Trusted Advisor, the highest level that a salesperson can achieve…

In sales we are always looking for the ultimate sale. For our ship to come in, the mother load of all orders! I would question that supposition with another idea. I think that there are levels or depths that we can achieve in our relationship status that can better serve us long term. These levels or "bridges" if you will (yes I read "how to win friends and influence people" lol about 20+ years ago) bring us to places in our relationship with a client that ultimately will earn us not only the right to do business, but also the right to take the order of all times. There are quite a few levels that a sales person can go through and many exits to the hierarchy. If you progress up the ladder you eventually end up in a new place as the trusted advisor. This cannot be bought you can give all of the good deals you want. You can lose money on their business but until you start speaking the truth and performing your word you will never be in the position to take the "great order."

Here are the levels as I understand them to be:

Of no consequence – This is the first time you walk in; no one pays you any attention as they never believe that they will see you again.

Scum bag – This is the next level as they identify you as the dreaded "salesman"

Nuisance – this is the one that causes most salespeople the most trouble. This is where they recognize you when you call or walk in and do not want to talk to you as they have told you a hundred times, "we are not in the market." Or "we don't need anything." This is where call reluctance really sets in as you know who they are and you really don't want to be confronted.

Opportunist – This is your break. This is where they say anything that sounds like a buying signal no matter how remote.

Deal Maker – This is the level where you make all kinds of promises, get on your knees and beg for the order. You strip out any GP you had in the deal and promise that you can move the moon if they just will sign the order today!

Deliverer of the Promise – This is the second place most reps fall down. They fall for your persistence and now they believe all of your lies, I mean promises. This is where the rubber meets the road for most people. Do you do the work and become believable or do you just give up cash the check and walk on down the road to the next sucker.

Consultant – Ok you have passed the initial test now they call you for what tie to wear but you still haven't signed the "ultimate deal."

Trusted Advisor – At this level you are called in for every major decision. Now you just have to live long enough to see the big deal come through. If you walk through these levels with everyone you increase your change on standing next to the next big winner.

Personal Friend – This is the fringe benefit of being accountable for your words and living by the "code."

Most of our time is spent in the first 3 to 4 levels. Then only about 20% of our time is at deal maker to deliverer. It is the 1% that stay in the "Trusted Advisor" stage or ever get there. These are the relationships that we all fight over. These are the ones that you call and call and call just hoping that they read your email or return your call.

Remember everyone has someone at all of these levels. Every day that you do NOT call someone is getting closer to being the new "Trusted Advisor." This is a hard position to be de-thrown from so stay the course and make good on everything you say. I was once told: "It is better to over deliver than to over promise." Set the expectations properly and mean and do what you say!

Happy Hunting,

Pirate Mike…

Driven… to excellence or failure

You know over the years I feel like I had less to do with myself than I used to give myself credit for. I back in my 20's used to think that I was the sole "destinator" of where I would end up ultimately. Well a few years later and a lot of emotional circumstances, both wins and losses have shown me that I was but a guest in the grand scheme of things. Just a light gust of wind on a breezy sunny day.

What I mean by that is I did have free choice, and I did exercise it on many occasions. But both good and bad decisions that I have made that still seemed to bring me to the same place where regardless, (or should I say in spite of myself) of the choices that I made I ended up ok. The opportunity presented itself and I acted; now I may have been able to act better but as you will see later I knew that if I didn't do something quick I may do nothing at all. I am a firm believer that success happens when opportunity and preparedness meet. Success is a 2 part offer. The sad thing is that many of us would have had more success if we would have had been prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves.

Have you ever said to yourself, wow just think; I thought of that years ago, or man if I could have saved my money just a few months longer, or …. Well that is where preparedness comes in. Many times we wander through our life like a leaf in the winds of time. As a sailor I am quite aware what happens when you put your sails up without checking where the wind is and at what angle the sail is to the wind. Many times we think we are ready for an opportunity and we put our sails up, but we did not prepare ourselves and like the sailor that put his sail up incorrectly and went nowhere with a full sail.

Now how sad is it to watch someone we love struggle against the tides of indecision or even worse make choices that they would later regret. One thing that I know is that the tide goes out and if you are patient the tide surely will return. Knowing timing is important; this is a component to being prepared. You do not want to get in a narrow pass during a tidal exchange, especially if you are trying to sail against a current when the tidal exchange is dramatic. Why you might ask? Well when the tide goes out or even comes in (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a low or high tide) and the exchange of water is great, currents form that head out to sea or come back at great speeds. (Tides come and go, also referred to as flood tide(high) and ebb tide (low)

Trying to sail 6 knots against a current that is 9 knots is futile. You will end up going backwards at a rate of 3 knots. But if your timing is right and you head out at the slack tide (a time in between tides when the water is neither going out to sea nor coming in) you will make headway and get to your destination.

Knowing timing in our life is very important, as we identify our desires we need to make sure that we are prepared to make the decisions that have to be made in order for those desires to come true. And many times also must know when to not act on a desire due to lack of preparedness. Surely if we take off to tackle a great desire and yet have bad timing, we are sure to fail. This can be seen in relationships when people didn't finish with themselves and yet moved forward too soon with the right person in a deep relationship that they were incapable of maintaining. How sad it is when they lose the relationship only due to lack of preparation and not due to lack of opportunity.

I have had many opportunities in my life. Many that I took on at or near the right time and several opportunities that I took on way before my time. I have also been a part to and witnessed people that had a desire and prepared themselves for it. Waiting for the tide to go slack, got in their vessel to take on the opportunities and just as they left the slip let go on the sheets that held onto their sails and sabotaged themselves due to fear of the unknown.

One of our greatest enemies many times is ourselves. Many times in our subconscious we are scared of winning/success. We are scared that what happens if I achieve this great new job, or this great new relationship. I will be required to work hard to maintain, or earn it. The fear of what will I do if I get this, or achieve this. When we sit down to identify our desires and spend the energy and time to prepare ourselves for opportunity we must also be ready to stave off the fear that will settle in as we approach our new goal or desire. We must be ready to reestablish new goals to replace the one that has been achieved so that we can like the sails set properly can maintain forward movement in a desirable direction.

Many times fear of success is as great of a detriment to our future as apathy and laziness. Nothing is ever static we are either moving forward or backward. We are born and we immediately start the dying process. In life we are in a constant state of evolution. Just like the seas, they are in constant motion and only slow down for a moment, many times the way we do only to start back up again, moving forward or backwards.

It has been proven many times that people will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure. Therefore in the sense of motivators, we will many times go way out of our way to avoid something we are unfamiliar with. Unfortunately many times this thing we are not familiar with is success. All too often we are more comfortable with where we are at then where we really want to go. Typically where we want to go is somewhere that we are not and have been not. This uncertainty is what creates the emotion of fear and doubt. This is where the uncertainty comes in, once the uncertainty has grasped the brain, the emotions that come from that are death. Death to the new ideas, Death to the new dreams, Death to the new job, Death to the new relationship, Death to the new move across the country, Death to the hopes and goals that you have lived a lifetime to never achieve. Fear becomes our greatest motivator, and with fear no good thing can be accomplished. Knowledge is the great dissolver of fear. Therefore the second half to being prepared other than timing is knowledge. Knowledge is power this old saying is true, and knowledge with great timing is success.

Don't allow fear to grasp you in this way. I am no different. I have fears. I have found that sometimes I must not use too much "common sense" as if it is common and shared by the general public it probably is laden with fear and insecurity. The problem with Common sense is that it is common and is easy to get a hold of. So in that, I am a bit of a gambler. I have a tendency when something I want is at risk to take chances. I am always looking for an uncommon knowledge, the same knowledge that created men like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, William Churchill, etc.

Normally if it will not kill me, won't financially ruin me, or mar me for life. I will just give in to my passions and desires. Try it and jump with both feet in. That way if the water is really cold I cannot back out of it due to doubt and insecurity. Living this way is not for everyone, you could end up with many regrets. Most people do not realize that they shouldn't regret anything, because at one point that was exactly what you wanted. Be grateful that you were able to have it, and many are not so fortunate, their fears have kept them from experiencing anything.

I would rather look back are realize that I would with 20/20 hindsight maybe have done things a bit different, but I would hate to look back and realize that I did nothing. That is my biggest fear, is that I will get to the end of my journey, and realize that when the wind came I never put my sails up. How sad, to never have used all that was given to you.

So as for me, I am taking chances every day. I am meeting new people. I am conquering and overcoming my fears. I am enjoying learning to love new activities. I am experiencing touch and being tactile in new ways. I am exploring my mind, and my senses. I am challenging my natural tendency to be scared of things I am not familiar with. I match that fear with the knowledge of self discovery. I get a hold of new ideas and facts and apply them to new problems and issues. I am a problem solver, I am a lover, I am an explorer, I am a learner and in the world of high dollar technical sales you can not afford to slow down or take a break. Learning is the foundation for future success. And knowledge without action is futile.

The reality is that many times we must face our own demons. We must prepare and we must use good timing, but without the hard work it is all in vain. And too often we look to find fault with others actions, when indeed it was our own inappropriate or lack of action that brought us to a particular junction. I was talking to one of my old sales managers that has moved on to become incredibly successful with his career. He said to me "Michael, usually when the grass appears greener on the other side of the fence is because of a lack of watering on our own side." - Zack Jones

Again, I must agree. It is funny how I agree more and more with the man that I used to yell at and almost get into fights with every Friday afternoon at approximately 5pm. Amazing how a few years along in the industry will change perspective.

Typically when things are slow and our pipeline empty, this simply means we have not been diligent with what has already been given to us to tend to. I look forward to the new opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. I am watering my plot of land and am planting seed. But I have drawn my sword should someone stumble onto my land, lest I find a quick meal and a handful of coin.

I am a hunter, and as a hunter I kill what comes by, but I will also tend my land; as a hunter in winter becomes a busy farmer by the late summer with the proper planting. The cycle of plenty will come back around and I do not want to miss my chance to live off the land either by plow or by the sword.

Well it is true now more than ever when we look on the other side for greener pastures it is typically becuase we have not been watering our own side. Activity begets success almost in everything. Without the sowing their can be no reaping. Without the lying in wait their can be no great surprise or great kill.


The ever evolving rambling of Pirate Mike…

"The seas never stop; they come and go bringing to their inhabitants the substance of life, so is the tide of our life's, people come and go and with them they bring us the substance of life… don't ever give up on people, as you will have given up on your yourself…" - Another original from Pirate Mike…

8:30pm and where are you?

Yes I am at work. What am I doing you may ask? Well I am preparing a file for print, so this could be considered in production terms “ripping time.” Ripping is when a print file is processed and is prepared to be printed. I happen to be preparing 6000 post cards with complex variable data that are needed for an open house that we are putting together.

Why 8:30pm you ask? Well I am in outside sales and this is the only time that I have to myself where I can sit down and think. 8 to 5 is selling time and that is when all good salespeople should be out meeting new potential clients and talking with old ones. It is the time when you should be finding leads and closing business. It is not when you should be printing something.

Time is always of the essence. We never have enough time either for ourselves or to accomplish everything that we would like to at our work. Some jobs differ as they can be walked away from and they come to a stopping point at the end of the day. Mine on the other hand never has an ending point it just starts over each day and goes till I give up.

Commitment to the task and integrity is what all companies are looking for. If we could find people that took pride in their work and made sure the task was completed we would not find many of our jobs being sent over seas. It is hard to get mad at someone just because they will work till the job is completed or have taken the time to get an education and work for a price that attracts a company’s attention.

We are ultimately lazy and this is seen in ever vertical market there is. Whether you are a plumber or an electrician an auto mechanic or a printer we all know someone that is always looking for short cuts and isn’t concerned for the quality of their work. It is a shame that we take so little pride in what we do that we can be replaced so easily.

At my job people always look at me crazy as I tend to offer a hand, show up at accounts that are not mine, take time out of my day to explain or teach a concept to someone new. I don’t fight over accounts. I have been known to hand over a prospect to someone that has the relationship or can get the deal done quicker. I try to put my clients first and make sure their needs are tended to.

In any organization there are many levels of management that are constantly looking at the numbers, maximizing margins, protecting the company’s interest. Who looks out for the client? I have always felt that I was that person. I was the front line sales rep that had to make sure someone that knew what was going on argued on their behalf.

Now there are times when a client is unreasonable but many times things go wrong and the customer is just waiting on an action on the part of the vendor. When things do not get done the customer isn’t sure what happened other than the promise wasn’t kept. It is our duty to ensure that the promises are kept and that things go as smooth as they can. The larger the company is and the more complex of an operation that has to be performed, the more that can go wrong. Many times things can get started off on the wrong foot with inaccurate paperwork, poor order entry, lack of documentation, lack of explanation or a vague or incomplete statement of work. When orders are delayed things start off poorly. Then if the implementation and execution isn’t smooth you know you are heading for disaster. Billing and Service after the fact just make things worse if you have already started down this slippery slope of non performance.

I get caught in between the customer and our company all the time. It is normal for something to go wrong at some stage in the game. The more experience you have and the better you get just means that you deal with these situations quicker and with more style. I like to think that I am pretty good at what I do and that many times it looks like everything is under control even when I am about to come unglued.

Customers don’t know your business like you do, and they have no clue as to what happens after they sign the “magical documents” you provide them. Many start to get excited about all of the business problems their new purchase is going to solve and start to believe all the reasons why they signed the paperwork you gave them in order to feel good about what they have done. Once things start to come down they start to have feelings of uncertainty that unravel their thoughts and give them fears that create new objections you must over come.

It is in your best interest to soft sell your timeline and to build in some help for yourself by selling your customer some of the potential pitfalls upfront so that they know there will probably be some things that go wrong and how you have overcome them in the past. When they realize that this is part of the overall process and that you have prepared for it, they tend to be a bit more forgiving.

What happens many times is that deals that we have been working for a while or deals that came up suddenly many times mature quicker than we had originally expected, as the customer comes to the decision that he or she is going to move forward. Many times this happens at the end of a month, quarter etc and then the pressure is on within the company to find product and people to do the service functions that surround it. Supply chain demands push everything to the limit. Backorders are commonplace and technicians and analysts are booked out weeks in advance. No one is available for that new order you just brought in at the last second.

But no one is going to stop an order they simply let nature take its course and everyone plays the “quiet game” till the customer breaks the silence just to inform everyone that they are about to pull the plug on the deal. If the proper expectations are set up front and the order coordinators stay in contact with the customer as the order in entered and processed to that the customer knows what to expect and what is going on many of the issues could be avoided. All to often the customer sets the salesperson up but trying to hold them to the fire on deadlines and time schedules.

This actually works against the customer in many ways. It sets an unrealistic expectation and pushes the salesperson away to their quiet place. This refuge is where all sales people go to “hide” from the potential negative responses that come from a client that is awaiting action from someone. When the desired actions don’t take place the typical response is the “pull” the order and look for a new vendor that can fulfill the order as they expected the process to proceed.

Communication and preparation are necessary to keep the customer engaged in the process and to ensure that they never feel caught unawares. Sometimes the simplest things make the greatest difference. Even a quick email sometimes can fend off the wrath of an unfulfilled order. Customers need to be able to plan and make arrangements so they do not look foolish in front of their supervisors and customers.

Often time’s promises are made on their behalf to others and no one wants to look the fool. We must protect our customers from themselves and set proper expectations so that we can over deliver what we have under promised. The reverse can be deadly to the highly sought after “new business.”

I am a hunter, and I am always looking for a “clean kill.” I like many salespeople hate to get messy. I am the type of person that pays close attention to details and can get lost in the minutia if not careful. I have to make sure that I keep myself out of the office and in the field or I will stay busy and not productive.

This is why it is 9:30 pm and I am still working. I am targeting this rip to be done by 10:00 pm and that means I will be able to go home by midnight. I will have enough time to get some sleep so that I can hit it hard tomorrow and start another hunt for my next customer.

Pirate Mike…


P.S. It is 12:11am and it turns out that the press I was going to use is having technical difficulties.

The sea of emotions,

I have found the emotion of life is what fuels the heart, mind and soul. Without it we would not perceive our accomplishments or failures. Absent of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows we surely would take for granted our consciousness. It is to this end that we strive to feel and decipher the addiction that is our daily emotional fix. I have been “off the wagon” for some time now, and now in a weakened state I feel that it is time to check myself into rehab.
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It is now time to rehabilitate my heart, mind and soul from the daily bingeing that comes from a high pressure sales job selling capital goods for a global company. Just as coffee and cigarettes seem to be a prerequisite for a salesperson so to is his or her addiction to a high level of emotions a requirement. These emotions fuel us and drive us to our ultimate end. They are what makes us champions and like a lead weight takes us to our graves at the bottom of the ocean.
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Months after the initial shock that turned out to be a turning point in my mental career, I am still stunned. I wake up each day hoping the tidal surge will subside so that I can take residence back in my mind where my consciousness calls home. My heart is still heavy with the current that carries me along. Like the tides of the ocean, my soul is heavy from the flow of information that ebbs and floods from my mind to my heart and back. Waiting for a slack tide so that my heart can rest enough to pick back up when the information overload returns.
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Now a survivor of two corporate mergers I feel the pain of those whom have had to change their way of life over the greed of share holders and corporate executives. After watching first hand the inflation of egos and the supposition of truth for what surely was an advertisement of the worst kind. Mental marketing coming from all directions to sooth the savage salesperson and keep him or her at bay. Restricting the freedom of understanding and knowledge to minimize the impact of the truth was their only goal.
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Now I stand alone looking at the aftermath of their greed and manipulation wondering where this new direction will take me. I plot my course and compensate for the deviation that can be accounted for. With the hope that my calculations are correct I carefully proceed. With so many unforeseen reefs and barriers, I know that ultimately I am responsible for my destination and safety. With a heavy sigh I look to the North hoping the winds will subside. I too need a break like many of those that crew along side me. With the warmth that only a South wind can bring I look for a sunrise signifying that a new day has begun and again my opportunities are anew.
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I need to believe that my course is well thought out and that my helmsmanship is sure. We only get one chance to do this right and I do not want to wash up on a lea shore with no one to assist in my rescue. Even as a rudder can turn a massive ship, we as individuals have great influence on those around us and can take the team to new heights or destroy any good that is among the crew. With so many lives and families at stake I hope that those that are in power take into consideration their actions and direction.
Bringing new blood onto the ship I see new deck hands daily. Shining their shoes and straightening their uniforms I see them proudly walk around in blissful ignorance. Ahh to be ignorant again and walk hand in hand with the honeymoon that only a newbie can embrace. For those that start up this adventure under the knowledge of the new owners it is a simple task. For those that started under the old captain a new charge could mean a rough trip for everyone.
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Just as we clean the decks and keep order of the lines we must tend to the corners of our minds. Holding to the truths that we know and leaving room for new understandings that will come from experience and the enlightenments of others. Consistent effort is the key to success and I too must manage the emotions that rule my head and heart. Just as adrenaline keeps us alert in the midst of a storm we must carefully watch ourselves as the storm subsides. Sleep comes to those that take refuge in the lull of action, only to be rudely awakened to dangerous seas as the storm’s anger builds anew.
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So to in our sales career we must maintain the pressure, even when the storm seems to subside. If we take the pressure off we will find ourselves in a dangerous position as our pipeline comes to an ugly end. We must be diligent and keep alert to the ever increasing dangers that lurk around every point. In this age of technology we are constantly being bombarded with information that can overload our emotions and carry us off like a tidal wave.
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As the immediate storm system subsides I wait to clearly take inventory during the daylight to reconcile the reports. I am also curious to see the changing of the watch that is to come so that I may know whom I will report to in the coming hours and days. What we do know is we have survived the first wave, but we do not know what is behind it. Only time will tell us what our true fate is to be. I for one am eager to meet my destiny.
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Pirate Mike