We are all Selling stuff

I read an awesome article the other day that a CISO wrote on LinkedIn talking about advice for salespeople when selling to CISO's.  The advice was stellar and could be applied to all different C level roles within an organization.  But one of the topics he discussed was the concept of how he in fact needs to sell himself on a daily basis.

No matter what product or solution you represent, goods or services are changed hands for money.  This money comes out of a budget that was approved by people.  In order to get that budget approved work was done to prove that the money was needed for such budget.  This stuff does not happen automatically and often times takes lots of painstaking work to get accomplished.  However getting these budgets approved allows our customers to get the goods and or services needed to get their jobs done efficiently.

See, even the CISO is in Sales!

Lets take a CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) at an organization who is responsible for the overall Security posture of their organization.  If they have determined that additional controls around zero day anti malware threats are a top priority they will need to gather all of the details possible in order to make this case to the board to get the budget in turn getting the money to get his or her job done.  This could involve much  more than gathering pricing, sku's, services and competitive analysis'.  How about market feedback, how about what and who their competition is using, risk analysis on investing in the solution and not investing in the solution, current risk today, why other projects have failed with other companies, why projects have been a success, can he or she solve the problem another way, etc.  All of these are building blocks for the CISO to prove their case in order to "SELL" or in another words "professionally persuade" the board into understanding his or her case to move forward with the new zero day anti malware protection. 

If you take a step back as a professional sales person and realize that their is much more to "SELLING" than "speeds and feeds" as we say it in my industry or sku's and pricing you will notice that the gap between sales people and the professional world we SELL to isn't as wide as you think.

Thanks for reading!

Know who you are selling to

In my 20+ years of professional sales I have heard many sales leaders and motivational speakers explain the importance of knowing the people we are selling to.  One thing that I do not remember reading or listening to was what exactly should we be looking for and or how to do it.  However I do understand that you should learn about their company, their job description and get an idea of what they are trying to solve.  But I think it goes a lot deeper than this.

How about things that are not so easy to gather?  Maybe stuff that puts you and the prospect in a temporary uncomfortable position?  Or something that hits personally but not past “the line”?
Quick story, I was in an interview one time and thought the meeting was over and the hiring manager says “Mike is gonna come in now and ask you a few things. That ok?”  What am I gonna say in an interview.  “No that’s ok he doesn’t need to.”  Yeah right.  You agree and keep your mouth shut!  So Mike comes in and doesn’t excuse the hiring manager and stands next to me and says, “so Shawn what is one of your biggest failures in life and what did you learn from it?”  I almost crapped my pants.  Not because I was nervous but I was never asked that question before and in that manner.  In another post we will get into how I answered it.  But the lesson here is getting to know who you are selling to is more important than ever.  Think outside of the obvious.  Ask tough questions.  Be careful what you wish for though as well. ;) See what makes people tick and why they do what they do.  Try to understand motivation for being in their position and why they chose the field you are selling into.  Maybe they hate their job.  Try to put a personal touch on how you phrase your intentions.  We aren’t selling things anymore.  Those days are over.  We are professional questioners, listeners and Solution providers who build relationships.  You wouldn’t continue to date someone without getting to know them better, right?  Get to know your prospects!!  Show you give a hoot outside of the sale.  ;)


Shawn

People and Prospects do want to talk to you

I was at the mall this afternoon taking a break from working from home with two of my kids and my wife.  My little guy was getting antsy so I decided to take him out of the one store we were in and go hang in the common area.  He jumped up onto one of the couches next to a woman in her 60's, hair done, make up impeccable and smiled at her.  I immediately figured the woman would give the stare which happens most of the time like "oh jeez, get this kid away".  But my negative thinking (yes sometimes I am negative) was wrong this time.  She opened up like a can of worms asking him what did he get for Xmas, do you have brothers and sisters, who I was, etc etc.  I chimed in with what brings you to the mall?  Well, that was it.  This woman basically told me her life story in about 15 minutes of chat.  She asked me what I do.  I told her.  Was impressed with the field I chose as my career making a note that "you got into this Cyber Security thing early on, that was a good decision".  Explained to me that her husband got into being a Specialist on the NYSE floor at the right time and got out at the right time.  Her daughter than shows up to get her to move to the next store.  I had thought she would get up say goodbye and that would be it.  The woman turns to her daughter and says "this man is going to be way more successful in the future than he is today, mark my words."  I almost shit myself.

My lesson here is there are tons of naysayers and miserable people in this world that often times clog our judgement and mindset.  Don't let this happen or do you best to block it out.  People do want to talk to you.  People do want help in doing there jobs.  And people want to help others which is our natural instinct.  When approaching new prospective buyers, realize that they do what they do to help other people and would love to continue helping.  We just need to figure out what they want to talk to us about, how we can help them so they can learn how to help us!



Shawn



PS:  Happy New Year!!

Wake up and stop

I thought I would take a quick detour from a pure sales related post and talk about a quick experience I had yesterday.

A Down syndrome boy was on the train with his father yesterday and it tore me up.  He was adorable.  Prob about 10 years old.  Talking, playing and acting out here and there like kids do.  The father clearly loved the crap out of him.  He showed no hesitancy toward the child, was rubbing his back, playing with him, redirecting him constantly like he needs to, hugging him and clearly was showing unconditional love for his boy.  I just wanted to hug the boy and shake the man's hand.  

Then this huge sense of guilty came over me stemming from how much we complain about the stress in raising kids, our careers, money and managing schedules, etc.  But that father deals with the same things we deal with AND the fact that his son has Down Syndrome for the rest of his life.  Thank god that you are alive and be thankful for healthy kids.  All the the bullshit we worry about and fret over means NOTHING.  Family is what matters and we need to wake up and live life.  

This picture is what really matters!!!!!

Being proud of others

We have all heard of the "Secret" right?  The ability for us to shape our universe based on thoughts and actions.  We are in charge of our lives, integrity and paths.  But we don't always need to focus on ourselves to benefit from the "Secret".  

Let's take my Mom for instance.  She is the most loving, caring, patient, thoughtful and nice person.  A Pediatric Nurse for 44 years.  Always puts others especially my brother and I first no matter what.  It didn't matter what was needed she was there for us.  Through thick and thin.  And I am so proud of her and my dad.  Whenever I meet people in the medical field or other crazy cool hard working people I talk about my parents and mom's 44 years in medicine for children.  And how her coworkers and friends think the world of her.  This makes you feel good inside to be proud of people in your life.  And as a matter of fact telling them you are proud and appreciate all they do is even more rewarding.  Now talk about energy and giving to the universe, there is no stronger energy than putting your thoughts in others.

Be proud of who you are, what you have accomplished and more importantly what others in your life have and have done for you.

Happy Tuesday!

Love you Mom.

Shawn

Career path

Growing up my parents were always there for me to guide and provide support.  My mother was voice of reason and my father was more of this is what you do and continue to do it and you will succeed.  Straight up and in your face.  

One thing he always taught me was don't shit where you eat.  He would say be careful on pissing people off in whatever you do cause it could haunt your ass down the road.  Just do the right thing and keep your mouth shut when you need to.  Oh and work your ass off, he would say.  This couldn't be anymore truthful.  

My sales career has spanned 20 years already and cannot believe how fast it has gone.  But in this span of time I have run into, did business with, partnered with and reached out for help to people that I have worked with throughout my career.  Even now I am close with customers and associates from 30 years ago.  Everything from keeping in touch with past employers, to keeping linkedin updated, staying in touch with old customers and even developing rapport with competitive reps.  These things have been instrumental in advancing my career forward.  Now working my absolute ass of and driving forward and not being satisfied have also contributed. So I guess I am becoming my father in saying "don't shit where you eat."  Love you Dad!  Oh and and love you too, Mom!  ;)

Shawn

Confidence versus Arrogance

There is nothing worse than an arrogant sales guy.  You know the guy that comes into your office like he owns the place already expecting a PO and hasn't asked you one question.  Just spoke the entire time.  Didn't get to understand your real need or wants and motivation for investing in his or her solution.  That guy. Arrogance is a major turn off in sales.  Confidence on the other hand is different and can be slightly confused.  Being confident that the sale will come your way is important.  Psychologically you need this to stay ahead of the competition outside of taking the necessary steps to prove to your customer that you are the right choice.  You can walk into someone's office like you own the place only until you have proved your worth and value.  Ask the appropriate questions and design the perfect solution at the most valuable investment.  Then walk in his or hers office and ask for the order.  I am CONFIDENT you will land on top!!!!

Shawn