Richard Denny - Thoughts on sales and marketing

As the ‘Godfather of British Salesmanship’ it is my duty to comment on this new so called reality show Natural Born Sellers (ITV 1, 9pm Thursday 02 October 2008). The programme makers very sadly are clearly out of date with modern day salesmanship and I am really surprised that Mr Cauldwell, who built such a successful business, should be associated with such old-fashioned sales practice.

So, my thoughts are based on the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good was the comment made by the store manager that he would not employ any of these sales people. The only other good point was that the winner did show some semblance of integrity.

The bad – modern day professional selling is built upon having sound product knowledge, this little band of jumped up, self-opinionated, brash, pushy so called sales people don’t understand that the modern day professional seller can only sell what they believe in, and modern day selling is really all about repeat business where the customer, thank goodness, is protected and allowed to change their mind. The telesales manager actually believing he could go out and sell in a completely different environment just demonstrates what any experienced business person knows – telesales is completely different from face to face selling.

The ugly was the sales person out in the car park trying to get members of the public to go into the store, in other words attempting to get people to buy things that they don’t really want or need.

All in all I would employ the winner of last night’s programme, but the rest ought to stick to their product where apparently they have had some modicum of success. Let’s hope the next programme doesn’t encourage these outdated sales practices that have no relevance in the modern business world.

There are no short cuts when it comes to sales and selling but here are a few sales and selling techniques which you should find helpful, especially if you’re new to the industry or even if you’re just looking for a bit of business advice.

The definition of selling is hard to explain as we are all involved in selling in some way or other. A sales person is a mind maker upper. Their job is help people make up their mind to buy the service or product that’s right for them. The job of the sales person is to guide that process through. We all buy things all the time, without the sales person, how would we know we’re buying the right product? You can spend hours or days researching, but the whole point of the sales person is that they know their product better than anybody.

Anybody can be a sales person, we’re all born with the ability to be a good sales person, and evidence of this can be seen in children as they’re so good at selling. The difficulty is that not many people want to be in sales. People are terrified of word selling especially in the UK, selling has a stigma attached to it, it’s not seen as a nice job. This needs to be dispelled as nothing happens anywhere in the world until a sale has been made. We are now starting to see the phrase ‘business development’ rather than ’sales’. The reality is business development is just a sexier way of saying sales. The only real difference is business development will draw in more aspects of marketing. We still need to get over the negative connotations of the word ’sales’. It’s the sales person who brings in the money which everyone else eventually lives off. Anybody can sell, the question is, do they want to? If they do, they can learn the skills to be a good sales person. The child who throws the tantrum will often get their own way in the end through persistence (and the desire of the parent for peace and quiet), once they’ve got their own way through this technique they know they can use it again and again to achieve the same results. This does not mean that you need to throw yourself on the ground and start shouting and crying to win that sale, it means you work out what your strengths are and what your unique selling point is, and that is what you sell. Selling requires skill and talent (both of which you can learn), and it can be highly rewarding, so why is it no one wants to be a sales person? The word no is the main factor which determines why people are so apprehensive about selling, people get scared of it. Unfortunately it is a word which we must all deal with on a daily basis, so once this irrational fear is conquered, anyone can make a successful living out of sales. The fact of the matter is, with the growth of the internet and the rising costs of employees, good sales people are becoming more and more sought after as it’s a profession which is becoming harder and harder.

So you’ve just presented an intelligent and organised pitch, you’ve spent a lot of time planning it and you’re sure you’ve done everything you can. You are then told ‘no’. It’s at this point you start to think maybe that child’s temper tantrum approach we looked at earlier may not be so unjustified after all. Before you get too disheartened, let’s get past this silly fear of such a small word. When anybody says no, it is only for that moment in time. When they say no, what they mean is, ‘no, not today’. Your product or service maybe perfect for them next month or next year but for whatever reason, it is just not practical at this moment in time. Circumstances change. For example, you were eyeing up that very good looking laptop in town last week but you already have a perfectly adequate computer, however, as the sales assistant saw you looking at it they came over and gave you their best pitch. You still said no, after all you were just looking, but when it comes time to replace your cold computer, or you’ve decided to treat yourself, you remember the helpful sales assistant. They weren’t pushy, they gave you all the relevant information you needed and were genuinely very helpful. The chances are that’s where you’re going to go when it is time for a new computer. A sales person will come back from a sales meeting with either, a business order, a sale completed or they come back with a ‘no, not today’. The biggest source of revenue comes from existing customers, the second biggest comes from the ‘no, not today’ people who didn’t want that service at the time, but keeping in touch and letting them know what’s going on with your business may mean they decide to invest in your service at some point, people shouldn’t be so scared of the word ‘no’ as it can always be converted.

Commitment in the face of conflict produces character.

It is quite possible to work without results, but never will there be results without work.

Everything in this life takes longer than you think except life itself.

Mistakes are a great educator when one is honest enough to admit them and willing to learn from them.

The best way to succeed in life is to act on the advice we give to others.

Volunteers are not paid — not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.

Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.

Businesses mainly fail because of a decline in their activity of winning new customers and selling, and failing to get paid on time. To sustain momentum achieved in good times, in recessionary times it is essential that businesses become more proactive with the selling process. This means being in contact with every current customer, every past customer and every past inquiry, and giving them compelling reasons to trade with you.

This might seem easy enough, but the biggest mistake people make when they set up or start a new business is failing to understand their customers. There is only one culture that works for successful businesses­ and that is to be customer-led and sales driven.

One must think from the customer’s perspective ­ what can I do for my customer, as opposed to, what can my customer do for me? The modern entrepreneur has to help their customers make the right decisions, rather than trying to persuade them to buy something they may not need or necessarily want.

Selling has changed dramatically and customers and clients today are extremely savvy. Watching BBC’s Dragon’s Den, I find the mistake so many of these young budding entrepreneurs make is trying to get the dragons enthusiastic about their product or service.

Instead, they should demonstrate what sort of return the dragons’ investment will get and in what time frame. Similarly, the professional giving advice must ensure that the selling is not about telling. Instead, build relationships of trust and confidence, demonstrate how you can add value and ask questions.

Rather than hear about your business, your customers/clients want to know what you can do for them and that can only be achieved by asking questions about their business. Once you know what your clients and customers want, you can demonstrate how you can achieve this ­ in other words, you can then sell the si zzle, not the steak.

Effective communication is also essential. Professional organisations ­ like accountancy firms, for example ­ often fail to properly communicate their offerings to existing clients or new prospects. Assuming your customers know what you can offer can lead to lost opportunities. Rather than sending out leaflets and brochures that will hardly ever be read ­ talk to people ­ this doesn’t imply pressure, it shows care and courtesy.

Now we come to the second major reason why businesses fail. As chairman of four companies, the most important activity I stress on my financial directors is the raising of invoices. Many companies raise their invoices monthly, or get around to doing so only when ‘convenient’. This is a formula for disaster. Invoices should be raised immediately. For businesses to ensure they remain solvent and successful, they should strictly manage their debts and payment terms. If a payment is on 30 days, and you don’t receive the funds on time, a reminder must go out.

If the funds are still not paid within seven days, pick up the phone.If you still don’t get the money, then get in a car and collect it in person. There’s little point resorting to a small claims or county court, as these are very expensive and you’re unlikely to get your money.

It’s difficult to make a business succeed no matter how enthusiastic or passionate you might be about your product or services. Here are five quick tips to help your client’s business in a difficult economic climate: