EPILOGUE

I am often asked whether I think sales people are born, whether it’s a natural talent that can’t really be learned.

My view is this. Around 10% of people in any organization are the technical whizz-kids. Often known as ‘nerds’ or ‘techies’, these are the experts in their field. They understand all the detail, love the minutiae of things and will produce the most detailed reports, covering all the bases. However, they are not terribly comfortable with human interaction. Every firm has them and although they drive us mad sometimes, we couldn’t do without them.

Another 10% are the ‘born’ sales people. These are the wheeler-dealers in the playground, through college and university (if they bother going). Selling is what they do and who they are. Lovely, affable and chatty, their optimism and ‘the next big deal’ are what drive them on. We love them, but often in only small doses and we can’t understand how they live so close to the edge income-wise.

Then there are the rest of us: the 80%. We are neither of the other two, although there’s a bit of each in all of us, just toned down.

I’m one of those but with one difference: I was taught how to sell. I was taught and coached by Mark Brundrett and John Mifflin, in my first proper job as a 21-year-old sales rep and then again in my next sales job, where I was sent on courses. I had also been taught while at Russell & Bromley, both as a 17-year-old part-time, weekend/holiday member of staff and then again as a full-time employee while studying for my degree.

In all these roles I was taught the theory and then had the opportunity to put it in to practice – years and now decades of practice and thousands upon thousands of customers. And that’s the difference, practice.

If you’ve been reading this book, the chances are that you’re not ‘in sales’ and certainly don’t regard yourself as a ‘salesperson’. You’re not going to be as good as the person with loads of experience under their belt and neither do you want to be doing that much selling; if you did, you’d have gone into sales rather than the role you are in at the moment.

But you can get better. You can become more proficient. Read some books. Learn from people like me who have cocked it up and nearly gone bankrupt so that you don’t make the same errors. Understand how to work smart at developing business, rather than hard.

Try some of the ideas and tips I’ve given you. If they work for you: great. If not, try again and if they still don’t: NEXT!

But above all, be yourself. Don’t be seduced by the idea that you have to be earnest and business-like in order to come across as competent and professional when going out to develop some business.

And you don’t need to know it all before you start. In fact, I read recently that when people make mistakes we are more persuaded by them than we are by those who are ‘perfect’. When people show their vulnerability we warm to them because they appear human; like us. Those of you who saw Levi Roots doing his pitch on Dragon’s Den a few years ago will know what I mean.

Have a Style

You can’t have got this far and not realized that it is ultimately you that people buy, not your product or service. Given that that is the case, it is essential that you reflect your personality when you CONNECT and MEET with people.

I have furnished you with loads of examples of my own character and style. In fact, you should have been able to get a very good sense of that even if I hadn’t bothered including example letters and emails: the book should speak loudly enough in the way it is written, which is, of course, what I wanted.

Being ‘you’, being authentic, should be the easiest thing in the world, but when put in ‘work mode’ we all tend to wear a mask. While you cannot behave in the world of work as you do with your mates or at home, if you are to have success in developing business, then you must allow people to see you minus the disguise.

For some of you it’ll take a while until you feel comfortable with this idea; for others it’ll be a blessed relief to ditch that fake persona you’ve been under the impression you had to adopt.

You must develop your own style, though. You aren’t Nick Davies and I’m not you.

Keep Doing It

Winning work and developing business and selling never stop. Even when you are slammed busy you must never, ever stop.

An email, a letter, a phone call, a cup of coffee or tea with someone – it doesn’t matter what it is, but you must do at least one thing every day to move your business forward.

There is only one exception to this rule and that’s if you are starting from scratch, either establishing a new department/team or beginning your own business. In these cases you have only one option and that is to take massive action. You’re going to have to make calls, write letters and fire off emails like your life depended on it… because it does, your commercial/financial life at least.

Pick ‘n’ Mix

I’m going to leave you with an assortment of thoughts and things to consider when developing business is part of your job or you’re thinking about going out on your own.

For People Running or Considering Running Their Own Business

• Do something you enjoy.
• Make sure that you can make money from it.
• Keep overheads low.
• Don’t listen to sheep (you know who they are).
• When you stop enjoying it, stop doing it.
• You will make less money than you think.
• The vast majority of business forecasts and cash flow projections are crap and are there simply to make the bank happy. They provide you with a modicum of comfort, but are as useful as birthing plans: out the window as soon as the hard work starts!
• If you have to do a forecast then be pessimistic – and then halve it.
• You can charge more than you think for your product or service.
• Offer discounts, but don’t say ‘yes’ to any price just because it makes you feel as though you are making progress. If you sell too cheap then it’s really hard to charge that same customer more next time round: they don’t value your product as much as they did and other people will want the same, cheap rate. Be proud of your price.
• Don’t say ‘yes’ to every order that comes in – even though you’ll really, really want to.

For Employed People Who Have to Develop Business alongside Their Primary Role

• If you aren’t enthusiastic or don’t think you could be given the right training, then let someone else do it. You’ll never be great at it because your heart won’t be in it.
• If you don’t believe in what you are selling or promoting, then don’t bother.
• You are going to need to get the input and cooperation of others within the business, so get good at making friends.
• If you’re not working on a commission or bonus basis get that changed: you’ll want to be rewarded for your success.
• You need to set aside business development time every single day – even if it’s simply sending one email or one letter or making one phone call or having a coffee with a potential or existing client. (If you don’t do something each day then you should feel bad about it and lose sleep.)
• If you and your team are tasked with winning more work, you need to have a weekly meeting. Make this quick, punchy and to the point – just enough time to find out what you’re all doing in the week ahead and what you’ve got on the go. This builds camaraderie and ensures that you’re leaving no opportunity to fall through the gaps.
• When connecting with potential clients, don’t upset the powers-that-be by deviating too much from the house style, but do make sure that as much of your personality comes across as possible.
• Leave if your firm doesn’t understand the importance of setting time aside for developing business. Any organization in this day and age that hasn’t grasped just how important going out and winning work is deserves to go under. Make sure that you’re not on board when it does.

Sales people like selling because it affords them a huge amount of autonomy and they can earn an indecent amount of money. However, they don’t do it for the money – not those who stick at it. They do it for the thrill. They do it for that moment when the man or woman in front of them says ‘Yes’ – a man or woman who maybe only a few months back had never heard of them or their product, but who now has such faith in the relationship that the sales person has established, cultivated and nurtured that they are happy to buy what they are offering.

And I can tell you, that doesn’t matter if it’s a jar of shoe polish, a multithousand-pound training contract or even a book deal: the feeling is just the same.

Hopefully what I have shared with you will help you experience this euphoria and although you don’t ever want to be regarded as a sales person, you will at least be on your way to being great at something you used to hate.

Good luck.

Nick