Mike Anderson, on November 15, 2013
Cleaning out the proverbial attic, recently, I came across a box of childhood memories that my mother had gathered over the years. There were diplomas, ribbons from a few track-and-field events, and a number of professional citations for excellence in my work.
Among the least of these: A button celebrating my perfect attendance during the school year.
Really?
Seriously. They gave me a pin… for showing up.
Mike Anderson, on October 30, 2013
Decades ago, I was involved in some emergency response training that—even though I did not pursue a career in the field—sticks with me today. They dropped a group of us off at a road-side ditch where a fake car accident had been staged, complete with actors and dummies representing the victims. The challenge was simple:
“What would you do right here, right now, with what you have to work with?”
What a great question, challenging each of us to improvise… and take action.
We live in an age where there are all kinds of new technologies and tools that are supposed to make our lives easier, our work more productive, and our time more efficient. So it’s easy to want all of those awesome tools! But just as your household budget does not expand with every wish and desire that crosses your mind, your company must invest according to priorities and available resources.
So you can't always have every new computer, tablet, app, or piece of office equipment you’d like. You can’t go to every educational conference you’d like to attend, and you aren’t allowed to donate a bunch of “bonus inventory” to every client who’s asking for a better (no, cheaper) deal.
Here’s how the strongest professionals WON’T respond to those situations (insert whiny voice here):
Mike Anderson, on October 23, 2013
Tomorrow is going to have 24 hours, whether you like it or not. And just as this very hour is slipping by as you read this article, tomorrow’s hours are going to drift away, too. There’s nothing you can do to “manage” time.
Mike Anderson, on October 18, 2013
Most of us have had the experience of staring at a blank sheet of paper or empty document on our computer… and struggled mightily to come up with those first few words.
The screen stares back at you… empty. Taunting you. Laughing at you. You know that if you could just come up with the first few words, the rest of your document would flow onto the keyboard almost magically. But those first few words are nothing less than a logjam keeping the rest of your thoughts backed up.
Mike Anderson, on October 11, 2013
This week, one of our clients was talking about how she returns to the same car dealership every three years, like clockwork, and orders another upgraded version of the car she loves to drive.
A co-worker turned toward her and said, “You’re not just a customer. You’re an annuity.”
The statement was worth a chuckle, but it really got me thinking. The moment you begin to assume that a Key Account’s spending will always be there—when you start to take it for granted—that’s when the relationship is most at risk.
Long-term relationships can lead to mistakes. For example, you might think, “I’m going to be a few minutes late… but (Bob) will understand, because he knows how I operate.”
Mike Anderson, on October 7, 2013
I recently sat in on a sales presentation where the person doing the pitch spent all of their time looking… wrong. They were looking at their paperwork and, in a sense, reading aloud to the prospect.
Mike Anderson, on October 2, 2013
My wife and I recently bought a lawn tractor from a major big box retail store. It should have been a fun, easy experience, but it turned into a headache. The salesperson who was trying to help us with our purchase was repeatedly interrupted by other store personnel who had a wide variety of problems or questions. At times, other coworkers would interrupt just because they needed to use the young lady’s computer terminal. (Apparently, we were invisible customers or our near-$2,000 purchase was not as important as the other person’s issue.)
Mike Anderson, on September 24, 2013
Okay, it was worth a chuckle. Indeed, it was worth the effort to pull my cell phone out and take a picture of the sign, indicating a wading pool depth of one and a half feet. And then it added, “No Diving.”
Mike Anderson, on September 17, 2013
Frankly, it’s the same in sales as it is in any other creative, human endeavor. The biggest mistake you can make is no mistake at all. Don’t assume those people who make no mistakes in their b2b sales careers are the ones who are most polished and professional. They could be the ones who don’t push their boundaries of capability.
Mike Anderson, on September 13, 2013
Before the real needs analysis work, do some pre-meeting research... Presearch. Yes, it still happens.
There are still account managers who open a Client Needs Analysis with, “So, how many years have you been in business?” Or, “How many locations do you have?” Or, “Do you have a website?”
These kinds of CNA questions don’t ask; they tell. They tell the client, “This person has not done one stitch of research before asking me to give up this hour.” Or, “This salesperson is lazy.” Or, “This individual does not value my business very much if they couldn’t do a little homework in advance.”
