Sales Lesson #1: Get Noticed
Sales Lesson #1: Get Noticed
Lesson One: Get Noticed
Although I did not know it at the time, my career in selling began when I was just ten years old.
At that time I lived in a suburb of Perth in Western Australia – a far cry from the business hubs of London and New York (although as fate would have it, I did spend a considerable amount of my career in London, and of course, Perth these days is a major business centre in it’s own right, experiencing yet another considerable resources boom. However, back to the ten year old me…).
It was just approaching Christmas and there was excitement in the air as we knew we were just about to go into the long Christmas and New Year school holiday break – 7 weeks of sun and surf – what good old fun time lay ahead! (We antipodeans know we have the holiday calendar right.)
The previous year Mum and Dad had enrolled me into what we called “The Y” – what you would know as the YMCA. I would attend every Saturday morning and participate in all the running and jumping and yelling and any other form of gymnastics designed to tire out a pretty sizeable bunch of nine and ten year old boys. Following this fun and games, which usually lasted a couple of hours, we would then retire from the gym to a meeting room to participate in some less strenuous (although just as vocal) discussion on various issues of the times relevant to young-boys-about-to-be-men. Sometimes we were shown a film and we sat enthralled at the images thrown onto the screen and the sounds emanating from the one lonesome speaker.
So, here we are in the couple of weeks lead up to Christmas, and to help raise money for “the Y” a number of us boys, under the proper supervision of course, have volunteered to sell Christmas trees at various locations around Perth.
I happened to join a group of boys selling trees in Flinders Street, Nollamara (not that I would expect you to know where that is – other than to say that whilst it was not a main road, it was a very busy road, particularly on a Saturday morning). I should also add that in those days just about every shop in Perth shut at midday, and did not re-open until Monday morning. I think now, given the various stresses that many people are currently living with, that God had it right when He advised us that the seventh day we should have as a day of rest – a time to enjoy some peace and quiet, relaxing with families and friends – but that’s another story.
Back to the Christmas trees…
Here I am, standing on the side of the road with a couple of other young blokes waiting for cars to stop and buy a lovely, real, live, Christmas tree. We waited, and we waited, and we waited…and waited some more. This was not fun and was becoming quite boring – and you don’t have to try too hard to imagine how easily a ten year old boy can get bored!
As very little seemed to be happening in this particular location, I determined that perhaps people needed to be made more aware of what we were doing, and why we were standing around, seemingly idle, on the side of the road. Suddenly, without giving it too much thought, I just grabbed hold of a medium-sized tree – one that I could easily handle – and began walking up and down on the side of the road. Sometimes, when the road was clear, I would even venture into the road, and hold up the tree and shake it!
Well, apart from getting yelled at by the grown-up to be careful, you can guess what started to happen – yes, cars began to stop and buy our trees, even cars on the other side of the road had seen my “tree-shaking” foolishness and stopped to see what was going on.
Within three hours we had sold all our tress and were packing up to go home, congratulations being shared all around for a job well done.
What was the difference? What did I learn? It wasn’t that there was no signage – we had signs up on both sides of our stall…but here’s the thing, no-one noticed them. So here was my first lesson in sales – get noticed! It’s not just about having the right advertisements or website – it’s about getting noticed by the customers and clients you wish to have.
So, how do you get noticed?
There are a number of ways you can go about getting noticed, and I won’t pretend that I know them all, because I don’t. I know some, and I know those that have worked for me. So here are a few for you to try:
Attend business forums and networking events and “work the room”. Do not be a wall flower, and for goodness sake take your business cards. I cannot believe the number of events I attend, where people have forgotten to bring that little card that says so much.
Get on a speaking circuit; become well known for your subject. Every service club in the world is looking for speakers. Use the opportunity to speak about your product or service as an opportunity to practice your craft – selling. But be careful here, these people are savvy business people in their own right and will see straight through a sales pitch.
Do something different, or have a business card that is different, that “stands out” from the norm. One way of really being different these days is to actually do what you say you will do. I know it is an over-used cliché, but the problem is very few people actually live those words. Do it.
Remember also, there are a number of companies who can assist you with developing these ideas, and if you would like to contact me, I’d be happy to provide some referrals.
What was that word referrals? Sounds like a whole new subject for the next lesson….
Sales Lesson 1 Get Noticed - To learn more about this author, visit Lawrence Atkinson's Website.
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LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY
Lesson One: Get Noticed
Although I did not know it at the time, my career in selling began when I was just ten years old.
At that time I lived in a suburb of Perth in Western Australia – a far cry from the business hubs of London and New York (although as fate would have it, I did spend a considerable amount of my career in London, and of course, Perth these days is a major business centre in it’s own right, experiencing yet another considerable resources boom. However, back to the ten year old me…).
It was just approaching Christmas and there was excitement in the air as we knew we were just about to go into the long Christmas and New Year school holiday break – 7 weeks of sun and surf – what good old fun time lay ahead! (We antipodeans know we have the holiday calendar right.)
The previous year Mum and Dad had enrolled me into what we called “The Y” – what you would know as the YMCA. I would attend every Saturday morning and participate in all the running and jumping and yelling and any other form of gymnastics designed to tire out a pretty sizeable bunch of nine and ten year old boys. Following this fun and games, which usually lasted a couple of hours, we would then retire from the gym to a meeting room to participate in some less strenuous (although just as vocal) discussion on various issues of the times relevant to young-boys-about-to-be-men. Sometimes we were shown a film and we sat enthralled at the images thrown onto the screen and the sounds emanating from the one lonesome speaker.
So, here we are in the couple of weeks lead up to Christmas, and to help raise money for “the Y” a number of us boys, under the proper supervision of course, have volunteered to sell Christmas trees at various locations around Perth.
I happened to join a group of boys selling trees in Flinders Street, Nollamara (not that I would expect you to know where that is – other than to say that whilst it was not a main road, it was a very busy road, particularly on a Saturday morning). I should also add that in those days just about every shop in Perth shut at midday, and did not re-open until Monday morning. I think now, given the various stresses that many people are currently living with, that God had it right when He advised us that the seventh day we should have as a day of rest – a time to enjoy some peace and quiet, relaxing with families and friends – but that’s another story.
Back to the Christmas trees…
Here I am, standing on the side of the road with a couple of other young blokes waiting for cars to stop and buy a lovely, real, live, Christmas tree. We waited, and we waited, and we waited…and waited some more. This was not fun and was becoming quite boring – and you don’t have to try too hard to imagine how easily a ten year old boy can get bored!
As very little seemed to be happening in this particular location, I determined that perhaps people needed to be made more aware of what we were doing, and why we were standing around, seemingly idle, on the side of the road. Suddenly, without giving it too much thought, I just grabbed hold of a medium-sized tree – one that I could easily handle – and began walking up and down on the side of the road. Sometimes, when the road was clear, I would even venture into the road, and hold up the tree and shake it!
Well, apart from getting yelled at by the grown-up to be careful, you can guess what started to happen – yes, cars began to stop and buy our trees, even cars on the other side of the road had seen my “tree-shaking” foolishness and stopped to see what was going on.
Within three hours we had sold all our tress and were packing up to go home, congratulations being shared all around for a job well done.
What was the difference? What did I learn? It wasn’t that there was no signage – we had signs up on both sides of our stall…but here’s the thing, no-one noticed them. So here was my first lesson in sales – get noticed! It’s not just about having the right advertisements or website – it’s about getting noticed by the customers and clients you wish to have.
So, how do you get noticed?
There are a number of ways you can go about getting noticed, and I won’t pretend that I know them all, because I don’t. I know some, and I know those that have worked for me. So here are a few for you to try:
Attend business forums and networking events and “work the room”. Do not be a wall flower, and for goodness sake take your business cards. I cannot believe the number of events I attend, where people have forgotten to bring that little card that says so much.
Get on a speaking circuit; become well known for your subject. Every service club in the world is looking for speakers. Use the opportunity to speak about your product or service as an opportunity to practice your craft – selling. But be careful here, these people are savvy business people in their own right and will see straight through a sales pitch.
Do something different, or have a business card that is different, that “stands out” from the norm. One way of really being different these days is to actually do what you say you will do. I know it is an over-used cliché, but the problem is very few people actually live those words. Do it.
Remember also, there are a number of companies who can assist you with developing these ideas, and if you would like to contact me, I’d be happy to provide some referrals.
What was that word referrals? Sounds like a whole new subject for the next lesson….
Sales Lesson 1 Get Noticed - To learn more about this author, visit Lawrence Atkinson's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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