The Great Sales Training Myth

As mentioned in previous posts, I have worked for several organizations, in both sales and marketing positions. Some of these companies were very large and (supposedly) well organized, while others were small operations trying to grow any way they could.

One phenomena I often saw involved the Great Sales Training Myth. The purpose of the myth was to excuse management from having to provide any relevant training for the sales staff. It wasn't phrased that way, of course. Instead, what you heard was:

• “We hire only professional sales people, who are already trained.”
• “If we gave them more training, they would just leave and go somewhere else.”
• “The good ones would be offended if we tried to tell them how to do their job.”
• “If they would just work harder and sell more, everything would be fine.”

And to all of those bosses who used these excuses to save themselves some money and effort, I say You are Complete Idiots!

The sales staff is the customer-facing part of the company. These are the people who interact with your customers every day, for good or bad. If the sales staff doesn't create a great impression in the mind of your prospects, all of the money spent on advertising has been wasted. If the sale staff can't effectively close leads because they don't know (in detail) how customers use their product, then all of the marketing efforts are for naught.

A well-trained sales staff can make up for weak marketing, but it can perform twice as well when given the benefit of great marketing. But even a well-trained sales staff cannot make up for weak product or poor customer service.

Lets answer the four excuses listed above:

1. Even “professional” sales people bring both the good and bad experiences from their past employment with them. You should take the time to train them to seek the customers you want, to promote the benefits you offer, and to make the kind of lasting impression you deserve.
   
2. Good sales people want to be successful, and they want some appreciation for their work. If you don't invest some training time into your staff on a regular basis, they will look for other job opportunities that do offer the recognition they seek.
   
3. The “good ones” want new opportunities to succeed, and will be ready to soak up any good information you can offer. This assumes, of course, that you really know what you are talking about. The good ones don't want you to waste their time.
   
4. Finally, if you really think that having your sales people “just work harder” will bring great results, you most likely have deeper problems to deal with. It's usually a general marketing problem, not a sales problem.

Don't skimp on training and skills development with your sales staff. A small investment here can have a huge pay-off.

Practical Tip of the Day:

In addition to the points listed above, your sales people should be a great source of information about the competition, and your customers' expectations. Get your people together often, and listen with an open mind to what they have to say about their selling environment. It can be very enlightening.

And How Would You Define “Marketing”?

The term “marketing” has been used by so many people to mean so many different things, it's no wonder that people find it confusing. Rick Pence defines marketing as the activities that precede the sales conversation. My best description of the term is to say that the purpose of marketing is to create a qualified sales lead.

Too often, people use “marketing” when they really mean “advertising”, and sometimes it is used as a substitute for “sales”. While these concepts are all inter-connected, the important marketing activities occur before the advertising kicks in. These early-process activities are sometimes referred to as strategic marketing.

What is it?

In the world of small business, marketing is the triangulation of three things:

• The benefits that your products / services provide, as compared with
• The benefits on offer from the competition, as compared with
• The wants and needs of your target buying group.

An effective marketing plan will offer an in-depth analysis of these three components, and will produce the single most important marketing tool: The Message.

In an earlier post, I discussed how most small business advertising fails to answer the Big Question. To save you going back and looking it up, I'll remind you: Before making any significant buying decision, the customer asks, “Why should I buy from this company, instead of 6 others that do the same thing?”. If you don't answer the Big Question, you don't have much chance of getting the customer's business.

That's where The Message comes in. It gives the customer a great reason to buy from you rather than the competition, and is formulated in a way that resonates with the buyer. The Message clearly states the unique extra value that you offer.

Once The Message is formulated, everything else gets easier:

• Advertising can be created to push the message to the targeted (receptive) audience
• Leads will come in from prospects that are attracted to the message
• Sales staff can tailor the message to the needs of individual buyers

And why doesn't it get done?

Because, too often, the small business owner prefers to stay in his comfort zone. Further, practical business people often prefer the tangible (What deals did we close this week?) over the intangible (How do our customers perceive our value proposition vs the competition?).

Additionally, there is the Never Quit Credo, which condemns many businesses to endless mediocrity. More on that later.


Practical Tip of the Day: 

     Does your advertising really give your prospects a good reason to buy from you instead of the competition?  If not, try this 4-step approach:

• STOP YOUR ADVERTISING ! It isn't really working anyway.
• Bank your savings, to use when you have something better to say..
• Analyze your top 25 accounts, and determine why they buy from you instead of the competition. (Hopefully, it isn't just price.)  If you are having trouble figuring this out, ASK THEM.
• Create a message based upon these strengths, and re-build your advertising campaign according.

Avoiding the 2 B's of Advertising – Part 2

In the last post, we talked about Baloney. Today's blog topic is about Bumph.

Although they are both prevalent in poor advertising copy writing, they are different subjects. As a reminder, Baloney refers to half-truths, distortions, and falsehoods. Bumph, on the other hand, is less tangible. Simply put, it is “filler”: All the extra lines of copy added-in to fill out the page and make it look like you are saying something important.

Every line of Bumph copy may be absolutely true, it just isn't considered relevant by the reader. The danger with Bumph is not that the reader / listener won't believe what you say. Rather, after 2-3 sentences of useless verbiage, they decide the message doesn't apply to them and they tune you out.

I hope that hasn't just happened here!

The real problem with Bumph is that it hides the message you are trying to communicate. So why is it so prevalent in small business advertising? Let's look at some examples, and then we'll look for some reasons.

• Been in business for 23 years.
• Largest supplier in town.
• Come visit our friendly staff.
• We have been working hard to bring you the very best.
• We put the customer first.

And the list goes on and on. Perhaps every one of these statements are true, but when the audience sees/ hears this type of line, they ask “So what?” They wonder why you are spending your advertising dollars telling them these irrelevant things. At which point, they tune you out and your advertising dollars have been wasted.

Why is Bumph so common?

• The copy writer is lazy, or has been told to use some of the boss's favorite lines.
• The printer wants more copy on the page to balance the look.
• The businessman doesn't have a clear message to communicate.
• Decision makers haven't thought through an answer to the Big Question.
• The piece was designed to target multiple audiences.

This last option may seem reasonable and cost effective. However, it ends up being a waste of money. In an effort to say one thing to audience #1, and something different to audience #2, the primary points end up getting swamped with unrelated copy and the message gets diluted. You are much better off giving one strong message to one audience, and making a big impression.

Bumph is everywhere, and distracts from the purpose of the communications. If you cut away both the Baloney and the Bumph, you will have far fewer words but they will be much more powerful.

Practical Tip of the Day:

• Look over all of the advertising copy from you prime competitors. Try to look at this material through the eyes of your target audience.
• Use a highlighter to identify the statements that qualify as either Baloney or Bumph.
• How much impactful copy is left?
• How does your advertising material compare?

Avoiding the 2 B's of Advertising- Part 1

In the next two postings, I will discuss some highly technical marketing terms:

Baloney, and Bumph

These two examples of bad copy writing appear far too often, and afflict all kinds of advertising.

We will start with Baloney, which is a polite way of saying:

• lies,
• half-truths,
• exaggerations,
• distortions,
• falsehoods,
• fabrications,
• deceits,
• fictions,
• hyperbole,
• and plain, old B. S.

Readers quickly identify this material and recognize it for what it is. And once a reader picks out something considered Baloney, they disregard the other claims in the advertising.

So, why are these types of statements used so often?

I'll answer that question in a moment. First, lets look at some examples of commonly-used marketing Baloney:

• Fastest Service in Town
• Lowest Price Anywhere
• Friendliest Service in the City
• If elected, I will lower your taxes
• As Mayor, I promise to represent all of the voters
• I've never done this sort of thing before
• Satisfaction Guaranteed
• Sale Extended due to Overwhelming Demand
• This may be your last chance to get rates this low

Some of these examples are from business advertising, some are from the political arena, and some are heard on the social scene. They all have something in common, however the audience thinks of them as Baloney!

Here is a critical point in this discussion. It doesn't really matter whether the statement is true or not. It only matters that the listener thinks it to be false, or at least highly suspect. That's what defines a statement as Baloney.

Now, back to the earlier question. Why do these statements appear so often in small business advertising? Four reasons come to mind:

• The businessman thinks the customers are rather stupid; the least likely scenario.
• The owner has come to believe his own advertising (has drunk the Kool-Aid, so to speak).
• The copy writer is just too lazy to create effective copy.
• The statements may actually be true, but are unsupported.

This last option is rather common. The advertising claims are true, but aren't automatically believed by the audience and are classified as Baloney. As a consequence, the whole ad becomes tainted.

How do you address this problem?

If you are going to use a statement that a skeptical audience might find hard to believe, add some support.

Instead of:      We have the best sandwiches in town.
Try:                Winner of Daily Gazette's Most Popular Sandwich Award three years running.

Instead of:      Fastest Service in Town.
Try:                In and Out in 10 minutes, or it's free.

Instead of:       Lowest rates available.
Try:                 If you find a lower advertised rate, we will match it.

You can see the point here. Make a statement that the public can believe, and that they think is credible. Don't just blow smoke. They will see through it every time. It doesn't make sense to pay for expensive advertising media, and then send a message that isn't believable.

Baloney is everywhere, and it is a huge waste of advertising dollars. Don't let it waste yours!

In our next post, we will discuss the other “B” you should avoid: Bumph.

Practical Tip of the Day:

• Look through your marketing materials, and tweeze out statements that could be considered suspect.
• If a statement has some real positive impact, find a way to support it.
• Tighten up your copy, add some more credibility, and you will gain the public's trust.

The Big Question!

 There is an old adage in advertising that says:

“Half of my advertising dollars are wasted. I just don't know which half.” 

Anyone who has tried to amp up the effectiveness of their advertising program has had to struggle with this reality, and easy answers are hard to find.

In my personal experience (for more see "About Us") , this old adage is still highly relevant. HOWEVER, it really only applies to large organizations with well-funded marketing departments (more about this issue in a later post).

The rule for small business is rather different:  80% of all small business advertising is wasted ! 

This radical opinion is based upon my informal survey of hundreds of small business ads in newspapers, magazines, and direct-mail pieces, and on radio and television.  I believe most of them to be poorly thought out and generally a waste of money.

Before I proceed, let me state:

• I am not against advertising. In fact, I am an ad junkie. 
• I am not against any of the above mentioned media or their copy-writers. (My feelings about their sales staff are not as positive.) 
• I am not saying that small business owners are foolish, purposefully wasteful, or stupid. 

But I do believe that 80% of their advertising dollars are being misspent.

How do I justify this audacious claim? 

Because so little of the small business advertising I see even attempts the answer the Big Question!

In this over-hyped and saturated media environment, the audience will spend about 10 seconds determining if you are going to address the Big Question. If they decide that the answer is “No”, they just tune you out.

If your ad doesn't immediately address the Big Question, your money has been wasted!

OK, so what is the Big Question? 

Simply put, someone exposed to your advertising asks this question:

“Why should I buy from this company, as opposed to a half-dozen others that do the same thing?” 

Your audience knows your competitors. They want a reason to do business with you instead of your competitors. Most small business advertising doesn't even pretend to tackle this issue. The message most often communicated is simply “please buy from us, because we are in business too”. From the audience viewpoint, that message is just lame.

The reason most small businesses don't tackle the Big Question in their advertising is that they haven't figured out the answer. My advice: Stop all of your advertising immediately, and figure out the answer before spending another penny.

Practical Tip of the Day: 

• Gather up all of your advertising and promotional material for the last 2 years. 
• Have your sales staff go through every line and highlight each sentence that helps differentiate your company from the competition. (Caution: only select those issues that your customers really consider relevant.) 
• Try re-writing your advertising copy using only those highlights sentences.