What is a BDR really?

I really like the concept of calling outside sales people BDRs (Business Development Reps). To me it really addresses what most selling is all about. Whether you are selling high-end luxury goods like swimming pools or automobiles...distribution or manufacturing sales, it's all about the trust and relationships you establish. The strongest relationships we develop as salespeople are with those customers for whom we have added the most value. Let's look at the title:

BUSINESS: In all of the above examples the salesperson's first responsibility is to know and understand the BUSINESS goals and dreams of our customers. Not every customer wants "bigger or more", some customers want help with an exit strategy or making things smaller and more manageable. You cannot know what their true goals are unless you ask the right questions and...really listen to the responses. Perhaps you can begin by asking how recent industry and economic trends or changes are affecting them. Whatever their needs, make sure they recognize how important their business success is to you and your business!

DEVELOPMENT: The secret to helping your customers DEVELOP their business goals is the fact that you now know what those goals are and.... you know all the things that you and your company have to offer as solutions. You probably know more about new technologies than your customers do, you have more opportunity of viewing similar businesses who have solved those challenges and you hopefully have a team of experts backing you up. It is important that you are educated by joining every trade group and reading every journal, following every blog, and attending every show and webinar. You certainly have to know the details of every new program your company is introducing and recognize what the benefits could be for each of your customers. Being a successful BDR is not easy, it takes a lot of time and effort!

REPRESENTATIVE: If you are an effective BDR, you can put yourself in your customer's place, REPRESENTING them and acting on their behalf. Part of your job is to help them by being their support in weak areas and letting them focus on their core competencies and strengths. Just as your customers need an attorney to represent them in legal areas, your customers need you to represent them in areas in which you are the expert.

If you really are a true BDR, make sure your customers know and understand it...if not...

Chinggis and you!

Like me, you probably always thought of Genghis Khan as a ruthless military leader and strategist...but since the Russians left (after 70 years of occupation) and the Mongolians adopted a constitution and formed a capitalistic society, a lot of new images are coming to light! My wife and I spent two weeks in Mongolia and the Gobi a few years ago...I learned a lot!

Chinggis Khan (correct pronunciation) did more than totally amalgamate the world of his day (troops were so dominant in the thirteenth century that they captured more territory in 40 years than the Romans did in 400), he eliminated feudalism and based his rule totally on meritocracy (leaders earned their positions based on ability). He mandated freedom of religion in a time when that was virtually unknown. He was the first military leader to forbid the torture of captives and the first to offer truce or alliance before attacking or sacking the cities of his enemies.

What make Chinggis an outstanding study for business and sales professionals is his tremendous understanding of the power of creative and strategic thinking:

1. Just as today's professionals follow vision and mission statements, just as we have strategic objectives that guide our decision making, so did his troops. He adopted a written language from a captured tribe then wrote the Yassa, a book of rules and guidelines so his generals in the field could make quick decisions based on his overall plans.

2. Just as you use Customer Relationship Management technology and other advanced tools to arm your field salespeople, Chinggis used the invention of the saddle stirrup and the recurved bow to totally change warfare and obsolete old-fashioned defense and attack methods.

3. Just as rapid transfer of information and digital technology have changed how we work and perform, Chinggis developed a "pony express" or information-transfer system (called the Yan) 500 years before we ever thought of it in this country!

4. He analyzed his territory in advance using a network of spies that were travelling merchants along the Silk Road. Not so different than business people today using the internet and every available tool to research our next area of growth potential and expansion.

Chinggis Khan was probably the most successful military strategis of all time because he had a clear plan and strategy...then used every technology and tool at his disposal to make that plan happen. He was clear in his objectives, creative and focused in his approach and totally committed to winning. If you want to succeed in today's business world, take a lesson from a guy who was born about 1167.

It's all about the GUSTO

A few years ago, I gave a presentation (for a number of distribution centers in the Chicago region) to a group of about 45 retailers and builders. I had so many calls and so much positive feedback in the next few weeks that I started asking questions like, "Why were you impressed...what made it memorable enough so that you shared it with me?" After all, if it was that good I needed to understand how to make that happen again in the future.

The bottom line? Everyone thought I was really passionate about the subject and understood the audience. That in turn, gave me the following title for a paper I wrote:

"Presentations Only Succeed When They Have GUSTO"

G is for genuine:
I try to know as much as possible about the audience before I ever make a presentation. How old are they, how much experience in their roles, are they the business owners or employees? I need to know these things if I am going to "put myself in their shoes". Everything is more genuine when approached from the listener's perspective. I need to understand their goals, desires and needs.

U is for unconventional:
In this presentation I was following a number of technical speakers and the audience was expecting more of the same. In the few minutes I had between sessions, I set up my audio system and then, when I was introduced, my presentation began with a 90 second, very upbeat, powerful and loud, video with music. None of this, "My name is....stuff"! The video finished with "Are you ready" and my presentation began with a slide that said, "Let's get ready!" I definitely needed to "shock the senses" and get everyone in the audience wondering what was coming next. Opening with a powerful question or statement, anything that get's the audience's attention is a necessary component of making a good presentation. From that point on, of course, the information you are sharing also has to be meaninful and memorable.

S is for specific:
I followed the opening by walking into the audience and asking specific questions of attendees. All of the questions were aimed at points I intended to cover but I needed to get "buy-in" from the audience and now directing the presentation toward individuals and their responses made it much more customized to the audience needs. Adults remember a very small portion of what they hear, a slightly larger portion of what they see but...90% of what they do. You need them to be involved if they are going to remember your presentation!

T is for timely:
In this case, "timely" was about some changes that were desperately needed and had to happen in the near term if these business people were to survive in a new technological age. "Timely" just means that at the end of your session there has to be some sort of call to action. If there is nothing new that needs to happen quickly, the odds are.... nothing new will happen at all.

O is for orchestrated:
A big part of the success of my presentation was based on the fact that everything went off as scheduled and in the allotted time. That doesn't happen unless you do a lot of advanced planning. I checked out the video and audio systems the night before my presentation to make sure that everything was compatible with my equipment. I rehearsed and then rehearsed some more. I had handouts but they were not distributed until the end (no distractions). If the audience is to take notes, make sure paper and pencils are on the tables. You get the idea...don't leave anything to chance!

Making presentations that create change in your audience is all about the GUSTO!

The serpent and sales

Some years ago I found an article (I cannot remember who wrote it) about the serpent (Genesis in the Bible) and his sales techniques. I liked the concept so much that I adapted it to a class I was teaching at the time. It goes something like this:

1. Start by analyzing your target market: The serpent only had two targets to draw from and, after analyzing his strategies and opportunities, chose Eve.

2. Apply your questioning skills: The serpent didn't start by listing a bunch of features that come from eating apples, he started by asking Eve about all the trees in the garden. A good strategy evolves here...perhaps if, as salespeople, we asked more questions and really listened to the answers our odds would improve. Now we could adjust our presentation to align with the answers we just received.

3. Resolve one objection at a time: The serpent jumps on one fact that Eve states (touching forbidden fruit will kill her) and then by focusing her on this one issue he gets her to let her guard down. If you can get your customer to share concerns one at a time, you can address them in a logical fashion and eliminate them.

4. Show how beautiful (demonstration phase) the benefits can be: The serpent convinces Eve that she can be "like" God...if she eats from the tree. Powerful stuff. You need to be specific about benefits (cost savings, sales increase, labor savings, etc) and paint a pretty picture. I copied a friends terminology of "dollarizing" the benefits here. Drive it to the bottom line!

5. Just try one: The serpent made it easy for Eve by convincing her to take a bite and try it. Can you offer a "try me" program as well? Everyone likes to minimize risk when trying something new.

6. Feedback and follow-up: The serpent hasn't stopped yet...still following up by tempting all of Eve's descendents. Make sure all of the future opportunities are quickly taken advantage of, use your connections/sales successes to build more sales and long-term relationships are what we are aiming at.

Whatever the steps in a sales process that work best for you....be consistent. Good sales people have a "system" in place so that they don't overlook details and opportunities.

Don't Do It If You Don't Love It

Author, Jay Forte and I offered some comments on a post a few years ago. In essence, we said, "If you don't love it...don't do it!" The advice goes something like this:

The next time you are introduced to someone, instead of just asking "What do you do" add "Why do you do what you do?" The answers are typically very revealing and usually one of two themes will emerge.

1) Many folks have no idea why they do what they do...they just ended up there (maybe by accident) or got moved up by natural progression or just plain needed to make some money and never left the occupation they started at. They can do the job, maye even effectively, they just don't love it...sad, bland and boring!

2) Others get excited when they start telling you about what they do. It appeals to an aspect of their persoality and they absolutely, passionately love what they do. They feel like they contribute and their role is probably matched to the strengths of their personalities! Wow, how refreshing that is!

The job performance and effectiveness of person number two will obviously be much stronger than that of person number one. It helps to prove that skills and experience are usually not as important as talents and strenghts when it comes to finding a fulfilling and exciting career. Talents are hard-wired into us and that is part of what makes us all different. You aren't guaranteed of success because of a talent-to-job-match but it sure increases the odds! Personal happiness and self-esteem become part of person number two's life as well!

Now when we look at especially productive salespeople we quickly recognize that we can teach all of the selling steps and processes but...when you find a truly successful sales person the hard-wired talents usually match up as well.

Success as a BDR (business development rep) begins with a passion for being a social animal and loving interaction with other people. If you love traveling to new places, meeting new people and learning more about both...it certainly will improve your odds of being successful at selling. Ask any salesperson who is really successful why she is so and she will tell you that she loves helping people solve problems and likes working with lots of different people. She will also say that she works for an "opportunity-focused organization" and you will quickly recognize the emotional connection she has to her work and her customers. She is self-motivated, loves winning and standing out from the crowd!

Success in sales (as well as anything else in this era of the intellectual and service workplace) is certainly helped with the skills you learn along the way (technical skills, prioritizing, process selling, etc) but... the real bottom line is if you don't love what you do....find something you love! Your odds for success will dramatically improve!

Know your team's talents and build business!

Derek is a BDR (outside sales person) for a large swimming pool equipment distributor in the Washington DC area. One day he happened to be in the office when a pool service company owner was picking up some parts. Derek didn't know the customer but he had an account so he began to ask questions. The service company owner indicated that he had driven 45 minutes to pick up these parts because they were not available from his regular supplier (a supply house with good pricing, effective shipping via UPS and absolutely no other services).

Derek's ears perked up..."Why are you not ordering all of your equipment and components from us?" he asked. The answer, "I work from my home in a rural area and no truck driver would want to negotiate the back roads to get there." Derek is thinking, "Hey if UPS can get there, so can our driver. He is really talented and loves the challenging deliveries". Derek asked the customer to place the next order with him and he would personally deliver it and check out the situation.

The customer place that order a week later and Derek delivered it the next day. The verdict? Challenging delivery but definitely doable.

The result, an additional $50,000 in volume during the next two months and a commitment for all of the business for the coming season. A win-win for all concerned... a customer who now had the added new value of products, services and programs that Derek's team could provide with delivery to the doorstep.

Do you really evaluate when a customer gives you a reason for not doing business with you? Do you know your team's talents as well as Derek does? Will your team exert the extra effort to support you and a new account? Be creative!