CONTACT:
amiller@annemiller.com

January 8, 2009

Welcome to my newest newsletter “Make What You Say, Pay!” I don’t know about you, but I find it a waste of time when so many online articles are long on cheerleading (“rah-rah, work harder”), mired in useless generalities (“Prepare for client meetings”) and low on practical application. In good times, such lightweight reading may suffice, but in these times we all need specific, hard, practical ideas to win the reduced business that is out there.

MWYSP is a companion newsletter to The Metaphor Minute, which many of you already receive. While the latter is specifically about the power of metaphors to sell, MWYSP will cover broader territory and provide short, but powerful exercises, strategies, techniques and resources to help you make a difference in all sales aspects of your business.

At the end of each monthly issue, you are asked to rate the value of that issue. Your ratings and comments will guide future topics.

Thanks for taking a look at this first issue and remember to give it your personal rating at the end.

Your comments greatly appreciated.
Anne Miller

“See” What You’re Missing

As the pressure builds to develop business in 2009, it is appropriate to briefly re-visit the lesson of the story of the blind men and the elephant. You’ll recall that three blind men stumble upon an elephant. Each blind man grabs onto a different part of the animal. The first man, feeling only the elephant's leg, declares the object they have come across to be a tree trunk. The second man, holding the elephant's tail, assures his friends they have found a snake. And the third man, touching the elephant's ear, announces that it is most certainly a fan. Since they do not have the benefit of vision, they cannot see the big picture -- the whole animal -- and, as a consequence, they draw the wrong conclusions.

Similarly, in a difficult market, sales pros often miss opportunities to build business that they would otherwise have, because they often lack a way to step back and see the big picture.

The following 5-step exercise forces you to step back and see these opportunities in your business (allow 2-3 hours).

You can try this exercise by yourself or, even better, with your sales team. (Remember: Two heads are better than one.)

1. Select a category of accounts (or a single account) whose business you want to grow or win (e.g., the hotel industry).
    

2. Hang four sheets of flip-chart paper around the room. On the first sheet, list all the things that are Going Well for that industry. On the second list all the Problems or Challenges that specific industry faces. On the third, list all the Trends that could affect this industry negatively or positively. On the fourth, list all your Assets, Capabilities & Resources. For example, flip-chart lists for the hotel industry might look like this:
   
   GOING WELL
   - A lot of successful renovations
   - Strengthening through consolidation
   - Automated checkouts
   - Improved gourmet dining
   
   PROBLEMS &/OR CHALLENGES
   - Slowing economy
   - Videoconferencing, which may reduce the need for businesspeople to visit clients in person
   - Signs of overbuilding
   - Adjusting to changing population demographics
   
   TRENDS
   - Computer tracking of guest needs and preferences
   - Loyalty programs
   - Growth in amenities (e.g., in-room Internet access & CD players, spas)
   - Packages catering to families
   - Suite versus single-room offerings
   
   OUR ASSETS, CAPABILITIES, RESOURCES (e.g. if advertising)
   - Publication
   - Internet
   - Relationship with readers, vendors & advertisers
   - Past travel/hospitality articles
   - Famous Editors
   - Printing/publishing know-how
    

3. Brainstorm. For each item on the first list, look at your asset list and write how many different things you can do/combine that would add value to what is Going Well. (e.g., If you sell advertising space, can you offer an email marketing idea? sweepstakes? sponsorships? leverage databases?).
   
   For each item on the second list, look at your asset list and write how many different things you can do/combine to help address each Challenge (e.g., an offline tie-in that drives users to an advertiser's site? a joint effort with another complementary advertiser, a give-away how-to booklet filled with past articles?)
   
   And for each item on the third list, look at your asset list and write how many different things you can do to play off each Trend that is occurring in the industry (e.g., develop a new size/type ad? an in-room customized, travel CD? a tie-in to their loyalty program?)
   
   Collect ALL the ideas that come up, whether they are practical or not. In true brainstorming fashion, build on one another's ideas, and don't immediately dismiss any. You will wind up with lots of ideas in a relatively short time.
    

4. Evaluate. Review the ideas that you like, those that fit, those that leverage your expertise and resources, and those that will have a high bottom-line payoff.
    

5. Implement. Decide who will do what and when.

Time Well Spent
I have facilitated several meetings where this exercise was completed, and a lot of very good ideas came from them which were then implemented to bring in business. At a minimum, these ideas give you a good reason to see a client and bring him/her something new to think about, which helps build your relationship with that client. Sales reps raved about how much they enjoyed the session, how much they got out of it, and how important it was for them to step back periodically to view their accounts from a broader perspective.

An added bonus was how good, personally and professionally, it felt to give themselves the luxury of a relaxed and strategic "group think."

Does it cost you selling time to do this? Absolutely. But in today's competitive world, where you are only as good as your last idea, what's the cost of not doing this exercise on a regular basis?

Here's to successful selling!

Anne Miller
"Make What You Say, Pay!"

 

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