"So Prove It" Part 2

Your prospect may be thinking it, or may be saying it, or may be pounding the table with his eyes popping out of his skull and the veins in his neck ready to burst.

At some point you must show proof. What is proof? Proof is defined as a demonstration which proves in the mind of the prospect the results you are claiming.

And that is the rub.  You may be in love with your demonstration, but your prospect may still remain unconvinced. Benjamin Franklin observed: A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.

I've seen it happen to others and it has happened to me.

Why do proofs fail? Here are a few common reasons:

1. The prospect hasn't been prepared by you.  Which is to say the explanation leading up to the demonstration has failed to prepare the prospect for the punch line.
2. The proving demonstration failed to operate correctly.  Very costly mistake due to lack of your preparation. Every demo needs a few dry runs and a dress rehearsal.  Make sure the operator is rested, relaxed, and ready to respond to questions.
3. The demo doesn't fit the prospect's problem. Nothing worse than having the right answer to the wrong problem.  Manufactures who focus only on selling what is inventory frequently find they are demonstrating products for which a need existed three years ago, but the need was filled better by a newer product 6 months ago.
4. The demonstration lacked zip, organization, and precision. I recall having the Hitachi general sales manager in Australia look at a machine I wanted them to sell.  Hitachi is crazy for "fit and finish." The machine we were demonstrating didn't fit together well, there  were welding splatters all over it, the paint job had several noticeable sags precisely at eye level.  [Remember a static machine is a demo of the manufacturers ability.]  Later we showed the sales people and the dealers that the machine worked very well. That evening on a river cruise and steak fry the general sales manager complained, for the 15th time, about our fit and finish. I'd had it with his pestering. But he was right; I had to admit it. Finally I blurted out the truth: "Well, it does look like hell, but it sure works like the devil."

A demonstration is like a great movie. It must start off with a bang, have a climax, and then finish off with a great ending.  If you have trade shows coming up, remember these points.

p.s. Just had a demo go bad and I wasn't allowed to be on hand for the demo....owner didn't want to spend the money for me to be there.  It was a $3.5 million deal.   Before the owner got it going and tested to make sure the bugs were out, they invited the customer to see it. The customer had to fly/drive about 800 miles to see it. Machinery only worked about 50%. So the customer got the privilege of seeing a busted demonstration.

Part 2:
Well the customer bought the order anyway and I was happy to get the commission. However the commission should have been larger but the customer beat the heck out of us on the price, all due to the busted demo. I had the unfortunate privilege of making the above mentioned 800 mile round trip with just the both of us in the car.  He's a Frenchmen so wasn't interested in hearing Rush Limbaugh, or Golden Oldies during the drive. He was hopeful going to the demo, and rather peevish the 400 miles back to the airport.


There are 4 key tasks which must be achieved to sell construction equipment, dental equipment, or even clothing.  Watch for the Big Four on my next post.

Don't get lost, and getting lost is natural

What to do?In the kerfuffle of starting and running a business it is very easy to be caught up in the thick of the thin. When you are forced to play the money game it is easy to forget why you started that restaurant, bar, construction company, race track, or HVAC contracting business. The mental and family pressures can be quite intense and not easily relieved.

So what to do?

Drop back 10 yards and punt.

A strategic retreat is designed not to give up but rather give time to re-strategize so as to more ably deploy resources and recapture the initiative.  It's tough on the ego, but better to be a bit humiliated that forced to Chapter 11.

We can help. www.EricStoddardConsulting.com has more than 60 years of business leadership experience at your beck and call. That does not mean we are cheap.

Extra Effort Pays Off

If you ever played football, you know about "second effort."  If not, it is the struggling a runner or receiver makes after they seem to be down and stopped.  Often the extra effort is futile.  More often than not it gains inches or feet.  The cumulative "second efforts" over the course of 4 smashing football quarters can give a team only 10 more yards.  But in a tight game those 10 more yards can be the difference between victory or defeat.

Willing salespeople who make just one more call, one more follow up visit, one more try usually are the winners. They are inspirational. And they keep customers delighted and cash flowing.

Visit www.EricStoddardConsulting.com to see how we can help you.

Cheers!

Up dated web site

Just updated the web site: www.ericstoddardconsulting.com
Bolder, fresher.
Cheers!

So Prove It!

Your prospect may be thinking it, or may be saying it, or may be pounding the table with his eyes popping out of his skull and the veins in his neck ready to burst.

At some point you must show proof. What is proof? Proof is defined as a demonstration which proves in the mind of the prospect the results you are claiming. 

And that is the rub.  You may be in love with your demonstration, but your prospect may still remain unconvinced. Benjamin Franklin observed: A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.

I've seen it happen to others and it has happened to me.

Why do proofs fail? Here are a few common reasons:

1. The prospect hasn't been prepared by you.  Which is to say the explanation leading up to the demonstration has failed to prepare the prospect for the punch line.
2. The proving demonstration failed to operate correctly.  Very costly mistake due to lack of your preparation. Every demo needs a few dry runs and a dress rehearsal.  Make sure the operator is rested, relaxed, and ready to respond to questions.
3. The demo doesn't fit the prospect's problem. Nothing worse than having the right answer to the wrong problem.  Manufactures who focus only on selling what is inventory frequently find they are demonstrating products for which a need existed three years ago, but the need was filled better by a newer product 6 months ago.
4. The demonstration lacked zip, organization, and precision. I recall having the Hitachi general sales manager in Australia look at a machine I wanted them to sell.  Hitachi is crazy for "fit and finish." The machine we were demonstrating didn't fit together well, there  were welding splatters all over it, the paint job had several noticeable sags precisely at eye level.  [Remember a static machine is a demo of the manufacturers ability.]  Later we showed the sales people and the dealers that the machine worked very well. That evening on a river cruise and steak fry the general sales manager complained, for the 15th time, about our fit and finish. I'd had it with his pestering. But he was right; I had to admit it. Finally I blurted out the truth: "Well, it does look like hell, but it sure works like the devil."

A demonstration is like a great movie. It must start off with a bang, have a climax, and then finish off with a great ending.  If you have trade shows coming up, remember these points.

p.s. Just had a demo go bad and I wasn't allowed to be on hand for the demo....owner didn't want to spend the money for me to be there.  It was a $3.5 million deal.   Before the owner got it going and tested to make sure the bugs were out, they invited the customer to see it. The customer had to fly/drive about 800 miles to see it. Machinery only worked about 50%. So the customer got the privilege of seeing a busted demonstration.

"It takes 5 years to train a power plant operator"

When I heard this from the operations manager of a large coal fired power plant in Thailand I was dumbstruck. He went on talking and my mind headed into outer space. I wondered to myself why training a power plant operator was related to the  earth orbiting the sun, and why it took 5 orbits to do so.  After coming back to planet earth I composed myself and asked the operations manager the obvious question.  He thought then said "well it takes 5 plant shut down/start ups before we consider an operator fully trained." I thought that makes sense. He went on to say, " We only shut down the plants annually."  He had conflated two facts and come up with a policy likely to generate a shortage of operators.

Better solution: Invest in simulator training for his operators.  Simulators are not so dependent on the number of times the earth orbits the sun.  Actually in a month an operator can have many, many more shut down/start up experiences.  In fact it is not duration of time that determines proficiency but rather repetitions that builds skill.

Myths and Drowning

The ancient Greeks and Romans developed myths to explain natural phenomena that otherwise defied explanation.  These myths were projections of people's own fears, and the natural human intellectual desire to fill the void. While it is easy to understand why myths were developed, it is vital to realize these explanatory myths were not fact based.

Business owners both in ancient times and today may likewise suffer from believing in myths and with the same results as the ancient Greeks and Romans.

A few myths:

1. "Make a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." Nearly every inventor, programmer, engineer, designer, Phd, seems to suffer from this powerful delusion. If you fall into one of these groups, there is a 99% chance that you truly believe this. Those suffering from this delusion should ask themselves the question: If a tree fell in the forest but no one was there to hear it would it make a sound?  It is profoundly amazing that in the presence of even the simplest lemonade stand business owner how widely spread and how deeply felt this myth continues to exist.
2. "I can't afford to advertise." Clearly a myth related to Myth Number One above.  Advertisement is the communication with prospective customers/clients about you what you can do for them.  If you don't effectively and frequently tell them, how are they to know?  Can customers/clients actually buy products and services of which they are unaware? If you don't invest in communication you will never have a business, and you will barely have a practice.  
3. "No one without my experience could do what I do as well as I do it." This is both myth and egotistical arrogance but is fed by the way technical people are educated and trained. The reality? Most people claiming 10 years or 20 years experience really have only a few months or years experience repeated over several years. 

Are these myths confined to one culture? I've done business in more than 40 countries and have found these myths thriving, especially among technically trained and heroically hard working professionals.  They suffer and wonder why their business does not thrive.  They blindly thirst while stumbling about in the oasis. They are doomed as they stumble back into the desert only to dehydrate and die all the while wondering why they could never find the sweet water of success.  Myths are unforgiving. 

How can I help someone suffering such terminal 4th stage drowning delusions?  It's not unlike helping non swimmer avoiding drowning. I must be careful lest I am pulled down with the victim and we both drowned.