[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
A guy I used to hang out with wanted to be a motivational speaker. He went all in, attending seminars, buying books, watching videos, and modeling his behavior after the best in the biz.
When it was all said and done, he found out that motivational speakers are successful at extracting money from people by making motivational speeches and selling books and videos.
Broke and disenchanted, he went back to carpentry, which he is very good at.
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There is a lot of money to be made in motivational speaking if you can buy in to the idea that your message actually is valuable and sell it through whatever media you can find.
The speeches are more marketing than anything. Most people don’t remember shit after a few hours of hearing something, but they will remember emotion and how they felt optimistic and driven, which will lead them to buy the material they heard to get their “fix” again. They will also recommend it because it’s human nature to share.
It’s just like any other product really. Build a need, produce it and sell it.
I use motivational and “self help” books frequently with my sales guys. I find the people who actually take action and apply what they learn benefit from these guys. The people who read or listen and think “Hmmm, this is a really good idea I’ll think about utilizing it later…” never do and then gripe about what a waste of time I’m subjecting them too.
They also tend to procrastinate everything else they do, make excuse after excuse regarding anything with a timeline, refuse to be “coached” and apply training of any type and of course fail miserably and get fired but it’s because I’m an asshole of course. A young asshole who “shouldn’t be telling them how to do business anyways, they’ve been selling since I was in diapers”. Fucking losers, still at the same spot in life and always will be and for all that experience, usually the reason I hired them, their numbers suck balls while the guy right next to them, doing the exact same thing but applying his training is rocking and rolling.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink and some horses are just retarded, plain and simple.
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As to your sales guys…do not underestimate “likability”. You can have all the technique in the world, but if you’re not likable, you’re not going to fare as well as someone that is. A likeable guy, with less technique and a good product, will fare as well or better than the less likeable guy.
I know “likeable”. I should be a fucking “likability” consultant.
I tell you this after 20+ years of being the primary decision maker on lawyers and other ancillary vendors (like annuity brokers, TPA’s, etc.). At the end of the day, I look at product, but we invariably do business with people we like at the end of the day. [/quote]
Likeability is extremely important, no doubt. The product has to be what a prospect needs but he will buy it from who he likes for sure.
I try to hire different personalities (assuming general traits shared among sales people).
I’ve split the US in to five regions and they all focus on one region, broken to sub-regions, at a time. As we get to the end of the prospects, we move to another region.
By the time we go full circle, enough time has passed that I rotate the sub-regions so that a new personality can make new connections with prospects who did not become our vendors during the first sweep and won’t remember my company specifically.
Varying personalities are crucial to keep every “territory” from ever going cold. My guys need to be technical too though, and they need to follow my program age be damned. It’s ridiculous how many old dudes work for me, knowing full well I’m the boss and owner and develop shitty attitudes. It’s all “yes sir” “no sir” " I don’t care who I work for sir, every company has it’s process and I’m a team player" when they need a job.
Then I hire them and they develop some age complex and are totally shocked when they get fired.
I don’t fire people for fun either. If some one is not producing but following my system I work with them, give them time, let them shadow my successful people, I don’t tolerate intentional disobedience however, personality be damned. I can’t. Being young, if I did, all my guys would try to walk on me and I have to have my stables full. I can’t afford to fire every one at once and start over cold so I can’t let weeds grow.
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When I was a young twenty-something manager having an age related problem like this, I simply requested that they give me the berth and respect they’d want afforded to their own son in my position. Some heeded, others did not. As we age, we become inflexible…it’s just a fact. You’d be better off cultivating a “type” for your staff and staying within that demographic (hire young, and grow your own). Old sales guys that can’t learn new tricks are so common as to be cliched.
I was thinking of likability in this regard recently with a car purchase. The guy was one of these old timers you refer to. He was not likable. Not outwardly, but he just doesn’t have “it”. In the end, I made the purchase b/c he had what I needed. However, if there was any competition for that product, I’m going with the guy I like, even if it costs me slightly more.
Likability is king.
