As much as I use PowerPoint and Excel to make a point, I still think it is a good idea to know how to use a paper napkin or a white board. There is something almost magical in that kind of performance because it is personal, almost intimate, especially when you are dealing with professional sales people. If you are too cool to draw a picture, there are a lot of people you are going to miss. Lest we forget, for many people it is still an analogue world.
One of my clients was a digitally inclined auto dealer who employed 10 to 14 sales people. Automotive sales forces are of a variable nature because they tend to have a 30% attrition rate. It’s not for everyone. The client faced two major problems in sales. Basically, he hated his sales people and they hated him in return. It was a digital divide. The other problem was pricing. The client discounted vehicles below break-even and posted them on the Internet. Sales did not know about it but their computer savvy customers did.
My client invested in ten furnished computer cubicles with really nice big monitors, whiz-bang phones, and the super-duper training seminars that were included. His sales force grudgingly endured the latter and pretty much ignored the former, except for outbreaks of pornography watching and chat-room chatting. The client could not understand why “his guys” did not use the great tools he had given them. When they did use them, he said, “They’re like a bunch of monkeys with typewriters.” He told them that.
It didn’t help that my client had been through a Dale Carnegie sales training program. His framed certificate of training made him conclude that that he was a great salesperson. Unfortunately, he sucked air as a sales person. He genuinely lacked people skills. He did not know how to listen to prospects. That made him impatient with them. Nor could he understand how people refused to follow his robotic and raced through presentations. It did not help that the client told his sales people that they didn’t know what they were doing, which he did.
Article comments
1 - Kim Beasley
I love the key point that you made: it's more important that you get the message across. Also, I totally agree because communication can be a major problem in the sales process. So learning "how" your target customer "hears" your message is important so that you can make sure that your message reaches them. :)
2 - Helene
Loved this piece, informative and well thought-out. Looking forward to Tommy’s next article.
3 - Bob Snyder
Good Article Tom.
Computers are only tools,but good sales people
are the answer.