Uploaded byRyan Estis
Rock Star Selling
The document discusses the critical importance of talent acquisition and retention for business growth, emphasizing that successful companies prioritize having the right people. It features insights from a Fortune 500 buyer expressing frustration with the number of vendor cold calls received, highlighting the need for efficiency in consulting interactions. Additionally, it touches on the concept of achieving expertise through extensive practice, suggesting a commitment of ten thousand hours to attain world-class performance.
Rock Star Selling
- 8. “Those that buildgreat companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth is not markets, technology or competition. It’s one thing above all others: the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.”
- 11. Are You GoodEnough To Getan Appointment With Susan“I love the viewpoints of consultants and vendors. They are truly valuable. But I also don’t have time(nor does anyone else) for multiple one on one callswith multiple consultants I know little about.I got 17 cold calls, yes 17, last week from vendors. And I hate not being able to call them all back (because Idon’t want to be rude). But truly, from a time perspective, I just can’t. -Susan, Buyer & Decision Maker Fortune 500 Company”
- 12. What does ittake to be a Rock Star on this team?
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- 28. 3 out of4 Americans use social technology.-Forrester, The Growth of Social Technology Adaptation, 2009
- 32. “What Does itTake to be Great?In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice-skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or 20 hours a week, of practice over 10 years… No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.”Outliers
- 36. Brand PyramidCoreValueEmotional BenefitFunctionalBenefitPhysical Description
- 37. The Elevator TheElevator PitchConversationalClearCompellingConciseConsistentConfidentCommitmentYou Have 2 Minutes Make it Count
- 40. “I’ll show youthe money!”
- 42. What is yourvision for your performance this year?
- 46. Are you Readyfor a fight?
- 48. Presidents Club… Areyou going?
- 50. Keynote Speaking &Corporate SeminarsCorporate Culture & Employee Engagement
Editor's Notes
- #3 Good….I thought I could count on that….and hopefully that’s the outcome both for the company and each of you personally from this big investment of time and training you’ve made over the last couple days. And what I hope to accomplish is tie together all of this good information you’ve socialized and help you transition it to prepare for maximum impact on the marketplace.
- #4 I am sure over the last 48 hours there were times where it felt like Doug had the fire hose out…..from a sellers perspective what are a few of things learned, transferred, discussed that has you on the edge of your seat ready to attack the marketplace? What’s going on here that you cannot wait to tell the world about? -Good list. As a seller, you’ve got a lot to really get excited about. I want to segway and share a quote with you about sales success:
- #5 You are being exposed to a lot of new information…..and t master it, really understand it and have it become part of your selling DNA takes 21 days – amt. of time A psych Assoc says it takes to turn a behavior into a habit. As seller we want to consistently replicate the good habits – use the tools that work best. It’s a skill……when all the good things you’ve shared over the last couple days manifest into language, and that becomes part of your DNA….look out!
- #7 If you can do that……you have such a phenomenal opportunity…..and I want to take a moment and comment on how fortunate everyone in this room really is:You are sellers. Greatest gig in the world. Any time you want more $ you can just sell more. What a concept. 2. You company is on the cusp of the recruiting revolution……this game is changing.
- #8 You and sit at the intersection of this big discussion. It’s the country’s top issue.
- #9 TALENT is a big go forward issue. Research like this – growth and success are contingent upon a company’s ability to to get and keep enough of the right people. Company that supports that cause, is well positioned.
- #10 Familiar w Seth Godin. He wrote this book called The Dip. About business cycles. Basically, you start down a path and eventually you hit a dip…..and if you have the resolve to push through the hard dip you’ll be handsomely rewarded. Your business is probably felt a little of this…..competition catching up a bit, traditional media evolving…..so, now is the time to PUSH THROUGH. Well, my business wasn’t a dip…..mine looked something a bit more like this.
- #11 You are one of the industry’s INNOVATION companies…..BIG advantage. But it also creates expectations…..that YOU are really good…..better than what’s been around….not just as a company….but as a sales professional/consultant. And the market is confused today…..and as a result, here is what’s happening.
- #13 Bono is Rockstart. But the term Rockstar has become an analogy for being really good or world class at what you do. I know there are some Rock Stars in this room…..what defines a ROCK STAR SELLER here?
- #14 Great list…..walk through My 10Ps of Rock Start Selling……think it aligns well with your list and what I hope it does is offer up some of the HOW.
- #15 Professional. I don’t mean shows up on time and is dressed right. I mean, demonstrates professional expertise – consultative and solutions oriented.
- #16 How would you rather be perceived in the eyes of your prospective customer?Why
- #17 Consultant has the advantage. Every time. People don’t pay for sales presentations. But they pay to be around consultants. Consultant perception elevates the value associated with your solution.
- #18 The best sellers are process oriented. They follow the road map to success. And I will tell you what A sellers do more of than mediocre sellers:
- #19 Research & Discovery. The sale is the natural and logical conclusions to a well defined and executed process. This is your FALL BACK position. Use to analyze the near misses….where did we breakdown? Good process is designed to give the disciplined seller an advantage.
- #20 Process is designed to help you sell from a position of intelligenceThe MORE YOU KNOW…..the more effective you’ll be in driving value into the decision cycle Imagine if you knew BIG SECRETS that none of your competition was clued into……commit to the discovery component of your process and you will….Now the other consideration around process is…
- #21 You need to own the process. In the eyes of every prospect, YOU are the company. Whoever said selling isn’t personal couldn’t have been very good…..of course it is. And since its common knowledge that people buy from people they like – you need to remember to BE LIKABLE. Video clip that illustrates this in an entertaining way: called the single biggest rule of selling:
- #22 So become a trusted advisor…..first become a friend. Good advice….Who saw the movie the Meet the Parents. Remember Gaylord Faucker was always outside of his father in law’s Circle of Trust. Well, customers have a Circle of Trust also.
- #23 Trust breaks down when the experience isn’t consistent with the expectation. And this isn’t just AFTER the purchase, this is during the sales cycle.
- #24 This is the BUY cycle. And its heavily dependent on YOU. And there experience dealing with you. And there experience dealing with you in direct comparison to the competition. You ever lose a sale because of price? Actually you lost because you didn’t create ENOUGH VALUE. And I will tell you its also just fine to have a healthy disdain for the competition…
- #25 Selling is a competitive sport…..you line up head to head and the market decides who is better. You guys sound ready to compete…..Now, we are going to take a moment of pause for a ‘competitive intelligence’ Q&A. Ask me anything about selling against an agency?
- #26 Preparation is the key to victory. Most deals are won before the meeting, pitch, demo and even the RFP. So HOW you prepare is critical to success in a competitive situation.
- #27 These are the MUST HAVES in preparing for a Sales Call. Each meeting should include an objective and
- #28 This is the HR Ready Digital Footprint. And these new tools represent an awesome opportunity to communicate and connect around your work experience. First, remove the ban to social networks at work. Have a policy but don’t you think you control this any more. You don’t. Some level of automation - career site/ATS exist at the center. But this biggest advance is the YOU MANDATE. If you don’t participate your relevancy is diminished. Elevate your presence. This is the NOW playbook. Your participation impacts your company brand and your personal brand. Relationship Management 101. Tools to facilitate better relationships faster. Supports the interaction. (My friendship on Skype). Delicate balance between the blend of tech automation and relational skills. Candidates want conversations! PolicyParticipation Drives RelevancyTransparency = TrustListening is more important than talkingDefine the objective We are going to take a little quiz:-Linked In-Facebook-Twitter-Linked In 500+Linked In 500+ and you are twittering from SHRM using the SHRM 09 hashtag. And doing it now inside the the conference.And you are not a vendor.
- #30 Know enough to have a Point of View and Position of Value specific to their business. When you’ve gone thru the checklist then – you need to PRACTICE.
- #31 Once you’ve done your homework you need to PRACTICE. Athletes spend about 90% of their time practicing and 10% in games….that is how they get so good. What is your ratio? A lot of sellers don’t rehearse…..you cannot go in cold. Especially if it isn’t DNA. I have a short video I want to share to illustrate this analogy with sports/athletes…..
- #32 If you want to become legendary……you have to put in the work. How much work? Well, are you familiar with this guy. MalcomGladwell, author….wrote about called Outliers…all about success.
- #33 10,000 hours is a lot….so experience does matter. Its hard work to achieve mastery……In sales two things I would suggest practicing:QuestionsListening
- #34 Master the art of asking effective, open ended questions. Great sellers ask more questions, better questions, questions a prospect has never heard. Then, the 2nd thing to practice…
- #35 Selling is asking not telling, selling is listening not talking…this was a big one for me (be present – avoid thinking about you are going to say next)
- #36 Sell with purpose. That is why you have an outcome objective and commitment strategy. You don’t want to be in a position where you are educating the industry……you want to drive deals out of that…..and purpose has another meaning……it also means sell to your highest purpose – elevate the conversation.
- #37 Maintain the sales conversation at your highest purpose. You have a WINNING emotional benefit. There is a lot of fear in the market. You can help people succeed. Show them how. And this is language you want to leverage into your sales efforts.
- #38 7C’s of a good elevator pitch……have you guys done an sales scenarios yet? Here is the ultimate litmus test or recommendation I’d have for the new positioning, brand platform and sales language. Give it this test:
- #39 Remember, customers don’t care about YOU/YOUR STUFF…..they care about THEM/THERE STUFF. After every power statement (ie. We have the industry’s leading interactive recruitment marketing technology platform) SO WHAT? You’ll find as you keep the conversation tied to the emotional benefit the language is pretty powerful.
- #40 Have to sell past No.Most sales are closed after the 5th attempt. Most sellers give up after the 2nd.I’ve chased deals longer than you guys have been in business.
- #41 Persistence doesn’t mean annoying……even though I am sure there are many days you feel like this…..the best way to demonstrate persistence is to GIVE VALUE FIRST. Thought Leadership supports that real well. Give them a taste, then another…. Pay attention to their world….have a POV.
- #42 You HAVE to love what you do. Selling today mandates authenticity. People see through people gunning for a commission check. One of the best ways to evaluate passion and commitment is how much people invest in their own knowledge and skills….two of my favorite interview questions: what are the last 3 books you’ve read; what blogs do you read?
- #44 This is the Trusted Advisor notion and I think this is HUGE especially in our industry.
- #45 This slightly resembles the typical HR decision maker today……overwhelmed, anxious, afraid and bombarded by noise. Remove the doubt and fear associated with decision. You guys have great proof of concept selling opportunities.
- #46 One thing I always loved about selling: the numbers tell the story….now absent of performance I also know its easy to assign blame…….great sales people love to compete and win. And are results driven. That is in our DNA……so, you have to be ready for a fight….
- #47 Are you guys ready for a fight? I think your competition is going to swing back a little harder this year…..This fight, the one you’re in won’t likely be won by a knockout punch…….its going to happen narrowly…..based on momentum…..it will be the little things….that happen each and every day and often go unnoticed in the moment but cumulatively make all the difference in the world…..you are in a fight that will be won, inch by inch…..together, as a team. I have a little clip that reinforces that notion….
- #49 Now….nobody can make you do it….but I understand you have a little incentive if you get it done?
- #51 My objective twofold: Share some high level insights that help define EB as a business strategy and some examples of companies that are getting ROI out of this. The 2nd part is I hope to prompt some discussion so we can all learn from one another. Full disclosure – I am not a TA leader – my background is in enterprise business development for an advertising/comms company. How Marketing/Sales best practices are leveraged into Talent Acquisition. Good place to start – TA is going to look vey different coming out of this recession than it doing going in. Fun video that illustrates how rapidly things around us our evolving…though it would be a good starter.