Black Sales Journal

“Who has confidence in himself will gain the confidence of others.”
- Lieb Lazarow

In corporate lobbies and shiny business buildings everywhere there are people trying to rob you of your self-confidence. There are those people who will attempt to find any crack or weakness to attack, and some with good reason.  Testing your meddle is what they are doing, and it is legal, and you should expect it.

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One day I went on a call to meet a prospect that I had worked on for over 6 months just to get an appointment.  He indicated that we should meet at 9:00A sharp and that I had 45 minutes total appointment time.  That is not enough time to get the information that I needed, but it was a start.  When I arrived at his business at 8:55A, there were two trucks backed-up waiting to get into the loading docks.  I sat patiently waiting for the trucks to move, which would allow entry to the parking lot.  Feeling as if it would be too long, I parked down the street and walked two blocks.

I walked into reception at 9:06A and immediately was escorted in by the receptionist.  My buyer was sitting at a long table in the conference room staring at his watch.  He said, “I thought I specified that you should we would start at 9:00a?” I apologized without explaining the situation.  He then said, “We are at 9:10 and you are eating away at your own time!”  He then said, “What in God’s name makes you the person I want to buy from?  You seem so young.” I responded, “I know your industry well, and have some creative solutions that you will find attractive.” I was on my heels at this point, and that was all that I knew to say.  His expression showed his lack of acceptance.

We rushed through the appointment.  My questions were hurried and his answers were brief, even incomplete.  I continued to probe, although cognizant of my time restraints. I was getting answers, but needed more.  At 9:45A he abruptly stood up, extended his hand and stated, “My next appointment is waiting.  I hope you have enough information.” As he was leaving the room he parted by saying, “My assistant will make an appointment for the presentation.” I did not have enough for a quotation presentation, and if I did not get more, it would have been a wasted opportunity.

Never Show You are Shaken

I was late, although only by a few minutes, but was on the defensive and I was young most likely compared to my competition.  Even on top of that, I was Black.  Being Black might not have been the biggest deal in the world, but I was a in a profession that required that you instill confidence in the customer as the product was an intangible.

I am not going to tell you that race was a factor, because I don’t know, but I will speculate below.

This individual was attempting to rob me of my self-confidence and I was not ready to let it go.   You have been in similar situations.  He questioned my professionalism (being late) as well as my age and I did everything that I could do not to appear defensive.

Build a Portfolio of Proof Sources

As you may have seen in BSJ 4/16/12 – Credibility, You Can’t Buy It, You Have Got To Earn It, one of the most effective tools to help establish credibility is proof sources such as letters of recommendation, accreditations, certifications, and other indications of your professional nature and ability to help customers.  Credibility will help give you confidence.  Armed with these, you can answer the questions about experience, age, and knowledge.

If you are new in the sales occupation, you will eventually have these questions so take the opportunity to prepare your portfolio to house these important items:

• Letter from prominent customers singing your praises
• Certifications and designations indicating technical ability and knowledge
• Your reasons why you should be the customers sales professional

These will help, but the most important display is your own demeanor.

Be ‘Cool’ in the Game

If you are new, you may not have all of these items, but whether a novice or a vet, you still need to be look confident and composed no matter what the situation.

Never appear smug but do recognize that you want to portray that the ‘solution’ just walked into the room.  You don’t want to be ‘worshipped’, only believed.  Make solid eye-to-eye contact and put down your electronics, retreating to a reliance on your personal skills.  Remember you listening skills and your ability to show empathy (BSJ – 10/13/2011, Empathy, Put Yourself In Your Customers Shoes) and always deliver solutions…. then sell (BSJ 6/20/2011 -Deliver Solutions…Then Sell).

Something to Think About

He did not involve my race in any of his comments.  He may have been tough, but he was a professional.  Maybe it was not a factor to him.  No matter what, this buyer was a tough one.

Regardless, all a Black sales professional can do is to exude confidence, be ultra prepared, and armed with as much ‘ammo’ in the form of proof sources to deal with perceptions that you might have basic faults.

I always think about being on time and not starting out a meeting with an apology.  Way back then, or even before it, I realized that you start from a weaker position if you ‘begging’ someone’s pardon as the meeting is starting.

In the end, I did not sell this account at this time, although I did sell him in the future.  My presentation was solid according to my manager who was on the call.   This buyer worked with me two years later.  My manager would later say that I ‘developed’ the prospect during that proposal.

Be confident in your abilities, even though buyers, and situations work to strip you of your ‘high’.  If you have prepared well, and know your trade, you should walk in with your shoulders high and ask for the business.

Always be prepared!

Your comments are welcome.

2014 is still going, but as we get to mid-October it is obvious that you have just under three months to make goals, and possibly save your job, or make additional gains which might also give you a financial boost.

You almost want to tell your prospect or customer: “It’s the Fourth Quarter, Do You Want to Buy or Not?!!!!”

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Three months is far from an eternity, but it is enough time to make some things happen.

It is a tough economy out there so some customers are not making decisions with the timeliness that you might need, but that is the way that the last quarter goes.  I am going to pose some basic actions that might make it more clear what your opportunities are, and maybe even help give results when you need them most.

It’s Not Now or Never – But Now Would Be Better!

I once was buying for a large social service organization.  Having had a sales background I marveled at how many of the sales professionals (some more professional than others) tried to get me ‘off the dime’.  In many cases they did not realize some of my limitations, such as the funding cycles of a not-for-profit.

As a buyer, and as a sales professional and sales manager, I recognize that the more you know about your customer, and their liberties or limitations, the better you are.  Remember as well that everything pivots off of the relationship.  If you have a strong durable relationship, you can approach topics that others might find more difficult.

Stay in front of your buyer – But with a purpose! – Face-to-face is the always the best way to put the gentle pressure on to close a deal.  For customers who appear slow to make a decision you will want to set-up last quarter meetings to discuss any number of items (customer satisfaction, upcoming year needs, recaps of services during the current year, etc.).  If you set up these meetings at mid-year, it puts you in front of the client at a crucial time…decision time.

Use tact and probes to determine objections. – This is no time to ‘jelly foot’ around.  You need to use your probing and interview skills to determine why you can’t close this one.  Be tactful and direct in determining what the objections are, and realize that getting to the bottom of this is easier than finding a new prospect.  Something is keeping the customer from making a decision; your job is to make sure that it is not some aspect of your product, organization, or you.  If you don’t have the right product-price combination, get your customer to tell you without negotiating against your own organization by cutting the price before you know if that is the problem.

Add something of value! Move to close. – I am not into ‘smoke and mirrors’, but you may have to find something that has either service or economic value, and ‘sweeten the pot’.  You can’t let the offers hang out there indefinitely, but you probably don’t want to retract them.  A suggestion is that you can try adding  things to the offers for a limited time.  Make sure it is something that you can afford to give, and remember that you should be able to put some value on it, because if you cannot, your customer will assume it is of little value.  An example would be, a financial products sales professional indicating telling the customer that if he/she consummates the deal that in the months of November or December that they will receive a retirement planning session for free.

Keep Score

Nothing is worse than believing in the unbelievable.  Make a list of your prospects/customers that owe you answers and grade them.  Just being honest with yourself is worth bundles.  Spend your time making the most probable ones happen, and move down the list from there.

Don’t leave stones unturned and questions unanswered. Tie up the loose ends and by all means, be the professional.

Your comments are welcome.