The Incompetence Tax

27 Oct

At a company I worked for, we (the sales reps) called bringing in the CxO level people to our accounts the “Incompetence Tax.”  It was a small technology company and we sold to the Fortune 1000.  Yet the CEO, CFO, CTO and Chief Legal Officer invariably thought that these big companies would bend over backwards to buy our stuff.  The rep would have the deal almost closed when Legal would insist on red-lining the customer’s contract with so many changes that the resulting contract looked like ours.  Or the CEO would talk down to a young Managing Director who controlled a bigger budget than our annual sales.  Or the CTO would tell the customer that their existing architecture was “…not well thought out.”  Or the CFO would insist on “value-based” pricing when our competitors’ products were marginally inferior to ours but priced 2-5 times less.  The sales reps learned to put deals thru our partners so that the deal was on someone else’s paper with someone else’s pricing.  Of course, we then got less money on the deal but it was better than losing the deal all together.  Thus, the Incompetence Tax!

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Get in the Door – Be Assumptive not Consultative

16 Oct

I attended the “Winning Big Company Clients” event in NYC earlier this week.  The event was hosted by Nigel Edelshain, CEO of Sales 2.0 with a panel discussion led by Jill Konrath, author of “Selling to Big Companies” and Razi Imam, CEO of Landslide Technologies.

Jill’s discussion was very interesting.  While she admitted that much of what she wanted to talk about was in her book, it was beneficial to get the synopsis.

Her main point is that the corporate decision makers use the delete key first.  When listening to your voice mail, their finger is on the *3 or whatever key combination they use to delete your voice mail and email.  Their preference is to delete, not listen.  So if you are not relevant, your message is deleted immediately.

That means that you don’t have 30 or even 10 seconds to get your point across.  You have 5 seconds to be relevant.  Her studies have shown that corporate decision makers also believe that it’s your responsibility as the sales rep to call them back.  Jill says that you’re their conscience.

Being relevant means you can’t be consultative.  No more, “Hi, this is Jill and I’d like to understand more about your business issues so that we can find a solution for you.”  Corporate decision makers don’t have the time or desire to educate you.  Jill says that you must be assumptive in your belief that they have a pressing problem and that you can solve it.

Jill says that the corporate decision makers will review 3 things in their head as their finger is poised over the delete key.

  • Are you relevant?
  • Is this an urgent problem?
  • Are you credible, ie are you the one to solve this problem?

I found what she said very timely and very interesting.  Thanks, Jill for your insight.  And thanks to Nigel for hosting!

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NYC Event – "Winning Big Company Clients"

3 Oct

Jill Konrath, author of “Selling to Big Companies” and Razi Imam, CEO of Landslide Technologies are discussing new Sales 2.0 technologies for helping salespeople win big corporate accounts. The event is being moderated by Nigel Edelshain, CEO of Sales 2.0.

I will be there as a guest of Nigel.  Will you join us there?

DATE:
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

LOCATION:
The Penn Club
30 West 44th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10036

AGENDA:
6.00PM – 6:45PM Networking and Hors d’oeuvres
6:45PM – 7:45PM Presentation and Interactive Discussion
7:45PM – 8:00PM Wrap-up & Networking

Register here for this event. I look forward to meeting you there.

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Referral Expo 2008 – Register for Free NOW

1 Oct

There’s a little more than one week left to take advantage of the Referral Expo 2008. We’re in the last stretch of 2008: Gain insight, expertise, new ideas, and power yourself through this these challenging economic times.

The Referral Expo is a virtual event, conducted over the phone. It’s free to attend, but registration is limited:

  • Breathe new life into your business
  • Generate more referrals
  • Find better quality referrals

Get new, innovative ideas! Bolster yourself against the economy. The Referral Expo 2008: Register now.

In times like these, building relationships and creating referrals are the keys to success. By attending this virtual expo, you’ll get loads of innovative ideas and strategies for generating referrals – all from the comfort of your home or office.

The Referral Expo 2008
Tap into 15 world-class marketing experts as they share their best referral strategies. I’m honored to be included in the team presenting at this year’s Referral Expo.

What: Referral Expo 2008
When: Now through October 10th

  • Each 1-hour presentation will be conducted over the phone on successive weekday evenings.
  • Monday – Friday at 5:00pm Pacific / 6:00pm Mountain / 7:00pm Central / 8:00pm Eastern

Cost: FREE
Register now!

See you there!

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Is the customer always right when they're wrong?

25 Sep

Many companies have the mantra that the customer is always right. I personally don’t subscribe to that sentiment although I do believe the customer should always be treated as if they are right. But what about prospects, ie future customers?

I had a one-on-one web presentation scheduled with a prospect. I spoke to them on the phone where we confirmed the date, time and agenda. Then they accepted my Outlook meeting request.

And then never showed up! Never cancelled either, just did not show up. Is that rude? Acceptable behavior? Common but unfortunate behavior?

My admin gets the prospect on the phone and reschedules the call. Again, the prospect accepts the meeting request. Want to guess what happened next? NO SHOW! No excuse, no phone call, no flowers, nada.

Well, they’re not a prospect any longer. But what would you do next?

  • grab a drink and forget about them
  • call and berate their boss for hiring inconsiderate jerks
  • call their boss and continue selling

What would you do?

PS - thanks to techsupporthell for the picture

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Cup of Joe and Great Monday Postings

22 Sep

Wow, some of my favorite bloggers all wrote great articles over the weekend and posted them this morning for me to read over my afternoon coffee.

Brian Carroll wrote about top performers building relationships with the right people BEFORE they’re ready to buy. These top performers become trusted advisors.

Paul McCord wrote about why decision makers hate cold calls. He looks at answering a cold call from their point of view. And it’s not pretty.

Geoffrey James says that if you must cold call, try these 7 ways to make it easier. Maybe you can have some of your colleagues cold call your boss to get them to understand how effective (or not) cold calling is.

EyesOnSales has a great post from Lee Salz on why expecting a purchasing decision to be rubber-stamped by the boss is a bad idea.

And for another way to look at cold calling fun, take a look at this video by the HubSpot guys.

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Inquisix in the Old World

21 Sep

During our beta period we’ve supported members in the United States and Canada. However, based on overwhelming demand (especially from Ireland), we’ve added support for the following English-speaking countries:

* Australia
* Canada
* India
* Ireland
* New Zealand
* South Africa
* United Kingdom
* United States

** Just added Singapore to the list of supported countries at the request of members **

We’ve also increased the capacity of our servers as traffic has been doubling on the site.

Inquisix becomes more valuable to you the more you use it to manage your referral-based business. Are you ready to get a referral on the site? Have you provided a referral to another member?

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Inquisix, the Online Private Club for Referrals

9 Sep

I was asked recently about the color scheme for Inquisix.  All the other web 2.0 sites have white backgrounds with blue and green borders and text.  But Inquisix is brown and orange.  Are we trying to relive the ’70s?

Inquisix is exclusive, it’s member-invite-only, it’s a place to keep your contacts secure but still give and get referrals.  It’s a place to do business, much like the private club your father was a member of.  Leather chairs, wood paneled walls, fireplace in the corner and pictures of famous dead guys all around.  Members quietly conversing over lunch and a martini.  Our website colors are meant to invoke that environment.

Inquisix provides a secure environment for members to give and get referrals with reputable peers.  Inquisix members give referrals to increase their reputation with their customers.  Not sell referrals.  Not to do the member asking a favor.  Rather, members give referrals because they know their reputation as a trusted advisor increases every time they help their customer.  Members get referrals to increase their business because their reputation in the system says that they’re worthy.  Inquisix reputation is earned from your referral rating.  The more and better referrals you give, the better your reputation.  The better your  reputation, the more likely another member will want to give you a referral to their customer.  It’s why you are invited to belong to the club.

At Inquisix you can

  • Ask for a referral from another member
  • Give a referral when someone asks you
  • Get a referral from a member who wants to introduce their contact to you
  • Pro-actively give a referral

At Inquisix, we promise you

  • No one can see your contacts or your relationship to those contacts without your explicit permission
  • Giving one of your contacts as a referral does not let that member see the rest of your contacts
  • Reputation is earned by real feedback from referrals

Do you know what we do now?  Think you should join us?  Ask a member for an invite!

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Dilbert-style management from the manager's point of view

6 Sep

Do you have a pointy-haired boss?  Have you experienced the kinds of bad management shown in the Dilbert comics?

How does management feel about this? Now management has their own vehicle to express their feelings about employees.  Just check out these videos from Despair, Inc! They are (I hope!) a tongue-in-cheek view of how management should deal with employees.

The picture above is not clickable so click on here instead.

Thanks to Geoffrey James and his recent blog post for pointing me to Despair’s site.  I’m still LMAO!

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Boston Business Networking with dancing

20 Aug

I was invited to a local business networking party. It’s only for “…young business professionals…” so I’m not sure I qualify anymore! The events are hosted by NetParty and they promise (and I quote):

  • The first two hours of our events are like an extended “cocktail hour” with passed hors d’oeuvres at many events, drink specials, and low music conducive to business networking and making new connections.
  • Later, our events take on a more social atmosphere, with great music, dancing and conversation.
  • Our events are held at the hippest and most interesting venues. However, the music is never so loud that you cannot talk and our crowd is generally comprised entirely of young professionals.
  • We do request “business” or “business casual” dress for our events. With that and a fun spirit, you’re good to go

Well, I wonder how much networking will be business and how much will be social. Guess I’ll have to go! If you’re interested in the Boston Event, it’s next Tue August 26th at The Estate in Boston.

Here’s a free invitation. They also hold networking events across the United States so check out the location near you. If you’re coming to the Boston event, come say, “Hi!” But find me early, I’m not much of a dancer!

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