Eliminating Sales Myths
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Myth #20: Obama Can Sell

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Myth #20
For your DIY
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It's Not Too Late
   
 
When have we acted "presidential"? Was it a good thing?
 
This is a sales column, not a political one.
 
Everyone is in sales.
 
When we see someone selling well or selling poorly, it can be a learning experience for us.

Teach Others! 

Chuck Reaves, CSP, CPAE, CSO
404.822.6171
Myth: Obama Can Sell
 
Truth: Team Obama Can Sell 
 
 
Lessons From Three CommitteesClose head

 
Regardless of your opinions about government, there are some great lessons to be learned here. You will benefit from this if you ever:
 
- Sell to more than one buyer at a time
- Sell as a member of a team
- Sell against an established, powerful competitor
 
A relatively unknown and, some would say, unproven politician takes on the most savvy political organization of recent times and makes his way to the White House. What was his secret and what can we learn from it?
 
Three committees give us the answer, I believe: The Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Nobel selection committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
 
Barak Obama's first major challenge was Senator Hillary Clinton who, with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, built one of the most powerful political machines ever. By engaging experts in various fields, usually the best-in-class professionals, the Clintons effectively learned to read their customers (voters) and to present solutions to customer problems. They were so effective that they were considered by many pundits to be virtually undefeatable.  
 
So how did Obama better his primary rival? He built an equally-qualified team of people who were experts in their fields and then used his unique expertise as an orator to win the day. His team researched the mood of the public, created the message and he delivered it. (For us, the "public" would be our market, our critical mass.)
 
How effective was this team selling process? By the time the DNC held their convention in Denver, Obama's nomination was assured. Unbeknown to most of us, the process had also been effective enough for the Nobel selection committee to place him high on their short list for the Peace Prize which they awarded him nine months after he took the office the DNC had helped him attain.
 
Sandwiched in between these two events was the IOC's response to the sales presentation made by the President. Not only did Obama not close the sale, his product/service was the first to be eliminated from the short list.
 
What made the difference?
 
It turns out that Obama is effective when selling as a part of a team but less successful when selling on his own. A look at his sales presentation to the IOC explains it all. He missed the most basic, essential, fundamental principle of sales: WIIFM.
 
President Obama used the first person pronouns "I" and "me" 26 times in his presentation. At one point he said that the reason the IOC should send thousands of people to Chicago for the Summer Olympics was so that "my daughters and I could walk from our home in Chicago to the games".
 
The second member of his A Team was his wife. Unfortunately, Mrs. Obama used more first person pronouns than the President (44 times in 41 sentences). This resulted in confirming an erroneous message: "I'm the reason you should buy".
 
What was the value to the IOC? What was in it for them?
 
When have we acted presidential?
 
Before we judge the President too harshly, let's examine when we have done something similar. After all, he was trained as an attorney and we were trained as sales professionals. He's supposed to be an expert in leadership; we're supposed to be experts in sales. We should not be making the same errors.
 
Test yourself against his sales errors:
 
  • Tried to sell as an individual. We've all been guilty of this one. Sales is a team effort. (See the section below on selling professional services.) Not only should we engage others in our organization to help us sell, our customers would appreciate knowing the depth of our organization. Having experts in our company engage experts in the client's organization helps to solidify our value to the customer. 
  • Did not sell to the "M" in WIIFM. "What's in it for me?" is a customer question, not a salesperson's question. Focus on answering the question from the prospect's point of view and "what's in it for you (the salesperson)" will take care of itself. 
  • May be believing his own press. After a series of successful sales calls, we tend to let down our guard. We think we have it all figured out. We stop doing pre-call planning, we "wing it" in front of the customers and we fail to review and critique every call. Let's remember that we are never perfect at sales. Slumps happen.
trainer ubiqDIY Idea
If you're not in the habit of conducting in-house, do-it-yourself sales training, you will be. It's the hottest - and most necessary - change you can make.
 
Use the ideas above to conduct a DIY session:
  • Review a non-traditional sales call. View a video of a politician's speech, the presentation of an advocate or even a pastor's sermon. Look for strong and weak selling skills.
  • Conduct a team review. Do one of your latest sales presentations in front of others in your organization. Include non-salespeople. Ask for their critiques. Would a team approach have been more effective for you on that call?

 

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It's Not Too Late -
      But it's almost too late.
 
"Extreme Sales Analysis" is the process I use to help sales organizations prepare for the next "season". This one-day session can revolutionize your sales. With the new year rapidly approaching, please contact me soon if you want help in identifying the new opportunities you could be addressing. What changes can you make - and will you make - that will cause next year to be better? Change does not happen without change! 
 
"If I always do what I've always done, I'll have less than I've ever had before. My competitors will move ahead. My customers will move ahead. Technology will move ahead. There is no sitting still; only moving ahead and moving backwards."   
 
Contact me today before someone else takes the best date for your team.