Remember when Burger King first showed us how to “Wake Up with the King” with a series of commercials that showed a really weird guy in a mascot get-up? Everyone seemed to be a little freaked out by him; but now everyone sees him as a mainstream character. If you’re working on business development inside a start-up, this is how your clients will view your new product, and your goal is to get them thinking about your product as something they need to have.
Like the BK commercials, starting out, your clients are a little shocked and distorted by the images shown to them. After their initial confusion has passed,they quickly try to process and translate the images that have just passed in front of their eyes. This is the part where you have to be on top of your game because it’s now your job to “connect the dots” for them. If you fail at this juncture, then you will lose your prospect quickly; and it’s will be terribly hard to get them listening again.
These 3 things will help get them interested and the conversation warm:
1) Know Your Product In and Out – Seems obvious right? Well, it’s not enough to know just your product. You must to know all the ones that are alike, seems alike and nowhere near alike. This is your golden opportunity to establish yourself as an expert. In a business relationship, this is what will make you trustworthy. 2) Be Familiar with Their Needs – Don’t be arrogant in trying to know more about the client’s business needs than they do. You won’t, and it makes you look unprofessional. Some business development professionals are so anxious to get a client that they start sprouting off irrelevant ideas. Instead, have an idea of what they might be looking for and begin a dialogue with your prospect at that point. Listen! 3) Establish a Strong Follow-Up Agenda – You just found out their true needs, so how can you possibly have a solution for them already? If you’re selling something revolutionary, then you can’t. Even if you think you already have a “God-like” solution in mind, establish a follow-up agenda. It will show that A) You care about their brand and want to give them the best possible solution and B) You now have a reason to follow-up that is mutually beneficial.
When selling a “revolutionary” product, it’s important to remember that they don’t have to have your business because in their mind they have survived to this point without it. It’s your job to understand your product and their needs, so you can “connect the dots” for them.
These 3 simple strategies will help you sell like The King by helping potential clients brush off the initial confusion of your product and get them to look at your product as a mainstay of their business success.
The NFL Combine took place this past weekend. Too many times, especially in large sales organizations, the sales manager will solely look at performance numbers from their previous sales positions. This is certainly a place to start reviewing candidates, but it can’t be the sole factor in your hiring decision. You have to put them in an environment that will test their talents in a manner that will be relevant to your organization. In each of their previous companies, there are too many variables to possibly speculate whether or not a candidate will be successful on your sales team.
The NFL Combine exists to offer draft prospects a chance to display their skills, mentally and physically, on a level playing field. It is not possible for an NFL franchise to decide between quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (USC – PAC 10) and Josh Freeman (KSU – Big 12) by what they did on the field in college. Getting an invite to the Combine is the first step in the interview process for these young men, but having to prove themselves in tests that are important to individual NFL franchises will be the deciding factors in their draft status and position.
In the world of professional sales, you have to run your potential hires through a “sales combine” to prove whether or not they are qualified to be on your team. Here are 5 NFL Combine tests you can put your future sales stars through to guage how well they will perform for you:
1) Wonderlic Test (Intelligence) – This sometimes-controversial test is a random series of questions that is supposed to measure a candidate’s aptitude and intelligence. You don’t have to spend the money to administer an expensive formal test; but a search for random seemingly useless knowledge is crucial. The last thing you need out in the field is a sales person that has nothing to discuss except your product or service. The search for random knowledge can be anything from a conversation about business to art to a reading assignment from a particular book. The point is to see how they think and converse about topics totally unrelated to what they will be selling. 2) Vertical Jump (Goals) – Ask your candidates how high their goals are for themselves and the company. Look for drivers in their answer. Your sales team has to be a driven group of individuals. Some sales managers make the mistake of simple wanting to hear, “I want money, money, money!” This is great, but it’s not the only thing that drives people. Listen for the things that are valuable (drivers) for the candidate such as advancement and culture. If they are things that your company can offer, then make sure to capitalize on those drivers. 3) Bench Press (30-60-90-Day Plan) – The key to having success in any sales environment is strength of mind and endurance. The bench press is a great test of this. Have your candidates layout a plan for their first 90 days at the company. If it’s a well-know product category, you can even have them write it out through 120 days. It is a good exercise that will force the candidates to prove their grasp of the product and industry. Their style should give you a view of their sales acumen. If you’re in an emerging field, focus hard on the first 60 days and look at the candidate’s ability to adjust in a fast-paced environment. 4) 40-Yard Dash (Showtime) – The “40” time is often the most popular stat resulting from the Combine. It’s the catchy number they shout out on ESPN because most people find it easy to understand. The sales version of the “40” is a live sales presentation of your product put on by your potential candidate. During the “40,” you’re looking for their grasp of the material, presentation skills and presence. At this level, the difference between times is hundredths of a second; so you have to look for those 1 or 2 indescribable traits. 5) 3-Cone Drill (Agility) – During the presentation make sure to ask questions that your clients have typically asked you in the past. Don’t be scared to push the envelope with your questions. The goal is not to make them feel stupid because they can’t possibly be as polished as you. The goal is to see how the candidate responds to being outside the comfort zone.
Sales people are like the pro athletes of the business world because they are in the spotlight of the organization. They are often the most highly compensated individuals; however, along with their glory, they get most of the blame. As a hiring manager for a sales team, you have to put your candidates under fire to get a sense of how they will perform when it’s game time.
I have been using TheLadders for just over six months now to see what the hype was all about. To be honest, I have been less than thrilled. I was browsing some of the highlights over at the $100K+ job board SalesLadder.com. They posted the “Top 100 Recruiter Search Words” used in the past week. Something that stuck out to me is how general the Top 25 terms (shown below) are. I thought the purpose of resume filters was for recruiters to filter out resumes they don’t want to be bothered with. The number one search term is ‘sales.’ Well, anyone that has spent a minute on Monster.com can tell you that would bring up something such as ‘entry-level sports marketing’ or some other turnstile position. In fact, the top 25 lists pretty vague terms. The first somewhat specific term I see is #10, ‘business development.’
TheLadders suggestion is to use the terms that describe you perfectly and use them in your resume. Ok? Is this what I’m paying for?
I have ‘sales’ all over my resume and so does the freshly minted graduate that was selling raffle tickets to the latest Greek fundraiser this past spring. Every recruiter I’ve spoken to wants to hear about awards won, unique achievements and/or hard numbers. I don’t see any of these terms listed in the top 100. TheLadders big selling point is that it will separate you from all the rest. I’d like to know what TheLadders does to screen their recruiters.
