Black Sales Journal

I had a meeting with a buyer to discuss adding another line of business to his account.  I felt that I could save him money, and I felt I could make some money for my company and me as well.  He was always an easy person to talk to, and I measured my relationship with him at to be at the highest level.  As his need for the product was high, this might just be a matter of timing.  He was accepting proposals from three vendors in total.

I went to him, presented a ‘death grip’ (a proposal that had price and product that could not be denied) and his response was, “I am going to stay where I am on this one.  You price is good, and I like your organization, but maybe next time.

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Almost every business relationship has a limit, and it is usually because of the trust factor.  When the requisite level of trust is absent, the resulting trust deficit might be based on the sales professional, and in many cases, it will be based on the company that sales professional represents. Either way it ‘stops’ the sales process in a way that does not result in any revenue changing hands.

In the case above, the buyer did not have enough confidence in either me, or my organization, to let money change hands.  Getting the order means getting over this “hump”.  Obviously this was a learning situation for me.

The Trust Deficit

“Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.”

Zig Ziglar

No one wants to think that they are not trusted, but usually this is not personal …this is business!  You have not necessarily done any wrong, but you may still have work to do getting rid of the trust deficit

This obstacle is seldom meant to beckon that you aren’t trustworthy, it is meant to show the relationship is not as solid and intimate as you thought.  You can overcome this lack of trust, and should not take it personally.

Are You At a Disadvantage?

Black sales professionals you should assume they are at a disadvantage until it is proven otherwise.   Let me explain that.  Being at a disadvantage means that you have work to do.  Assume you do not have all of the trust necessary to close the deal, but the good part is that you are in the game.

Trust is an essential factor to consummate a business relationship, and the raw truth is that when you are Black or another minority, you need to work continuously to make sure that trust is present as you may be lacking one of the most important aspects of a positive business relationship, something I call preference.  If you will remember from earlier of issues of Black Sales Journal, specificallyBSJ 12/27/2010 Preference, Prejudice, and Perceptions and Your Customer, and BSJ 12/12/2011 Racial Preference in Action to name an important few, preference is important.  It is at the top, and the bottom, of any business relationship.

Preference is ‘socially’ legal.  Preference is still different from “racial preference” as you will see if you read the above articles.  Racial preference is vexing, and is everything wrong with business.  Racial preference is racial prejudice!

I will speak more on this important item in a moment.

Building Trust

How do you get the trust you need.  How do you generate the most complete relationship?  Well, I am going to point you in the direction of a couple of in-depth articles on building the trustful relationship between you and the customer:

Black Sales Journal 7/11/2011- Deepening Your Customer Relationships – The Holy Grail for the Black Sales Professional

Read this to know how to construct and maintain the strongest relationships.  Remember, relationships are everything.

Black Sales Journal 1/20/2011 – Deepening Your Customer Relationships Part 2

Read this one to gain access to a simple customer profile that you can change as you see necessary, and other tools to help you record and recognize the relationship and its strength.

The Role of Racial Preference

Racial preference is essentially racial prejudice, and there is frankly no other way to state it.  Are you at a disadvantage?  The answer is ‘possibly’.

We need to face the fact that there are many buyers who could care less about your color, and believe in fairness.  Many more believe that they do, but are affected by forces that they don’t even recognize.

That is the nature of racial prejudice.  It is easily hidden from view, and with that in mind I suggest you always assume you are at a disadvantage.

Read about it in the articles I cite, you will recognize it, and learn to make the proper assumptions.

Relationship Building 101

Build a relationship for all of the reasons cited in these posts, and put your energy and resources toward making sure that you cement together a solid, enduring relationship founded in trust.  Deliver on your promises and commitments and you will create the underpinnings of a trusting relationship.

Ask the customer how you are doing…get meaningful feedback from this important relationship.  More in Black Sales Journal 3/12/2012, Ask Your Customer for Feedback.  You will be amazed at how the customer begins to start to develop an affinity for you if you will put yourself on the line like this.

Be the best at what you do, and remember you cannot win without your customer’s trust, and relationships are everything.

Your comments are appreciated.

Unless you are extraordinary, you only write a fraction of the accounts you propose or quote.  So what we talk about to day is very important.  If you work on a number of prospects, you probably will not remember details to all of them as well. A solid, well done, post-mortem will help you more than you would ever believe.

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You just completed one of your most important sales calls of 2011. Your team did well, your pricing was close, but you just got a call indicating that you did not get the order. You’re aware of many of the reasons, and know that this account can be a good prospect for the future.

Which of the following is the most important activity you can take next:

a. Close the file and diary this file for next year.

b. Call for a meeting with your manager to advise him why you didn’t get the account

c. Write a quick but comprehensive postmortem detailing what went right, and what went wrong, and how you are going to go about getting the business next year.

And the answer is:

In reality the correct answer is C for at least two reasons. Nothing could be more solid in preparation for getting the business the following year than to record why you didn’t get it this year, as well as what went right and wrong, and how you will remedy these problems in the following year. It doesn’t take long to do and it will create lasting benefits.

Once complete, this is what you will use as the outline to review the account with your manager detailing all of the issues, and your plans for next year.  Additionally, once you do it a few times you will find that it is much better than committing facts to memory. As a matter of fact once it is part of your routine you will be able to free your mind following this activity because your pre-work will be done for the next encounter with this customer.

I Don’t Want to Put Anyone on the Spot!

When sales call goes wrong too many sales professionals are afraid to cite the issues with their team and support. By the same token, too many sales professionals are too lazy to give accolades to those people who did an outstanding job. The objective of a successful postmortem is to deliver a framework to do both these things in a constructive way. It allows you to point out problems with coordination, completeness, quality work, and other issues in order to begin the process of strengthening those areas. If your organization neglects to change anything, you can logically expect the negative result to occur again. These are definitely learning opportunities that your manager, and very possibly the manager’s of the other individuals on your team need to know about.

When one of your team members has exceeded what is expected, the postmortem gives credit where it is due.  Don’t forget to do it. In reality, even though everyone might be doing their job, there is no doubt that these individuals will be stimulated by a show of “job well done”.

If done correctly the postmortem is a perfunctory way to naturally include improvements and accolades in the same document. It’s also a constructive recording of what we need to do better and what we have done well in regard to a particular account. In regard to the account itself, with this information recorded well, you have the basis for the introductory discussions for the next period when you attempt to wrest the business the incumbent.

By doing a postmortem correctly you will avoid the common problem of forgetting to give a compliment and for getting to help correct the most important issues.

But I’ve Already Got Enough to Do!

In the busiest of times a successful sales professional is overloaded. No one in his or her right mind wants to do valueless work.  This is real value.

To be able to record updates on the preferences of the buyer, differences in pricing, weak points and strengths in your product line, as well as performance of your sales team is priceless. When the next encounter comes about, you are ready to utilize the information gleaned from the postmortem to set your sights on success.

Depending on the nature of what you sell, and the type of organization you work for, you could be in a situation where you give important constructive points upfront to those that are providing your numbers and product particulars.  These notes can make a difference, and can change how people perceive you.

A Practical Example

Once while running a divisional operation I asked to see the sales representative about an upcoming key account.  She came in with some back-up documents and blew me away with her grasp of the account particulars as well as what she perceived that we needed to get the business on the books.

Not only did she have a grasp because of her postmortem (which happened long before I was in the position) she spoke clearly and cogently about the problems that we had with our product line as well as our foibles during the presentation.  Needless to say, she was “on top of it”.

I was impressed with this sales professional, and it left a lasting impression on me.  A professional does not sit in a meeting with a responsibility to be the expert on the account and then speak tentatively.  The true professional expounds on the facts of the call, citing what he or she believes we can solve, and what we need to sell against.

Always be ‘The Professional’.

I welcome your comments.