Trusted Advisor, the highest level that a salesperson can achieve…

In sales we are always looking for the ultimate sale. For our ship to come in, the mother load of all orders! I would question that supposition with another idea. I think that there are levels or depths that we can achieve in our relationship status that can better serve us long term. These levels or "bridges" if you will (yes I read "how to win friends and influence people" lol about 20+ years ago) bring us to places in our relationship with a client that ultimately will earn us not only the right to do business, but also the right to take the order of all times. There are quite a few levels that a sales person can go through and many exits to the hierarchy. If you progress up the ladder you eventually end up in a new place as the trusted advisor. This cannot be bought you can give all of the good deals you want. You can lose money on their business but until you start speaking the truth and performing your word you will never be in the position to take the "great order."

Here are the levels as I understand them to be:

Of no consequence – This is the first time you walk in; no one pays you any attention as they never believe that they will see you again.

Undesireable – This is the next level as they identify you as the dreaded "salesman"

Nuisance – this is the one that causes most salespeople the most trouble. This is where they recognize you when you call or walk in and do not want to talk to you as they have told you a hundred times, "we are not in the market." Or "we don't need anything." This is where call reluctance really sets in as you know who they are and you really don't want to be confronted.

Opportunist – This is your break. This is where they say anything that sounds like a buying signal no matter how remote.

Deal Maker – This is the level where you make all kinds of promises, get on your knees and beg for the order. You strip out any GP you had in the deal and promise that you can move the moon if they just will sign the order today!

Deliverer of the Promise – This is the second place most reps fall down. They fall for your persistence and now they believe all of your lies, I mean promises. This is where the rubber meets the road for most people. Do you do the work and become believable or do you just give up cash the check and walk on down the road to the next sucker.

Consultant – Ok you have passed the initial test now they call you for what tie to wear but you still haven't signed the "ultimate deal."

Trusted Advisor – At this level you are called in for every major decision. Now you just have to live long enough to see the big deal come through. If you walk through these levels with everyone you increase your change on standing next to the next big winner.

Personal Friend – This is the fringe benefit of being accountable for your words and living by the "code."

Most of our time is spent in the first 3 to 4 levels. Then only about 20% of our time is at deal maker to deliverer. It is the 1% that stay in the "Trusted Advisor" stage or ever get there. These are the relationships that we all fight over. These are the ones that you call and call and call just hoping that they read your email or return your call.

Remember everyone has someone at all of these levels. Every day that you do NOT call someone is getting closer to being the new "Trusted Advisor." This is a hard position to be de-thrown from so stay the course and make good on everything you say. I was once told: "It is better to over deliver than to over promise." Set the expectations properly and mean and do what you say!

Happy Hunting,

Pirate Mike…

The Corporate Persona

It is funny how companies take on a personality of their own. Many times a company's success of failure is dictated by their culture. What I find interesting is that there are volumes written about corporate culture but few really seem to mean much. Let me tell you what corporate culture is not. Corporate culture is not a "mission statement." Is doesn't look like something that is generated by HR or anywhere else within an organization that is manufactured. The world culture comes from the Latin word cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate". This is interesting as corporate culture is cultivated but can only come from a naturally occurring source. I have seen good "corporate cultures" and bad ones. Neither of which really were things that people could control; they just manifest themselves based on realities that exist. The prevailing culture comes from the top; I have heard it many times, "speed of the leader, speed of the pack." When you see a group failing, look to the top and typically you will find poor leadership. Emotions and Feelings are human they are also embodied by companies as they are built out of the building blocks of people. Everything that "is" a company becomes the persona and is reflected in the corporate culture. In the witnessing of this culture both good and bad I have learned that good leaders spend a lot of thought in building, preserving and protecting a group's culture. This becomes an intangible asset more powerful than the people themselves. It is the power by which fuels both the internal and the external. It can take a new hire and drive them to success of failure. It can also bring new vendors and clients to the table just by its existence.

Entrepreneur.com called corporate culture, "A blend of the values, beliefs, taboos, symbols, rituals and myths all companies develop over time." I think this is a very accurate description as it talks to the elements of what comprises the culture but one thing the definition doesn't talk to is how the elements affect each other or which ones are weighted the most. If the truth be told you really cannot create the formula for the culture as it is a living think with everything becoming a chemical reaction to the others. This chemistry ultimately creates a unique ingredient that has the power to build or destroy what it touches. This energy is the force by which pushes a company to greatness or drags a company to its knees. It is so sad that very few pay any attention to the development of a strategy for the creation of a good and solid culture. I think most managers mid and high level look at it as an exercise that was taught in a business class that has no real application or relevance to true business success.

Corporate culture can be a headquarters initiative and a "in field" phenomenon. Many companies try to control or manipulate the culture without having true merits to its creation. This culture manufacturing can backlash. Once someone realizes that they have been mislead in their beliefs distrust begins to build that is much harder to pull down than the walls of China. Employees hate to be treated like cattle and want to be treated intelligently and fairly. Good managers and organizational leaders learn quickly whom they can entrust with the truth. This handing out of the truth builds trust and loyalty as it is a very rare trait in people especially when money is involved. Most will sell out to trickery and simple manipulation to get the results they desire and in so create a culture that becomes a hidden liability. It becomes a ticking time bomb that will go off when you least expect it and typically when you cannot afford it. It will take out your best people and leave you with followers that have no direction.

A quick way to create a dangerous culture is the use of disinformation. As a company our objectives, goals and directives are only as good as the sum total of the people carrying out those objectives, goals and directives. Bad culture comes from lack of leadership or poor leadership. A strong leader will create warriors while a poor leader creates thieves and victims. The results are evidence of the quality of the leadership. Poor results equal poor planning and poor execution. And the lack of a quality culture come from the lack of weight given to the creation of a strong culture and bond which can hold a company together in the toughest of times. In a soft economy like what we are experiencing now it is even more important than ever to bring forth strong leaders and to pay attention to the culture that we create if we are to survive to fight another day.

The sad thing is that many companies spend more time thinking about things that are not core to their business. They major in the minors and never get a chance to step up to the plate to hit a "home run." Many a fortune 500 contender has gone away do to a lack of focus on their core competencies, and maintained simple strategies that will take them to their ultimate goals. I work for an office equipment sales and service company that is owned by a manufacturer of office equipment. What is interesting is that we administrate ourselves to death. We spend more energy on things that do not make us money and refuse to focus in on money making activities. We know what problems we have but are unable to solve them. Our problems are just ignored as they are "too big" to surmount. Logistics, Supply Chain, Customer Relationship Management, Order Entry, Order Fulfillment, Service and Support all our noble things to excel at. These are elements of any business that if neglected will ultimately contribute to its failure. But without a strong culture even a company that has all of these things ironed out cannot survive especially in times like these when even the secretary is a pirate.

As I survive another merger I just watch the ants in the colony work, all the time thinking…

And Then There Was The Interview...

And then there was the interview…

What is funny is that we all look at things through our own filters. That is also one of the big reasons that people fail at their goals, relationships, and careers. I can remember the first time that I went with my sales manager to qualify a company for a copier. We came back and looked at a simple desktop and the total monthly cost was like $200.00 per month. I said, “Zack, you have to be kidding no one is going to pay $200.00 a month for a copier!” Little did I know that almost 5 years later I would be asking for that an hour.

We process everything from our own perspective and not from another’s. When you think from the other person’s view many times things look quite differently. I had a great example of this the other day. I started off working for IKON as a GAR (Graphic Arts Rep) Selling to no one but large commercial printers. This was a special corporate initiative to put together a team of selling professionals to move large amounts of the Canon imagePRESS and the imagerunner 7110, 7125, 7138 and 7150. With very large quotas they gave us our lists and sent us out into the brave beyond. Little did they know in a few short months we would be purchased by Ricoh and the “heavy iron” from Canon would soon disappear.

Left with the now Kodak product and Konica Minolta product relabeled as IKON gear we went out into the world to find out that people were a bit spooky to buy from us. As everyone let the doom and gloom get to them they found themselves not looking forward to what could happen but what they thought would happen. They allowed their “filters” to get in the way of their possible success and forced a self fulfilling prophecy of doubt and unbelief. The doubt and unbelief led to many deals being lost and with it their self confidence.

Now deep into the merger I have nowhere to turn to but to move forward with our Ricoh gear and make the best of it. I have looked at the alternatives and they are not good.

* Xerox Corporation over the last 12 months

As you can see Xerox is not the place to run to.

* Canon Corporation over the last 12 months

And Canon isn’t the place to run to.

Well there are no GREAT places to go. I decided that it was better to sell Ricoh for IKON than take my chances riding a new horse. Xerox hasn’t changed much in their production gear in about 10 years. Still living in the decade of fuser oil and pushing old technology with updated firmware is not an attractive future. Canon on the other hand has upgraded their technology but lacks the organizational breadth. They also can not move quickly in the field, they do not empower their on the ground people to be able to make business decisions for them, and I cannot even imaging working for an undercapitalized dealer ever again.

One of the things that sets IKON aside is the support for the gear. With a very broad range of products that go way beyond the equipment we have the people in place to design, implement and support long term the solutions that companies need to solve their issues and accomplish their business objectives. Since I sell the "big iron" I would fall victim to failure without this type of indepth support and ability to make quick business decisions in the field. Now with the financial strength of a successful manufacturer that is committed to research and development of new and innovative production products along with the IKON service and support I have a winning team to play on.

With what probably is a stronger portfolio that we have ever had we walk around defeated like a tiger with no roar. Like commercial print is dead or something. I had a sales manager "get stuck" with the “print for pay” rep that would take over half of my old territory. Now an overlay to support more people and help justify my existence I am now working feverishly to handle down the street accounts, major accounts and print for pay and national franchise accounts.

“Michael, this is going to be an impossible position to fill.” He said. “Find me someone that isn’t scared to do cold calls and we will be fine”, I said. Almost a month later I ask him, “Hey where is my guy?” “Well I have 2 I’m looking at but you will have to talk to them.” As he shies away from wanting to half to sell the program to them, he asks if I will talk to them. When there are plenty of positions open why would anyone want that position? Well that is all in the way you position it I was thinking. “Do you think that you have a sellable program?” “Not only is it sellable, but it is a profitable one as well,” I added. “Well then you are going to need to talk to them” he said. I told him, “Fine bring them on.” I mentioned. Now what you have to know is that I am passionate about printing, and I love the silly process of putting marks on paper. So these guys were toast!

I sat down in the driver’s seat (manager’s chair) and he brought them in and introduced them to me. I explained the corporate initiative and how I became the GAR. I talked about the program and its goals. I talked about the transition and how we needed better coverage and penetration into these accounts. I talked about the struggle of all new business development and the excitement of large equipment deals. I talked about the complexity and negotiations needed to secure these high volume accounts. I went over how they would have to be the best of the best or find another position.

After the interview and presentation, I had 2 willing volunteers. The sales manager was amazed, but I was not. Who would not want to work with the pirate? Who would not want to follow someone that is hell bent to succeed and believes in the cause? I too have drunk the Kool-Aid and am ready to move on. I have no more time to look back and wish for different circumstances.

All I know is that I have Kodak and Ricoh products to sell and a lot of people buying stuff all the time and it needs to be my stuff. Eventually everyone will get on board or float away drifting into failure. I am sure that eventually we will see a new generation that never knew IKON selling Canon or never knew IKON selling Konica Minolta. Canon and Konica Minolta is going away but what is left is enough to be wildly successful. So here I stand looking in the mirror. What will I do?

Will I filter everything with my own thoughts and fears, or will I look at things from my customer’s perspective? Will I look at the backing that I have to make things right and the infrastructure that makes me unbeatable? We must wake up each day and look forward to the battle. If not it is time to choose a different war.

With Sword drawn I run to the fight,

Pirate Mike

*Charts came from MSN Money...