Communication Bites II

Have you ever sat in a tube train in the middle of a tunnel during one of those interminable delays, wondering what's happening. Then a rare warm voice crackles into life over the intercom.

He's tells you about the delay. How he's as pissed off as you are. How he too, wants to get home to his missus. He even cracks a joke. Then what happens?

Suddenly the people in the carriage, previously anonymous, light up, smiles soften their faces. The glow of communication courses through the the carriage, like lights flickering on in an Andean landscape after a powercut.

And then anonymity returns. For a brief moment in time we become close, sharing a common communication. Someone put it more eloquently.

"I-thou encounters can be awesome when one is reminded that for a given instant two persons journeying through time at a given moment become close, sharing common communication systems".

The Million Dollar Phrase that Pays

You know when someone is interested in you by understanding when they are not interested. You know when someone is interested when you recognise what interests you.

I scan the computer trade press and ring up people who are featured in their company’s latest IT project write-up. They are impressed. How do I know that? I wrote an article recently that was syndicated in the computer press and people contacted me to say how much they liked the piece. Big ego, big recognition, big self-esteem. Works for me. Got to work for them. We’re human after all.

Sales prospects you are cold-calling want you OFF the phone. You’ve rung up out of the blue. Interrupted their nice day with a sales call (Horror). Who wants to hear about your product or service? Their needs, now that’s much more interesting! They want to get on with their lives. Their needs. We sort of missed that point. Less of the ‘I & Myghty’ more of the You & Yours.

So what do they say? “Send me details and I’ll look at it “.

Their filing cabinets are jammed packed full of competitor information, no doubt glossier and sexier than yours. Sending details just ain’t gonna sell that product or service. You got to WOW them over the phone.

[‘Send me details’ has got to be the biggest time-waster for most of the sales people out there.]

A respected client of mine informs me that they have 80% of the information on file from most potential suppliers. And they’re far too busy to read most of it – they even get someone else (a temp) in to wade through the mail. I even rang once to check if someone had received details I hadn’t sent. Guess what, she had received them and even filed them. God bless her!

So I came up with the ‘The Million Dollar Phrase that Pays’. Here it goes…..

‘I am very happy to send you details, however I didn’t want to waste your time (or your colleague’s time) by sending information which was inappropriate, just because I was ignorant of a few basic facts.

I have found from experience, that a few moments on the phone can establish whether we can be of service. Who should I speak to / When would you suggest the best time to discuss this with you?’

I subsequently went on to speak to the decision maker, called at ‘just the right time’. That’s what they say ‘ you called at just the right time’. And BANG, two days later I had £10,000 order based on a subsequent e-mail confirmation of my understanding of the client’s needs. No brochure, no headed note paper, no crisp business card.

I did say ‘Million dollar Phrase’ didn’t I? You’d like to know more about that? Why not write in and I’ll send you details!

Not So I and Myghty

Some of the best sales calls I make come from leads in the financial press, technology articles and advertisements in the recruitment section of leading computing magazines.

Software companies, several investment banks, and a leading media broadcasting company are all clients gained through this approach. The logic is simple. The more you know about the client, their marketplace and their business, the more likely you are to engage the decision-maker or influencer in a meaningful dialogue.

More of the ‘You and Yours’ (meaning the clients) less of the ‘I and My’.
Make the sales call a dialogue not a monologue.

We get approached a lot by companies looking to partner with us as we operate in a specialist niche marketplace. They come on strong, the I and Myghty approach. You know, how big they are, the partnerships they have, the size of resources they can bring into play. To date I’ve never had anyone ask “ … and what would you ideally look for in a partnership?”

The “You and Yours” means taking phrases from the clients phrase book and using them rather than using your own.

A client may use the term ‘software engineer ’ instead of ‘developer ’. He may recognise ‘Implementation Specialist ’ instead of ‘system integrator’. The term ‘Internet booking engine’ means a lot more than ‘ reservation software ’.
‘Application components ’ better than ‘software’.

All these terms of references are gained during your research of the client. You are building up a picture of them, their world and their associations with technical jargon. Having gained sufficient parts of the jigsaw you are then better placed to make that initial cold call. More warm than cold.

One potential prospect recently remarked - “ well obviously you’ve spoken to someone else in the company ” implying that I had inside knowledge of how the software development team worked. Some pieces of the jigsaw only.

A recent client came as a result of a throwaway piece of information from one developer. “We need to know about JSP as we are getting a new release of the software application we’re using.” Whenever I get an incomplete piece of information I usually bounce back. “ A new release of the application software….?”

“ Yes we’re using DataXYZ ” . Again an incomplete piece of the puzzle. “ Can you spell that?”

Having gained that vital piece of information I was able to research the website of the software supplier, identify the product range that used this technology and approach not only the software supplier, but also similar clients with a very specific sales pitch.

“ Mr Jones, I am calling from …..I am currently working with several companies in the your sector who are using a JSP release of the DataXYZ product running in the application server space. We are putting together a customised service for their software engineers developing in this technology. How familiar are you with this (development technology), is this an area you are working in ?”

If you have done your research this will yield a very positive response.

[It is the sales equivalent of a Cruise missile going through a bedroom window in down town Baghdad. BOOM!]

An additional bonanza was the software suppliers client list and case studies in detail on their website. Warm leads - I love ‘em!
Cold leads? Can ‘em!

Every Pitcher tells a Story

I read stories all the time to my three young children, so I guess I have more than my fair share of practice. A new salesperson once accompanied me on a visit to a potential client. On the way I stopped at one of those big yellow skips. On top of the skip there was a computer carton. On top of the carton was a label. On the label was a company address and contact details. I took out my note- book and jotted down the details much to the surprise of my colleague.

Subsequent research gave me a phone number. On contacting the named individual my opening line was " Hi, Steve , I'm calling from ….. I got your name from a box on top of a skip." Turned out he was a decision-maker and was interested in the services we offer. Be creative with your leads.

Every company article, every recruitment ad, every press release for a company tells a story about the company’s sector, the technology and their people.

I had no idea what ' middle-tier, component-based development ' was until I told a prospective client I was genuinely interested in the work he was doing in this area. Now I know. Similar clients are doing similar things. They like to hear stories about what we have done for their competitors.

As the story builds up and you get used to the pitch; you form a picture of the typical client. Tight time scales on software projects, support issues, client pressure, limited budgets. If you can address some of these needs and issues for your potential client you're well on the way to signing them up.

[We're back to the saleperson coming up for air from a cold call without fear of the sales bends.]

It's not so much about your product or service, it's really all about your client's needs and how you can tailor your product or service to solve them. You need to research the client, the sector, the technology. You need to be a detective. You need to tell the story.

A recent Financial Times article announced a major software group was adopting a multi-channel portal architecture based on XML. Several months ago the delivery channel was based on a different architecture and the whole development operation was outsourced. I had approached the Technical Director. Zilch!

However, things move fast in internet space. Now the tables had turned and development was now done internally. How to get past the PA? "It's regarding the XML multi-channel project” IN! A week later we had signed up the client for some initial work, with more to follow. Be both genuine and genius.

Oh, and by the way, have you heard the one about…………

Communication Bites

A stranger walks into a neighbourhood on the outskirts of town and sees a man sitting on a veranda, a dog by his side.

" Hey mister, does your dog bite?"

The local man replies no and the stranger continues on his way. Minutes later, the dog rushes after him and bites his leg. The stranger bleeding and indignant hobbles back to the man on the veranda and shouts angrily

" Hey, I thought you said your dog didn't bite?"
" That's right, that aint my dog."

And that's the problem with communication. One side thinks the other understands what's been said. How many times have you heard the expressions:

"That's not what I said" or " That's not what I meant ".

The quality of your communication affects the quality of your daily existence. Be bitten or not. Be understood or not.

In a recent survey within a large government organisation about the perception of the quality of an internal service, the problem could be reduced to a sinlge word.

Communication. Kinda convenient dont you think? Let me explain.

How can we communicate more effectively?

What Makes Sense
Before we answer the question, I should add an important caveat. I would think that after 50 years on this planet, I 'd have some knowledge about how things work. But No, No, No, No, No. Thinking you know about something for certain, you might as well throw the rule book out the window. You've closed yourself off to learning. Not a good idea.

Lets look at how we communicate with oursleves. If I smell whitewash I am immediately transported back to a small village in Ireland, our back yard in the early 1950's sitting on the backlawn of our council house. The sun is shining and I have a nice warm feeling. I am there. I can see the house. It's bright and it's white. I can smell the whitewash. And I am happy.

How did that happen?