Our world of selling is closed off from other areas of business that continue to adopt and embrace new, efficient ideas. I was reminded of this recently while re- reading Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing." Here's a book that was intended for business owners and marketing executives, yet it provides a much-needed dose of common sense that would be of great benefit to sales organizations, especially sales managers, who continue to cling to very old, and, in their minds, very right, ideas. Unfortunately, our brave new world has made these old ideas very wrong.
Seth Godin talks about Interruption Marketing versus Permission Marketing. Interruption Marketing is traditional advertising that interrupts your day in an attempt to get your attention and sell you something. In other words, it is the marketing equivalent of Cold Calling. Permission Marketing is systematically getting prospects to give you permission to present to them. In other words, it is marketing's equivalent of what I teach salespeople to do. In the book, Seth uses the metaphor of someone trying to get married to describe the flaw in Interruption Marketing, or Cold Calling. The bachelor goes into a singles bar and asks every woman in the place to marry him. When they all say no, he blames his clothes, buys a new suit, and tries again at another bar, only to fail again and again, just like a cold caller.
Are you getting the point he tries to make in that story? Think about it. A salesperson spends weeks cold calling with dismal results. The salesperson goes to the sales manager for advice on what to do differently to start getting results. A conversation ensues about what the salesperson is doing. A lot of old ideas begin to surface. Ideas such as "Initial Benefit Statement," "Elevator Speech," and other concepts that once upon a time were the right answers, but have since become very wrong answers. Working on these things is the equivalent of the man in the story blaming his failure on the suit, changing into a new suit, then going to a different singles bar to do it all over again.
With the business world in its present state, I really don't see how salespeople can afford to keep fooling away their time on old ideas that were once right but are now fatally wrong. It is this very feature of capitalism that is causing salespeople, managers and organizations to fail in record numbers. Capitalism is essentially "creative destruction." In other words, capitalism is a perpetual cycle of destroying old, less-efficient businesses and ideas and replacing them with new, more efficient ones. People and companies are clinging to old, obsolete ideas and are being dragged down to failure by them. Yet they still won't let go. I think the reason they can't let go is simply because it wasn't all that long ago that they really did have the right answers. It reminds me of a story I once heard about Albert Einstein when he was a professor. One of his student assistants who was preparing for an incoming class said, "Professor Einstein, what test are we giving them?" To which Einstein replied, "The same test we gave them last week." Bewildered, the student assistant replied, "But Professor Einstein, we already gave that test." Einstein simply said, "Yes, but the answers are different this week."
The bottom line is that the answers are different. The rules have changed. Time is running out for those who do not adapt to the new rules. As Napoleon Hill put it so well, "Whenever a nation, a business institution, or an individual ceases to change and settles into a rut of routine habits, some mysterious power enters and smashes the setup, breaks up the old habits, and lays the foundation for new and better habits."
If you're not achieving the sales success you desire, perhaps it is time for you to lay the foundation for new and better habits.
Frank Rumbauskas is the author of Cold Calling Is A Waste Of Time: Sales Success In The Information Age. He is the founder of FJR Advisors, LLC, which publishes training materials that educate salespeople on how to generate business without cold calling. For more information, please visit http://www.nevercoldcall.com
On an introductory call, your voice is your instrument. During... Read More
"If you do anything foolish or try to get out... Read More
Here's a chilling thought. If you were to die tomorrow,... Read More
When I write sales letters for my clients, one rule... Read More
Whether you're a conventional sales person, a professional ? such... Read More
It may sound funny, but honestly, if you're opening up... Read More
Ever have a prospect start out your sales call by... Read More
Why do we get into sales? Typically it is two... Read More
Article I of a two-part series.No matter what customers say... Read More
Now business owners and sales professionals can develop a Faster... Read More
Do you know why your customer won't buy? You've given... Read More
We are complex. We confidently assert that we are independent... Read More
To be effective your sales letter must be opened, read,... Read More
Terminology / AcronymsABC figures: This is the independently audited sales... Read More
Want to build a successful incentive program for your company?... Read More
Products for sale need to be displayed in a manner... Read More
My new job was to sell Commercial Service Agreements. It... Read More
An attractive woman has a decided advantage as sales representative... Read More
Many participants in my programs ask how to deal with... Read More
So now the time has come to invest in Lead... Read More
One of the top brewing companies in America is a... Read More
With the dot.com revolution crushing once solid business models on... Read More
When Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed "it's alive... it's alive," he thought... Read More
Selling--a word that strikes terror in writers and professionals. We... Read More
What do you think it is? Many experts insist it's... Read More
Our world of selling is closed off from other areas... Read More
Have you ever shopped at Walmart and thought... I need... Read More
A challenge facing many businesses is how to maintain a... Read More
Linda felt like she had reached a plateau in her... Read More
Writing good sales copy is not an art, it is... Read More
When you are in the business of sales, among the... Read More
Part I of this article explored how strategies of Neuro-Linguistic... Read More
I wonder when we decided to become a sales person.... Read More
When Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed "it's alive... it's alive," he thought... Read More
You may not realize this, but when if you are... Read More
After our first half-hour telephone coaching session, when asked what... Read More
Health insurance lead generation systems provide a stead stream of... Read More
"Hello, is (pause) puh-TREE-shuh home?"So started my weekend lesson in... Read More
Hypnosis has been a taboo word for far too long.... Read More
Knowing what to do when meeting a prospective client forlunch,... Read More
* Are you sending e-mails to prospects instead of calling... Read More
Special Requirements for Reprint: we ask only that you include... Read More
Want to build a successful incentive program for your company?... Read More
Sean works for a major telecom company.During one of our... Read More
We all know that you can't earn your commission until... Read More
One disadvantage of selling by telephone is the lack of... Read More
Who among us is not already up to here with... Read More
Any time a clothing store opens or expands, they must... Read More
John Di Lemme on "Miracles are your responsibility"Miracles are your... Read More
It's easy to spend days, weeks, or months speaking with... Read More
Writing good sales copy is not an art, it is... Read More
Would you like an easy way to track the performance... Read More
Having good telephone skills is crucial as the call may... Read More
Selling With Purpose What is it about selling that makes... Read More
Psychological Tricks in Selling By Stephen Bucaro In this article,... Read More
Most salespeople I know consider cold calling a dreadful, but... Read More
I've been training in countries outside the U.S. recently, and... Read More
Ahh. Selling. Sometimes, this is a word that is dreaded... Read More
The time comes for all mortgage brokers and loan officers... Read More
Imagine being in a crowded concert or bar. All of... Read More
A sales letter is a document designed to generate sales.... Read More
We are complex. We confidently assert that we are independent... Read More
Consulting Vs Selling, How we can make sales by not... Read More
So often sales men and woman are the very people... Read More
An area that can become profitable for many businesses in... Read More
Do you have 5, 10, or 20 years of sales... Read More
Sales |