New Business Development

Last week it was reported that the Bank of England had asked its staff to read and study Dr Seuss in an effort to get them to simplify their communication.

The world of sales, sales enablement and sales training suffers its own in-built jargonator which frankly, helps nobody.

So, with due admiration and sincere apologies to the late, great Theodor Seuss Geisel, here is my simplified ‘ Sales Cat In The Hat’.

The figures were down,

We did not know where to play.

Then we saw the Head frown,

And say,  ‘CxO is the way’.

We did not like it,

Not one little bit.

I mean, why would the CxO

Be keen on buying our sh*t?

The sales team and I did not know what to say

When the Head flew interstate for the day

Then Sally said ‘Wait, I know what to do’

And proceeded to tell us how to sell and to whom

‘Tell stories of heaps of real stuff that we’ve done

Of the magic, the glory and all of the fun’

Say ‘Look at me, look at me now’

Do you want to succeed, do you want to know how?

We’re not trying to sell you Thing One and Thing Two

We don’t want to scare you with something too new

But if you want to be truly admired by all

We have a secret that will have you enthralled.

Should we tell you about it?

Tell us, what should we do?

I mean, what would you do?

If your Board asked you.

Elliot Epstein is a leading Pitch Consultant, Keynote Speaker, Corporate Sales, Negotiation and Presentation trainer who gets sales results rapidly. He has coached and trained high profile corporates globally in presenting, selling, negotiating and pitching. He has spoken at over 1500 conferences and workshops for leading companies such as HP, SEEK, Avaya, Hitachi , Asciano, Samsung and Lend Lease.

He is internationally renowned for helping clients win business without the BS.

Elliot is based in Melbourne where he is busy, but not too busy for you.

Give yourself a tick for each one of these statements you’ve made in the past month:

‘Mate, I’m absolutely flat chat at the moment’

‘Sorry, I’m completely smashed for time right now’

‘I’m busier than a mosquito at a honeymooners’ nudist beach in a city that banned Citronella’

Of all the reasons why win rates don’t improve for many companies, including the perennials of ‘talking to the right level’ and ‘differentiated value propositions’, the killer is sheer, unadulterated time and focus on the client you really want to win.

I wonder how polygamists manage their week. Must be exhausting, mentally and physically to keep up with 14 spouses, 35 kids and three documentary filmmakers!

You can juggle, multi-task, fast-track, shuffle or prestidigitate (Look it up) as much as you want but nothing improves win rates on big deals more than taking the proper time to strategise, design, create and tailor a journey and a pitch that makes the client say:

‘Wow, these guys really, really understand everything about us and their solution fits like a glove’

But the interruptions seem endless – emails, forecasting, internal meetings, presentations, compliance meetings, coffees, more coffees, tenders, product updates, reviews, needy clients, needy staff, knee-deep in sh*t!

A habit is formed where a big deal is treated the same way as all the other deals except for a few more meetings – fast, cursory and lacking deep insight or creativity.

I’m more like Yogi Bear than an advocate of Yoga but breathe in, lift your left leg and consider saying the following:

‘No, I’m working on the Fudsucker Poobah deal – go away’.

‘I need everyone, the CEO, the Head of Product, the Technical Guru and the Bear Grylls Tender Response Team in a room for a day, not an hour’.

‘Please put Jaxon and Zalika (there are no John and Janes any more) on our existing accounts while we focus on Mr Fudsucker and the other senior executives right now’.

‘If it meant that our company would go under if we don’t win this deal, what would we ALL do?’

Do it.

The most excruciating sound in the world is not nails on a chalkboard, a Vuvuzela or your spouse’s snoring. It’s this:

‘Thanks for all your effort with this bid. Look, it was very close and frankly, we could’ve chosen either company, but unfortunately for you, we’ve decided to go with the other mob’.

Elliot Epstein is a leading Pitch Consultant, Keynote Speaker, Corporate Sales, Negotiation and Presentation trainer who gets sales results rapidly. He has coached and trained high profile corporates globally in presenting, selling, negotiating and pitching. He has spoken at over 1500 conferences and workshops for leading companies such as HP, SEEK, Avaya, Hitachi , Asciano, Samsung and Lend Lease

He is internationally renowned for helping clients win business without the BS.

Elliot is based in Melbourne where he is busy, but not too busy for you.

For more information on negotiating go to www.salesversusprocurement.com .

Last week’s AFR featured former Australian Rugby player, Ben Darwin’s innovative analytics on which sports teams are likely to win.

He predicted the 500-1 AFL winner, Western Bulldogs and both Super Rugby finalists.

His theory contends that buying expensive players, facilities or high profile coaches does not automatically lead to success, and in many cases, that they are the core reasons for failure.

Rather, the ‘magic dust’ is actually cohesion or teamwork and he has built empirical data to describe the TeamWork Index (TWI).

So, how is the sales ‘team’ faring in your company?

First of all, does it even qualify for the simplest definition of a team? ‘A group of players forming one side in a competitive game’.

This includes BDMs, Sales Managers, Account Managers, Sales Support, Pre-Sales, Sales Operations, Marketing and yes, the GM, MD or CEO/CFO.

How would you score your TeamWork Index?

Let’s look beyond the standard description of ‘Department X’ the one that sounds like a Scandinavian crime show, known as the SPU (Sales Prevention Unit) and let me share some stories of real sales teams that do it well.

1. The Sales Manager and Pre-Sales Manager actually spend a lot of time together, getting to know each other, relying on each other and being open about their goals and issues.

They share their team’s budgets, account strategies and utilisation figures and work towards helping each other achieve them. They don’t treat the other’s team members as if they’re the difficult step-children of ex-partners after a bitter divorce. They consult on hiring and firing decisions and most of all, they agree to prioritise how to win business together. When they disagree or one party gets more of a win, they recognise it and it helps them negotiate for the next deal so that at end of quarter they can monitor to make sure nobody is ultimately getting screwed.

2. They train together. I often encourage Pre-Sales, Marketing, HR, Sales Operations, Sales Interns, Sales Support to sit in my Sales, Negotiation, Presentation programs so they can understand the new language, the new ways of winning and to challenge and question how it affects everybody. If your training and development consultancy wants to discourage this by charging you per head when the whole team needs to be part of the discussion, then politely tell them to get stuffed. People who learn together, deliver results together.

3. The big boss in the Zegna suit or Blahnik shoes is part of the team. Instead of barking ‘Where are my sales figures?’ they are involved in pitch strategy, tapping into their own networks, having coffees with equally well attired clients. The best executive team players ask one great question ‘What can I do to help us win this deal?’ They then have the emotional intelligence to listen and act on the advice of the team. Sometimes, the answer is ‘Nothing right now please’ and sometimes it’s ‘ Please ring the CFO of our client and say this’

4. They pitch together. Good teams plan, strategise and present together. One of the considerations of clients in large deals is not just ‘Can they do the job’ or ‘Do we like them?’, it’s ‘Do we think they have chemistry?’ because if the client believes the people in your team get along with each other, then it’s going to be so much smoother for them.

5. No dickheads policy. If a manager has a hard working but difficult, insular, anti-sales team member that is called out by multiple people in the wider team as unhelpful, then that manager will act for the greater good. Good sales teams know that strident anti-sales behaviour cannot be tolerated and they work together to ensure there’s an alternative career in unemployment made available to them.

So, how’s your TWI looking?

You may think some of these stories are too idealistic within the politics of organisations today.

Let me assure you, they’re all true.

What’s also true is that at the end of the sales game, there’s a score and it won’t just be the so-called star players who get assessed.

It will be the whole team.

Elliot Epstein is a leading Pitch Consultant, Keynote Speaker, Corporate Sales, Negotiation and Presentation trainer who gets sales results rapidly. He has coached and trained high profile corporates globally in presenting, selling, negotiating and pitching. He has spoken at over 1500 conferences and workshops for leading companies such as HP, SEEK, Avaya, Hitachi , Asciano, Samsung and Lend Lease.

He is internationally renowned for ensuring sessions are engaging, interactive and relevant to winning business in competitive markets.

Elliot is based in Melbourne where he lives with his wife and two other team members.