Lessons from Negative Ads

Today marks the end of those annoying political commercials that drive us all to the brink of insanity. Each candidate has his or her own commercial with a direct attack on the other candidate. In talking with the public most are very candid about their displeasure with these negative ads saying that the ads are horrible and they cannot make heads or tails of what these candidates stand for. So the question becomes “why do these candidates spend millions of dollars on all these negative ads?” Is there a marketing and sales lesson here?

 Here are some statistics from the public on negative ads:

• 59% believe that all or most candidates deliberately twist the truth.

• 39% believe that all or most candidates deliberately lie to voters.

• 43% believe that most or all candidates deliberately make unfair attacks on their opponents. Another 45% believe that some candidates do.

• 67% say they can trust the government in Washington only some of the time or never.

• 87% are concerned about the level of personal attacks in today’s political campaigns.

If you were doing research on your marketing campaign and got these results back it would suggest that you would want to take a different path with your campaign and align with what the public wants, but yet none do. Why is that?

The secret to why they work is psychological. Think about this…

If you sell professional services then you know that what you are really selling is trust. You can convince yourself that its your unique value proposition, you’re on target solution or your superior price/value, but at the end of the day the prospect has to believe and trust you. Its as much a series of psychological acrobatics as it is a sales call.

So…what does this have to do with these negative ads and why they work? Well…the secret to why they work is all psychological. If a seed of doubt can be planted and take hold in the public’s mind then the candidate can swing the voters his/her way. Increase the frequency of these negative ads and you help the seeding to take a firm hold. The longer an image of a candidate is maintained in the minds of voters, the more difficult it becomes to change that image and thus behaviors change.

Now lets look at the other variable of why these negative ads work and what we as marketers and sales people should know.  Challengers are the group most likely to use negative ads. Incumbents have generally spent years building positive images of themselves and thus have a track record that can thwart some of the negative ads. In fact, if voters have equally positive feelings about both candidates, the incumbent is bound to win on Election Day because the incumbent has the history and is a proven commodity.

Think about you as a new business prospecting in an organization that has an established incumbent. Can you see the challenge you face and why these negative ad campaigns work? Place one seed of doubt in the prospects mind and the incumbent can be instantly dethroned.

This blog is not suggesting that we should all move to negative marketing campaigns and sales techniques in order to win business. The point of this blog is to become aware of why these techniques work and how they are used to change people’s perspective and behaviors. Often, we look to research to point us in the direction of success, but as you can see you have to look beyond the research and poll numbers to come to a full realization of why techniques like these work.  The more we know about how something works the more likley it is that we will succeed!

What is your prospects priority?

We all know the many steps to a successful sales call….
1. Doing pre-call research on the company
2. Qualifying the prospect
3. Asking key questions that uncover specific needs/pains
4. Getting agreement on next steps

I am sure we can add to this list, but I think this list covers basics. However, what is missing from this list that many salespeople miss is the priority/s. Once the prospect has shared with you the specific pains they are experiencing most salespeople stop there and immediately move into solution mode. 

We look in our solutions toolbox to see which tools that have that can fix or address those pains. This may not happen at the initial sales call, but most likely will happen deep into the sales process during the proposal process. In our post sales call we think…..”I got it!” We were very successful at getting to the exact pains of the prospect and even understand the cost of those pains. The problem is that though we have uncovered the pains we have no idea if they are a priority right now or will become a priority at some point.

Think about yourself for a moment. How many times have you experienced pain (even physical pain), but kept putting off going to the doctor to get it checked? You know your leg hurts, but you have three business trips coming up and a report due next month and there is just no time to deal with this right now…..its not on your priority list.

A prospect may be in that same mindset as well. They are feeling pain and can articulate it, but the pain is not yet a priority. So how do you uncover what the priority is? Its simple…..just ask. We as sales and marketing people can sometimes make things more complex then they need to be. Ask the prospect what is the priority in the next 30, 60, 90 days. Ask what the priority is from their perspective and the senior management team’s perspective. The more you can understand what the priority/s are (or when they will become a priority) the better you can both qualify the prospect and see if there is a solution you provide that would fulfill that priority.

Focused preparation for your prospect call

How many times have you had this scene take place…….? You have a prospect who finally wants to meet and even have the appointment setup on the calendar. You are excited and your boss is excited. It’s a good day!

Now lets fast forward to the day of the appointment. You have done your research/homework on the prospect, your presentation materials are complete, and you have some questions at the ready to uncover needs. Feels right and you feel prepared…..but are you?

Upon returning to the office after the call you feel good that you listened more than you talked, gained some more knowledge about the prospect’s needs and got to share all your great products/services. This seems to have been a flawlessly executed sales call (balloons and confetti follow you). A few minutes after you arrive back your boss visits with you and asks….”how did the call go?” You say “GREAT!”….and then you shower your boss with the 80+ things you talked about with the prospect. Then your boss says…..”Sounds good…. what are next steps?” More than we would ever admit it….we really don’t know for sure.

Now let’s look at how a more focused way to prepare would make this great call even better…….

The first couple of question you should ask yourself prior to the call is “What is my objective for this call?” AND “What would I like the outcome to be?” These are very basic questions, but have tremendous impact on how we approach the call and what we do after the call (post call). For example….. The objective of the call may be to identify if this is a right fit customer for the business. Assuming you can identify right fit during the first call a secondary objective could be to setup a 2nd meeting. Thus the outcome you want is securing a 2nd meeting so you can move the prospect to the next step in the sales process. You can now fine tune your presentation and questions around the objective and outcome.

By establishing the objective and outcome prior to the call you can effectively design your approach and move the prospect through the sales process… OR…qualify the prospect out quickly.  By implementing these questions into your pre-call process you can confidently tell your boss exactly what the next steps are for this prospect.

Keeping the value proposition simple

There has been a lot of need these days to reevaluate “value propositions.”  Some of this has surfaced because there has been a surge in the number of new businesses and startup companies and some is due to the fact that established organizations are trying to refocus after a rough ride in 2009/2010.   Companies today are struggling with:

• Identifying their value proposition
• Clearly expressing the value proposition (communication)
• Testing/ measuring the value proposition (strength over time)

 The value proposition really is simply a cost-value analysis of what a company can provide to its clients (externally focused). This is an internal document on which all other communication can be based (i.e. the nucleus of your sales and marketing initiatives).   

People often confuse a value proposition with taglines.  A tagline is a derivative from a value proposition….not the proposition itself.  Good value propositions are specific and give a clear picture of why and how the product/service can provide the highest value to the client….for example:

• Increased revenues
• Faster time to market
• Decreased costs
• Improved operational efficiency
• Increased market share
• Decreased employee turnover
• Improved customer retention levels

Don’t get intimidated by revising or creating a value proposition….they not that complicated. If you have existing clients they can be an invaluable source of information on what your value proposition is (from their perspective) and how it compares to others they have used or are using.

Just keep an external focus when creating your value proposition and ask yourself the following:

1. What specifically do we want to own/focus on?
2. Can we/will we deliver to our focus (The promise)?
3. Is it relevant to our targets (prospects/clients)?
4.  What tangible benefit will the targets receive?

Good luck and don’t over complicate things…..keep it simple and focused!

difference between management & information gathering

Do you know the difference between management and information gathering?   This week I was on the road again coaching some sales managers.  I began to notice a very common thread running between all of them.  These managers were very detailed in gathering lots of information about pipeline adds, referrals, upcoming appointments, etc.  from their sales team.  They had an incredible amount of  sales reports, but I kept seeing the same pattern of Sales Mangers providing no coaching for their people. 

The conversations went something like this:

Sales Manager:  “So how many referrals did you get this week?” 

Sales Rep: “Four”

Sales Manager: “How many pipeline adds did you have this week?”

Sales Rep: “Two for a total of $250K…..one from X prospect and the other from Y prospect”

….and then the conversation quickly went to specific deals that were in process and the details around those deals.  It seemed more like two people talking about sales with one documenting (The Sales Manager) and the other verbally throwing out numbers (Sales Rep).   I really never saw any “management” going on.

To get the most out of your sales team you need to do more than just gather information and run it up to the Senior Team as a report.  The management side of your title is to clearly understand why the numbers are the way they are (what is working and what is not), coach the team so they can become more effective with their processes and set clear expectations for the following week.  Further, you will want to setup a plan and get clarity around how those expectations can be reached.  

Too many Sales Managers simply collect information or validate the numbers in sales tracking system like Sales Force.  This behavior leaves a lot of money on the table and doesn’t do much (if anything) to move the sales numbers in a positive direction.

Look for those opportunities to coach your team, get clarity around the numbers, set expectations with each team member for the following week and come up with a plan to get there.  You will find that the information you do collect next time will something that is more predictable and numbers you would be happy to share with the senior team.

How committed are you to your team?

Is there a business lesson to be learned from this year’s start to the football season?  Isn’t a football team much like a business team?  Let’s look at an example……

 This is a tale of two quarterbacks which are leaders of their teams (and yes the quarterback is the leader as well as working with the coach to execute the strategy).  It’s a story of what results you can expect when you are not committed…….despite having top level talent.

 Brett Favre (quarterback of the Vikings) was very casual about showing up to camp this year.  Favre was caught between retirement and remaining in his role as quarterback.  Unfortunately for him and his team he has not committed fully to either.  The net result is a team that has a soft leader who is neither focused nor committed to success.  Even with Favre’s great abilities and incredible talent there is no success to be found.  Favre’s team is out of synch and continues to make mistake after mistake and the frustration grows.  The lesson is that you can only get away with a casual approach for so long before the cracks start showing.  A leader without commitment cannot create a pattern or a rhythm for success and may throw the whole team off.

 On the other hand Donavan McNabb (quarterback) who was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Washington Redskins earlier this year made it a commitment to get up very early every morning to lift weights and meet with his new team.  He got to know them individually and make sure here was there for every practice with the team. The net result is that Donavan is completing nearly every pass and his team is in synch with the leader.  In fact the last game Donavan completed 28 of 38 passes for a total of 426 yards (That’s an incredible stat). Better yet it only took him two games to achieve that goal!  Donavan may not win every game (the entire team has to perform), but the Redskins are having very positive results and the momentum is moving forward. 

 How committed are you to your team ?

Your Golden Opportunity

Organizations (B2B or B2C) are constantly on the search for ways to connect with our customers.  We track their spending patterns and behaviors, do customer research, track trends, test price sensitivity, etc.  We also use online communities to listen to their conversations to see what they are saying about our brand, our product and even what they say to each other hoping for that gold nugget.  Why do we do all this?  Because customers are constantly evolving and shifting behaviors and if we have any chance of selling to them we need to understand them.

2009 presented organizations with one of the most difficult selling environments that organizations have experienced in quite some time.  Not only was it a difficult in 2009, but the selling environment today is not much better than it was in 2009 and looks to be a long road before we see significant improvement.  However there is something that we as sellers and marketers may be missing.  Something that we can leverage, something that doesn’t require a lot of heavy lifting in connecting with our consumers….and best of all its right there in front of us!

Never has there been a time (at least in my 44 years of life) when businesses and their consumers are in 100% alignment.  2009 created a behavior that is so strong it plummets our stock markets to this day.  What is it?  Its cost savings, its efficiencies, its simplification.  Doesn’t matter if you are a business or an individual sitting at home we are l looking for the same thing.  A way to save costs, maximize what we already have (efficiencies) and eliminate anything that adds complexity (only keep those things that are necessary).

Is this not a golden sales and marketing opportunity?  We are all thinking the same thing and the thought is so dominant that it remains just as relevant today as it did in 2009.  Despite the world of digital technology moving at light speed changing the way we do things the common thread of cost savings, efficiencies and simplification remains.  As us sales people say…..”Don’t let this opportunity pass you by!”

Having valuable conversation

Have you ever been in a situation where you are managing your sales person (or maybe you have been this sales person) and after outlining the sales goal the response you get is….“That goal is impossible!”  Shortly after this response the battle table has been set.  The Sales Manager is on one side of the fence with responsibility to report back to the leadership team progress on the goal and the salesperson is on the other side of the fence wondering how and the heck they will ever reach this mountain of a goal.   Its an ongoing saga that plays out over and over in every sales organization.

Typically, the conversations are heated with one side turning up the flames of justification and the other side trying to extinguish it with a laundry list of reasons why this is an unreasonable request.  These conversations tend to not go well with each party leaving the meeting with ruffled feathers.

Here is another way to have a more valued conversation so that there is a win/win on both sides.  Let’s start with the sales goal.  The goal is the goal….doesn’t matter the number or how reasonable or unreasonable it may seem….it just simply is what it is and is set at the leadership level.   Unless you are the CEO of the company you most likely have no control over the number so there is common ground there between the sales manager and the salesperson.  

The question to ask toad value and avoid a potential confrontational conversation is…..”Are you willing to take on this goal?”  Pretty simple question, but profound because if the answer is “Yes” than you can collaborate together to come up with some ideas and associated plans to reach that number.  If the answer is “No” then the discussions can shift about the salespersons transition plan with the organization.  If you are the salesperson you should ask yourself this same question.

I have seen countless sales battles over this issue and it really boils down to this simple question.   There is no reason to get into battles where each party is trying to outwit the other or provide justification.   It just needs to be a logical discussion with a plan in place to address either answer.

The Value of a Happy Client

In our busy business lives few of us ever take the time to talk with those existing clients who are delighted with the services/products we provide.   Why?…because they are happy there is no need to bother with anyone who is happy…right?  Instead we spend most of our time with unhappy clients trying to adjust our business approach/model to turn them into happy customers.  While there is some value in talking with those unhappy clients the real gold to be found is with those clients that are pleased with the value they receive and keep coming back.

Lets dig a bit deeper on this subject…….

Although you may have many happy clients it is rare to find ones that are absolutely 100% satisfied on every level.   People in general like to share their opinions (if asked) and someone in a positive state of mind is more likely to provide creative input.  Happy clients will provide excellent input on those areas of opportunity as well as highlight those areas of strength.

Further, these are your best salespeople!  I don’t care how great a salesperson you may be your client can outsell you 100 to 1.  Their story is more credible because they lived the challenge firsthand and invested their own money in a solution.  They also were accountable for the results.  There is nothing more credible then that.

Also, happy clients know the value they received throughout their experience with your organization from initial discussion to the sale to the delivery.  Their perspective is invaluable in providing you insights across your business model and to the real value proposition your organization offers.

Lastly, they are the voice of your brand.  They are out there sharing their experience with others.  Ask them who you should be talking to, what other markets they would suggest you look at and how you might expand your portfolio.   Unfortunately lots of time, energy and resources are spent around the squeaky wheel and it does get heard.   Start moving your attention to those happy clients and you will be pleasantly surprised at how much value they can add to your business…..not just in dollars…..but in new opportunities.

No Coach….No Wins

As we approach our beloved football season (fantasy football picks, lazy fall days on the couch and jersey day at work on Fridays) it’s hard to imagine our team winning without its coach.

A coach is a vital part of the team.  They work both in group settings and at the individual level to increase performance and deliver results.  Can you imagine sending a team (even with the best players) to a seminar or training session then letting them loose the rest of the season to play on their own?  Its unheard of…..but that is exactly what we do in business with our sales teams.

We pull together a strategy, put together some sales training then let the salespeople out the door to execute.   We check back in periodically (monthly or quarterly) to see how they are progressing then become disappointed when they don’t perform to the outlined goals/expectations.  The reason for this is that we are creatures of habit and once the training is over we tend to return to the same behaviors we had prior to the training.

To break this cycle you have to change the “pattern of behavior” and this requires a consistent level of coaching so adjustments can be made along the way as different situations are encountered.  Without regular coaching the team may not deliver consistent wins.