If you are in the consulting or selling fields, then telling buyers that what went before is now irrelevant is an attractive way to generate revenues.  You can see numerous offerings in social media about the “new” dimension and their “out with the old” remonstrations.  Thinking about this for Japan, what has happened here, as buyer concerns about Covid begin to ebb away. The biggest difference is we are now back in the office for 70% of companies.  We can make office visits once more, after having been relegated to doing Zoom calls for the last three years. It also means that face-to-face networking events are being scheduled again, after a long hiatus.

One thing I learnt during Covid was the importance of getting client mobile phone numbers into the database system.  When the buyers were working from home, it was almost impossible to get hold of them. The general number on their business card would throw up some mightily unhelpful junior person, designated to answer incoming calls.  Their lack of enthusiasm for that task was only surpassed by their obvious distaste for “grubby” salespeople calling the boss. 

“I will pass your information on and Suzuki san will call you back” was a typical riposte I received.  Three years later, I am still waiting for those various Suzuki sans to call me back.  Was Suzuki san actually informed that I called? Was a message passed on or did the whole promise just immediately evaporate the moment the call ended?  I will never know, but I know that nobody ever called me back.   For cold calls, they had worked out that if they put us through to the section chief or the division chief, they exposed themselves to being scolded for doing so and therefore they just shut down that option.  Again, the go to method was “I will pass your information on and someone will call you back”.  No calls were returned and in this case I strongly suspect that they did absolutely nothing.

What about now?  Most people are back in the office today and when we call, we have a higher likelihood of catching them at work.  One thing I always recommend is to leave a recorded message if their system allows it.  Rather than calling and just hanging up if the answering system kicks in, at least register that you called and that you want to speak.  Naturally, we shouldn’t rely on them hearing the message and then calling us back.  We should call back again until we get through. The fact that they have been called is there and they are mentally ready for your call when you finally get through.

Getting appointments has also returned and meeting them in their office is again a possibility.  I prefer to meet them in their office, because you get more immersion on their culture and branding when you can do that.  It is highly convenient for them and they feel relaxed in their own environment. They can also effortlessly grab other people who may become pertinent to the conversation when we meet in their location.

The questions to be asked have morphed.  Now a good warm-up opening question is about what has changed for their company or business since Covid.  This is a broad sweep which will immediately tell you how they have fared during Covid.  It will also tell you if they are still mainly working from home or whether they have switched it to back in the office three days a week, etc.  Maybe what you were discussing three years ago may be relevant still and there are additional items which they now need your help with.  This warm-up question opens up channels of questioning to ascertain where the solutions are needed and allows us to quickly zero in on what we can do for them.

They may try to expand post-Covid and now have a problem recruiting staff or a retain staff problem.  Often, in these cases, they may need to outsource more of the business than prior to Covid.  They may have invested in technological solutions to drive down their reliance on staffing.  They may have had a “good” pandemic and really boosted revenues over the last three years. Now however, they are coming off those inflated highs and things are slowing down. Today they are subject to HQ instructions to freeze hiring and cut costs, as other regions leap out of the Covid frying pan into the global recession fire.

We should never say “no” for the buyer and we should presume there are plenty of the things we supply which they still need until we are told differently.  We don’t want negative thinking such as “I talked to them three years ago, but everything will have changed now, so there is no point going back to them”.  Our mental frame has to be whatever they needed three years ago has probably not been solved and actually has been joined by additional needs, which will open up an even bigger market for us.

Although the fundamentals of selling remain unchanged for the past three years, the access barrier is finally declining. Therefore, we must act quickly and reach out to our clients.  They have new requirements and we have the solutions, so we need not be shy about contacting them and checking on how they are going.

There is a certain well known Japanese recruitment focused company, who keeps calling me at regular intervals.  Maybe there is nothing particularly outstanding about a firm doing follow-up, but I am impressed.  The reason this firm stands out amongst others for me is that the people calling me change from time to time.  Usually, with sales teams, someone is the designated salesperson for that firm and when that person leaves, the relationship falls in a hole.  No one else in the company does any follow-up or if they do, they don’t sustain it.  This firm has been calling over the last five years and the callers keep changing, but the calls keep coming – they haven’t given up on me.  When I think about that effort, I wonder how they do that?  What system are they using which makes sure that someone from that company is well organised enough to call me?

The second thing I reflect on is how well organised are we as a sales company? How well organised am I?  There is no doubt we suffer from the falling through the cracks problem when people leave.  It is rarely the case that we can guarantee to keep going with the buyer when the people change.  Sometimes it is chemistry and sometimes it is effort. 

You can work on the effort component. Keep in mind though, that, by definition, we are often dealing with the 80% of our team, who contribute a 20% share of the results and likely cause 80% of our problems.  If one of those people takes over the new client, then strap on your seat belt for a rocky ride.

Now chemistry is even more difficult.  The previous salesperson built up a close personal relationship with the buyer, which has now been broken and needs to be re-established.  It is a fact that we don’t necessarily get on well with all our buyers.  It can be personality, style, communication differences and varying expectations. Sometimes, the new salesperson just cannot keep that buyer with the firm and we accept that.  We have to differentiate between laziness, stupidity and genuine lack of fit though.

The other factor we need to consider is stickability.  The capacity to stick with the prospect and turn them into a client.  We read about these studies around eight touches needed before we can close the deal.  I don’t know about these statistics for Japan, but I know it is very easy to let the buyer get away from lack of organisation, poor time sensitivity and ineffective effort.  I also know that for many salespeople, one or two touches is the maximum and if it requires eight, then no wonder no deals get done.

In my case, Covid has slightly lifted in Japan. Instead of being trapped in a tiny box in a screen during an online event, I can actually get out there and risk catching Covid and network in person.  So now I meet people after a long break and then I follow-up.  I tell my team we need to all be talking to at least 50 people at any given time.  Some will do nothing, some will do something – eventually and some will do something now.  We just don’t know who is who until we push things along.

 I always copy the previous email into the next one, when I don’t get a response to the first email.  I am trying to shame them into answering me. Once upon a time, people would be polite and answer your email, but no more.  Like me, they are simply drowning in emails and we get buried in the bottom of their inbox.  Always send the follow-up email at 8.30am or 1.00pm.  We want to elevate our email above the rest of the competing emails. We can get to the top of their inbox early in the morning, when they start work and after lunch, when they return to their desk.  There is little point emailing after 4.00pm, because it will get buried and then lost in the crush.  Sending a follow-up email at 5.00pm on a Friday evening would have to be confirmed as insane behaviour.

What happens if email number two gets no response?  Well, I send the next reminder copying the previous two emails into this one.  I don’t labour the point. I make the email as concise and easy to absorb as possible, by just asking one question: “Any progress?”.  Those who are never going to answer will ignore this one too, but there will be those holdouts who will realise they have a need, but have been swamped by other stuff and haven’t got back to me yet. There will be those who are overcome with guilt for not respecting my emails and will write back, even if it is to say “no thanks”.  That is fine too, at least we got a response and we know where we stand with this buyer. 

I stop at three and occasionally, I will go to number four, before I give up.  I cease contacting them because I don’t want to impact my personal brand by being seen as unreasonable, spamming them and being too pushy.  If I ever get pushback on my follow-up activities, I just ask them, “How many times do you want your sales team to follow-up with your prospects”.  They have nowhere to go, because they all know they wish their salespeople were more active around their own follow-up efforts. 

So let’s find systems which will help us with follow-up and then use them!

We hit hard times often and quickly in sales.  Deals have been done and the solutions delivered and then nothing.  The income flow of revenues suddenly dries up and the revenues attached to your name are looking very sad.  There is a monthly target or a quarterly target or both and you are not scratching.  It is embarrassing to see your name on a spreadsheet of salespeople showing the forecast for the rest of the year and you have little or no income to show for yourself in the months ahead.  In sales, there is no place to hide.  Maybe, could, possibly, hopefully, eventually are meaningless words in the word of sales.  Bosses want to see the colour of the money and are not interested in fairy stories about deals in the offing.  What do you do?  Here are some ideas:

1.     Knuckle down and go hard seeing buyers.

Basically, we all need to be talking to about 50 clients at any given time.  One third will do nothing, one third will do something eventually and the remainder will do something now.  If you are talking to 15 clients then that means we are left with a tiny dribble of deal flow coming through the pipeline.  We are basically fishing in a small barrel rather than in a river or an ocean and we need to be seeing more clients.

That thought triggers a range of problems.  Who can we call?  The obvious answers are lapsed clients, orphan clients who have seen their sales rep disappear and now no one is taking care of them and new clients we have never had any contact with but who look similar to the profile of our best clients. 

Covid decimated the event business and with it networking opportunities to meet potential clients.  Finally, we are seeing networking returning and we can attend events in person and talk to potential clients in the flesh, rather than on a miserable, tiny screen in an online call.

Many clients may have stopped buying during Covid but they may now be opening up their purse strings, as we hit a new financial year.  We have to make sure it is us they are talking to, when they decide to jump back into solution purchase activities.  They will buy from someone, so our job is to make sure we are top of mind and tip of tongue.

2.     Develop grit and tough it out

In Japan, buyers are never on your timetable.  Yes, you need some revenue before the end of the month or the quarter and so what.  That is what you want and clients are usually not cooperating, so get over it.  You have to dig deep and find the guts to keep going regardless of how many deals fall over, how many rejections you get or any of the thousand indignities which the world of sales throws up for salespeople. 

Activity is the cure for a slump.  Brute strength is needed to eke out some sales.  Make the cold calls, go to the events, write to clients, call lapsed buyers and keep going regardless of how miserable the results are.  Poor results can wilt our will and destroy our confidence.  We have to put that aside and just barrel onward until we force a break in our favour.

3.      Review your sale’s techniques

We all get into bad habits. Especially when things have been going well.  We tend to cut corners, shave off some of the sophistication and skip steps we should have followed. Go back to the basics and do the pre-contact research.  Gather information and insights on their marketplace, their competitors and the direction of the industry.  Come to the meeting armed with better quality questions based off this knowledge component. 

Find out how decisions are made and see if there are people not present in the meeting whose opinion internally will have a strong influence on the due diligence.  What are their concerns and what can your interlocutor do to convince them this is a good idea which should be supported?

Get together with colleagues and do some roleplay practice.  This should be aimed at when the buyer tells you the price is too high, or your quality isn’t good enough or your delivery is going to take too long or the other main reasons for buyers not to proceed.  In any industry or market there will be similar pushback comments and we have to be ready to handle them. 

Don’t forget to make sure the first words out of your mouth are “May I ask you why you say that?” when you hit pushback.  We need to get more information before we try to answer the pushback and for us to know from which angle we need to mount our defence.

Slumps, downturns, failings are the norm for salespeople and we have to face that reality.  Good times are just an illusion to convince us we are good at sales.  Bad times teach us hard but valuable lessons and brings us back to the reality of this harsh world we inhabit. We have to break free of the gravitational pull of giving up and collapsing mentally and physically.  No matter how bad it gets, just put one foot in front of the other and keep going and going and going.