My pal, Warren "Jaydee" Thornton, and I were having lunch at Little Bit's Barbecue just north of Sheffield, AL, back in November. I'd gone down for the grand opening of the new North Alabama Manauqua Casino, the newest of the Indian reservation casinos to open.
Jaydee, you will recall, is the proud owner and president of Jaydee's Lithographic Printing. He's partial to Little Bit's chopped pork, and I could die for the all-you-can-eat dinner of fried catfish. I was about two bites away from a powerful need for seven Tums when Jaydee brought up his latest salesperson disaster.
You regular readers will recall that Jaydee was the one who first hired Marvelle Stump and gave him his start in the great world of graphic arts sales. Marvelle has moved on to many companies since his inaugural stint at Jaydee's place and is the only salesperson in North America whose total commission draw money exceeds his actual sales. Over 13 years, Marvelle has collected $487,766 in draws against commission and has sold $163,212 in actual jobs—if you count the $53,907 for jobs where the customers never paid.
Well, ol' Jaydee is just about my most opinionated friend. He is also the world's greatest "one-upper." I actually hate one-upping more than any other behavioral malady, but Jaydee does it so much that it's funny. A one-upper incidentally is someone who reminds you constantly how well his son is doing at Harvard. These folks make it especially heavy when you've said something like, "My son was just arrested on campus for walking under the influence and indecent exposure."
At these times, the worst one-upper will say something like, "Well, my son is the starting quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide and ever'body says he's a shoo-in for the Heisman Trophy. He's going to be drafted by the 'Niners and sign for about $10 million—and he's still got a 4.0 grade point average."
Jaydee has absolutely no sense of his own inadequacies and never takes blame for anything. He does, however, take credit for everything. So far, beginning with Marvelle, Jaydee has never hired a salesperson you could characterize as "successful" or who stayed more than 17 months. The roster of ex-salespeople includes a father-in-law, two brothers-in-law, a former salesman of used mobile homes, a bartender and two "exotic" dancers he met on a business trip to Birmingham.
So, Jaydee, wiping barbecue sauce off his moustache, began to whine about "lousy" salespeople. He said, "You just cain't find 'em where they's worth a damn. They say they'll work, and then they don't hit a lick. In my book, give me a good man who can talk 'Bama football and hold his likker, and I'll show you a great print salesman."
Determining Sales Saavy
I got to thinking about Jaydee's inspired analysis on the plane flying back to Philadelphia and remembered a press release Attila the Editor sent me. The press release was about Gregory M. Lousig-Nont, Ph.D., of Las Vegas, who had identified 13 selling skill characteristics that represent an alternative to the time-honored practice of testing for sales personality.
Let's see how Dr. Lousig-Nont's skills relate to printing. The following is his description of each skill:
- Approach and Involvement. Salespeople need to know how to approach and involve a prospect in the buying process, building immediate rapport without alienating the customer.
- Overcoming Objections. Salespeople need to know how to respond, without rancor or defensiveness, to a customer's concerns and objections.
- Closing. Salespeople must know how to close or ask for the order. Many salespeople do everything well but are not aggressive enough to ask for the sale.
- Polite/Courteous. It is also important for successful salespersons to balance their technique between being aggressive and having a sense of when they might be pushing too hard and "turning off" the buyer.
- Ethics. True professionals recognize the importance of complete and total honesty in dealing with a customer.
- Friendly/Warm. Remarkable salespeople know how to ask questions that help identify a prospect's needs and motivations for selecting a supplier. These salespeople present themselves as caring, warm, sensitive and friendly individuals who project that their primary concerns are making sure that their product or service meets the needs of their prospect. Making a commission is always secondary to customer satisfaction.
- Handling Problems. Salespeople must be able to handle customer problems and problem customers. They are always willing to listen, try to understand and act to find satisfactory solutions.
- Qualifying. Effective salespeople know to qualify prospects properly before the first sales call.
- Prospecting/Cold Calls. Successful salespeople know how to prospect and have no fear of prospecting.
- Presentations. Top salespeople know the secrets of giving productive demonstrations and presentations that involve the customer in the product.
- Time Management. Good salespeople know how to manage their time to maximize their profit potential.
- Telephone Technique. The best salespeople use the telephone effectively to make appointments and generate interest in their products and services.
- Call Enthusiasm. Winning salespeople are enthusiastic about getting out and making sales contacts. They seek out appointments rather than avoiding them. They keep their spirits high, handle rejections well and try to look at negative things in a positive way. They recognize that selling is a game of percentages.
Well, the good doctor oversimplified some things, and I'm guessing that you already knew most of what he said in the press release, but he did study thousands of salespeople who work at more than 1,200 companies throughout the United States. It helps to validate what you know about yourself against all that data.
I'm still suffering from the indigestion brought on by Jaydee's one-upsmanship and the 14 fried catfish I ate, so I'm going to take a nap—whilst you get out there and sell something!
—Harris DeWese
About the Author
Harris DeWese is the author of "Now Get Out There and Sell Something!" published by Nonpareil Books. DeWese is a principal at Compass Capital Advisors. DeWese specializes in investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, sales, marketing, planning and management services to printing companies. He is one of the authors of the annual Compass Report, the definitive source of information regarding printing industry merger and acquisition activity.