What’s the next hot job?

A thumb surgeon. That’s right, there’s an increase in thumb surgery due to excessive Blackberry use. All those messages one types so fast with their thumbs are causing more harm.

Here’s some advice on avoiding Blackberry thumb such as taking frequent breaks, keeping your wrists steady, laying off from typing with your thumbs and writing shorter messages.

Today there are 2.5 million Blackberry users and that number continues to grow.  I’m not included in that mix- for now.

We all have a secret admirerer, someone who watches what you do, wishes they could look like you, talk like you, dress like you, build their network like yours, sell like you and write like you. And somehow, the fact they are a secret admirer is just fine, don’t you think? Everything reveals itself in time so let the mystery continue, why not.

So here’s my thinking and my recent findings- Today the number of decision makers involved with each sale has grown by 16% since last year. The reason is the buying process is becoming more complex, more technical, procurement departments often consult IT or other areas of the business when they make buying decisions. This brings more people into the process. Another reason is in today’s economy, buying decisions are being escalated from, directors to VP’s and from VP’s to CEO’s. C-level people don’t rubberstamp these days, they jump into the buying process.

So the goal when calling high is to call as high as possible and come prepared with information you know about them. Back to my secret admirer idea…….wouldn’t it be nice if you approached them with the highest level of admiration and acknowledgement for what they’ve accomplished? It’s easy to find this out, check out their site, read their press releases and you can pick up speed on what they are up to. Then use that in your opening, here are some ideas:

“Bob, as CEO, I’ve seen the momentum you’ve created in energizing your people to stay focused during tough times.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you and it’s great to quickly connect and tell you I’m a big fan of what you’ve accomplished in such a short time since you’ve been at the helm.”

“Congratulations on your new role, I was excited when I heard you’d be taking over world-wide responsibilities because if anyonoe can make it happen, you can.”

“Your secretary has been so helpful and very indicative of the great talent you surround yourself with, I want to introduce myself and hope to eventually be part of that circle.”

If you notice, you don’t need to know too much about them to pay them such high complements.  Everyone feels unsafe in today’s economic climate  and a simple genuine complement about their accomplishments goes a long way.

Selling through a downturn means we are faced with more, not less. More objections, more decision-makers, more departments to sell into, more knowledgeable customers, more products to sell, more tools available, more processes to learn, more choices.

According to Miller Heiman’s 2008 Sales Best Practices, there are now 16% more decision-makers involved in the sales process, but fewer who actually hold budget dollars. You would think with so many more decision-makers to contact, the chances of landing on the wrong ones would be minimal. But according to a recent finding by CSO Insights, 22% of deals are lost because of “no decision.” That means salespeople are still hanging out with the wrong people.

It’s getting harder to find the real power in a company, even though both technology and business systems are bombarding us with more data than ever. Today, inside sales is engaging in extensive pre-call research and coming away equipped with hundreds of people to contact per target company. How can they quickly distinguish who has the power and who are the No-Po’s?

Why we’re Drawn to No-Po’s

Unlike the traditional gatekeepers, these No-Po’s are very knowledgeable and are part of the committee or department. They often hold a prestigious title, such as Manager, Director, Engineer, Administrator, Analyst, or C-Level Executive. Although they earn more than receptionists and executive assistants, they hold roughly the same level of power when it comes to making purchasing decisions.

No-Po’s are hard to resist. After we’ve dialed a hundred outbound calls in a week, with little success, we just want to connect with someone live—it’s easy to find comfort in someone who wants to talk. So we’re happy to get fooled by them. No-Po’s love talking with vendors, and act as though they have power, but they discourage you from talking with anyone else, especially their bosses.

No-Po’s love your product and understand it better than you. They are generous with their time, often asking lots of questions. Soon, you believe the sale is getting closer because No-Po’s invite more people to your conference calls and demos. You may even go so far as to forecast this prospect on your sales report, assuring your manager that you’ll bring in the deal.

Learning to Let Go of No-Po’s

Even after we realize we are talking with a No-Po, it’s hard to let go. We believe that if we just hang in there, they’ll come around. Salespeople, unlike No-Po’s, are loyal. After spending months with a No-Po, we may believe we are “owed” the business. We may truly believe we are helping the No-Po convince their boss to buy. Meanwhile, the salesperson’s forecast has suffered because they haven’t closed the sale.

Steps to Letting Go of Your No-Po

Most No-Po’s aren’t malicious, just uncertain about the boundaries of their own job. No-Po’s often don’t know whether they have power. Talking and making plans with vendors is a way for them to believe they do, so they want vendors to listen and be loyal to them and only them. But sooner or later, you will need to ask yourself some hard questions:

1. Is this person going to help or hurt you in the long run?
2. Is this person really talking about you with the executive team, or should you take matters into your own hands?
3. Maybe this person’s level of influence is uncertain or questionable within their organization. Could that be why they are so protective?
4. Have they been burned by hungry, clumsy, greedy, slimy vendors in the past that caused them trouble?
5. Can you assure them of your loyalty while also setting expectations about having access to a higher level?

I grew up in Italy so my bedtime stories weren’t Good Night Moon but of Pinnochio.  I was fascinated by his adventures and especially the image of his nose growing each time he told a lie. It would get bigger and bigger.

Many of us have met liars in our days- there are compulsive liars and pathological liars. The most dangerous is a pathological liar who has little regard for anyone but themselves. They also don’t realize when they are lying which is pretty scary in case you decide to confront them. That’s when Pinnochio comes in, wouldn’t it be nice to get some visual when confronted with a pathological liar?

Unfortunately, some of us are surrounded by lies. Companies submit false statements of earnings, politicians make promises to get themselves elected, executives assure your job is safe and you get fired the next week, No-Po’s lie about how much power they actually have. As we look at the Sales 2.0 landscape, should we expect more lies? You bet.

As everyone looks to expand their internet footprint through social networking, this presents opportunity to put up bogus profiles, dates, education and employment history that is incorrect. More companies are investing in sophisticated background checks and it can all start with a resume that doesn’t quite match up.

I’m fascinated with what drives people to lie versus telling the truth? I know it all starts early in life and for many is pretty ingrained in their subconsious. I picked up a book, Why Good People do Bad Things; Understanding Our Darker Selves by James Hollis because I’ve been curious about what drives people to lie. This book illustrates a darker side of the self, which we all have, and how it rears it’s ugly head at times. The goal is to not let it control you.

Once you find out someone lied to you, you’re disappointed, angry and feel betrayed.  The Black Eyed Peas have a great video of this:

I stopped watching TV years ago and I’m relieved that I don’t have to decide whether to buy an LCD or Plasma HDTV for my living room. Mark Morford’s well-written article How to stay very, very, dumb captured my sentiments on TV watching and how TV slowly destroys your brain. It’s estimated that Americans watch close to 200 billion hours of TV a year and each hour is a wasted potential.  Can you tell my daughter has heard this speech too many times before while she sits hypnotized watching America’s Next Top Model or Project Runway?

Yesterday, I learned a lot and it wasn’t in front of the TV. I checked out vendor day sponsored by the Telebusiness Alliance. This is a group of Northern California telebusiness (Inside Sales) Directors, VP’s and Managers who meet regularly to discuss and share best practices in this rapidly changing and complex Telebusiness world. So all these great vendors assembled together to present their services and solutions which perfectly complemented selling within a SaaS model.

Everyone knows that software-as-a-service(SaaS)delivery model, or on-demand software, is transforming the industry, particularly the segment that targets business users. The flag-bearers are Salesforce.com, which has redefined the market for customer relationship-management software. SaaS offers an easier way for companies to buy and use the kinds of tools that previously were too complex and required too much upfront investment for all but large corporations.

Inside sales is well positioned for selling in within this SaaS model and their role continues to evolve. The time has finally come when we are moving away from the golf, martini and frequent flyer enterprise field reps to a highly efficient cubicle inside sales warrior.

David Sterenfeld with Corporate Dynamix has been recruiting in this Telebusiness space for a long time. He is an ethical, knowledgeable and smart recruiter, who really understands and believes in inside sales. Dave has more requests in building inside sales organizations than field organizations. 

I was very impressed Roque Versace’s presentation of EchoSign. What a brilliant idea these guys have about reducing the time chasing paper to get your orders into the system, they have transformed this time consuming process.

My Phoneworks friends have paved the road for so many companies implementing and building inside sales organizations. They are always spot on with their recipe for success and I know I’m in good hands when a client says they’ve received Phoneworks’ seal of approval.

Scared of metrics? LucidEra is here to help.  Check out Ken Rudin’s Selling Power interview- when Gerhard asks him about the “shoe-maker’s shoes” and he explain how they use their own analytics for measurement. I like when companies walk their talk.

Bummer, the founder of Baskin Robbins died yesterday. Irvine Robbins opened up the possibilities of ice cream flavors and although there were 31 flavors, they actually created more than 1000 flavors. I remember living in Southern California in the San Fernando Valley on scorching hot summer nights, we would walk down to Burbank Blvd and get ice cream.  I always got the same flavor- Chocolate Mint  My friend Missy worked there and I watched her right arm grow that summer. Eating a pint of ice-cream everyday was pretty typical. She became the ice-cream-scooper extraordinaire that summer.

I stuck with my chocolate mint flavor the same way salespeople stick to their sales system. There’s a lot of sales systems out there such as Solution Selling, Sandler, Miller Heiman, SPIN, TAS, should I keep going? The one thing these systems all have in common is that they were designed for the field and they only focus on one part of the sales cycle. They prescribe complex and strategic solutions that don’t apply at all in the 15 seconds or less that you have to pitch successfully on the phone and on-line.  I don’t get it- why put inside sales people through a sales system that isn’t exclusively designed for them?

It’s taken me years to design my TeleSmart 10 system and it is exclusively designed for inside sales. It includes 10 skills than span from the beginning to the end of the sales cycle. When all skills have been mastered, the salesperson has created ten new opportunities to create income.

As an inside salesperson, you are riding the crest of the wave of change in the way sales are made. You need to understand the sales cycle from the inside out, and you need robust skills that allow you to master every aspect of it: specific communication and strategy tools that help you take full advantage of everything available to you. That’s what the TeleSmart 10 delivers.

Have I ever told you that I paddle in an outrigger canoe? See, I’ve always wanted to do something on the bay so I joined this club a few years ago. Since my travel schedule isn’t too hectic these days, I have decided to race with this group. Imagine that, me in competitive sports. This is new for me and I just raced in Berkeley this last weekend and was in the novice boat. We came in last place.

I didn’t think I was a competitive person but when I saw all the boats starting on time and watched them all get further and further ahead of me, something happened for me. I started blaming my steersperson for now motivating us enough, I blamed the rest of the team for not having enough power in the boat, I blamed the other boats who had better crews. The truth is that I wasn’t taking it as seriously and got sloppy.

Building a competitive mind takes practice, motivation and focus. Showing up is 50% of it but motivating yourself, preparing, learning the landscape, delivering more than expected, and not thinking about losing is the secret. When I talk with highly competitive salespeople, losing is not even an option.

I’m sure you are hearing lots about the R word- That stands for Recession. Are we officially in one? Have we been in one? Is it happening? Will it get worst? Regardless, it’s important to sell like you’ve never sold before. Get to know your competition and understand what your customers like about your competition. Check out Paul Cherry’s article on Encouraging Customers to Reconsider Existing Vendor Relationships and I’m very impressed with Paul McCord’s article titled, Recognizing Your Biggest Competitor.

Paul writes about the “omnipresent competitor” which is your prospect’s decision to do nothing because of either apathy or indecision. It’s so true that most sales are lost because of indecision than all other sales combined. Remember my favorite definition of salespeople is one where they help people buy. It’s your job to help someone decide to buy and to not confuse them, paralyze them, pressure them, forget about them into deciding to just “hold off” or “build it in-house” instead.

Whew, the first quarter of the year is officially over and although things really should have started last month, we are noticing a sluggish economy and everyone seems to be running after the 8-ball. It’s May 1st- and it’s time to sharpen your sales knowledge and skills. We have a vibrant community of experts out there giving away amazing free content in the form of webinars, podcasts, white papers, articles and YouTube videos. And then again there are some who don’t know much about sales but want to sound like they do- I won’t tell you about them.

After you make your calls in the morning, you’ve got to download this great Webinar hosted by Razi Imam, CEO of Landslide and Tom Sant from the Sant Corp. It’s on one of my favorite topics- writing emails. The title is How to Use Sales Messaging to Win More Business.  Today, there are 65 billion emails being sent per day and it is estimated by 2010, 27,000 billion gigabytes of email will be stored. Tom shares some excellent sample sales emails that fail to get their point across, very valuable and definitely worth your time.

Eyes on Sales has partnered with Landslide and their site is looking fantastic. They have so many great articles, I’m featured in there and lots of others. Did anyone say Recession? Yesterday, a few inside organizations announced some riffs so there are some people on the street today (hopefully with good severance packages) so you have time to read a few articles especially since selling during a recession is one of the best times to sell.

And I found a few new sales blog, check out Johnathan Farrington’s blog and read this latest post on the Top 10 Mistakes Presenters Make written by Debbie Fay. And in the inside sales space, Trish Bertuzzi has picked up speed with her Inside Sales Experts Blog and has become the LinkedIn queen by forming an Inside Sales Group of Experts- you rule Trish!

Today marks the opening of the Business Experts Webinars and Lee Salz has assembled some very smart sales experts on great topics.  Great work Lee, hey, what about me?

Last but not least, CanDoGo is chipping away and doing some great work with high quality video so watch today’s winning insight by Tony Alexandra.