’ in its shop window posters.

Many British people dislike the word “sales.”  The very thought of sales conjures up images of pushy door-to-door hawkers or less than scrupulous used car salespeople. There seems to be a common misconception that the action of “selling” implies coercion – trying to convince someone to buy or use a product, service or idea that they don’t really need.

The logic being   “ if they needed it, you wouldn’t really have to “sell” anything, right? “

 The truth about successful selling is that it is rooted in helping – relating needs with solutions.  In the professional services sector, however, such “helping” can be a far cry from how most perceive the dreaded “s” word.

Conventional and traditional professionals like lawyers and accountants do not want anything to do with selling – they want to believe that in-depth, specialised training precludes them from having to sell themselves or their work.  They want to focus on their area of expertise, be the best they can be in their field, and go home at the end of the day. 

Of course more and more of us are in the service selling business. We sell the benefits of what our offering does and means to the clients not merely the educational role of what our offer is. We sell the hole not the drill bit, the sizzle not the steak

So how does this relate to disliking the word “sales?”  In order for us to be successful in protecting and expanding existing client relationships and developing new ones, we need to re-engineer our sales mentality and redefine what selling actually means.

Instead of viewing “selling as telling,” we need to realise that a good salesperson talks less, and listens more?  What if the goal of selling wasn’t to force fit a solution, but rather to gain a clear understanding of the client’s need, so that we could help them find a solution – regardless of whether it was our service or not?

The reality behind successful sales is that if you help someone, you are selling – by giving them an insight of what it is like to work with you – and that is the best kind of “selling” there is.  In order to be successful in professional selling relationships, we need to demonstrate the belief that selling is helping.

 While  the feelings of fear and trepidation that surround “selling” for many,  others appreciate it can be done naturally and painlessly – and can be fun and enjoyable.

 So, let’s reintegrate “sales” into our daily professional language, and see if we can demonstrate “selling” as the respectable, value-added practise that it should be.

Re-badging the ‘S’ word is  fine- so long as we as professional salespeople do not delude ourselves or clients and deny we are selling by hiding behind a different word- which is a perfectly honourable and necessary activity

Maybe in the not too distant future we will see ‘Event enabler’ as another title on a business card of for a retail salesperson.

Good Eventing !

God selling !

Related Links

Sales for non sales - Does every one really sell in life ?

Selling to the Choosy

Ross the Boss Wows , Customer Service Officers and being ' Socially useful '

Ross McEwan has taken over the reins from former chief executive Stephen Hester of the Royal Bank of Scotland today.

In an address reported by the BBC to his staff, Mr McEwan said it was ‘ an absolute thrill’ to take on the new role.

“It’s one of those ‘wow’ experiences”

Mr McEwan said that he planned to refocus the bank on customer service, promising to make it the best in the UK. He has previously headed the retail arm of RBS.

“We exit because of the customers we serve and we should never forget that. Our job is to serve our customers. Without our customers we are nothing as a business.”

He also said the bank needed to repay the faith albeit mandated by the Government bailout. UK tax payers still own 81% of RBS after it was bailed out for £45 billion in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.

Mr McEwan stressed that its tax payer funded bailout meant the bank had to live up to a higher standard than any other bank.

“We should never forget that obligation”

Finance firms attracted 20,000 complaints a day in the UK in the first half of 2012 according to the FSA. The compensation bill for miss-sold PPI schemes has been estimated at £10 billion. Which - the consumer group  have warned that the compensation bill could climb even higher.

PPI was not the only issue though. 

 Lloyds Bank Group remained the most complained -about financial group as grievances climbed 146% to 860,000 according to the London Evening Standard. But those complaints`were spread across its many different brands .

Lloyds Customer Services Director was quoted by Simon Read in the Evening Standard 27th Sept 2012 :-

" We understand that there is still work to do, but the figures show that  relative to the number of customers  we have fewer complaints than any other bank ( Lloyds has 1.4 complaints per 1000 accounts compared with Santander 5.2%)"

The Standard went on  quoting that  the Nationwide Building Society  with 17,269 complaints about its banking services - had just 0.7 complaints per 1000 customers.


The FSA reported that complaints about banking services across the sector  rose 5% although only 47% were upheld well below the average.

However one analyses this data , Customer Service is a critical topic for the financial sector at the moment.

Indeed  the then RBS boss Stephen Hester  summarised the situation

" Banks have simply not been good enough servants of their customers in the recent past. We have to address the root cause of the industry's failing"

Similarly Barclay's Chief Executive Anthony Jenkins

" I do believe that Barclays has a significant job to rebuild trust - but I'm also confident that we can.It goes back to what we do: if we serve customers and clients in a way that is socially useful, then we will rebuild that trust."

"I'm on record as saying that the industry and to some extent Barclays did lose sight of the customer and it's our job to put the customer back at the centre of everything that we do"



Individual Complaints to banks

 

In a somewhat cynical piece by  the Economist's  Schumpeter column  The Magic of Customer service it commented on  the rise of Chief Customer Officers. Schumpeter implied that customer service will not immediately improve because a flashy new member has joined the C suite. This is fair enough.

Yet some of the best firm’s for customer service have such a role- so one feels that there must be something in it.

Various titles given to the assistants to the "Chief Customer Officer"
by Salesforce.com, netApp, Cisoc and Vanguard
 showing the importance given to Customer Service

A study by Forester research in this area investigated the customer service standards of 160 firms. A third were rated poor" or "very poor". Heath Insurers and cable companies fared worst.

I found this surprising as the USA has a good reputation in customer service in many people's minds.

Trying to focus on the entire “customer experience”, rather than on individual transactions seems a logical approach to companies who rely on process data to track client interaction feedback.

A new book  explains why this is happening.

 In “Outside In”, Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine of Forrester Research observe that customers are growing more powerful.

The Internet makes it easier to shop around and share complaints with a wide audience.

Yet poor service persists.

 Manning and Bodine have been asking customers about their experiences with American companies for years.

Powerful, angry customers could spur big changes.

Customers have embraced companies that serve them well, such as Zappos (the on line shoe shop that lets you order, try on and return as many shoes as you like)

Bank of America the Economist says should be terrified that it is near the bottom of the customer-experience index while another bank, USAA, is right at the top.

Having a CCO may help firms that find that technology is disrupting the way they relate to their customers.

The Washington Post  has discovered that it must provide a constant stream of content rather than a single daily edition.

 Language-learning software provider Rosetta Stone , has found that it needs to offer interactive coaching as well.

Both companies have recruited CCOs.

What difference will this make? asks the Economist

Companies have paid lip service to customer service for years, yet still treat customers like poorly.

 Manning and Bodine suggest trying to learn from the few, such as Disney and Apple, that have cracked the customer-service code.

I went on line and took a look at Zappos

Zappos family Core Values
example of Customer Service Culture

 Zappos keeps a " WOW library"  of exemplary recorded calls that its employees can listen to.

I took this from their website ( my highlighting and underlinings)

 

WOW is such a short, simple word, but it really encompasses a lot of things. To WOW, you must differentiate yourself, which means doing something a little unconventional and innovative. You must do something that's above and beyond what's expected. And whatever you do must have an emotional impact on the receiver.

We are not an average company, our service is not average, and we don't want our people to be average. We expect every employee to deliver WOW.

Whether internally with co-workers or externally with our customers and partners, delivering WOW results in word of mouth. Our philosophy at Zappos is to WOW with service and experience, not with anything that relates directly to monetary compensation (for example, we don't offer blanket discounts or promotions to customers).

We seek to WOW our customers, our co-workers, our vendors, our partners, and in the long run, our investors

Just Consider  Zappos WOW customers service culture compares to the earlier statement  from that UK bank above

 " We understand that there is still work to do, but the figures show that relative to the number of customers we have fewer complaints than any other bank "

I 'googled' for the opposite to WOW - it came up with FLOP !

So let's wow them whether we are the new head of RBS or a workaday sales professional.

Sales for Non Sales Does Everyone live by selling something?

Former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion has just written a sequel to Robert Lewis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' entitled "Silver"* - return to Treasure Island. Whether Andrew Motion as a creative writer sees himself as a "Salesman"  I don't know, but the inspiration for his book  was the author Robert Louis Stevenson  (1850-1894) who once said

" Everyone lives by selling something".



The SIPOC Process approach to illustrate Sales for Non Sales

Those familiar with Six Sigma processes will be familiar with the SIPOC map. Suppliers,Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers.

A simple way to illustrate this. Think of the process steps of dining Out. You can see that at each stage the people involved will as likely as not be both Buyer and Seller either internally or externally.

Yet people who merchandise the stock and the cash and carry, those who write/create the recipes for the dishes, those who  prepare and cook the ingredients, those who wait on the diners and the customers may not necessarily see their roles in Sales .

Yet poorly or brilliantly sourced products will have an effect on sales
Poorly or brilliantly composed recipes will have an effect on sales
Poorly or brilliantly cooked food will have an effect on sales
Poorly or brilliantly served food will have an effect on sales
Disappointed or delighted diners will have an effect of sales 

It is in that sense that everyone is in selling ( and buying) even when a carry and carry buyer, the cook, waiter and so on may not see what they do as selling.

So RL Stevenson gets it right in that sense in the UK some 100 hears on.

So  for those who may not work directly in sales B2B .. We are all buyers and sellers  to each externally or internally in our jobs.

I have just completed a Sales for non Sales at Warwick Conferences Radcliffe House. It is a great venue with top quality Internet,  training rooms, spacious bar, good restaurant. But the make and break of such as place are the people.

They make the experience are much as the bricks and mortar. Thanks to Radcliffe for another great experience.


The delegates attending on the TACK Sales for Non Sales programme were from a wide range of roles and businesses e.g. technical solutions for waste management , construction industry, diesel engines to the news print world.

Early on the group plotted an adapted version of a SIPOC map for the business.

The key to this is identifying how they add value to customer.

 It is strange how when delegates arrive on such programmes they often introduce themselves as "not really in Selling but I deal with clients." 

The first thing is to work on their confidence and develop  a selling mindset appropriate to what they do. By the end of the day they are talking more fluently as professional salespeople.

SIPOC map adapted to the experience and role of Non sales

The Need for Non Sales Training - a very wide audience: 

Just because you  may work in the back office does not mean you are not in the front line of sales. Many people today are expected to support the operational objectives of their organisation.

When  a client calls and needs  your help the fact that you  'are not  really in sales' does not help them.

In reality anyone who interacts with customers, especially those who support or work alongside sales is in non-sales.

  A couple of delegates on the course were looking to move into a more sales focused role in their careers, others were seeking to maximise their personal effectiveness and add value to their firm can do so  through incorporating sales skills into their current role.

So a  basic understanding of the sales process will  never let non-sales  feel out of place when out on joint calls with salespeople.

Technically-minded specialists who have developed their career  to date in  their specialist expertise, will find sooner or later that they are required to develop both technical and commercial relationships which require selling skills 

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Scott, Alex and James set about identifying moments of opportunities for their businesses

Wayne and Andrea consider  at the moments of opportunity between Sales, Non Sales and Customer in their respective organisations

Increasingly today  it is consultants who need to bridge the gap between ‘trusted advisor’ and sales professional who need 'Sales skills for non sales'.

 Buyers don't want the old fashioned telling- selling person they want  a problem solver, and a business partner.

Operational staff with frequent client contact need to keep up to date in their skills to scope and leverage potential business opportunities.

Directors and partners who need to inspire and influence people internally and externally, who recognise that technical or specialist knowledge is not enough. They need to be able to sell.

Graduates without sales skills are seldom likely to progress as quickly as early potential showed. ( see links to Graduates in Selling.)

So the target audience for the TACK Sales for non Sales programmes come from a vast spectrum of job roles and industries.

Moment of Opportunity

Moment of opportunity Map

Much of the day is spent on Communication skills both spoken, written and non verbal communication with client interactions all based around TACK's KAYAK process.

•Establishing  customers’ needs and match your products/services to them Client Motivation

•Recognise loyalty and buying opportunities and act on them  Rational and Emotional triggers

•Gain and hold your customers’ attention Creating and sustain Client’s Interest

•Comfortably discuss commercial opportunities with customers  Business Conversations with Rapport

•Be more effective in gathering information – understanding needs and wants Effective Questioning and Listen

•Ask open questions and engage in active listening – summarise discussions and take effective notes ‘Taking Note’ of the Client and giving them a really good listening to!

•Deal with customer resistance – build an objection bank and develop persuasive responses handling as well as answering

•Keep the right people informed – who needs to know what? Busting the silo mentality

 Becoming better listeners to our clients is at the core

An anagram of LISTEN  is SILENT now that  is thought provoking!!!! 

Here is another quote of RL Stevenson that seems appropriate to end this post- its message is for all in Non Sales who have to interact with Clients each day . It is certainly good advice for  writers whether bloggers like myself or distinguished authors like Andrew Motion!!!

"All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language,

 until it finds a willing and prepared hearer. ”

Good luck in finding and preparing your client hearers!

Related Links

* The Book "Silver" by Andrew Motion

Publisher: JONATHAN CAPE

Publication Date: 15-Mar-2012                    ISBN: 9780224091190

Sales for Non Sales training

http://www.tackinternational.com/uk/Sales_for_Non_Salespeople

Six touch points for non sales

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/6-touch-points-for-non-sales-to-press_08.html

The critical Role of Non Sales

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/critical-role-of-non-sales.html

Selling to the Choosy in their choosing

More and more people in work are consciously aware of their role contributing to Sales.

They may not be in direct two way communication with their customer- yet they are aware or say that they are aware that the decision maker or influencer has a choice. In service industries in particular they are aware we have a choice.

For example I may buy my airfare for business and so act as a true decision maker or have someone buy it for me in which case I am an influencer.

BA have reintroduced their “We fly to serve “slogan.  On landing the plane ,their pilots whom we may never see, yet alone speak to, thank us for choosing their airline.

The burger from Burger King is offered as a choice “have it your way”

One’s coffee from Starbucks is expressed as“ happiness” is in ( my) choice.

Selling has been described as asking for a decision whilst buying is about taking and making a decision. 

There is a discipline becoming increasingly popular called psycho economics – behavioural economics.  For salespeople this is of interest because it often helps to explain behaviour which they encounter in buyer behaviour which helps to explain the mix of rational and emotional motivations at paly in the buying journey.

Many choices for Buyers in Business are between things that are not that much different. The value of choice depends on your buyer’s ability to perceive differences between the options

Psycho-economist Sheena Iyengar   from Columbia University in a TED talk studies this area of science see link below.

Her studies have shown that the average number of choices made in the day is 70 decisions in a typical day.

A similar study on CEO’s  time in decision for their task  that in a week  a CEO will work on  139 tasks each of which has many sub choices but  the study revealed  50%  of the decision  were made within 9 minutes or less,  only 12%  were  in an hour category.

Many buyers are overloaded with choice. One tap on the pc and they are hit with overload.

So  the work of Sheena Iyengar on what is going on in the methods we use to choose is of interest to us.

 Sheena did a study on choice at a food store to measure how shoppers react to range of choices.

Jam tasting booth experiment

When 6 flavours of jam were offered   40% stopped at the stall.     30 % buy

When 64 flavours were offered 60% stopped at the stall.       3% buy

So that might show us that the more choice you offer the better. But  what percentage of those who stopped by bought?

For the 64% flavours stall 3% bought

For the 6 flavours of jam stall 30% bought

What this suggests to Sheena is that even if we choose to participate if the range of choices is very broad we are more likely to avoid choice. Her studies also show that even if it is in our best interests , the very broad choice puts us off choosing.

Sheena suggest 4 ways to make better choices

1.    Cut   less is more   Apparently the average supermarket has 45,000 items. Wall mart 100,000 items. Yet the 9^th biggest supermarket however is  ALDI  who narrow their choice offering to 1,400 products.  

2.    Concretization   This is an important technique for those in intangible services that it is vital to make the consequences of the choices in a vivid way.  Alternatively get the buyer to envisage the positive consequences of their choice.

3.    Categorisation   Sheena’s studies show we can handle more categories than choices. In an experiment with categories of a magazine rack in a shop her research showed that   400 magazine (choices) split into  20  sold more than  600 magazines split into  10 categories.

4.    Condition for Complexity – gradually increase the complexity  Start off  with easy  choices in your presentation .

Sheena’s  studies  showed that the sequence in choice a car choice worked better if the sequence started with say choosing out of four gear shifts and steadily build to choosing say from the 56 colour choices keeps buyers more engaged than starting with the vast colour range of 56 colours  and then onto the choice of gear shifts.

Links related

 7 Effective ways to close

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.com/2011/02/7-effective-sales-closes-and-ways-of.html

Pat Brenner’s Behavioural Economics site

http://www.scoop.it/t/behavioral-economics

TED talks on Behavioural economics on Choice and Choosing you might find interesting

Sheena Iyengar

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_choosing_what_to_choose.html

Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our decisions? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X68dm92HVI

Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM

Dave Kurlan OMG at TMI TACK World Congress 2011

Dave Kurlan OMG http://www.objectivemanagement.com/

(Kostas Hatzigeorgiou of PRC live in Vilnius, Lithuania at TMI TACK World congress 2011 and Dave Kurlan via video link in USA)











In the song from the musical “Grease” - Summer Nights there is a chorus form the Pink Ladies and from the Thunderbirds “ Tell Me more, Tell Me more “.

This chorus was resonating in my mind when Sales guru Dave Kurlan linked up with the TMI TACK World Congress via video link to present his talk originally billed as “ 10 Bad things that happen when you leave your sales people alone.”


The conference delegates had had the morning energiser at 9 a.m. but for Dave it was some unearthly early hour in Boston , USA.
(Kostas Hatzigeorgiou live in Vilnius, Lithuania and Dave Kurlan via video link in USA)












Dave slightly changed his presentation into ‘10 Great Sales Mistakes when Selling’.
In some senses of course there was not much core information that was nreally new BUT as in so much to do with selling

“When all is said than done; more is said than done !!”


What was new, fresh , exciting and not a little provocative was the brilliant way Dave conveyed his messages.


Perhaps as followers of this blog we know that selling matters.
We may know a sales process, we may be familiar with drill down question methodology, we may recognise the vital Sales DNA of Listening in a business directed but conversational style and uncovering those unanswerable questions.


But that knowledge is only akin to boy car racers revving up their engines- a lot of noise and bluster- what only matters is engaging the sales gears which is what Dave as a F1 Grand Prix sales driver not only can talk about but demonstrate.

As in sports talent is not enough. There is plenty of sales talent out there but earns you the yellow jersey in the tour de France cycling, the Green Jacket of golf, the Gold medal is to reduce or eliminate mistakes. That is the mark of a sales champion.
So here are Dave’s top ten sales mistakes to eliminate:
1. Failing to make a case.
2. Failing to summarise on those unanswerable questions
3. Failing to instil urgency
4. Sales peoplelove talking about deliverables ( but are they compelling to the client?)
5. Waiting for buy in.
(The Munsk Team's flip chart of the Dave's learning lessons at the Sales Boot Camp Vilnius)
6. Getting the money question wrong
7. Not seizing the short moment of a CEO’s time
8. Seeing the wrong people
9. Allowing yourself to be sent away after the first visit with the CEO
10. Not offering a Compelling enough case

















(Kostas Hatzigeorgiou live in Vilnius, Lithuania and Dave Kurlan via video link in USA)












So Plan and prioritise,
Research at the global, market and client level; set clear information based and decision based Objectives; State clearly the
Purpose of your meeting; grab your client’s
Attention quickly in that small window of opportunity granted to you; surpass that love of so many sales people to talk about deliverable early on but seek out those unanswerable questions (‘ Tell me more, Tell me, Explain to me, Describe for me… more’) i.e. ensure You investigate by Drill Down deep and Listening hard for what is said and unsaid establish the facts of the case, elicit the issues/concerns/problems/opinions/attitudes ,draw out the net effect of these from your client and finally develop the solutions with your compelling case (F.I.N.D.); then and ONLY then present your DVP with its
Benefits but make your DVP stand out by being relevant unique (compelling) point of difference. RUPOD; should there be any objections or objections appreciate them and
Answer them persuasively; then
Commit your client to your compelling case by instilling a s true sense of urgency in their terms and finally
Keep developing the business.
That’s it PRO-PAYBACK, FIND and TED in action. ( Sales Models and Processes of TACK)
In sales boot camp terminology it is not about swamping ur clients with our wonderful deliverables, research and implementation that is like the foolish soldier FIRE-AIM-READY.
No!
Dave got us to get the sequence right it’s READY – AIM –FIRE !!!!

Other related links


Dave Kurlan’s Blog http://www.omghub.com/


PRO-PAYBACK Selling

http://www.tack.co.uk/course_details.php?cat_id=72&co_id=48&col=F6082E