At first glance, the show was going to be all about persuasion and negotiation but actually it ended up as a battle between Quality & Quantity as Jade?s team sought to target prospects and ensure quality appointments and Stephen?s team rushed out to bag as many deals as possible.
Who would win? You probably already know what I think so here are my sales tips for the show?
More Sales Tips For Being A Sales Superstar!
Sales training tip 1: Don?t talk, do.?
Stephen, who had saved his own neck last week by volunteering to be team leader this week, kicked off the show declaring, ?I?m so motivated? and, ?I?m going to give 110%.? Stop talking about it! Do it! Declaring that you are motivated is not motivation. Declaring that you are going to give your all is pointless if you subsequently don?t.
It is far better to hold your cards closer to your chest and prove your worth rather than declaring it. Demonstrate your commitment, passion, skills and worth by walking the walk and adding value to your team, your organization and your career. And keep your mouth shut!
Sales training tip 2: Don?t accept first offers.?
In a ?negotiation? Stephen told one of the clients that typically they worked to a 40% discount off the RRP. The client said that he could only do ?100 off ?475. Stephen moved on without trying to negotiate any more. After all of his bluster about how the task was all about persuasion and negotiation, where was it?
When negotiating it is unwise to accept first offers unchallenged (on most occasions). At best you are leaving profits on the table? at worst you may devalue your product, harm your brand and lose the sale.
Sales training tip 3: Think about your appearance.?
About half way through the show we saw Jade shaking hands in a boardroom whilst still wearing her rain coat. Whilst not crime of the century, when we saw her sitting down seconds later, she was no longer wearing it. One assumes she must have stopped and taken it off when sitting down. Surely it would have made sense to have taken it off in reception? Okay, so it didn?t cost her the deal but it looked unprofessional and unprepared.
Sales training tip 4: Don?t waste your time.?
With a deal of this kind you need to quickly ascertain whether you are talking to a potential client or you will waste a lot of time. In his first meeting of the day, Ricky spent half an hour being shown around a high end restaurant only for the client to tell him that he would not discount in any way. For anyone used to high end restaurants in London this was not that surprising as many of them have waiting lists weeks and months long?
Why would they discount for more customers when they have no availability? Why would they discount when their brand is built around exclusivity and turning people away? Why would they discount when many of their top customers would not wish to be sitting next to someone who was only there by virtue of the fact that they got a deal?
Sales training tip 5: Learn as you go.?
Having made that mistake once, Ricky wasn?t about to make it again and secured two other high end restaurants by changing his tack and his approach. These two deals netted ?6,090 of orders and could have brought in even more had he negotiated for more meals.
Sales training tip 5: Be prepared.?
In tonight?s show we saw Stephen?s team rush out headlong to start making appointments whilst Jade?s team spent more time thinking about who they wanted to target and why. Whilst activity is critical for sales success, so is preparation. There is no point being a busy fool. Time spent planning, targeting and preparing is always time well spent.
You want your activity to be efficient, laser like and to add value for your business and for the businesses of your clients. And preparation is the key to success in this.
Sales training tip 6: Be congruent.?
One of the most uncomfortable moments of the show for me came from Tom and Adam (who both had terrible days at the office). Upon approaching a luxury fragrance boutique (Miller Harris) they both acknowledged that they had never heard of them yet when put on the spot and asked if he had heard of them, Adam lied and said that he hadn?t but that Tom had and that his girlfriend shopped there.
If you tell little white lies like these, stop it now. It is incongruent. It is unacceptable. And it is lazy. You may think that it does no harm but it does and if you watch the scene again it is clearly obvious that they are lying. As it happens, the client either did not pick up on this or did not care and gave then the deal anyway.
If you want to build stronger client relationships than your peers, if you want an awesome reputation, if you want people to buy into you, your products and your company then you need to be congruent and to be congruent you need to be honest.
(And what?s worse? just 2 minutes on a smart phone or an iPad ?researching? the brand and they would not have felt the need to do this anyway).
Sales training tip 7: Take the shame.?
A bit like Lauren Cooper in the Catherine Tate Show, Stephen never wants to ?take the shame.? After trying to blame Ricky (who made 95% of the sales on their team of three) he then blamed Gabrielle for contributing nothing despite the fact that the team strategy was his own and he was present at every interaction she had!
He then went on to tell Lord Alan that he was capable of seeing both the positive and the negative in himself!!! If you want to progress in sales and in life you have to be honest about when you have made mistakes so that you can learn from them and apply better, more effective strategies next time.
Sales leadership tip: Don?t be lured by the thrill of numbers.
At the end of the task Lord Alan made quite a thing out of the fact that Stephen?s team had 9 potential deals and Jade?s had only 6. These translated into 3 deals and 2 deals, respectively, accepted to go onto the website. But the final figures do not support this praise as Jade?s (fewer) prospects brought in ?14,563 and Stephen?s only ?6,440.
Activity is important AND Quantity is important. But only when it is coupled with Quality.
Sales training tip of the day. Focus on Quality first.?
Everything you do should be done well and to the best Quality. When you have Quality, then focus on Quantity but don?t let the Quality drop.
Tom and Adam who made no sales must have been delighted to have been carried by the victorious Jade and Nick and they departed to eat cake. Stephen, Gabrielle and Ricky were left to fight it out in the boardroom. Rather harshly given the circumstances, Ricky was criticized but it was purely a side game to the real deal? Stephen vs Gabrielle.
Gabrielle has been quiet but this is easy for me, sack Stephen. It?s been coming for weeks. Make Gabrielle PM next week and see how she does. Given current company I wouldn?t mind seeing her interviewed as part of the final 4 but Lord Alan had different ideas and sacked her?.
I cannot believe Stephen escaped again? hang on? he hadn?t? a double sacking. Ricky was safe and headed back to the house to tell the others of his near miss experience.
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