Steve and his entourage just popped out of the darkened auditorium right where we were standing. This was the young Steve, the Rock Star. And his friend Robin Williams was also in the group. I said “Hello Robin!” which caused Robin to walk toward us bringing Steve and his Security along. Robin Williams is even funnier in person. Steve had an awesome presence.

We all had a brief conversation in the lobby of the Moscone Center. For me it put a face, a human persona, to Steve Jobs. Interestingly, it was there I experienced my first earthquake later that day. My memory of Steve remains much more vivid.

When the Apple Board and John Scully ousted Steve after that, I knew the soul of Apple departed. Apple became a different, bean counter company under Scully and in 1991 they took The Apple Education Program in-house which signaled the beginning of the end for many Apple Dealerships. I sold my ownership shares of the computer dealership in 1991/92 and moved on.

After he was fired from Apple, I followed Steve and his struggles with Next and then his success with Pixar. I marveled at the high quality computer animation of Toy Story because I knew how hard it was to make smooth edges on the animated characters. Finally the technology promises were delivered, and Steve Jobs was a major contributor. To this day the movie “Nemo” makes my jaw drop.

In 1997, I was delighted to see Steve come back to Apple as Interim CEO and I still remember how cool the multi-colored iMac was the first time I touched one. Every success for Apple Computer after that put a smile on my face – iPod, Power Book, MacBook, iPhone, iPad…You show ‘em Steve! Da Man was back at the helm.

And since all of us eventually must, Steve passed away last week. It was too soon. I read online that his funeral service was held Friday October 7, 2011. It was a small, private affair. I thought it very fitting that the man who gave so much of himself to the public, was given a private funeral by and for his family.

Thank you Steve for your insightful contributions to helping organize parts of my life. For  adding so much to my entertainment, Podcasts, iTunes – for all of it. Your vision has and will inspire me for decades.

I pray you Rest in Peace.

Greg Mareski, October 8, 2011.

In the prior entry, I mentioned the need for a turn-in meeting to facilitate a successful and smooth delivery for high dollar sales. If there is no plan in your company to make sure all the pieces are in place to make a complete delivery then you are looking to fail!

The Project Manager is the person who has the role of Facilitator. He or she is the “One Neck To Grab” inside your company. They also are a contact for the Customer to ask questions and gain progress knowledge. Large projects have clearly set time-lines that are the progress markers working toward project completion.

Who should attend the Turn-In Meeting?

(1) The Sales Person.

(2) Appropriate Department Mangers i.e.  Technical, Engineering, Procurement, Training, Manufacturing, Vendor Liaison(s) and the Project Manager.

(3) These meetings are usually scheduled by the Sales Person. Additionally the Project Manager. and a Decision Making Manager or an Owner/Principal need to in attendance to define, sign off and verify assigned individuals and the workload.

Turn-In Meeting Agenda Example:

Contract Review – verify proper signatures, scope of work and verify Progress Payment Schedules based on your company original Invoice and Customer Purchase Order information.

Review Project Objectives, Project Scope and a Thorough Job Description.

Procurement and Assembly Time-line -You can’t build it if ALL the parts were never ordered!

Do you need to schedule Engineering and Assembly Technical staff?

Do you need to configure, install and customize the equipment that was sold?

Schedule Review of Sketches, Drawings and pertinent information.

Are there field personnel required to install the products you sold at the Client site?

Schedule the equipment needed (scissors lift, booms, etc.) to be at the Customer Location when needed.

Additional Items

If the project has a scope over a period of weeks or months, it will be necessary to have progress meetings.  The interval is set by the specifics of your industry. For example, if you are integrating equipment that will take 8 weeks for your Vendor to manufacture and supply, then it would be a good idea to coordinate ordering of the equipment so it arrives on schedule to be available for you to integrate into your delivery schedule.

Define dates for First Shipment, Subsequent Shipments and arrange for Installation, Engineer(s) and Project Manager to be on-site at the proper dates and times as per the Project Schedule.

Define Project Completion with Internal Staff and the Client.

- Predefine what is expected by the Client to signal Project Completion. I’ll state again, the time to do this is in the initial Contract, prior to Customer release of their Purchase Order. Defining this avoids the dreaded, “While you are here, there’s just one more thing”. If more work is requested, you can happily price out and issue a change order for the new work.

- Create a Customer Sign-off Sheet to have the Customer release the Project as Completed. The Project Manager needs to present the Sign-off Sheet to the Customer for signature when the project is completed and while he or she is still on site.

If you commit to addressing these details prior to the sales and upon receipt of the Customer Purchase Order you will be able to complete projects more swiftly and also handle more projects with nothing falling through the cracks.

Good Selling!

Greg Mareski, Professional Problem Solver and Trusted Sales Adviser.

Congratulations on your big and complex high-dollar sale! You have worked on this for months, you made sure that all the levels of your clients decision makers were on board and looking favorably on your company’s solution. You took the time to determine what each decision maker thought was needed and important to this project. Your delivery schedule is tight but you know you and your company support team can successfully get the job done. If you successfully complete this high profile sale, you can use it to gain credibility in you and in your company’s ability to provide powerful solutions in the big leagues. There is a lot riding on this sale. All your ducks are in the right order and you are all set to go.

Are you really sure all is in order?

Past experience clearly shows the need for a plan to make sure that large projects are setup in the proper sequence to succeed. The more planning you put in to developing the project time line, the more highly your chances rise towards success after the sale. There are a lot of methods to set up the project sequence to meet the clients time table. But how do you know there is a plan in place to make the sale happen successfully? Is your plan proven with a rich history of past success?

Entering the Sale

Once you receive the Purchase Order you need to have your company’s ERP or order entry system system reflect how it is supposed to unfold. For instance, let”s say the total sale is large enough to need progress payments so you can set it up as 30/30/30/10. This translates to 30% down at time of Purchase Order and then 30% at time of initial shipment, then 30% in another 30 days with the final 10% due at Customer Acceptance of Project Completion. You may use a different plan. But whatever is normal for your Organization needs to be setup at the time you enter the order into your sales system.

Maybe your company bills net 15 or net 30 on delivery of hardware and then every 30 days for services and training until completion. In any event your payment schedule needs to be reflected on the Purchase Order, not discussed after you receive the P.O..

The Turn-In Meeting

If you have a turn-in meeting to layout all the components of the sale, you can track progress and greatly improve your chances to succeed. A turn-in meeting works the same whether you have a large company or a small one. The need to address what makes the sale a success is paramount to insuring client satisfaction. Let’s keep this simple and go from the beginning.

Setting the Sequence and the Project Participants

Every sizable project needs a Project Manager to track progress. There has to be a set of eyes on the dates, deadlines and progress on every project of any size. In smaller companies the Project Manager may be the Sales Rep. The obvious downside is that he or she is not selling when they are managing projects.

The next post will continue with more key points of the turn in process. Good selling, Greg Mareski.

What makes it tick?

Direct reports and I have facilitated sales of over 100 million dollars of equipment and services to date. I am a trusted sales advisor to many Clients only because I define and solve their problems. To be successful, you need to sell in the Boardroom and the Warehouse with equal skill and passion. Regardless of the environment, you are there to solve their problems and meet their needs. Inside this sales professional is the mind of an Engineer, always being fascinated with designing and figuring out how things work. To me, this is a logical path in the technical sales process. If I know my product, I understand how it can solve customer problems. There is equal importance to my way of thinking between the engineer, the fabricator and the seller.

Symbiosis – You need me, I need you.

The designers at Harley-Davidson have nothing to sell without the craftsmen and craftswomen who create the finished products that sit glistening on the showroom floor, beckoning the rider to test drive, purchase and escape to the open road. For me, there is the belief that one can not exist and flourish without the others. There is a fulfillment, a harmony in this arrangement. One designs, one builds, one sells, all add value = all benefit.

Concern and Control

In my work I have noticed an increasing desire to strive to do well, to create and share quality. This has increased as the recent Great Recession plunged and now (hopefully) begins to rise and build momentum on the last few months of leading indicator gains and improvement. I think it is normal to look to add continuity to one’s life when there is bad news all around us. My disappointment with the financiers and banks grew with each story of Bernie Madoff and others like him, rate increases, foreclosures, upside-down homeowners, curtailed business loans and slow unemployment recovery.

It has dawned on me that many of these people have stolen hope and promise from hard-working people. Those hurting are my neighbors and friends and community members. My colleagues, peers, family, relatives and customers. They are the very people who design and make and sell and buy the products and services we require to live our daily lives.  I have no pity for a financier who made millions of dollars and now can’t have a big fat bonus because his company took my tax dollars to keep his bank from collapse.

Getting Better at what we do.

I remain a believer in the free market system where companies and products prosper by offering quality and value. People want value today more than they ever have in my lifetime. So we come full circle. It is our job as professional sales people to constantly learn and to strive to better serve our customer. I have a daily commute of slightly less than one hour. I always listen to motivational and educational podcasts in the car. I am always striving to learn more about my craft, the technology of what I sell and the world around me. I hunger to learn more about professional sales, marketing, problem solving and personal growth and motivation. I happen to believe the iPod/iPhone/Zune/mp3 players and podcasts are some of the greatest technology and training tools ever invented. You can build your faith, your knowledge, your spirit, your skill and your motivation based on what you listen to.

Recomendation

I am a huge fan of daily and weekly podcasts that teach me something and enjoy reading/listening to books in an audio format. I like audible.com for its huge selection of quality materials and the seamless way they integrate audio books into my iTunes account for loading into my iPhone and iPod.

I choose books to teach new processes and to inspire me to think. My recommendation for you is an audible.com book I am currently listening to that has caused me to journal and reflect. I recommend it highly and hope you find it useful. The book is titled “Shop Class as Soulcraft” by Matthew B. Crawford. There is value to making something. I have always believed it and now find others who do too. Listen to the audio book, buy the paperback, get a copy out of the library. Maybe you will find you are of similar spirit.

I am occasionally amazed by some of the calls or emails from possible suppliers or their sales representatives that come my way. As a Sales Professional, I always listen to their “pitch”. I do appreciate a well thought out discussion that is presented by a thinking and listening individual as opposed to someone reading a script. In today’s emerging recession business world, we are all doing more than we did a few years ago. So if I read an email or come to the phone to hear what a sales person has to say, it had best be worth my precious time. What’s the Value Statement or “what’s in it for me”?

A two-way street

Most Prospects and Customers want to know what’s in it for them. How is dealing with me going to provide something of value to them? Am I offering something that is better than what they have previously purchased? Is it less expensive but have equal or better quality? Does it have a feature set or improvements that makes it easier to operate and/or service? When I send out email information announcing a new product or service, I take some time prior to hitting send, to create a genuine value proposition.

Here’s an example – we recently engineered a product that has a three times longer warranty, is made from a type of steel that dramatically reduces rust and staining on painted surfaces and has a greatly improved top opening design that improves maintenance of internal components. It also costs close to 35 percent less than our nearest competitor’s comparable product. The advertising materials clearly define the features and benefits of this new design.

Great features, but who cares?

I then worked with our I.T Department to obtain current Client purchase history and to define former Clients within our ERP system. I reviewed the CRM system for likely prospects. With this list of customers, former customers and prospects, our sales rate has been excellent, regardless of the current economy. I also made sure that I was contacting and sending the information to people who wanted to receive it. If you are sending out spam, you have almost no chance of people reading it regardless of how interesting you make the title. Don’t do that, create an opt-in list and do the work to create a solid prospect/existing customer list.Remove people promptly who do not want you to contact them with sales initiatives.

Carefully nurture your Customer and Prospect list, add to it and it will be a very valuable resource. People are still doing business in a down economy and the work you do to make sure you are talking to and contacting the right people are what separates the successful Sales Professional from the confused sales rep.

This is the kind of work and preparation that defines the Trusted Sales Advisor.

Greg Mareski, greg@bmarksa.com

Follow me on Twitter.

Impeccable Honesty

I have sold solutions to Customers literally all over the world and always try my best to solve their problems. I strive to be impeccably honest in my solutions. If what I sell is not going to be right for them, I have sent them to a competing Vendor that can more correctly provide the product or service that solves their specific problem. This is important, in over 27 years of Professional Sales, I have never sold a solution that did not meet the needs of my Clients. Let’s be even clearer, I have never made a sale to get a commission that did not benefit the Client. I suggest you work very hard to make sure you can make the same statement. People in business talk to one another and they have incredibly long memories.

I have never lost a customer by being honest. I have created loyalty. I have created an open dialogue, I have been given chances to adjust my pricing to be competitive enough to win the sale and I have even been invited into internal Executive level meetings to see “behind the curtain”. I have been clearly told what the Customer is trying to do and how my solutions can  fit their long term plans.

By honestly reporting what my company and I can do, I am providing my Customers real information, not a sales pitch. I work with Vendors that do the same with me. I don’t care what a Sales Reps quota is any more than my Customers care what my quota is.  I have addressed the importance of  knowing the details of what you sell in this blog before. If you want to review,  look to the entry titled “What are you actually trying to sell” for more detailed information. Please realize your Customers can very quickly determine what your levels are in the areas of honesty, customer service, dedication and product knowledge.

Professional Selling

Professional Sales are interesting because of the problem solving components. Complex sales require problem solving. If you can create a solution for your Customers that solve their problems better than your competition, you and your company will get the purchase order. Complex sales are also larger which means they are more rewarding, both emotionally and financially.

Researching the customers needs are a process that I find extremely interesting. Knowing and/or discovering information such as corporate standards, product plans, growth plans, new product announcements, budgets as they relate to approved projects, project time lines and project phases are not given to Vendors that have not proven their honesty and dedication to helping the Customer achieve their goals. Yes, price is important. But so are topics such as R.O.I., personnel productivity improvements, product solutions that solve specific problems and a Vendors ability to provide product volume levels equal to the needs of specific projects.

Penetrating New Accounts

How do you get past the established incumbent vendor? It’s not easy if they are performing and doing a good job. Sales cycles are like a sine wave. with peaks and valley. If you are consistently calling in, sending materials, touching base and following up you will get a shot at the small things that always present themselves. Once you begin to prove you deliver and make your Prospective Client look good in his or her job, you will be given extra chances. If you earn the business you will get more chances to win more business.

An associate and I once penetrated a major account that eventually became an eight million dollar a year Client by offering to do a good job on their printer supplies business. Once we established some credibility, we asked for a chance to quote their printer business. We didn’t know it was  over two million dollars of business a year at the time but we were committed to meeting their goals and deadlines and the orders just kept coming. We then won their desktop, notebook and eventually their server business to the tune of 8 million dollars per year.

Be honest, study and know you products,  solve their problems, under promise and over deliver and you will build your business to great success by Solution Selling.

The person who was your initial contact into a larger company is the first person you need to win over. Once you prove your ability to answer questions that are important to them, study details and provide solutions to their needs and develop trust in you. This person will become your champion. Usually referred to as a coach, this individual will eventually show you the lay of the land. The coach likes the company and products you represent and feels like you are a professional resource who can research their needs and answer their questions.

Larger companies have multiple decision makers. Someone defines and then approves researching the feasibility of  the project. This is usually a high level executive such as a CEO, CIO, CTO, COO, President or Vice President. Multiple decision makers and their unique needs must be met if your presentation is to result in a successful sale.  From a financial standpoint there is some form of decision maker who controls the purse strings. Be they the CFO or Purchasing Agent, this individual watches the price of your offering. There may also be an individual or group of individuals who do not have purchase ability but they can surely veto your sale. These end-users need to see the clear and palpable value of your offering.

To review – there are four (usually) types of Decision Makers -  (1) Executive Decision Maker, (2) Financial Decision Maker, (3) Champion and (4) End User.

Next time I want to illustrate some ways to engage each of the decision makers.

Let’s look at this “central theme’ in the context of this hypothetical story = Joe is a sales rep for the Markle Wheelbarrow company. He has been working there for a few months when it dawns on him to go into the fabrication shop and learn all the components and options that go into the different wheelbarrows his employer offers for sale. There are plastic bodies for the residential carts, spray painted aluminum for the serious homeowner/light commercial markets and powder coated steel buckets for heavy-duty users. Hard rubber tires for the homeowner and two sizes of pneumatic tires for the light and heavy commercial markets. The frames are offered in light, medium and heavy gauge tubing for the level of load they carry day-to-day. The top of the line is constructed of stained and varnished wood beams reinforced with metal strapping. This top-line model works day in and day out for years if not decades. They are priced accordingly.

The next time Joe takes a call from a building supply house for a new wheelbarrow order he does an analysis of the builders need and determines they is best served with the heavy-duty commercial model. Joe then visits the buyer of a local hardware store and finds the residential and light commercial models are right for their customers. He stops at a builders supply store, marvels at the number of builders coming in and out all day and gets the buyer to agree to keep a heavy commercial and a top-line stained wood model on the floor. Joe puts it together and makes sure it gets out on the sales floor for the builders to see when they are in the supply showroom. Later that week he stops by the local garden center and sets up the residential and light commercial models in that location. Joe starts to  look at every business in the light of can they sell his wheelbarrows.

By always asking questions of what the customers needs Joe is getting larger orders and since he is paid by commission he is making more money. Joe’s boss is happy, his customers are happy and his family is happy with the increased income.

The central thread is to (1) simply know and understand the product you are selling and (2) take some pride in the product and the company you represent. If you can’t develop a sense of pride in your company and product, you are clearly in the wrong place. Get out of there and work in a place where you can have a sense of pride in representing their finished product. Invest the time to read the brochures and specs. Dig down and learn until you can answer questions with confidence and you know what you know.