“If I could be who you wanted, all the time.”
Thom Yorke, Radiohead
I had a problem yesterday. I was organizing my past blog posts and the download put each post into a separate web page file. I have over two hundred posts and needed to stitch them together. Instead of wasting a few hours doing it manually though, I used a simple to stitch them together.
Many people use automation to get things done. It is a great way to reduce the time and effort of repetitive tasks or ones that would require excessive manual effort.
There is nothing wrong with automation. That is until it goes too far and gets applied to the wrong tasks. For example, using tools to connect to hundreds of people on LinkedIn.
Here are the top four invites waiting for my response in my old LinkedIn profile connect queue (click here if you want to connect to my new profile).
The first and last requests clearly use automation tools, not even bothering to check if the name makes sense (pro tip: add an emoji to your LinkedIn name to catch the spammers). The second from top doesn’t even bother with a personalized message. The third one just goes straight for the pitch, and while that is poor etiquette, it is the most honest of the requests sitting my queue.
Even when we are not using automation, we tend to go into autopilot mode. Have you ever sent an email or started a call with the following opening phrases?
"I hope all is well with you."
"How are you doing?"
"Are you having a great week so far?"
We all do this reflexively. In fact, my go-to opening line is the first one. You probably have your own favorite catch phase, that old standby you use when mindlessly doing a ton of prospecting.
Do we even care about the answers to these questions though? We think we do, but if we dig deeper, all we really want to do get the conversation going and move it along to an opportunity.
The phrases themselves are not the problem, they are merely niceties to break the ice of awkward interactions. These are the conversational equivalents of fake plastic trees, the ornamental phrases we use to cover up the bland scenery of business.
After this awkward opening, we then enter the land of inconsequential small talk to engage in breezy dialogue about the weather, the traffic, and local sports scores. Some excel at this banter. For most however, it is simply an uncomfortable confirmation for everyone involved that they are engaged in a "sales experience".
If the sales progresses, we reach the negotiation stage where we square off against haggard procurement and legal staff to secure the deal. There is a lot of posturing and power positioning at play to gain an advantage, but it is really theater for ground and pound sales beatings. The result is the 11th hour surprise with the customer balks and the sales rep capitulates on most of the terms get the deal in before quarter end.
This might describe your own sales experiences. It seems painful, but is so common that we do not think much of it. If we are winning deals, that is all that matters. If we are losing, you can pick up your consolation steak knives on the way out the door. Rarely if ever do we spend any time at all on the "why" of why we sell.
I often speak about the need for salespeople to have more heart in our sales. It should be at the center of everything you do as a professional. In sales, that means not coming off as some caricature of a professional where you merely act out the part of "sales rep" in some lurid play that feels like a third rate Glengarry Glen Ross.
The salesperson with heart is one that can relate and connect more naturally with prospects and customers. That is because when you approach sales with heart, you care about your customers. With caring comes a deep interest in who they are as people and how to make them successful. You dive deep to solve their business and technical challenges, rather than just pitch them your product or service. This is exactly the point I was making last week when I said the following:
You did nothing to get your prospect to care about your solution because you did nothing to care about their problem.
Everyone has different motivations for entering a particular profession. Most assume money is what drives sales people, and that might be correct for some. It is never that cut and dry, as the best sales people have a much deeper internal drive. Money for them is a result of doing what comes naturally in their career in the desire to help others. These are professionals being their authentic selves.
You know authenticity when you experience it. There is nothing forced or awkward, like what you feel listening to a great song or viewing a beautiful painting. You feel the deep sense of care that comes through their work honed over many years of experience and purpose.
In the example of the sales process from above, nothing about it feels authentic. There may not be the tainted sheen of a multi-level marketing pitch, but there is nothing that feels natural. It is a forced march from initial contact to the signing of the deal.
This is not to say that sales must be pleasant. Uncomfortable conversations will occur during the buying process. The fact that you are selling something new or different into an organization necessitates disruption and change. The difference is that it becomes easier to navigate challenging discussions when your motivation is driven by enabling the success of customers rather than pushing to close the deal.
Customers want to and prefer to work with authentic sales professionals. We can tell the difference when we see sales pitches from salespeople that do not care. There is no passion and the presentation is flat. It is selling on auto-pilot.
On the other hand, sales professionals that shows an authentic interest in the success of customers earn trust. Authenticity is the foundation for building trust, credibility, and rapport with customers which turns them into passionate advocates for your solution when you enable their success.
This is a challenging idea for most salespeople. We are taught to invest in tool, tactics, and techniques. Understanding “why” is often passed over for teaching and coaching on “how” and “what” you are selling. That makes sense though, because the “why” is something that is innate within us.
When you think about that next opening line, think about what you are saying. Are you really being authentic? Do you really care how someone's weekend was? If you also feel this is inauthentic and want to change up the sales script, get inside your head and search for your personal "why" behind what motivates you to sell. Then you can apply the tactics I share in this post on crafting better sales outreach. Next week I will dive into more tactical ways to present yourself as authentic and help you become much more “me” oriented in your selling.
If you have the heart to make customers successful, then you are on the right path for authentic sales.
Take care,
Mark Birch, Founder of Enterprise Sales Forum
Sales Tools
This is a new segment I am trying out to share things that I learn about interesting tools and methods that can be helpful in your selling. If you have suggestions as well, please do send them my way and I will post here.
To get things started, I found a tool for hosting Enterprise Sales Forum events that can be used by any sales professional. The platform is called Run The World to host virtual talks and networking. It has a great feature called the Cocktail Party which connects attendees for one on one chats. It is also free to use for under 60 attendees.
Why is this useful? Instead of Zoom calls with customers and prospects which can be rather static and lack engagement, Run The World gives you more creative options. I have always believed that the best salespeople are entrepreneurial and have a bit of marketing savvy in them. Using this platform can give sales professionals the power to launch their own events and even go so far as to build a community around their most engaged and loyal customers as a way to draw in prospects.
Try it out and let me know if you come up with any ideas or formats that have worked well for you.