“Am I speaking to David Hornby?”
“You are!”
“My name is Sabine Orwell, Optima Banking.”
“OK.”
“I would like to make an appointment with you.”
“Why?”
“To see how we can help you.”
“What makes you think I need help?”
“It never hurts to hear what we can do for you.”
“That’s what George Bush also said to the Iraqis.”
“Excuse me?”
“Go on. You want to help me and therefore you want to have a conversation with me.”
“Indeed.”
“Is there a specifc area in which you are specialized?”
“How do you mean?”
“Is it about cooking or cleaning?”
“We provide financial advice.”
“Hahahahahaha.”
“What’s so funny, Mr Hornby?”
“I have no money, so I don’t see why I need financial advice.”
“Well, exactly for that very reason, Mr Hornby.When you use our advice, you will certainly have more money.”
“Who says I want more money?”
“Well, we looked into your files at the National Bank, and it is clear that you can use some help.”
“What was your name again?”
“Sabine Orwell, Optima Banking.”
“Mrs Orwell, is it a pyramid scheme that you want to sell me?”
“Absolutely not, mister Hornby.”
“Wetlands in Usuhuaia? Time Sharing on the West Bank? A Hamburg Mannheimer pension plan? Subscription to Trends Magazine? A King Kong movie on Telenet?”
“What do you think of us?”
“I suspect the worst.”
“How can you say that?”
“You contact me unsolicited with an unclear excuse, you do an unauthorized investigation into the finances of my company, suggests that you do …”
“If I may, Mr Hornby, that information is public and anyone can access those data.”
“That’s right, and who wants to know and why? Who would want to sift through all that data?
“Someone who means the best for you.”
“No, someone who wants to sell me something, some kind of financial product that I do not need.”
“All I want is that you give me the opportunity to help you.”
“Do you know that Tele-prospecting is forbidden in Germany?”
“Uh, no.”
“It’s a correctional offence.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I can report you to the Ministry of Economic Afffairs for deceptive trade practices.”
“I just want to talk to you.”
“I can also start a civil claim and sue you for stalking.”
“Uh, well, that’s certainly not the intention.”
“I may be able to come and visit you in prison and to see how wé can help you.”
“Uh.”
“Stop, OK. Uncle David, this was not realistic. None of our prospects are so difficult.”
“Well, my darling Sabine, you wanted a roleplay with a difficult customer to prepare your assessment for a commercial position at Optima Banking. Are you sure you want to do this kind of work??”
“We are not going to have that conversation now.”
“I hate bankers. We should hang at least one a day.”
“You’re not going to hang your favorite godchild, are you, Uncle David?”
John is a salesman eager to close a deal – a sales training project – with his customer Maria.
“So, Maria, we have carefully listened to your requirements, I think we have understood them. Based on that, we have made you a customized proposal. You have read it. What do you think? What do you think our chances are of winning this training project?”
“Well, John, the thing is...”
“Yes, Maria?”
“The thing is, we appreciate all the work you did. Your upfront presales investments must have been big.”
“This is a project we really want, Maria. I have put in my best effort.”
“Well, as I was trying to say.”
“Erm yes?”
“We have our doubts.”
“Doubts about what, Maria?”
“Doubts about your company’s capabilities to deliver this project.”
“Where do those doubts come from, Maria?”
“Well, we think that your competitor’s track record is better.”
“That is an interesting point of view.”
“They...”
“Allow me to set this straight, Maria. I understand our competitor has been playing the fud game and…”
“What is the fud game?”
“Creating Fear, Uncertainly and Doubt.”
“Well, they have been saying not such nice things about you.”
“You know, Maria, I don’t care what a frustrated competitor says. I pay much more importance to what our customers say. If you have doubts about our capabilities, I suggest you speak with Piet Candeel from Barco, Denise Cafarelli from Cochlear, and Dirk Vandenberghe from Metallo.”
“That’s a good idea. I will get in touch with them.”
“I will give you their mobile number. Now, I have a question for you, Maria.”
“I am sure you have, John.”
“What do you like most about our proposal?”
“It’s quite comprehensive, you seem to know what you’re talking about, and I like the integrated aspect of your approach.”
“Other things you like about our way of working?”
“It is customized to our business. What I don’t like, however, is the price.”
“The price?”
“Yes, you are quite expensive.”
“That is an interesting point. I will come back to that in a minute. When do you want to have the project delivered?”
“We want all our field sales people trained by the end of this year.”
“We are talking about sixty people, all over Europe, right?”
“Yes.”
“That is four months from now. We need to do the preparation, field interviews, write the customized business cases, make the manuals in six languages. That will take about a month. You want two days of Valueselling Skills and two days of Negotiation Skills. That is 24 training days. We have two months to deliver them in 6 European countries. You agree?”
“Yes, no use to give training in December.”
“That’s correct.”
“So, we are now September 4. I don’t want to rush you, but a decision is imminent, if I may say so.”
“Don’t put me under pressure with those devious closing techniques of yours, John.”
“Sorry, about that, Maria, But we have your best interests at heart.”
“I am sure you say that to all your customers.”
“Indeed, because we really do.”
“As I said, I still have my doubts.”
“I would like to suggest two things, Maria. First, you talk to the reference customers I just mentioned, and secondly, I am happy to give a demo training of half a day for the management team.”
“That is an interesting idea.”
“I really want to invest in our partnership.”
“You can invest in our partnership by giving a discount.”
“Suppose I were willing to discuss the possibility of a potential discount, what would you give me in return, Maria?”
“Well you get the business.”
“I will give you 5 percent discount if you agree now to our proposal of 4 preparation days and 24 training days, to be delivered by the end of this calendar year. And you will act as a reference for future customers. Do we have a deal, Maria?”
“Well, err. That demo session needs to be a huge success. Our CEO must love your approach. If you can seduce him, the project is yours.”
“Can I kiss you, Maria?”
“Yes, but on the cheek.”
Two medical representatives were sitting in a doctor’s waiting room.
Both are fiddling on a device on their lap.
“You have an iPad?”
“Yep.”
“Happy with it?”
“Yep. Great gadget. Love the video streaming. Helps pass the time while waiting for the doctor to sell him our new antibiotic. You a Samsung?”
“Yes, I am an Android man.”
“You’re sure?”
“The screen is great, the internet is really fast, and I can work on my mail. Fill in my visit reports.”
“Right. You bought it yourself, or did the company buy it for you?”
“It is the standard equipment of sales at Sanofi , you know. Did you buy it yourself?”
“No, at Novartis, it is part of the package.”
“It is the New Normal for sales people. I wouldn’t know what to do without my Galaxy.”
“iPad is better though.”
“That is not true.”
“Apple is superior.”
“Android is open.”
“Apple has iTunes.”
“Android has a market share of 73,4%.”
“What do you get if you cross an iPhone and a fridge?”
“No idea.”
“Cool music.”
“Do you know the joke about the iPad and the Galaxy engineers who went to a conference?”
“Three iPad engineers and three Samsung Galaxy Tab engineers are about to board a train to a computer conference. The Samsung Galaxy Tab engineers notice that the iPad engineers bought only one ticket between them.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab engineers ask the iPad engineers how they plan on getting to the conference.
“Watch and learn,” one of the iPad engineers tells them. As soon as the train leaves the station, the three iPad engineers rush from their seats and all squeeze into one restroom. When the conductor comes through the car he knocks on the restroom door and says “ticket please!”
The door opens a crack and the one ticket is handed to the conductor.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab engineers are impressed, and decide that’s what they will do on the trip back. Then on the return trip, the Samsung Galaxy Tab engineers notice that the iPad engineers haven’t bought any tickets.
“How do you plan on getting home without any tickets?” they ask.
“Watch and learn,” one of the iPad engineers tells them. As soon as the train leaves the station, the three Samsung Galaxy Tab engineers hurry for the restroom. A few moments later, one of the iPad engineers gets up from his seat, knocks on the restroom door and says, “ticket please!”
“Ha, ha ha. Nice one!”
“Let me tell you another one. A pharmaceutical salesman was on standby at the airport.
Finally his name was called to take the last seat on the airplane.
His luck was magnificent when he saw who his seat mate was for the two hour trip – a stunning woman whose reading glasses did not veil her beauty and whose severely tailored business suit did not succeed in concealing her voluptuous figure. He tried to engage her in polite conversation about the weather but only received a stare for his efforts. The salesman continued, trying topic after topic.
Finally, the women put down her work and said, ‘Look, I’m very busy and besides I’m very particular about men.’
The salesman asked, ‘Well what do you look for?’
‘There are three types that attract me: American Indians for one – they are so strong and reputed to possess great stamina. I guess I’m also attracted to Jewish men. They are good listeners, sensitive to a woman’s moods and very generous. And then I guess I like doctors because they know so much about a woman’s body.’
‘By the way,’ she added, ‘my name is Sylvia Williams, what’s yours?’
He thought quickly and said, ‘Tonto Bernstein, M.D.’
“Ha, ha, ha.”
“Do you know the joke about the mobile phone?”
“Was it a Samsung or an iPhone?”
“Think it was a Nokia. Several men were in a golf club locker room. A mobile phone rings. ‘Yes I can talk,’ says the man answering the call, ‘You’re shopping are you? That’s nice.’
The listening men smile to each other.
‘You want to order those new carpets? Okay… And they’ll include the curtains for an extra five thousand?… Sure, why not?’
More smiles among the listeners.
‘You want to book that week on Necker Island?… They’re holding the price at twenty-two thousand?… Sounds a bargain… You want a fortnight?… If that’s what you want honey, okay by me.’
Smiles turn to expressions of mild envy.
‘And you want to give the builder the go-ahead for the new conservatory? Seventy five thousand if we say yes today? Sounds fair… sure, that’s fine.’
The listeners exchange glances of amazement.
‘Okay sugar, see you later… Yes, love you too,’ says the man, ending the call.
He looks at the other men and says, ‘Whose phone is this anyway?…’”
“Hey Paul, I have a problem.”
“Put it on the table, Luc.”
“I don’t know how to motivate my sales team.”
“That’s not always easy, but it is the most important task of a manager, Luc.”
“I do not think it’s me, Paul. People today are so dissatisfied, so spoiled, so self indulgent. Always moaning and complaining. You have no idea.”
“It’s also a bit of the zeitgeist, Luc. Tough economy, pressure, uncertainty.”
“The atmosphere is bad, a lot of negativity, tension between the different departments.”
“Look Luc, there are three ways to motivate people.”
“Ah, I’m listening. Paul is teaching.”
“There is the financial dimension, the symbolic and the emotional.”
“Go on!”
‘Financial: a salary raise. Would that help? Strangely enough money is the least motivating. Financial incentives do not work. I’ll give you an example. The inhabitants of the Swiss village Wolfschiessen were asked whether they would agree to the placing of an underground nuclear storage unit some time ago. 50.8% of the population agreed. In a second survey the population was promised a bonus of 5,000 euros per capita. How many people were still in favor of the proposal?”
“80%?”
“No, 24.6%.Weird, isn’t it? A financial bonus repels rather than encourage it.”
“I’ve noticed that the motivational effect of a salary rise is rapidly diluted. One will find that quite normal, while the company has spent a lot of money. You’re probably right. What do you mean by the symbolic one?”
“The title on your business card. Imagine you call your account manager senior account manager. The self-esteem of those people is rising. You have no idea how important titles are!”
“OK. It does not cost much and I see quite a few people who I can make happy. And what you mean by emotional compensation?”
“Look, Luc, people want to be happy.”
“Not all of them, Paul. Some are compulsive complainers.”
“People need attention. It is up to the managers to give that precious attention. In return they get the results they expect. Since the quality of our lives is so strongly influenced by our work, that work should be a positive experience. Employee satisfaction is determined not only by the salary, car and options. The highest employee satisfaction is achieved through personal development. It is the job of managers to create an environment such that employees can do their best work, and that they remain motivated by the opportunity to grow in their job, to grow in their responsibilities. Hence the enormous importance of real coaching and real training. And recognition.”
“Wow. That’s not easy.”
“You can do that, Luc. You know the concept of ‘flow’?”
“Tell me.”
“Flow is a form of happiness experience that you can reach. Engaging in performing a task, if you’re in flow, you don’t think, wow, I’m fine, but when the job is over, you realize that you forgot the time that you were engaged in full concentration and without a moment of hesitation. In flow you are hardly aware of yourself, and you’re also not realizing that others are seeing you. The research of Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, shows that people are more likely to experience flow at work than in their leisure time.”
“Bring some flow to your sales team, Paul.”
“OK. Let’s flow.”
Bert is a high flying executive searcher – call him headhunter –, and Marc is his customer. Listen in to their conversation.
“You’re too expensive, Bert.”
“What do you mean, Marc?”
“Your fee is too high.”
“I can’t believe my ears, Marc.”
“Come on, Bert. Don’t play dumb.”
“You’re the first person who ever told me that I’m too expensive.”
“Others might not dare.”
“What do you mean by too expensive. Marc? Too expensive compared to who or what.”
“It’s too much money.”
“Too much in comparison with the budget that you have for hiring?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Compared to the competition?”
“You’re a lot more expensive than the other headhunters.”
“What’s the difference, Marc?”
“At least ten percent.”
“Ten percent. Mmm, interesting. Suppose that I would use the same fee as the competition, who would you work with, Marc?”
“Ah, you, of course!”
“And why would you work with us?”
“You know the industry, you find good candidates, you are professional. We have never had any problems with you.”
“Maybe it’s for all these reasons that I’m 10% percent more expensive, Marc.”
“That’s true, but I have to economize.”
“Suppose you are working with the cheap headhunter, and the result is not good, what would that cost you?”
“Well, uh.”
“What if it takes three months longer, or suppose that you do not get the right candidate. Or that you hire the wrong candidate, and that is bad for your business. What would that cost you, Marc?”
“I know where you are going with this, Bert, and you do it so cleverly, but I have to economize.”
“Why do you need to economize?”
“What sort of question is that? Business is not so good. Head Office says that we have to squeeze our suppliers. I am just doing what the bosses tell me to do, Bert.”
“Actually, you are doing this against your will, Marc.”
“Sure, do you think I enjoy putting suppliers under pressure?”
“What is the most important thing in your business, Marc?”
“Our people, of course!”
“You might run the risk of bringing the wrong people on board?”
“Again, you’re trying to scare the hell out of me, you sly fox, but that will not work, Bert.”
“Probably you would be better off economizing on your non-critical suppliers: electricity, leasing, photocopying …”
“We’ve looked at all options, Bert.”
“We’ve known each other a long time, Marc, and we’re not going to cause problems for each other.”
“Go on, Bert.”
“Suppose I were to consider the possibility of a minor discount, what would you do in return?”
“Then you can continue to work with us, Bert.”
“That is not a consideration, Marc, and that is not motivating for us.”
“You also need to consider our interest, remember the importance of your client, Bert.”
“I am willing to negotiate a new financial agreement, if we can do all the search work for you.”
“You want a monopoly.”
“You just said it yourself: We know the industry, we nd good candidates, we are professional. You have never had any problems with us. Direct quote. I am looking at your interest, Marc. What do you think?”
“We might want to look into this…”
“Are you still a fan of Anderlecht? We can discuss it this weekend in the corporate box at Anderlecht…”
“You’re incorrigible, Bert.”
“That’s what my wife always says, Marc.”
At
Valueselling.be we sometimes do some coaching. You would be surprised to hear what high level executives are struggling with. Listen in.
“I am so sick and tired of the people in my company!”
“Oops. Sounds depressing.”
“You need to help me, give me some perspective, Jan.”
“Suppose you could replace your boss, your colleagues and your staff, would your problem then be resolved?”
“If I could choose them all myself, you would see some dynamics in here! You have no idea what I have to carry as a legacy. Pure waste.”
“That’s not easy.”
“No, you bet.”
“Now, you’re not going to be able to replace all these people immediately, are you?”
“That’s the tragedy, yes.”
“What can you change immediately?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know the wise words of Saint Francis of Assisi?”
“My religious literacy is quite limited, I must admit.”
“Lord, grant me the strength
to accept the things I cannot change, give me
the courage to change the things I can,
and give me wisdom to know the difference.”
“That is very wise. What does it mean for me?”
“What can you change about yourself, for example? There you will have immediate impact.”
“What do I need to change about myself? Nothing. I am not the problem. They are.”
“That’s right.”
“Exactly.”
“But you suffer from this situation.”
“You bet!”
“It is too heavy for you.”
“Actually, yes.”
“And if this situation continues, then what will be the effect on your health?”
“Look, we have a very large project, we need to close that deal. It is big and complex. There are many risks involved for us.”
“Oh so. Suppose you mess up, then what happens? What if you do not win the deal?”
“Yes, then our ceo will be very dissatisfied.”
“OK, imagine the ceo is very unhappy, what happens then?”
“Yes, we will lose his support.”
“OK, what if we lose his support, then what happens?”
“Yes, it will bring our division into trouble, and that’s not good for the results.”
“OK, what if we have bad results, then what happens?”
“Yes, then the company goes down the drain, and I have to go find another job.”
“How old are you now?”
“Uh, 36.”
“You will immediately and another job, maybe an even more fun and better paid job. You do not have to worry anyway. You understand?”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
“You said your colleagues are useless. What do you think they think about you?”
“Probably the same.”
“You like that?”
“Mmmm.”
“What is the effect of your dissatisfaction on your colleagues?”
“Bof, not good for sure. I see what you are getting at. Blame me.”
“You have three options: replace your colleagues, leave the company or do something about your attitude. Which do you think will be the most successful in the short term?”
“My attitude? Wise guy!”
At
Valueselling.be, we wanted to know: what does a good sales manager look like. I spoke with Christine, international account manager at a major technology company. I was curious about her boss.
“Peter is a good boss.” She immediately stated.
“Ah. Glad to hear it. What makes him so good?”
“He stands up for his people.”
“Give us an example.”
“I had a difficult price discussion with a customer, who wanted a really big discount on his maintenance contract and I could not and would not give it to him.”
“Why did he want that discount?”
“Well, he said that our prices are organized crime, we hijack our customers, and that maintenance costs must actually be zero.”
“Well, I understand where that perception comes from. You are the only ones that support the hardware, he can not do without maintenance, and so he is at the mercy of your pricing.”
“Well, the man called Peter and he said he wanted another account manager. I was not doing my job properly.”
“Oops. You were suddenly the cause of his problem.”
“Yep.”
“And what did Peter do?”
“Peter and I invited him to lunch.”
“Peter played mediator. Beautiful.”
“He did a lot more than that.”
“I’m curious.”
“He explained that I carried out his orders perfectly,
and that he was not going to put in place a different account manager for that customer.”
“That customer was probably quite embarrassed when you sat there.”
“He looked crestfallen.”
“And then?”
“And then Peter made a masterstroke. He said, “Actually, we’re not here to quarrel, but to solve your problem with our price.”
The customer replied eagerly. “I have the strong feeling that you are abusing your monopoly position and you are squeezing us like lemons.”
“We’re very sorry if you have that feeling,” commented Peter very empathetically.
“Yes, you’re right. We are real money grabbers.”
He laughed at the terrifed face of the customer.
“What solution would you like,” asked Peter suddenly.
“Reduce maintenance cost by 50%, Peter. That seems a minimum requirement.”
“We were just announcing a price increase of 3%, index adjustments and so on.”
“This is leading us nowhere.”
“Do you know why our maintenance costs so high?”
“Because you are so expensive.”
“No, not really. You have too many older machines. There is a very good way to bring down your maintenance costs and infrastructure costs.”
“I’m listening.”
“What if you could consolidate and virtualize your servers, then your absolute and relative costs would go down very much. The new hardware is much cheaper, and maintenance will follow that price.”
“What savings would that yield?”
“We need to do the accounting exercise with the write offs but I am sure that you can save between 30 and 40 per cent per year.”
“What I found so clever about Peter’s approach is that he defended me, listening to the client, that he found a solution to the problem, and that he closed a new hardware contract. I learned a lot during that lunch. You should also learn from your boss. If a boss doesn’t teach you new things, he is worthless.”
For more Valueselling.be stories, see
Jan, Flamend,
Keep your calm and sell your socks off. De Cavalerie, 2013
http://www.letusboostyourbusiness.com
