2010 professional selling pre-work 7: professional behaviour and ... • describe the general...

Pre-Work Assignment Professional Selling participants are asked to complete the following pre-work self-study in advance of the 3-day program:

Topic 1: Keys to Sales Success Read entire Topic and complete Study Questions 1-5 and Assignments 1-3

Module 1 Topic 2: The Consultative Selling Approach Read entire Topic and complete Example #1 ExtraBrands Questions 1-5 and Study Questions 1-5.

Module 2 Topic 3: Personality Traits for Sales Success Read pages 2-1 through 2-9 and complete Personality Traits Reflection.

Topic 5: Attitude Maintenance Read 3-3 through 3-7 and complete Attitude Reflection.

Read 3-9 and complete Stress Index Scoring.

Topic 6: Time Management Complete Assessing Your Time Management Obstacles

Module 3

Topic 7: Professional Behaviour and Development Read pages 3-41 through 3-46 and complete Ethics Reflection.

S K I L L S F O R S A L E S S U C C E S S S E R I E S

PROFESSIONAL

SELLING

PARTICIPANT WORKBOOK

Skills for Sales Success Series – Professional Selling © Canadian Professional Sales Association, 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Written and Edited By: David J. Batchelor, AXCEL Performance Solutions Cover design: Katina Fyndikakis, CPSA Published by:

Canadian Professional Sales Association 310 Front Street West Suite 800 Toronto, Ontario M5V 3B5 Tel: (416) 408-2685 Toll-free: 1-888-267-2772 Website: www.cpsa.com

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Professional Selling: Participant Workbook. (Skills For Sales Success Series) Previously published as: Skills For Sales Success / David J. Batchelor, Arthur H. Horn with H.L. Barry Norton ISBN 1-895879-52-3 1. Selling. I. Canadian Professional Sales Association. II. Batchelor, David (David J.). Skills For Sales Success. III. Series. HF5438.25.B38 2004a 658.85 C2004-902696-8 Printed and bound in Canada 04030201005 4 3 2 1

Professional Selling ► ► ► ► ► 1-1 © Canadian Professional Sales Association

Module 1

Introduction to

Professional Selling

1 - 2 ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ Professional Selling © Canadian Professional Sales Association

Module 1: Introduction to Professional Selling

Module Overview

Module Objectives

After completing this module, you will be able to:

• Identify the five primary keys to sales success, which provide the structure for this program

• Understand and explain “Consultative” Selling and the Consultative Selling Process

• Describe the general principles of Value-Based Selling and a Unique Value Proposition

• Explain how the Client Objectives Map relates to modern consultative selling

• Describe ROI Selling and a Business Case approach

Module Content Topic 1: The Keys to Sales Success • A Brief History of Sales

• Consultative Selling — Defined • The Five Keys to Sales Success

Topic 2: The Consultative Selling Approach • Consultative Selling Principles

1. Introduction to Professional

Selling

2. Understanding Yourself &

Others

3. Managing Yourself

4. Building

Your Business Strategy

5. Consultative

Selling

6. Securing the

Business


Topic 1: The Keys to Sales Success


A Brief History of Sales

The first World’s Salesmanship Congress was held in 1916 in Detroit, and President Woodrow Wilson was the keynote speaker.

Many suggest that the first formal sales program was implemented at National Cash Register (later known as NCR) in Ohio, by John Henry Patterson.

Some would argue that the art and science of selling began in the garden of Eden, and the prototype for all salespeople is a nefarious serpent.

Whereas evolutionists might claim that Homo Erectus was the first human to sell, via barter and trade almost 1.5 million years ago.

Regardless, the profession of modern selling in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries has evolved dramatically. We’ve progressed from hucksters, to general stores, to canvassers, to traveling salesmen (yes, mostly “men”), to the hard-sell salesperson, the highly relationship-oriented salespeople that would “schmooze” customers for their business, to telemarketers and modern tele-salespeople, and onwards to the more professional salesperson managing a “territory” on behalf of a commercial organization.

But in recent years there has been a profound evolutionary shift.

Today, customers are far more educated and sophisticated, with access to more information than they had even ten years ago. And we all operate in an expanding global economy, facing intensified competition in almost every industry and sector. Therefore, historic approaches to sales are no longer effective.

Until recently, we all believed that the fundamental role of sales representatives was to get people to buy your product or service.

But today…we finally realize that the single biggest key to sales success is to actually stop selling altogether. In today’s marketplace, people (at home and in business) don’t want to be “sold”. In fact, they resist it strongly. Instead, customers want to “buy” independently, or work with business “partners.”

In order to succeed, we must break the historical push-pull dance that happens between salespeople and customers (sales tries to convince, and customers try to resist).

Consultative Selling — Defined

Today, professional selling requires a completely different approach than historically employed. It involves shifting focus away from what you want (the sale) and instead becoming entirely focused on the customer.

Sales professionals must now adopt a truly value-based approach, whereby their mission is to add as much value as possible to the customer’s bottom-line.

Naturally, the goal is to accomplish this by leveraging your products and services, and thus maximizing revenue for your employer and commissions for you.



In this program, we refer to this modern sales approach as “consultative selling.” However, it’s also known in some circles as value-based selling, needs-based selling, solution selling, ROI selling and other monikers.

Consultative selling can be loosely defined as the process of diagnosing customer goals and challenges, helping them prioritize their needs, and then tailoring your products and services (solutions) to address those needs. It’s the process of being a “consultant” to your customer and their business…versus a “salesperson” trying to sell them something.

By definition: Consult (kon-sult): to seek information or advice from

But even consultative selling itself has evolved significantly since the term was coined in the 1970’s by Linda Richardson.

Today, consultative selling involves taking a more mathematical approach to satisfying customer needs, where we focus on producing a financial Return-on-Investment (ROI) for the customer. We must create situations where the customer is not spending money with you, but instead investing in greater profits than they would have otherwise realized.

We’ll learn more about how to apply this ROI-based approach throughout this program.

At this stage, we must simply be aware that this program asks you to turn upside down everything you may have learned about what it means to “sell.” If you can accomplish this, then you are ready to proceed with the balance of the program!

So, here we go!

Five Keys to Sales Success

Volumes of research and publication exist outlining what it takes to excel in sales. Just visit your local bookstore for a sample.

We could spend an entire day filling flipchart pages with the knowledge, experience, skills, and characteristics required to be a superstar sales professional.

Luckily, all of these factors can be summarized into five core Keys to Sales Success:

1. Product/Industry/Company Knowledge and Pride

2. Sales Personality Traits

3. Self-Management Skills

4. Strategic Planning Skills

5. Influential Communication Skills



This Professional Selling program is structured around these five core keys to success. We will examine them in detail throughout subsequent modules. Product/Industry/Company Knowledge and Pride

Superstar sales professionals tend to be significant experts in their industry, and highly knowledgeable about their products, services and company. They are also typically very proud of the industry they work in, and the company and products they represent.

Knowledge and pride – they’re equally important to sales success. A representative that is a veritable expert on their industry and products/services, but isn’t very proud of them, likely won’t portray the confidence necessary to be supremely successful. Whereas, a representative that is very proud of their industry, company, and products/services, but knows very little about them, won’t inspire confidence from customers, and results will suffer.

Typical keys to sales success, such as product knowledge and insight into industry trends, fall within this category.

In the end, this program can’t teach Product/Industry/Company Knowledge and Pride. They are your responsibility. It’s up to you to seek out more training and development on your products/services, industry, and company. And you must look inside yourself to harness your pride for these same things. Sales Personality Traits

This category concerns all of the intangible, internal keys to sales success that superstars tend to possess, such as: positive attitude, entrepreneurial spirit, empathy, honesty, drive and energy.

There is significant research and evidence to support the role these traits play in sales success, and we will explore them in more detail in Module 2. Self-Management Skills

It can be argued that these skills are critical to success in life, let alone sales. Regardless, success as a modern-day sales professional is at least partly dependent on your ability to manage yourself. You must manage your time effectively, cope with stress, and maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity and negativity.

These topics are covered in more detail in Module 3.

Strategic Planning Skills

Superstar salespeople tend to be good strategic planners. They build strong territory and account plans. They conduct market segmentation, competitive analysis, and they understand their relative Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) within the marketplace and individual accounts.

More importantly, they tend to build step-by-step action plans that will enable them to achieve their clearly defined goals. This Key to Sales Success is covered in Module 4.



Influential Communication Skills

This is the category we most often think of when it comes to selling. It represents the skills you use when you’re face-to-face or over the phone with customers. Skills like question asking, objection handling, listening, presenting, building rapport, negotiating and closing fall into this category, among many others.

This Key to Sales Success will be covered in significant detail, especially in Modules 5 and 6.

Summary

1. The sales profession has evolved significantly over the past century:

From hucksters and general stores;

To door-to-door and traveling salesmen;

To the hard-sell salesperson and aggressive telemarketers;

To more relationship-oriented business sales people;

And finally, to today, where we must now adopt a highly consultative, customer-centric approach.

2. Consultative selling can be loosely defined as the process of diagnosing

customer goals and challenges, helping them prioritize their needs, and then tailoring your products and services (solutions) to address those needs. It’s the process of being a “consultant” to your customer and their business…versus a “salesperson” trying to sell them something.

3. The five core Keys to Sales Success are:

I. Product/Industry/Company Knowledge and Pride

II. Sales Personality Traits (Module 2)

III. Self-Management Skills (Module 3)

IV. Strategic Planning Skills (Module 4)

V. Influential Communication Skills (Modules 5 & 6)

4. The first Key to Sales Success (Product/Industry/Company Knowledge and Pride) is entirely your responsibility. It cannot be taught in a program like Professional Selling.



Study Questions

1. Characterize how the sales profession has evolved from its inception to today:

2. What are the core Keys to Sales Success in today’s marketplace?

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

3. In your own words, define “consultative selling” and describe how it’s different from

historical sales approaches.



4. Explain why it is so important to take a more consultative approach to sales today?

5. In this chapter we discussed the importance of possessing significant

product/industry/company knowledge, as well as a great deal of pride for those same things.

(a) What would happen if a sales professional had significant product/industry/company knowledge, but little pride in those same things? Specifically how would it impact sales results…and why?

(b) What would happen if a sales professional was very proud of his or her products,

industry, and company, but was not a very deep expert in these areas? Specifically how would it impact sales results…and why??



Assignments

1. Recognizing that you have just begun this program, using the chart below, assess your own knowledge, skills, and abilities on the five core Keys to Sales Success. Be introspective and honest. How would your manager score you on each item? What about your colleagues? How about your customers?

Low High 1. Product/Industry/Company Knowledge and Pride Product/Industry/Company knowledge and expertise 1 2 3 4 5 6

Pride in your Industry, Products/Services, and Company 1 2 3 4 5 6

2. Sales Personality Traits 1 2 3 4 5 6

3. Self-Management Skills 1 2 3 4 5 6

4. Strategic Planning Skills 1 2 3 4 5 6

5. Influential Communication Skills 1 2 3 4 5 6

(a) List the items below on which you scored yourself less than 4 on the scales above. What

does this mean to you as a sales professional?



2. Using the space below, outline your personal development plan to increase your

Product/Industry/Company Knowledge and Pride, recognizing that it is one of the core Keys to Sales Success.

3. Based on your self-assessment in Assignment #1, and referring to the Table of Contents for this

program, list the specific modules and topics that will be very important for your development as a sales professional.


Topic 2: The Consultative Selling Approach


Consultative Selling Principles As discussed in the previous topic, today’s most successful professional sales representatives use a very similar approach to secure and keep customers. It’s called consultative selling.

We know from research, as well as the accumulated experience of thousands of successful salespeople, that those who use consultative selling techniques have a much higher success rate than those who don’t.

Recently, Sales and Marketing Management magazine reported that one of their extensive surveys showed that young women are out-selling men by a very wide margin. Researchers found that most females—new to selling—did not assume that personality alone would lead to success. In fact, they tended to recognize that they knew very little about professional selling, and therefore took courses and applied what they had learned.

What they learned is a methodology that recognizes customers don’t want to be “sold”—they want “partners.” In fact, today’s customers are demanding a consultative selling approach. Ask Don’t Tell – Investigate Don’t Sell

In order to adopt a more customer-centric consultative approach to sales, we must break a fundamental paradigm. Most people believe that the key to “selling” is to convince customers to buy your product or service, by telling the customer about its virtues. This has been ingrained in us since childhood, based on experiences with retailers, telemarketers, and other salespeople.

Consultative selling forces us to forget this key assumption, and instead, adopt a more inquisitive approach. Recall, the definition of consultative selling is to thoroughly diagnose customers’ goals and challenges, collaborate on their resulting priorities, and only then start to determine how your products and services can help them reach their goals.

This approach is very similar to the consultative process employed by other professionals. Consider the examples on the next page.

The Family Physician… Imagine that you need to go to the doctor for a minor ailment. What do you do? You call for an appointment. Just like in sales, our meetings with physicians are typically scheduled appointments.

When you arrive at your appointment, here’s what happens:

You introduce yourself to the receptionist/nurse and she asks for and records information—at least your name, address, and health card number. In other words, she opens a “customer record” and establishes how the bill is going to be paid. She then asks you to wait.

You wait.

Eventually, she shows you into an examination room.

You wait.



The doctor comes in and introduces herself/himself and visits a little (spends some time catching up or getting to know you for the first time).

The doctor asks open-ended questions, such as “How are you?” or “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

Depending on your answers, she/he continues to ask for more information: “Please clarify that, I

don’t quite understand,” or “Please tell me more.”

After finding out about what ails you, she/he gives you a specific examination (if you have specified it is your left hand that’s giving you grief, she/he isn’t likely to examine your right foot). During this stage of the visit more questions are asked: “How does this feel?” “Does it hurt here?” “Do this. How does that feel?” etc.

Once the doctor gets as much information as possible from you, the patient, she/he assimilates it,

applies knowledge and deductive reasoning, and decides on solutions to the problem (gives the diagnosis and recommends treatment alternatives). Please note: a doctor seldom recommends just one course of action. Usually she/he will say something like “We can look after this by …” or “I recommend we try this first.”

At this point the doctor outlines an action plan that includes setting a follow-up appointment.

You leave, and on the way out the nurse/receptionist sets up your next appointment.

When you go to the next appointment you experience the same step-by-step process with some

variation in the words. The Lawyer, Accountant, Architect, Engineer… If you go to a lawyer, chartered accountant, architect, consulting engineer, professional business consultant, undertaker, or other professional, you’ll discover they all go through a similar process.

They do so for the following reasons: 1. It places the customer first, at the centre of the process, not their solutions—which is precisely

what all of us demand today as customers. 2. They have been trained in the use of a step-by-step process that many before them have

discovered works best, and they realize it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel. 3. It is a logical process that helps ensure they don’t leave anything out. 4. It uses modern psychological compliance principles such as rapport, authority, reciprocity,

reason, consistency, and social evidence, and therefore gains patient/client compliance and as a result patients/clients take their advice.

5. It increases their efficiency by guiding them in a way that saves precious time. 6. It saves payouts on malpractice litigation. (Some years ago, a Florida doctor missed a critical

step in the procedure and amputated a man’s left leg instead of his right.)



Client Objectives Map

Consultative selling requires us to put our own objectives in the background. We must focus on the customer’s goals and challenges, help them prioritize their needs, and only then begin considering the unique solutions you can offer. Just like a doctor, most of the emphasis is on the diagnosis, versus the prescription.

EXHIBIT 1: The Client Objectives Map The illustration above summarizes the sequential issues we must cover in our investigations with customers: goals, challenges, and resulting needs. Like the physician’s diagnosis, the key is to gain a very thorough understanding of the current situation, so that you can then collaborate on solutions to help them reach their goals. In most cases, the customer’s objectives are focused on financial performance (see Return-on-Investment below). However, in some cases, customers are equally concerned with other efficiency or effectiveness measures such as quality, time savings, or employee/customer satisfaction. We’ll cover this topic in more detail in Module 5. Return-on-Investment (ROI)

Today’s customers are much more sophisticated than ever before. More importantly, organizations today are being managed much more closely based on their profit and loss statements. In other words, many business decisions these days are based strictly on the impact to the bottom-line.

Therefore, sales professionals today must ensure that everything they do is focused on helping the customer improve their bottom-line.

Colloquially speaking, we want to create a situation where the customer needs to incur no expenses…instead, anything they invest with you is only designed to produce a larger return to their bottom-line. We call this approach ROI Selling and it’s a core element of consultative selling.

Practically speaking, our goal is to show the customer how our solutions can either help them cut costs or grow revenue—since these are the only two things that can improve the bottom-line.

We’ll cover this topic in more detail in Modules 5 and 6.

Key Business Results and Measures

Business Issues

Needs and Objectives



Business Cases

Generally speaking, professional selling is like being a consultant to your client’s organization. And consultants typically follow the same process. They collaborate with clients to:

1) Define the current state 2) Determine the ideal future state 3) Prescribe solutions to close the gap between 1) and 2).

EXHIBIT 2: The Gap Analysis

We call this process a “gap analysis,” and it works in conjunction with the Client Objectives Map, and ROI Selling.

When it comes time to present your solutions to customers, you must do it in a way that lays out all of the information in a logical argument for the customer. We need to make the customer’s decision process as easy as possible for them.

Remember, customers are paid to make smart business decisions. So, we must outline our proposals in a format that helps them do just that.

We can use the Gap Analysis model (Exhibit 2) to structure a strong business case for customers. Our proposals can be structured as:

Background – The current state

Objectives – The ideal future state

Proposed Solution – What will close the gap for the customer

Expected Benefits – ROI analysis and other benefits

Proposed Action Plan – Next steps and timelines

As modern sales professionals, we must always ensure our efforts are uncovering the information needed to complete each section of a business case proposal. This will also help guarantee that we are very customer-centric and consultative in our approach.

We will explore this type of business case methodology further in Modules 5 and 6.

GAP Current Ideal Future



Example #1: The ExtraBrands Story The following is a true story, but the names of the principal players and the companies involved have been changed. ExtraBrands is a very large international company in the food business and operates independently in Canada. It produces and markets several well-known packaged food products, many of which are either first or second in market share. It also manufactures products that are sold to the food service/hospitality industry. The new regional manager in Ontario, Harold Lyle, analyzed the company’s sales record and discovered that while roasted coffee sales to the consumer market were second in market share, sales to the food service industry ranked about seventh in his region. As a result of this analysis, he made some sales calls with a number of sales reps and determined that the reason sales were so poor was that the reps didn’t know how to sell. What they did was a “data dump.” That is, they listed all the attributes of the product, without relating those attributes back to the customer’s needs. Lyle called two other regional sales managers, John Campbell and Jack Tucker, into his office and the conversation went something like this: Lyle: Gentlemen, we don’t know how to sell coffee. Last year we sold a little over 300,000 pounds in a market that is growing at an incredible rate. If we were only third in market share, our sales would be about three million. What are your recommendations? Campbell: What do you mean we don’t know how to sell? Lyle: That’s what the statistics show. All I’ve observed is sales people sounding like a product brochure, and that’s not getting many new customers. Tucker: How should coffee be sold? Lyle: Well, I don’t think a restaurant owner who has just opened a business, or one who’s been around a while, is impressed with the fact we’ve been in business for seventy-five years, or that we’re the second biggest food company in the world, or that we can supply his coffee in three blends, two roasts, and five different package sizes, or that our truck stops every week. Campbell: How should we sell then? Lyle: I don’t know, but we’ve got to find out! John, who are the big potential customers in your area?

A discussion followed and it was determined there were several potential customers who bought around 1,000,000 pounds per year. One of these was NIB Catering, a coast-to-coast enterprise with five relatively autonomous regional managers, and a general manager, Bruce Bell, in Toronto. NIB operated 250 industrial commissaries and/or cafeterias.



Lyle: John, call Bruce Bell and ask for thirty minutes of his time for you and me. Tell him I want to meet him and ask his advice.

Bruce Bell was a man in his early sixties, very polite, extremely well dressed, very distinguished looking, and soft-spoken. He showed the two salespeople to chairs in his comfortable, if not plush, office.

Bell: How can I help you gentlemen?

Lyle: Mr. Bell, my name is Harold Lyle. I’m the new regional manager for ExtraBrands.

Bell: I saw the announcement of your appointment in the Globe and Mail. Congratulations.

A few minutes of small talk, including a brief discussion about the rapid growth of the food service industry, NIB’s similar growth pattern, and ExtraBrands’ success in general, ensued, at the end of which Lyle got down to business.

Lyle: We appreciate your setting aside time for us. Bruce, we’ve got a problem. We don’t know how to sell coffee and I’ve come today to ask for your advice. Perhaps I could start by asking you this question: If you had a magic wand and could conjure up the perfect coffee supplier, what would you expect that supplier to do for you?

Bell: That’s an interesting question. I’ve never been asked one like it before. Well ... you know, a cup of coffee is the last thing most of our customers taste just before leaving one of our cafeterias. It would be a really big accomplishment if the vast majority left with a good taste in their mouths! Now, most customers, I’m afraid, do not. In fact, we get many complaints about the inconsistency of quality from coast to coast. So I guess my first wish would be to have suppliers who would work with us to establish a taste that will satisfy the majority of our customers and to develop a way to consistently produce that taste.

Lyle: Please explain how you work with your suppliers now.

Bell: Each region is responsible for purchasing locally. Currently we buy from three and sometimes four coffee companies. The product is treated much like a commodity. That is to say, our buyers get quotes on the various sizes used in each facility and make a decision. Some regional managers personally approve the product and supplier, and others delegate those decisions to unit managers. The delivery is generally once a week, but in high-volume units it can be more frequent.

Lyle: What happens once the coffee is received? I mean, how is it stored, brewed, served? Are there standards that are applied to these activities?

Bell: We do not have a centralized food purchasing procedure. Each region determines how products are stored, and how finished goods are produced and served. Production people tend to be very opinionated as to which methods work best, so we have let them do it their own way. For example, some units store coffee in the refrigerator while others place it on shelves in the regular storeroom. Some believe their way of brewing is the best, so we have various methods and types of equipment being used. Depending on the type of environment in which the cafeteria is located, a cup of coffee might be served in a paper, foam, or china cup.



Lyle: Bruce, if your goal is to have customers leave every cafeteria with “a good taste in their mouths,” what steps do you see need to be taken?

Bell: Well, we probably should select the “right taste” first. Our experience shows that there are very different taste preferences across Canada. That’s why we have encouraged regional management to take a hands-on approach to menus and food preparation. That would mean taste-testing in at least each region to select a preferred taste. Once that is done, we’d want to fix the formula and brewing method and create a quality control procedure.

Lyle: Our experience shows that different equipment produces different qualities and tastes of finished product. Would that mean that there would have to be a standardization of equipment?

Bell: I would think so, since we have a real mixture now.

Lyle: How about your local managers? Do they have the skills and the time to supervise a quality control operation?

Bell: I think those are the things we’d like the ideal supplier to look after for us.

Lyle: So, to summarize: the goal is to consistently serve a cup of coffee in every region with a taste that is specific to the preferences of that area and one that is preferred by a majority of customers. This would probably mean developing standards of handling, storage, brewing, equipment specifications, and serving. It might also include staff training and quality control supervision. Would your expectation of the ideal supplier be that they work with you to achieve this, then continue to work with your people to assure that the standards are consistently met?

Bell: That sounds right. The supplier’s work would ideally include helping us determine the right tastes, set up the standards, train staff, supervise the quality control function, help us standardize equipment, and deliver directly to every unit in a timely way at a reasonable price.

Lyle: Bruce, our time is just about up. I really appreciate the discussion we’ve just had. Thank you. What I’d like to do now is go back to our office, confer with some of our experts in several areas, and over the next week put together a plan that includes as many of your expectations as we can possibly meet. Once I have a proposal developed, I’d like to review it with you. If you believe the proposed plan is something that will substantially help you reach the goal of serving your customers a consistently good cup of coffee from coast to coast, we’d then set up a meeting to present the program to your regional managers. Does that make sense to you?

Bell: Yes, it does.

Lyle: I expect to have the outline of a presentation ready in ten days. Can I call you a week from Friday to set up a brief meeting to go over the proposal with you? At that time we’ll be able to set a date for the full presentation if you wish to proceed.

Bell: I’ll look forward to your call.

Following this visit, Campbell and Lyle returned to their office and met again with Tucker. They immediately decided to call Ed Stevens, senior product manager in the head office, to get his support



in developing a presentation that would include offering alternative ways of satisfying Bell’s expectations.

They realized that if a substantial portion of these expectations could be met, they would acquire a significant amount of business, and they would be developing an effective method of selling that could be passed on to the entire sales force. In fact, they were able to come up with such a plan, and at the end of a three-hour- plus presentation to Bell, the five regional managers, and one other executive, Lyle asked Bell what he thought the next step should be.

Bell asked how soon they might get together to develop a strategic plan. Over the next 13 months, ExtraBrands sold just under 1,000,000 pounds of coffee to NIB, and the sales force was trained to sell by asking questions to determine customers’ needs. Sales in a little over two years went from 300,000 pounds to well over 10 million. The company’s market position went from sixth to first, and Lyle was promoted to division manager. Example #1 ExtraBrands Questions 1. What was the significance of the fact that ExtraBrands had been in business for 75 years and was

the second biggest food products manufacturer in the world?

2. Why was “sounding like a product brochure” not getting business?

3. What kind of questions did Lyle ask? Why?

4. What commitment did Lyle get from Bell and how did he get it?

5. What was the “Business Case” Lyle built in this discussion?



Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

For many years, business schools have taught the principle of a Unique Sales Proposition (USP)—the things you sell that make you, your company, and your solutions different from the competitors.

No matter how consultative you are in your interactions with customers, in most cases they have choices about which suppliers they will select. Therefore, sales professionals must continually differentiate themselves from competitors.

But in the consultative sales approach, we must resist the temptation to “sell” per se. Instead, we focus on helping clients reach their goals—we focus on delivering as much value as possible to their business. By combining these two issues, we get a more appropriate term for consultative sales professionals today: Unique Value Proposition (UVP)—the specific value you, your organization, and your solutions deliver to clients that is unique to your organization.

By definition: Unique (yoo-neek): Being the only one of its kind; without an equal or equivalent; unparalleled

Sales professionals must continually refine their UVP to each customer situation, and must become comfortable at communicating and demonstrating that Unique Value Proposition.

You will develop and refine your own UVP during Modules 5 and 6.

Summary 1. The Example in this section demonstrates the application of key consultative selling principles and the tactical selling skills to be covered in Modules 5 and 6. They show how to get the customer to participate in the decision-making process and become involved in a logical argumentation that makes it easy to commit to the next reasonable step in the sales cycle.

2. Note that in the example, the representatives spent more effort on asking questions to diagnose the customer’s goals, challenges, and subsequent needs. Questions were non-confrontational, and the customer was put at ease by the salesperson’s relaxed, friendly approach.

3. Detailed preparation is a must. Salespeople who “wing it” by depending on their ability to tell customers all about their product or service, often fail because buyers are more aware than ever before and are looking for partners who will care about their business first.

4. Consultative selling involves focusing on presenting a strong Return-on-Investment (ROI) for the client, rather than trying to “sell” them something. The solution should be presented in a logical business case format. This was particularly evident in the first Example with Johnny Carson.

5. Sales professionals must understand and demonstrate their Unique Value Proposition (UVP)—the unique value they deliver to clients compared to the competitors—as they employ the consultative selling process we will explore over the balance of this program.



Study Questions 1. What role does question-asking play in successful consultative selling?

2. What is ROI Selling, and why is it important to present your solutions in Business Case format?

3. What is a Unique Value Proposition (UVP)? Describe the potential UVP offered by a chosen generic, recognized consumer product.

4. Even though trends have shifted between soft and hard selling over the years, why is it said that consultative selling is here to stay?

5. Are there any sales situations for which the consultative selling technique is not appropriate? Why?


Module 2

Understanding Yourself

and Others


Module 2: Understanding Yourself and Others

1. Introduction to Professional

Selling

2. Understanding Yourself &

Others

3. Managing Yourself

4. Building

Your Business Strategy

5. Consultative

Selling

6. Securing the

Business

Module Overview Module Objectives

After completing this module, you will be able to:

• Identify the main personality traits of successful salespeople

• Explain strategies to develop and enhance the main personality traits

• Describe the four personality “types” and their impact on sales success

• Identify your personal type, and define associated strategies to enhance sales success

• Leverage Compliance Principles to understand customer behaviour and improve influence

Module Content Topic 3: Personality Traits for Sales Success • Understanding Yourself

• Balanced Empathy and Focus • Ego Drive • Optimism • Responsibility • Personality Styles

Topic 4: The Psychology of Influence • Compliance Principles and Tactics

• The Ethics of Compliance


Topic 3: Personality Traits for Sales Success


Understanding Yourself

Recall from Module 1 that one of the five primary Keys to Sales Success is Sales Personality Traits.

Evidence suggests that certain personality traits and styles of thinking can significantly affect a person’s level of sales success. Research has shown that highly successful salespeople possess similar styles of thinking.

What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?

Understanding your personal qualities is an important first step in achieving sales success. Learning to manage and nurture these qualities is your goal.

While successful salespeople share many common personality traits, four of the more important ones are:

1. Balanced empathy and focus

2. Ego-drive

3. Optimism

4. Responsibility Let’s take a look at how these traits can contribute to sales and personal success.

Balanced Empathy and Focus People who possess a high degree of focus tend to be self-oriented or inwardly focused— they drive consistently towards their own goals.

On the other hand, people who are empathetic tend to react with concern for others before themselves. Highly empathetic people can be described as other-oriented or outwardly focused.

It is important to realize that although everyone exhibits both types of behaviour in various circumstances, most tend to be oriented predominantly one way or the other. By definition:

Empathy (em-puh-thee): the ability to share a perspective and to feel what others are feeling.

Focus (foh-kuhs): for the purposes of this program, focus is a salesperson’s goal-orientation

Balance is Critical

Salespeople benefit from maintaining a balance between empathy and focus. In their consultative role, salespeople need to be empathetic—directing their attention to the needs of customers. On the other hand, salespeople can’t forget their primary objective—to make the sale and achieve their goals. Developing an appropriate empathy/focus balance makes it easier for salespeople to ensure that both needs are satisfied. Let’s consider what happens if this balance is not achieved.



When salespeople are more empathetic than focused, their concern for the needs of others tends to interfere with their ability to drive towards personal goals. In such cases, salespeople stray from their sales objectives, often failing to steer customer conversations adequately. The success of a salesperson has much to do with his or her ability to drive conversations towards establishing customer needs and to effectively use this information to make the sale. Consequently, while excessively empathetic salespeople often enjoy good relationships with customers and prospects, they usually suffer from poor sales performance. On the other hand, salespeople who are too focused or goal-oriented are generally perceived as being overly aggressive. Focusing attention inward and driving too hard towards making a sale are likely to make customers feel alienated—they may feel as if their needs and concerns are not being addressed. In these situations, customers will feel pushed or pressured towards making a buying decision. When customers feel pressured, they become defensive and stop listening. So while too much focus and not enough empathy can sometimes lead to good initial sales results, it will likely result in poor customer relationships and a lack of repeat business.

Empathy and Focus in Action

Maintaining balance is the key. A high level of both empathy and focus is the goal—but it’s not always easy to achieve. People’s personalities tend to dictate whether they are more empathetic or more self-oriented. To achieve an appropriate balance, you may need to make a significant conscious effort towards managing your behaviour.

Once you have achieved a balance, you can work on increasing the levels of both characteristics. The main purpose of balancing empathy and focus is to demonstrate the desire to satisfy customer needs and to establish a clear link between those needs and your product or service. We’ll refine this skill in Modules 5 and 6 when we cover the influential communication skills components of this program and conducting effective sales calls.

Empathy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Focus

Circle where you think you are in the Empathy/Focus Balance

Improving Empathy

Developing a greater level of empathy requires a conscious effort to change one’s behaviour. Having personal goals is very important, but as a salesperson you must first attend to the needs of your customers.

You need to be aware of how self-interest can distract you from focusing your attention outward.



Self-interest often intrudes on conversations and your ability to listen actively, for example. Indeed, what makes selling difficult is setting aside your personal interests temporarily in favour of someone else’s needs.

People with a strong goal-orientation are often reluctant to set aside their personal interests, even temporarily. What they should remember, however, is that setting aside personal interests is not the same as losing focus.

Selling is all about addressing and serving a customer’s needs. And if salespeople are consumed with self-interest, their ability to demonstrate the level of empathy required to provide customer-oriented service is impeded. Ultimately, if a customer does not feel his or her needs are being addressed, the salesperson is less likely to make the sale—and then nobody’s interests are served.

Empathy in Listening

Being able to empathize and stay focused involves listening. In fact, one of the most important skills a salesperson can develop is effective listening. Many people hear—without actually listening.

To listen effectively, you must pay attention to what is being communicated and understand what to do with that information. As a salesperson you must not only listen, but also listen with a purpose. Moreover, the ability to understand another person’s perspective (needs or interests) first and foremost requires knowing where he or she is coming from.

Writing in the Harvard Business Review, psychologist Carl Rogers once suggested that our tendency to evaluate intrudes on our ability to listen and/or communicate. In other words, people tend to be so preoccupied with wondering what their next move will be, or how they can use what they are hearing, that they actually stop listening to what others are saying. The purpose of listening is to discern relevant information and get to the heart of a matter.

For a salesperson, this involves staying on top of the conversation and asking questions. The salesperson should not be thinking, “How will this affect me?” but rather, “What is the customer really asking for, and how can my product or service satisfy that need?”

In Modules 5 and 6 you will learn more about active listening and applying techniques to link everything back to the customer. You will learn how to make a clear connection between the customer’s needs, which you are trying to satisfy, and your products or services. The key to achieving this link is to balance a strong sense of empathy with a high level of focus and follow a proven step-by-step selling process.

Improving Focus

Poor focus or goal-orientation often results in poor performance and a short-lived sales career. People who lack focus are prone to forget or stray from their purpose, and they give up on their goals too easily (if they even set any). By the same token, driving without a clear destination is pointless. Improving focus means improving the ability to get things done. To develop focus, you need to have goals. Goals are the “things” to be done. Setting well-defined and achievable goals is necessary for improving performance. Effective goal setting will be examined in more detail in Module 4.



Ego-Drive

Another characteristic often shared by successful sales people is a high level of ego-drive. Ego-drive is the measure of a person’s self-confidence and desire to succeed. It is important to realize that if you are not a person who is somewhat competitive, if you have not occasionally felt the pleasure of accomplishing a challenging objective, you probably should examine your motives for seeking a career in sales.

Selling is like athletics: there are considerable rewards for success, but there are also, inevitably, failures. A professional in sales, like a professional in sports, must have the ability and willingness to learn from failure, move past it, and try once more for a successful result.

To evaluate your ego-drive, ask yourself the following questions: “How much do I want to win?” and “How competitive am I?”

How much do I want to WIN?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Don’t Care Must Win

Managing Ego-Drive

A low level of ego-drive is often indicated by unclear goals, a lack of goals altogether, low self-esteem, and/or a lack of motivation. The first step in managing ego-drive is to examine your goals. Goals must be clearly defined and achievable. Goal setting is discussed in Module 4 in more detail.

Once clear goals have been defined or established, it helps to evaluate your progress towards achieving them. You must identify the obstacles that cause you not to be competitive, and factors that discourage you from working towards accomplishing your goals. Once these are identified, you can implement strategies to remove them. When low self-esteem is holding back ego-drive, you must examine your attitudes. To nurture a positive attitude and ego-drive, sales-people can practise positive self-talk. Attitude and self-talk will be discussed in more detail in Module 3.



Optimism

Studies have shown that successful salespeople generally have a high level of optimism, or the tendency to look at things from a positive perspective. (Pessimists, on the other hand, are more likely to fail.) As discussed in Martin Seligman’s acclaimed book Learned Optimism, the following concepts are generally accepted within the scientific community:

The way we think, especially about health, changes our health. Optimists catch fewer infectious diseases than pessimists. Our immune system works better when we are optimistic. Optimists tend to live longer than pessimists.

It follows that being optimistic makes sense—not only for sales success, but also for success in life in general.

Characteristics of Optimists (and Pessimists) Optimists believe that good fortune is global and pervasive, not a

temporary, chance occurrence that happens to them only. In fact, optimists believe that everyone shares good fortune, and they view misfortune or bad events as temporary and localized.

The opposite of an optimist is a pessimist—someone who believes that misfortune is enduring (permanent) and will undermine everything he or she does (pervasive). Some scientists believe that depression is caused by pessimism, and that whether we are pessimistic or not is a matter of habit. Fortunately, we can choose to control our habits.

It is possible to nurture optimism by managing one’s self-talk. To determine whether your tendency is to be optimistic or pessimistic, ask yourself, “How do I feel about things when bad things happen?” Pessimists tend to generalize. For example, they’ll say, “No one is buying this product. It’s impossible for anyone to sell it.” Whereas, an optimist is more likely to perceive misfortune as a localized occurrence or short-term dilemma to which a solution will inevitably be found.

Eliminating negative self-talk and ensuring the use of positive self-talk phrases will increase optimism. Managing your attitude through self-talk will be discussed in the next Module.

How Optimistic Are You!!!

Very Optimistic

Very Pessimistic



Responsibility Many different types of attitudes affect success. One of the most interesting of these—since it can be easily observed in ourselves and in others—concerns our attitude towards responsibility in the face of problems.

Agent and Victim Behaviour

When dealing with problems, people generally fall into one of two categories: victims and agents. Victim behaviour focuses on how a problem is not the person’s fault. Meanwhile, people who seek solutions are exhibiting agent behaviour.

For every problem that arises, there is a cause. Usually the problem is the result of someone’s failure to take responsibility or fulfill an intention. But whatever the case, it must be remembered that these reasons are in the past and the problem is in the present. Agents embrace the fact that their role means acting responsibly. Rather than trying to trace blame, they move forward by creating solutions. Victims focus on proving their lack of blame and responsibility in creating a problem. They trace backwards instead of driving forward or taking steps to find a solution. Taking Responsibility

The foundation of a salesperson’s business is providing solutions, and this requires taking responsibility and engaging in solution-oriented behaviour. Similar to developing optimism, it is possible to manage and develop agent behaviour by adjusting your self- talk.

A useful illustration can be found at West Point, where it is said that first-year cadets (or “plebes”) are allowed to respond to their instructors in only one of three ways: “Yes, Sir!” “No, Sir!” and “No excuses, Sir!”

If a cadet fails to complete an assignment, the circumstances are deemed irrelevant: the cadet must always assume responsibility by saying, “No excuses, Sir!” The purpose here is to create agent-style thinking.

Taking responsibility is a matter of choice. We can become action-oriented, driving towards solutions and recognizing that we have a role and a responsibility in every situation that affects us. This is self-empowering. Or we can devote our energies to assigning blame and making excuses, which is non-productive.

Admittedly, victims are often realists, providing an accurate perspective in their assessment of what has gone wrong. The fact is, however, they don’t do as well in sales, customer service, and management roles. Instead of seeking solutions, victims spend time finding problems and justifying their innocence. What victims don’t understand is that if they are always without blame, they are also always without responsibility. And people tend not to trust, or rely upon, those who don’t take responsibility. Customers feel better served when a salesperson exhibits agent behaviour. Agents are perceived as accepting personal responsibility for—and actively working towards—meeting customer needs. Customers need to feel that a salesperson holds himself or herself accountable. They feel frustrated



if they are not able to deal with someone who takes responsibility for providing solutions and who directly controls the situation.

Optimist-Agents and Pessimist-Victims

Optimists typically display agent behaviour. They view problems as local and are willing to acknowledge responsibility without loss of self-esteem.

As agents, optimists see all problems as solvable. For example, optimists will say, “People are spending less, so I will have to find special value in my products and services for my customers in order to maintain my level of sales.”

Pessimists habitually believe that misfortune is enduring and undermines all they do. In this way, they are deflecting personal responsibility for problems by blaming them on general or universal misfortune. Pessimists think, “Nobody is buying anything anymore. I can’t possibly maintain my sales levels.” They are displaying victim behaviour.

Following Through

An important part of being an agent involves doing what you have resolved to do. Following through on your intentions is an integral part of being responsible. Essentially, doing what you intend to do is a “thinking style,” and like agent and victim behaviour, it can be developed and nurtured.

Doing what you intend to do is a matter of keeping your word—to yourself and to others. If you say you will do something, and you retain the conviction to do it, you will build credibility and respect. That’s not as easy as it sounds, since it sometimes means doing things you’d rather not do. It also requires maintaining focus in situations that can be distracting or conflicting.

There are practical ways to ensure that we do the things we intend to do. We can create a closedloop system for managing our activities. This involves setting goals and making notes about the things we have agreed to do for others, planning the necessary action, and evaluating our progress towards accomplishing the goals. Notes act as reminders and guides for acting on our intentions, and evaluating our progress keeps us focused. Details about closed-loop systems will be examined in our discussion of time management in Module 3.



Personality Traits Reflection Evaluate your personality… Take the time to look inward. Evaluate your personality in light of each of the areas discussed on pages 2-3 to 2-9, then decide which traits you need to develop and which ones represent strengths so they can be used to your advantage. Develop a list of things you plan to do over the next year regarding your personality.

As you accomplish each objective (or feel you have), cross it off the list and start on the next one. Keep in mind that changing certain aspects of your personality takes time, and you shouldn’t try to address too many at once. Therefore, set priorities in your list and take things one step at a time.

1. Which of the personality traits do you feel currently contributes the most to your sales success? Why?

2. Which personality trait do you feel you would benefit the most from improving? Why?

3. Think about times in your past when you were feeling optimistic or pessimistic. What where

some of your thoughts and actions during those times?

Optimistic Pessimistic

4. Note times in your past when you displayed agent behaviour and victim behaviour. Agent Behaviour Victim Behaviour


Module 3

Managing Yourself


Topic 5: Attitude Maintenance


One of the primary Keys to Sales Success concerns your ability to manage yourself. Clearly, if you can’t do this, then you’ll have an even harder time managing customers, sales opportunities, and your overall results.

Self-management concerns your ability to control your attitude, cope with stress, manage time effectively, maintain professionalism, and facilitate your own professional development. This module explores these elements in detail.

Attitude Attitude is our mental position about facts, or, more simply, the way we view things.

How often have you heard someone say, “He has a bad attitude” or “She has the right attitude”? We know instinctively that attitude contributes to success, and we instantly recognize “right” and “wrong” attitudes.

The way we view the world, influences our lives and behaviour quite powerfully. There is a popular expression in advertising and marketing that states, “Perception is greater than reality.” It’s true. How we perceive the world is what creates our individual reality.

How we view the world affects our lives in many ways: our health, our professional success, and our level of satisfaction with life. The good news is that our mental position about the world around us can be managed and maintained. We can control how we view the world. We can create a positive view that supports a successful life.

Ultimately, it is our attitude that controls some of the key Sales Personality Traits covered in the previous Module, such as: ego drive, optimism, and responsibility.

By definition:Attitude (at-i-tood): A way of thinking or behaving.

How Attitude Affects Your Life How does attitude influence our lives and our success? Here are six important points to consider.

1. Your attitude towards people influences your behaviour towards them. You can’t always hide the way you feel. When people perceive that you have a negative attitude towards them, it can make them defensive or cause them to deflect their thoughts away from you. Prompting this type of response from customers is counter-productive to your role as a professional salesperson.

2. Your attitude affects your level of satisfaction with life, and with your job. Your perception of the world translates into reality. If you perceive your life in a positive way, your life will be positive.

3. Your attitude affects everyone who comes into contact with you, either in person or on the telephone. People react to your mood even over the telephone. If you are happy, they hear


Module 3: Managing Yourself

your happiness and react in a cheerful way.

4. Your attitude is reflected in your tone of voice, posture, and facial expressions. Because of this, it is extremely difficult (if not impossible) to prevent transmitting your attitude.

5. Your attitude can affect your health. There is ample medical evidence to prove that a poor or negative attitude can depress your immune system. People with depressed immune systems catch more colds and viruses, and are generally more susceptible to other illnesses.

6. A positive attitude can help you live longer. Studies show that positive imaging works as an effective support to conventional cancer treatments. The right attitude may improve chances for recovery.

7. Your attitude is not fixed. Your attitude is up to you.

People who project enthusiasm and a positive attitude generally provide higher levels of customer service, and are more successful in all areas of their lives. So it only makes sense to maintain as positive an attitude as possible. Unfortunately, maintaining a positive attitude is not as easy as it sounds.

Given that attitude is so important, we must ask ourselves: “Where does attitude come from?” “Can we control our attitude?” “Should we control our attitude?” “And if so, how?”

Quotable:As a person thinketh ... so are they.

James Allen, Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude (1992).

Attitude Maintenance You can develop and maintain a positive attitude through the use of self-talk. Self-talk

What is self-talk? It is simply the silent voice in our head that interprets the world around us and tells us what to think and do.

Much of the time we are not aware of our self-talk; because we are so accustomed to it, it has become unconscious. In order to control self-talk, we need to understand how it works.

At every waking moment our mind is busy—ticking along at approximately 150 words per minute or up to 51,000 thoughts per day.

When we perceive an event in the external world, our brain quickly searches through its vaults of previous experiences for every scrap of relevant information. In a split second, it retrieves any previously programmed mental or behavioural responses to similar external events. Then, self-talk tells you how to think, feel, and act. Based on those previous responses, we may jump for joy, feel depressed, start to laugh, lose our temper, run away, or simply have no reaction at all.

Our self-talk’s reliance upon previous experiences is critical, as it triggers our survival instincts for self-preservation. It enables us to rationalize situations by relating our current experience to similar



experiences in the past. Finally, it provides a kind of psychological buffer for new stressful situations, by searching for safe responses to similar situations in our past.

Most of this “pattern recognition” operates in the subconscious, without us being directly aware of it. The thoughts are available to us, but only if we pay attention to them. Either way, these programs cause us to interpret situations in a certain way—they generate our self-talk.

Perhaps more importantly, our self-talk uses its previous experience to dictate our attitude and behaviours in response to what is happening around us. On a more conscious plane, our self-talk stays busy: deciding what to say or do next, telling us how we “feel”, guessing what someone else is going to say or do next, deciding if we believe what we hear, or maybe thinking about something totally unrelated like your weekend plans.

So, what is your self-talk saying as you read this passage?

More on Self-talk

Our self-talk determines the attitude we project and our behaviour, even though we may not be conscious of its doing so. Therefore, we must learn to control that self-talk voice, if we want to embody critical sales personality traits such as ego drive, optimism and responsibility.

If our attitude and behaviour do not correspond to our rational and conscious goals, we need to change the self-talk that is driving them. Although our self-talk comes from our lifetime of experience, we can break out of our old routines and comfort zones, and create new ways of approaching experiences and situations that have not been successful in the past. It is important to remember that we can change our self-talk.

How? First we need to identify negative self-talk. Identifying negative self-talk We add fuel to our belief systems by using the same self-talk over and over again. The negative words we use to describe our attitude or situation affect our outcomes. By changing the way we describe things to ourselves, we can change both our attitude towards them and the outcomes. Consider the following phrases.

“I cannot …” In most cases, “cannot” statements are untrue. To change a belief like this, start repeating to yourself that you can achieve your goal. For instance, if you say, “I can do arithmetic” or “I can sleep” or “I can lose weight,” you have a much better chance of meeting each of those objectives. The more you tell yourself that you can do something, the more likely it is that you will be able to do it successfully.

“I have to …” or “I need to …” There is very little that we actually have to do or need to do. We do not have to get up in the morning. We do not need to be “successful.” We do not have to eat. Everything, even living, is an option for us. Once we realize that we have options, that we choose to do things, a burden is lifted. We have power to do what we want to do. To begin new beliefs, use phrases such as “I choose to exercise” or “I choose to work.”

“I should …” When we encounter a situation that makes us frustrated and angry, we often react against it with the word “should.” For example, if all the telephones are busy, we think, “This



company should get a new system.” Or, if traffic is slow, we think, “People should speed up.” Each time we make one of these statements, we tend to be feeling angry. Such responses can be very energy depleting. To overcome this habit, try to view frustrating occurrences more scientifically. Rational analysis will reveal that any given event is the product of a particular set of conditions. Whatever happened, simply happened. Once we begin to see events in this way, we no longer feel anger.

“What if …?” This phrase causes worry. It also depletes our energy. In fact, after a few “what if” statements, we can actually begin to believe that what we are worrying about has already happened. Instead, consider the actual consequences of your “what if” statement coming true. What is the worst possible scenario? Approached rationally, you will see that no situation is irrecoverable.

“… never …” or “… always …” or “Everybody does it…” All three of these phrases are generalizations. They are seldom true and can cause us to become irrational, reaching conclusions that are equally false. For example, it’s simply not accurate to say, “These things never work out for me. I’ll never close another sale.” Of course you will close another sale. This type of generalization can lead to the development of a pessimistic attitude and poor performance. It exhibits victim behaviour rather than agent behaviour.

“It’s not my fault …” This phrase is another indicator of victim-like thinking. It indicates that we are placing too much emphasis on avoiding blame, rather than being agents and dealing with the situation effectively.

Gaining control of self-talk Directing our self-talk in a positive way is a key factor in maintaining a winning attitude. But how do we gain control of our self-talk?

The first step is to become aware of self-talk. Most of our self-talk is so unconscious, or habituated, that we are no longer aware of it. When you are dealing with a situation or customer, discipline yourself to tune in to your self-talk. What are you telling yourself about the situation? What are your internal responses? With practice, you will come to know your self-talk in different situations.

In all situations, set your frame of mind in a positive attitude. When you become aware of negative self-talk, turn it around. Write down examples of positive self-talk that relate to stressful situations you encounter often. Refer to your list, practising the self-talk until it has become a new habituated point of view.

Prepare yourself for negative feedback from customers, employers, and others, and use the information to create positive results. Develop innovative techniques that work for you to turn negative self-talk into positive self-talk, and generate your own system for creative and positive thinking. Become an agent, not a victim. Emotions

Most of us have encountered situations that have caused us to react emotionally. Sometimes these emotions can actually hurt our chances of reaching our desired goals. That’s because the way we



feel about something or someone affects our behaviour. If a situation arises which makes us angry, we may react to our anger rather than remaining focused on our goal.

By gaining control over our emotions, we can improve our chances for success. That doesn’t mean blocking out our emotions or ignoring them. It just means having the ability to prevent emotions from determining behaviour. It means being in control of the things that are said and done at all times. Successful people don’t react to their emotions; they recognize them, understand them, and deal with them.

Our emotions are the result of our self-talk. Therefore, the key to managing our emotional reactions is the effective use of positive self-talk.

Tips for Attitude Maintenance

Maintaining a positive, healthy, focused attitude is essential to achieving success—not just in our careers, but in all aspects of our lives. The following are some tips and reminders about how to maintain a positive attitude.

Be aware of self-talk. Use this awareness to break out of routines and old habits that produce negative results. Understand that breaking these routines can remove you from your “comfort zone”; however, it will also lead you towards new, more positive and productive patterns of self-talk.

Develop new techniques for approaching situations. Don’t confine yourself to your old styles of thinking and familiar routines. Be creative.

Plan ahead. Anticipate situations and create positive self-talk to turn them around. Write down your results. Visualize your positive performance, and refer to your written notes often.

Teach yourself to recognize your positive and negative self-talk. Create strategies to gain control of your patterns for success and failure. Practice self-discipline in managing your self-talk.

Place yourself in a positive environment. Try to avoid situations that surround you with negative people or negative self-talk. Look for environments with positive people. Keep and refer to evidence of your past successes (such as awards or letters of commendation). Support your positive attitude by reading inspirational books or listening to inspirational tapes.



1. How has your attitude influenced your life in the past?

2. How does your attitude impact the people around you?

3. Notice the types of things you say to yourself when you are engaging in self-talk. List some

examples of your positive self-talk and your negative self-talk.

Positive Negative

4. Note the circumstances or situations in the past that resulted in positive and negative self-talk. Positive Situations Negative Situations

Attitude Reflection



Stress Stress is a double-edged sword. All of us (even animals) rely on stress to survive. On the other hand, excessive or unmanaged stress can be extremely unhealthy—even deadly. Therefore, it’s wise to learn how to recognize and manage our own stress. Types of Stress There is good stress and bad stress. Hunger is an example of good stress. It signals us to eat when our bodies require food. A job promotion causes stress because of the way it changes our lives, but for most people it is usually good news. Laughter can be a result of stress, and a way to counteract it.

Arguing causes bad stress. Having to complete multiple tasks in too little time can cause bad stress. Bad stress also results from not dealing effectively with situations. By learning to deal with bad stress, professionals improve sales performance.

Managing Stress

Perhaps the most critical factor in managing your stress is to recognize that a salesperson’s job is stressful by nature. By understanding that stress is always going to be a part of your working life, you can develop attitudes and strategies to deal with it in a positive way.

Teach yourself not to take things personally. Develop an optimistic attitude and view problems as temporary and local. Take an agent-oriented approach to solving them. Use positive self-talk to turn negative and stressful situations around.

Part of dealing with stress in the workplace is knowing when you need to let something go, even temporarily. Take time occasionally to refocus yourself and approach the stressful situations in a positive way. Make sure that you have other things in your life to focus on when you are away from work. This will prevent you from taking your stress home with you. Keep yourself healthy, and exercise regularly. Exercise is a critical factor in relieving and managing stress. Measure Your Stress

Excessive or unmanaged stress can have severe physical, psychological, and emotional effects, yet we often don’t realize when stress becomes unhealthy. The habits, attitudes, and signs that can alert us to problems may not be recognized because they have become familiar.

A stress index is a measuring tool designed to help determine if your stress levels are unhealthy. Answer the questions on the next page to find out. Answer each question as honestly as possible. Take your time and complete each question. If you have any hesitation over a question, then the answer is usually “yes.”



STRESS INDEX SCORING Score 1 for each “yes” answer, and 0 for each “no” answer. Your total score can be interpreted as follows:

Under 7 There are few hassles in your life. Make sure that you are not trying so hard to avoid problems that you shy away from challenges.

7 to 13 You have your life pretty much in control. Work on the choices and habits that could still be causing some unnecessary stress in your life.

14 to 20 You are approaching the danger zone. You may well be suffering stress-related symptoms, and your relationships could be strained. Think carefully about choices you’ve made and take relaxation breaks every day.

Over 20 Emergency! You must stop now, rethink how you are living, change your attitudes, and pay very careful attention to your diet, exercise, and relaxation programs.

Do you frequently ... YES NO Neglect your diet? Try to do everything? Blow up easily? Seek unrealistic goals? Fail to see the humour in situations others find funny? Act rudely? Make a “big deal” of everything? Look to other people to make things happen? Have difficulty making decisions? Complain you are disorganized? Avoid people whose ideas are different from your own? Keep everything inside? Neglect exercise? Lack supportive relationships? Use psychoactive drugs, like sleeping pills or tranquilizers, without a physician’s approval?

Get too little rest? Get angry when you are kept waiting? Ignore stress symptoms? Procrastinate? Think there is only one right way to do something? Fail to allot yourself relaxation time? Gossip? Race through the day? Spend a lot of time feeling bad about the past? Fail to get a break from noise and crowds? Index adapted from 60 Ways to Make Stress Work for You by Andrew F. Slavy, PIA Press (1988).


Topic 6: Time Management

Assessing Your Time Management Obstacles

Part 1: Organizing Yourself Strongly Disagree

Mildly Disagree

Mildly Agree

Strongly Agree

I often take work home.

I tend to underestimate the time it will take to do something.

Because I am a bit of a perfectionist, I get too bogged down in detail.

My work area is usually cluttered and disorganized.

I do not have clearly defined career or personal goals.

I am not a morning person. It takes me some time to get operational.

I tend to put off unpleasant work.

Approaching a deadline makes me work a lot harder.

I often find myself shuffling paper, accomplishing little.

I tend to do easy or fun things first.

I have trouble getting started on some tasks or projects.

I do not work effectively when I have a lot of different things to do.

I work more overtime hours than I think is reasonable.

I can never catch up on the reading I need to do.

I spend too little time devising better or faster ways of doing things.




Part 2: Organizing Your Job Strongly Disagree

Mildly Disagree

Mildly Agree

Strongly Agree

I do not have clear, written job objectives that define the results I am expected to achieve.

I do not really know or understand the criteria on which my performance is measured.

Many of my tasks or projects don’t have expected completion dates.

I am involved in a lot of crisis management and fire fighting.

I do not have a clearly defined development plan for myself.

I do not keep a list of things to do.

I rarely take time to review critically my progress towards my objectives.

Constantly changing priorities make it difficult to plan my work.

I spend less than 10% of my time planning.

I have no specific process for establishing priorities.

Some of my important responsibilities do not get the time and attention they deserve.

Much of my time is spent reacting to the needs and demands of others.

I do not have a clear picture of my boss’s objectives and priorities.

I tend not to schedule my work. I schedule only meetings and appointments.

I miss deadlines too often.


Topic 6: Time Management


Part 3: Organizing Yours Relationships Strongly Disagree

Mildly Disagree

Mildly Agree

Strongly Agree

Interruptions make it difficult for me to work efficiently.

I am always accessible to those who need my help or advice.

I find it difficult to say no to people who want my help.

I probably spend too much time socializing with my co-workers.

Some people seem to take up an inordinate amount of my time.

Not much of the time I spend with my boss is on a regular, scheduled basis.

I spend too much time in meetings.

Most meetings I attend are too long and inefficient.

I rarely worry about interrupting or wasting the time of others.

I believe in always having an open-door policy.

Others I work with do not understand my objectives or priorities.

I spend too much time involved in interdepartmental or interpersonal conflicts.

I do not spend enough uninterrupted time with my boss.

I do not spend enough uninterrupted time with co-workers, customers, etc.




Part 4: Organizing Your Systems Strongly Disagree

Mildly Disagree

Mildly Agree

Strongly Agree

My job requires me to do too much paperwork.

I hate writing reports.

Many reports around here are never read or acted upon.

I have to spend too much time getting the information I need.

I have not used a time log in the past year.

My telephone is a constant source of interruptions.

A lot of time is wasted on telephone tag.

Our telecommunications system is not efficient.

Our communications systems (mail, email, switchboard, etc.) need improvement.

Many of our policies, rules, and procedures are bureaucratic.

I do not have a good follow-up system.

My personal files are not well organized.

I spend a lot of time getting information for other people.

I do not know enough about how our systems work.

I wish someone would help me organize how to do some things.

HOW DID YOU SCORE ON EACH CHART?

Any statement with which you strongly agree indicates a specific problem you need to work on.

For each chart, if you strongly agree with four or more statements, or if you strongly agree or mildly agree with more than eight statements, you have a serious problem that is having a negative impact on your performance and job satisfaction. Make a note of these time-management strengths and weaknesses.


Topic 7: Professional Behaviour and Development


Professional Behaviour Notes

As a sales professional, you are in the business of providing professional services to your employer. Successful sales representatives recognize the importance of developing and maintaining a professional standard of service, behaviour, and conduct in all areas of their work. This includes the way they act when representing their employer, and pertains also to their conduct with peers, competitors, and customers.

Ethical Conduct

Ethical conduct is central to the sales profession. As a sales professional and a representative of your employer, it is critical that you behave honestly and ethically. As a Certified Sales Professional, you are required to commit to conducting yourself according to the CPSA Sales Institute Code of Ethics.

Consultative = Ethical

The key to ethical selling is to adopt a genuinely consultative mindset and approach.

Remember, consultative selling requires you to put your own interests/needs in the background, and instead, focus all of your effort on helping the customer improve his/her business performance (of course, by utilizing your products and services).

By focusing your energy on helping customers improve (instead of trying to “get them to buy”), it removes much of the motivation that can drive unethical sales behaviour.

Recall that in Topic 4 on The Psychology of Influence, we discussed the ethics of compliance. In that topic, we learned the following fundamental guideline:

ETHICS = INTENT If a person’s intent is unethical, then their application of the compliance principles is unethical. For example, if your intent is to manipulate the customer (regardless of what’s in their best interest), then using the compliance tactics is inappropriate.

The same guideline holds true for sales in general.



CPSA Sales Institute Code of Ethics

The CPSA Sales Institute Code of Ethics is the set of principles and standards that a Certified Sales Professional will strive to adhere to with customers, organizations, competitors, communities, and colleagues.

The Certified Sales Professional pledges and commits to uphold these standards in all activities.

I will: 1. Maintain honesty and integrity in all relationships with customers, prospective

customers, and colleagues and continually work to earn their trust and respect.

2. Accurately represent my products or services to the best of my ability in a manner that places my customer or prospective customer in a position that benefits both.

3. Respect and protect the proprietary and confidential information entrusted to me by my

company and my customers and not engage in activities that may conflict with the best interests of my customers or my company.

4. Continually upgrade my knowledge of my products/services, skills and my industry.

5. Use the time and resources available to me only for legitimate business purposes. I will

only participate in activities that are ethical and legal, and when in doubt, I will seek counsel.

6. Respect my competitors and their products and services by representing them in a

manner which is honest, truthful and based on accurate information that has been substantiated.

7. Endeavor to engage in business and selling practices that contribute to a positive

relationship with the community.

8. Assist and counsel my fellow sales professionals where possible in the performance of their duties.

9. Abide by and encourage others to adhere to this Code of Ethics.

As a Certified Sales Professional, I understand that the reputation and professionalism of all salespeople depends on me as well as on others engaged in the sales profession, and I will adhere to these standards to strengthen the reputation and integrity for which we all strive. I understand that failure to consistently act according to this Code of Ethics may result in the loss of the privilege of using my professional sales designation.



Ethical Sales Conduct Notes

Let’s consider how each of the nine items in the CPSA Sales Institute Code of Ethics applies to our role as sales professionals:

1. Maintaining honesty and integrity means being honest at all times. Customers today expect salespeople to act as partners. Who would want a partner that can’t be trusted? Being trustworthy is the starting point for being perceived as having authority, which is one way in which people influence one another (see Topic 4 on The Psychology of Influence).

Follow through on your promises and commitments. This includes time frames, deliverables, service levels, quality, and warranties. When you tell your customers that you won’t waste their time, make sure you never do. Be on time for appointments—weak excuses for tardiness undermine your credibility. You should also understand your customer’s code of ethics and conduct yourself accordingly.

2. Accurately represent products and services so that the

customer and the company you represent both benefit. This means making sure your customer gets value that outweighs the cost, while maximizing your company’s profit. It requires that you constantly improve your selling skills and business acumen as well as your knowledge of the customer’s business.



Notes 3. Respect and protect confidential and proprietary

information. As stated earlier, customers want partners that can be trusted to act in their best interests. This means not betraying confidences in any way. Whether it involves your employer or your customers, you have a responsibility to maintain confidentiality at all times. Both sources have entrusted you with vast quantities of sensitive data—including financial information, trade information, and personal information. “Entrusted” is the key word—you are obliged to fulfill and maintain that trust.

You cannot be tempted to give away trade secrets or use what you have learned from one customer to gain favour with another customer that is in competition with the first. This is a very difficult rule to follow in practice because you must do business with your customers’ competitors. Acting with integrity and fairness is the rule, however.

From time to time you may have to declare a conflict of interest. For example, you may be working on orders from competing companies, or you may become involved in a situation where your personal interests conflict with your professional obligations. In such cases, it’s critical that you declare a conflict of interest. This may mean getting another representative to handle the situation or even deciding not to do business with one of the customers. To continue to act when your interests and motives are not clear is unethical behaviour.

4. Continually upgrade knowledge and skills. Your job is to

get and keep customers. To continue to do this you must keep up with and ahead of your competitors. If their skills improve, so must yours. If better ways of selling are discovered, you must learn and practise them; if you do not, you will lose business to your competitors. You must continually act in your customers’ best interests, or risk losing those customers. Remember that when customers change suppliers, 68 to 72 percent of the time they do so because they feel their present supplier doesn’t care enough about their business. To prove you care, you must keep up.



5. There are two parts to this element of the CPSA Sales Institute Code of Ethics. First, use your time for legitimate business purposes only. This means you don’t take advantage of your employer. The salesperson that takes in a movie in the middle of the afternoon or quits early to get in a quick golf game is not acting ethically. Second, participate only in activities that are ethical and legal, and if in doubt seek counsel. This may sometimes be a very difficult rule to follow. Take a look at the following situation.

Joe is a new salesperson for XYZ Company. He sells capital equipment and has been working on a large account for four months. The order will amount to $800,000, and his commission is 7 percent. In an attempt to solidify relations with Samantha, the director of purchasing for this account, Joe invites her to dinner. Samantha readily accepts, and asks if her husband can come too. Joe agrees to take them both.

During the dinner that takes place in November, conversation turns to some of the great TV shows currently available. Samantha’s husband states that he can’t enjoy them, however, because their TV set is failing badly. Samantha says, “Well, love, Joe should be able to get you a new one for Christmas when he gets his big fat commission cheque from our order.” Nothing else is said. The next day, Joe asks a colleague who’s been selling for XYZ Company for several years what she would do. She answers, “Get the TV set. Why do you think they give us such a high commission?”

If you were Joe, what would you do? Why? In this example, keep in mind that the objective is to get the order without breaking any laws and in an ethical way. Would giving the TV set be illegal? Would giving the TV set be unethical? Why or why not? If you think Joe should not give the TV set, what should he do?

6. Respecting people is an important personal habit. Respecting your competitors is the same. It is seldom necessary to talk about the competition, but when it can’t be avoided you must be objective, honest, fair, and accurate. Remember your customers or prospective customers chose their present suppliers. If you bad-mouth those suppliers, you are indirectly telling your listeners that they were stupid in making those choices.

Notes



Notes You should know all you can about your competition. This

includes pricing, products and services, sales strategies, marketing capability, production, R&D, etc. You should monitor and analyze their activities—but you must do all this legally. Keep a competitive intelligence file, where you store compiled information about your competitors’ products, market share, position, and any other pertinent information. Understand the implications of your competitors’ activities and how these activities will affect your market. Explore areas of common interest with your competitors to develop an arms-length relationship with them. Public service, through your local chamber of commerce or other business and service associations, provides a positive and neutral ground upon which you can interact with competitors and develop your understanding of them. Recognize, however, it is your responsibility to not give them information about your company, its products, services, policies, etc.

7. Engaging in business and selling practices that contribute

positively to the community can include doing volunteer work through service club activities, participating in community service events, and even holding public office. Or it may simply include driving courteously and being polite and friendly.

8. When asked to help train junior salespeople, do it willingly.

Someday they may help you. Participate in sales meetings. Be critical of situations but always offer solutions. Don’t hesitate to offer advice even when not asked.

9. It is a professional’s duty to encourage others to abide by

the principles in this code. When everyone follows it, everyone will benefit.



Ethics Reflection

1. What do you feel is the benefit to you of following the CPSA Sales Institute Code of Ethics?

2. Think about a situation in your past that challenged your own Code of Ethics. What happened?

What did you do?

3. Which ethical standard on page 3-42 do you find the most challenging to follow? Why?

4. Note one thing you can do to improve your ethical standards.

2010 professional selling pre-work 7: professional behaviour and ... • describe the general...

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