Archive for the ‘Selling in Difficult Times’ Category

The Hostile Business to Business Sales Person

January 11, 2012 by Scott Olsen

You may not want your friends to demonstrate hostile behavior, but professionals who are hostile by nature are more likely to succeed in business sales and high level leadership in the long run than those without it.

Why?

…because their hostile nature tends to fuel their fire day in and day out. So what does this mean to possess a hostile behavior trait? Here’s an example, if the hostile person were to leave their wallet at a restaurant, when they get home and realize this, their likely first thought would be, “I left my wallet at the restaurant. Someone has stole it and spent all of the money. I need to cancel my credit cards immediately.” The opposite of the hostile person in this sense is the tolerant person. If the tolerant person leaves their wallet at a restaurant, when they get home they might think something like, “I left my wallet at the restuarant. I’m sure someone turned it in for me. I’ll just call up the restaurant, ask them to hold it for me and when I swing by tomorrow to pick it up, I might make a best new friend in the process.” This may be an exaggeration, but the point is the tolerant person has a buoyant view of the world, “it’s all going to work out.” On the other hand the hostile person has a view that “the world is a nasty place. It’s a jungle out there. If I don’t get up and fight my way through it everyday, it will eat me up alive.” The hostile person is more likely to wake up each day with a fire in their belling thinking, “what do I have to do today to make something good happen.”

Harness the Hostility

Given the choice between the aggressive sales person and the passive sales person for their team of “hunters,” sales managers know they need the aggressive ones to really make things happen in opening up new territories. The sales manager knows there ’s a risk associated with the hostile sales person, but it’s well worth it if sales person can harness this trait. Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson’s new book, The Challenger Sale, describes the most effective sales people as assertive, not aggressive, but assertive. Dixon and Adamson go on to compare the assertive and aggressive sales person in the following ways:

Assertive

  • Directly pursues goals in a constructive way
  • Defends own personal boundaries
  • Uses direct language

Aggressive

  • Pursues goals at the expense of  professionalism
  • Attacks others’ personal boundaries
  • Uses antagonistic language

In summary, the hostile trait tends to fuel the fire of the business sales person and high level leader, but it’s only when they transmute this behavior from aggressiveness to assertiveness that they become most effective. For those who want to become more assertive and deal better with aggressive counterparts, I suggest participating in our Effective Negotiation Skills course.

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Categories: Differentiating You, Executive Selling, Sales Management, Sales Skills, Selling in Difficult Times, Uncategorized, professional development, selling

When Buyer’s Use Negotiation Tactics

January 10, 2012 by Scott Olsen

How many times have your heard a customer sing the sad song of an “erratic economy” or “unstable financial times” as a way to get deep discounts. This tactic, or negotiation trick, is known as “violins.” While some companies are experiencing very trying times, this isn’t true of all corporations. Borrowing from Charles Dickens, I’d say it’s been the best of times for some corporations and the worst of times for others. Even the companies who are experiencing the “best of times” are using “violins” to get amazing prices. These “well off” companies have told me, “just because we’re not suffering financially does’t mean we shouldn’t be able to get in on the great deals.” The best sales professionals have learned to approach the negotiation process as a game.

So, how does the effective sales person deal with buyer tactics and avoid becoming a victim? The first step is recognizing a tactic. A negotiation tactic can come in many forms and by definition is a gambit or probe used by the buyer to expose and/or weaken the sales person’s position. The important thing to remember is that negotiation tactics are not demands, they are bluffs made up by a buyer to get “unreasonable” deals from the seller.

Once you’ve recognized the tactic, the best way to deal with the tactic is to neutralize it by countering the buyer’s tactic with a seller tactic. It may seem counterintuitive to some, but it is essential that the buyer understands that the sales person is on to the buyer’s games and that the sales person can play this win/lose game too, and perhaps even better. Once the buyer believes he or she can’t beat you at this type of  ”game” you may have a chance to raise the negotiation from the win/lose level to the balanced level. The balanced level deals with real demands and is typified by “quid pro quo.”

Some of the most common tactics I see are “competition,” “hoops” and the “fritz.” And let’s not forgot the all time classic, “your price is too high.” As the name implies, “competition” is when a buyer says something like, “I may have to look and see if your competition is willing to meet my needs.”

Hoops

You might be experiencing “hoops” if a customer asks you to do a series of worthless tasks without a clear end in sight.

Although “hoops” may be one of the most frustrating tactics to get caught up in, it can also be one of the easiest tactics to counter, by asking the customer, “if I fulfill your request, do we have a deal?”

Fritz

The “fritz” tactic can be the most intimidating to experience and usually comes across as loud and abrasive language in response to something you’ve said, usually immediately after you’ve shared your price.

In summary, the first step in dealing with buyer tactics is awareness. The second step is to neutralize the buyer’s tactic by countering or exposing their tactics. For example, if a customer uses “fritz” on you, you may counter with your own “fritz” or any other tactic. Any tactic can counter a tactic.

Balanced Agreements

Warning! When you engage in win/lose negotiation, typified by either or both sides using tactics, there is always a chance your negotiation could end is lose/lose. If you are adept at countering or exposing tactics, you may be able to raise the level of negotiation to balanced or possibly win/win.

Buyer’s negotiation tactics are not demands, they are games. Tactics are designed to fool or trick you into caving and lowering your price. A customer demand, by definition, is a deal maker or deal breaker. The wise sales person can tell the difference. When a customer makes a demand, you are in prime position to make own your demand of equal or greater value. Recently, one of my clients experienced a negotiation that went like this… The seller requested 50% payment up front and 50% upon delivery of services, with payment terms of net 10 days. The buyer stated that their policy is to pay in net 30 days. In response, the seller said he could go along with the “net 30″ if the buyer allowed the seller to submit the invoice at 100% immediately. The buyer agreed. In the end, the seller was delayed the initial 1/2 payment up front, but received the full payment earlier than originally expected.

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Categories: Creating Ideal Customers, Executive Selling, Sales Management, Sales Skills, Sales Stories, Selling in Difficult Times, Tactical Selling Skills, Uncategorized, negotiation skills, professional development

Prospecting is Not For Dummies

December 16, 2008 by Scott Olsen

One of my favorite stories about prospecting happened when AT&T was broken up into the baby bells and their “sales people” experienced their first taste of competition. A vice president of sales was speaking to a large group of sales people. He was going on and on about how they would need to adjust their approach now that they had real competition. They would have to be proactive and go out their and prospect for new business… they couldn’t just wait for the customer’s to call them.  He went on for a few minutes until one of the sales people raised his hand and asked, “What’s prospecting!”

When salespeople struggle to achieve their numbers, the first questions I ask are “How are you prospecting?” and “How are you closing?” Through my experience in talking with, observing others as well as studying my own conscience, prospecting can be a very thrilling, anxiety ridden, stressful and empowering experience. It reminds me of exercising, because it doesn’t always sound like fun, but I’m always better for it afterwards.

What does your prospecting experiences remind you of…?

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Categories: Prospecting, Sales Skills, Sales Stories, Selling in Difficult Times, sell, selling

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