That
salesperson has to take that emotional baggage, the guilt,
the stomach churning, everywhere they go after working for
this company or selling this product... until they do therapy...by
themselves or with someone else.
A gentleman
came up and talked to me at a convention last year. He asked
if he could pull me aside and ask an important question.
He told
me he worked for a major pharmaceutical company. He told
me how their product lines were junk compared to those of
company X. He told me that company X products in fact almost
always tested better in studies and that their sales and
commissions were higher. He was frustrated.
"Kevin,
how do I sell more against this kind of competition?"
My
answer:
"Go
to the local sales manager at Company X, tell him what you
just told me and he will hire you ON THE SPOT."
And
that is yet another problem. When you don't sell a good
product or at least a product that is something people want
or need or a good value...you have nothing but long term
problems that haunt every day...
But
they usually don't get therapy...and they don't tell anyone...who
would they tell? Their company? Their manager? Their wife?
Their kids? Their neighbor? No, it's like telling people
you are an arsonist. "Hey, I set houses on fire and
I don't feel good about it..."
They
go somewhere else and sell something that is a good product.
Maybe they sell something of incredible value. Maybe they
work for Johnson and Johnson or Proctor Gamble or one of
the companies that simply produce the best stuff on the
planet.
They
stink there too. Now they finally have a good company, good
product and they can't sell. What's up with that?!
They
start to think that they "can't do it." ....that
they were "good once," and just don't have the
"knack" anymore. They are "burned out."
This
salesperson is not only salvageable but can be a super star.
Burn out is the body and brains response to doing something
it doesn't want to do....The good news is that the person
might only FEEL like they don't want to sell...that they
BELIEVE the same way because no one who gets it has come
in and done reprogramming....
The
person has already proven they have integrity. Whether they
were fired or quit doesn't matter. They left the other company
and went in search of something they could stand behind.
They sought out quality and found it.
But
they brought all the emotions, the negative feelings, the
guilt, the anger, the disgust with them to THIS company.
(If you haven't figured out that this happens in relationships
all the time...come back and read this later!)
Here
the sales manager tries to motivate his "good person"
who "has potential."
Listen
closely: He is wasting his time. You can't motivate a person
to do something that is emotionally linked to all of those
dreadful emotions...not for more than a few days.
You
can't motivate a person to perform past their deeply ingrained
reactions to a certain environment and their unconscious
beliefs EVEN IF THEY ARE SCREWED UP BELIEFS.
The
salesperson felt bad about themselves, the old company and
the product they sold. The salesperson developed feelings
of blame, disgust, internal integrity breaks, internal honesty
breaks, for ALL three: themselves (which is NOT necessarily
immediately repairable by simply quitting and going somewhere
else), for the old company (whose people need to take responsibility
for themselves) and the old product (which was THAT product
not THIS set of products).
One
big pile of engrams. In 1983 those of us who finally escaped
selling junk (a kind word)....We called these things called
"cluster ducks" or something like that....and
we were given new life....if we could get there...not only
in company and product but in rewiring the reactions from
the past relationships and unhooking them from the present.
....Because
the feelings were horrible. And then you took your talents
somewhere else and were literally afraid to sell things
people wanted, needed and would love. The same feelings
came back even when you cognitively KNEW you were selling
a great product. It's the same as bulimia. You don't know
why you aren't selling you simply aren't...it makes no sense.
Listen,
you could be selling hundred dollar bills for a twenty and
still feel the same way inside. So the answer is not just:
This
is where the "believe in your product" stuff comes
in. Someone stands at the front and says, "you gotta
believe in your product."
Uh,
no you don't...and you won't as long as the old style motivation
strategies which never worked for more than a couple of
days are used by managers.
You
NEVER hear me tell you to believe in your product.
You
don't hear me telling you to believe in your political party,
church, religion, NOTHING.
Because
beliefs and emotional responses that have been shattered
in the past must be formed IN NEW WAYS in the future.
It happens
by examination and observation.
You
CAN choose to BEGIN to believe in your product or service.
It has to be a CHOICE. A DECISION. A CONSCIOUS DECISION
that, given all the facts is the RIGHT decision.
The
person needs to see what their service is doing to help
someone or they need to be able to imagine it very clearly.
They have to FEEL good about their new set of choices inside.
None of this is easy.
I was
TOLD plenty of times to "believe in this product."
Doesn't work like that when you have bulimia.
You
have to set up criteria for your new service and then evaluate
it by that criteria. The salesperson has to look at the
process from the END. What is the customer GETTING? Is the
customer solving a problem? Are they happy? Was it something
that made them feel good? Something that will be profitable?
....then work back to the point of sale from the end result...the
exact opposite of how motivational types do their thing....
When
people are TOLD to believe in something after they have
had their beliefs and values devastated...you cannot tell
them to believe in the product or you will CAUSE FAILURE
to happen even if your product is the best on the planet.
At this
point, the salesperson MUST either sell themselves on the
product or KNOW that this is what the marketplace wants
or needs.
Every
product has flaws. (Even a Lexus albeit rare...)
It's
OK to have flaws as a human and as a product or service.
It's OK for your company to have flaws. If you had to find
flawless companies (which are nothing but people) you would
never do anything of value.
You
begin the process of finding your product's value by an
elicitation process.
You
CAN stand up in front of your group or audience and ASK
them to think about what their service does. Find out what
problems it is solving. Detail what you are doing for THEM,
the customer.
You
DON'T try to find "good things" about your product.
If you have to try and find something good about your product,
you are selling the wrong product.
What
if you sell life insurance. Thousands of Coffee with Kevin
Hogan readers do. There are hundreds of different companies
represented.
Reality
one: Everyone has a different price for life insurance.
Each company has a certain likelihood of paying, which is
why these companies are "rated." There is no perfect
matrix of these variables. There ARE good and bad combinations
though.
What
if you are selling a 250,000 policy for 300/yr. The competitor
is at 290 and both companies are rated the same.
Answer:
You are being TOO sensitive. Breathe! I shop at Target instead
of Wal Mart because the lines are faster and the store is
usually cleaner. It's 10% more in cost on just about everything
in the store.
YOU
are worth the extra ten bucks for heaven sake. Salespeople
rarely look past price and value to see that they are doing
business with a human... THAT RELATIONSHIP is worth EVERYTHING.
If you
wouldn't sell it to a family member or close friend, you
shouldn't sell it. It doesn't make a lick of difference
if it's ten bucks more expensive.
If it's
ten TIMES more expensive that is an entirely different thing.
Now the salesperson is going to return to guilt, anger and
fear mode. Stomach churning. They will sell in predictable
streaks and suffer emotional turmoil.
Instead
of trying to solve the problems a salesperson is experiencing...problems
no one likes to talk about...realize that the problems are
real, they are VERY normal, almost EVERYONE has experienced
them, then work through the changes made with new companies
or services.
Permanent
change is so much cheaper than trying to keep a staff motivated.
People are self motivated once they have been able to clean
out the junk from the past and eliminate the neurological
connections and feelings from past selling experiences and
know that those things have been dealt with once and for
all.
The
work can be done by the individual, it can be done from
the front of the room if the trainer has a clue (unlikely)
or it literally can be done in therapy. It's not a complicated
process but it takes a little work. Work that once it is
done, causes self motivation and self starting, the things
that everyone wishes they had.
Now
they can.
A cutting-edge
new program helps to identify and change old beliefs and
habits into new, outcome-based goal-oriented beliefs and
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