The cold hard truth about outside sales

[BillyCarpenter]

Recently I moved into a bigger office and I've been interviewing sales people. Some of the applicants have outside sales experience, some don't. It always shocks me when I start asking them how they've prospected in the past. I normally get some type of canned answer that doesn't really mean anything.

I then ask them how do they deal with objections in the sales process. Again, most have no idea.

One thing all of them have in common is that they have an "easy button" when it comes to selling. Some of them swear that social media is the way to go. Others try to sell me on their personality. It goes on and on.


Here's a cold hard truth. There is no easy button. Outside sales is grueling, hard work that is full of rejection. Accept it. Get used to it and get over it.

[mloudy]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

When they say social media are they talking about you spending advertising dollars on social media websites or them making connections on their own social media platforms that they frequent?

I am not a fan of social media but have been drawn into doing a few ads with zero results. I very rarely look at ads on SM sites. Most people are using their phones when they are on SM so there is very little room for an ad anyway. I have noticed that when clicking on this website I am met with a popup ad and for the life of me I couldn't tell you what a single one of them was advertising.

Facebook and Twitter doesn't seem like a place I want my logo popping up. Recently I joined Alignable which is a local small business network. We shall see.

Outside sales is just that, outside door to door. I am not good at it and I hate it. I don't have the personality and my skill has always been fixing what is broke. When someone walks off the street and into the showroom and can get it done with ease. Most of the time the person can quickly tell that I am not a sales rep. Not because I don't know what I am doing but because I speak to them differently and can answer ALL of their qustions. Sometimes that even means telling them we might not sell what they really need. When a cusomter calls in and asks if it is time for them to replace their machine I discuss in length what is best for them. I never go straight for the "It sure is!"

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

When they say social media are they talking about you spending advertising dollars on social media websites or them making connections on their own social media platforms that they frequent?

I am not a fan of social media but have been drawn into doing a few ads with zero results. I very rarely look at ads on SM sites. Most people are using their phones when they are on SM so there is very little room for an ad anyway. I have noticed that when clicking on this website I am met with a popup ad and for the life of me I couldn't tell you what a single one of them was advertising.

Facebook and Twitter doesn't seem like a place I want my logo popping up. Recently I joined Alignable which is a local small business network. We shall see.

Outside sales is just that, outside door to door. I am not good at it and I hate it. I don't have the personality and my skill has always been fixing what is broke. When someone walks off the street and into the showroom and can get it done with ease. Most of the time the person can quickly tell that I am not a sales rep. Not because I don't know what I am doing but because I speak to them differently and can answer ALL of their qustions. Sometimes that even means telling them we might not sell what they really need. When a cusomter calls in and asks if it is time for them to replace their machine I discuss in length what is best for them. I never go straight for the "It sure is!"

They were talking about networking on social media.


You're not alone in hating sales. Everyone hates outside sales and it's due to one universal truth - humans hate rejection. When we were young we almost died when a girl rejected us. We cried as kids when our parents told us no. Just the thought of being rejected is enough to keep most people from asking for the sale.

But the truth is, most sales people haven't been trained correctly. It's a skill just like being a copier tech. It takes time and practice to learn.

[KenB]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

When a customer calls in and asks if it is time for them to replace their machine I discuss in length what is best for them. I never go straight for the "It sure is!"

I work exclusively with software these days, some of which goes on MFPs, some not.

My previous manager told me that it was ALWAYS the right time to upgrade, no matter how miniscule the differences were in the newer version.

While I'm a big fan of "latest and greatest", it doesn't always make sense to jump on the proverbial bandwagon. We got into it a few times over that.

[Robinh]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

I went through the Tom Hopkins sales training video course back in the mid 80's. I still have the videos on VHS tape. I understand outside sales, but there's a reason I'm a technician. ;-)

Back in the 80's, I worked out of a little office in the small town of Sequim Wa. I was a field tech, that covered all of the Olympic peninsula, a very rural territory. I worked with a young salesman, and handed him tons of excellent upgrade leads. He was a great salesman, hard working, and had the right personality. I told him that we worked in a small town, and if he ever lied to one of my customers, I'd take him out behind the shop and kick his ass. He's still one of the top copier sales guy in our region, working the big city accounts now. But guys like him are one in a million. For every good salesman, there're a hundred lying scumbags.

[slimslob]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

I was never very interested in trying to do sales. When I started in the business the company I worked for was a full line office equipment dealer. That meant if it was something thaat was used in an office, we sold it. If it then needed repair, I might end up have to work on it. I did not have time for sales, especially since the industry standard was for every new sales you brought in, you had to make at least 50 cold calls. That's 49 rejections for every sale.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

I went through the Tom Hopkins sales training video course back in the mid 80's. I still have the videos on VHS tape. I understand outside sales, but there's a reason I'm a technician. ;-)

Back in the 80's, I worked out of a little office in the small town of Sequim Wa. I was a field tech, that covered all of the Olympic peninsula, a very rural territory. I worked with a young salesman, and handed him tons of excellent upgrade leads. He was a great salesman, hard working, and had the right personality. I told him that we worked in a small town, and if he ever lied to one of my customers, I'd take him out behind the shop and kick his ass. He's still one of the top copier sales guy in our region, working the big city accounts now. But guys like him are one in a million. For every good salesman, there're a hundred lying scumbags.

I'm not familiar with Tom Hopkins. I've probably read/listened to over 100 sales books/courses in my lifetime. Some were great, some were garbage. When I first started out it was hard to differentiate the good sales books from the bad. It all sounded good to me and with no experience I found out the hard way what did and didn't work.

Over the years, I've incorporated what I've learned in all the books I've read and I've tested it in front of a live customer.

I'm not referring to you but a lot of sales people think that they can read one book/sales course and that's all they need to do. That's like a copier tech reading one service manual and thinking he's a pro. It simply doesn't work that way.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

I was never very interested in trying to do sales. When I started in the business the company I worked for was a full line office equipment dealer. That meant if it was something thaat was used in an office, we sold it. If it then needed repair, I might end up have to work on it. I did not have time for sales, especially since the industry standard was for every new sales you brought in, you had to make at least 50 cold calls. That's 49 rejections for every sale.

49 rejections for every qualified lead sounds about right for a new sales person. That average gets much better over time after the sales person has worked the same territory for years.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

By the way, here's the book I'm reading now. Actually, I'm listening to the audio book.



Objections: The Ultimate Guide to Mastering the Art and Science of getting past No.

By: Jeb Blunt

[Robinh]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

I'm not familiar with Tom Hopkins. I've probably read/listened to over 100 sales books/courses in my lifetime. Some were great, some were garbage. When I first started out it was hard to differentiate the good sales books from the bad. It all sounded good to me and with no experience I found out the hard way what did and didn't work.

Over the years, I've incorporated what I've learned in all the books I've read and I've tested it in front of a live customer.

I'm not referring to you but a lot of sales people think that they can read one book/sales course and that's all they need to do. That's like a copier tech reading one service manual and thinking he's a pro. It simply doesn't work that way.

I'm sure Hopkins would be considered "old school" today, but many of his techniques are bold and effective. He also talks a lot about positive thinking. As a teenager, in the 70's, I attended a three day positive thinking seminar for teenagers, called "Unlocking Your Potential" that was put on by Bob Mowad of the Edge Learning institute. Bon has passed, but his son, Trevor Mowad is NFL QB Russell Wilson's personal effectiveness coach. Positive thinking, a strong work ethic, and a solid plan are all much needed skills in sales, and frankly any endeavor....

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

I'm sure Hopkins would be considered "old school" today, but many of his techniques are bold and effective. He also talks a lot about positive thinking. As a teenager, in the 70's, I attended a three day positive thinking seminar for teenagers, called "Unlocking Your Potential" that was put on by Bob Mowad of the Edge Learning institute. Bon has passed, but his son, Trevor Mowad is NFL QB Russell Wilson's personal effectiveness coach. Positive thinking, a strong work ethic, and a solid plan are all much needed skills in sales, and frankly any endeavor....

I'm a believer in the power of positive thinking...sorta.

When I read/listen to someone (Tony Robbins for example) that inspires me, it works...for a while. The problem is that it wears off eventually and we must find a way to keep making calls and getting rejected. What keeps me going is my belief in the process. The process starts with me setting blocks of time aside and turning off my cell phone and disconnecting from social media. For example: I may set a block of time aside from 1-3 p.m. During that time, I am not to be interrupted for anything. I call as many new businesses as I can possibly dial. I don't enter any information into my CRM. I do all of that after business hours.

Years ago, I read about a guy that was new to sales but he had a big fear of rejection and he couldn't get past it. Finally he took matters into his own hands and started going up to complete strangers on the street and would ask them to borrow money. He would go knock on people's door and ask them if he could plant something in their back yard. He would ask stuff that he knew would get the biggest rejection until he finally lost his fear of rejection.


When I start making cold calls for the day, I can't get warmed up until I get those first 10 rejections out of the way...then I'm ready to go.

[Robinh]

Re: The cold hard truth about outside sales

I'm a believer in the power of positive thinking...sorta.

When I read/listen to someone (Tony Robbins for example) that inspires me, it works...for a while. The problem is that it wears off eventually and we must find a way to keep making calls and getting rejected. What keeps me going is my belief in the process. The process starts with me setting blocks of time aside and turning off my cell phone and disconnecting from social media. For example: I may set a block of time aside from 1-3 p.m. During that time, I am not to be interrupted for anything. I call as many new businesses as I can possibly dial. I don't enter any information into my CRM. I do all of that after business hours.

Years ago, I read about a guy that was new to sales but he had a big fear of rejection and he couldn't get past it. Finally he took matters into his own hands and started going up to complete strangers on the street and would ask them to borrow money. He would go knock on people's door and ask them if he could plant something in their back yard. He would ask stuff that he knew would get the biggest rejection until he finally lost his fear of rejection.


When I start making cold calls for the day, I can't get warmed up until I get those first 10 rejections out of the way...then I'm ready to go.

I think I may have met you at the grocery store parking lot. :-D

It sounds like you've got it figured out.

I've met some different kinds of sales people over the years. We had a guy who was rather good, I'll call him Chuckles. Chuckles was smart, and took good care of the techs. If they gave him a solid lead, he didn't wait for the company to spiff the tech, he'd give them a spiff out of his own pocket, and would even try to poach leads. He sold a copier to a customer, and lied through his teeth to make the sale. Later, that customer sued our company, and lost. I did a call on their machine, and they asked me what Chuckles was up to. I said 'same old, same old, Chuckles'. They told me they really liked him. I said 'you sued us because he lied to you' and they said, "Yeah, but we'd buy from him again".

Chuckles eventually became sales manager, and I over heard him tell our sales staff "sometimes you have to tell a lie to make the sale'. I complained to the owner, even though Chuckles had spiffed me a few times, and he was a great guy, but dishonest and a cheater. The boss didn't care, he was banking $$$.

Chuckles moved on to bigger and better things, and I know he's still very successful, but as a service guy, I believe we're better off without his type, because we're the guys who have to make those bogus promises come true.

I worked for Danka back in the 90's, listened in on a sales meeting a large metropolitan market. They said, 'we know we have the lowest approval rating in the market, but since we only have a small market share, it should be simple to market to the customers who don't know how bad we are'. A strong, honest, hard working sales team is a blessing. I always told me techs to be good to the good sales people, and try to get them to stick around...