FOGS?

Are you in the fogs? Are your clients in the fogs? What the heck Sundance? I don’t live in San Francisco, (unless you do and then just keep reading anyway) and I don’t really have crazy foggy weather here. What are you talking about?

FOGS –

FEAR

OF

GETTING

SCREWED

Salespeople have a bad reputation and it’s because everyone has been sold something that they didn’t need or that didn’t perform the way it was promised by some salesperson who just wanted to make a sale and didn’t want to actually solve a problem. So as a natural defense people get into the FOGS and put up barriers to protect themselves from running into unforeseen objects that will harm them. No one wants to get screwed, let alone screwed again. It is just not a good feeling, right?

So what can we do to fight through the FOGS?

#1 Be aware that people are scared of you. In their mind you very well may be the bad person that’s trying to steal their money, time or both. Listen more than you speak and offer reassurance. Don’t offer to sell them something today, ask them about what they already own or ask them what the perfect scenario looks like for them. Whatever you do, get them to speak early and often and then listen. Be kind and always assume the best.

#2 Demand some trust by letting clients know that you don’t want to waste their time and that you only get paid when people are happy enough to say yes. Give your clients a time frame initially to qualify and let them know the process. Then follow that process. When you are done with that process it’s a good idea to recap and foreshadow the next step. Each time you tell someone what you are going to do, and then actually do it you will be building trust. It’s a pretty simple formula to set yourself up for success. A) Tell them what you are going to do. B) Do it. C) Then tell them what you just did.

#3 Don’t screw people over. Listen to their problems and provide a reasonable solution at reasonable prices. This seems obvious but in the heat of the sales battle, I see people lose sight of the big picture and just focus on selling anything they can, even if it’s for the wrong reason.

It’s not just clients that have a Fear of Getting Screwed. It’s us too. I’ve been around enough sales shops to know that salespeople have a genuine fear of getting screwed by owners, bad clients, back stabbing co-workers and mean spirited bosses. I’ve seen more comp changes and funny business with lead flows than I care to comment on. As a boss, these steps apply to you as well.

#1 Be aware that people are scared of you. In your employees mind, you very well may be the bad person that’s trying to steal their money, time or both. Listen more than you speak and offer reassurance. Don’t offer unrealistic targets with unrealistic rewards today, ask them about what they have already accomplished and give them a stretch goal or ask them what the perfect scenario looks like for them. Whatever you do, get them to speak early and often and then listen. Be kind and always assume the best. It’s Ok to push people to get more, just offer the tools needed.

#2 Demand some trust by letting employees know that you don’t want to waste their time and that you only get paid when employees are happy enough to stay and get other people to say yes. Give your people a time frames for goals, growth and projects in process. Then follow that process. When you are done with that process it’s a good idea to recap and foreshadow the next step and give progress reports. Each time you tell someone what you are going to do, and then actually do it you will be building trust. It’s a pretty simple formula to set yourself up for success. A) Tell them what you are going to do. B) Do it. C) Then then tell them what you just did.

#3 Don’t screw people over. Listen to their problems and provide a reasonable solution at reasonable wages. This seems obvious but in the heat of the workplace battle I see people lose sight of the big picture and just focus on making money anyway they can, even if it’s the wrong way. You could screw your people out of a bonus by shorting lead flow at the end of a period or by asking operations to slow down production, but in the long run that will cost you more money.

As an employee in the sales world, it’s easy to get jaded. Do yourself and the people around you a favor and offer reassurance and speak positively about what you can control. If you don’t have anything nice to say… just think harder and find the silver lining. If you see a co-worker talking about how the grass is greener on the other side of the fence remind them of how many sides of the fence you’ve seen, or how many other places your various co-workers have seen. I have never seen a shop with zero turn over, have you? People leave and they leave everywhere. What I have learned is that wherever you go, there you are. You might as well make the most of where you are and positively impact those that are around you. Encourage your co-workers to keep taking the right actions. I promise that if you do the small things right day in and day out, then you will find success. Help each other and help your clients to fight through the FOGS.