Talking Brochure Salespeople

Of all of the industry's over the last few hundred years Sales has been the one that has changed the least. What is interesting is that there has been many opinions on what works and very little data.

Professor Neil Rackham conducted a massive research project of over 35,000 sales call in 12 countries over a 10 year period and found some very interesting data.

What was conclusive is that converting features to benefits is getting less and less effective. This means that Salespeople can no longer afford to be a talking brochure. With information so accessible and over 30 Billion questions getting answered on google every month sales people need to move from being a value communicator to value creators.

It is more important than ever to address this with your sales people. So what value are your salespeople creating for your clients and would your clients be prepared to write a check for their sales call.

What does your Brand promise?

The Brand Promise you give to the market is pretty fundamental. It is really what your brand stands for. Of course it ties in with the core values and vision I have discussed in previous blogs. If you get this right and can back it up with tangible evidence or facts that your company is delivering then it becomes powerful and adds value to your brand......if you have a valuable brand then you have a valuable investment!

The Results.Com Brand Promise is "We engage all of your people and deliver extraordinary results". I'm not saying this is the best or the most powerful but if you take into account that independent research is conducted regularly then it comes to life. As at Feb 09 our clients average annual revenue growth was 26%.......down from over 40% the previous year but still extraordinary in the face of the biggest recession since World War Two. Add to this we are now entering the recovery phase so our clients are going to be well placed to ride the lift!

If you have the research independently carried out and verified then its pretty powerful isn't it?

So what is your brand promise?

Karl

Wacko Jacko

Here's the thing, i actually liked Michael Jackson. For all his weirdness, insecurities, strange family, attitude to kids.....put all that aside and look at his music and wow....a real point of difference. His voice, energy in dance....lets face it skills on the dance floor even! What a brand and what earning potential.

So what went wrong, why was he so heavily in debt? Put into business context you have to ask what his 10-15 year goal was? Did he really use his obvious points of difference in a positive way? Why was the "Michael Jackson" brand replaced by the "Wacko Jacko" brand? There is also the begging question as to whether he really had the right advisers, employees with skills and were they all working towards the big goal?

So as we watch the media frenzy unfold and we are fed the edited version of what happened in his life and watch his bank accounts fill up to the brim "post humously" it is always healthy to look at why his business model did not work and remember his positive aspects...the song and dance he gave the world.

Karl (see our website)