Hi Scott,
I assure you I took absolutly no joy whatsoever from that post. I was truly upset by what I saw.
1. A sales presentation must always be done on good equipment in perfect working order. It has to be carefully maintained and used for no other purpose than demonstrations.
2. Never explain a feature of a product without explaining the benefit to the customer of that feature.
3. Always create a sense of urgency that this is a product that the customer needs now. If it means promising free upgrades of near future releases, then do so. MAKE THE SALE NOW!!!!!
4. Keep focused on your own products and avoid discussion of competing products.
5. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER say anything about the company or it's present or past products that could even remotely be percieved as derogatory.
6. Never appear bored or impatient while your fellow reps are speaking no matter how many times you've heard the pitch. If this is not possible hide in a back room until it's your turn. Remember this is the first time your audience has seen the presentation. They want everyone to be excited and look excited. The same goes for the presentation being given. No matter how many times you've given the presentation it's new to your audience. BE ENTHUSIASTIC, POSITIVE, EXCITED. Don't act like you can hardly wait to get it over with.
These things are raw basics to any type of sales. They were sadly lacking in the presentation I saw. I don't know if what I saw was a rare exception to a normally great seminar or not. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Training courses, books, vidios and tapes on sales and motivation techniques are a dime a dozen. I see no evidence that Novell is using these common and nearly universal tools in their business.
If the content of my post caused harm to anyone at the bottom of the pecking order, that is dead wrong. It's a management problem. It's their job to pass down solutions not blame.
There is a rather crude saying that if you have one foot in yesterday and one foot it tomorrow, you're pissing all over today. Novell needs to focus on what they have at this moment and make the best use of it. Good products, lots of customers and money in the bank. Novell isn't in trouble they just think they are.
As close as I can tell Eric Schmidt has done a pretty good job cleaning up the messes he inherited. Also, as close as I can tell Novell has good people working on products to insure the companies' future success. In my opinion Novell has a lot of weakness in marketing and selling their products.
While there are huge areas of knowledge to which I can claim near total ignorance, sales in not one of them. The views I expressed are those of an experienced professional and I stand behind my opinion. Hopefully you will find the contents of this post more constructive but if you expect me to pat someone on the head for doing a bad job I won't do it. My job is to make money on the stock market not to motivate Novell employees.
Regards,
Don |
