Maverick and Company

You probably think you speak the same language as your clients.  You may have spent hundreds or thousands on pretty brochures or a snazzy website or on ads in the paper.  Yet you find yourself frustrated with lukewarm referrals and less than snazzy sales.  One possible culprit…YOU.

Don’t be too hard on yourself.  Many people make the mistake you may currently be making.  As we become experts in our profession, as we read more and learn more and study more, we become afflicted with THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE (muah ah ah ah.)

The Curse of Knowledge is explained brilliantly in the book “Made to Stick” by Chip & Dan Heath.  Essentially, it is the problem that occurs when you know a bit too much.  You view things with an expert’s eyes.  You’re able to see subtleties and distinctions that most people can’t.  You’re the interior designer who sees burnt ochre while the rest of us see a red wall.Worse, when you write emails, brochures and websites, when you talk at meetings, you probably make a second deadly mistake…you try to sound smart.  We all do it.  It’s the main reason I always try to get verbal testimonials that I can write out and send to clients for their approval.

Whenever people write things, whenever they speak in front of a group they want to impress, they tend to try to sound smart.  (This affliction is known as the Impulse to Impress.) Unfortunately, marketing is not about sounding smart.When you combine the Curse of Knowledge with the Impulse to Impress you get a particularly deadly combination.  You get blank looks and missed opportunities. You get good clients who walk away from the burnt ochre because they really just wanted a red wall.It can be very challenging to set aside the Curse of Knowledge and the Impulse to Impress but effective marketing requires it.  Think about your customers and the way they talk about their problems, your solution and you.  Then talk to them in the language they speak.  It’s not about dumbing down your message.  It’s about communicating effectively in the language THEY speak and understand best.  I call it Client English.  And providers who speak it are always more successful than people who sound smart but don’t really say anything.What’s your version of the “burnt ochre” mistake?  How can you translate your expertise into “red” for the people trying to hire you?

I read an article recently suggesting that the best way to sell a service is to become an EXPERT.  If you’re the EXPERT in your field, you’re going to reap customers…right?  Wrong.

Being an expert can be a good thing.  It makes sense that people want to go to the person who knows the most for their services and information. The problem is they probably don’t want to pay for an expert. If I’ve got a clogged drain, I’m not looking for the best damn plumber in the world with the most advanced degrees and fanciest blog and 7 billion drains unclogged.  Sure I’d like to have him, but he probably costs a fortune and isn’t available (off on a tropical island, blogging on his gold-plated blackberry no doubt.) What I want is a plumber who can unclog my drain.  I don’t really want the rookie.  I want a guy with enough experience to unclog the drain, even if a weird problem comes up.  OR enough intelligence and resources to call someone who can unclog it.

When it comes to selling services like insurance or marketing or real estate, people want the same things…it’s just harder to see the direct result.  You know if the drain is still clogged, harder to tell if you’ve got a good financial plan in place.  But the same thing is true about hiring…we want to hire the right amount of expertise but don’t want to pay for more than we need or can afford. We want the expertise it takes to unclog the drain.

So while I wouldn’t tell you to be afraid of being the expert, the effort required won’t necessarily produce new clients for you in YOUR industry and in some cases will drive them away. Follow the drain rule: WE WANT TO HIRE THE EXPERTISE REQUIRED TO UNCLOG THE DRAIN. Have that much, advertise that much and get the clients.

I’ve now worked for myself for 5 years. I’ve worked with a few hundred people on their selling strategies. And I can, with great certaintly, tell you that EVERYTHING you know about sales is wrong.

I started my selling career as a door-to-door salesman. Direct was never quite so direct. I made an average of 3,000 (yes, 3,000) calls each summer for 5 summers while I was in college. In between, I went to school and recruited and trained other students. (We sold educational books with the Southwestern Company.)

So I’ve seen all the training, read all the books and tried almost all the techniques.

And I was good at them.

The problem is that the old school, direct selling, PERSUASIVE model of selling is outdated and ineffective. It teaches that selling is a numbers game. Just see enough people, do a pretty enough song and dance, say just the right things in the right order and you too can be a master salesman.

These days I find that model typically only works for people who sell products and LOVE selling.

For everyone else, it feels…cheesy. A lot of the techniques that are taught under the old model are based on the prospect being your enemy, someone you must triumph over in order to succeed.

Sometimes you’ll find a slightly less horrific version where they preach RELATIONSHIP selling. As in, build a relationship with the person before you commence pressuring them.

If you think about the customers you’ve had the best relationships with however, the people you want more of, you probably didn’t get them by pressuring or persuading. It was probably a LOT easier.

Shortly after meeting them, you probably just sort of clicked with each other. You liked them and they liked you or easily understood what you had was what they were looking for. Then you gave it to them and they paid you.

THIS is what I call the New Model of Sales (because I haven’t found a better name…yet.)

It involves working hard to help the right people find you vs. badgering everyone and praying one of them signs and invoice.

It’s about getting the messaging right so they can understand that YOU are who they’ve been looking for vs. finding a magic word that makes them get out their checkbook.

It assumes that your potential customers are intelligent people, looking to buy solutions they need or services they want vs. idiots who can and should be manipulated into doing what you think is best for them.

It’s a lot more work on the front end but makes life a lot easier on the back-end.

I say that EVERYTHING you know about sales is wrong because the techniques and methods you probably learned are based on the old model of selling–what I also like to call the “Dealin’ Doug” method. (He’s a VERY cheesy car salesman who frequently dresses up iin a Superman-esque costume to film his shouting-at-the-tv-commercials.)

You might keep some of the methods, but it’s time to shift the model. The most successful sales people and business owners I know instinctively do many things right that look like the new model. The less successful get tripped up in the old models and methods.

When you shift fully over from the dark side, you can expect to keep better customers longer and get more referrals that actually become buisness.

More to follow in the future about how to get the new model into your brain.

I welcome your comments, applause and arguments. We would ALL be well served to think through re-inventing the selling process that dominates our culture currently…which is from the early 1800’s by the way. Time for an upgrade, yes?

…AND PROBABLY SHOULDN’T TRY

Over the past week or so I’ve met with a number of people who are all struggling with the same thing.

• “How do I sell myself?”
• “What’s the best way to get them to buy?”
• “What should I say on the phone to create an opening for the sale?”

All of these people have a similar problem.  They think they can sell and that people can be sold. I know, we’ve all been sold something sometime.  But these people are probably not good enough at sales to convince someone to buy their service.  And even if they were, it would play out to be a bit awkward because most people who’ve been SOLD something need to be re-sold and re-sold and re-sold. So what should they do?

A better plan by far (for them and probably for you) is to BE FOUND BY YOUR CUSTOMERS.  You see, your customers are ALWAYS LOOKING for what they’re ALWAYS LOOKING FOR.  Just like you are when you get ready to buy a new television.  You keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.  You’re on the look-out.  And when the right deal and the right product comes by, you BUY it.  You don’t have to be SOLD because you were already looking. So these people I’ve been meeting with (and probably you as well) would be well served to start thinking about how to reach the people already looking for you.  You’ve got a much better shot at finding them and being found by them than you do of selling someone who isn’t all that interested in the first place.

“My company, Just a Moment…canvas images, takes photographs or digital images and reproduces them on canvas. As part of my marketing madness, I take a sample print with me just about wherever I go, restaurants, meetings, networking groups, as a show and tell. My problem? Price points.

People that see these images, love them. Then want to know how much it would cost to get one for themselves. That’s my “deer in the headlights moment”. I’ve looked at similar companies and know I provide a good product at a reasonable price. People seem to want museum quality art at poster prices. My prices are somewhere in the middle. I capture moments on canvas, they’ll last a lifetime, and make a great gift for any occasion. How do I market that value to the customer???”

–Jackie Swanson, Just a Moment

ALECIA SAYS: Lots of people find themselves caught in the PRICE illusion. The old model of sales tells us we need to make it cheaper or just show more benefits or features in order to establish value. According to the old model of sales, if we establish enough value…they’ll buy. WRONG. In truth the real challenge for Jackie isn’t in what her product COSTS, it’s in WHO she’s marketing to and HOW. Like most of us service providers, she’s fallen into the trap of FORAGING for new clients. We wake up, need business and go out looking for it wherever we can find it. Instead, Jackie, and most of the rest of us would be well served to think about switching to a FARMING model of sales.

WHAT TO DO: FARMING is about building relationships with a specific group of people, planting seeds about what you do and who buys from you, and then harvesting those new clients. Instead of playing with her already reasonable price, I’d recommend Jackie join a networking group (or two) and take the time to get to know and educate those members about her wonderful products. (www.BNI.com and www.ewomennetwork.com are both good examples.)

FOCUS, FOCUS FOCUS: Beyond just joining, she’ll need to be VERY specific and focus on 1-3 types of clients. I recommend looking at who buys from you now and focusing on finding more of those people. It’s a good rule of thumb that you’re going to be better off doing more of what already works. Without knowing who buys from Jackie now, I might recommend she promote wedding gifts, graduation presents and Christmas gifts. nIn her groups, she’s going to promote just those 3 things, ask for referrals for those 3 types of buyers, bring examples of those 3 types of products until her product is anchored into the memory of her associates. The odds of her being successful go way up if she’s marketing to a specific group that knows her and likes her. These people can connect her with the kind of potential clients that will not only like her product, but also see it’s value for themselves and most importantly, BUY IT!

MORE HELP: In the class, Everything You Know About Sales is Wrong, we look specifically at WHO buys from you and design strategies to help you reach out to them. Many people don’t have any kind of marketing plan and suffer from the intense stress and pressure of NEEDING new clients, but not KNOWING where to find them. While there is no magic formula, in my experience most people can create a solid boost in the # of clients they’re getting with some simple strategies. For more information, including price and registration, please visit us at nwww.maverickandcompany.com/everything