Happy 2009 to Everyone!

Quotes

"A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market.”
 Charles Lamb

"I’ve learned that if you laugh and drink soda pop at the same time, it will come out your nose.”
 7-Year-Old’s Discovery

"If you want to make people weep, you must weep yourself. If you want to make people laugh, your face must remain serious."
  Giovanni Casanova

"A good laugh is sunshine in the house."
  William Makepeace Thackeray

"Man alone suffers so excruciatingly in the world that he was compelled to invent laughter."
  Friedrich Wilhelm Nietsche

"The gist of New Year’s Day is: Try again."
  Frank Crane

 

Memo from Frank Lee – On 2009

Dear Subscriber,

No year in my lifetime has begun with so much uncertainty as 2009 will. People I have spoken to in many industries have no idea how 2009 will shake out. The brutal beating the market took in 2008 has even the most optimistic questioning their forecasts for 2009. One has to question not only how one’s own business will be affected but also how the businesses of one’s clients will do.

Even the Ag industry which has held strong throughout 2008 has some pessimists predicting a downturn in 2009. The compact tractor market has already seen tough times and will likely continue to suffer in the first part of 2009. In the big Ag market, it seems the first two quarters of 2009 will still be strong. Anyone making solid predictions after that may risk being completely wrong.

However, based on a number of factors, it looks like the big Ag market will remain strong throughout 2009 with some moderate growth, although not in the double digits. The compact tractor market should recover mid to late 2009. There are some compact tractor dealers who tell me 2008 was a record year and they feel 2009 will be just as good. Others are more guarded in their predictions.

Regardless of how you feel your future looks in 2009, here is one consolation – good salespeople can always sell themselves out of bad times. The good sales managers should keep their salespeople focused on finding the sales that are available. The good news is the average salesperson gives up pretty quickly in tough times leaving the spoils to the savvy above average salespeople and the ignorant rookies who didn’t know you cannot sell in these times. They are the ones who grow market share in tough times.

 

My Latest Article in Implement & Tractor

In the January/February issue, I write about the price objection strategy. This is a way to use the objection to move the sale forward. Get your copy. They are busy updating their web site since being taken over by Farm Journal.

 

International Ag University (IAU) – Information

Read more about IAU on our web site. Just follow the links in the Ag section to IAU. For more information, call me at 800-898-3743 or email me at franklee@sales-academy.com. We have a 12-page brochure that spells out the curricula for salespeople and sales managers. You can view this brochure from the main IAU page on the web site. Or call us and we will send it to you.

 

Quotes from Homework Assignments of IAU Students

“The information presented by Frank Lee thus far has instilled insight as to how I can better myself as a salesperson.”
Jonathan Mazer, Winnipeg 201 Class

On negotiating capital - “Our customer base has increased by 20%. Our sales in the last 12 months have increased by 95%. Sales and money talks!”
Mike Gottselig, Winnipeg 201 Class

On negotiating capital - “My projected sales was $3.5m. I was able to sell $5.5m. I feel I have strengthened my position at the dealership.”
Travis Giebelhaus, Winnipeg 201 Class

“I am past budget but have raised my goals. My goal for the year was $6m but my sales tracking sheet shows $6,796,000 as of November.”
Jesse Cook, Sioux Falls 201 Class

“Convincing the customer to buy the product after selling the concept is easier. I like this.”
Robert Sikorski, Green Bay 101 Class

 

Sales Management Problem of the Month

Here's a question for sales managers. Please email your responses to franklee@sales-academy.com. Responses will be shown in the next issue.

George is a sales manager of one store in a group of several stores. He has a machine on his lot that is the same as a machine on another lot in the group. His machine has been used more but it is priced accordingly. His salesperson had a customer interested in this machine but the customer called around as they are expected to do. When the customer called the other dealership in the group, he was told not to buy George’s machine as “it was a piece of junk”. Obviously, the salesperson at that dealership wanted to sell his machine. This is the second time the salesperson at this store has done this. George is getting frustrated. He feels it is hard enough competing with the opposition without getting this sort of response from a store in your own group. What are George’s options?

 

Responses To Last Month's Problem

This was the problem:


And the response:

I find this problem ironic since I have a couple of new salespeople and even though we don’t have previous salespeople who covered these areas, we are still having this same problem with activities to achieve the result compared to call and contact volume. Here’s my response.

Most salespeople believe the way they are doing things is right. Most salespeople are confident with a fairly good sense of communicating with people. However, from my experience listening to and observing our sales team, often the wrong approach is used with potential prospects. As a believer in your book, I think it takes a dedicated effort to ask the customer the proper questions continuously. I repeat. It takes a conscious and thought-challenging effort to format the proper questions to obtain a level of interest from your prospect. Most salespeople are far too indirect and too insincere about finding the true solution to the customer’s problem. They do not ask the correct questions to uncover the true problems so they can find the correct solutions. If handled properly, the right approach leads to the prospect not only becoming the salesperson’s customer but the customer regarding that salesperson as his ‘machinery advisor’, ‘consultant’, or ‘farming solution provider’ which ultimately leads to MUCH repeat business and a career filled with many customers who not only grow as good friends but as business partners for the long haul! We must not be ‘iron peddlers’, but instead ‘farm machinery and farm practice solution providers!’
Jeff R., Sales Manager, North Dakota

I would temporarily record and listen to Matt's prospecting calls with his full knowledge for training and development purposes. There is a service that provides temporary call recording: newcallsolutions.com.

I would recommend that Matt ask his customers in person who are holding a grudge about the previous salesperson: “What is it going to take to clean the slate and begin anew with our business relationship?” Or “What do you do when one of your employees has not represented you well with a customer? How do you get back in their good graces?”

Also ask Matt about what he observed when the manager went with him to a disgruntled customer – how did he experience the manager's demeanor and technique when the manager managed to satisfy the customer and got a promise to give Matt the next deal. (Find out how observant he was and if he was able to put two and two together.) Then role play! You must get Matt away from the "excuse" of the previous salesperson and move on.
Connie K., Sales Consultant, Phoenix, AZ

Going out once with the salesperson is not enough. The sales manager should go out regularly with him and observe him in action many more times before he can reach any conclusions about Matt’s ability to sell. It sounds like he did not travel with the previous salesperson either. If he had, this problem may not exist today.
Jackie M., Sales Manager, Durban, South Africa

So Matt had one reasonably okay day. Big deal! It was not a good day. However, the manager saw enough to know that Matt has the right attitude and the right techniques for that day. Does this apply every day? He should examine what else Matt needs to develop as a salesperson and to develop his territory. One-on-one coaching may be new to this sales manager but he should learn how to do this – fast! He should schedule regular coaching sessions and ride with him more often. Only in this way will he find out what the real problem is. When he finds the real problem, he should teach Matt how to overcome it.
Henri F., Sales Manager, Nice, France


Sales Academy specializes in behavioral sales training. This includes the world-renowned Sales Call Reluctance Program and Customized Sales Training for large and small companies.

If you would like to discuss the sales training needs of your company, send me an email at franklee@sales-academy.com or call me at 1-800-898-3743.

 

Sales Tip: Why did you buy that?

The number one reason for customer dissatisfaction is that their expectations had not been met. Sometimes those expectations were not even reasonable.

Salespeople can up their customer satisfaction ratings by asking a simple question after the sale. “Why did you buy that?” Whenever I teach salespeople this for the first time, they giggle because it sounds so stupid. Then I have to explain you don’t do it in those words. For example, you could ask: “Mr. Customer, so that I can make sure your expectations are met, would you mind if we go over once more what you expect this purchase to do for you?”

This gives you an opportunity to correct any false expectations. It also allows you to limit some expectations which helps you to under-promise and over-deliver.

 

Books and Audio Tapes Available for Purchase

1.  Earning What You're Worth; the Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance.
By George W. Dudley and Shannon L. Goodson ($22.95)

2.  P.A.S.S. C.A.L.F. - 8 Behaviors of Sales Success in an Agricultural Dealership.
By Frank Lee ($10.95)

3.  P.A.S.S. C.A.L.F. - 8 Behaviors of Sales Success in an Agricultural Dealership.
By Frank Lee, read by Bob Gee (Audio Cassettes) ($12.95)

4.  Managing Iron Salespeople - How to Manage Salespeople in an Agricultural Dealership.
By Frank Lee with foreword by Bill Fogarty. ($19.95)

Click on “Articles and Books” on this site.
To order, follow the “Order” link or call, email or fax and we will bill you.

Tel: 1-800-898-3743    Fax: 972-874-2864
EMAIL: franklee@sales-academy.com
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Sales Articles Available

There are several articles and white papers on our web site that you can download and use. Just click on “Articles and Books”. You will also come across several articles written on sales call reluctance written for the IRMI web site. Just point to “Articles and Books” and drag down to “Call Reluctance Articles for IRMI.”

 

Frank Lee
Sales Academy Inc.