A Sales Lesson Learned... Or Not!

Over the past month there’s been word circulating around my small community about a college student going door-to-door selling children’s books. For me, the idea of selling door-to-door seems like a nightmare-almost as bad as collections!  So naturally I had some sympathy for him, especially because I knew that the word around town was not entirely positive.  However, this sympathy quickly faded when I had my own encounter with the infamous salesman.  It didn’t take long for me to understand what others were saying.

So what was his tactic and why didn’t it work? 

Persistence or Harassment?  There’s a fine line between the two and to many potential customers this salesman crossed it.  While I only had one visit from him, others were not so lucky and had to fend him off multiple times. Yes, many people will cut you off even before you give your sales pitch and tell you they’re simply “not interested”.  Others will listen politely and still say “not interested”.  So what is the appropriate amount of “no’s” before you just as politely say “thank you for your time and walk away?” 

As a consumer I would say twice… As a salesperson I would say third time’s a charm?  I can’t speak for others but I probably said no at least 10 times in every way I knew possible and he still did not stop.  This probably had the opposite effect he was hoping for because I didn’t come to my senses and buy from him.  In fact, it ruined any chance for me to purchase anything from him in the future. 

Too Much Personal Information?  The second mistake was the fact that he was asking information about not just my family but my neighbors as well.  It wouldn’t have taken much research for him to find that the area has been plagued with theft and break-ins.  Considering he comes from out-of-state and no one in the area is familiar with him, I adamantly refused to answer his questions about who had kids or grandkids, does anyone live here, are there any empty nesters on the road, etc.  I can only hope that a red light would be raised and my neighbors would do the same. 

Peer Pressure?  At one point he brought out a list of families who supposedly purchased from him, asking me if I knew them.  Yes, I can see how this may work on my children who still have to have whatever is “cool” at the moment but as an adult, if I don’t need or want it, I’m not buying it. 

Personal Payment?  While I didn’t buy anything I’ve heard that those who have were asked to write a check to the salesman and not the company he is selling for.  While I am sure he doesn’t make the guidelines for payment, I would still be wary of giving any of my personal information to a door-to-door salesman without some verification of who he is and works for.

If I had some advice or recommendations for the college student or the company he is working for it would be this:

Listen!  Don’t ruin the opportunity for a potential customer by coming off as pushy or harassing.  There are multiple reason why a customer will say no-financial, not interested, product isn’t relevant.  But ignoring what they are telling you is no way to build a long-lasting relationship.  The person who said no today may say yes tomorrow.  But, if they are turned off by your tactics the first time you failed before you even rang the doorbell the second time.

Options!  Perhaps in this situation, the company could have provided the salesman with some tools to allow the customers to research the product on their own.  The company could easily provide their salespeople with business cards, brochures, or fliers and give customers who initially say “no” or “not interested” another option.  If they choose to order online, give customers the opportunity to enter the salesperson’s name so they receive credit and a more secure way to make payment. This in turn may eliminate the image of a company who displays a harassing sales tactic. I for one would’ve gladly taken information and looked it over later but the only option given to me was buy now!

Change!  Companies and salespeople need to be sensitive to the changing world.  Consumers today aren’t accustomed to the door-to-door approach making them a little more skeptical to strangers who come selling at their home.  Remember, in most cases you are an unwelcome guest and you are the one who has to work to gain the customer’s trust.

Research!  Know the area you are going into and your target market.  If you know that an area is currently experiencing a rise in theft, be more sensitive in the questions you are asking and if you are told no then don’t push.  Don’t ask for personal information or information about others they may know.  As a single mom, I wouldn’t be keen on sharing information or want my neighbor to share information to a perfect stranger.  It’s unfortunate but in today’s world, revealing that a person is elderly, living alone, has kids these ages, etc. is not safe anywhere and we all need to look out for each other.

Well, this is just a tidbit of my adventure with a poor college student knocking on the wrong door!  What have your door-to-door sales encounters been like?  Do you think the technique is successful or unsuccessful? 

Image From:  jmtalkback.com

The Power of Social Media

 http://www.breakingalltherurals.com/2011/ten-social-media-tips/

The increasing number of celebrities rising from the amount of negative attention they receive continues to raise the question, what legacies will we be leaving behind and what kind of control do we have over it?  While we have become programmed to expect the media to overhype situations both negative and positive, can we make changes to their power through social media?  Can we put an end to the rise of popularity through negative actions or does social media simply increase the issue.

For example, I recently came across the Washington Post article, Pearls Before Breakfast, about violinist, Joshua Bell.  Although the article was written in 2007, it is making a “come back” with links being shared across Facebook.  Placed strategically at the busiest time and in one of the busiest spots at a train station in Washington, DC, Bell played one of the most difficult pieces of classical music.  As the experiment was intended to show, the majority of the people going in and out of the station did not take the time to stop and appreciate this once in a lifetime performance.  Most weren’t even aware of what or who they were passing by, children, who were intrigued by Bell, weren’t encouraged to listen and explore their curiosity, and those who did stop were drawn away by other priorities.  We’ve all been there, in a hurry, running late, and stopping for any distraction will put us even further behind.  We know the difficulty of explaining to your boss, “I’m late because there was this amazing violinist and I just had to stop and listen?” 

The greatest thing about social media is like this article, we are able to share in an experience without actually being there.  We watch the video on YouTube, pass it along to our friends on Facebook, and comment on how unbelievable it is that no one has the time to “stop and smell the roses anymore.”  On the other hand, social media has become a source of news that spreads like wildfire and with the good comes the bad.  Someone read it on so and so’s status then it must be true right? 

As the “owners” of social media, we have the choice of what to share and the news we spread.  While it is in the human nature to be drawn to disaster and drama, we all look for signs of hope as well.  Within the last year we’ve seen the fall of Charlie Sheen, the rise of Tim Tebow, the fall of Whitney Houston, and the rise of Jeremy Lin all through social media.  While we may not be able to stop the negative stories from being shared on social media, we can be hopeful that they are the shortest lived.  The Charlie Sheen and Whitney Houston stories will fade but we will continue to hear Joshua Bell’s story from that one day in the Washington, DC subway for a time to come.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw

Getting the Most Out of an Internship

hotspotatl.com

For the past month I have been interning with the Akron Aeros, learning the ins and outs to getting a minor league baseball team prepared for the upcoming season.  Many may not see the value in an internship especially with the stereotypical idea of interns being there simply to fetch coffee.  At first I admit that I viewed it as a necessary evil to entering a career in the sports or entertainment field.  From week one though, I have found that it is much more than that. 

There are two key ingredients to what I would call a successful, meaningful internship.  It starts with an organization whose management and employees are willing to not just teach but give responsibility.  It is just as important for an employer to find value in an internship as it is for the student.  The Congressional Management Foundation, focused on improving congressional operations and citizen engagement wrote an article, Keys to a Successful Internship Program.  This article provides universal tips that any organization, regardless of their industry, could use to develop their own program.  Their advice for managing a successful program is:

1.     Develop a clear purpose

2.     Create a formal orientation and training program

3.     Provide clear guidance and structure

4.     Balance interns’ administrative duties with more substantive work

Specifics for how to accomplish each of these key elements can be found in the complete article. 

Second, just as it is important for an organization to be willing to teach, it is important for an intern to be enthusiastic about learning.  The most important advice I received when starting my internship was that it was up to me how much I get out of it.  An internship is not just about what you learned from books or in class, but making connections and sucking as much knowledge as possible from the professionals you are working with.  Regardless of if the internship is paid or unpaid, it is an opportunity to gain professional skills while determining what aspects of an industry or job a student wants to pursue. 

So as my journey as a graduate student is coming to an end, I am finding out that growth does not stop here.  The experience and knowledge I am gaining from my internship is the result of not only an organization willing to teach but also the opportunity for continuous learning.

Find Internship Opportunities

Super Bowl XLVI-Business Planning at Its Best

http://jakesdtvblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/indianapolis-super-bowl-logo-revealed.html

This week I came across an article in Sport Travel magazine.  While the cover story of the January 2012 issue is not directly related to creating business plans, it does bring to home why it is so important to set goals, make action plans, and gain an understanding of the business. Just as the owners of Growthink try to help their customers realize, the approaches by the NFL and city of Indianapolis on improving the Super Bowl experience are based on the key principals of why planning is important.  This is being said, to me, it was a perfect example of why business plans are necessary-not only for start-up but also in times of growth or restructuring.

The article goes in depth at how the NFL has looked at it’s past Super Bowls, what worked good well and what didn’t work at all.  The most interesting part to me was what this year’s host city, Indianapolis, has done to ramp up the customer experience with not only Super Bowl XLVI but also future events in mind as well.  The NFL created a customer service approach to improve on training volunteers and event staff, spreading out representatives both outside and inside the stadium to direct fans, and for the first time opening the Super Bowl Media Day to 8,000 fans. 

Indianapolis itself however, has transformed downtown into a Super Bowl Village.  Host committee chairman, Mark Miles, said, “We looked at our assets and tried to be objective about our strengths and weaknesses.”  Knowing the weather in Indiana could be unpredictable and somewhat unpleasant in early February, they still chose to take their compact, walkable “downtown atmosphere and assets and turn it into something that Super Bowl visitors and residents of Indiana could embrace and enjoy.” Outside of the Super Bowl, changes made downtown and expansions to key areas such as the Indianapolis Convention Center will attract companies and organizers looking for the next place to hold their event. 

What Indianapolis has done that many cities have not, is realize that they need to play to their city’s strengths, make their offerings unique, and think towards the future.  They have an understanding of their competition, market, and the need to push the bar just a little higher.  All of these are the same components that go into making a successful business plan and are pieces that I will take with me as I journey into the business world.  From Growthink's emphasis on using business plans as a resource in creating strategies to the NFL and Indianapolis's approach in understanding their market and the need for change, it is without doubt that I will use their experience while developing my own ideas and forming them into business plans in the future.

Related Links:

http://www.sportstravelmagazine.com/

http://visitindy.com/

http://www.icclos.com/

http://www.nfl.com/

To Plan or Not To Plan, That Is the Question

So you have a great idea for a business, but now how do you make that vision reality?  Many experts say the first step when considering starting any business is to create a plan.  However, others believe it is really only a necessary evil to gain financing and investors.

As the popular NBC show, Americas Great Next Restaurant, has proven to us, a business plan can help both a company and potential investors to understand all aspects of their operations prior to opening. The show’s primary investors, Bobby Flay, equally famous for his celebrity chef status as Steve Ells is for his Chipotle restaurants, are no strangers to identifying talent and opportunity.  They are not just looking at if a restaurant can turn a profit but also the person behind the idea and their ability to successfully develop a concept.

A business plan can help a company to identify weaknesses in areas such as:  leadership and market feasibility as well as strengths such as: competitive environment and growth opportunities.  In a sense, it can help to determine if the idea you believe to be unique and great is truly worth pursuing.  It also gives you an opportunity to make adjustments and correct mistakes that can often result from under-planning.

The owners of the consulting firm, Growthink, have been helping entrepreneurs “successfully start, grow, and/or exit their companies” since 1999. Co-founded by Dave Lavinsky and Jay Turo, Growthink’s business plans have been featured in magazines such as Fortune, Businessweek, and Forbes.  The company not only provides services focusing on finding and securing investors but also “developing a strategic road map”.  They help their clients to set goals, make action plans, and gain a complete understanding of their business.  Probably the best summary supporting why a business plan is a good idea is their list of 20 Reasons Why You Need A Business Plan.