Category Archives: Sales Strategies

Today is National Receptionist Day

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receptionist for National Receptionist DayToday is National Receptionist Day – or has some of us in sales would like to call it “Gatekeeper Day.”

Seriously, receptionist tend to have a bad rap in our profession. We view them as being the enemy when really they are our friends. Treated right, receptionist can help guide us to the right decision-maker.

And when you think about it, the receptionist is not just an administrative worker. They are marketers. That’s right. They help market the right image to all visitors and callers.

So what is the purpose of Receptionist Day? First, the obvious answer is that the day gives recognition to a receptionist. While most of them are underpaid and sometimes treated badly by salespeople or angry clients, receptionists should be recognized because they help your company’s image, branding, and impression. A cheerful or smiling receptionist can make a visitor feel relaxed and at ease.

I’ve actually gone to offices where the receptionist would barely give me eye contact – I immediately picked up a negative vibe that may be uncomfortable for the rest of my visit.

No one really knows the origin of Receptionist Day.

However, the National Receptionist Association is taking credit for the day. According to its website, when the organization was created in 1991, they initiated the day. The association created the day “because we wanted to distinguish the role that a receptionist plays in business and note that it should not be combined with Secretaries’ Day or Administrative Assistance’s Day.”

So if you have a receptionist working in your office, give her a special thank you. And if you call and find yourself speaking to a receptionist today, try to be extra nice to her – after all, it’s her day!

Asking for the Sale

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You have devoted a lot of time working with your prospect. You went through the entire sales process – asking qualifying questions, determining needs, establishing rapport, making sure you are speaking to the key decision-maker, and knowing they have a budget. You also properly handled all of the objections.

Check. Check and check.

But wait a minute. Didn’t you forget something? Oh yeah, that’s right. You forgot to ask for the sale!

It happens more often than you think. Some salespeople are shy. They assume the prospect is going to buy. After all, haven’t both of you spent so much time together – talking about your vacations, your kids, your hobbies, etc. You assume that the prospect is your friend. Your buddy. Of course, he’s going to buy from you.

But he’s not going to buy unless you ask for the sale. Why? Because no matter how great your product or service is, people hate to part with their money. Even if you are solving their problems, you still have to ask for the sale. Without that one question, all your time and efforts are for naught.

Below is a great video from YouTube that illustrates my point –

Are you a Hunter or Farmer when it comes to selling?

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Is it a good idea to divide up your sales team by hunters and farmers?

First, some definitions.

The hunter in salesA hunter is someone who strictly prospects for new business. He usually makes a ton of warm or cold calls. However, in some cases, he may be responding to inbound inquiries from e-mail, trade shows or other sources.

A farmer is someone who manages existing accounts. His job is to handle all billing and shipping inquiries, but more importantly, he is responsible for growing the accounts by cross-selling or up-selling.

The farmer in salesI have worked as both the hunter and farmer simultaneously, i.e., I was responsible for managing x-number of accounts, but I was also expected to prospect for new business. I would normally set time aside each day and just prospect. Based on studies that I’ve read, the best time to prospect is between 8:00 to 10:00 a.m., and again from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. are normally not considered good times because people are out to lunch.

But is it a good idea to divide up the hunter and farmer roles? It really depends on your industry, the type of products and services you are selling, and how many accounts your company has. If you are working for a start-up or small company, you may end up wearing both the hunter and farmer hat – and other hats as well! But as a company begins to grow and add more accounts, those roles may be separated.

As a general rule, the more complex or longer the sales cycle, the better you should allow only hunters to focus on them. The last thing you want to do is have hunters distracted managing existing accounts while trying to close new business. After all, if you are working for months closing $50K orders, do you really want to deal with existing accounts that may only generate an additional $1,000 or so a year?  On the other hand, it may not be a bad idea to allow hunters to manage only large accounts, and handoff smaller accounts to farmers to manage.

By allowing hunters to manage some large accounts this may introduce a little variety in their jobs. After all, hunting can be stressful because you are constantly dealing with rejections and meeting quota. Allowing hunters to deal with some friendly existing customers may ease the stress level a bit.

The biggest challenge for the farmers is to make sure they don’t become glorified customer service reps. They sometimes have to be pushed to upgrade customers. Yes, this does take time. After all, you are building up relationships. You are digging deeper to learn more about the accounts, and finding other decisions makers to contact. You have to keep up with the industry news and be on the alert of any changes at your accounts. You also have to keep a close eye on your competitors to ensure they don’t steal your customers.

The biggest risk of hunters transferring over their closed accounts to farmers is ensuring that customer relationships will not be impaired. I’ve worked at some companies where customers insisted on only working with the hunter because they developed a good relationship. Despite the hunter reassuring the customers that the farmer will take good care of him, the customer still insisted on working with the hunter. In those rare cases, the hunter kept the customer to ensure peace.

When determining the hunter and farmer role, consider what the salesperson prefers doing. Some people thrive on the challenge of making sales calls and closing business, but they get bored easily managing accounts. They either don’t have the patience or desire to slowly grow accounts over a period of time. Those are your hunters.

The farmers, on the other hand, like the challenge of growing existing accounts. They like digging deep into accounts, learning more about their needs and problems, and uncovering new decision-makers.

And there are some who can do both.

 Hunter, Farmer or both. You decide what’s best for your company.

The Challenger Sale, Good or Bad Advice? Part 4

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the challenger saleThe Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation.
Is it good or bad advice?

As you may recall, in Part 1 of this post, I offered the pro side of the book. In Part 2, I offered the con side, and in part 3, offered some of the mixed views about the publication.

Let’s examine some of the major criticism of the book in more detail –

1). The authors Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson are not salespeople.

House Speaker Sam Rayburn once said of Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, “I just wish he had just one time run for dog catcher.”

While it would be great if sales researchers had once been salespeople, it doesn’t mean that you should dismiss their findings or advice because they have never sold. It’s like saying that you should disregard the findings or advice from astronomers because they never flew in outer space. The fact that an astronomer has never been an astronaut doesn’t mean he still can’t publish research about our Solar System. The job of a researcher is just that – do research. You can either agree or disagree with their conclusions. That’s your right.

But sometimes you need an “outsider” to see things that others don’t see. We are so caught up in our careers and daily lives, it’s hard for us to see the forest from the trees. It takes a good researcher to stand back, observe, conduct surveys and point out things that we simply didn’t notice before.

The Challenger Sale authors conducted a diagnostic survey of more than 6,000 sales professionals in more than 90 companies worldwide. The survey included every sales model category under the sun, including hunters, farmers, field and inside sales reps, key account and broad-based reps, and direct and indirect sellers.

Putting in place a set of controls and variables, and disregarding things like personality, the survey focused one thing – “Of all the things a sales rep could (italics from the authors) do well, which ones actually matter most for sales performance?”

While I’m not an expert on surveys, it appears the authors did a pretty thorough and extensive job.


2). The authors are just repackaging old ideas.

I don’t know if the authors are repackaging old ideas or not. Certainly, the idea of understanding your industry or tailoring your sales presentation to your clients are not new concepts. I’ve used those concepts myself long before I read the book. But sometimes it takes someone to tie all of those ideas together into one book before everyone “gets it” and can apply it to their careers.

And frankly, repackaging old ideas is not new. For example, when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he admitted that most of the ideas were not his own. Most historians agree that Jefferson received ideas from the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the English Declaration of Rights, the works of John Locke, Jean Jacques Burlamaqui, among others. What is new is that Jefferson put those ideas together and created one of the greatest documents in U.S. history.

Or closer to our industry, does anyone really think that Dale Carnegie was the first one to figure out How to Win Friends & Influence People? Of course not. Many of the ideas outlined in his book were around long before he wrote it. But Carnegie was the first one to pull those ideas together to write a bestselling book that still remains a classic today.

While I don’t compare “The Challenger Sale” to the Declaration of Independence or to “How to Win Friends & Influence People,” what the authors have done is take a lot of ideas that have been floating around in the sales community, put them together into a great book, and backed it up with solid research. And research is the keyword here. The book is not based on speculation. It’s based on a careful study of thousands of salespeople in various industries worldwide.

3). You can’t teach “The Challenger Sale” approach.

Nonsense. Of course, you can. While some may be natural salespeople, most people can learn new sales techniques and concepts. Sure, it takes time, practice, patience and a little coaching. But it can be done. To say that you can’t teach someone how to sell is like saying you can’t teach someone how to read or write.

The Challenger Sale4). Relationships are important. 

The biggest misconception about the book is about relationships. The authors do believe that relationships are important. The difference is that they believe good relationships are more the result and not the cause of successful sales. In other words, customers are not looking for a salesperson to be their friend – they are seeking an advisor. They are searching for someone to teach them and offer insights to improve their business and make more money. The traditional glad-hander or back-slapping salesperson has given way to the salesperson who teaches and leads customers in the right direction.

5). Putting “The Challenger Sale” in practice.

Example: When I joined a small health club several years ago, I was introduced to a personal trainer who was going to offer me a “free” consultation. Rather than come to me as a teacher, he tried to build an immediate relationship with me – he acted like we were long-lost friends. He was too enthusiastic, too desperate, too needy, and frankly, just too creepy for me. I left the health club after a few days because the guy was too annoying to deal with.

Now, how would things have been different if the personal trainer had applied “The Challenger Sale” approach on me? While “The Challenger Sale” focuses on the needs of companies, I thought it would be more interesting to apply this concept focusing on one person. Let’s take a closer look –

Warmer – “I know what you are going through. I’ve worked with a lot of clients in this gym, and I know the challenges you are facing to lose weight and become more physically fit. A lot of people come to this gym exercising, but they quickly get frustrated and leave because they are not seeing any immediate results.”

(Rather than try to be my buddy, the personal trainer is establishing himself as an expert).

Reframe – “Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to exercise for a long period of time every day. In fact, studies have shown that if you just exercise 30 minutes a day, that will help you reduce your weight and help you live longer.”

(The personal trainer is offering me a unique insight into an exercise that catches me off guard. Like most people, I always thought you had to exercise for hours each day to become physically fit).

The Challenger SaleRational Drowning – “I know you think that using a personal trainer is expensive. But given the amount of money, you already spent on ineffective diets, and exercise equipment that you are rarely using at home, having a personal trainer is a good return on your investment.”

(Here the personal trainer is making a good case for ROI – return on investment).

Emotional impact – “It’s one thing to set goals, but it can be difficult to achieve them. I’ve seen people come and go to this gym without using a personal trainer, but they never accomplished their goals of losing weight. But I think you’re different. You understand the challenge before you and I believe you see a real opportunity to get back in shape. The fact that you came to this gym tells me that you are committed to change.”

(Here the personal trainers are making an emotional connection. He convinces me that I have a problem, and I need to take action to lose my weight).

A New Way – “By investing just 30 minutes a day with me for the next couple of months, I can help you lose weight and become more physically fit. You will save money because you won’t get as sick as often. You will also become more productive at work because you will feel more energized and be less stressful. You will also be able to sleep better at night.”

(Here the personal trainer is offering me a solution – one that I’m beginning to see and may accept).

Your Solution – “Unlike other gyms that just throw you on the gym floor and let you sink or swim, I’m here to give you personal support every step of the way. I’m very flexible in how I work with my clients. I don’t force you to do the same boring exercise routines every day. Instead, I offer a variety of exercises that are challenging, but exciting at the same time. Under my program, you will have so much fun exercising that you will be surprised how much healthier you will be within just a couple of months.”

the challenger sale(Sold. Sure, I could look at other gyms. But the personal trainer demonstrated that he’s an expert, he offered me some unique perspective about exercise, he understands my health and financial concerns, and he’s providing me a clear solution. In the weeks ahead, we will develop a professional relationship based on his insights, expertise and help; not based on some phony pretense of being my best friend).

Is “The Challenger Sale” the right approach for every industry? I don’t know. You know your industry and customers better than I do. But when more than 54% of the Challenger Salespeople are closing complex sales better than the Relationship salespeople, it has to make you stop and think.

Reading “The Challenger Sale” has made me realize where I made mistakes in some of my previous sales. I’ve been a combination Relationship Builder/Hard Worker salesperson. Now, I believe if I had adopted “The Challenger Sale” approach, I could have reduced my sales cycle, upgraded more sales, and even gain better respect from some of my clients.

I only read “The Challenger Sale” once. This is the type of book you need to re-read several times to better understand it. I recommend that you read the book. Watch some of the YouTube presentations on it. Keep an open mind. You be the judge. Let me know what you think.

The Challenger Sale, Good or Bad Advice? Part 3

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In part 1 of the post, I provided videos from those who support The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation. In part 2, I presented the opposite point of view. In this post, I provide videos from others who are taking a mixed position in the book.

Andy Boyd from 3M’s industrial sales team likes the Challenger Sale concept. While the Challenger Sale approach works well for the top 13% of salespeople, he argues that the majority of salespeople are having a tough time adopting it. Mr. Boyd believes in order to use the Challenger Sale more effectively, you need to first make a connection and build trust with your clients through storytelling. If this is not done, then salespeople risk over challenging their clients and losing the sale. In short, he argues you need to combine both the Challenger Sale approach and storytelling to get the best results.

Here is his video –

Geoff James, a sales columnist, and author feels that much of the material in The Challenger Sale book is a repackaging of other information that has been written already. While he doesn’t dismiss the research in the book, he argues that you can’t replicate the skills of other top salespeople.

Here is his video below –

The Challenger Sale, Good or Bad Advice? Part 2

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In part 1 of this post, I presented the pro side of the chief argument of The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation–  the Challenger salesperson does a much better job of selling than the Relationship salesperson. In part 2 of this post, I will present the con side.

Brian Burns is the author of The Maverick Selling Method: Simplifying The Complex Sale. Mr. Burns is one of the harshest critics of The Challenger Sale. In his videos below, he argues that you can’t trust research conducted by people who have never sold, and flatly states that the Challenger Sale does not work. Beyond his videos, I couldn’t find anything in writing from Mr. Burns that he adds to his arguments from his videos.

Here are his videos –

Another Critical Take on “The Challenger Sale” –

Linda Richardson, author, and sales trainer, in her blog “Challenger’s Missing Link,” believes the book has contributed to “underscoring the need for salespeople to take advantage of research and data available to them.” Ms. Richardson argues that the book is inspiring Marketing Departments to provide better knowledge sharing to help sales teams engage and add more value to customers.

However, Ms. Richardson says that the missing link in the book is the “validation of the customer’s perspective through questioning and dialogue.” While salespeople may know about an industry than most customers, she says you still need to know how customers think, and what’s important to them before you can sell to them.

Ms. Richardson argues that a salesperson must combine knowledge “with even stronger dialogue skills to become a true thought partner with their customer and build long-term relationships and close more deals – which is still the name of the game.”