April 30, 2008
The Sales Apprentice 2008: Sales training and business tips from the hit TV show, part VI
Tonight’s Apprentice was an interesting one although perhaps not from a sales training perspective but more from a business development angle. The task tonight was to create a range of new greetings cards and then make a sales pitch to three of the biggest suppliers in the industry – Clintons, Tesco and Celebrations. The team with the most number of cards ordered after the presentations would be the winner.
Over the last few years, sales pitches, tenders and presentations have more and more become the norm in business. Many small and large businesses and corporations spend huge amounts of time and energy preparing for and delivering sales pitches of this type. Many win large amounts of business by pitching their offerings in this way.
Knowing how to make a good sales pitch of this kind is a powerful business skill. Knowing when to avoid making these kinds of sales presentations and how to win business other ways is also critical but more of that (maybe!) another day.
Tonight Sir Alan picked both team leaders personally making Michael team leader of Alpha and Kevin team leader of Renaissance. I haven’t rated either of these two as yet but Kevin seems to me to be one of the weakest contestants in the whole show. Would he be able to step up to the task in hand? (And is it only me who thinks that Kevin looks like Matt Lucas with hair?)
As usual both of our team leaders were basking in the glory of the camera… Michael told the camera that he would “do anything to win” and that there was no-one that he would not screw over to achieve this aim. Nice chap then. Kevin meanwhile was bragging about how as a team leader he inspires devotion. Apparently, he had his first house at 20. Impressive huh, so that explains why he thinks he can be the most successful business man the world has seen by the time he is 40.
Or pehaps not…
On Kevin’s team Jenny enthusiastically promoted a theme of environmental cards. Was she having a laugh or what? How can anyone who claims to be green support the creation of something that uses natural resources to be made and petrol to be delivered? Jenny herself later admitted that she doesn’t buy as many cards these days herself because she is so green… she really does put the mentalist into environmentalist…
Perhaps more unbelievably the rest of the team all thought that this was a good idea too… No common (sense) as my mum used to be fond of saying when we were kids.
Over on the other team Michael and his mob had agreed that they wanted to create a National Singles’ Day and a range of cards for singles. Their chosen day? The day before Valentine’s Day.
Thinking about who should make the presentations Kevin volunteered himself for his team. The rest of his team were not so sure. The general consensus seemed to be that either Jenny with her environmental knowledge or Claire with her retail pitching experience would have been better for the job. Kevin however was “150% confident” that he could do it… so that’s not going to come back and kick you up the arse then Kevin…
As my mum also used to say, Kevin, pride comes before a fall… Oh, and by the way Mr Bank Manager, you cannot ever be more than 100% confident…
Meanwhile Lucinda is getting (inexplicably) on Helene’s wick, "We need to discuss the roles between the three of us" she helpfully suggests. "Nobody’s telling me what to do" grumps Helene. Lucinda says she will do anything and she does not mind but Helene rants on that Lucinda is always looking for an argument. Pot, kettle, black Helene. Lucinda in her brightly coloured beret and skirt just looks to me like something off of a greeting card not some arch rival business nemesis…
For the next few minutes of the show the teams got down to shooting pictures and designing the cards. I ate my Chinese (can you believe a hotel stopping all hot food room service at 930pm?) and thought there was little of interest going on until…
Michael wanted to know if National Singles’ Day had an apostrophe or not?! Was it National Singles Day? National Single’s Day? Or National Singles’ Day?
Hey! Hey! Hey! I can see this being argued about for weeks on the internet! It got worse. They rang a national newspaper to ask. I think they even rang the National Library (as you would!) Do they not have internet access? Oh come on! Eventually we found out that they took 4 hours to deliberate this one and in the end still were not positive of their decision!
But back to the point…
First up with a sales presentation was Raef pitching the National Singles’ Day idea. “I believe we have created an industry” he proudly proclaimed but Clintons were not so sure believing that the day before Valentine’s Day was not the best of days! You don’t say! At Tesco, Raef started his pitch by saying that they had just come back from the “market leader”. Now I understand why he said that but when making any kind of sales presentation or pitch you always have to consider the sensibilities of your prospect. Tesco may know that Clintons are the market leaders and this may be undisputed but blurting it out was rather insensitive and could have really upset them for a variety of reasons…
Tesco did not like the date either so in the third and final pitch to Celebrations Michael asked Raef to not specify a date.
Lights, camera, action… And Matt, sorry Kevin was up. This really was car crash TV. The idea was appalling. Kevin was appalling. The presentations were appalling.
Clintons wanted to know who would buy environmental cards. Kevin stuttered an answer only to be told he had missed the point. Clintons wanted to know if the cards would make someone smile? Kevin attacked saying that Clintons not putting their weight behind it was like the US not supporting climate change efforts… Yes, just the same!
You cannot attack a client this way Kevin. You’ve just lost any chance of a sale with Clintons.In the car on the way to the next appointment Kevin said that he was not worried. Alex smiled knowingly to himself. Kevin was toast.
The next two presentations were no better. At one point Kevin tried to sell Tesco the idea of helping the planet. Where’s the WIIFM for them in that Kevin? I think you’ve forgotten what your mission is here!!
In the board room…
Sir Alan wanted to know who would buy cards for singles? Why did they choose February 13th? How would a retailer find shelf space when they were already making room for cards for the 14th?! Would you change that with hindsight he asked Michael. "No" came back the reply. That’s what we like to see from our apprentices… no ability to learn from their mistakes no matter how big!
Sir Alan continued to quiz Michael about the 4 hours they had spent on the apostrophe puzzle. Michael looked annoyed and Sir Alan called him on it. Michael got even more annoyed. He clearly cannot take feedback and seems very immature. I’d lose him soon…
But he was going to get away with it tonight because the results were in and Kevin was in far worse a position… Michael’s team had sold 1500 cards to Tesco, 1500 to Clintons and 19500 to Celebrations. Kevin’s team has sold 6000 cards to Tesco but none to either of the other buyers.
Bring me some jam to spread on Kevin, there’s no way he can escape the reaper here…
After another stint in the board room Kevin elected to bring back Sara and Claire. This was a bizarre choice. Claire was always going to be too formidable for him in the board room. And I’d have brought back Jenny (for what little difference it might have made) not Sara. I admit that we have not seen Sara do much but I am not really sure why the team seem so anti her at this stage in the competition. Perhaps because they see her as an easy target.
OK! OK! So Claire, as a retail buyer, should have seen the stupidity of the idea and could have stepped in and made the pitch when Kevin had realized 2 hours before the pitch that maybe he wasn’t the best person to make it. But then again, she was not the team leader, there were other people in the team and it was very short notice given Kevin had rejected her out of hand the day before saying he was 150% confident.
Sir Alan took a last swipe at their whole concept before making his decision and, unless I was dreaming, or maybe he was joking (although I don’t think so), suggested a better idea as "Sorry your 11 year old beautiful child got shot in the head by a hoodie"! Not one of his best selling ideas methinks! And not much of a market either unless he knows of some upcoming revolution directing its paramilitary forces (hoodies) against 11 year old children… Probably be a larger market for "Sorry you’ve just made a tit of yourself on national TV" cards…
Whatever. Let’s not waste time talking trivia… “Kevin this whole task turned out a fiasco and as team leader I hold you responsible. Kevin you’re fired."
A mercy killing and the right decision.
And the cameras cut to the car. This was going to be a good one. What was Kevin going to say? “It is a massive blow and I feel quite angry that there are people in the house that I feel should not be there and tonight I truly feel that Sara should have been fired…”
Oh, read your "You’re fired" greetings card Kevin.
Yawn.
So let’s cut to the chase…
What sales training and business lessons can we learn from this catalogue of errors tonight…
Make sure that you do your planning and preparation.
When making sales presentations and sales pitches you should always plan and prepare thoroughly. Kevin failed to prepare effectively and it showed. Planning and preparation means thinking about how to best convey your message to maximize your chances of making a sale.
Planning and preparation means getting yourself into the right mental state so that you can communicate effectively with your prospects. Planning and preparation means thinking about how you are going to handle objections before you make your presentation not after you have become confrontational and aggressive with your prospect.
Know your audience! Know your audience! Know your audience!
Before any sales pitch or presentation you need to fully understand your audience and what is important to them. Think about why they are in the presentation and what they want to get out of it.
Many salespeople think primarily in terms of how they can make the sale not how their clients gain from working with them. Find out everything you can about your audience… their likes, their dislikes, their values and their traditions. Be careful of the language you use and how you put your message across.
Connecting with your audience is key.
Don’t try and change the world.
Selling is simple. You do not need to complicate it. You do not need to reinvent the wheel. You do not need to change the world.
Kevin’s team, like many businesses, became fixated on their own ideals and their own aspirations. They failed to think about how they would sell their products and whether they could sell their ideas. Their pitch was preachy and not focused on their prospects needs at all. Wakening the world up to environmental issues is a great ambition but it is not easy to sell in this format!
Their objective, as many businesses, was simple – sell greetings cards. They should have kept it simple and done just that rather than forgetting their mission and their objectives electing instead to try and change the world.
So that’s it for another week and I’m still undecided on who I am favouring at the moment but I know who I want to go! I’d be really interested in hearing who you think the contenders are, who you think should be gone and what you thought about tonight’s show…
Filed under In the media, Sales presentations, Small business sales by Gavin Ingham
Comments on The Sales Apprentice 2008: Sales training and business tips from the hit TV show, part VI »
Andy Smith @ 12:57 am
My face is a bit red this week - after tipping Lee as someone to watch last week, this week he was ripping into Sara after the boardroom as the one who should have been fired! It was hard to tell from the editing, but it looked as if “I’ll go whichever way the wind blows” Alex was also having a go at her.
This kind of post-boardroom bullying is something we haven’t seen on the show before. Is this the least emotionally intelligent bunch of candidates they’ve ever had? Raef went up in my estimation for standing up for her, but Sara lost points for not appearing to stand up for herself.
Incidentally, there was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment when Kevin’s team was deciding on the theme for their cards when Sara came up with what sounded like a viable idea - greetings cards for non-Christian religious festivals.
It might well work - Jessica Huie who was on the post-show debrief, or rather ritual humiliation of Kevin has made a good business from spotting the gap in the market for cards that don’t exclusively feature white people.
But, anyway, Sara let Jenny shout her down, and Kevin allowed it to happen. I think Jenny was very lucky this week not to be in the boardroom - if she had been, I suspect she would have been fired.
Stephen ODonnell @ 1:51 am
Well I would have fired Kevin, whatever he did, for not having a single “th” in his vocabulary!
Hearing him going on about “fick and fin”, and how he fawt his team were wiff him in his campaign to save the planet by using even more paper, was beyond irritating. If presented to, by someone like this, I would actually stop them, and ask them to stop doing it.
All I can say is that I really enjoyed the perceptible fud, when he was sacked, of his chin hitting the floor.
The barney in thge house at the end was very revealing. Sara hadn’t contributed directly to the failure of the task, but hadn’t done anything to help them win it either. There again, Kevin worked hard at being an idiot, Jenny came up with a crap idea, and Claire refused the chance to save the team, as she saw the opportunity for Kevin to commit professional hari-kari. I don’t know what Alex did though.
I do believe slackers should be bumped, but the best way is to give them a task, and make them show precisely what they have. There is no room for shrinking violets and professional poltroons here. The rest have decided that they can easily lose Lucinda and Sara, and are rounding on them.
PS. I do think Michael is an arrogant prig, and seemed to be on an emotional knife edge, when he shouted like a Chelsea fan when they got a dodgy penalty earlier. The man has no class. Raef however, is proving to be a gent.
Spencer Clark @ 2:40 am
There are many times in this series when the contestants (or is it applicants?) come up against a relatively simple problem or question.
Last night was the apostrophe.
I can’t quite understand why they don’t appear to use the internet in cases like this. Are they not allowed to use the internet?? They are primed with a Nokia N95, so even if they can’t get to a PC they have 3G mobile internet! Resourcefulness is one talent any business person should have and at times they fail to demonstrate this.
I’m finding several of them quite unlikeable, arrogant, even cocky, but without substance - Kevin. People like to do business with people they can connect with, I’m not sure I’d like to do business with several of this lot.
As for Michael - how does he manage to sound so disinterested in anything he says. And what was with the aggressive outburst in the boardroom when they won? I agree with Gavin on this one, I’m sure he won’t last too long.
Gavin Ingham @ 5:50 am
Andy
You’re so right. The outbursts at the end were incredible. I couldn’t believe that they had so much resentment for each other and that they were so incapable of controlling their feelings.
With the shooting and the editing as it is I think it is nigh on impossible to judge Sara on what she did and what she didn’t do although you are right about the idea she suggested for the cards… I heard that too and thought it was a good idea but it was rejected out of hand by the team.
Infact, Sara was shown talking to the camera saying that she didn’t know why she bothered saying anything as no-one was listening to her. Given their egos this does not surprise me at all!
Stephen
I agree with you totally about slackers… give them something to do and let them step up. If they don’t, lose them. Not that I would take part in this fiasco but if I did I would be keeping my head down too.
Are Sara and Lucinda slackers or are they just quietly getting on with it? From the editing, who knows?
No doubt we will find out in due course!
Spencer
Maybe they are not allowed to use the internet. That would explain why they don’t use it although it would seem silly as in today’s business world surely the whole point is that you leverage modern technology to help to increase your sales and grow your business.
I am struggling to “like” any of them at the moment but maybe there is one star in there who has not yet shown their hand (although I am not sure who!).
Like Andy I was thinking Lee could be a dark horse (perhaps) but I didn’t appreciate his outburst last night when Claire and Sara returned to the house…
Even if we accept that Lucinda and Sara are “weaker” candidates (which I am not totally sure of anyway) this kind of bullying is unacceptable and I wouldn’t employ anyone behaving this way.
I can’t remember who it was but as they were waiting in the house to see who was returning someone said that Kevin was definitely returning. I’d fire them too as they clearly have no idea what they are talking about!
Jennifer @ 8:30 am
Have I turned into a Grumpy Old Woman? The arrogance of youth …. Gavin, week after week we see your Mum was exactly right - this lot have no common sense.
What depresses me is the lack of debriefing both after winning or losing a task. Even after winning they could talk about what lessons they’d learned. Claire’s win on the ice cream task was pure luck - nothing to do with her team leadership qualities.
“You called me a lying snake … OK we’ll just get on with the next task without sorting that one out.” Helene’s reaction to Lucinda’s suggestion to sort out roles equated to nothing more than picking a fight. The attack on Sara by Lee back at the house was puzzling - I wonder what had prompted that?
Sara did make viable suggestions and was shot down.
The whole team was taken over by ‘Group Think’ - it was a crummy concept.
Claire and Jenny did communicate their presentation credentials to Kevin and were over-ruled.
On the apostrophe question they could have phoned anyone of a certain age with a grasp of grammar and got the answer. Wonder if Lynn Truss was watching?
Peter Ramsden @ 8:37 am
Gavin,
I have just got back from a well earned holiday. Having missed two episodes of The Apprentice, I was busting to see what Sir Alan had masterminded for the two teams to get their teeth into this week.
As I watched I found myself asking if this show is a wind up and purely about entertainment and not about finding a true leader who has the basic leadership and commercial skills to be a future business success under the tutelage of Sir Alan and his team.
So far I have yet to see anyone who has the right level of leadership skills and business acumen to be a valuable apprentice to Sir Alan. The show seems to demonstrate each week how not to be successful in business and seems more about ego and arrogance. In previous series there was at least one or two that stood out from the crowd. This bunch just seem to blend into the mediocrity.
You are right Gavin in your commentary that the two ideas really did not hold any commercial merit. They both failed miserably in that any business manager would know how to assess client need. Identifying customer need was sorely missing in either team.
The first team’s idea of “celebrate being single” day was grossly flawed. Let’s be honest who wants to be sent a card reminding them they are “Billy no mates” At best you would need to know your friend so well that they would not feel offended by receiving a well done you are single card! To do this the day before valentines day demonstrated a lack of understanding on launch timing and logistics in a business.
The other team’s idea, whilst commendable, was based on a crusade rather than thinking about who would buy the card and dare to send it to a friend. I agree that we must do something to save the planet but I want to keep some friends too. There are much better ways to get your friends to be more environmentally friendly. Sending your best friends’ a card reminding them of their obligations to conserve resources was quite simply stupid.
Even worse Jenny really put her foot in it when she made the comment to the boss of Clintons Cards that she had stopped buying cards as her way of helping the environment. Imagine trying to sell a product to a major client and making a statement that you have stopped buying their type of products as they are a source of pollution. I am surprised that they were not asked to leave the building at that point When Jenny said that I could not help but gasp in shock. Did she realise what she had said? I don’t think so. Kevin then backed it up by suggesting that should Clintons not back this concept then they are as bad as the USA not backing climate change. No wonder Clinton’s boss told Sir Alan that this concept and pitch was the most outrageous and insulting they had ever experienced.
Kevin signed his own death warrant when he failed to bring Jenny into the boardroom. I am not sure it would have made a difference but had he realised Sir Alan’s disdain for what he thought was Jenny’s idea he might have been able to make a case for Jenny to go.
I was also saddened to see the pack of animals turn on Sara at the end. She might blend into the background but thankfully Raif stood up and was counted. He was right to point out that Sir Alan had made the decision and it was not for them to turn on one member of the group suggesting that they should have gone.
I am looking forward to the next instalment but hope to see someone demonstrate some commercial skills-skills that I am sure Sir Alan is really looking for. I bet at this half way stage he is wondering what he is going to get in return for his £100k+ salaried apprentice!
Could this be the first Apprentice show where he simply fires them all?
Tom Sedge @ 12:59 pm
I am surprised Kevin didn’t expect to be the greatest businessman in the world by 35, why wait until he’s 40?
What is it with their obsession about “nailing” people to things? Once again I’m hearing the same old tired clichés of yaa-boo business through over-inflation of the ego.
What’s wrong with doing a quiet focussed job and selling 100,000 cards through thoughtful well-planned and organised teamwork?
In my view both Lucinda and Sara are being singled out because they won’t buy in to this crap. Now they may not be brilliant, but they’ve each led a task and won it and did so without the full cooperation of their teams.
Looks to me like Alex might win, though I agree with Andy that he switches sides faster than an apprentice can say “I am an extremely successful X…”.
Or perhaps Raef or Claire. Maybe SAS will add some new candidates just to shake it up? I can always hope!
Tom.
pete mayes @ 5:44 pm
I have to say this lot are just a bunch of ego maniacs,none have got a clue about empathy with a client.Even Raif(Raef?)who i like let himself down with that comment to Tescos about having just been to the top retailer in the sector.That was cringemaking i could feel the atmosphere coming through the tele!They are truly awful very poor,how were they picked.This could be the beginning of the end for the show very Reality TV maybe chosen for the wrong reasons. Shame
Stephen ODonnell @ 3:20 am
I think we need to remember that these contestants are there, in large part, because they are available to do so. i.e. not in employment. Their motivations for doing this show range from ambitions for TV work, sheer vanity, nothing better to do, and the usual Big Brother reasons. I’m not sure any of them actually want a 24/7 job working for SAS.
A truly gifted successful business person wouldn’t go near this show, due to the random nature of the editing and luck involved in succeeding. Most entrepreneurs wouldn’t give up control of how they were portrayed to a film crew and director.
I am certain that, like Big Brother, the calibre of genuine contestants is slipping here, to be replaced with TV wannabes, and deluded no-hopers.
Jonathan Bates @ 1:34 am
First time Gaviningham.com viewer, long time apprentice fan!
I think that Stephen in the post prior to mine has hit the spot. Unfortunately the caliber of contestants has fallen. Having said this, I strongly believe every year a couple of gems surface in the sea of unprofessional, gung-ho, and simply put rude candidates. It shocks me every episode how the wannabe apprentices can be so damming of one another. The amount of respect for their ‘colleagues’ is shocking.
As for Kevin….. the phrase ‘dug his own grave’ springs to mind!
Lucinda and Raef in my mind are key to this series; not only do they brighten up the boardroom, they actually have a little respect for the others in the house as shown in the closing part of the show when Sara was being ‘attacked’. Similarly this has happened in the car to Lucinda previously…if only Raef had been there then as well!