Anyway, your article reminded me that I am a master at what I do, and it’s okay to charge people for it. I will remind all my staff of this. You don’t have to AUDITION when you’ve got the GOODS… We’ve got game and we know it. Call Center Coaching is our game and thanks for reminding us all that we GOT IT!

I hope to repost some of your blogs, they are always so good. OUr new website is almost ready to go up and I want people like you and Tim to Quote and follow. Have a terrific week. I sure will. ~Judy

Brando had the confidence of his past, and present skill. Those two combined allowed him to analyize and sieze opportunities…and as you said recently Tom, “Drive, don’t ride.”

I’m sending this out as a must-read to my sales staff!

That moment that a potential client recognizes and acknowledges that you are qualified is the perfect time to make a claim or statement. Go ahed and make a statement, “Our company is the perfect service provider”! “ That is exactly what we do and we are the best at it”!

One of our recent wins and now a completed assignment was won based almost exclusively on the Brando factor. The client told us the reason he hired us was a result of the confidence we exhibited in our presentation and the clear and concise message that we conveyed. The client hired us because we differentiated ourselves by making a statement of our relentless pursuit of the best deal for their new headquarters location. He actually told us that he had always wanted to make the same claim to his prospective clients but lacked the bravado. Instead he hired us!

Great post. We typically find sharing our success stories is enough to win – at least in markets where we’re known. The one time we failed with this approach was when we chased a blue whale in a new market segment.

The prospect company knew none of the players in our traditional markets so our good examples were less helpful. The problem really was one of the whale not knowing us since we were hunting in a new ocean. Because we wanted to break into the new market, we were forced to audition.

Through many meetings we addressed the whale’s fears. We showed how our ultimate product performance exceeds our promises, how we understood the concerns about on time delivery and consistent quality and how we met similar requirements from other customers.

In the end, we landed a small development order and proved our technology works in this new market. Since that audition, we’ve seen this customer become our second largest account. And the new market promises to triple our business as we land other similar accounts. Auditioning can pay off in the right situation.

So, what does it take? What should it take? Do we really KNOW when to draw the line? Do we really know when “enough is enough”? Is there a “rule book” that says… “You are allowed to SWAGGER?” or “You don’t HAVE to audition”?

In sales we often look at the competition and work at “proving” to the customer that we are bigger, better, smarter, stronger…oh and yes… we CAN pee farther… although we tend to do that over and over and over until we have auditioned so many times that we really don’t even know who we truly are. We begin to “act”, we invest so much time and energy that we tend to become “yes” people, simply to close the deal.

It is important to make a shift in how we sell, it is important to show the confidence, swagger and stop working at “proving”.

Realizing ourselves, that we ARE the Brando of our industry is truly the first step, understanding that we ARE qualified and believing in ourselves is critical. If we have the passion, skill set and confidence for what we do and who we are, the rest will fall in to place. We no longer will be in the mindset of “proving to them” once we have assured OURSELVES. We are now ready to confidently swagger through the finalist door and close the deal.

As a small Michigan company weaning itself off the Automotive gravy train, we too have been hit by the recent economic problems of both the state and the industry. When times get lean you find yourself desperate for the next order – keeping the lights on seems more important than pride. That’s when we forget that we invented our new industry – we are the leaders – and the only ones that have proven that we can do what we do time after time after time.

Today, when we discussed stating the 3 primary problems that we solve right up front and making them provocative in our presentation, it reminded me that we have often played the “let us tell you what your problems are” game – partly to see the look on their face, but mostly as a means to let them know that we understand the industry, the process, the lexicon, and the pressures that they are facing every day. To give them confidence in our ability to address their problems. It is essential to make sure that this aptly termed “swagger”, or more acurately the lack thereof, doesn’t create greater problems. It takes confidence to instill confidence and, as you pointed out, transmitting fear is the most non-productive move we can make.

Thanks for the reminder to note what works, remember what works, and consciously utilize what works! I’m looking forward to Part II tomorrow!

MB