CHARLIE BROWN , THE SMILE AND THE ALTER EGO (Republished)

We have covered the knowledge and the confidence part of it (the requirements for a successful professional sales career). Now let us take on the other stuff.  All the remaining stuff can be possessed by just and being practical and thinking of Charlie Brown (Who? Why? What the? etc..as you must be thinking if you have been with me till now..). I'll explain.

Let us make a resolution that whenever you feel that you are weighed down by your information, lack of-confidence, the criminally partial behavior of your boss to a dumb cow, office politics etc. and you are starting to sink, just mutter to yourself "Charlie Brown".. Why Charlie Brown?  Why not? 

Just tell me does Charlie Brown has any problems with anyone?. No. What will his reaction be if he was called by the dirtiest phrase there is?... Nothing. Charlie will shrug it off. Does Charlie have any jealousy or any kind of negative feelings? No .How do you know that? From his face! Think of Charlie , picture him and think that if Charlie was visiting this customer today, what would his approach be when he meets the security people. Cool and polite ! Charlie does not have a rude bone on his body.

(It is my personal opinion that Charlie , Calvin and Hobbes are philosophers. The world will be a much better place if students are taught about Charlie, Calvin & Hobbes instead of Plato & Aristotle)

So the third thing you need to have friends is “Charlie Brown”!! Finally, always be polite to the security staff-they are just doing their duty. Maybe someone is being overzealous and you are feeling the first pangs of anger! 'Charlie Brown'. well, at least someone is doing his work over-zealously then the opposite. Give your anger the bird, and  stay in your Charlie Brown mode-you will be able to go in faster inside the plant than those snobs calling themselves salesmen who want VIP treatment. Don't believe me ?Try it out! You will see that it's not fiction. It's fact! "Charlie Brown"!

I have always been Charlie Brownish in my professional life and I think I have almost saved a year of my life- counting up all those 5 minutes to 30 minutes delay that an  average VISP (very important sales person) wastes trying to convince the security chief how great he or she is and why they should therefore be allowed in without delay.

So-now you are all prepared; maybe we will venture out and maybe meet a customer very soon

Till then, it's bye from Bilbo.

And remember,

“Charlie Brown”! And once more....all together

 “ Charlie Brown”..

Re-posted on popular demand "How to get Sales Leads from the Internet"

Hi Friends-

Sorry for the long wait. We will discuss about “Sales-leads from the internet today”. A lot of people have the opinion that sales leads from the internet are worthless because everybody has access to them”.That is bullshit with a capital “B”. 

Yes, if you want to be spoon fed, then I agree. But, spoon feeding has become obsolete today. If you are selling high value capital equipment and want some leads and if you are willing to use your head a little, the net is a goldmine for “SALES LEADS”.

Let me illustrate. Let’s say that you are selling Stainless Steel Fittings all as per API. Now, when you are selling high value equipment, you get only one chance i.e. when the new plant/project comes up. Because you haven’t the chance to make repeat sales within a month like someone selling welding electrodes, the cycle is get in first-convince customer and get your order. People coming in last usually don’t get the orders. It's the early bird which catches the worm (though personally, I don't much like worms)

Get two orders and maybe you are on the way to a comfortable bonus. So-what do you do. Make sure you get these two orders by targeting 8 customers. If getting in first at 8 customers dosen't  result in two orders, may be you are not thinking hard enough, or maybe you disagree with this blog. Its'a free world-ladies and gentlemen-you do have the right to disagree with me. The catch is that you won't get your orders that way. You can't sell a product on which you do not have the confidence. So, just how are you going to get your leads without that confidence in me. So, don't waste your time here (in fact all those who disagree leaving will make those people who agree all the more likely to succeed).

But where are these 8 leads going to come from-not just sales leads but authentic requirement based sales leads. (By selecting 8 potential customers, you are also in line with the 75:25 law This is a modified form of the Pareto Principle)...From a site called processregister.com (that’s one way).Process register.com is a free info site for people like us that is those that are selling high value capital equipment.

A screen shot of the site is below.

Study the site until next time friends, when we will study how this site can help generate our sales-leads i.e 8 nos potential sales leads. This site can make you rich forever!. So study it friends till the next part and,

Until then,

its love from

BILBO

Stage II : The Most Important Stage

Hello Friends,

We now come to the middle 

portion, and the events that take 

place here, are going to make or 

break, all the hard work done. 

Here the main job is to

“Follow –Up”. Yes –I know that

follow ups can be a bit of a bore

sometimes.

But dude, there is just no help for it. You want to sell, you have to develop enthusiasm for follow-up

"Follow up has to be done if you want to sell."

There was once this Sales Guru called Pup

Whose favorite dish was fish-heads in Ketchup’

“The three basic rules" he'd say

“in the science of sales any day"

“Is follow-up, follow-up and FOLLOW-UP”

In Public Sector Tendering, what happens now is that Materials Dept. sends your file back to person who indented for it. This means the department and the officer who required it in the first place. I am assuming that you have built a relationship with the him/her by now. After that post in relationship selling, I am assuming that you-my readers-are using it to the extent possible.A few things have to be kept in mind when you are participating in Public Sector selling through Tenders, of capital equipment.

1.The "Indenter" is interested to know whether the equipment that you are trying to sell will give him the service he requires or not. Even if there is a single iota of doubt, he won’t proceed ahead on your proposal. Therefore, what you need to have in dollops is confidence. Because trust me, very few people can let their inner confusion not show outside. (The indenter will be an experienced person and he will barely need to ask two or three questions to know that you have no idea of what you are speaking about.). So try to get rid of all your confusion if you have any.

2.If you are representing a foreign OEM, then your product may have done fabulous work in Brazil and Peru. Do not make the mistake of glorifying these achievements. Their presence on your experience list is enough. Maybe you are new in India and have sold only one or two units so far. Glorify that achievement. That will serve you in better steed then the South American glorious stories.

Now, what about service? Do you have service people in your company who are competent as well as presentable? Or,  is your management only thinking about recruiting people? Or, maybe you have already hired experienced engineers and you've sent them overseas for training? Please note that you should not tell lies and untruths. If your product is slightly technically inferior, tell the truth. Even a person who is not the champion intellect is more likely to buy a slightly technically inferior product but with good service rather then a sophisticated gizmo which requires four(4) days for someone to come over from Koln.

Always remember that “ what the customer is interested in knowing: is how your product can help his organization in the subject application. He is definitely not interested in knowing about anything else before that..not the strict QA policy you have..not the prize for CRM your Paris Office won..no, nor even your recent order from Mars. This may appear to be obvious but we sometimes fall victim to our ego's. Talk to the point.

 It maybe so that your competitor's equipment had failed somewhere. Maybe your accessory life is higher. Do not criticize your competitor. Do not bring these up. Sometimes you have to be a little unethical!. But  do keep a professional looking paper which lists everything...on a plain white paper with you where your competitor's evil record is exposed and your advantages are monetized to the extent possible. Use it discreetly only when required. (say customer says”I heard that your equipment caused problems in… from… You can then say its funny, look at this..maybe I’ve got something here..Aaah here it is..I’ve never told you anything because I don’t believe in negative marketing)

That's the end of Part II and the file goes back to the Materials department.

Looking forward to the next time,we sign off now

Your friendly blogger

Bilbo