Should organizations cut back on learning and development intiatives (reducing human capital potential) in tough economic times, or increase training?

Should organizations cut back on learning and development initiatives (reducing their human capital potential) in tough economic times, or increase training and development initiatives?

In the creation of a learning culture one cannot look at the right time to train or the wrong time to train. It is about the LEARNING in either case. Is the student ready, willing and able? Do the supervisors support the initiative in such a manner that they will allocate the time off from normal work to allow the student to learn.

The right time if there is one for LEARNING is all of the time. I dread and fear the organization that says, "We are too busy to train." One can only imagine the disaster that group is heading for. It is like the vehicle that is on a path directly for a cliff without wings to allow it to soar. They will crash. This is not always because training was not provided – more likely is the case that the structure was in place to train and the supervisors grumbled that we were short staffed and could not spare the time of for attending the session.

As they fly off the edge of the cliff it is not the correct time to deploy the wings and read the instructions on how to fly. Yes there will be some value. It should not be the expectation that the value would be as great as if there were a commitment to an ongoing initiative.

Taking our thoughts in another direction we have heard the organizations that say, "As the leader of this company it is my job to develop my people and train them." Perhaps some examination of the leaders role needs to be kept in perspective. When we go off the cliff having that leader at the helm is what most people will want. Yes the leader should be involved in the LEARNING with her or his people. She or he should not be the only one creating the learning culture. Everyone is involved in a learning communities cultural development.

Is now the right time to invest? Yes just as it is important all of the time to invest. Measured development is a part of a learning culture and must be ongoing. On should never give it up if they expect a return. Just as it is difficult for people to invest in a down market now is the greatest time in our nations and the world’s history to invest in our future. Learn now and always. Invest in human capital now, as you always should. For those that have done it regularly there will be a greater return, for those that start to now just keep doing it and for those that never did and never will enjoy your flight off the cliff.

As a final note does one need question the experience, learning culture and safety expertise of the US Airways captain and crew and their training to land their plane in the Hudson River saving every passenger?

Provide training and learning now and allow learning to flourish earn now and forever. Never give in!

Business is slow

When the customer says this to you as the salesperson you want to first acknowledge the statement. NOT AGREE with it! Successful sales calls have over twice the number of acknowledgements as unsuccessful sales calls according to the research conducted in the development of the Achieve Global Professional Selling Skills seminar (PSS). As the largest provider of the program for the last two consecutive years I would like to share some things that I have discovered that work for my clients that use the PSS skills. Not the ones that just give it lip service!

When the customer says "Business is down right now," we need to understand what is going on. This person knows the facts and business is down or this person does not know the facts and have been told to say this. Either way the job of the sales person in a down economy or an up economy is to serve their customer with ways to differentiate themselves in the market. It is our job as salespeople to assure that our clients and customer do not suffer from the down turn.

EXAMPLE:

Customer: Business is down right now.

Salesperson: I am sure you have plans for improving this situation. Having a relationship with us as a supplier at times like this is the very reason why we should be talking today. Our products or system can help you. Can I ask you some questions to help highlight how we can improve your business right now?

Customer: YES

Salesperson: Turn to the indifference probing model - If you have not taken PSS - this would be the time to make a call to learn more about our work - 518-869-8600.

EXAMPLE:

Customer: Business is slow, we have put a freeze on all new orders.

Salesperson: Prioritizing purchase decisions is extremely important. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE REALLY BIG COMPANIES IN YOUR FIELD DO WHEN BUSINESS SLOWS DOWN A LITTLE? Do you think that they completely cut off all purchases and board up the windows? Of course not. I respect your need to prioritize purchasing decisions. I suggest that you think like your large competitors. Cut back on purchases, but still make vital purchases, let me remind you why our product offerings are vital in any economic condition.

Customer: Okay

Salesperson: Turn to the indifference probing model - If you have not taken PSS - this would be the time to make a call to learn more about our work - 518-869-8600.

EXAMPLE:

Customer: Oh it is so terrible - We are loosing our shirts business is so bad!

Salesperson: Taking time to evaluate our wardrobe is extremely important! Business is slow right now?

Customer: You said it is.

Salesperson: Then, this is the perfect time for us to configure an order for your business. When business is booming, your people do not have the time to learn how to effectively impliment new products it your operation to increase sales and reduce expences. Now, while time are temporarily slow is the perfect time to get into this new product so that we can dedicate the time to training on the new offering and to do sales clinics on selling more of the product at our lower cost footprint! When business picks up, they will be skilled on the product offering.

Customer: Mmm that is an interesting perspective.

Salesperson: Many of our customers have said the very same thing. May I explore a few thoughts with you? Now revert to the indifference probing model.

What is all of the doom and gloom all about?

For those of you that have attended my Professional Selling SkillsTM (PSS) classes this past year and beyond there is a message that I keep getting from you about the selling conditions today. Yes these are turbulent times! A down economy is just the time for us as sales professionals to differentiate ourselves. Now is the time that sales people are exposed as it relates to their weak or limited capabilities. Some of your very best will discover and be discovered for their failure to build and develop their skills.

Let me share the "Leaky Bucket" story with you in terms of you as the salesperson. For the sake of illustration, try to think of yourself as a leaky bucket (hopefully something you don’t do too often). The tiny holes in the bucket are flaws, mistakes, areas in need of format improvement in your PSS skills.

The water represents lost sales opportunities — whether those opportunities are new clients, expanded product sales, new tickets, new kit boxes, more units, more contracts, better networking relationships, more production opportunities, more affiliations with your business and so on. Close up more of those holes, and you retain more opportunities to move towards your goals.

You will never close them all, but you can work to close as many as possible. The process begins with pin-pointing where you need to improve.

Some of the more critical areas that need improvement are:

• Have a written call plan and call objective - New and old sales people have gotten sloppy in the stronger economy and have forgotten to have a plan. Sales just came to easy before. Frankly it is sad they may have actually been better with call plans and objectives. It is just that sales people became satisfied with less when things were good.


• Knowing how to deal with customer concerns COLD! So the customer is indifferent - what did you expect? Are you even calling on the right person? Do you settle to have a relationship with the purchaser only in good times? Are you known to the owner? When the economy shuts down the first thing an owner does is they tell the purchaser to stop purchasing! How will you differentiate yourself if you do not sell to the Very Important Top Executive? Let me give you a clue - you will not! You settled before so now you pay the price - SORRY.


• Ask for referrals - I am amazed at how shy salespeople are to ask for introductions to people in the respective industries they serve. It is silly. Your clients want you to be successful and they will help you. That is if you really offer something unique and special. Which may be the real message that you are afraid to learn that you are (yawn...) boringly average as a sales person.


• As sales executives we have to understand that this is the time to help our customers reduce costs or increase revenues. A proper balance with this is always required. The same holds true however for the organizations that we work for. In down turns it is important for us to look inside and ask ourselves if we can do the same for our employers. The choice of hotel we stay in, the airline we chose, the extra dinner we charge to the company all serve to increase our firms bid to our next client. Ask yourself if doing business with you and your firm really helps your client accomplish more sales or reduced costs. If so how?


• The most cited factors that I hear to mediocre sales performance are sales peoples customers more than the competitors that are selling the same client. This plays out in the form of customers spending less, demanding more or deferring buying decisions. Do you have options to deal with these stalls and customer concerns? Are you listening? Is your own companies management providing you with creative tools to work in the soft economy? Now would be the time to create a unique way to do business with your firm. Frankly you should have been doing it right along but we all get a bit focused on serving the numerous opportunities that we have until the bucket starts to leak and there are less opportunities.


• Leads which are difficult to assess and those that seem to "fall through the cracks" need to be handled with a strong discipline. Are we even interested in building our customer base?


• Sales people have a way of getting stuck in the past, they have poor metrics for sales performance, and they have incomplete or terrible customer records data. Some of this is in large part to giving the sales people the chore of updating data after a full day of sales calls! Why do we do this? Hire a team of transcription support people and put your sales people on a dictation recording line and let the sales people do what they seem to love to do - TALK! Your data will have so much information now that in a down turn such as we might be in now is harvest time.


• Focus your energy on high-value customers or at the very least on those with significant opportunities. This is accomplished in part by demanding that sales and marketing departments become better and integrating their respective functions. Cross train with each other. Marketing people get out in the field and sell! Sales people spend some time understanding the frustrations of those in marketing. You are both on the same team. I watch so much "us and them" in corporate selling!


• STOP SELLING and START HELPING! Allan Cimberger taught my sales team this over 15 years ago when he was in his late 80's and early 90's after an amazing selling career. I persuade you to understand that you do NOT SELL PRODUCTS - you sell SOLUTIONS. This makes this economy the very reason why your clients and prospects should be buying more from you now.


• Sharpen your saw! Steven Covey says it and we need to listen. Graduates of our class are free to attend public session without charge. Now is the time to join a class again if you are a graduate and bring your book to learn again. Even as in instructor that has taught PSS for over 25 years and in the last year taught the program over 45 times I learn in every class that I teach. It is amazing that we have been named for the second consecutive year the largest providing partner of AchieveNET in the world. A small company in Albany, NY that just believes we can even do better for ourselves and our customers. We want you to have exceptional sales in these challenging times.

Less Chicken Little -"Sky is Falling!"

Mark Satterfield shared these comments with me:

There was a very interesting article in the 2/13/08 edition of the Financial Times about how the majority of small business owners are NOT seeing a downturn in their businesses; at least not in the first quarter of 2008. The article points out that an interesting bellwether of the economic future is the earnings reports for Proctor & Gamble.

Apparently one of the early indicators of a significant slowdown in the economy is people shifting from brand label products to less expensive generics. P&G reports no indication that this is happening, which correlates with anecdotal evidence from the Financial Times' survey.

Interesting article and I always appreciate the perspective of FT, which takes a less Chicken Little - "Sky is falling" editorial approach than a lot of other publications.

However, that doesn't mean that it is proverbial clear sailing. It's obvious that businesses that neglect to put in place a SYSTEM for continually getting new prospects, and then converting large percentages of them into clients, are setting themselves up for a huge fall in the not too distant future.

It seems a good time to remind the sales professional of some effective strategies for coping with price objections.

What is the meaning of a price objection?

• The prospect places insufficient value on the product
• A competitive product is a better deal
• The prospect just wants a bargain
  
  
  YOUR PRICE IS TOO HIGH YOUR PRICE IS TOO HIGH!
  Learn to respond to this objection:
  
• It is inevitable
• Buyers will object just to get a discount
• Knowledgeable buyers know that there is often a standard discount for which they qualify
• Price objections are an opportunity to sell the value of the product or service
• The danger is to respond to the wrong price objection
• “Tell me more” or “Explain”

Fundamental price perspectives:

Price versus competition

Discover the difference between the competitor’s proposal and your proposal. The price is lower because:

• The product or service is less robust
• A time related “special offer”
• Price versus approved budget
• Was it a budget, or an expectation
• Was it based on old or unreliable data?
• Price versus buyer expectations
• Was the prospect told about a less expensive solution provided to a friend?
• Explore the friends solution
• The buyer can then accept the other solution at the lower price

The buyer can then accept the higher price for the original solution

Price versus a process alternative

• Your price is being compared to a process alternative
• Buying software may be compared to manual methods
• There are often new benefits that are simply impossible with the manual method

Price versus a percentage of the product price (for continuing services)

• Maintenance or support costs can be greater than the original cost
• 20 years ago hardware and software was more expensive than support
• Today hardware and software costs are low. Labor for support is high
• Support may be more comprehensive than in the past
• Understand and communicate these changes to the prospect

Price versus “do–it-yourself”

• Denies the cost of labor of the participant
• Denies the cost of extended time to implement
• Example: lawn care

1. Everyone can cut grass cheaper than hiring a service
2. Few enjoy spending time on this chore
3. “Do it yourself” places less value on your time

Compressing the Sale - Prospect to Cash!

This past week I was invited to address the worldwide audience of http://www.salesroundup.com/ and hope that you will give the program a listen. My subject was actually suggested by one of my clients - Compressing the Sale – Prospect to Cash!

http://salesroundup.com/blog/2007/09/i-hate-q3-sales-maximization-strategies-for-year-end/

If you are interested you may also want to read and subscribe to my BLOG site as well. You can reach that at http://energyseekers.blogspot.com/. Thank you for your continued work and interest in our firm’s assistance in making your business more productive and profitable.

To order a very interesting white paper go to http://www.createsalesleaders.com/

The SalesRoundup Podcast

http://www.salesroundup.com/blog/

This podcast provides a wealth of material on selling and is a must listen to for any sales professional. Be sure to go back and listen to every issue of the podcast which will require a giant amount of time however I dare you to not find tens of thousands of dollars in ideas to make or save you money. Joe and Mike have got it together and there is much more this summer in their plans for a premium site. Sign up and be sure to share with them that you found the site through Jim Ullery!

And Now We Know the Rest of the Story!

From the October 5, 2001 print edition

Layoffs may not be good business

Just a few months ago almost everyone around here was saying that what the Capital Region needed most for its economy was more workers. There were more jobs than workers to fill them. We were even hearing about companies that could bring good jobs that were afraid to locate around here because there were just not enough workers.

Making the situation worse were census figures showing that upstate New York had a negative population growth rate. Albany's population fell below the 100,000 mark last year for the first time since the very early 20th century. Schenectady lost nearly 6 percent from 1990 to 2000, and Troy 9.4 percent. Upstate declined; the only population growth was downstate. At the same time, economic development groups were decrying the fact that so many college graduates were leaving the Capital Region every June for jobs in other parts of the country.

Suddenly, the economy is hemorrhaging jobs at a rate not seen since the early '90s when rightsizing and downsizing were the corporate themes. Consumer confidence was weakening before the terrorists flew into the World Trade Center towers. Now it is the lowest ever. These are definitely challenging times.

While the panicked airline industry has been shedding scores of thousands of jobs, it is significant that Southwest Airlines, the unorthodox company that has expressed such conviction to corporate culture, has resisted laying off employees.

Jim Ullery, who operates 360 Solutions, a human resources consulting office in Colonie, says that companies, especially those around here, may be paying some real long-term costs if they seek short-term relief by laying off their workers.

"We wake up one day and see national firms and local firms laying off thousands of people," Ullery said. "We have to ask, weren't these people doing something the week before, weren't we investing in these people the week before?

Laying people off can have a detrimental effect not only to the people who are laid off, Ullery said, but also to the people who remain with the company. The ones who stay get what Ullery calls "survivor syndrome," where their focus becomes to protect their position rather than work for the greater good of the company.

Companies like Southwest Airlines that resist layoffs have a stronger sense of community and build a sense of purpose and strong sense of loyalty among their workers. It is surely no accident that Southwest capitalizes the word Employee in its corporate communications.

But the wave of layoffs could have significant long-term consequences around upstate New York because our cities have been losing population while places like Austin, Seattle, San Jose and Miami have been booming. When people lose their jobs, they may not be here when our companies need them back. I remember talking with several upstate New Yorkers in the early '90s who had left their hometowns because their was no career opportunity for them.

"The most recent people who came to work are the ones that tend to be laid off, tend to be recent college graduates," Ullery said. "Fifteen, 20 years ago there was a surplus of people in the demographic of that age group. The baby boom has passed us by, and if we lay off the young people, the implications are that one decade or two decades ago these labor pools would be available to pull back in. Today they are not there. There are fewer employees available by virtue that the baby boom has passed us by; so if we fail to make the investment in the young people, we have really cooked our goose. If we go forward a couple of quarters and the economy heats up again, where are these businesses going to go to find people?"

When older workers lose their jobs, they have a tough time getting back into the work force and tend to make lifestyle decisions to drop out of the labor market, Ullery said.

Layoffs disrupt the sense of community or corporate culture a company has developed over the years, and that has a value that needs to be factored into the decision.

"If you're going to lay off people, you're choosing to throw away the investment you have made to this point. There's just not large enough field of people to employ right now with the demographic of young people being that much less than it was years ago."

And Ullery warns that the companies that begin rehiring first will get the best people.

MIKE HENDRICKS is editor of The Business Review. He can be reached at 437-9855 or mhendricks@bizjournals.com.