Conrey is for Closers

Originally posted at The Whale Hunters blog

There are many ways to lose a deal, we all remember the spectacular flameouts. The one where the salesman was late, rude, unprepared, or some combination of those. The one where they forgot the names of the people around the table they were selling to, or misdiagnosed the pain point they should address. But what about the fatal mistakes that are much smaller, more insidious, and easier to fall into.

One of the easiest to trap yourself with is to Forget the Front Lines.

It is normal for you to have a meeting with “The Boss”, a C-suite or VP or Department head who is the decision maker you have to get to sign off on your proposal. What you forget though is they are the person who will be least directly affected by what you are selling (unless it is a new set of golf clubs or luxury vehicle). The Boss is looking to gain efficiency, productivity, ROI and bottom line. Your job is to show him how what you are selling provides those things.
However, along the way you’re going to interact with the receptionist or assistant, plus one or two of the folks who report directly to The Boss. What you can easily forget once you’re used to hobnobbing with the Executive Washroom crowd is that these folks on the front line are the ones who will really be the decision maker.

No executive will make a big decision without consulting with the people who will be directly affected – odds are you were in a meeting with some of them, or talked to them while waiting for the Boss to show up. If you weren’t on your best behavior with them, they certainly won’t be kind in their review of your product. Treat them just as you do the guy who has a watch more expensive than your car, and they’ll use their influence to pull for you. I’ve seen many a deal won or lost based on the way a simple receptionist was talked to before the big meeting.

Don’t kill your deal before you get the chance to pitch it. Be as humble and respectful to the people who answer your calls and greet you at the door as you can, because they are the ones who really make things work around a busy office.

One of the quickest ways to damage a growing business is to not have your sales team protecting the business. Many small businesses fall into the trap of saying “YES” enthusiastically to any client or deal that comes in. That’s a good way to get started but it also can lead to tons of issues going forward:

• Setting the bar too low for rate – you’ll crimp on your rate at first so that you have something coming in, those clients though are going to get used to that rate and you’ll lose a few when you move it up. More importantly though many business owners are scared to change their rate because they know they can get business at that number and don’t like the unknown of a higher number.
• Setting the bar too low for what your ideal client/project looks like – taking the small deals for a while to get open is fine, but those clients will come back for more nibbles once you’re selling bigger bites.
• Doing things that you aren’t great at – When you’re hurting for work you’ll do things that are at the fringe of your skill set. You’ll stretch a little bit and do things that you can do but don’t like to or aren’t what you want to build your name on. This can lead to staffing problems as you hire to fill skill needs, branding issues as people don’t know what you actually do and so they can’t send you referrals
• Stress – Would you rather manage 4 projects or 8 projects that are each half the size? Every extra project adds overhead and risk to your load. Sell bigger projects and protect the team from that risk.

What other issues have you run into while taking on every deal you find?

Sharks get all the press, they get a whole week even on the Discovery Channel. But they work really hard for their food. They have to be always hunting, always moving or else they’ll starve. They don’t build any relationships with those that feed them, not for any longer than their average digestive process takes at least.

There’s a fish though that you will probably remember learning about in school called the Remora who is almost the exact opposite. The Remora can live and hunt on its own but it thrives when it forms a bond with another fish – often a shark. It eats the leftovers of what the bigger guy leaves behind, or even does some maintenance work by cleaning up the bacteria around the shark’s mouth.

Now this isn’t a science and nature blog, so you’re probably wondering where I’m taking this. I’ve talked about relationship based selling enough times that hopefully my analogy is clear here. The Remora doesn’t have to expend all of it’s energy hunting and swimming around – they just take what their relationship gives them until they need new relationships. A good salesman can be in the same mode. Build a good relationship or ten and feed on those for as long as you can – or be a shark and constantly eat your prey and then move on to the next hunt. If done correctly your existing relationships can fuel all of your future ones and grow your business.