Secrets of The Salesman

Losing a shoe is the highest level of drunkdom.

D.B. Cooper wrote

Losing a shoe is the highest level of drunkdom.

Yeah, 20 yr old me thought that was hilarious. I haven't really advanced much since then

Milo Maltbie wrote

Camp, you talk a lot like a guy I know.  He was really hot looking when he dressed in drag.  Was that you?
 
mm

hahahahahhahaha

Harvey wrote

Camp what are your secrets?  You are living on commish you must know what you are doing.

I told my story at the beginning because I thought it would make it more interesting, but I really want to hear from successful salesman how they do it.

No secrets, Harv. I started in sales in 1990, when I moved back to NY from VT.  In 1994 I took a position at my current location in sales. In 1999 I was promoted to sales manager and then in 2002 promoted to GSM. That said I'm no longer 100% commission rather 50% salary and 50% commission. I'll share what worked for me when I was 100% com, as well as what I tell everyone I hire.

When I first started selling it was so overwhelming to think about how the heck I was going to sell 18 to 20 apples by the end of the month. So much that I would get in my own way, or try too hard. What worked for me was to break it down per day. The thought of selling 1 apple in a day seemed feasible to me, I could do that no problem. My mindset was to come into work and work my hardest to sell 1 apple. 1 apple was my goal. That didn't mean if I didn't hit my goal I was a failure that day, it just meant I didn't hit my goal. What that also meant was that if I sold 3 or 4 apples in a day I could take the next day off at work, meaning being lazy. I still worked hard to sell that 1 apple. After a few months of that I realized I was selling more apples than anyone at work. I kept good notes of who I talked to whether or not I sold them. At that point I could back into a month, or forecast for myself. Say I needed to talk to 100 people in a month to hit my goal. Then I would take that number (whatever that is, it's dif for everyone) and divide it by the number of selling days in a month which is typically 26. Once I figures that out I knew it was simply a numbers game. I needed to be ready to talk to people. My 1 a day worked for me and seems to work good for all my guys here now. Keep It Simple Stupid!

Not sure that's a secret but that's what we do here. Also talking about the product is minimal.  Common ground is more important.

Brownski wrote

Umm... Yes. What era were you down there, bro?

96 to 2002ish. Whenever Jay Biggs from American Pie was there.

Johnnyonthespot wrote

Brownski wrote

Umm... Yes. What era were you down there, bro?

96 to 2002ish. Whenever Jay Biggs from American Pie was there.

I'm just a little older then you then. I was gonzo by 96. Dorney Malone's was my spot.

For me sales is very different.  My sales cycles is very long - up to 3 to 4 years.  I only close a few big deals per year and some smaller ones thru my distributors that don't really move the needle much.  For me it's more like football slowly getting first downs to make progress on a long game.

In my view you need to have patience and by very persistent.  You are going to lose way more than you win to you need to be very relsilant as well.

I don't think I would be very good with a turn like yours Coach. Patience isn't one of my qualities. We are very fast paced, that's one thing I like about it. No 2 days are the same and there's no predicting what will happen in a day. I'd call it more of a somewhat controlled fly by the seat of your pants biz.


What are some objections that you other sales guys come up against and how do you overcome them?? After all that's truly what sales is all about, and on point with Harv's original post.

Here's one we run into on a daily basis:

"I only have ten minutes"

What would your response be to this customer.

The difference in time frames in each business is interesting. I get a new set of quotas every thirty days, with additional priorities thrown at me on a day-to-day basis as management and suppliers see fit. Because my business is brand driven, the right to sell an established product is everything and it sort of reverses the customer relationship between the distributor and supplier; servicing their needs is a much higher priority then taking care of our actual customers so it puts the sales rep in a tough spot. It's an intense environment in which it is easy to get burnt out. Overcoming objections is definately tough. Experience in a particular field is irreplaceable for this. You have to develop a sense for differentiating between real objections and bullshit and address them differently. The "I only have 10 minutes" is a good example. I think you have to determine if he really has to be somewhere or if he's putting his toe in to test the water. If he genuinely is out the door, you have to bottom line it and get enough info to follow up but if he's just asking to be wooed, you need to interrogate further to figure out what he is after. Either way, that customer is asking for you to cut through the bullshit.

campgottagopee wrote

Milo Maltbie wrote

Camp, you talk a lot like a guy I know.  He was really hot looking when he dressed in drag.  Was that you?
 
mm

hahahahahhahaha

That's not really a "no," so I'm gonna assume the answer is yes.

mm

Camp it's a whole different animal

If they only have a short amount of time I try to learn about their needs for the future.  My prospective new customers come with either a problem to be solved or a set of specs to be met.  Realistically if I don't have a reasonable solution or a creative different way to skin that cat there is no point worrying about objections and just move on to another opportunity.  

One key is we are going not win realize it fast that quickly so we don't use R&D resources on a something we can't win.

Many of my new opportunities are with existing customers next gen products or line extension.    It's a long term relationship business.  

I typically have maybe 30 projects going at any one time but with such a long development cycle it's a lot of hurry up and wait so maybe I'm actively working on maybe 5 to 10.  I'm probably more of a project manager than a Hunter timewise.  Once you win a project it's like an annuity that keeps paying off in orders and revenue for 10 or more years.

Milo Maltbie wrote

campgottagopee wrote

Milo Maltbie wrote

Camp, you talk a lot like a guy I know.  He was really hot looking when he dressed in drag.  Was that you?
 
mm

hahahahahhahaha

That's not really a "no," so I'm gonna assume the answer is yes.

mm

Don't assume MM ---- that seemingly goes against your nature ------ juss sayin'

Brownski wrote

 . It's an intense environment in which it is easy to get burnt out.  

Truth. It's not for everyone.

Brownski wrote

 Overcoming objections is definately tough. Experience in a particular field is irreplaceable for this. You have to develop a sense for differentiating between real objections and bullshit and address them differently.  

Yep, buyers are liars and I get a kick out of calling their BS

Brownski wrote

 . The "I only have 10 minutes" is a good example. I think you have to determine if he really has to be somewhere or if he's putting his toe in to test the water. If he genuinely is out the door, you have to bottom line it and get enough info to follow up but if he's just asking to be wooed, you need to interrogate further to figure out what he is after. Either way, that customer is asking for you to cut through the bullshit.

How I handle this situation is to tell them what they want to hear. "No problem BroSki, ten minutes is more than enough time for me to provide you all the information you need to make an educated buying decision"
The look on their faces after you blurt that out is great, they don't even see that response heading their way. Next thing you know they're still there 2 hrs later

Yeah,, I get what you're saying. Buddy's of mine have the same type of sales jobs. How long did it take you to fill your pipeline up?? Or did you have customers you just inherited when you took the position.

I've been in my current position for 12 years but the states and acct responsibility has changed to add or delete states about 3-4 times.  My core market of New England and metro NYC is unchanged.  Boston is my best market area as it has lots of medical device companies.  I get to see some really cool future products that are life changing or saving in development.  It's the most rewarding part of my job to play a small role in a product that could save a life.

Our division had been rolled into another's sales team which was a disaster before I joined so I was hired to restart the div sales team so I inherited very little.  

Given our long cycle we get paid bonus on some intermediate sales goals like getting sample orders for testing for projects with high revenue potential long term.

ScottyJack wrote

Well a fella likes a little validation and attention once in awhile!  Thx bro!!

You're funny lookin

that's about it

Hey, The Wolf of Wall Street is on.

Johnnyonthespot wrote

Hey, The Wolf of Wall Street is on.

I like Camp & Z but professionally I hate sales guys, scum of the earth.

PeeTex wrote

Johnnyonthespot wrote

Hey, The Wolf of Wall Street is on.

I like Camp & Z but professionally I hate sales guys, scum of the earth.

Ha! I'm not gonna take that personally, bro. You're not the only one who feels that way.

We can't all be as awesome as you.