Jealousy, Envy and Spite In Sales

Sales is a tough enough job without having additional complications. Clients can be very demanding, often we depend on logistics departments and production divisions, to get the purchase to the buyer. We can’t control the quality, but we have total responsibility, as far as the client is concerned. There is the constant pressure of revenue results, with bosses always pushing hard on the numbers.

If we are successful and we are doing well, you would think that life would be good. We know the emotional roller coaster that is the sales life and you are only ever as good as your last deal. So, with a little bit of success should come some respite from the turmoil of hitting the numbers. No such luck!

Our colleagues, by definition, cannot all be equally successful. The Pareto Principle says that the top 20% of salespeople will account for 80% of the revenue numbers. So that means the other 80% of the team are scrambling around for the remaining 20% of the sales. People come into sales from different backgrounds, with different levels of experience, with degrees of motivation and they join at certain points in the annual results cycle. This means that some will be in the top group, a chunk will be in the middle and the rest are at the bottom.

In the West, the usual way sales teams are managed is based on the Darwinian theory of the survival of the fittest. Those who can’t cut it are cut loose. Those who can continue to produce get to stay. If they can survive a couple of recessions, they may even be moved up into management positions. This means that those at the bottom are basically on their own. This should spur them on to greater efforts to move up the sales ranks and to strike for the top position in the sales results table. Yet often this doesn’t happen.

In Japan, most salespeople are on a salary and bonus structure, rather than salary and commission. Almost nobody is on 100% commission arrangements. This means the financial ambition to get ahead in sales is not as strong as we see in the West. Often the base salaries are large by foreign standards and so people can live on the base.

In some cases, there can be pushback against the top salespeople, by those failing, because the successful are making everyone else look bad. Snide comments can be made, negative inferences drawn and a host of other petty signals that says “we don’t like you”. This is driven by jealousy and envy. This is their “the way to build the tallest building in town, is to tear down all the taller buildings” approach to greatness.

In a small sales team this can be very uncomfortable. There is a degree of mutual cooperation involved in sales teams and this is usually where the disputes arise. Who owns the client, who owns the deal, and how is the revenue going to be split up?

If the sales politicians in the firm get going they can really do damage to the morale of the organisation. These people are usually excellent at whining, gathering whiners together and hosting whine parties. They use their energy to pull down those who are successful, instead of trying to become a success themselves.

When you are the top performer or if you are in the top ranks, you can feel you have become a target. Instead of just worrying about getting sales done, you now have to waste precious energy walking around on egg shells, to avoid criticism from your colleagues. This is kept below the radar, so the boss is often unaware of what is really going on. However, often they don’t care anyway. They are looking for numbers and they don’t want to have to deal with sales soap operas in the office.

If the bosses are any good, they would be sorting out the toxic few, but often they don’t. The top salespeople are razor focused on serving clients and doing all the hard yards needed to get the sale, so they are not politically minded. The whole mess gets made worse because in the current climate, organisations are looking at their salesperson retain strategies. They do this because they know they cannot recruit enough salespeople replacements. This means the internal war goes on for much longer that it should. We lose sight of the external competition and fight amongst ourselves.

Bosses – sack the toxic! If you don’t, you will find the whole organisation will start failing as the wrong culture takes command. For top salespeople, insulate and isolate yourself from losers. They don’t work as hard or as long, so there is plenty of opportunity to get into the work, without having to engage with them much. Winners start early and concentrate on their Golden Time – 9.00am-5.00pm.

This is when we can see clients for meetings and create business. All of the administrivia needs to be fitted in around those hours. Writing proposals, holding sales meetings, collecting data, putting together sales information, recording activities in the CRM, etc., are what happens outside of Golden Time. These days, thanks to technology, a lot if this can be done remotely

Keep the time in the office with losers to an absolute minimum and protect yourself from their influence. Remember, you are superman or superwoman and they are kryptonite.

Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com

If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.

About The Author

Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan

In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.

A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, "THE Sales Japan series", THE Presentations Japan Series", he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.

Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.

Rejection

 Everyone hates to be rejected, but not many people have this as a fundamental aspect of their work. We ask colleagues for help and they assist, we ask our bosses for advice and they provide it. Buyers though are a different case. They can easily find a million reasons not to buy and unashamedly tell us “no”. The rejection itself is not so much the problem, as is how we respond, how we deal with the rejection.

In Japan, the two areas our clients flag with us for special attention in sales training for their team are around understanding the client’s needs and asking for the order or closing, as it is commonly referred to in sales parlance.

The poor questioning skills are a result of salespeople wanting to tell the buyer a lot of stuff about the features, but not bothering to ask some well designed questions to uncover what their clients need. This in itself will explain a lot about why buyers say “no”. If we don’t properly understand what they need, then how do we suggest solutions that make sense and motivate the buyer to action?

The two problems are closely linked. Even assuming that the questions are well thought through and that the solution selected is professionally conveyed to the buyer, they may still say no. This is because the buyer’s hesitations have not been properly addressed. There was something unclear or unsatisfactory in what they just heard from the salesperson and they are not convinced this is the right solution to their problem.

This is why a “no” will certainly be forthcoming, especially from Japanese buyers. Risk aversion is a fundamental part of the fabric of Japan and buyers more than most, observe this in distinct detail. They would rather give up on something better, if they thought there was a possibility their decision might bring some stain on their record.

Failure is hard to recover from in Japan. There are no second chances here. People have learnt the best way to avoid failing is to take as few decisions as possible. Especially any decisions which can be traced back to you. Best to have a group decision, so the blame can be spread around and no one loses their job. Actually that works like a charm here, so no one wants to buck the system

Having given the sales presentation, many salespeople in Japan simply don’t ask for the order. They get to the end of their spiel and they just leave it there. The buyer is not asked for a decision, it is left vague on purpose, so that if it is a “no” then that will not have to be dealt with directly. The Japanese language is genius for having circles within circles of subtle obfuscation.

The end result is a “no” but nobody ever has to say it or hear it. To get a sale happening, the buyer has to do all the work here in Japan, because the salespeople don’t want commit, to take the plunge and ask for the order. If they get a “no”, their feelings of self worth are impacted, they feel depressed, that they are failing. Not doing fully competent work or being highly productive, yet keeping you job is a pretty safe bet in most Japanese companies. The level of productivity amongst white collar workers is dismally low. Collective responsibility helps because it lessens the impact of personal inability to reach targets or make deadlines.

Sales though is totally crystal clear about success and failure. It is very hard to argue with numbers – you either made the target or you didn’t. Sales is also a numbers game. You are not going to hit a homerun every time, so the number of times becomes important.

You will have certain ratios of success that apply right through the sales value chain and the only way to increase your sales, is to improve these ratios. You have to up the ante, regarding the volume of activity. This sounds easy, but it isn’t when you are feeling depressed, insecure and plummeting in confidence.

The key is to see sales in a different way. The increased volume of activity will even out the rejections. The way you think about rejection has to change. Rejection isn’t about you personally. Buyers don’t care that much about salespeople as people. They are rejecting your offer. As it is made today. In this part of the budget process. At this point in the economic cycle. In this current construction. At this price, with these terms. We haven’t shown enough value yet, to get a “yes’.

As these aspects change, the answer can go from a “yes” to a “no” and from a “no” to a “yes”. That decision is irrelevant of the salesperson and how the buyer feels about them.   These are macro and micro factors which can impact the decision one way or another. The answer is to see more people. In that way you can have a better chance of meeting a buyer for whom all the stars align and they can say “yes”.

At the same time, you need to keep working on getting better, at showing more value. You need to harden up and become tougher. Whatever you are selling, you always need to remember your AFTOS mantra: “ask for the order stupid”. Never say no for the buyer and understand that “no” is never “no” or forever.

Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com

If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.

About The Author

Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan

In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.

A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, "THE Sales Japan series", THE Presentations Japan Series", he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.

Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.

Fast and Slow In Sales

Time is of the essence. Patience is a virtue. Worthy aims but sometimes we mix these aspirations up in sales. We are not moving quickly enough and miss the chance. At other times , we are impatient and we force the issue when we should be more stoic and considered. We lose on both counts whenever we confuse what we should actually be doing.

Being too slow usually relates to making contact or following up, after making the initial contact. We meet people at an event, receive a bunch of meishi business cards and then we get sidetracked by something else. Usually a bright shiny object. Days float by and when we realize we haven’t followed up with the people we met, the best timing window has been missed.

There is an advantage in getting back to people we have had a preliminary conversation with fairly promptly, while the occasion is fresh in their mind. As the days drift by, the ease of giving us the bum’s rush increases. They can choose to ignore our contact attempt, be it phone or email. Or they are just genuinely busy, busy, busy and don’t get around to responding.  We don’t know which is the case, but we usually assume the former.

Once upon a time, it was considered the height of rudeness to not return a phone call. In the early days of email everyone would reply. Not anymore. In Japan, trying to get through on the phone to people is always difficult, because they are always away from their desk and in a meeting. We are reduced to leaving a message. What does that look like at their end. Maybe a nothing, as the person taking the call chooses to do nothing. Maybe a slip of paper is plunked down on their desk, scattered amongst a million other papers, soon to disappear from view and relevance.

If the contact is by email, then the tsunami of daily messages pushes our little missive down the chronological chain and we get buried in that great archive called “the lower reaches of inbox”. We get ignored and now face the dilemma of how often to follow up. If we keep pushing we can become annoying. But at precisely which point is that – the second, third or fourth follow up?

Maybe the lack of a response is their subtle way of telling us they are not interested. It is easier to ignore supplicants, than telling them to buzz off. Maybe they are just busy – hard to know which is which. In my case I make it three times for follow-up. I always copy the previous email I sent into the new one, to show I reached out to you, but you have not responded.

Does it always work? No, but at least I feel I haven’t blotted my copy book by becoming a pushy pain. I have to be patent. I have to play the long game. This sounds easy, but there are weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual targets to meet. There is the ever present urgency of the now.

The other danger of patience is not to pair it with a good follow-up system. Today’s lack of response reflects today’s situation, but things change inside markets and companies. We tend though to keep moving. We hit up the next prospect and reignite the process all over again. Those who we met, who didn’t respond, now silently disappear into the morass of the daily grind and get quickly forgotten.

If it is a no or a non-response today and if we follow up in a month, their situation probably won’t have changed sufficiently, to yield us a better result. If we leave it for 12 months, there is the danger that our competitor has slipped in there and plumbed the perfect timing to make contact, because the prospects situation has changed. We need to be getting back to them somewhere in that 6-9 months zone.

Patience is having a good calendar system to flag that follow-up is needed and when it is needed. We need to be action oriented, but we need to do it in a patient fashion. Saying this sounds so smooth and easy, yet I know myself the discipline to have and maintain the systems to do this are extremely difficult. Especially in a busy life, hounded by targets, milestones and deadlines.

In sales we are enthralled by the now. What is happening today takes up all of our attention and time. We are adrenaline junkies, loving the thrill of the deal, the urgency of the action, the vibrant seizing of the moment. By comparison, storing things away for the “distant future” is a rather foreign, unattractive idea.

So we need to be better organised to take quick action on the immediate follow-up. If we get no traction, we need to be really well disciplined to get back to the prospect and follow up. Easy to say, but hard to do. Regardless, we have to do better in these two areas if we want to be successful.

Remember, if we believe that what we are representing will help the client to grow their business, then we have a strong obligation to keep following up. In these circumstances, we should never be shy about re-contacting the customer. Yes, we are interrupting them, but we are doing it for all the right reasons and in their best interests. So let’s get out there and follow up!

Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com

If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.

About The Author

Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan

In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.

A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.

Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.

Sales Stories

Storytelling in sales is our ability to express ourselves in a way which is engaging and persuasive.  We capture the attention of the buyer because we have taken the client to a world unexpected.  This might be because the real essence of their problem has just now been revealed to them.  The salesperson who can marshal the discussion to bring forth the hidden insights for the client is the storyteller par excellence.  

The content of the story can also be a description of a better place than where the clients finds themselves today. This discussion shows the path forward for the client to realise their goals.  To understand that better place requires the salesperson to set up a dialogue, where the questions asked unveil a story from the client of what success would look like.  Employing examples, cases and proof where this solution has worked before, must be brought to life if the storytelling is to have impact. The ability to describe this better place in vivid word pictures is what separates the average salespeople from the master.

The delivery of this storytelling facility is not just a constant babbling by the salesperson but is punctuated by periods of silence. The client is given the chance to talk without having their sentences finished for them, interrupted by a segue, observation, joke or distraction.  Often sales people are loquacious, ill-disciplined speakers, who are in love with the beauty of what they are saying. Counter-intuitively, being a skilled storyteller also requires the salesperson’s patience to encourage the client to tell their own story.

The words chosen by the salesperson are important.  The majority of the conversation with the client should consist of the client talking. The quota of words allowed for the master salesperson are therefore very limited.  They only use clear, concise constructs because they know they need to give up the floor to the client as much as possible.  Short sentences of inquiry which draw out rich information are the golden path to sales success.  It sounds a snap, but to do this takes a lot of practice.

When the client hesitates, asks for more insight, information or outright rejects what they are being told, then the salesperson’s level of communication skill really becomes apparent.  The balance between speaking to add light and employing silence to gauge reaction is a critical facility.  

There is a natural tendency when salespeople hit resistance to want to pour it on, to overwhelm the client and their objection with a thunderstorm of data, facts and statistics. They want to dominate the discussion through sheer force of personality.  This is never going to fly.  “A person convinced against their will, is of the same opinion still” is an old saw, we salespeople forget at our peril.

Our way of telling the story makes a huge difference.  We need to be matching the personality style of the person we are talking to. Their energy level, pacing, the degree of detail they require.  All of this must go into the mix of telling the story for the client.  If they are a very detailed oriented person, then we need to get with the programme. If they are action orientated, we must become the same.  We like to do business with people we like and we like people who are on our wavelength.  

In sales we need to foster the ability to be on as many wavelengths as possible.  Our clients will be of various styles so we need to effortlessly move between each, without losing our core beliefs in what we are doing. The telling of stories draws out the situation truths needed to understand the correct and best solution for the client. It also means the capacity to package our solution up in such a way that it is highly appealing to our buyer. This storytelling skill separates the professional from the dilettante. By the way, nobody wants to buy from an amateur, so let's become more professional and tell our story well for the client so they will buy from us.

Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com

If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.

About The Author

Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan

In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.

A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.

Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.

In The Mood For Sales?

The dark morning gloom of rain clouds, snow drifts or driving sleet can have an impact on our sales mood. We may be thinking to ourselves what a “lousy day” to have run around town juggling umbrellas, trains, taxis and bags of samples to visit clients. The next day, the rains have departed. Brilliant blue skies and a warm sun seem to say “what a beautiful day to make sales calls”. Neither comment is acceptable for the pro salesperson, because they are not randomly controlled by the weather.

These are not the only mood bear traps we need to look out for. Does your mood impact completing unpalatable tasks or conversely do they impact your mood? That proposal you have to get out but don’t want to start because it is time consuming and difficult – you even have to think! Doing the CRM, which you consider a major time waster because it feels slow, boring and to you is a lower priority item. You whine later about the lack of leads from the marketing effort, but your moodiness meant you didn’t help with the CRM did you?

Where is your sales discipline for doing the dull bits of the work? A coffee break, a catch up on email, posting something on your business social media, etc., all look a lot more appealing than this piece of tedium you are facing? The sales pro doesn’t put the reward first, they put the task completion ahead of the reward. They don’t stand in front of the empty fireplace bellowing about what they want – heat. They put the logs in there first and then they light the fire. They understand the natural order of the sales universe.

What about when buyers let you down? You find out they went with a competitor when you thought it was in the bag, they cancelled their order due to headquarter’s spending constraints or reduced the size of their purchase. Your champion inside the company has been sidelined internally, but you don’t know that. All you understand is that the next phase in the sales conversation has mysteriously not progressed and you can’t fathom why.

Just to really top it off, you have already spent the money from the expected commissions. Whoops, hero to zero in 2 seconds. What is the impact on your self-esteem, your fighting spirit, your motivation? In the rollercoaster of the sales life, we are now in the terrifying “dive” stage of the process, a white knuckle ride, without any sign of probable relief.

Living an intentional life means controlling both the head and the heart. The bigger picture makes the bump and grind of the everyday palatable, because there is a higher purpose in our life. If we are dedicated to serving then we can absorb the fluctuations in the weather, the unreliability of people, the changing fortunes of the market, the gross unfairness of the sale life. The size of our WHY in the fight makes all the difference.

What if we don’t have a strong WHY or a strong enough WHY? Well, that is going to mean trouble. We better deduce, select or create one. No WHY and sales gets real hard, real fast, real often. Sit down and think about what you want to do, what you need to do and what you wish you could do. Twenty minutes on this type of introspection will soon identify some key drivers for you. Rank them into priority order, start at the top and attach timelines to their achievement. Break them down into smaller pieces, smaller projects and then get going working them. Review the goals frequently, review your work and mini-celebrate even small progress. Most importantly of all – keep going regardless.

If we decide we will determine our mood, our feelings our orientation and not let externalities invade our feelings, we can keep doing what we need to be doing. We won’t be running for cover trying to find a million other things more appealing to do than this task in front of us. We need to keep reconnecting with our WHY and see our activities like a calling where we can help people. As Zig Ziglar mentioned helping others is how you ultimately help yourself and sales being a numbers game, the more people you help, the better you will do.

Our mood control in sales is a critical function of our sustained and consistent success. The stronger our WHY the less relevant our mood cycle. Winston Churchill has a great quote about going to from failure to failure, without losing our enthusiasm. That is a brilliant summary of what is needed to succeed in sales and in life. There are always going to be more “nays” than “yays” from buyers, so we better harden up and look to our WHY to control our moods.

Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com

If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.

About The Author

Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan

In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.

A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.

Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.