Better Business Focus: Weathering The Storm
Better Business Focus magazine’s January issue is entitled Weathering the Storm and in it you can read the following articles…
- Weathering the storm by John Stanley
- Best advice I ever got… maybe
- Ask questions by Paul Sloane
- Bestselling business books
- Customer loyalty: why one number is not enough by David Jackson
- Effective purchasing by Colin Coulson-Thomas
- 10 reasons why small businesses fail
- Connect to your customers through your customers by Ron Kaufman
- 7 tips for selling in an economic downturn by Gavin Ingham
- Why postcard marketing works so well in the internet age by Bob Leduc
- US recessions and expansions from The Great Depression to today
Click here now to read this issue of Better Business Focus from Bizezia.
The Financial Times On Winning New Buinsess In A Recession…
As many of you know I have been very busy speaking at sales conferences and sales seminars so I haven’t had chance to post this article before in which I was interviewed for the Financial Times of December 08. Virginia Matthews was exploring the need for small and large businesses to drum up more prospects and more opportunities in the current economic client and I think it is well worth reading her findings and conclusions.
There are many ways to gain new prospects and win new business and if your only way of winning new business is via cold calling then your business model is every bit as flawed as if you never cold call for new business at all… That said, professional cold calling skills and making legitimate new business calls, like the ones that I teach you how to make in my cold calling books, audios and programmes is an essential skill set for every sales professional and every business that wants to succeed.
In this article, James Caan, whom I have found to be a strong addition to Dragon’s Den, makes some interesting points not least that a sales person who cannot convert a cold call should probably not even be termed a sales professional and that he would not invest in a business which was incapable of cold calling...
A comeback for cold calling as chill sets in
By Virginia Matthews
Published: December 8 2008
When Robyn Jones was made redundant during the recession of 1991, she realised her future rested solely on her ability to cold call. Her confidence was then at a low ebb but she knew that, if she did not pick up the phone, her dream of setting up a catering company would never become reality.
Armed with a redundancy cheque of £2,500 but no clients, Ms Jones learnt that “getting through the gatekeepers” who protect decision-makers from unsolicited callers requires mental agility and charm. But the cold calls paid off and, today, Charlton House Catering has an annual turnover of £75m. “If I hadn’t gathered up my courage to phone strangers, which was quite tough, having just lost my job, I wouldn’t have created a business.”
As the recession bites, the practice of cold calling will become increasingly important, say Ms Jones. She believes that “having a good reputation in your industry is not enough when times are hard”. In order to make new contacts, generate leads and differentiate yourself from the competition, she says “all businesspeople need to forget their fear of cold calling and learn how to market themselves one-to-one, even when the person at the other end of the line is clearly skeptical”.
Serial entrepreneur James Caan, who appears on the British business television competition, Dragon’s Den , has a rather strict rule for start-ups. He will not invest in one if they are incapable of cold-calling. “If people don’t have the skills to convert a cold call into a face-to-face meeting or even a potential contract – and it’s particularly important to have these talents when you are generating sales in a recession – then I doubt whether they can even be termed sales professionals.”
He believes effective cold calling is a dying art among those more accustomed to the anonymity of the internet. But he argues that generating sales leads over the phone is far easier today than it was in the 1980s when he set up recruitment firm Alexander Mann from scratch.
Mr Caan says: “In the 1980s, there were literally hundreds of thousands of us using the Yellow Bible (Yellow Pages telephone directory) all day and it became fairly easy for personal assistants and other gatekeepers of the time to get rid of us before we were even halfway through our pitch.
“Today, cold calling is far rarer and the relatively small number of people who manage to talk their way past switchboard and into my office usually have something worth listening to.”
Mr Caan adds that the secret of cold calling may come down to the caller’s posture. “Too many so-called salespeople currently hide behind the internet when they should be getting on the phone and talking to people. I always encourage people to do it standing up because that way, you sound more in control and less like someone who has had the phone put down on you 20 times already that morning.”
The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management takes a less indulgent view.
“Cold calling can scare clients and make you look desperate and we believe it is even less appropriate in a recession,” says director of training William Pedley.
“We want people to be invited in to see their clients because they already have a good relationship with them, not because they’ve been rushing round like headless chickens trying to get appointments. We hope there won’t be a resurgence in either cold calling or doorstepping.”
Gavin Ingham, who coaches sales staff, trained 5,000 people in recruitment, IT and telecoms to cold call last year and says that, to judge by his order book for 2009, both the numbers and the sectors willing to get on the phone are rising.
“Aside from business start-ups, I’m getting requests from solicitors, accountants and even fire and rescue services looking to build their businesses and brands with a campaign of cold calling.”
Mr. Ingham has three rules however. “The WIIFM (what’s in it for me?) rule is there to remind you that it’s the person being cold called, not you, that’s the really important one, and the 10 second rule is all about making your pitch relevant and different right from the word go.”
And the third? “If you’re following up an e-mail, call your target within 24 hours or you’ll have to start all over again.”
©The Financial Times Limited 2008.
p.s. For more strategies and techniques for selling in a downturn market make sure that you read my free special report on selling in a recession.
On Being A Motivational Speaker…
I was interviewed this week about being a motivational speaker by Simply Sales Jobs who are running a series of interviews to help sales professionals and people thinking of commencing a career in sales to better understand the benefits, challenges and rewards of a career in selling…
You own and run ‘Gavin Ingham Ltd’ – tell me more about your role, company and what motivated you to establish the business.
My time is split between running open sales training seminars, speaking at sales conferences and working on new books, audios & DVDs. I also spend a very limited amount of time doing training and consultancy. As a company, Gavin Ingham is focused on helping salespeople, business owners, entrepreneurs & sales leaders to create the sales, businesses and lives that they desire.
Throughout my career I was really into personal development and sales training and found them to be an incredibly powerful resource for me. As I progressed I found that my biggest buzz came not just from selling but also from helping others to sell more and achieve their goals.
What is your background and where did the idea come from to start Gavin Ingham Ltd?
Salesperson, sales manager, sales director, head of sales and marketing… the further I progressed the more of a kick I got from helping others to achieve their ambitions too. Having employed several training companies to train my teams and having studied many sales and personal development gurus I believed that it was an area in which I could add massive value. It’s sounds like I swallowed the manual but I really do see it as calling!
What are the top 5 skills and characteristics you believe makes a consistent over-achiever in Sales?
Gosh, that’s a hard one – there are so many. So in no particular order…
Top salespeople are motivated. Motivation is critical for sales success. No-one wants to buy off an unmotivated salesperson. Ultimately, everyone is motivated… some are motivated not to cold call, motivated to sell to easy clients, motivated to discount… so when I say motivation I mean motivation to do the right things and at the right time.
Top salespeople have proven sales skills such as questioning, listening, sales process, presenting, rapport building and so on. Top salespeople know that sales skills are simple to understand and more difficult to execute. Top salespeople do the simple things really, really well. Most salespeople know how to sell but they don’t do it consistently enough. This is because they haven’t practised their skills until they are second nature.
Top salespeople have belief. They believe in themselves, they believe in their products, services and solutions, they believe in the value that they add for their clients and they believe in the profession of selling itself. If you believe, you really can achieve!
Top salespeople have the right mindset. They are persistent, consistent and tenacious. They are genuinely interested in their clients and they aim to work in partnership with them.
Finally, and by no means last, top salespeople understand the psychology of selling. They know why people buy and how their behaviour affects both the sale and the other parties in the sale. They know how what they say and how they act affects others. What’s more, they are tuned in to this when they speak with clients and prospects on the phone and face to face and can flex their approach to get results in any situation.
What do you love about your industry?
Being able to help people to create the lives and businesses that they deserve, the diversity of my role and the fact that one day I may be speaking to thousands of people and the next I may be working one on one with an MD of a small business or sitting quietly in my place in Spain writing the next chapter of one of my books.
Any recommendations for job-seekers looking at a career in Sales, especially in the current climate?
Know that a good salesperson will do well in any market. Top salespeople will always excel whatever the market. Take responsibility for your own development and your own career and create your own sales success study programme. Stay motivated and learn from the best.
What would you do, as a career, if you weren’t working in Sales industry?
Professional fly fisherman (I wish!) in the summer, stage hypnotist in the winter!
Within my LinkedIn network of contacts you are the person with the most recommendations! Here is just one of them “Gavin is one of the most focused, energetic and lateral thinking Managers that I have worked with. He is credible, good fun and inspirational!” How does that make you feel?
I didn’t know I had that many testimonials on LinkedIn… I’ve never asked for any! I love what I do and I am passionate about it and I think that shows. I guess it’s always nice to know that people appreciate what you do!
What keeps you awake at night?
When I’m in London, usually traffic as you can only hear owls from my bedroom window at home! At home, not much, although I do find it difficult to stop working when I am on a roll even if it’s 3am in the morning! Once I go to bed though it is rare that I struggle to sleep.
As a busy business owner, what are you never without?
A sense of humour!
5 of the most exciting things currently on your desk...
The proofs for my next two books, Real World Sales Skills and Real World Sales Attitude; the framework for my new distance learning sales programmes on cold calling, lead generation and selling; my Eee PC – I still cannot get over how small and portable it is; a bid on a rare first edition book on Ebay; my diary – I don’t think that I will ever lose the excitement of a diary full of sales potential!
Outside of work, do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?
As a child, I wanted to be in The Professionals, the real ones not the show, but I’d hate the hours and being shot at all of the time. I also wanted to be a vet like James Herriott but there’s no way I would stick my hand up a cow’s arse so that wasn’t really a starter either.
One of the first things I did when I got involved with personal development was to get on and take action towards my true ambitions. I do have things that I am going to do however and next is to buy myself a Blokart – check them out, they’re wicked!
The Return Of The Sales Apprentice…
A few weeks ago I was enjoying the sun on my back and a long cool drink on my balcony in Spain when I got a message to call Jennifer Celerier from this year’s Apprentice. Having written so much about them I was intrigued so I decided that I would give her a call straight back.
Apparently, both she and Kristina Grimes (who came second in 2007) had enjoyed my blogs on the Apprentice and wanted to talk to me about a sales and business project that they were planning…
I think that you’ll like what they have planned and I’ll tell you more as it progresses but in the meantime I have agreed with them that we’re going to do a podcast together in the next few weeks. We intend to talk about sales, business, the Apprentice and life in general so if you enjoyed watching them and the Apprentice this will be a must listen podcast.
I’m not promising that I will be able to ask all of them but if you do have any questions for them, why not pop them into comments below? Even if I don’t ask them on the podcast they’ve promised that they’ll swing by and read them and maybe answer them on the web too.
So watch out for that podcast and more about their project in the next few posts…
The Sales Apprentice 2008: Sales Training Tips From The Hit TV Show, The Final
The final of The Apprentice 2008… Who would Sir Alan choose to be his apprentice? Would he go for the corporate girl? The “reformed” loud mouth? The “young” boy? Or the geezer? What sales training and business lessons would we learn if any?
It doesn’t seem any time since we had 16 candidates and here we were with just four left and a final decision to make.
The teams for tonight had already been decided last week and were Alex & Helene versus Claire & Lee. Tonight’s task was to design a men’s fragrance and then to pitch it successfully in a sales presentation. Perfume is a highly competitive market and finding an angle was important but not as important as staying focused on business would prove to be…
As usual Sir Alan had invited back some ex-Apprentices to “help out”. I say “help out” in the loosest possible terms as I’m not sure that I would enlist any of this rent-an-apprentice crowd to help me navigate my way out of a paper bag…
But that was the game and Alex “I’m only 24” and Helene “I’m not that corporate but I’m the only one who’s not more Big Brother than big business” got help in the form of “posh bloke” Raef, “short, ex-bank manager, Porsche bloke” Kevin and the distinctly unmemorable “we’d all forgotten you” Jennifer.
Over on the other team Lee “I lied on my CV” and Claire “I’m a pitbull but I’d get mullered by a badger” had the “waste of space” Jenny, “the arrogant waste of space” Michael and Simon, “Ah! Bless him!”
Maybe it’s in their contracts or maybe they’re trying to avoid the Running Man syndrome where Arnie tries out his, “I’ll be back” line only for Killian to respond, “Only in a rerun” but it amazes me that they agree to come back… I guess the answer however is obvious, they just want to be on TV no matter what the humiliation and no matter how stupid they look!
As usual Claire leapt into action off firing on all cylinders. Alex and Helene meanwhile struggled to agree on a brand name. Alex suggested “not connection but connect” and Helen’s terse reply was, “We hate it”. As a supposed “expert” in pricing she was going to have more to worry about than a brand name by the end of this show!
Meanwhile, Alex took the reins and started to look at bottle design. To be fair to Alex and Helene they did come up with a great design and a strong brand idea. Indeed, after they had later made their sales presentation of Dual one of the audience said, “Considering you’ve had 3 days to make this I think it’s extraordinary.”
Just a shame that we later learned that several of the best ideas had come not from Alex or Helene but from the design agency!
Back on the other team, Lee and Claire had come up with the wheeze of naming their product Roulette. This was based on the concept that gambling was sexy, fun and manly and led to Lee late coming out with this classic line, “Looks like a man, feels like a man, now wants (?) to smell like a man!”
Hmmm! I guess I’m just not target market for this one!
In the rehearsals Lee, who had previously struggled with his presentation, was panicking, “It’s just shit, I can’t do this!” But in the final sales presentation Claire stepped up and helped Lee.
As usual we didn’t see enough of the presentations to really know who did and didn’t present well but in the end it didn’t matter. Helene and Alex, although seemingly having the best idea, the best brand and the best product, were destined to lose because they had made a business faux pas and stuffed up on their pricing…
In the words of Sir Alan, “This cost at least 3 to 4 times more than a normal bottle. You’re left with nothing to advertise with.” And then, “Alex and Helene, you’re fired.”
Not a good exit for a “global pricing leader” one has to say. At least Alex can consol himself (if no-one else) with the fact that he is, after all, only 24!
So we were down to two…
Lee versus Claire.
“Claire you have some great attributes,” said Sir Alan. And to Lee, “Lee you’re very convincing.”
Now let’s be straight here Sir Alan, not that convincing…
Your last four consisted of a global pricing leader who cannot price for profit; a senior retail buyer who has either gone through a monumental personality change or who must have ulcers from biting so hard on her lip to stop herself talking for the last few programmes; a regional sales manager who although good at selling needs a good shave, a good hair brush, banning from the words “I’m only 24” and some more consistent energy levels; and a recruitment sales manager who “tarted up” his CV.
But Sir Alan had made his decision…
“Lee, you’re hired.”
Now that’s what I’m talking abaht!
Not a decision that I would have made but I’m not going to knock the guy when he must be on top of the world (…but that CV would worry me…)…
So what sales training and business tips did we learn tonight and over this series of The Apprentice?
Sales training tip 1: Sales and selling is an essential business skill!
Despite the fancy qualifications, alleged business backgrounds and past successes of some of this year’s Apprentice candidates, three of the finalists were the best salespeople in the series (which is a low benchmark I know!).
Selling and the ability to sell is essential if you want to get on in business and in life. Whether selling a product to a consumer, a service to a business, a big ticket sale to a corporate, an idea to a team or yourself to a prospective employer; selling is critical to your success.
Sales training tip 2: Lying on your CV lands you 6-figure jobs every time…
Ooops! Sorry!
Sales training tip 2: Business savvy is a prerequisite if you want to get on!
Creativity and flair, artistry and imagination are powerful business allies and can be leveraged to drive your sales and your business to great heights but without a dollop of business savvy you’re going nowhere.
In my travels as an author and motivational speaker I meet many salespeople, directors and business owners who have great ideas, imaginative ideas, even brilliant ideas but no business savvy.
Business savvy is not a “like to have”, it’s a “must have”.
Business savvy is knowing what makes sense and what doesn’t. Business savvy is thinking about your market and who you’re going to sell to not getting carried away with the niceties of designing some all singing, all dancing product for which there are no customers.
Business savvy is understanding the problems and challenges of business, where you fit in and how you can help. Business savvy is knowing not only the language of business but also taking consistent actions required for business.
Sales training tip 3: Walk the talk.
The Apprentice this year yielded a lot of talk. Life yields a lot of people who talk. People who talk a good game. People who give it the big “I am”. People who tell you how great they are, what they’ve done and how important they are.
This is nothing new and it’s not just in business.
As a teenager I used to run the 400m and the 800m. For my school I mostly ran the 800m. Every year we used to enter the city championships and every year I would make the final. Some years I won it, some I didn’t. But I always made the final.
Every year there would be heats to get through to the final and every year kids lined up talking about what fast times they’d run pre-season. They’d quote five or more seconds faster than I had ever run. They’d have the latest spikes, the latest track suits and I’d be worried…
Until we ran. Because my experience was always the same. The more they talked, the slower they ran. The ones to watch were always the quiet ones. The ones warming up meticulously and focusing on the task in hand.
Talk is cheap. What successful business and salespeople need is action. I don’t want to know what you might sell or what you could sell. I don’t want to know what you sold last week, last month or last year.
I want to know what you’re going to do. I want to know what action you’re going to take.
The Sales Apprentice 2008: Sales Training Tips From The Hit TV Show, Part XI
Love them or hate them, tonight The Apprentice treated us to the “interviews” of Lee, Claire, Lucinda, Helene and Alex. There weren’t any sales training or business lessons to be learned and we didn’t get to see much of the interviews. You can’t learn much about interviewing from The Apprentice either unless you want the spirit if not the weight of UK Employment Law bearing down on you.
Still, let’s be straight here, this is not about interviewing, this is about sensationalist TV and nothing more. If someone with Sir Alan’s experience didn’t know who he wanted to recruit weeks before this and after all of the exercises they have been set, it would be a poor show!
And if you tried to interview salespeople in this manner you wouldn’t find any recruiters to recruit for you let alone applicants for your positions. This “dream team” of interviewers all make me look like sweetness and light but even I once got a stroppy call from a recruitment agency asking me why I gave their candidate a “hard time”!
But in the name of good TV, four (probably normally) upstanding business people made out that interviewing is something like a cross between an interrogation and a no-holds, full contact, ultimate fighting competition. Tonight’s contenders were Paul Kemsley (property developer), Claude Litner (Sir Alan’s former trouble-shooter), Bordan Tkachuk (CEO of IT firm Viglen, owned by Sir Alan) and Karren Brady (MD of Birmingham City Football Club).
So, before we get into any conclusions that could be drawn from tonight’s melee let me share with you what I wrote but did not have time to post earlier this week…
Hmmm…
Many people have been asking what I think about the candidates and who I think Sir Alan should hire. This is not an easy question given their different skill sets and the “vagueness” of the job title in question…
Last year we saw Simon win… enthusiastic, well presented, well-spoken, a true Sir Alan fan and a real team player…
The year before we saw Michelle beat the Badger who would have seemed the logical choice for Sir Alan…
So what is he looking for?
Difficult to say on these two radically different choices and I think the answer is that Sir Alan is very flexible in what he is looking for. This makes second guessing him very difficult to do. Sir Alan said last week that he is looking for someone who can slot in. Nick said last night, Sir Alan needs people who can deal with corporates too…
So I waited to post my thoughts until after watching last night’s (Tuesday) “insight” into the remaining 5 candidates. I can’t say it helped much and I didn’t feel that I got a “sight” into very much at all.
So here goes nothing…
Lucinda.
She’s cooky, she’s off beat and she has wacky dress sense. Her berets and colour combinations will always make her stand out! Her management skills seem the most honed and she has an ability to put people into the roles that suit their skills best. She seems to aim to get the best out of the others around her as a team leader and seems effective in this endeavour. She is analytical and intelligent and has (apparently) already done well in her career as the top earner before entering The Apprentice. She has also done very well in the tasks where she has been project manager.
Unfortunately, she gets rather stroppy, seems not to have the ability to deal with Alex and Lee (who I do think were making things very hard for her) and appears to hand the towel in when things aren’t going her way. She is not fitting in a team player although in her defence I suspect she is not used to back-stabbing, Machiavellian teams like the ones she has been presented with in this situation.
She cannot sell… or should I say, she thinks she can’t. I think that if she believed she could, she could but that’s another story. Her belief that she cannot sell and her abdication of any responsibility in this area will “probably” make her unhirable for Sir Alan. I also think she is way too individualistic for him and his companies and it is highly unlikely that he would employ her.
Helene.
I found her obnoxious and aggressive at the start of the series. She did more shouting and stirring than nearly anybody. And then she went quiet and seems to have stayed out of trouble and off the radar ever since.
On the positive side she seems to be level headed and sees things for what they are. She clearly has some success behind her in the past but in what, doing what and with what results we really don’t know. We just keep getting told that she worked for a large corporate…?
On the downside, Helen cannot sell and this probably makes her unemployable by Sir Alan just like Lucinda. She probably brings another “dimension” with her corporate background but if Sir Alan wanted this he could buy it in. I can’t see why he would need it in an apprentice…
Which leads us to the other three…
Claire, Alex and Lee. I do not see them as having more “dimensions” than the other two. I could probably argue the opposite in fact…
However…
My choice of Apprentice would be from one of these three, admittedly mostly because they are the best salespeople left in the competition.
Lee.
Lee is ex recruitment. He is a lively upbeat individual with some obvious communication and motivation skills. On the flip side, he does not always seem in control of his communication skills and seems prone to outbursts and swearing in places and with people where perhaps it is not the best tactic or approach. He is not that academic which shows in his choice of language and approach at times. I am not sure that he has the potential of Alex and Claire.
He’s a likeable guy which is one of his strengths and he can sell… how well of course remains to be seen. He sold the knickers at the wedding show and that was commented upon although I suspect they were a very easy sale as most brides would want to spend something at the show and here was a purchase that they could make with no down side. The wrong wedding dress equals a disaster, the wrong knickers equals… sexy lingerie during the week! Hardly the end of the world!
He sold some supercar rentals too but nothing like as many as Alex. This may have been bad luck or it may have been that Alex is the better salesman.
And whilst his motivation skills seem good his management and leadership skills seem dubious. There is an obvious split between him and Alex and Lucinda and neither he nor Alex seem to have been able to bridge that gap as managers. Clearly, there is a lot we don’t know here but none the less I don’t think he would be in my top 2.
Alex.
I have liked Alex and then I haven’t and then I have and then I haven’t. With many of the other candidates this season, this hot-cold-hot feeling of mine towards them has been due to their characters unfolding in front of us and us seeing different aspects of them but with Alex it is because he blows hot and cold himself.
He is undoubtedly capable of selling and has proved this in several tasks. When the wind is blowing in the right direction, when he gets out of bed the right side and when he’s happy he would be an asset to a team…
But when it’s not going right he seems to be childish and moody. He states his passion and energy but he doesn’t always show it.
There has been a lot said on this series about the huge pressure of the show and how tiring the whole thing is. The contestants and the media have fed us this line from the start of the series…
Really?
I know plenty of people who leave the house every day before 7am and never get home until gone 9pm. They work 6 days a week for 48+ weeks of the year and have done for the last 20 years +.
As far as I am aware our apprentices have not been through sleep deprivation and whenever the phone rings at between 6 and 730am they all seem to be still in bed asleep or just rising…
If they want to be “the tycoons of the future” they are going to need to be able to work at least this much and this hard for years on end not just a few weeks!
Anyway, back to Alex…
I think he could be good but I am not sure if he would consistently produce. I’d also like him to smarten up a bit. Far too much attention on looking cool, not enough on looking the part for me (but then I am old fashioned like that!).
Which leaves…
Claire.
Claire is definitely the one with the mouth. She seems quite young in this group now although Alex is apparently the youngest. She reminds me of the Badger in some ways although with a different skill set…
She is not quite as much of a direct salesperson as Ruth was but she seems more capable of listening and growing. Of all of them Claire has impressed me with the way she has taken on board the feedback about her being opinionated and pile driving people…
Whether this is a permanent change who knows but she certainly seems to have been more reflective and less opinionated. Even if this is just because she has become more savvy in the board room and started to realise when the waves are crashing on someone else’s shore, this is an improvement. Awareness is an important board room, sales and business skill after all.
Claire can sell as she proved last week with the cars and she managed ok when she did.
So who would I hire? You know, I still don’t know. Let’s see how they do in the interviews this week. Last year these were very illuminating. Very illuminating indeed!
Welcome back…
So those were my thoughts and I don’t really think they’ve changed after tonight’s show. As tonight’s show was barely chronological and has no real business or sales tips to get our teeth into I thought I would cover it off like this…
Claire added £8m to the bottom line of her business yet only took home a £27k bonus. She was told that she hadn’t negotiated a good deal there!
Alex was described as a “former landscape gardener who now works in a supermarket”! That’s just rude that is… and Alex looked like he thought so too!
Alex got told that he must have some “thick friends” if he thinks that his skills are exceptional. He didn’t look pleased about that either!
Lee was shown to have doctored his CV saying that he had spent 2 years in a college when he actually left after 4 months. Not a smart move for a recruiter that one! We learned that he has an “issue” about his lack of formal qualifications.
Lee had a sentence in his CV that had so many mistakes in it that I would have been disappointed had it been written by a 10 year old. Sorry Lee but that is just not “what I’m talking about!”
Alex got told that his CV was boring and to say something interesting. Apparently, he didn’t!
Lucinda got told that she doesn’t listen by an interviewer who definitely wasn’t listening!
Helene apparently managed a team of 500+ salespeople. Why would anyone give that up for this? I just don’t know but then as my mum likes to say, “It takes all sorts!”
And take all sorts it does. Who do you know who would put up with this kind of boorish, oafish, idiotic and childish interviewing? At least Karren brought a modicum of decorum and sense to the otherwise pointless proceedings!
The panel were relatively split in what they thought. There were no amazing surprises from them and I doubt that anything they reported back to Sir Alan will in any way have changed his opinions!
On Alex.
They liked him. They liked the fact that he had been on a commission only role and they found him charming and likeable. Claude was the only dissenter finding him shallow and believing that he would require work.
On Lucinda.
Intelligent, bright and articulate but a big NO for Sir Alan. They thought that she would be a handful.
On Lee.
Paul Kemsley hated the fact that Lee winked at him at the end of the interview. They found him likeable but did not like the fact that he had embellished his CV. Karen thought he did a good job of selling a pen to her. They thought he would work hard.
Claire.
Karen thought Claire was fantastic, a doer, saying that she would employ her if Sir Alan didn’t. (Claire, that might be a better role for you…). Claude was not so sure, doubting whether her retail skills would transfer well. Bordan thought she didn’t listen and questioned if she might be pretending to listen now. Paul said he saw her as the holiday rep that she once was. A tad harsh that one.
Helene.
Claude liked her. Paul saw her as back room staff but said you couldn’t rule her out. Karen liked her. They were all taken with her rise from a troubled upbringing.
In the board room…
Sir Alan asked each of the candidates to give an account of themselves which they did and then Alex stepped in and attacked Lucinda for maybe not wanting the job. This was a shrewd move, effectively casting doubt on Lucinda and showing his passion for the job through his annoyance at her going for a job she may not want.
Upshot…
“Lucinda, you’re a little bit too zany for me. You’re fired!”
So who would be the next two to go?
Apparently, no-one! Sir Alan does not have enough information to make his decision. 11 weeks and 11 tasks and he does not have enough information? And him this amazing business person too! He’s virtually been employing them for 3 months!!! Oh come on!
How can he possibly not know exactly what he is going to do?
Sir Alan decided to take four not two into the final stating that this was because he thought that they all had skills and were “very, very good candidates” and he wanted to see more of them. I don’t believe this anymore than I see them as “very, very good candidates”. I believe that it was fall for TV but in that I think he was right…
It will be more interesting!
Next week’s teams for the final will be Claire and Lee versus Alex and Helene. Apparently the losing team is going to be fired in its entirety and Sir Alan will chose from the winning team. This would imply that Sir Alan really does not “know” who is going to win as it could be out of his control if his “favourite” loses! I find this staggering!
So here’s my thoughts on next week…
I would not, could not hire Lee. If for no other reason than that he’s an ex recruiter and there is no way he could have expected to have got away with that clanger about his education. Whether this will bother Sir Alan who knows!
I don’t think Sir Alan will hire Helene either. She’s too corporate and he has already questioned what she brings to the party. She would be a safe bet but I don’t think he will go with her…
So that should leave it a shoot out between the pretty boy and the motor-mouth, Alex and Claire. They are conveniently split with one on each team so Sir Alan should be able to choose from one of them…
But will he? What do you think?
The Sales Apprentice: Sales Training Tips From The Hit TV Show, Part X
In last week’s Apprentice the task was to rent out high end supercars. The team making the most sales would be the winner. A sales task plain and simple and one which created many interesting sales training and business lessons..
Sales managers for the day on the two teams were Michael (leading Helene and Claire) and Lee leading Lucinda and Alex. Their first task was to pick two cars per team that they would have to sell…
Michael picked a Ferrari and a Spyker, Lee an Aston Martin and a Zonda. These cars varied in sales rental quotes massively, from just over £600 per day for the Ferrari to £2750 per day for the Zonda! It’s not often in life that you can call a Ferrari cheap but in this company it most definitely seemed it particularly given the fact that the Ferrari could be sold on an hourly rental but the Zonda was only available by the day!
Sales training and business tip: This choice of cars would prove to be a wise choice for Lee’s team with a clutch of Zonda sales winning the task for him and team Alpha. There’s a lot of talk of risk taking in these shows with little to substantiate the choices. In business and in sales your choice of products and territories should be based on consientious research not guesswork!
Anyhow, this brave decision to go for such an expensive car won the day but it would have been knives at dawn for the person who made that decision if they had failed to sell any!
At the start of the show we saw Michael wandering around with a towel looking less energetic than a hibernating bear. When he found out what the task was he seemed to leak energy and ended up resembling a deflated balloon. He told the camera that he abhorred cars and that, “They are alien to me.” For all the talk of him being young and enthusiastic, there was little evidence of it. He’s only been working for a year (apparently) and he obviously has a thing or two to learn yet about sustained motivation!
Sales training tip: Success in business and sales is not about saying you’re great, it’s about proving it! That requires energy, drive and persistence; you need to keep on going when everyone else has given up and gone home. To be this tired in the middle of what is, after all, only a few weeks worth of work does not bode well…
Meanwhile, over on Lee’s team, all was not well… again! Lucinda, Lee and Alex seemed to have picked up where they left off last week – at each other’s throats! Annoyingly, this is one of those situations where we just haven’t seen enough to judge what is really going on and who is really to blame.
So here’s how I see it… you may agree… or not!
- Lucinda is a bit “kooky” in her berets, hats and scarves and takes a part intellectual, part emotional response to tasks. She has some good points (management) and some bad ones (sales and whining!).
- Lee and Alex are slightly scruffy, self-educated “salespeople” (in the broadest term of the word). They don’t seem to get on with her particularly well and I doubt they would socialise with her out of the programme. They think she is whiny and they don’t think that she adds anything to the team… particularly not in a selling task.
- They do not listen to her… Lucinda clearly suggested the raffle idea but then neither of the boys could or would remember that.
- They dismiss her… sending her off selling by herself after she said, “I don’t want to be myself” and Lee said, “You won’t be!”
Sales management tips: Sales management is not about taking the best accounts and selling into them yourself. Sales management is not about pairing up your best people (Alex and Lee in this case) and abandoning your weaker salespeople to sink or swim. Sales management is not about dismissing your team players when they want to learn. Sales management is not about failing to make decisions and then blaming others for not making them for you (Lee on whether Lucinda should or should not sell tickets for the Zonda, “Just f*****g make a decision!).
Irrespective of the fact that they won or that Lucinda was out of her depth in tonight’s sales task, Lee failed as a sales manager tonight.
Over on team Renaissance another sexual split had taken place only with Helene and Claire splitting away from Michael. Helene and Claire have radically different selling styles from each other with Claire focusing on emotions (“Do you want to hear the engine?” to an enthusiastic male sales prospect and liberal use of emotional language) and Helene focusing on facts (“They want specs” she says).
The final results will speak for themselves with Claire making numerous sales and Helene none.
Sales training tip: People buy on emotion and justify with logic. An impulse purchase of a few hours or a weekend in a supercar is always going to be an emotional choice! The size of the engine and the horsepower is not going to move people to getting their cheque books out! The thought of the wind in your hair, the jealous glances on the street and a pretty person by your side just might!
Michael, meanwhile, was trawling a veritable smorgasbord of locations in London where you would be most unlikely to be able to sell a car! He finished up in the Portobello market in Notting Hill will with a, and I jest not, German food van next to him, a dust cart parked by him and empty black bags strewn all over the road. The Italian Lakes this was not.
Roll up! Roll up! Get your hot bratwursts and schnitzels. Hot and spicy sausages to take away. With or without onions. Oh, and don’t forget your Ferrari rental!
Yeah, righto. Fool!
At 5pm both teams headed for Canary Wharf where they had 4.5 hours to sell as many more rentals as they could. Michael, who thinks he is a great salesperson despite the fact that he sold nothing, is losing it, “If you’re not going to do it for a weekend, at least a day. At least a day. Bl***y h*ll!”
Hopefully, Andy Smith will write something in the comments about emotional intelligence… Emotional intelligence is about self-awareness, about being more aware of how you feel, more aware of how those feelings affect your behaviours and more aware of how those behaviours affect others. It is also about being more aware of other’s emotions and how they affect their communications.
Emotional intelligence is a key skill for salespeople, sales managers, business owners and leaders. Michael was clearly frustrated at this stage and had lost it.
“Inside my brain I’m meant to be a high calibre salesman,” he opined. Yes Michael, and there, like many of your Apprentice “friend” is your problem… inside your head.
In the board room…
- Sir Alan asked Lee why he sent Lucinda by herself.
- He asked Lucinda if she thought she got pushed aside.
- Lee said that you cannot hand hold people. (Maybe not Lee, but to abandon a third of your teamis just foolish).
- Lucinda said that she was impressed with her own improvement during the task.
- Sir Alan pointed out to her that she didn’t sell anything!
- Lucinda said that she was not any good at closing.
- Sir Alan said that selling was about closing deals.
- Sir Alan asked Michael why he went to Portobello Road market where he clearly was never going to sell any cars?
- Michael told Sir Alan that, “He’s be surprised!”
Sales training tip: Don’t fight with reality! You will never win! How can you look like anything but a fool when you sit there and say things like that with the results so horribly stacked against you?”
- Michael said that he was a good salesman.
- Sir Alan asked if he thought that even though he did not sell any cars?
- Michael replied in the affirmative.
The results…
Renaissance with sales manager Michael, £2114. Alpha with sales manager Lee, £11,815 with Alex closing more than £8000 of the sales.
The Renaissance show down…
Back in the board room it became evident that Claire was safe when up against Helene and Michael. Sir Alan seemed unimpressed with both Helen and Michael. Surely Michael, finally, had to go. After some soul searching and some grand claims from both of them about their commitment Sir Alan made his decision, “Michael, I think I have to say to you… you’re fired.”
In the car Michael was busy pulling victory from the jaws of defeat, “He saw something in me that reminded me of what he was like when he was younger.”
I wonder if Sir Alan would put it that way? Unlikely, I think.
Sales training and business lessons from tonight’s show…
Know your market!
Knowledge of your market, who buys from you, when, where and why is critical for your success. Knowing which cars would and would not sell, at what prices and to whom proved to be a decisive factor in tonight’s show.
Perhaps this was luck, perhaps they did some research when we weren’t watching! No matter. If this was your business, then this knowledge would be critical.Claire made many smaller sales tonight but could not compete with the huge daily rental fee of £2,750 of the Zonda.
Work on your sales skills.
In tonight’s show we saw Lee’s team win because they made bigger sales. This was partly due to the more expensive Zonda rental price although also because they were selling full day rentals not hourly ones.
Claire did a good job of “upselling” from one hour to three but seemingly failed to sell any full day or weekend rentals.
You can help yourself to make more sales and at higher prices by getting into the mindset of your clients. £600+ for one day for a Ferrari may seem a lot to our humble (now there’s a word I wouldn’t have thought that I could have got into a sentence about them!) Apprentices but to a city trader with million pound plus bonuses how much is it really?
Let your results speak for themselves.
I’m sick and tired of hearing how good they are.
Prove it.
Many salespeople I work with tell me how good they are. They tell me how good they could be. They tell me how they could close more sales if only… they had a better territory, they were more respected, the market was different, the price was lower, they were more competitive…
Poppycock!
Sales results are all that counts. Not words. I don’t care what you could, might or should have done. That won’t impress me, it won’t impress your boss and it won’t pay the rent!
Michael had no prospects because he did not know how to prospect not because there were no prospects.
Claire made too few bigger sales because she did not go for them not because the clients weren’t there.
Lucinda only made one sale because she spent too much time making some tickets that the team never used rather than speaking to people!
The great thing about sales is that it’s not about education, background or upbringing, it’s about results.
In sales, results speak for themselves. Can you handle it?
The Sales Apprentice: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Part IX
Well! Well! Well! What was that all about? What did you miss if you chose to watch Man U and Chelsea rather than tuning in to Sir Alan and his wannabee business moguls! After tonight’s Apprentice I was left feeling that something must have been left out in the editing, that something must be lost in translation somehow…
Tonight’s show was an odd one with few or no sales training lessons to learn but plenty of mini-lessons in personal development, management and presenting.
Week 9 – Atishu! Atishu! We all fall down.
At the start of tonight’s programme only 7 contestants remained and only 4 tasks separated them from ultimate victory but as one “unlucky” apprentice wannabee was about to find out, sometimes one bad task is all that is required to see you evicted on this show.
After a bit of team restructuring we were left with Alex heading up Lee and Lucinda and Raef heading up Claire, Helene and Michael. Their task was to create an advertising campaign for tissues consisting of the box, a press advertisement and a TV advert. This was snot an easy task!
Once they had created their brands and their ads our teams were to present to one of the UK’s biggest ad agencies and the team with the best presentation would win. You know the rest.
Raef was immediately in his element, “I have done a lot of theatre in the past” he stated, “I love advertisements”… I’m not sure whether these guys are “set up” by the film crew asking them questions to make them look stupid but you couldn’t help but watch this and think, “Are they setting him up for a fall here?”
On Alex’s team they were thinking of branding and started with the name, A Tish U… Atishu!
Back on team Raef they were getting somewhat carried away with the “story” but eventually came up with the name I Love My Tissues… A strange name this one and not one really representative of tissues at all. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think that anyone feels that passionately about their tissues!
Back on Alex’s team, Alex and Lee were not getting on too well with Lucinda. She, in turn, was not impressed by their “story” asking, “Who wants to hear about a normal bog standard family?” She suggested a story about homosexuality which was immediately rejected by Alex.
Seemingly to get rid of her, Alex sent Lucinda out to find a location whilst he and Lee designed the box for the tissues.
With two boys and a girl on the team, this was no doubt a flawed plan from Alex. Surely most tissues are bought by women and it would therefore have been logical to keep Lucinda involved with the branding and design…
Tonight I really did feel that we missed a lot of cuts as what people were saying really seemed out of whack with what we saw at times. Lee and Alex were adamant to camera that Lucinda was being unreasonable but from what we saw (whilst accepting she was a little negative) it looked a lot more 50/50 with them not wanting to work with her because she did not agree with them. I would have liked to have seen more of the “reality” of the situation…
Over on the other team however, we saw Michael and Raef behaving like they were creating a blockbuster movie rather than keeping their focus on the task in hand.
Sales training and business tip: As a motivational speaker I have the privilege to work with many different companies in a multitude of industries and it never ceases to amaze me how so many people can manage to focus their energies and attentions on entirely the wrong things. The key behind this task was to persuade the ad agencies that they had a viable concept not to persuade them that they were the next Spielberg… The second option might have been more “sexy” but it was always going to lead Michael and Raef down a slippery slope…
Next morning the tissue boxes arrived at the house. Lucinda did not like the boys’ efforts calling the box “ugly”. Lee thought it was “quality”. Alex thought it was fine. Lucinda and Alex were about to kick off in a full scale argument when Lee stepped in saying that what they needed was “cohesiveness” and that they needed to “pull together”.
Sales training and business development tip: If everyone in the boat rows in different directions as many of our apprentices seem to do then the boat is not going anywhere! Many companies and teams work really hard but with poeple working at cross purposes much of their potential is lost.
Over on the other team Raef and Michael could hardly contain their joy at meeting their “celebrity” star, Sian Lloyd. They both seemed convinced that she would be a real winner for their campaign. Even Sian herself was not so sure saying that if they Googled her they would know that she was not a mother (they were casting her as one), she was single and she had never worked with children. She also expressed surprise at the concept that they thought that she was “wholesome”.
Ed: But when all you’re interested in is fame, it’s not surprising that they did not consider any of these facts rationally! They were too busy meeting a “star”.
Raef and Michael meanwhile were joking about getting into the movies. This might have sounded like light banter but it masked a much deeper ill, they had lost sight of what it was that they were supposed to be doing…
In the editing suite Raef and Michal struggled to cut down their advertisement from 54 seconds to the required 30. Between the two of them they managed to decide to cut out the one close up of the tissues, a decision that would come back to haunt them.bClaire was not impressed by the finished ad saying that she was disappointed by the quality of it.
Cut to the pitch…
In the audience Sir Alan has placed 3 agency chiefs, a group of consumers and… himself!
Meanwhile Lee was doing some last minute rehearsing. Lucinda and Alex were helping him with his wording. Margaret commented to the camera that she thought that it was too late to be changing the pitch. Lee said that he was still struggling with the order of the pitch. This did not bode well!
Raef’s team presented first. The problem with these “sales presentations” as with the negotiations and the selling situations is that we never see enough of them to really judge what’s going on. Certainly, we seem to be getting even less of this, the good stuff, than we even did last year.
And then Lee came on to make his presentation…
Oh dear!
Lee is not a natural presenter. He seemed glued to his notes, seemed to be struggling to read them, seemed to get lost at one stage (and we only saw a few seconds!), had no flow to his pitch and seemed to use very unnatural language.
Sales presentation tip: Great presenters engage with their audiences not with their notes! Great presenters talk naturally and openly with their audiences. Great presenters base their talks around key benefit points not fact after fact after fact. Great presenters know how to get and keep themselves in a positive mindset.
In the board room…
Raef said that he and Michael had experience in drama!
Michael said that he had his own theatre company at university.
Sir Alan told Lee that his presentation was fumbly, unprofessional and poor.
Nick told Lee that Claire used no notes.
Lee said that he was absolutely gutted.
Alex said that he found Lucinda abrasive and border line upsetting.
Lucinda said that she buys a lot of tissues.
Sir Alan said that the brand name Atishu was excellent.
Sir Alan then played both ads to the two teams. During the playing of Alex’s ad, Raef and his team looked smugly on. You could see it all over their faces… They thought they’d won. They could barely contain their laughter at what they thought was an inferior ad…
And then Sir Alan told them that they had lost. Raef had created an ad for tissues with no tissues in it. Sir Alan said that he did not know what their ad was about and that it would not sell any tissues.
“This is not my opinion. It is the opinion of the experts.” Sir Alan barked, kicking a man when he was down.
Alex looked relieved. His smile appeared to be one of almost unbelieving relief. He clearly could not believe what had just happened.
Michael’s face meanwhile said it all – going, going, gone! “I love my tissues”!. You’d better, you’re going to need them. So finally we will get rid of Michael…
… Or maybe not!
Raef elected to bring back Michael and Claire.
Michael was quick to claim ownership of “everything” that Sir Alan had liked. Raef was, understandably, put out by this saying that Michael was being dishonest. From what we saw I would agree. Stupidly Raef backed himself into a corner by saying that he was totally in charge but then saying that Michael wanted to take the close up of the tissues out not him. A contradiction.
Sir Alan had a half-hearted attempt to rope Claire into the afray accusing her of not wanting to stand up and fight to correct the mistakes that she said shre saw to try and salvage the win for her team. But it not going to wash… no-one seems interested in her here.
Sir Alan to Raef, “You have been lucky to only be in the board room once…” and then, “Raef, you’re fired!”
What?!
So ok, he shot off on a tangent with the task, he got totally carried away with the whole filming thing, he should have know better, he didn’t manage his team particularly well but, seriously, how can you elect to keep Michael and fire Raef? What are Sir Alan’s criteria?
So where does that leave us tonight with our sales training and business development tips…
Presenting well is a key skill.
In every walk of life the ability to present a clear and compelling message and to engage an audience is critical. Whether you are selling face to face, pitching a product or an idea or motivating a sales team you need to be able to present naturally and persuasively.
If this is an area where you do not excel at present, fear not. Anyone can improve their presentation skills with practise and dedication. Here are a couple of tips…
Improving presentation skills, tip 1: Awareness
The first stage of improving your presentation skills is to be more aware of how good, or not, you currently are. Most salespeople take feedback badly. Most salespeople go on the defensive when they are given feedback. This is a shame as without feedback you will struggle to become self aware and without this awareness you will struggle to improve.
Improving presentations skills, tip 2: Practise
Practise is the key to making good presentations. Do not confuse practise with rehearsing 5 minutes before the event! Practise is a constant focus on improving your overall ability to present in any situation.
Anyone can create opportunities to practise their presentation skills whether with clients or with your peers. Many people who would benefit most from this practise are the same ones who avoid it!
If you really cannot find any opportunitites to practise then try your local Toastmasters club where you can practise inside the safety net of a specialist club dedicated to helping you to improve.
Don’t do like many business and salespeople do and put off working on your presentation skills until you have a huge pitch coming up… Even the week before a life changing pitch is too late… start now!
Improving presentation skills, tip 3: Be natural
Great presenters learn how to present naturally. They don’t pretend to be anyone else. They don’t copy others. They show their audience their true genuine selves.
People today are bombarded with sales and selling messages all day long. Some of these messages are amateurish. Some are incredibly slick. You may never be the best presenter in the world but that doesn’t matter… People will connect with presenters who they see as being genuine, presenters who they see as connecting with them.
You don’t have to be the best presenter in the world, you just need to be the natural, genuine, you!
Improving presentation skills, tip 4: Constant improvement
No matter how good you are or how good you think you are, you can always become a netter presenter. Making sure that your mindset is focused on constant improvement will steer you away from falling into bad habits and mis-steaks!
One of my favourite questions to ask myself after making a presentation is, “How could I have improved that presentation?”
(If you want to know more about making powerful and persuasive presentations then check out my Powerful Presenting seminar schedule.)
So there we go, a strange decision tonight and one which leaves me none the wiser as to what Sir Alan is looking for. I’m really interested in knowing your thoughts so let me have your comments below…
Who do you want to win? Who do you rate and why? Who should go next and why? Is there anyone worth hiring??
The Sales Apprentice 2008: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Part VIII
Tonight’s task for our sales training apprentices was “big business” said Sir Alan… weddings. Sir Alan had secured each of the teams a sales pitch at The National Wedding Show at the NEC in Birmingham. The Wedding Show attracts 20,000 visitors and 300 suppliers… a target rich selling environment as one of my first sales managers used to be fond of saying…
Tonight the teams had to select products that they wanted to represent and then sell them at the show. As usual, the team who closed the most sales would win.
Claire was all giggly at the thought of a wedding fair. As a buyer she should be good in this sort of business environment. Leading team Renaissance (Sara, Michael & Alex) tonight was Helene and leading team Alpha (Raef, Lee & Claire) was Lucinda.
Two particularly unbalanced teams I thought but more of that later…
First task tonight was for each of the teams to select two suppliers to represent at the show. In the event that they both chose the same suppliers the decision would rest in the hands of the supplier as to whom they chose to be their representative.
It’s at this point that I would have headed off in pursuit of a computer with an internet connection. Or I’d have been calling up the organiser for a little pre-sales chat. Failing that I would have been surfing the net (albeit slowly) on my mobile.
I’d have been looking for answers to questions such as…
What is The Wedding Show? How long has it be running? Who has already signed up as exhibitors? What are they selling? Who was there last year? How many of them are there again this year? What’s the sales pitch to the exhibitors on The Wedding Show’s website? What are exhibitors saying about it in cyberspace? What types of people attend the event? At what stage in the wedding preparation process are they usually when they attend? How many are ready to make buying decisions? What volume of orders could the hosts attribute to the show last year? What kinds of products sell well at the show?
Etc. etc…
But as usual nothing like this seemed to take place! Instead our sales apprentices played “stick the tail on the donkey” and tried to guess what would and what would not sell well. With choices of wedding dresses in totally different price ranges, wedding cakes, lingerie and too many peoples’ opinions this was going to be a difficult thing to guess – particularly without solid market research.
Helene sent Michael and Sara to view some designer wedding dresses. Michael waxed lyrical over them and then afterwards said that he feigns interest very well. He said that feigning interest was what he does for a living and that he can pull it off with an effortless charm.
Stop!
Sales training and business success tip: If you want to be a sales superstar you need to be genuinely interested in your clients. If you’re not genuinely interested then you need to find a way to get genuinely interested. When you show genuine interest in your clients you will find that you create a powerful and long lasting rapport and start to remove barriers to the sales process (For more on removing barriers to the sales process and making more sales check out my Professional Selling Skills programme).
The other two members of the team, Helene and Alex, were meanwhile looking at some cheaper mid range dresses. They were quite enamoured with them but Helene had dropped a clanger here… How could this team ever make an informed business decision on which dress supplier to represent if no-one had seen all of the potentials? How could comparisons and decisions be made?
On the other team Lucinda has tasked Claire and Raef to view all of the dress suppliers. Could using Claire, an ex professional buyer, prove to be a shrewd move for Lucinda?
After visiting all of the suppliers decisions had to be made. Lucinda’s team plumped for the expensive designer dresses and Helene’s team for the mid-priced, colourful dresses. On Helene’s team this decision was not unanimous but then no-one had seen all of the dresses anyway! Both teams wanted to represent the wedding lingerie range.
Only one team could "win" however and not surprisingly the lingerie supplier favoured Lucinda and the opportunity to associate her lingerie with a premium dress designer brand. Helene’s team were left with their second choice… wedding cakes.
On hearing that they had “won” the opportunity to represent the lingerie company Lee roared, “We fucking did it. We won it. That’s what I’m talking about. Team Alpha!” He does seem a bit over exuberant at times our Lee!
At The Wedding Show the teams had 8 hours to sell as many wedding products as possible. Lucinda’s stall with the designer dresses immediately attracted customers to their pitch. Lee seemed to be enjoying selling the lingerie ranges to all of these customers and this was proving to be an easy sale. The dresses however were not selling as well…
Over on Helene’s team, Alex was put in charge of selling the mid range dresses. He quickly started to sell a few and understood that a natural, genuinely interested and conversational style was the best way to sell in this environment.
Back on Lucinda’s team doubts were setting in over the high end wedding dresses. Raef said that he would have to shoulder much of the blame if this turned out to be an unwise decision (he does seem to be a pretty honourable guy does Raef).
Nick seemed to be enjoying telling the camera that team Alpha had chosen high end wedding dresses without taking any notice of what this “mass market” would buy…
I’m not so sure…
Alpha were selling a high-end product and “mass market” crowd or not they only needed a few customers ready to buy out of an audience of 20,000 to make this a very interesting competition indeed.
(Aside: My future sister-in-law bought a wedding dress at a charity dinner when it was auctioned… How many people in that room do you think were in the market for a designer wedding dress? Probably not that many but it sold none the less!)
On team Renaissance, cake sales were not going at all well for Sara and Michael. I am not surprised. These two might not like to hear it but in my opinion neither of them were showing much promise as salespeople…
Michael was way too enthusiastic, jumping around, clicking his fingers and speaking (rather too) passionately. Meanwhile Sara seemed to have forgotten the old sales adage of “two ears, one mouth”…
“What’s stopping you? What are you thinking right now?” she demanded of one prospect before immediately telling the prospect that she (the prospect) liked the look and taste of the cake and why couldn’t she go ahead now?!
When selling, asking questions is important but you have to stop and listen to your prospect’s answers! Far too many salespeople talk all over their clients in this way! Not surprising then that we heard that several people had not liked the pressure they were coming under from Sara and Michael.
Michael and Sara were full of excuses and reasons as to why no-one would make a decision on a cake without a husband or partner present. Now I obviously do not sell wedding cakes nor have I ever sold wedding cakes but I know that this is not the correct sales attitude. It’s also not true!
It may well be true that most people might not buy a cake without their partner present but it most certainly is not true that none would. If I had been their manager my response to that kind of sales defeatism would have been simple, “What, no-one? Not even one out of 20,000?”
In the board room…
Sir Alan asked team Alpha what they thought of Lucinda? They were very complimentary about working with her (despite the fuschia beret!). Claire said that they really enjoyed working together. For the first time this series I think we did actually see a team work well together tonight!
Hoorah!
On Helene’s team things did not go so smoothly but Helene said that she had no regrets…
And the results?
Alpha had sold £5752.99 (Lee had sold £647.24 of laundry and Claire the remainder via 3 dress sales). Renaissance had sold a total of 5 dresses and 0 cakes for a grand total of £1925.
A sizeable and well deserved win for Lucinda’s team and some good sales results from Claire.
Back in the board room Helene stuck up for Alex saying that he was brilliant in the task and elected to bring back Sara and Michael. For once, I thought, the right three in the board room.
Alan told Margaret and Alan that he thought two should go. Margaret thought there were reasons for all 3 to go! I agree with her. Go on Sir Alan, I dare you, sack all three! Let’s see what the TV production company thinks of that one…
For the first time ever I think the weakest 3 are in the board room. Fire them! Fire them! Fire them!!!
“I am in a dilemma as to who’s going to go. One thing I am sure of is who’s going right now. Sara you’re fired.”
And then Sir Alan turned on Michael… could he possibly sack two for the second week running? “Michael I think I’ve reached the end of the road with you…. There is no room for any more mistakes…”
Go Alan! Go Alan!
But unfortunately, “Get back to the house the pair of you. Off you go.”
So what sales training and business tips do we learn from tonight’s show?
Sales skills are essential if you want to succeed in business.
Many people think that they can sell. Many people are wrong! Some people talk too much. Some talk too little. Some ask great questions. Some don’t. Some get their pitch and level just right. Others miss the mark by a country mile.
If you want to close more sales you need simple, repeatable sales skills. If you want to close more sales you need a proven sales methodology. If you want to close more sales you need to work hard to develop your sales skills.
Some people sell naturally. Some don’t. No matter what your sales skills you will make more consistent sales when you focus on your own sales skills development. If you’re just starting out you can rapidly accelerate your learning curve and the results you get. If you’re an old hand you can hone your sales techniques and boost your sales results.
Tonight Claire and Alex had them and they made sales. Michael and Sara didn’t have them and they made no sales. In sales, results speak for themselves.
Don’t pressurise clients.
For a variety of reasons many salespeople put far too much pressure on their clients. They talk too fast, they talk too much and they close too hard. They put immense sales pressure on their clients and their clients don’t like it. Not one bit.
Many salespeople close way too early in the sales process and way to crudely. Here’s a rule of thumb for you… If you think you’re putting too much pressure on your clients then you probably are. Too much sales pressure causes clients and prospects to throw up mental barriers to the sale.
Sales superstars do not have to pressurise their prospects and clients into buying from them. They have proven, client-centric processes and techniques which build natural rapport, trust and credibility between them and their clients.
Know your market.
You need to know who your customers are, what they want and why they are going to buy it. You need to know how they make decisions and who else is involved in the decision making process.
The more you know about your customers, their wants, their needs, their likes and their dislikes, the easier it will be for you to communicate with them and help them to make the right buying decisions.
The Sales Apprentice 2008: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Part VII
Lights! Camera! Action! We were down to 10 but by the end of the show these 10 were to become 8! What went on in tonight’s Apprentice and what sales training and business development tips, if any, could we learn from it?
At the start of tonight’s programme I was concerned for Sir Alan… Could it be that there is no-one remotely worth hiring in the show at all this year? I’m really not sure and not much occurred to change my mind tonight although there could yet be some dark horses to watch for…
7am. Michael answered the phone to be told that they were going on a two day business trip. “Unbelievable,” he responded. Not really Michael! On telling the rest of the house we could hear several female sounding voices erupt in screams.
Where have they got these people from? If their CVs are to be believed (and they certainly cannot be taken as gospel – see Michael’s Jewish intro later) they are already successful business people so why the juvenile celebrations over a two day trip to Marrakech? You’d think that they had just been told they were flying to the moon and back…
Next morning in Marrakech the teams awoke to their task which was to buy 10 specific items and return to the hotel by 630pm that evening with those. The team who spent the least amount of money would be the winner.
Our teams were to go forth and haggle, negotiate, barter, beg and trade to get themselves and their teams the best possible deals.
This show had promise…
- There should have been plenty of negotiation, selling, persuasion, influence and closing tips. We should have had plenty to learn and apply. Unfortunately, these lessons were, by enlarge, never to appear, being replaced instead by far more basic lessons and…
- I have been to Marrakech as a motivational speaker to speak at a sales conference where the sales teams did a very similar (although rather more stretching) exercise in the Souks. I was looking forward to some tips and ideas that I could share with future clients wanting to do something similar…
Unfortunately, they weren’t to materialise and the teams I went with were significantly more successful and creative in their efforts in the Souks than our Apprentices! - On a more personal note, I personally bought some silver jewellery in the Souks and I was interested to see how their experiences of “negotiating” compared to mine…
Before they started, Sir Alan rejigged the teams sending Jennifer and Michael to Renaissance and Sara to Alpha. I don’t know about you but I have lost the plot with these teams. The players have been substituted so many times I have no idea which team is which! The only permanent thing about the teams seems to be their names and their affiliations to Nick and Margaret.
Lee and Jennifer were made team leaders. I was looking forward to seeing these two in action. Jennifer because I have previously thought her somewhat ineffective and incompetent and Lee because, until last week’s attack on Sara, I thought he was a potential dark horse…
Raef was quick to get into the spirit of things and suggested that they would all be able to negotiate more effectively if they dressed in local garb. Given the pigeon French that we heard on the flight over it is unlikely that this would have fooled anyone. Fortunately, this idea was rejected quickly by the team…
Lee suggested that they should start the project off by getting on the phones and locating the items before they set off. This made total sense. Planning and preparation was going to be key to covering the ground necessary to get the items that they wanted at the best prices.
The Souks really do represent mile after mile of shopping opportunity but as I found, it is really easy to get lost if you don’t keep your eyes on where you are going. This might be fine for me in my touristic ramblings with my Canon camera – but not so good for people on a strict time budget and with a mission to accomplish!
Jennifer was not as wise as Lee and elected instead to push on into the Souks and hope for the best. A poor strategy by anyone’s standards.
Despite her lack of research Jennifer’s team were lucky to stumble upon an orange Santos juicer. Alex and Claire pretended to be a couple and tried to negotiate together. Unfortunately, we did not really see enough of this negotiation and I would have loved to seen more. Suffice to say however that the scenario did not play well and resulted in them agreeing a ridiculously small discount of only £1!
Sales training and negotiating tip: When you are entering into client negotiations with another member of your team present it is critically important that you agree rules and boundaries for how you are going to work together. Claire thought that she was free to speak as and when she wanted. Alex, on the other hand, felt that there were too many cooks spoiling the broth and that only he should speak.
Negotiation tip: Understanding the core games that buyers play, recognising the psychological pressure that these put you under and learning to deal with them will greatly improve the results that you get from your sales negotiations.Introducing your own games can work well (e.g. good cop / bad cop) but if you get caught out game playing you could well severely compromise your negotiation position.
There is a great story told in personal development circles about a factory owner with a broken down machine. He tries everything that he can to fix it but cannot get the machine working again. Eventually, he calls out an expert who takes one look at it and then hits it once with a hammer. The machine is fixed.
The factory owner is delighted until the bill arrives for £1000. He rings up the expert and angrily asks how the bill could be £1000 when it only took 5 minutes to fix. He asks for a break down of the bill.
The expert responds with the following:
Hitting the machine £5.
Knowing where to hit it £995.
The moral is clear. You can run around in your business like a headless Kosher chicken but if you don’t know where to put your effort you are unlikely to be successful.
Lee, having observed this cardinal rule of business and selling, had spent part of the morning on the phones and planning and was looking good..
Meanwhile Michael was reminding us what an arrogant idiot he is, “I am an extremely arrogant person,” he said not beating around the bush in any way! He then blundered into a deal on a cow hide knocking the dealer down from 2500 dirhams to 825. He was ecstatic about this and later boasted of his prowess to Sir Alan.
Like any good cock fight you really ought to know the size of the cock before you start crowing about your big cock. Across Marrakech in the tanneries Raef had bought their cow skin for a mere 250 dirhams, a price so good even he could not believe it! From what we saw he did not negotiate at all so he may well have been able to get it cheaper still!!!
Back in the Souks Michael was trying to buy 1.5 kilos of Kosher chicken. I have never seen such a fiasco in all of my life. Michael, whose CV apparently started with words something like, “I am a good Jewish boy” did not know what Kosher was. Later in the board room he was to protest that he was only half Jewish. Well, I’m not Jewish Michael and even I know what kosher food is.
(Interestingly, I did not think that Kosher food needed to be blessed and it is implied later on in the programme that they were penalised because it was not blessed correctly. According to this article at Judaism 101 it would appear that the blessing bit is a myth…)
On planet Jennifer meanwhile her team were having difficulty even sticking to the script, buying a white mosque alarm clock rather than a green one and some unbranded Tagine dishes rather than the branded ones that Sir Alan had requested. Surely when they bought them for 100 dirhams rather than the guide price of 800 they might have suspected something???
Nope!
With time ebbing away both teams resorted to desperate measures, Lee’s team scouting the streets for an orange juice machine and Jennifer’s team looking for a green alarm clock…
Chasing one of their last items, tennis racquets, the teams found themselves in the same shop. Jenny (and a non complaining Michael) offered to pay the shopkeeper to tell the other team that the racquets could not be strung that day. This outrageous idea was rejected by the shopkeeper…
Last chance lesson in sales training, business development and life: Attempting to get ahead by underhand means is unacceptable. What’s more it rarely works.
I remember attempting to get into an account once that one of my friends was working with. He had it sewn and stitched it right up and my chances of getting an opportunity were slim until… he personally attacked me in the account. An underhand, untrue and unprofessional slight on me. The prospect, who until this point was barely talking with me told me exactly what had been said, told me that he did not like his attitude and gave me all of the business…
A sales lesson for all indeed. But back to the show…
In the final moments of the task Lee managed to secure an over priced second hand juicer for 120 dirhams. Cue another round of screaming and shouting. “Come on!” yelled Lee… (see my “Why People Think Salespeople are Stupid” article of mid week referring to Charlotte Ross’ piece in The Evening Standard)…
Back at the hotel Nick told Sir Alan that Sara and Lucinda were “a revelation” this week. Margaret said that Jennifer was a bit “scatter gun” in her approach.
The results were in…
Alpha had spent £413.61 and all of the items were present and correct. Renaissance had spent £449.60 but two items had incurred penalties so their final figure was £603.59.
Alpha had won and headed off for a hot air balloon ride at Leeds Castle.
Back in the board room next day Sir Alan was not happy…
“Good evening.” He barked.
“Bonjour,” came back the reply.
“What’s the significance of bonjour?” Barked Sir Alan. Now, now Sir Alan… I think you know!
“Just wanted to say it in French” stated Jenny.
“I see.” Said Sir Alan grumpily.
What a stupid conversation.
Sir Alan then attacked Jennifer for not doing any research. Claire said she thought Jennifer was OK but messed up by getting the wrong colour alarm clock. Sir Alan rightly pointed out that buying a clock was not brain surgery…
Now there’s a scary thought… any of this lot with a scalpel messing around inside your head… Enough to give me nightmares for a month!
Alex meanwhile was attacking Claire for basic negotiation errors. Have you noticed how Alex, at least once per week, manages to preface some statement or other he makes by reminding us that he is in sales?
And then there were some rapid fire attacks…
Alex said the negotiations were not his fault (very slippery shoulders that one), Sir Alan told Jenny she was older than the others and should know what Kosher was (not sure age has much to do with it), Sir Alan said he could check if Michael was Kosher by pulling his trousers down (not sure that’s a particularly useful technique Sir Alan), Michael said he was only half Jewish (and?), Sir Alan said that he could fire all of them right now (Ed: Go on! Go on! Please!)…
And then…
Alex admitted a mistake buying the wrong pottery, Jenny said Claire was hard to shut up, Claire said she thought she was doing a boyfriend / girlfriend role play, Michael said he did the best deal of the day (cow hide), Michael called Jenny a liar, Margaret accused Jenny of a cheap trick over the racquet strings…
And Sir Alan sent them all out. A shame that he did not sack them all really…
He then called them back in and asked them if they had a clear vision in their minds as to why they should stay?
Jenny was the first to speak. Sir Alan listened and then responded by saying that she was listening to what he had to say and then basing her arguments on that. “Jenny you’re fired”.
Thank goodness. I’ve not rated her since the first time that she opened her mouth. Bye!
But Sir Alan was not finished, “Right who’s next?”
Jennifer was next up admitting that she did not pay attention to detail but that she did her best to rectify her mistakes. Sir Alan pointed out that it was not even her who noticed the mistakes.
Michael then stepped in to say that he had made a horrific mistake with this Kosher business.
Alex, said that he gave it 100%.
Not the best answer but Sir Alan seemed happy and asked him who he would fire. Alex said Claire. Claire then said she would fire Jennifer as there should be some accountability. Jennifer then said that Claire was like the Tasmanian devil and should be fired. Michael said that Claire was “fabulous” as a project manger and Jennifer should be fired.
Claire and Jennifer then started arguing with each other only to be interrupted by Sir Alan, “Here’s my next move. Alex – go back to the house. I’ll see you on the next task. OK. You three go outside. I am going to have a chat with Nick and Margaret and then one of you is going to get fired.”
Back in the board room the games continued but Sir Alan decided to sack Jennifer holding her responsible for the failed task and accusing her of changing like the wind. “Jennifer you’re fired”.
Not a bad decision because she was incompetent although personally I would have probably sacked Michael too.
I do find however that the board room shenanigans are becoming a bit of a farce. It seems the whole thing is designed to promote aggressively Machiavellian tendencies. I dread to think what non-business people must think about the world of business. In the real world, this lot should be judged on results and results alone not their ability to play some TV friendly game in the board room…
Back in the house Raef said that he hoped that they all got fired for lack of integrity… I didn’t like him in the first show or two but he seems to have mellowed a little (or is it just that I was still hopeful for a star then?)…
Whatever, I’m coming around to him… a little…
So what sales training and business development lessons did we learn from tonight’s show? Not the ones that we would have hoped to have learned that’s for sure. Certainly not top negotiation or influence tips nor selling or closing tips…
Planning and preparation is essential.
Yet again the good old sales training and business staple of making sure that you have planned and prepared effectively. Lee’s team spent the first part of the task on the phones planning who they should visit and marking out their time.
This saved them valuable time and energy on the ground and meant that they could focus their activities on getting the results that they wanted.
Most sales and business people do either to little or too much planning and preparation. Knowing when to stop planning and start taking action is as important as knowing how to leverage your planning and preparation efforts to work smarter not harder.
Work as a team.
Lee seemed to have a greater control of his team than Jennifer who seemed to have as little control as she did planning.
Team spirit and shared goals and aspirations are essential if you want to create high performance sales teams.
Be straight and honest.
Salespeople hate being called dishonest, shifty and elusive yet clients did not just make this stuff up one day! Some salespeople are dishonest, shifty and elusive (as people are in all walks of life). You need to make sure that you are not one of them.
Jenny’s dishonest tactic was underhand and unacceptable. I would have sacked Michael for this too. He had neither the strength to stand up and say “No” to her nor the strength to admit he was in on it fully to Sir Alan. He was hoping to surf the wave whichever way it went.
Because of the bad reputation that some salespeople have many clients throw up barriers to the sale and lock salespeople out. You cannot disarm these barriers with fast talk and schmooze. The only way to unlock them is by being straight and honest with your prospects and clients (see my 6 Psychological Keys to Sales Success in my Professional Selling Skills programmes).
I’d be real interested in hearing your thoughts on the 8 remaining Apprentices. It’s midnight and I’m in a hotel in Ireland… I’ll let you know my thoughts later in the week…
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