Sales Training London A Geek Tragedy Is This You in the Sale
Sales Training London A Geek Tragedy Is This You in the Sale
Wally Webdesigner got a rare call. "We've seen your web site, we like what we've seen and want you to propose for our new website" said Lionel Lyre, a scarce prospective customer. Times were tough and this couldn't have come at a better time. Wally was desperate, the bank balance thin. "Great" he said, "When shall I come over to take the brief?" They agreed that Wally would visit next Wednesday, and they had an hour, Lionel held the budget and said he was "looking forward to meeting you"
The big day arrived, Wally had done his research on the company, reviewed their old website and saw a number of areas that he could help. On arrival, Lionel said "Hi Wally, I'm sorry but something has come up. I know we were going to meet for an hour, but we've only got 30 minutes now." Wally says "No problem, let's get down to business". Wally agrees. Lionel is very friendly and says "Show me what you've got" and Wally starts to give away his knowledge and ideas. Lionel takes notes, plenty of notes. After 40 minutes (Wally is pleased he got some "extra time"), Lionel tells Wally "That was one of the best presentations I've ever seen. How much will that be?" Wally stammers, "4 thousand give or take a couple of hundred". Lionnel flinches. Wally says "Well I could probably do it for three and a half". Lionel sighs, "That's still too expensive". "Wally offers to do the project for 3 thousand". Lionel asks Wally to send him a proposal "But I need it by Friday" he adds.
Wally leaves excited thinking he has a prospect and sets to work on documenting his ideas. He shelves some client work, gives up his evenings and doesn't get to put his two children to sleep for the rest of the week flushed with the rush of success.
He gets the proposal done by Friday morning (a bit of a masterpiece in Wally's opinion), bikes the proposal over and calls Lionel to let him know its coming. Lionel's PA, Gertrude Gatekeeper says "He's in a meeting. Thanks for letting him know. I'll pass on your message, Have a good weekend." Wally leaves it a few days and calls on Wednesday. Voice mail. He tries again on Friday. Voice mail. The weekend is a bit of a damp squib as a result. He calls Monday, Gertie says he's in a meeting but says she knows "Lionel was impressed by your ideas". Wally is back up to cloud 9, well nearer cloud 8 but he feels better.
Another week goes by, 2 weeks, 3 weeks. Wally decides to have another stab at Lionel so he does his research. He looks at Lionel's web site and to his shock and amazement 14 of his ideas have been incorporated into the new look and feel website for Lyre, Lyre Pants on Fire & Co Ltd. His ideas! Delivered by his main competitor, Stan Smiley of Smiley, Slimey & Slick. Wally's ideas. Given freely. Wally's valuable ideas, stolen.
Downcast, Wally feels winded and betrayed. He struggles on for a few days, he's short tempered with his wife and kids, each time the phone rings he panics in case it's the bank. Then the phone rings, he screens the call; it's Finn Fibber, the Marketing Director of Black Hole Ltd wanting to discuss their web site. A little too eagerly he picks up and makes his excuses "I was on my mobile finishing off a call, what can I do for you?". "Wally come in and let's discuss some of your ideas for our web site". Wally is back in the saddle, he's happy again, life is looking up.
1. When did Wally first give control to Lionel?
2. When did he start down "Wimp Junction"? What simple thing should he have done to avoid it?
3. What simple thing should he have done at the first meeting?
4. Who should do 70% of the talking you or the prospect? What did Wally do in that first meeting?
5. How much information did Wally leave with from his meeting with Lionel?
6. How could Wally have known Lionel was lying, that he was being squeezed for free consulting?
7. How could he have predicted this outcome?
8. Why should his alarm bells have rung when Lionel said "I'm looking forward to meeting you"?
9. Should Wally have refused to make a presentation at that first meeting?
10. What did Wally fail to do at the start of the meeting to ensure he was treated as Lionel's equal?
11. What did Wally fail to do at the start of the meeting to ensure he got a clear "yes" or "no" decision? Why didn't he he know Lionel intended for him to "hurry up and wait"? You hurry and I make you wait!
12. What did Wally fail to do at the end of his initial phone call of the meeting to ensure was treated fairly?
13. How could he have easily avoided the voicemail jail trap?
14. How could he have straightened Lionel's backbone?
15. What do the words "he was very impressed" really mean?
16. How could he have controlled the competitive landscape substantially better?
17. Why was he desperate in the first place?
18. What could he have done to protect his knowledge?
19. What are weekends for?
Wally works too hard, finds selling tough, hates to cold call and struggles to forecast, let alone close business. Does Wally's story feel familiar to you?
(c) Sandler Sales Institute, 2006
Happy selling!
Sales Training London A Geek Tragedy Is This You in the Sale - To learn more about this author, visit Marcus Cauchi's Website.
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If you sell the technical stuff of what you do this parable will make you cry.
Wally Webdesigner got a rare call. "We've seen your web site, we like what we've seen and want you to propose for our new website" said Lionel Lyre, a scarce prospective customer. Times were tough and this couldn't have come at a better time. Wally was desperate, the bank balance thin. "Great" he said, "When shall I come over to take the brief?" They agreed that Wally would visit next Wednesday, and they had an hour, Lionel held the budget and said he was "looking forward to meeting you"
The big day arrived, Wally had done his research on the company, reviewed their old website and saw a number of areas that he could help. On arrival, Lionel said "Hi Wally, I'm sorry but something has come up. I know we were going to meet for an hour, but we've only got 30 minutes now." Wally says "No problem, let's get down to business". Wally agrees. Lionel is very friendly and says "Show me what you've got" and Wally starts to give away his knowledge and ideas. Lionel takes notes, plenty of notes. After 40 minutes (Wally is pleased he got some "extra time"), Lionel tells Wally "That was one of the best presentations I've ever seen. How much will that be?" Wally stammers, "4 thousand give or take a couple of hundred". Lionnel flinches. Wally says "Well I could probably do it for three and a half". Lionel sighs, "That's still too expensive". "Wally offers to do the project for 3 thousand". Lionel asks Wally to send him a proposal "But I need it by Friday" he adds.
Wally leaves excited thinking he has a prospect and sets to work on documenting his ideas. He shelves some client work, gives up his evenings and doesn't get to put his two children to sleep for the rest of the week flushed with the rush of success.
He gets the proposal done by Friday morning (a bit of a masterpiece in Wally's opinion), bikes the proposal over and calls Lionel to let him know its coming. Lionel's PA, Gertrude Gatekeeper says "He's in a meeting. Thanks for letting him know. I'll pass on your message, Have a good weekend." Wally leaves it a few days and calls on Wednesday. Voice mail. He tries again on Friday. Voice mail. The weekend is a bit of a damp squib as a result. He calls Monday, Gertie says he's in a meeting but says she knows "Lionel was impressed by your ideas". Wally is back up to cloud 9, well nearer cloud 8 but he feels better.
Another week goes by, 2 weeks, 3 weeks. Wally decides to have another stab at Lionel so he does his research. He looks at Lionel's web site and to his shock and amazement 14 of his ideas have been incorporated into the new look and feel website for Lyre, Lyre Pants on Fire & Co Ltd. His ideas! Delivered by his main competitor, Stan Smiley of Smiley, Slimey & Slick. Wally's ideas. Given freely. Wally's valuable ideas, stolen.
Downcast, Wally feels winded and betrayed. He struggles on for a few days, he's short tempered with his wife and kids, each time the phone rings he panics in case it's the bank. Then the phone rings, he screens the call; it's Finn Fibber, the Marketing Director of Black Hole Ltd wanting to discuss their web site. A little too eagerly he picks up and makes his excuses "I was on my mobile finishing off a call, what can I do for you?". "Wally come in and let's discuss some of your ideas for our web site". Wally is back in the saddle, he's happy again, life is looking up.
1. When did Wally first give control to Lionel?
2. When did he start down "Wimp Junction"? What simple thing should he have done to avoid it?
3. What simple thing should he have done at the first meeting?
4. Who should do 70% of the talking you or the prospect? What did Wally do in that first meeting?
5. How much information did Wally leave with from his meeting with Lionel?
6. How could Wally have known Lionel was lying, that he was being squeezed for free consulting?
7. How could he have predicted this outcome?
8. Why should his alarm bells have rung when Lionel said "I'm looking forward to meeting you"?
9. Should Wally have refused to make a presentation at that first meeting?
10. What did Wally fail to do at the start of the meeting to ensure he was treated as Lionel's equal?
11. What did Wally fail to do at the start of the meeting to ensure he got a clear "yes" or "no" decision? Why didn't he he know Lionel intended for him to "hurry up and wait"? You hurry and I make you wait!
12. What did Wally fail to do at the end of his initial phone call of the meeting to ensure was treated fairly?
13. How could he have easily avoided the voicemail jail trap?
14. How could he have straightened Lionel's backbone?
15. What do the words "he was very impressed" really mean?
16. How could he have controlled the competitive landscape substantially better?
17. Why was he desperate in the first place?
18. What could he have done to protect his knowledge?
19. What are weekends for?
Wally works too hard, finds selling tough, hates to cold call and struggles to forecast, let alone close business. Does Wally's story feel familiar to you?
(c) Sandler Sales Institute, 2006
Happy selling!
Sales Training London A Geek Tragedy Is This You in the Sale - To learn more about this author, visit Marcus Cauchi'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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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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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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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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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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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander'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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