by Art Waskey | Dec 10, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly
Over 11 million Americans are currently unemployed according to bls.gov, which means many people are struggling to find ways to create new opportunities. Adversity is part of life. Sometimes, it’s trivial and throws you off for only a few weeks. At other times, it’s life-changing. The coronavirus pandemic fits squarely into the latter category and has made it an especially challenging time to be in the job market.
Tips for the job seeker
If you are looking for work, here are some tips I have developed this year on how to best to approach the difficult situation you find yourself in:
- Share your emotions – When you lose a job, it often feels like failure. Many people experience grief, similar to the kind of sorrow you feel with the loss of a loved one. It’s important to share those feelings, preferably with someone who has been through an unexpected job change. You are better able to express your anger, pain, and disappointment to a kindred spirit. Ignoring those emotions can prevent you from moving forward.
- Assess your finances – Finances are a concern for most of us. Be sure to evaluate what you will require monetarily until you find a job. Most people do not have the funds to support a long period of unemployment. Check with your state and federal offices to see if you qualify for unemployment insurance, including special pandemic unemployment assistance.
- Develop a plan – Once you have dealt with the emotional and financial aspects of your situation focus on problem-solving and develop a plan. Consider why you lost the job. Was it just the result of the pandemic or were there other issues at play? Perhaps this is a good time to make a needed career change or find a job that better matches your skill set and passion.
Persevere
Going through adverse situations is tough and the pandemic is testing our strength on so many levels. To get through adversity, you must persevere in your quest to create better opportunities. This resiliency will lead you to a better job. I have found that after a year in new position, most people find they are better off financially and enjoy greater job satisfaction. Stay strong.
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by Art Waskey | Dec 1, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly
To effectively plan for the New Year of business, it is important to recap your transactions in 2020, review their effectiveness, and realign your goals accordingly. Each autumn, I recommend that all business executives take serious look back at how they filled their work days and weeks.
As 2020 was the year of the unexpected, this exercise requires an even deeper level of commitment than in the past. In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell describes how paradigm shifts change our lives and how we view the world. With its impacts on our health, careers, the economy, and our interpersonal relations, the Coronavirus certainly qualifies as a paradigm shift. COVID19 has changed our lives and the way we conduct business. As executives, it is important to acknowledge this and to take the opportunity to close out this year with intention and care so we are able to plan effectively for the year ahead.
Consider these questions
As you reflect on 2020, here is a series of questions for you to consider:
- What projects did you complete or put in motion this year?
- What aspect of your business has given you the greatest gratification and fulfillment?
- What part of your job has created the most frustration, disappointment, and displeasure?
- Were there areas where you discovered you were vulnerable?
- What unique qualities do you bring to others around you?
- What is your one greatest take-away from 2020?
- What are the projects or actions you could take that would make you successful in 2021? What will you accomplish, where will you grow, and what impact will you have on others?
Develop a plan for the new year
In light of the fact that it has been an upside down year and, that there is the promise of more change to come, a 2020 recap, review, and realignment of goals will take time and effort. Focus on the best of your past and use those results to develop an exciting, enthusiastic, and directed plan for the New Year.
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by Art Waskey | Nov 23, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly
One question I am frequently asked by young professionals is how to make their hours of hard work count toward career advancement? Many feel they are treading water — working long hours and spending whatever time is needed to get the job done but not getting to the next level. To understand the actions that best enable you to move up the career ladder, let’s look at what separates the top 10 percent performers from the rest of the field?
The Character of Success
In his book The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle identifies The Three Rules of Deep Practice. Whether it’s music, sports, writing, or any other discipline, Coyle writes that it is through deep practice that you develop the specific characteristics that differentiate you from the crowd.
Here are Coyle’s Three Rules:
- Chunk It Up – First, look at the task you face as one big chunk and find an example of someone who has succeeded at a similar challenge. Analyze how that person divided the project into small component pieces, and then acted on them. Memorize those actions.
- Repeat It – Second, sharpen your skills though repetition. Repetitio mater studiorum est –repetition is the mother of study, and Coyle sees it as invaluable to career advancement. Each time you practice an action you improve on it and on its timing.
- Learn To Feel It – Third, get to know and recognize your full potential, what UCLA psychologist Robert Bjork calls the sweet spot. This is the productive, uncomfortable terrain located just beyond our current abilities, where our reach exceeds our grasp. Here is how Bjork suggests you identify your potential: (1) pick a target, (2) reach for it, (3) evaluate the gap between the target and the reach, and (4) return to step one. It can be an uncomfortable exercise at first, but is one that will help you get to that next level quickly.
Achievement Gained
Reaching and achieving the next level in a career, or in a specific skill set, requires a lot of deep practice. To the sales professionals I mentor, I advise that while the effort may be uncomfortable, career advancement is best gained through following these three rules.
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by Art Waskey | Nov 16, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly
A rep came to me with the news that he was finally making headway with a prospect, but had trouble with them making the commitment. His new contact had told him that he would “think about” his proposal. As his manager, that phrase did not trigger enthusiasm. Experience has taught me that “thinking it over” generally is a polite way of saying “no”.
Gaining commitment
I advise our sales reps to seek an unequivocal “yes” or “no” from prospects, but realize they may be faced with a “maybe”. When this happens, ask the client why he is hesitating. You may be surprised by the response. Here are some common reasons a potential customer may choose to “think about it”:
- Lack of trust – If you haven’t spent sufficient time getting to know the customer, you haven’t earned the right to ask for an order. Spend more time bonding by asking more questions.
- Too polite – Some people simply can’t say “no”; it’s against their nature. You need to make them feel comfortable with a negative response. Try saying, “It’s okay for you to tell me “yes” or “no”, but please don’t tell me, “let me think it over.”
- Not the decision-maker – The person you are dealing with may not be authorized to approve the sale. Ask, “In addition to you and me, who else might be part of a decision like this?”
- Needs proof – While your sales target may agree with the value of your product as proposed, he may need to see it perform before making a final decision. Offer this — “Would you be willing to give me a purchase order pending an agreed upon trial period of satisfactory performance?”
- Not in the market – If your client says he is not in the market for your products, you have failed to establish what he needed in the first place. Pursue every sale on the basis of where your customer has a problem or an opportunity to grow their business.
Discovery time
As you can see from the points above, equivocal responses can be avoided if you spend more time discovering and establishing customer needs before making a pitch. “I’ll think it over” is really just a nice way of saying “no”. Invest some time in finding out why.
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by Art Waskey | Nov 9, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly
Stalled conversations
One of my reps was finding it difficult to engage his prospects and build the relationship. Seeking my counsel he explained, “I’m having a hard time getting the conversation started and when I do, the dialogue seems to end too abruptly. I try to get the ball rolling by talking about our latest new products but often find this leads to a bored and disengaged potential customer. How can I sell anything when I can’t even get to know the customer and his needs?”
Let them know you care
The solution to this dilemma is to get to know your client before you pitch the product. As the influential American author, salesman, and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar (ziglar.com) said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Build a business relationship
To demonstrate care, you need to build a lasting relationship. I advise people to work from a framework that enables them to understand their client before they propose any solutions. Following a conversational system, one based on a series of images that help you remember the sequence to use when developing a relationship, helps. Here is system I have found to be effective.
- Name plate – When you meet someone think of a name plate. Start with asking, what is your name? Everyone likes to be remembered personally.
- House –The name plate is attached to a house. Next ask, where do you live?
- Group of people – Within the house there is a group of people. Ask about your prospect’s family or coworkers.
- Man with a glove – Within the group is a man with a work glove on his right hand. This image leads to questions like, where do you work, or where do you go to school, or how do you spend your time?
- Airplane – In the grip of the work glove is an airplane. This reminds you to ask, where do they like to vacation?
- Tennis racket – On the nose cone of the airplane is a propeller fashioned out of a tennis racket. This picture triggers questions about favorite sports, hobbies, and leisure time activities.
Know the decision maker
Working your way through this series of questions yields insight on your potential client’s world and enables you to relate to them on a more meaningful level. My rule of thumb is that before closing a new account, you should know at least 5 things about the decision maker. If you fall short of that number, you have more relationship building to do.
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by Art Waskey | Nov 3, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
The seasoned salesperson knows where he/she is going and how to get there. It’s typical, however, to those new to the profession to feel insecure. In fact, it’s a good sign. Quoting Socrates, “The beginning of wisdom is recognizing the depth of your ignorance.” As a rookie, the young salesperson does not have a great deal of prior experience on which to develop his approach to a sale. Acknowledging this lack of insight is step one in overcoming the obstacle of inexperience.
Preparation and practice
Let’s look at what makes a great professional. An effective public speaker, for example, achieves success by beginning with a well-developed script. He will continually edit and revise his words to sharpen the message. Then, he will spend countless hours rehearsing his speech until he can say it in his sleep. By the time he is behind the podium he has complete confidence in his prepared remarks and no fear of misspeaking. The same pattern of intense preparation and practice is also true of the professional golfer who is able to make the winning putt, or the NBA star sinking his final shot. These professionals have overcome inexperience by developing the kind of confidence that comes from a practiced approach to their game. Their winning strategy is second nature to them and can be mentally played back at the right time and in the right place, like a tape recording.
4 Elements to a Winning Strategy
What does a sales professional need to develop and practice to overcome the obstacle of inexperience? Here are 4 elements that I consider essential to a winning sales strategy.
- Identify the decision maker(s) carefully and early in the sales cycle
- Determine which results will constitute a win for each decision-maker
- Know and use your personal strengths to create a win
- Find people with prior knowledge of the account and enlist their help in obtaining pertinent information
My advice to the new sales rep is to develop a winning strategy and embed it in your psyche. In that way — like the public speaker, the golfer, or basketball player — when the pressure is on you are able to instantly play the right tape.
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by Art Waskey | Oct 27, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly
Self-esteem can be a bit of a misnomer as it often does not come entirely from within. The process of building self-confidence requires the support and encouragement of others. I was fortunate to have a father who bolstered my ego early on. Our family owned a retail meat business in downtown Baltimore where I worked as a teenager. My father recognized my ability to relate to our customers and told me I would make a successful salesman. His steadfast belief in me led to a long and rewarding career in sales.
Overcoming challenges
The self-confidence that I possess today did not come easily. I had challenges to overcome. A reading disability, dyslexia, had a negative impact on my self-esteem. Fortunately, I was able to compensate for that deficit with a gift for mathematics, a subject in which I excelled in college. I graduated with honors in engineering and was hired by a national welding and gas company. The sales manager there also recognized that I had a salesman’s personality and for the next eight years constantly assured me of my talents.
That manager’s actions built my self-confidence and I moved up the company ranks, receiving six promotions in 12 years. I left the company in 1985 and went to work for a small family business with sales of $5.5 million. When I retired from that company in 2018, our sales were $65 million. Now that’s a self-confidence builder.
Find the good
Today I both write and speak on achieving success in sales. I also host sales and management seminars and recently published my third book ,“The Art of Sales: A Book of Sales Stories” (The Art of Sales books). On the topic of self-esteem, I always remind my audience of the importance of a having a supporter, someone who sees the good in you and will help you build self-confidence. When speaking to a more seasoned group, I stress the importance of helping others to build self-confidence by finding the good in them and supporting them on their path to success.
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by Art Waskey | Oct 13, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Many of the sales managers and reps I advise have commented that working from home during this pandemic has made them more efficient. This has come as a pleasant surprise to companies that previously had only on-site employees. Many companies are now moving to make a higher percent of their work force home-based.
David McGuire of the Forbes Finance Council reported in a July 31, 2020 article, Big Changes Are Coming To Commercial Real Estate Industry In The Wake of The Pandemic, that “Retail space is expected to see a major loss in demand in the coming years, with some expecting negative demand for up to 13 quarters. A large percentage of workers are currently working from home, and many employers expect a great part of their workforce will continue to do so.”
Improved Productivity
What is contributing to the belief that working from home is more efficient than reporting to an office? Stephen Covey in his classic, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, offers some insight. In his Time Management Matrix, Covey suggests that we should focus on two quadrants for improved productivity. They are: Important and Urgent and Important not Urgent.
Of lesser significance to efficiency are the quadrants he labels: Not Important but Urgent, which includes interruptions, some calls, emails, reports, and meetings, pressing matters, and popular activities; and Not Important not urgent matters, like trivia, busy work, some emails and phone calls, time wasters, and pleasant activities.
Concentrated Work
In an office environment there are more opportunities to be distracted by unimportant work details. The longer we are away from the desk, the more time it takes to get back into what Cal Porter describes in his book Deep Work, as the un-distracted deep thought which is necessary for concentrated work. At the office, trips to the coffee pot, water cooler, or bathroom, where we encounter colleagues along the way, can quickly turn a 15-minute break into one that stretches into a half-hour. If we remain disciplined about avoiding the kitchen sink and laundry, there are far fewer distractions at the home office and more time for deep thought.
More Efficient Work Days
Technology has changed the rules and forms of business socialization and has been a game changer for the stay at home employee. Virtual meetings have become the norm, cutting way down on time spent traveling. The hours that would otherwise been eaten up by a long commute also add productive time to the at-home worker’s day. Increased time for deep thought and fewer distractions in the home office translate into greater productivity and more efficient work days. Welcome home!
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by Art Waskey | Oct 6, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly
Stay Flexible with your Service Channels
I recently went to the hardware store to purchase some plumbing supplies for a home project. I was delayed in getting the job done and when finished, had extra parts to return. At the store, the clerk asked to see my receipt, and then informed me that I was outside of the 30-day return policy and could not be refunded for the unused parts.
With a recent Amazon purchase, I had an entirely different experience. I ordered a computer camera online, which worked perfectly for a couple of months then failed. I found the digital record of my Amazon purchase and requested a refund. Instructions on how to proceed were immediately sent to my iPhone and computer along with a credit. The email included a QR barcode and directed me to take the camera to the closest UPS store. The attendant there scanned the QR code on my iPhone, took the defective merchandise, boxed it, and returned it to the supplier at no charge to me.
These two transactions illustrate the paradigm shift we are seeing in sales and service. The manufacturers of products you represent now have many alternative channels for distribution. While an independent distributor may not be able to offer the extensive product selection or price of a large online supplier, there are services he can provide locally to remain competitive.
Best Distributor Service Functions
Consider the significance of these local “best in class” distributor functions as they relate to maintaining a preferred channel for your suppliers.
- Warranty and repair – When something doesn’t work and needs to be fixed quickly, I find there is nothing better than a qualified local service center.
- Hands-on training – I’d rather have someone show me then tell me.
- Stocking – When I decide to do a job, I generally want the tools and/or parts necessary right away.
- Showroom – Seeing is believing. I like to try it before I buy it.
- Productivity improvement – My ability to review customer’s operations and make suggestions to improve their efficiency is a great asset to sales.
- Relationship/follow up – There is no better way to maintain trust then through face-to-face relationships. Even on Zoom or with a mask, personal communication is a better way to resolve issues that via the phone or digitally.
Sales Channels are Constantly Improving
Stay focused on how alternative sales channels are constantly improving their service. Be sure your business remains competitive by learning new techniques and deploying the top sales methods and technology available to you.
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by Art Waskey | Sep 29, 2020 | Art of Sales Weekly
Now that I am no longer a Vice President at a well-established welding and gas distributor, I find it interesting to note how some people treat me differently.
After retiring from my position as VP, I began a sales and consulting business. The most successful people I knew from my previous job stayed in touch and tended to be associates who I supported in the past. Some became mentors while others led me to new clients who they believed would benefit from my experience in the distribution business. With this group, my job status did not change the way they interacted with me.
For some, however, “rank” clearly mattered. This group of individuals approached me as an independent businessman differently than when I was a VP. They were more dismissive and less attentive to the relationship we had previously developed.
I tried to determine the characteristics shared by the “treat them all the same” crowd. Here are some of the traits I identified:
- Sympathetic – When you are going through a transition or a hardship, your sympathetic colleagues stay in contact.
- Sensitive – People who live with the axiom, “The way you see them is the way you treat them and the way you treat them is the way they often become,” are generally sensitive and will stand by their friends and associates.
- Selfless – People who are selfless will change their agenda to accommodate someone who needs their assistance.
- Solicit help – Being comfortable asking for help should work both ways in a business relationship and is indicative of someone who will treat you the same regardless of your title.
- Sociable – A sociable person likes people and tends to cast a wide net. They build relationships built on trust, not rank.
- Successful – People who succeed generally have developed a great network of associates by treating others in a fair and honest manner.
Those in my business circle that acted differently once I retired did not have the characteristics outlined above. Can you identify the people in your group who value others for their integrity and not their rank? For help, ask someone like your building’s custodian, who deals with people at all levels all day, or ask your best customer who he knows that treats everyone the same. These are the people you can count on.
Pay attention to how you treat others. Focus on developing the characteristics of the “treat them all the same” group.
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