Josh Lowry BLOG

Learn to Talk to Strangers

June 18, 2013 Leave a comment

Learn to Talk to Strangers
by Josh Lowry

There is no money inside your company. If you want to close deals and grow sales, you have to engage with customers. Essentially, you have to learn to talk to strangers. Talking to people that you do not know can be difficult, but you have to do it. Your future is in the hands (and bank accounts) of these people. Top sellers build relationships with customers. They know that customer problems equal opportunities and opportunities equal revenue. Waiting for customers to come to you is what victims do. Learn to talk to strangers and make them your friend.

Filed under Sales

Expectations Drive Performance

June 17, 2013 Leave a comment

Expectations Drive Performance
by Josh Lowry

People rise and fall to the level of expectations set for them. Case-in-point: Today, I had two new hires start at 2nd Watch. I spent the entire day on-boarding them, which included thoroughly reviewing our first call deck. I then asked myself, should I give them until the end of the week to present the deck back to me or should I ask them to do it tomorrow? I opted for tomorrow. The expectation was clear: Study tonight and have the pitch down by your second day on the job. People rise and fall to the level of expectations set for them. Set the bar high and performance follows.

Filed under Leadership Tagged with Expectations

Show, Do Not Tell in Sales

June 16, 2013 Leave a comment

Show, Do Not Tell in Sales
by Josh Lowry

Michael Bosworth, the author of Solution Selling, says, all salespeople are guilty by association of the sins that other sellers have previously committed on buyers. Consequently, most buyers initially distrust salespeople. When a lack of trust exists, any information communicated by the salesperson to the buyer will the challenged, minimized or shopped. A lack of trust then can cause both delayed and lost sales. The best salespeople understand the initial trust issue and do not take it personally. They instead work to proactively address it.

In general, people believe what they see, not what they hear. Thus, the best salespeople use written material to support their presentations and proposals. Written material includes case studies, use cases and other evidence-based information. The best salespeople also write down what they have offered, proposed or said to instill confidence and credibility with the buyer. Informed, trusting buyers make decisions; uninformed, non-trusting buyers do not. Provide buyers the written information that they need to make informed, trust-based decisions. Show, do not tell.

Filed under Sales Tagged with Trust

What Business Are You In?

June 16, 2013 Leave a comment

What Business Are You In?
by Josh Lowry

If you answered anything other than the people business, you failed. Companies do not buy products, people do. Salespeople regularly make the mistake of leading with their product before they understand the customer’s business issue. Salespeople often think that if they know their products inside and out, they can persuade customers to buy them. However, this is often not the case. Why? Customers buy products for many reasons, including perceptions, relationships, etc. Salespeople must understand them. People first, product second.

For example, my wife and I recently visited a car dealership. We were approached by a salesperson while we were standing next to a particular vehicle. The salesperson immediately started listing all of the car’s features, functions and specifications without first understanding what we were looking for and why. That is, who would be the primary driver? What would we be using the car for? Do we have kids? If so, how many and what ages? Etc. How could the salesperson help us solve our problem unless he first understood it?

In contrast, last week, I had a meeting with a prospective partner. Instead of launching into how we could do business, the partner representative started the conversation by saying that he did not think we should do business together because I went to Gonzaga University and he went to Saint Mary’s, two basketball rivals. He said that we would never get along. While he was joking, I instantly liked him. The partner representative knew that he was in the people business. Before talking partnership, he found out something about me and figured out how to incorporate it.

Sales is about service. It is about helping customers solve problems and make the right decisions. You must understand the customer’s problems to help solve them. You must also understand their issues to help them make the right decisions. Great salespeople always make cusotmers more important than products. They take an interest in customers first before taking an interest in selling them something. Stay interested in customers before, during and after the sale. Stay interested in customers even if you do not get the sale. People first, product second.

Filed under Sales

The Gold in the Customer Sign-In Process

June 15, 2013 Leave a comment

The Gold in the Customer Sign-In Process
by Josh Lowry

If you are in field sales or regularly visit customers onsite, chances are you have had to sign-in at the front desk for security purposes. When you sign-in, you are asked to list your name and company. You are also asked to list the person you are there to see, as well as when you arrive and when you leave. Most salespeople treat the sign-in process as part of the job and routine. What most salespeople, including senior salespeople, do not regularly practice or do not know is that the sign-in process is a great source of information to be leveraged.

When you sign-in, always scan the log to see who has been there that day. What companies and people are calling on the customer and who are they meeting with there? Are they competitors? Are they partners? Do you know them? If not, look them up on LinkedIn when you get back to the office. If you see that one of your competitors met with your contact previously in the day, use that information to your advantage during your meeting with the customer. Magnify your strengths, as well as the competitor’s weaknesses where appropriate.

As an example, one of the strengths of Amazon Web Services (AWS) is elasticity; i.e., being able to scale-up and scale-down as needed based on demand. If AWS learned from the log that Rackspace met with the customer contact earlier in the day, they could use that information to their advantage; i.e., Rackspace is not elastic. If elasticity is important to the customer that is a key point of differentiation. Note that there is nothing devious about looking at the log when you sign-in; it is in public view. What is unacceptable is not using the log to your advantage.

Filed under Sales

Your Customers Are On Speed

June 13, 2013 Leave a comment

Your Customers Are On Speed
by Josh Lowry

Kris Bliesner, the CEO of 2nd Watch, accurately describes the company as a “dog year company.” What he means is that one day at 2nd Watch is equivalent to seven days in the “real world” – that is, the world outside of a ventured-backed, technology startup. In the startup world, companies move at lightning speed to win customers, grow market share and generate revenue. Believe it or not, the speed of a technology startup is applicable to how you should be thinking about and serving your customers and partners each and every day.

We live in an instant gratification, right now world. The days of following up or responding to customers in two or three days are over. In today’s world, you must think in terms of dog years. One year equals seven years, so one day equals seven days. The longer you wait to follow up or respond, the more you exposure yourself to competitive and satisfaction issues. Should you rush and risk being incomplete or wrong? No. You should condition yourself to accurate and thorough, but to operate at a dog year pace. Your customers are on speed; you need to be faster.

See also Executing with Strategic Speed

Filed under Service Tagged with Customer Experience, Customer Satisfaction

Results, NOT Effort Pays the Bills

June 12, 2013 Leave a comment

Results, NOT Effort Pay the Bills
by Josh Lowry

Earlier this week, I heard the following from a senior salesperson within the technology industry. “If [the company] is not going to pay me for my efforts, I am going to leave.” Hearing this, my first question to them was, “How is your performance?” They responded, “I am tracking at 88% with three weeks to go … BUT I have a very tough territory.”

The bottom line is that no one cares that you think you have a tough territory. In fact, having a tough territory is actually an opportunity to demonstrate to your company the considerable skill and value that you bring to the table. If you can deliver your number in a tough territory, you will differentiate yourself as irreplaceable.

The truth is that you are paid and evaluated on your results, not your efforts. Commit to overcoming obstacles and pushing through resistance by increasing your activity level. NEVER lower your expectations or targets. ALWAYS take ultimate accountability for what you can control. You CAN control your level of activity.

Filed under Sales Tagged with Accountability

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