Posts

How to sell as much as you can, as quickly as you can

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Selling is the world’s second oldest profession … often disguised as the first. It is also a noble profession, designed to:

  • Get the right products to the right people, in the right place, and at the right time
  • Drive continual innovation and improvement
  • Help people get what they need in order to be successful and happy in their lives

Yet a tragedy has happened involving this distinguished profession over the last couple of hundred years: as mechanisation and one way mass media has dominated the world of commerce, this over supply of goods has severely warped traditional sales… to such an extent where ‘selling’ has almost become a dirty word.

And marketing is in the same boat (as marketing is just a part of selling).

This shows up in behaviours (from both individuals and organisations) such as:

  • Quick fix ‘selling techniques’ continually promoted (we call this ‘chasing butterflies while the elephants are escaping’)
  • Marketing that over promises (and usually under delivers)… (often called ‘polishing turds’)
  • Processes aimed at only today (and we’ll worry about tomorrow if and when we get there)
  • The aim of ‘making sales and profit target this quarter’ driving all process and behaviour (while customer experience, reputation and loyalty go out of the window)
  • A continual cycle of MD’s and Sales Managers cajoling, threatening and demanding in ever more desperate attempts to meet targets
  • Sales training coaching and training to embed new ‘sales processes’

Indeed, in many organisations, this warped belief in ‘how to sell’ and ‘what the shareholders want us to do’, has become almost impossible for individuals to kick against the pricks and do the right thing: resulting (when this institutional disfunctionalism is exposed to the public) in major scandals (such as Enron) and market meltdowns (such as the one of 2008).

But the world has now changed.

We are now in an age of organisational transparency, worldwide whistle blowing and customer empowerment via online reviews and social media.

Continuing to act in the old dysfunctional ways of the industrialised mass market and one way mass media, this world is now driven by global innovation and two way mass media is madness. This ‘brave new world’ calls urgently for a return to the traditional values of selling, such as:

  • Unconditional trust
  • Systems obsessively focused on customer needs (whether they purchase today or not)
  • Customer engagement through feedback and collaboration

This is the new approach to selling … and it’s also a return to the old traditional values of customer reputation and loyalty. So, instead of the previous dysfunctional aim to ‘sell as much as you can as quickly as you can’ (through marketing and selling tricks and ‘quick result techniques’), the new way to REALLY sell as much as you can as quickly as you can, is what we call ‘Slow-Selling’.

If you like the sound of this so far, then we think you’ll love the ideas we put forward … so keep looking out for our posts.

If you think this is idiotic – why on earth would anyone want to ‘sell slowly’ – then I suggest you waste no further time and instead go too Google, search ‘How to sell more quickly’ and take it from there …

For more information on all of this material, please see our site www.salesthroughservice.com or email us at support@salesthroughservice.com

How can we measure success?

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How can we measure success?

How can we measure success? Is this not the most important question in the universe?

After all, what gets measured gets done.

So, really the answer to this question lies in another question: what does ‘success’ mean to you?

If success just means ‘as much money as possible’, then the measure is easy … you just ruthlessly measure money (and be sure not to measure the number of people you upset as you trample all over them in this ruthless request for success).

Does this situation look somewhat familiar in some of the business activities all around us?

If, however, you want to think a little deeper, and perhaps have a slightly more mature attitude to success, you might consider that: ‘money is important, it helps me achieve what I want to in life, but I also need clear purpose and passion, and, besides, I’ll only ever be truly great at delivering what turns me on’.

So, in this case, a measure of progress and passion (and how others perceive this) will be your primary measure, followed by a measure of money, to make sure it’s also taking you in a positive direction (as a strictly secondary measure).

The first measure is a long term measure of deep success, that you will leave a lasting legacy with those around you on. The second measure is just a short term measure on beans … ‘do we have enough beans to keep doing what we’re truly great at?’

Please contact us at support@salesthroughservice.com for more information on lead and lag measures, and how to use measures effectively to generate true long term success at all levels.

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Why it’s important to invest in feedback

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We all know how important feedback is in today’s market: customers, previously disempowered by misleading advertising, now or have the opportunity for worldwide networking, worldwide research, and opinions from users on your Product or service.

Yet, so often, they can do this behind your back, without your knowledge, and without giving you the opportunity to put things right first.

Is that fair? No

Will it help you improve and then get a better experience when dealing with you?  No

So, the problem with most feedback systems is that they gather feedback after the event…  Which means that you are unable to put it right if it’s gone wrong, or re-engage with them to continually improve it, or get them signed up to be a lifelong customer, referrer for your product 0r services, or part of your VIP club.

Most feedback systems therefore  have very limited effect.

That is why, we suggest that you not only need to gather feedback, but you need to invest in feedback.  What we mean by investing in feedback?

We mean:

  • Making feedback the number one key driver of continual improvement in your business
  • Managing customer expectations so that they give you feedback whilst you can still do something about it (rather than after the event which is lame are and second rate at best)
  • Investing time and resource to not only gather the feedback through quality systems, but also to react effectively to the feedback when you have it: whether it is good, bad, or indifferent… There is always a way forward that will build customer loyalty, reputation and referrals.

As we say in Investors in Feedback:

  • Gathering feedback is important… Reacting to it properly is vital
  • There is no such thing as bad feedback: just feed back gathered and reacted to in an ineffective way