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There is little doubt that eLearning has not achieved the success it promised some ten years ago, even though the primary benefits in terms of cost and flexibility remains extremely attractive. Some of the mistakes that have been made are:

1. A Lack of an Holistic Approach
Elearning was viewed as being a replacement for traditional training methods. To be successful, elearning should adopt an integrated approach to human resource development. This means integrating Performance Assessment with Training Needs Analysis, with Personal Development Plans, with Continuous Professional Development records, with elearning blended with other training resources, learning methods, and corporate learning programmes.

2. A Failing to Understand the Elearning Medium
Much of the reason for making Mistake 1 is the problem of thinking about elearning as a substitute for face-to-face training just delivered cheaper and faster whenever employees want it. While computers bring strengths and opportunities to the learning experience, it must be remembered that they also remove some of the critical components of face-to-face learning, such as audio-visual; peer discussion; and the social environment.

3. A Belief that the Audio-Visual component can be replaced by Elearning
Many companies designing elearning programmes have engaged expensive programmers and invested in heavy duty programmes and equipment in order to enhance the elearning experience. Students end up being entertained but come away learning little.

4. Blowing the Budget on a Technology Solution
The problem with mistake number 3 is that it is expensive. Spending 1 million on an elearning system is not unusual. Neither is finding out that the initial spend is only part of the expense. There are updates and maintenance to consider. Heavy duty programmes require heavy duty equipment and software to download. As a face-to-face trainers, we can alter training notes, handouts and session content very quickly and inexpensively. Try doing that with audio-video content.

5. Failing to Link Elearning with Business Needs
Traditional training should flow from the organisation’s business strategy. Elearning is no exception. Whilst elearning may be a new delivery method, it does not change the fundamentals of business strategy, manpower and HRD planning, individual performance reviews and training needs analysis; nor learning programme design, progress monitoring, programme evaluation and learning verification.

Like other learning methods, an elearning programme must flow from, and be driven, by the organisation’s business development objectives, and therefore elearning should also be monitored and measured.

6. Unrealistic Expectations
How many projects have failed for want of a realistic assessment of time, resources and expectations? Many would point to Total Quality Management (TQM) as a pretty good example. When a project involves a new discipline and particularly when that discipline involves new technology it is very common for management to overestimate short-term expectations and underestimate the time and cost needed before benefits can realistically be achieved. If this is doubted, then ask any project manager. As a result, initial enthusiasm is soon replaced by despair. Like TQM or any ‘flavour of the month’, elearning has many substantial benefits but it is not a magic wand, and it is not a substitute for sound management.

7. A Lack of Management Involvement
Elearning is no different to any other form of training. It might work in the classroom or on-line but the measure of its transference to the workplace is totally reliant upon the involvement of the line manager. The special problem with elearning is the number of technophobe managers who can hide behind ‘I’m not an ‘IT’ expert’ excuse for not getting involved in the learning goals of their staff.

The Answer?
Having woken up to the fact that elearning on its own is not the answer, we now are presented with a similar sounding – Blended learning. Blended learning however, whilst sounding similar is completely different, and it works. It is a way of getting the best from a number of worlds. It addresses not only the preferences of different learners but also seeks to maximise off-site time to improving skills, leaving knowledge acquisition to a more economical method of delivery.

Blended learning incorporates face-to-face delivery with online study; skills workshops; assignments; assessments, and workplace coaching.

You do not need to spend millions on trying to replace traditional learning methods with an elearning platform. Treat elearning as just an addition delivery channel which gives you more flexibility. Research shows that students can only absorb 15/20 minutes of elearning at a time anyway which is why a well designed blended learning programme will usually deliver study tasks in small bites. It provides the option to more effectively use the training budget whilst keeping a tight control on who is studying what; when; to what level; whether the manager is involved or not; and ultimately how the learning is being applied.

Far from being dead, elearning has emerged as an important element in the successful blended learning approach to people development.

Business & Training Solutions Ltd holds the franchise for the http://www.HRDworldwide.com online learning system which they use as part of their blended programmes. BTS can be contacted on http://www.btsolutions.ie

Frank Salisbury is a highly experience motivational speaker, and inspiring business coach, particularly to the sales profession. Frank is recognised as a leading authority in the field of sales – including sales process design, sales performance, and sales coaching.

He strongly believes that whether we work in the public or private sector; whether our organisation is commercial or non-commercial; that we are all in sales. His favourite quote, which has become his maxim, is from Robert Louis Stevenson – ‘Everything in live is selling’. He has spoken at numerous conferences and seminars where his style has received popular acclaim for a speaker with a passion for life, and achievement.

He is Managing Director of Business & Training Solutions Ltd – a sales consultancy based in Ireland and the UK. He can be contacted at frank@btsolutions.ie. 28 Rye Close, Banbury, Oxfordshire. 0044 (0)1295250247

Active listening is a two part process that builds trust in your prospects, customers or clients and helps them to become more focused and candid in their response to your questions. The following list outlines the activities that make up active listening skills.

Phase I

• Give solid dominant eye contact (right eye) when your customer is speaking.

• Murmur a lot and nod your head to let prospects “hear and see” that you are listening.

• Ask the customer to clarify a point that is not understood or is of further interest.

Phase II

• Paraphrase back what you have heard your customer say

(NOTE: paraphrasing doesn’t mean you agree with what is said, it just lets your prospects know you heard what was said.)

• State your impressions or feelings from what has been said.

In one of the laboratories in Washington, D.C., there is a great magnifying glass that measures over three feet across. It’s like the “sun glasses” we used to treasure when we were young. This great glass gathers the rays of the sun and then focuses them to a single point in space a few feet below. That single spot is so hot that it can melt through a steel plate as easily as a red-hot needle burns through paper. The terrific heat cannot be measured because it melts all instruments. It is just three feet of ordinary sunshine concentrated on a single point. Scattered, these rays are hardly felt, perhaps just pleasantly warm; concentrated, they can melt the strongest of all metals.

This magnifying glass is an example of the power of focused concentration. It also suggests to the serious sales professional a way to achieve the sales and cross-sales success you are seeking. If you want to improve any skill, including vital questioning and listening skills, you need the power of focused concentration to help you improve these important selling activities.

Improvement is almost assured when you focus on an activity for a period of time. By making a skill a priority and then setting aside some time to practice the technique each day, slowly you will burn the concept into your subconscious mind until you can perform it without even thinking about it (unconscious competence). Researchers tell us that it takes approximately 21 days to make or break a habit. Therefore, if you focus for about three weeks on your questioning and listening skills, you should be well on your way to developing some important and effective selling techniques.

Why not try focusing on your questioning or listening skills over the next three weeks. Set aside some time each day and then use some of the following activities to help you concentrate on improving your ability to learn more about your prospects, customers or clients.

1. Write down a series of questions that could help you better execute a sales transaction. Place them in a notebook, on cards, or in your day planner for easy reference. If you are at a loss for words, glance down at these questions to put the sales process back on track.

2. In each sales transaction, consciously record the number of times you respond to a prospect’s question without first redirecting the question to learn more about your prospect’s needs and mind set.

3. Practice questioning techniques on your family and friends. Consciously make an effort to improve your listening skills by practicing your questioning skills.

4. Ask co-workers to role-play with you so you can put into practice the questioning and listening techniques discussed in this training.

5. Using the list of questions you have prepared, role-play in your mind how they might be used with a variety of customers. Think of customers that you have dealt with in the past and apply these principles with 20/20 hindsight. By examining what you could have said, follow this new script to its logical conclusion inside your mind. What better place is there for you to practice perfection than in your own imagination?

VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. an Ohio consulting firm specializing in sales and sales management training, personal coaching, advisory services and publishing. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Service Linen Supply, Bank One, Jefferson Wells International, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of the “best selling” Building & Closing the Sale, Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publications a division of Thompson Learning. He has also authored a client acclaimed Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching, telemarketing, and personal productivity manuals. To obtain a substantial discount on two of Virden’s latest books, 101 Sales Myths or Organizing For Sales Success, go to: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/

Do you have 5, 10, or 20 years of sales experience?

Or do you have 1 year of sales experience 5, 10, or 20 times?

Many salespeople never advance beyond ancient outdated sales lines like “If I do this for you, will you give me the order?” Or “What do I have to do to get your business?”

Lines like these are why salespeople have a reputation near lawyers in our society.

Everyone learns lines like these in sales at some time or another. Often it comes from a senior salesperson who is described as “aggressive” or as “a closer”. Because this guy brings in a lot of business, other’s think that they should model his every habit. People say that you would sell more if you acted like this person. Yet secretly, most people abhor this guy.

Here’s a hint. If the people in your sales organization abhorred this guy, then so did most of his prospects and customers. This guy sold a lot by using the law of averages. He sold not because of his ancient sales lines, but in spite of them. He worked 70 hours a week, and one of his favorite sayings was “its a numbers game”.

Now you do have to get your message out to a large number of people. However, if you are annoying them in the process, you are wasting many great sales opportunities.

Lines such as these quickly ruin the rapport you have worked so on hard building up to this point. You brand yourself as a mere salesperson hawking a product focused only on your sales commission, rather than a business partner with concern for your prospect’s business.

So what should you do instead?

Learn how to uncover problems and desires that you can help the prospect eliminate, solve, achieve or realize. Begin by seeing yourself as one who helps businesses and people with your products, ideas, and services.

You do this by asking questions. Ask questions to uncover problems and desires. If you cannot find something that you can help with – move on to a new prospect. Ask questions as to what the consequences will be of not doing anything towards eliminating their problem or not pursuing what they want. Use questions to help them see the consequences of buying your competitor’s inferior product or service.

Helping your prospects to experience the consequences of various courses of action (or inaction) will stimulate the prospect into wanting to move the sale along. Done properly, this results in the prospect asking you how to speed up and complete the sale so that he can get on with solving his problem or realizing his goal.

© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown’s sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

When sales people lose sales, does this mean they were lost? The words “lost” makes one think that they lost their way along a path and something happened. In reality someone else may have stolen the order from them.

When I was a kid my mother would put 25 cents, carefully wrapped and tied into one of my fathers’ handkerchiefs. This was an attempt to prevent me from losing it. She made it so huge that I couldn’t possibly lose the giant wad of material. She would send me off to school so I could use it for milk money. By the way, that was for the week! I was a kid and it was a way for my mother to insure I would not lose something.

As you know, a sale isn’t something we can wrap and seal in a handkerchief. If it was that easy, you wouldn’t be reading this for a better solution. Let’s face it; you can’t lose something you don’t have in the first place. Although some salespeople will think they have a sale before they actually have it in their hands, the ink is drying and the delivery truck has pulled away.

Salespeople lose sales because they get lost in the process.
If you have been in sales for a while you know that sales are almost 100% predictable. If we follow the sales process, we will always come to a conclusion that is favorable to us unless we skip a step or overlook something and it is always our fault for missing something. This is where we get lost.

Some salespeople don’t realize how important these steps are and that there are consequences to not following the order of these steps. Because of this, salespeople get lost in the sequence and sometimes try to skip steps of the process. This is how sales are lost. For the typical sales, non-retail I recommend a six step process with a magical seventh step that shortens the sales cycle when applied consistently. Some people combine these steps and that might be ok but you can’t skip any of them or your will lose. I divide the steps into two segments, Hunting and Farming because the first part is really hunting for the prospect and identifying the right prospects. The second part is like farming because we are building a relationship that might take months to nurture before the opportunity becomes ripe. Here are the steps in brief order.

1. The prospect must pass the “IF” test. This test is applied with questions to find out “IF” they are a real prospect, the test is ‘IF” they fit the profile of our perfect customer. “IF” they do not, we find another prospect.

2. The salesperson must then discover the “WHO” of the prospect. This is the true contact or contacts in the company or organization that we must meet with for an opportunity. This is achieved through questioning to identify the right prospect person.

3. The salesperson must then identify the “W’s” or pain points of the prospect. This is also achieved through questioning and research and an appointment is often the best way to discover this. These W’s are when, where, why, what issues that confirm our next step.

4. If we did our job in step three, we move over to the farming stage of the sales process which is really the “OPPORTUNITY” stage. Ideally we want to identify three “OPPORTUNITIES” which are solid pain points the prospect wants eliminated from their business or life. Once we have these identified, we can move to step five.

5. Step five is the easiest stage of all; it is the “PRESENTATION” stage of the sale. This is where the salesperson can combine all they have learned about the prospects problems and issues and at the right time, presents their solution. If everything was followed according to the process, the solution will be on target and received warmly for the next step.

6. Step six is the “CLOSE”. If you reach this point, the sale should be a slam dunk and a sealed deal because you have followed the process with a remedy for a solution the prospect wants.

7. The seventh step is magical because you can capture more business through a “REFERRAL” and a reference from the prospect and slip into the fourth step on the next opportunity and bypass the first three steps.

Remember, if you bypass any of the sales process steps, you lose! One of the best ways to improve sales is to focus on the process and the steps salespeople take to make a sale. Breaking up the sales process into modules and teaching salespeople how to move prospects from one step to the next is the right way to keep them from losing sales. Otherwise, you might need a very large handkerchief.

Steve Martinez is the Founder of Selling Magic a strategic business development consulting company. The company specializes in Automated Sales Process Management (ASPM) which increases sales through technology and automation of the best practices of sales. You can get our FREE reports at http://www.sellingmagic.com

Are you looking for some new ways to build your bottom line this month?

First of all – keep in touch with your customers! One of the best ways to do this is with a newsletter. Today it’s easier than ever to have a newsletter – use email. If you don’t have your customer’s email addresses already, start asking for them when they pay for something at the cash register. Give them an incentive for signing up for your free newsletter – maybe a free gift or a small discount or even a prize draw they can be entered into. Use your newsletter to let customers know about sales in advance, extend special invitations to past customers only and open the store during non-regular hours. A popular sporting goods store where I live does this twice a year – and the lineups to get in weave through the store parking lot and people talk about the sale for weeks – before and after it happens! This is a GREAT publicity AND sales tool. Add other incentives in the newsletter like: a 10% discount for past customers on a new product line, or offer an old customer a 5% discount on their next purchase if they bring a new customer to a special sale. Give customers a gift for every referral they send to you.

Can you team up with other businesses in your area to offer a “package” promotion? If you are a make-up artist can you team up with the high end dress shops in your community to offer a “bonus” make up package for prom or other special events? By combining services both businesses win and customers love it because they save time since they don’t have to run all over town! This would work well if you gave manicures, pedicures or did hair as well. Professional photographers can also find unique ways to team up with all of these businesses as well. Think “strength in numbers”! If you save the customer time and effort running around THEY WILL BUY FROM YOU and very much appreciate you.

Can you offer a “deal of the month” package? Let’s say you own a restaurant on a beach and October through February are always very slow – and so is your cash flow! Due to construction delays you didn’t open until September which means you are going to be struggling this winter unless you get an influx of cash and FAST! How about selling a twelve month package of meals? Set a price for a 3 course dinner (starter, entrée and dessert), multiply by twelve and then take off a small percentage since the customer pays all at once. Selling these packages allows you an instant influx of cash. You can encourage people to use them as gifts (one gift certificate at a time or the whole book) or they can keep them for themselves to use when they’re low on cash. This idea can be used in many industries, not just food. How about for pet grooming, house cleaning, yard care, car detailing, hair cuts, manicures – any product or service that is bought more than once!

Is there a time of day, or day of week that is slowest for your business? That’s when you have a sale! In the area I live Tuesdays are “cheap movie nights” and all tickets are half price – it’s because historically Tuesdays are the slowest nights at the theatre. Now most Tuesdays the theatres are full! Think about ways you can make this work for your business. I’ve heard of tax accountants who offer a discount to people who bring their taxes in to be done before February 1. This gives the accountant some much needed cash after slow season, and helps ease some of the crazy rush around tax time.

Open up your mind – see what other industries are doing to generate quick cash – DON’T just look at what’s been done in your industry before – try something new – become an innovator in your industry. When you do something different you’ll stand out – by being unique your business can really grow!

When I talk about “process” in selling, I am talking about the process which begins when the dialogue starts and ends, not when the PO is signed, but when the solution is complete. I want to help you develop a method of creating and communicating your value that empowers you to control your sales and evaluation processnot the prospect’s evaluation and decision process.

I also want you to be able to lay out your process to the unenlightened so that they can follow you. If you can put enough people into your sales process and create environments where that process will lead to outcomes, even if the outcome
is “no,” then you will reach great success. However, when you either engage too few people in your process or are unable to work them through it, then you limit your income potential.

“A LITTLE SYSTEM PREVENTS
A LOT OF BUNGLING.”
Oxford Dictionary for American Proverbs

The bottom line is you should control the sales process. Not the customer. Remember, they’re the ones with the problem in the first place. The person with the solution should always control the sales process. That’s you.

Here is an example. Meet Software Associates. They’re a software development company that specializes in web software for the financial business. They’ve been a client of ours for five years. When we first began, they were having trouble moving prospects through their process. They would get hung up half-way through and deals would fall through.

So, I played ‘prospect’ once in a role play and it became grossly evident what was happening. They weren’t helping the prospect. They had absolutely no process laid out to help the prospect buy. Here is what we coached them to say on the first call:

“Mark, thanks for your interest in the software system. Can I take a few minutes
and lay out the process that seems to have worked for some of our other clients? I
thought we could spend today talking about why you were interested, and what business problems you have in your Information Services department.

Then at the end of this meeting, we can decide if we want to go further. If we decide
not to advance this, then neither of us will have wasted any time. If we decide to move forward, I’ll probably need to speak with your management team and find out what their issues are. Then if we want to continue after that, you and I can get back together and plan the process from there. Does that sound appropriate?”

Then throughout the sale, we had the sales team practice what we call “orientation.” This is the act of laying out your process each step of the ay. On the first call, lay out an overview of the entire cycle. Or, if you’re already five calls into the process, then take the next logical number of calls and lay them out. You must always be orienting your prospect to what your process is. This works extremely well if you’re in a cycle that is either long or confusing or both.

You can’t blame the prospect for not following your process if he doesn’t know what it is. If your prospect doesn’t buy your product often (less than three times per year) then you will be doing him a favor by orienting him. But orient him to your ideal process – not to a worn out process that you’ve just defaulted into. Think higher.

Action Item
In your next five sales calls take a risk and orient your prospect to your process from this point on. By doing that, you will start to control the process. If your buyer asks for something that you’re not ready to give him yet – like a proposal or a price – simply lay out your process and tell him when you’ll give it to him.

Author: Bill Caskey is an author, speaker and innovator. His book, Same Game, New Rules, is in its third printing. He can be contacted at (317) 575-0057 or at www.billcaskey.com.

Author: Bill Caskey is an author, speaker and innovator. His book, Same Game, New Rules, is in its third printing. He can be contacted at (317) 575-0057 or at http://www.billcaskey.com.

There are some buyers out there who understand value but there are many of them who understand only price. A few years ago when I was doing a course for my Certified Management Consultant accreditation, I had some debates with one of the instructors. He kept saying that my idea about value was a delusion, and the reality of consulting was the number of hours I spent working with the client. His idea was that clients must be able to derive huge value from my services, but I could only get paid for the number of hours I actually worked because of the obscure nature of “value”.

I may be wrong, and unlike him, I don’t have an MBA, but I believe if the client derives huge value from my help, a deserve more than a competitive(ly low) hourly rate. I got into business to overcome the typical wage slave syndrome as an employee, and it would be plain silly to become a self-employed wage slave. I also believe that I shouldn’t be penalised just because I don’t take much time and effort to create that new value for the client.

1. Nickel-And-Dimers Waste A Hell Of A Lot Of Your Time

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to come to agreement with prospective buyers who actually have an intention to change and now is just looking for a fit with a consultant with whose help and guidance to go through the changing process?

Now contrast this to Nickel-And-Dimers, who want to make sure all Ts are crossed and all Is are dotted even before making a shred of commitment.

When Carl Rogers, a pioneer in social psychology was asked about the most important aspect of human interaction when there is a strong difference of opinions, he said this: “Unconditional positive regard for the other person. It’s about holding the other person in a positive light and assuming that his/her interest is for the best interest of the discussion and the relationship, regardless of what the person actually believes at that moment.”

A few months ago the business development manager of a web design firm told me “I’ve forgotten more about marketing than you will ever learn. I just don’t have time to do it.” Yet, instead of implementing proper marketing (which he’s apparently a master of), his firm peddles its services using three call centres (Los Angeles, India and China) to cold call harass people to find new business. It seems the worst underperformers claim to know the most about everything.

Remember, low-level prospects usually drop to an even lower level as clients. Send them on their way with an imaginary recreational kick in their butts, and move on with a lesson learnt.

2. Nickel-And-Dimers Like Bragging About The Special Deals They’ve Received

A few years ago a friend of mine worked with a large manufacturing company, and some six years later that manufacturing company referred one of their vendors to my friend. Yes, the manufacturing company was a Nickel-And-Dimer and they were bragging to their vendors that with the right pressure they could arm-twist my friend to give them very very good per diem rates. The vendor expected my friend to give the per diem rate he was charging the manufacturing company six years before. It was a retarded situation. He was given a fait accompli: “Either you give us the same rate you gave them or you’re out.” And sadly my friend did, simply because the immediate smell of money was more attractive than the gut-wrenching stench of a slowly decomposing project that was waiting for him down the road.

And it was waiting all right. The client demanded detailed reports on everything. My friend had to write reports on report, memos and meetings. He had to document every second of his time. Really. The client demanded a time sheet from him in 15-minute segments. He would hand in the time sheet and the client would decide which segments got paid and which got deleted. On average, 35% of his time sheet got unpaid. When he asked the client why, the client just shrugged, “I don’t think it was necessary for the project.” Imagine, here is this egotistical, stupid idiot who hasn’t been able to solve his problem for himself, and then when the hired help does the work, he decides what’s needed and what’s not.

The problem is that when Nickel-And-Dimers brag, they don’t brag about the great service they’ve just received. No! They brag about how cheap the service was. And just as birds of the feather flock together, so do Nickel-And-Dimers. So, if you accept work with one of these business cretins, rest assured that you will be favourably inducted into the world if Nickel-And-Dimers, and many of them want your help. And from here on it’s a downwards spiral. Bad projects attract each other. The world will soon know that you’re the Nickel-And-Dimers specialist and more of them will come.

I believe money is the walk of the talk. When you ask people to invest in their own futures, you quickly learn how serious they actually are by whether or not they cough up the dough.

3. Nickel-And-Dimers Ruin Your Market Reputation And Your Credibility In The Eyes Of Great Clients

While Great Clients and Nickel-And-Dimers hardly ever flock together, still, Great Clients can hear from the good deals Nickel-And-Dimers got cut for themselves. How do you think it will impact the perception Great Clients have about these deal-cutters. Why do you think people haggle with car salespeople and realtors but not with lawyers or doctors?

Car salespeople and realtors are notorious for “cutting deals”: “Buy now and I’ll give you a special deal.” In spite of the “special deal”, most people hate this approach because they know what the special deal really is: No big deal. Just a previously inflated price shrunk back to normal with lots of fanfare and manipulation.

My friend, Katie (not her real name) is a web designer. She got a call from Fred on a web design project. With lots of pep talk and promises on future projects, Fred convinced Katie to design a site with a serious drop on her fees. Fred manipulated her by telling her how good this would be for her portfolio. By the way, I’ve always believed that this “portfolio stuff” is highly overrated. Smart clients want to see value not portfolios. Well, she accepted the deal. And then two more.

Then she found out that Fred was just a broker between her and some real buyers. Fred knew that the lower price he could demand from Katie, the more money he would pocket. I have nothing against brokers per se. I too broker projects here and there. Over the years, thanks to my military training, skydiving and other experiences, I’ve become a damn good project manager and I have an innate talent to have people work together as a – real – team towards a common objective, so I co-ordinate large high-stake projects with functional experts. But I do have a problem that the greedy bastard Fred increased his money by lying to a good designer about future projects.

And rest assured that Fred will brag to his friends, that “If you need a super-cheap web designer, let me know. My contact is super-cheap and super-good.” Yes, she is super-cheap because she was manipulated by this scumbag, and she is super-good because doing excellent work is part of her DNA. By genetic design she doesn’t rest until she produces “WOW!” calibre work. And these are the people slime balls like Fred are seeking for “contract work”.

Then she participated in my Fee Audit and Protection Plan programme and learnt that clients don’t pay for portfolios but for value. With this realisation Fred was immediately out of the picture.

4. Nickel-And-Dimers Do Most Of The Complaining About You And Your Services

Nickel-And-Dimers are extremely good at complaining. They keep nudging you that they could get the same service next door a lot cheaper. Well, if they could, they wouldn’t be arguing with you. They would go and get that cheaper service. But that cheaper service won’t be the same.

There are some common factors in projects. Two of them are are…

• Certainty of successful completion
• Velocity of progress

And your fee is a reflection of these two elements. The funny thing is that Nickel-And-Dimers want to maximise both factors while minimising your fees.

If I want to travel from New York to Los Angeles, I can take different options. The option with the lowest investment can be a pair of running shoes. That will give me a certain velocity of progress and certainty of arrival. But if I invest in a plane ticket, I increase both the velocity of progress and certainty of arrival. I, the buyer, can choose which option to take and I get what I paid for.

And of course this complaining can go as far as the courtroom. When these people make up their minds to get full refund on a project that failed (over 90% of failed consulting projects fail because of clients’ diminishing commitment – Dr. Edgar Schein, Process Consultation), they stop at nothing to blame their consultants and are willing to go to any length to recover their investments.

Studies done by McKinsey & Co also indicate that…

• 75% of solutions don’t return a profit to the buying company
• 50% of solutions don’t deliver the expected value

Now referring back to Dr. Schein’s research, we can see that more often than not it is clients who disallow consultants to deliver the value that was laid out in the agreements.
Nickel-And-Dimers complain because to them this is negotiation and they feel this is the only way to get a fair deal. They learnt in some Arab bazaar that haggling is part of life and without haggling they would be taken for a ride. So, they apply what they’ve learnt: “C’mon man, you can do better than that” or “Is this your best price”. The funny thing is that when you start taking value elements out of your agreement, they scream like the proverbial stuck pig. They want it all and they want it now but at a lower price.

In negotiation the experts teach that upon hearing the price you have to flinch and the seller is likely to reduce the price. Yes, likely, but who says that you have to be a typical “likely” seller. When the buyer flinches you can also recommend an appointment with a neurologist. Check what the buyer’s step is to this. Or if you’re not sure what to say, just say what – according to Alan Weiss – can be said in almost any situation: “What’s your point?” You will see some major league back-pedalling on the buyer’s end. After all, they expect you to argue and defend yourself and your fees.

But defence can be dangerous, as General Patton explained in his address to his troops in England, on 5th June 1944.

“I don’t want to get any messages saying, ‘I am holding my position.’ We are not holding a Goddamned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy’s balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy. We are going to go through him like crap through a goose; like shit through a tin horn!”

I believe in win-win situations, but you can create win-win only with win-win people. It’s a mentality. I also believe that you have the right to – figuratively speaking of course – wipe the floor with buyers who are pushing you.

The other problems is the so-called satisfaction. And Nickel-And-Dimers usually have a very twisted notion of satisfaction. They believe that if they buy a car from you, it is their statutory right to receive free driving lessons from you and at the end of the day you pay for their driving licences. Then they try to convince you that it is also your duty to service that car for free until you die.

As Jim Rohn says, “Liars lie, cheaters cheat and the perplexed are always perplexed.” And complainers always complain. The tendency for complaining is more than skin-deep. Just think of a tiger. It’s not just the fur that’s striped, so is the skin. And it’s striped in the same pattern. You can hardly change that. Then let’s stop trying.

5. Nickel-And-Dimers Prevent You From Attracting Great Clients

Nickel-And-Dimers take up so much of your time and effort that it can prevent you from attracting great clients. There are several facets of this problem. One is that they demand so much of your time and attention that you simply have no time left to diligently execute your marketing plan. For a while your practice is carried forward by momentum from past clients, but since you’re not planting today, tomorrow’s harvest is doubtful.
The other problem is that the quality of your service falls. One reason for that is now your time is occupied by taking remedial action to please Nickel-And-Dimers. And this action not only eats up your time, but also eats you up emotionally. And the real problem is that you act out these emotional problems on great clients. Yes, you may want to argue here, but don’t. Life is holistic and non-compartmentalised. If you’re hurt, then you will show that hurt feeling both at work and at home. Personally I wouldn’t want to be operated on by a surgeon whose teenage daughter has just run away with the Hell’s Angels, or whose family dog has just been eaten by a crocodile in the back garden swimming pool.

Clients come to you not merely for the service you provide (accounting, doctoring or lawyering). They come to you for the overall experience. And experience is a highly emotional thing. If you’re on an emotional roller coaster, your clients receive a roller coaster of an experience. It is your job to keep yourself on even keels, so your clients receive a consistent experience with you.

6. Nickel-And-Dimers Like Delaying and Forgetting Payments

Now you’ve secured everything. Really. The fat is in the fire, the die is cast, the gun is loaded, the fuse is burning, the sausage is sizzling, the stew is simmering, the jig is up, the fate is sealed, the stamp is licked, the goose is cooked and even the cat is out of the bag. It’s time for payment. And this is where the trouble started.

Nickel-And-Dimers left their wallets at home, they have to check the price with their spouses, dogs, cats or the spirit of their long-dead parrots. All in all, by now they’ve got everything they wanted from you, and as far as they’re concerned, you burn in one of the most pestilential pits of hell in screaming agony, before they give you even a penny.

Of course there are cases when Nickel-And-Dimers actually start working with you. You were generous and trusting enough to give them instalment payments. But the payments are not coming. The cheques seem to be in the mail every time you call but never seem to arrive. Then they get irritated by your calls to collect your money and threaten you that unless you stop making these “collecting” calls, they simply cancel the project and you’ll never see your money.

A few years ago I started working with a high-tech firm and the very first cheque the president wrote me bounced. When I asked him what happened, he told me that he suddenly took all the money from the company’s bank account to put down the downpayment on a new BMW. When I asked him when I could expect a real cheque, he went on his usual delusional journey about bills and expenses and tough times. When I asked him about why he bought the car, he said it was a special deal and he just couldn’t resist.

So, here is this guy with two cars in the driveway and no money in the company’s kitty. And he’s just too busy hiding from his vendors and dodging payments.

7. Nickel-And-Dimers Demand Huge Upfront Commitments From You Before They Commit To Projects

Nickel-And-Dimers expect you to jump through many loops before they make, not even a commitment, but a mere decision. Just think. The ultimate Nickel-And-Dimers are governments. Have you ever checked their retarded processes of hiring consultants? A few years ago a colleague, to the demand of her local government in order to win the contract, dropped all her clients. She started working on the government contract and then two months later the committee pulled the plug on the project. We know that the most amount of work goes into projects right at the beginning. Nevertheless, after putting in all the initial work, all she got paid was a pro rated hourly fee.

But at least that was paid for. But she was expected to climb the proverbial mountain of broken glass and rusty nails barefoot and butt-naked just to win the contract. And she even relinquished all her clients for this “big gig”. And the big gig bombed miserably. Then it took her a good six months of living on her savings to get some clients back.

So, be very careful about what sort of commitments you make upfront. Make sure that every commitment is a mutual commitment. For instance, if the prospect requests a proposal from you to think more about it, then ask for a small payment, which later you can lump into the project. The payment shows the prospect is serious.

8. Nickel-And-Dimers Demand Extensive Proposals Just To Steal Your Intellectual Property For In-House Implementation

Nickel-And-Dimers tend to call it the bidding process but realistically it’s nothing more than euphemism for the theft of your intellectual property. These people demand detailed information on everything and then with your information they often go to the lowest bidder for implementation.

Just think about the typical request for Proposal (RFP). It gives you a detailed guideline on how to write that proposal. So, the RFP creates a level playing field where are unique value is cut out of services and bidders are completing purely on price. And RFPs usually specify very expensive and detailed proposals. A proposal I’ve seen lately started with a 21-page executive summary. The whole proposal was 410 pages. The appendix section was a separate document some 700 pages long. Can you imagine how many hours it takes to create such a monster? And who’s going to read it all. Maybe a civil servant who has nothing else to do anyway.

9. Nickel-And-Dimers Never Become Repeat Clients And Never Refer You Anyone

This is just a foregone conclusion from the previous points. They create a pretty relationship dynamic and blame you for everything. So, it’s just normal that they spread only bad words about you and your services. What else can they do? What they don’t realise is that they are the only rotten apple in a whole barrel of good apples (great clients). And as we all know even one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel.

Summary

So, what is the lesson here? Sometimes it’s worth negotiating, reasoning and explaining things to people but reasoning with Nickel-And-Dimers is the same as wrestling with a pig. You get dirty and the pig won’t enjoy it either.

It’s the same as trying to negotiate with Hitler about world domination. No. Instead of arguing and reasoning, the Allies shoved a bomb up his butt and blew him and his empire to hell. Now I don’t suggest that you do that to your Nickel-And-Dimers, but you’re free to walk away, saving your sanity and start with a clean slate and live another day.

And what is the other option? You can try to please Nickel-And-Dimers and they’ll consume your life. They are the people who just take, take and take some more. And you may try to be the good-hearted Samaritan, but eventually you get run to the ground and resentment starts kicking in. As the former UN General Secretary, Dag Hammarskjold once said, “It is more noble to give yourself to one individual than labour diligently for the salvation of the masses.” Being a Nickel-And-Dimer is a serious disease, and most of us are not qualified (hopefully not interested either) to cure these hopelessly lost souls. The best we can do is just to avoid them with amazing accuracy and move on with our own lives.

Organisational Provocateur Tom “Bald Dog” Varjan of Dynamic Innovations Squad helps providers of professional services to achieve the income and lifestyle levels they desire through high-trust high-impact client relationships. For a FREE fee-setting guide: “Why most service professionals consistently and persistently undercharge for their services and what to do about it” visit his website at http://www.di-squad.com

I recently began doing training in the banking industry. Across the board, successful bankers close between 2% and 6% of the prospects they call on, starting from their first prospecting call.

Not only are those numbers abysmal, they are considered normal. In other words, bankers are expected to fail at least 94% of their time. The insurance industry has the same odds.

In general, every industry closes less than 10% of the prospects they call (first call to close), with over 90% falling in the 7% category. And, since there is no scientific way of knowing which prospects fall into the 7%, we continue running after all ‘hot’ prospects until they disappear. And then we make excuses for those we lost while having no earthly idea why we actually lost them.

Basically, we are out of control; the only control we seem to have is over product pitch and our ability to chase seemingly hot prospects.

While I’m being a bit harsh, these are the realities that are built into the system of selling. Sellers expect failure and work to overcome it.

Why is it ok to have such a low closing ratio? Why have we built failure into the sales system? Why do we accept a 90% plus failure rate – and hire an over-abundance of sales people to make up the difference? Why do we continue to teach sellers the same-old same-old techniques that continue getting them the same-old ratios? And why is it ok to have an entire profession that wastes over 90% of their time?

Because we don’t know any better.

THE PROBLEM WITH SALES

For millennia we have based sales on our need to sell that which we get paid to sell. We have watched buyers disappear and go into some quiet, silent space that remains hidden from us while they … while they do what?

Where do they go when we leave them? Why don’t they call us back when it’s so obvious they have a problem that our product can solve!

We have had this long standing belief that we can fix problems, that our products are the necessary solution, and that we know what a prospect needs (based on what we can see from our vantage point outside of the prospect’s environment.

But do we know? How do we know for sure? How can we ever know what another person needs in order to solve their problem? How can we know what a group or a team or a company needs? Just because we can see the problem, and just because our product could solve the problem, doesn’t mean the buyer needs it, or is ready to buy it, or doesn’t have other choices.

Or wants to leave the problem the way it is.

What makes us think we have the answer?

Let’s take a good look at what we’re doing here:

1. We enter our prospect’s status quo with a solution, and as a result become a solution looking for a problem.

2. Our calls, our questions, our communications – marketing, advertising, pitches and presentations, needs analyses – are all biased, and constructed around getting our product sold, even though we profess to be mindful of buyer’s needs.

3. All of our conversations are based on different ways to encourage a prospect to understand their need for our product.

4. We assume that if the prospect has a problem in the area our product solves, that they need us to supply them with our solution.

5. We assume that because there is a need, that the prospect just has to be made to understand that they will save time/money or whatever if they use our product – and of course it’s our job to get the prospect to understand they have a problem that we can fix.

What is going on? Until or unless a buyer can recognize, align, and manage their own internal variables – their culture, if you will – they will do nothing. And we are left waiting in a void with nothing but guesses to make sense of what seems to us to be an obvious decision.

BUYING FACILITATION: A WAY TO SUPPORT THE BUYING SYSTEM

I’m here to tell you that there is a way to support the buyer on her side of the equation. Rather than sell, we can actually help buyers make buying decisions without selling anything. Not only that, we can close 50% of the prospects that show up, 12% – 15% of the prospects we solicit, and close the sales in the normal time frame.

But to do that, we must stop selling. In the mid 80’s Larry Wilson wrote a book called Stop Selling, Start Partnering. Even then he knew that sales wasn’t the answer. While he didn’t have a model to teach us how to do that, his ideas were sound and refreshing. But being the egotistical lot that we are, we assumed that what we had to do was partner in order to sell.

I’m going to make a different assertion: I’m going to suggest that we truly STOP SELLING and help people buy instead (and after all, selling and buying are two different activities).

Selling doesn’t work: it doesn’t get us anywhere; we never know when our buyers are going to come back – or even if they will; and we continue trying to add bells and whistles to the same basic process, hoping to get different results.

These are the realities that are built into the system of selling. We actually expect failure and work from there to overcome it.

Take a look at Buying Facilitation. It will give you skills to help you help buyers make purchasing decisions based on their own buying criteria. It’s a systems view of the buying process; a sequencing system of facilitating decisions. It’s got nothing to do with selling, and everything to do with solving problems within a system so the system can remain congruent and not disrupted.

Sales is antiquated. It’s very possible than better than a 10% success rate. It’s very possible indeed – but it won’t be by selling.

Sharon Drew Morgen is the author of New York Times bestseller Selling with Integrity. She is the visionary and thought leader behind a wholly original sales model based on the systems of how people change and decide. She has taught this system to 13,000 people in the fields of sales, customer service, negotiating, coaching, and change management. Sharon Drew is a keynote speaker and decision strategist, helping companies change their internal practices to embrace collaborative decision making, ethics, values, and integrity. She can be reached at 512-457-0246 and http://www.sharondrewmorgen.com and http://www.newsalesparadigm.com