You want more sales? Then fire the Andy Murrays and hire the Rory McIlroys!

In most sporting competition there is little to choose between the top competitors in terms of physical strength, athleticism and indeed inherent talent. The difference between winners and losers often lies in their personal ability to cope with the mental stresses generated by four rounds of golf in a Major tournament or four sets of tennis in a Wimbledon semi-final.

Rory McIlroy’s disastrous collapse in the final round of the Masters at Augusta was interpreted by many as an inability to handle the pressure. While desperately disappointed however, Rory didn’t see it that way and his upbeat never-say-die post-tournament responses won him the admiration of all.

Rory learned. Rory stayed calm and resolute. Rory’s attitude was mature and he went on to win the US Open by a mile.

By contrast, after a tremendous run in Wimbledon Andy Murray was comprehensively defeated – again – by Rafael Nadal. When, after winning the first set, the match started going against him he openly demonstrated a tantrum-led grimacing attitude that was only surpassed by the ungracious surliness of his post-match negative body language and downbeat comments.

Andy repeated the attitudinal mistakes of the past. Andy ranted. Andy’s attitude was juvenile and was a dead giveaway to Nadal – and indeed future opponents - that he was rattled and would crack.

In most business competition there is little to choose between competing companies in terms of product or pricing or service. The difference between winners and losers often lies in the upbeat never-say-die reactions of your sales people and their ability to bounce back from disappointment and go on to make the next big sale with a positive, calm and resolute attitude. Hire Rory; Fire Andy!

The Marketing Myth

As most of my business life has been spent in direct selling functions I have studied sales and marketing deeply.


This downturn has prompted me to look again at some of my long-held assumptions and I have come to the conclusion that a fundamental concept drilled into me years ago by academics when I did my MBA is a complete misrepresentation of reality.


Jerome McCarthy and Philip Kotler's assertion that "Selling is part of the Marketing mix" - the 4 P's and all that junk - is, as we would say in the wilds of County Tyrone, totally arse-about-face.


This false notion, spawned for intellectual neatness, has misled corporate executives for years and resulted in a diminution in status of selling, diluted sales efforts, weakening of direct sales support investment and an associated inflation of costs in indirect marketing activity.


Now, don't get me wrong. I am not dismissing marketing as an essential element in sales success. All I am saying - and this is vital - is that marketing is part of the selling mix; not the other way round.


As John King, one of Ireland's greatest businessmen, puts it "at the end of the day, the only thing that really matters in business is sales"
Successful selling has four key components, in each of which to a greater or lesser degree, marketing plays an important though subservient role.


1. Preparation - Leading to a comprehensive targeted plan.
2. Investigation - Looking for opportunity and diagnosing customer "pain"
3. Presentation - Communicating the solution
4. Negotiation - Closing the sale


Downturns are opportunities for a rethink on how we go about things. So, here are a few suggestions to help you "put marketing in its place"


1. Scrap your marketing function and make all marketing decisions within the sales function.
2. Abolish all stand-alone marketing titles
3. Elevate "sales and selling" in corporate importance and priority.
4. Make your sales function "own" all marketing activity
5. Treat your sales people as heroes.
6. Engage everyone in the company in support of selling.


Oh, and don't believe everything the academics tell you!

Export or die – a message for Irish businesses

The 3 amigos and predictors of catastrophe! - Nostradamus and Old Moore’s Almanac meet Grumpy Old Will (GOW)


I have checked, and neither Nostradamus nor Old Moore has predicted the full impact of the current economic mayhem. Nor have they identified the actions that a business should take in response. GOW didn’t predict it either so the 3 amigos are in full agreement there, but here is a view on what most Irish SME companies should do now.

It has always been important for business leaders to look carefully at the opportunities to sell outside their home markets and because the readers of this blog are sophisticated business people, I am not going to waste time justifying the compelling reasons in support of this view.

However, up to now in broad terms, the strategic imperative for exporting was founded on the requirement for growth. The world has changed and within the 3 year planning horizons of most Irish companies, North and South, today’s strategic imperative is survival. All of a sudden, rather than being a “nice to have” dimension, exporting is the key to survival.

The chronic state of finances in Ireland, where there is a significant possibility of civil unrest on top of all the other difficulties, means that any company with more that 50% of current sales in the home market will have to seriously revise its strategy.

This is an all-island comment because the descriptor of sales from the North to the Republic as “exports” is a complete cod. Plus, the North is going to be walloped by a huge reduction in the £7 billion subsidy as Britain deals with its own borrowing problems.

So the strategic solution lies in overseas markets that have a genuine chance of emerging from recession in the near term; meaning the US, Europe and Asia. Most SMEs in Ireland, particularly in the North, have only a superficial knowledge of trading in these markets, but they must learn quickly or GOW predicts doom!

What to do?

1. Set up a day for your top team to start to seriously plan strategy in light of the above
2. Pick a strong facilitator who will vigorously challenge your assumptions
3. Ignore all the economists’ talk about “green shoots” – they don’t apply to you!
4. Act on this with extreme urgency

But I am an optimist and hate joining Nosty and Oul’ Moore in predicting doom – so sort out your strategy and prove the 3 amigos wrong!

Downturn antidote

This could change your life! And it is not only for sales people.

Currently, and for the foreseeable future, the general sales environment for companies is extremely challenging and it is vital that they respond by giving their sales teams appropriate sales development training. And you need to take ownership of your personal sales training.

Most sales training fails to deliver sustainable behavioural change, primarily because the participants are not fully engaged and committed. This lack of engagement may be due to the fact that many sales people, and managers in particular, feel they already know enough about selling and have “heard it all before”. Or the training itself is of the ‘sheep dip’ or ‘one size fits all’ variety, where participants are very well aware that their individual weaknesses are not being fully addressed.

In the course of training and counselling hundreds of business owners and thousands of salespeople over the years, I have observed that personal motivation is by a long way the most dominant factor in achieving success in selling. This factor applies in all dimensions of sales, from “foot-in-the-door” to high-level collaborative selling.

Knowledge and skills are basic requirements. The greater your personal motivation, the greater the results. The greater your ownership, the greater the personal motivation.

For your personal sales success – and for your personal life success – own the three key elements of personal motivation.

Drive

· Reason to “get up and go” in the morning – enjoyment of work

· Focus on goals and personal achievement

· Ambition to succeed

· Ability to work hard - very hard

Attitude

· Positive expectancy – glass more than half-full

· Eagerness to learn and accept assistance

· Innovative searching for new ways to achieve

· Enjoyment of work and interaction with colleagues

Confidence

· Performing consistently well – even under stress and pressure

· Believing in the company and its offerings

· Confident in colleagues and enjoying their confidence also

· Facing whatever is thrown up – and still looking for wins

Grab hold of this – and start doing it!