Fishtales from a Salesman

We're all in Fishbowl; Get Some Scruples!

2009-10-29T12:31:00.005-04:00

Life in a "fishbowl" was a phrase often used on my college campus to encourage the student leaders to realize that their actions were being watched by underclassmen, and to act accordingly. In other words, act like you're being watched and criticized all the time. And don't screw up!

Well I've got news for everyone... we're all in a fishbowl!

Which leads me to my original thought- what constitutes unethical sales behavior? Or any behavior for that matter???

I thought for days about the unethical sales actions I've heard about... or witnessed... or even considered doing myself. I tried categorizing such actions into different subsets of unethical-ness, and creating a scale for weighing which actions were most unethical. So many decisions are made daily by individual sales reps it's hard to categorize every action as ethical or not.

It all started in my MBA Marketing class with the question of retailers selling extended service contacts for cell phones, computers, cameras, etc. Is that unethical? Originally I said no, because I was thinking of way more serious offenses... like Bernard Madoff! But maybe it is a bit unethical to hard sell somebody making a major purchase... while the line behind them builds up and the clerk is staring at them to hurry up and make a decision. I guess I can be persuaded either way.

So then I began thinking about the ethics of fishing. The story of Paul Tormanen came to mind immediately (though I admit I had to google to find his name... but the story I'll never forget). During a tournament a few years ago Paul caught some bass ahead of time and strategically tethered the fish to various tree stumps. During the day of the tournament he went around and "caught" those fish... but so did a competitor of Paul's who was surprised to hook into a bass that was leashed to a stump! Officials were notified... Paul was investigated... and ultimately disqualified from the tournament and banned for life from B.A.S.S.

Conclusion: We're all in a fishbowl. In the world of cell phone cameras, Twitter and every other techno gadget that exists all of our actions are destined to be scrutinized. So we should all live and act as though we're being watched 24/7. If you're doing something to close a sale or to catch a fish that you wouldn't want shown on YouTube then it's probably not entirely ethical. Chances are that would have stopped Paul, and hopefully Madoff too. I'm okay if the kid at Best Buy still wants to try and sell me the service plan, but maybe he'll tone it down if he knows he's being watched.

'Til the Fat Fish is Weighed

2009-03-10T08:20:00.005-04:00

Over the years I have become less and less exuberant after a sale... well, after the beginning of a sale. After that first closing call I used to swell with excitement and do the 'ol Tiger Woods fist pump, but now I hardly crack a smile. Why is that?

I think it's because- depending on industry- a sale isn't final until service is delivered, payment is made, etc... and in the mean time a lot of things can change causing a roller coaster of emotions.

Last week's Bassmaster Classic perfectly illustrates this. Mike Iaconelli, known for his exuberance, was touting a 23 lb. catch the final day sending Skeet Reese into a panic with his mere 16 lb. bag. Ike exemplifies that excitable sales rep. The guy who starts high-fiving you after a prospect only agrees to meet with him. He's also the guy in the sales meeting that inflates his forecast by a good 25%-50%. I love Ike, and I can't knock him for his optimism, but it's not time to pop the champagne until the final weigh-in.

Reese, tempering his enthusiasm actually had under-estimated his catch. Ike's 23 lb. bag actually only weighed in at 18.10, so Reese's actual 16.12 was good for an 11 oz win! By the way, this is the "Super Bowl of Bass Fishing" we're talking about! A huge friggin' deal. As reported by espn;

After a victory lap around the arena floor, Reese later told reporters, he snuck away to the bathroom and repeated to himself: "I just won the Bassmaster Classic. I just won the Bassmaster Classic. I just won the Bassmaster Classic."

So when is it time to enjoy a victory lap? Not until the fat fish is weighed! It's different for each industry, but it's certainly not right after the "yes." More than likely it's after the service is delivered and invoices have been paid. At that time you can get the champagne off the ice, and tell yourself "I just closed that deal! I just closed that deal! I just closed that deal!"

If you celebrate too soon, you're just another obnoxious sales person that exaggerates everything!

Don't Muddy the Waters, Cast Only One Lure- YOURS!

2008-12-23T12:31:00.003-05:00

There has been a couple of fishy- pardon the pun- things happening around here in the past week.

Incident #1: A Sales Rep found a message board posting about a small competitor allegedly going out of business (which was false) and then began forwarding said message to prospects and referral partners.

Incident #2: Other Sales Reps obtained a copy of the major competitor’s pricing and began sharing that with prospects and referral partners.

In both instances Management intervened immediately and stopped the ethically questionable behavior. Thankfully I work for one of the most ethical companies, and incidents like this are rare, but what are these salespeople thinking?

In the world of bass fishing these ethical/moral dilemmas don’t even exist. Why? Because you can’t fish with bait that’s not yours. You can’t cast a spinner bait out there and next to it have a less desirable lure illustrating how great the spinner is to the bass. The fish doesn’t care what you have to say about the next Angler’s lure. All he cares about is if your bait is going to satisfy his hunger.

Prospects are identical to bass in that regard. I’ve never encountered a legitimate prospect that wanted me to do anything other than prove how I was going to satisfy their particular need, or solve their problem. They don’t care to hear what you think you know about the competition- which usually ends up being inaccurate anyhow.

Now, that’s not to say that knowing the competitors price is a bad thing. You should. You need to know, competitively, where to come in pricewise. But the moment you begin speaking on behalf of the competitors you are on a dangerous path. Maybe you know their price, but don’t know about this week’s promotion, or special industry discount. And think about how foolish those sales reps look that took an internet message board posting to be factual- and it wasn’t. There goes your credibility… which, by the way, is really important when earning someone’s business!

So don’t muddy the waters by trying to un-sell the competition. Instead focus on casting your best possible lure and gaining the prospect’s interest.

The Water's Bluer on the Other Lake

2008-12-13T07:18:00.002-05:00

Disclaimer: This is a long blog entry, but a true story worth telling.

Exactly one year ago I walked into my office, ranked in the top of the salesforce, but something was wrong... I was a salesman for a start-up line of business within a Fortune 500 company.

Translation:

Start-up; an organization with no experience and/or proficiencies...
Fortune 500; an organization with lots of bureaucracy stunting the growth of said "start-up"

Specifically, what was wrong in the bass fishing metaphor was that my fish were dying in the livewell. I would close a sale and submit paperwork to my operations team. Industry standards call for a one to three (maybe four) week implementation. In our case there were no standards and implementations would range from one day to 244 days! Several of my deals were never implemented... and deals died. If you can imagine that bass are only supposed to live in a livewell for a few hours before being "weighed-in" and then released back into their lake. Similarly with clients in that phase between sale and implementation. There's a small window of time- varied by industry- to keep the client fresh before the process wears on them... frustrations grow, and a sale is dead.

So if you find yourself in a situation where you think things would be better elsewhere what do you do? Will the water be bluer on another lake?

In my case, YES! Easy for me to say, because I had no choice. On December 12th I got a phone call from my boss shortly after 6:00 PM on my cell phone... odd. "Tomorrow they are going to announce that we are done..." What do you think my reaction was? Surprisingly I felt a weight lifted from me. No longer would I have to live in fear of my Blackberry exploding with client crises. All of my internal angst about riding out the storm or jumping ship had been answered for me.

So on December 13th I walked into the office and was told that the Company was eliminating our line of business. Details would be discussed with HR later that day.

Which leads me to the present day... and this is 100% a true story...

My wife and I had been recapping the year's events during dinner on the 12th. My new boss (who has NEVER called me on my cell phone, much less after hours) called me shortly after 6:00 PM. Deja vu? Not exactly... instead he had an extremely hot lead for me that needed to be contacted immediately... which I did, closed the sale and was then asked, "how is your implementation process?"

I should mention that I'm now at the best company in the industry, nationwide. So we actually have an implementation "process." Phew!

Some additional perspective here... My current employer is truly the BEST in the industry. Does that mean everything is perfect? Of course not, but I chuckle to myself when fellow sales reps complain about the issues, inefficiencies, etc. And then the issue is resolved within a day or two (not 244!). Issues are always going to exist- everywhere. But you need to realistically evaluate if the water will be bluer on another lake?

Oh, and when the water is bluer... get that line in immediately! You never know when the water will get murky;)

Lunar-trick or Lunatic?

2008-12-04T15:14:00.005-05:00

Call me a "lunatic," but my favorite page in Bassmaster Magazine is the monthly lunar table page. I love it when the bar graphs max out on a day I know I'll be on the water. And I'm bummed when it's a day I know I won't be. That happened in July when my Dad and brothers were on the water and I wasn't. Just as the table predicted they had a phenomenal day of catching lunker bass... and I missed out. Can such hogwash really be true?

I don't know if lunar tables really work or not, but I do know this- your odds of actually catching fish markedly improve if you believe you are going to catch fish. The opposite holds true as well. If you don't believe you're going to catch fish, your odds decrease.

So maybe I use the lunar table as a trick. I don't let myself get too worried if it's not a favorable day according the the chart. My selective memory blocks out those days. But I head to the dock with a confident stride on those off the charts days... and those are the days the fish seem to bite!

Why is this important to my sales efforts? Because I believe the same theory applies to our success in booking appointments and selling- you increase your odds when you believe the outcome will be favorable. I've had colleagues tell me they only call during certain hours to book appointments. Others only call prospects on Thursdays and Fridays. Some call after 5:00 PM or before 8:00. Sales people do all sorts of quirky things. Why? Because they honestly believe that their chances for success are better when they do that. And they're right!

If you're struggling to get the type of activity you want. Perhaps a lunar trick will work. Just look at the table and walk out the door expecting business on those good days. Or maybe you think I'm a lunatic.

Evaluate Activity; Don't Waste Time "Casting" to Fish That Aren't There!

2008-12-02T07:45:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I have been hammering the phones for the past four weeks. Dialing and getting dumped into voicemail. Not leaving messages. Dialing and leaving messages with gatekeepers. Dialing and getting dumped into voicemail again. Leaving messages this time. Dialing. No message. Message. Dialing… and on and on.

Question: Does anybody with buying authority answer the friggin’ phone anymore? Don’t answer that, I already know they don’t.

In today’s hyper speed, information overload era prospects are getting bombarded with marketing messages and sales pitches. And with the advent of caller ID nobody in their right mind answers one of those calls. I don’t do it at home (and when I do it’s a machine… that’s for another day!), so why do I expect my prospects to answer my call? Don’t they know how important I am, and how much time and money (blah blah blah) I can save them?

Here’s the kicker- I actually had considered those calls “casts!” Metaphorically I had envisioned myself as the Bass Pro “casting” to dozens (if not hundreds) of prospects a day. Here’s the problem- my “bait” never got in front of any real prospects. It’s as though the bass are ten feet below the surface and my jig is only going three feet down. So why did I think I was actually being productive when I was never really getting in front of the prospect? Did I honestly think that my “value statements” on their voicemail where going to entice them to swim up and take a look at me?

Ultimately the question is how can I actually get in front of enough prospects? I don’t have the answer here, but I know what’s not working! What would the bass pro do? He’d probably add weight to his jig, switch baits, switch locations and change tactics. I need to do all of the above.

This is back to the basics. The fundamentals of this metaphor are… find fish, get in front of fish, entice fish, hook fish, keep line taught, reel fish in, keep fish alive in livewell… repeat.

My problem is I was telling myself that I was in front of the fish when I really wasn’t. We need to constantly evaluate our activity and be honest with ourselves. As sales professionals and fishermen we have enough technology and information to evaluate this hourly, daily, weekly, etc. I know who my prospects are, now I just need to find better ways to get in front of them.

Authenticity Wins the Business

2008-09-17T16:07:00.004-04:00

I was on a sales call the other day… this prospect had been presented to last year by my company but chose a much smaller regional competitor, so I asked her why she chose the competitor?

“Your sales representatives were so professional… so polished. [The other company’s] people were more like us…”

Too polished! Too professional!!!

I immediately removed my coat and promised her I could use profanity if need be.

What’s more is that she was experiencing some issues with the vendor she chose, but since they were her kind of people she was happy to let them work it out before considering us.

The thing is, I agree with her one hundred percent! I hate people that come across so polished- almost phony. I think most of us do. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for being extremely polished- especially in sales, but it can be a fine line between polished and phony.

Ultimately you have to be authentic.

Bass Pros will take brand new lures out of the box and alter them for this reason. Maybe they’ll add a red paint mark under the gill or some other seemingly minor detail. The goal is to take something that may be too polished and give it some authenticity.

It’s a lot easier to add a dash of paint to a lure than it is to infuse authenticity into a salesperson, but I think it can be done. Just think about this on your next call. Is it more important to have a superior look and presentation or to have a real and authentic exchange with your prospect?

And know when you should leave the jacket and tie in the car!

2008-05-30T06:54:00.001-04:00

Friends,
Sorry for the lack of blog posts the past few weeks. Please enjoy some of the archived material until we're back in full swing.

Write Today, Right Tomorrow

2008-04-29T15:21:00.003-04:00

Salespeople and Bass fishermen are alike in many respects, especially when it comes to patience, or lack thereof. People don’t often associate impatience with fishing, but that’s only because they’ve never seen a fidgety bass pro cast a couple hundred times in an hour, or speed full throttle to a spot about 200 yards away. Salesmen are guilty of the same mentality. “I want something to happen now, otherwise I’m moving on.”

Therein lies our issue with “paperwork.” Why the heck would we want to waste our time doing paperwork when we could be out there catching fish or making sales? We simply aren’t wired with enough patience for paperwork.

Truth be told, the very best anglers and sales reps have a dirty little secret; documentation (a.k.a. paperwork).

Going back to a conversation I had with Jay McNamara he noted that “the best anglers keep logs, and the very best transfer those logs to a computer database.” It may not seem important on the face of it, but over time our memories fade, but “a written record doesn’t lie.”

As Dr. Jay describes on bassedge.com he is in the habit of documenting as much as he can about a day of fishing- his own catches, locations, weather, water temp, lure types and colors… he’ll even document what others will share with him. Like after one of his first tournaments when he heard he could find bass in a particular bay where there was hard stemmed cain reed and bull rushes with a mixture of vegetation. He scribbled that in his notebook… years later, because of those notes, he was able to find that particular spot AND the huge bass that were in it!

Jay suggests “keeping a notebook on hand and after a sales call writing down every single thing you can remember.”

In essence, all of this paperwork and documentation is like mapping. We’re capturing information today that will remind us where to go, and what to do, tomorrow… and the more detailed the information is, the more powerful it can be. Maybe we closed a challenging prospect... or maybe we had a prospect say "no" for a particular reason. Whatever the case may be, tomorrow is a new day and the more information we have about our prospects the better of we are.

In my own sales experience I have also learned that all of this documentation not only helps the prospecting and selling phase, but the implementation phase as well. The more notes I have on a new client, the smoother the transition goes... and the happier the client is. Hmmm....

It can definitely be a time consuming task, but the more we write today the better of our fishing and selling will be tomorrow. If bass pros can take the time, in between 3000 casts a day, to write down a few notes, I suppose I can take the time to make some notes on the few meetings I conducted.

Stick Out From the Crowd: Be Remembered in a Good Way

2008-04-09T20:21:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of talking to Dr. Keith Jones, the Pure Fishing scientist and bass sensory guru. He also happens to be the author of one of my favorite bass fishing books, Knowing Bass. As one can imagine I was pretty psyched to be talking to such an expert.

We discussed bass' feeding habits and their sensory systems, but one of the most fascinating things I learned was that bass have really good memories!

According to Dr. Jones bass will remember certain types of baits/lures if they have had a bad experience with them and begin to avoid similar looking baits. How long will this avoidance last? "If the bass gets a good look and creates a good memory trace it could remember at least three months, if not longer... [bass memories are] similar to mammals. To some degree they may remember for the rest of their life," Jones said.

It's actually beginning to scare me how similar bass fishing is to selling! All this time I thought it was just a metaphor, and now I learn that bass remember negative experiences and avoid certain baits!

Memo to all salespeople: Quit creating negative experiences for my prospects which create avoidance behaviors and roadblocks to my sale!

The fact that bass and prospects pattern their avoidance behaviors after negative experiences is only natural. It doesn't matter what you sell- I'm sure at some point one of your prospects has had a bad experience with someone, or something, in your industry. In my industry the top two negative experiences my prospects have had with salespeople are 1) being over-sold or promised that something could be accomplished when it couldn't and 2) experiencing a rocky transition to their current service provider. If a bass can hold a negative memory for life, imagine how long those prospects will hold on to that feeling of being burned by a salesman!

Obviously these experiences can have a negative impact on me as I'm trying to get in the door to make a sale.

The impact may not be great in a huge market, but if you're selling in a small territory or community it could be detrimental. Dr. Jones cites that "in a closed system, like a farm pond... [the bass] eventually stop responding to that type of lure."

So what can the salesman and the bass pro do? Distinguish yourself. If you look like and act like every other salesman you're just going to be another salesman... and people hate salesmen! (Usually). If you're throwing the same pumpkin colored jig at them that every other angler is, you're not going to get the strike response you want.

This is where you can make your money on and off the boat. If you can reach into your tackle box and determine which color will be different-enough to draw attention on that particular day, on that particular body of water. And it will vary. If you, the salesman, can determine which angle to use on a given prospect in a particular region. The key here is being in tune with market trends and knowing what you can do that's different and better.

If you can effectively do this and then go on to create a positive experience for your prospects and clients you will be remembered in a good way! This goes back to the age old philosophy that it takes a lifetime to build trust but only one moment to loose it. Bass and prospects may be willing to forgive, but they may never forget!

Thanks to Dr. Jones... stay tuned for more posts from our conversation. If you wish to buy his book you can find it online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Borders... OR he will send you an autographed copy (signed any way you like) if you send a check for $16.95 to:

Dr. Keith Jones

Pure Fishing

1900 18th Street

Spirit Lake, IA 51360

The Little Things You Learn Today Will Add Up to Big Success!

2008-04-01T18:39:00.006-04:00

Dr. Jay McNamara (a.k.a. Dr. Fish) had spent a considerable amount of time talking to me a couple weeks ago, and I'm still thinking about all of his great points. There are so many psychological themes he applies to bass fishing that also apply to selling! We can certainly gain a lot from his experience in the chair and on the boat! My copy of his book has since arrived in the mail, and I'm really enjoying it! It's really a blueprint for becoming better at almost any aspect in your life.

Here are some of the things Jay had to say about becoming a Top Performer...

What separates the top performers from the rest of the pack?

According to Jay “the distance [between the top performers and the rest of the pack] is small, but made up of a lot of little things. Take LeBron, for example. He and Ben Wallace may not have a lot of measurable differences [height and weight], but LeBron can do a lot of little things better than Ben Wallace and cumulatively that adds up… some of those things we have control over. In sales, the guy who calls a customer back within an hour versus the guy who calls back within a day… or three hours. Over time that makes a difference.

To become a top performer Jay recommends the following exercise:

Pick 6 people who know their work and ask them to suggest 3 things you could do better. Of those 18 responses pick 5 and commit to work on them. Over time those little improvements will add up! Put the plan in place and you will be significantly better in twelve months.

"Salespeople can get feedback easily from their peers and managers," but as Jay mentioned “Fishing Pro’s don’t [get feedback] but need to!” Ahh… maybe that’s why Jay’s in such demand now!

I might agree with Jay that salespeople can get feedback easily from peers and managers, but argue that they often don't! I know many a sales rep that knows everything already (of course I am always open minded and accepting of critical feedback- okay maybe that's a stretch!).

What type of mentality do top performing salespeople need to have?

According to Jay (and, after all, he does pre-employment psychology screening for sales reps) he says there are two key dimensions.

“First, poise under pressure… Resilience in the face of adversity…the understanding that ‘no’ means ‘not now.’ Think about the bass pros. They cast maybe two-to-three thousand times a day for maybe eight bites! It’s the same in sales… handling that constant rejection. That resilience… you either have it or not.”

Back to his win at Minnetonka, Jay caught ½ of his limit in the first half hour of the tournament, and then went 6 ½ hours without a thing. In the final hour of the tournament he caught the rest of his limit. How often have you made a bunch of sales and then nothing? It can feel like an eternity and pressure begins to mount! That resilience is necessary for a top fisherman or salesman!

“The second dimension is an openness to learning. A drive to improve. You have to be passionate about learning. Think about Tiger Woods. He’s already the best in the world, but look at what he does in the off season. He’s constantly trying to make himself better.”

What’s the one thing that every salesperson and bass pro should do to be successful?

Keep calling. Keep casting.

The biggest mistake Bass Pros make?

The biggest mistake people make is “they overestimate what they’ve got. They exaggerate their skill set… their knowledge. Most of the top guys are pretty humble, Like Kevin Van Dam. They don’t act like they know more than they know… there is difference between being confident in who you are and thinking you can do anything.”

The risk, Jay continues “is that if you overestimate what you’ve got, it shuts off your brain and stops your thinking. If you’re sure you can do it, you’re not open to what’s around you.”

The top guys are confident, but remain open to the possibilities around them.

In conclusion...

My conversation with Jay was awesome, and I think these themes are pretty important to bettering ourselves professionally and personally. If we have an openness to learning then we can accept some feedback and choose a few little things to work on. Over time those things will yield great(er) success for us. But if we think we know it all already, we run the risk of shutting our brains down and not seizing an opportunity to learn a new valuable skill.

Remember, Carpe Diem is not "Fish of the Day." Take advantage of this day, seize this opportunity to become better, and you will enjoy long and prosperous adventures on and off the boat!

To order Jay's book, visit www.bassedge.com or call 888-390-8780.
B.A.S.S. Federation Nation members can get a discount on five or more books by e-mailing jay.drfish@gmail.com

Be Goal Oriented

2008-03-22T07:09:00.005-04:00

I continued my conversation with Jay T. McNamara Ph.D. from earlier in the week. While talking to the professional psychologist, bass enthusiast and author of 'The Psychology of Exceptional Bass Fishing" I wanted to get a sense for how he mentally coaches himself and fellow anglers to focus in the face of adversity.

“Adversity is a given,” said Jay. “On a fishing trip or in a sales career, stuff goes wrong all the time. [He chuckled] You should keep track of all that goes wrong in a given month. Maybe some months thirty or forty things go wrong... Maybe it’s a good month if only fifteen things go wrong!” So how do we stay focused in the midst of that adversity?

“First you need to determine what your overarching goal is.” Referring back to the tournament he won at Minnetonka Jay said, “if your goal is to fish that sunken island in three footers all day, you can find a way to do that, [but] your goal should be to win the tournament… People get too focused on what went wrong.” He went on to cite dozens of examples… like the fellow fishermen focusing on the bad weather that day, or people getting stuck in traffic (and not taking a different route), or salespeople getting stopped by a crabby receptionists. “You can get in line [in traffic] with everyone and be pissed off, or you can find another route… you can bitch about that crabby receptionist, or you can think of another way [to talk to the decision maker].”

Step two, after determining your overarching goal, is to decide what to do next. “Do I work around it… do something different… start over or make it worse? I think it was Sam Snead who expected to hit seven or eight bad shots each round. It’s not the first bad shot, it’s what you do next.” The guys who fester in that bad shot will oftentimes make another bad shot. But the guys who aren't phased by one bad shot are often able to gather themselves and make a great saving shot. Back to our example of the salesman talking to the crabby receptionist- it’s not the crabby receptionist that’s the problem, it’s what we do next. If we choose to continually call her we’ll probably only make matters worse. If I choose to complain to my colleagues for twenty minutes about that witch I'm not making things any better and I could be missing an opportunity on the next call- maybe theres a friendly receptionist just waiting to take my call! Remember, my overarching goal isn’t to win-over the receptionist, it’s to sell her boss or the next guy. I need to figure out a way to do that without her.

Remember, adversity is a given, so it's the guy who knows his overarching goal (to win the tournament) and who effectively decides what to do next (catch fish, not to complain about the weather) that wins at Minnetonka!

It's the salesman who knows his overarching goal (to make the sale) and who effectively decides what to do next (sell, and not complain about the receptionist, the paperwork, the territory, etc.) that wins the business!

To order Jay's book, visit www.bassedge.com or call 888-390-8780.

B.A.S.S. Federation Nation members can get a discount on five or more books by e-mailing jay.drfish@gmail.com

Shrink Your Head, Grow Your Catch; Let the Psychologist Lead You to More Fish!

2008-03-19T21:03:00.007-04:00

Jay T. McNamara Ph.D., a.k.a Dr. Fish, has quickly become a favorite of mine! Here's a guy who has followed his passions in life, and has taken decades worth of professional psychology experience and recreational bass fishing and twisted them uniquely into another direction in his new book The Psychology of Exceptional Fishing.

Maybe I like him so much because twenty years from now I can see myself writing a book entitled The Bassology of Exceptional Selling! You gotta have dreams. Back to Jay...

When I originally read about Jay's book several things resonated with me- especially with the themes we discuss on this blog. Themes like sharpening ourselves mentally to be at peak performance levels, finding ways to overcome adversity, and staying focused on our goals kept appearing in the articles about the book and his body of work. Since he is now being approached by some tournament anglers to be their mental fishing coach, I knew he would be the perfect person to talk to about improving our sales skills- like a mental sales coach!

Low and behold Jay graciously agreed to chat with me about these themes. What’s even better is that in his professional practice Jay does pre-employment psychological evaluations- oftentimes for salesmen! Who better to talk to about the mental aspect of selling and fishing!

So here's some of what Dr. Fish had to say... (Stay tuned for more blog posts regarding our conversation.)

How often do we become our own worst enemies on the boat or in our careers when we’re faced with adversity?

In response Jay alluded to a recent club victory he had at Lake Minnetonka. “There were three footers rolling all day, and the wind was blowing 40 [mph], so I had to adjust my game plan. I couldn’t fish that sunken island in the middle of the bay.” While Jay accepted the adversity and made adjustments he said that others did not. They were so determined to fish that sunken island that they wasted 3 hours of an 8 hour tournament getting blown around and not catching anything. “People get stuck in a rut,” he said. “We make up our minds ahead of time- like we should be catching fish here.” It’s that rut that kills us. “People don’t read the circumstances and respond.”

What separates the top performers from the rest of us is the “speed and accuracy of which they change.” Jay and I went on to discuss not only the top bass pros, but some of the most notorious top athletes. “LeBron James,” he continued, “is great at this. He doesn’t do what he wants to do, he does what the defense gives him. He has a zillion things he can do, so he can change instantly to achieve his goal.” Go up and down the list of greats- Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Wayne Gretzky, Derek Jeter- all of these guys face different scenarios (challenges) every day and are able to change and react instantly. Derek Jeter doesn’t insist that he’s going to shift left if a ball is hit to his right. We need to do the same thing. We need to stop saying “we should be catching fish here,” and instead see where we can go next- quickly! The kicker is that not all of us have a zillion moves like LeBron. Some of us only know how to catch fish over that sunken island, so we’re afraid to try something new.

If we want to become a top salesman or bass pro we need to continually improve ourselves, so we will have those go-to moves when we are faced with adversity and be able to react quickly and accurately.

Those of us who get stuck in a rut waste a lot of time when we should be changing and reacting. How often do we, as salespeople, insist on doing something our way- only to get frustrated when it doesn't happen? Sometimes we think that being a salesperson means influencing things around us to change, rather than us changing. I would agree with Jay, that the best salespeople are more like the LeBron James' of the world. They can see the entire floor and react quickly to obstacles- taking what the defense is giving us. Maybe that prospect said no, but can I pass a referral on to another colleague? Maybe they said no, but the company across the street is ready to do business? I also agree with Jay that what distinguishes the top performers is the "speed and accuracy of which they change." I have often been stumped leaving a prospect only to think of an alternative after I get into my car. Eventually, if I continue to be self aware of those scenarios, I will build a repertoire of those go-to moves I need to elevate my sales game, and I'll be faster and more accurate at changing!

Change is good! The quicker you can do it, the more successful you will be on and off the boat.

To order, visit www.bassedge.com or call 888-390-8780.

B.A.S.S. Federation Nation members can get a discount on five or more books by e-mailing jay.drfish@gmail.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T07:18:00.000-04:00

May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing

Case Study: Hiring Fishermen as Your Salesforce

2008-03-12T17:43:00.003-04:00

The following fishtale is based on a true story, though our sources asked to be anonymous. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

CEO: "Okay men, in just over a week we'll be launching into the marketplace, so we need to get our salesforce finalized. I've budgeted for twelve reps. That should give us a strong presence in every territory that our competition is in."

VP: "Very well, sir," said the VP of Business Development, "I'll make sure we get those positions filled right away."

CEO: "But you must realize we need very talented salesmen. My business plan calls for a 100% market share."

VP: "Sir, a monopoly? With all due respect most of our competitors have been around for quite a while. How about starting with a more attainable goal, like a 10% market share?"

CEO: "We need much more than that for the business plan to be viable. Trust me, with the right salespeople we can own this space. Maybe not 100%, but we can definitely own a majority."

VP: "Sir, I don't think I know any salespeople that can..."

CEO: "Fishermen! Get me twelve fishermen and we can own this market!"

VP: "Fishermen? But they don't have any experience."

CEO: "I don't need experience. I need passion."

The CEO ended up hiring a bunch of fishermen to grow his business. Two thousand years later this company is still in business and owns a majority of the worldwide market share at 33%, whereas some of the competitors, who have been in business twice as long (or longer), have significantly less market share.

The moral of the story: hire fishermen, they make the best salespeople!

Happy Easter (almost).

Manage to Method not Metrics

2008-03-06T19:11:00.007-05:00

Every sales job I have ever had has had its own metrics- a statistical measure of the average number of calls to appointments to demos to closes. I live in a statistics-rich sales culture, where my boss can tell me the number of sales an average rep closes based on a variety of factors- almost to an absurd level, like the bets that are placed on the Super Bowl (I heard this year you could bet on the color of the Gatorade that would be poured on the winning coach!). Without even flinching my boss will rattle off one of these stats... we (i.e. an average sales rep in the organization) average a 23.67% close ratio when presenting to prospects using ABC inc. If we also demo the X-factor to them we're at a 39.71% close rate. And if you've had a Diet Dr. Pepper and schedule that meeting after 2:35 PM our close ratio is 46.93% ... So maybe that's slightly embellished, but the principle is simple- we have lots of statistics, and that's great, but we can't manage our sales from those metrics/statistics.

Why? Because there's "lies, damned lies, and statistics." -Mark Twain

The problem doesn't really lie with the statistics or metrics, but in how they are used to govern our daily selling activities. The problem is that they are averages. According to those averages I need to make x number of phone calls each week and schedule x number of appointments, and then report that activity to my boss. So what happens next? Well, I can tell you from experience that some sales reps go out of their mind trying to make x number of calls and schedule x number of appointments so they can meet their weekly metrics. We get so caught up in activity we lose focus of method.

Can you imagine managing a team of Bass Pros and demanding that they go make x number of casts or drop shot x number of times? That's ridiculous! When Kevin VanDam is fishing I guarantee that he is not focused on meeting a specific number of casts- he is focused on method. He's making each cast in an effort to catch a fish, not fulfill a casting quota. Further, he's focused on making good casts (i.e. casts that will catch fish), not just any cast.

I believe metrics and statistics are extremely valuable, but personal. There are all types of bass fisherman. Kevin VanDam is known as a "power" fisherman, since he cranks out thousands of casts a day, but a "finesse" fisherman may yield just as many fish with far fewer casts. Clearly Kevin's metrics are different than everyone else's, they're personal.

So what can salesmen and sales managers learn from the Bass Pro? Manage your daily/weekly activities to method not metrics. Make sure that each call is a good call and is focused on the net result of selling a quality deal, not filling the weekly report up. As you build your own library of statistics you will know what your own personal metrics are and you can manage yourself and your time accordingly. Until then, stay focused on method!

At the end of the day it's about catching fish, not casting!

Miscellaneous Marcia

2008-02-29T12:21:00.003-05:00

The last few tidbits from my conversation with Marcia Rubin...

Marcia on sponsorships and superstition.

Marcia: I would love to have a sunscreen sponsor! I have such fair skin my mother used to get prescription sunscreen for me as a kid. We're [Bass Pros] are in the sun all day... it would be great exposure for them.

Me: (Asking sarcastically because of the myth about bananas on boats) As long as it's not Banana Boat, right?

Marcia: No I would love that! I eat bananas on my boat! I don't buy into all that!

Sales note: Bananas are believed to be bad luck on fishing boats. Do you have any sales superstitions? A lucky pen? A lucky suit? Something you avoid during sales calls?

Marcia on learning from other anglers.

Me: Which Pro have you learned the most from, and what did they teach you?

Marcia: I'm a total knowledge freak! Anybody I spend time on the boat with I feel like I've learned a little from. So it's not just one person. I've learned at least something little from everybody... and it's not about competing with others. It's about figuring out the puzzle of the piece of water you're on.

Sales note: The sale shouldn't be about beating a competitor, it should be about figuring out the puzzle of the sale you're working on... which pieces are necessary to keep moving it forward.

Battery Issues Fail to Zap Marcia's Positive Energy

2008-02-29T10:42:00.006-05:00

Above: Marcia Rubin, Reelady with Mike Iaconelli a.k.a Ike

When talking to "Reelady" Marcia Rubin earlier this week I had the opportunity to ask her about the boat issues she had prior to last week's Championship. What was believed to be a simple "battery issue" quickly snowballed into an electronics nightmare, which threatened to sideline Marcia for her practice day... or even worse, the entire Championship!

Have you ever had that happen to a sale? Maybe one issue cropped up, and then another... and before you know it the entire sale seems like it's a catastrophe!

But the issues didn't alarm Marcia. "I'm a very optimistic person. You never know what can happen, and if you give up you will never know. If there's a hurdle I will find a way around it."

It turns out that the issue was simply a loose wire. "I knew it would all work out," Marcia asserted, "it always does and I become a better person for the experience."

This incredibly optimistic attitude isn't unique to Marcia. I've found that most of the top Pros have that mentality. It seems like such a little thing, but it can make a world of difference on and off the boat.

Salespeople should embrace that same positive attitude. Similar to bass fishing, there are a million things out of our control that can go wrong before, during or after a sale. Whenever any "crisis" hits us there are really only two options; stay positive and look for an opportunity to make it better, OR get frustrated and close yourself to any opportunities such as Michael Iaconelli did in the 2006 Classic- going into an angry tirade when he found his fish dying in his livewell .

I can't tell you the number of times in my sales career that I felt like Iaconelli (Ike) did during that Classic. I think I'm having a great sales day (week, month), and then something totally unforeseen starts killing my sales! I just want to go crazy! Experience has taught me, however, that going crazy doesn't accomplish anything productive- as Ike will tell you. I should note, for my non bass fishing enthusiasts, that Ike refocused himself after that incident and won the 2006 Angler of the Year!

So whether you're the eternal optimist like Marcia, or the emotional guy like Ike, one thing is certain; When a crisis happens (and it will, that's life) the best course is to stay positive and optimistic about what will happen. Maybe that big sale you just lost will lead you to an even bigger opportunity!

How Well Does Your Network?

2008-02-28T14:22:00.005-05:00

Above: Net, not working but about to.

As I continued my conversation with Marcia Rubin I asked her how she went about attracting sponsors. She admitted that getting in front of the decision makers was the biggest challenge, but insisted "you need to network!" That's easy for Marcia to say, since she's a born networker, or so I thought...

She acknowledged that she's now "blessed with the gift of gab, but I was a shy kid, and a tomboy. I was really curious, so I spent a lot of time outdoors, by myself, exploring." It wasn't until she graduated as a cosmetologist and started working as a hair dresser in Coventry that she acquired the gift of gab. "It's such an intimate experience, cutting someones hair, so I learned how to make conversation with all types of people." She credits that life experience for her ability to network now.

In my estimation not much has changed from Marcia's childhood, she is still uber-curious, but now that curiosity is fueled with the gift of gab. What a deadly networking combination. She's curious about new sponsorship opportunities, bass fishing techniques, the great outdoors... and her ability to talk to anybody seems to be opening doors for her.

I also noticed that she is a natural networker. I can't tell you the number of questions she asked me while I was interviewing her! Have you seen this web site? Have you been on bassboatcentral.com in the forums? Have you fished in this spot? Have you seen that site? She wanted to make sure that I was aware of all of these opportunities, and she did it so naturally. It gave me the feeling that she really cared about me. She was so excited to talk about all of it.

As a Salesman I have been part of many formal networking groups, most of which have been really lame. Why? Because everyone in there is only interested in getting business for themselves. Gradually, over the years, I have developed a more natural network of business colleagues who are genuinely interested in what I do, and vice versa. I can talk to these people easily and am truly curious about what is going on for them personally, in their industries, etc. Oh, and I didn't need to pay a several hundred dollar membership fee for their referrals- the occasional lunch will suffice!

Natural networking is based on the old saying:

“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
-Theodore Roosevelt

So go find some people you genuinely care about, ask them about their business (be curious), and sooner or later you will have your own network and some doors will start opening for you!

Caffeinated Conversation with Marcia Rubin, Cleveland's Own Bass Pro

2008-02-27T09:46:00.009-05:00

I had the privilege of talking to "Reelady" Marcia Rubin yesterday about bass fishing as well as the business- and sales- side of her occupation as a professional angler. She was most gracious with her time, spending well over an hour talking to this no-name blogger about all of her passions from bass fishing to coffee. At the end of our conversation I can honestly say she sold me! I am a huge fan now, and wish her much success!

[FYI- coming soon ... more posts from my conversation with Marcia]

When I think about what Marcia does off the boat, she is in constant sales mode; she's selling herself to potential sponsors, selling the sport of bass fishing, and in particular she's selling the sport to women. But there's nothing "salesy" about her- she's just truly passionate about what she does, and her enthusiasm is contagious. That is often the key to success in sales. If you have that passion and belief about what you're doing, you're going to be able to generate excitement for your product (service, sport, etc.) naturally.

During our conversation she sold me on both her sponsors (Lake Fork Trophy Lures, Gamma Fishing Line, G Loomis, BountyFishing.com) and non-sponsors products and services. Her most recent "catch" was BountyFishing.com, a Canadian based company hosting online fishing tournaments. Participants pay a small entry fee and then fish from their own location- no boat necessary- and send in photos of their catch. Forensic software is used to detect the actual length and legitimacy of their catch, and the winners are awarded the prize money! I was both amazed and really excited by this opportunity to fish competitively without a boat! Thanks Marcia, sign me up!!! She was able to close the deal with BountyFishing.com and convince them to fly down to the Classic last week to see their potential US audience. Obviously impressed by her passion they agreed to sponsor her! One down, more to go...

Since professional bass fishing hasn't reached the popularity of many other sports (like NASCAR) there aren't many Agents well versed in representing anglers- she said they're too focused on fishing products, which is such a narrow segment. Marcia, therefore, represents herself which she admits can be challenging. Her goal is to "focus on non-endemic sponsorships... not just rods and reels [but] marketing everything we use or do... cameras, cell phones, computers..." She also wants sponsorship from products that she's passionate about, "like Dunkin' Donuts Coffee! I would love to have my boat wrapped by Dunkin' Donuts!!! I love their coffee... it's so smooth and velvety! Everyone knows Marcia always has her Dunkin' Donuts coffee. I bring my own coffee pot to tournaments and brew my own Dunkin' Donuts blend. I've got heated thermoses in my truck that plug into the lighters. Isn't it the best coffee, so smooth and velvety?"

Umm, Dunkin' Donuts, if your reading this will you PLEASE sponsor Marcia!? How perfect would that be? A Bass Pro that gets up at 3:00 AM to drive to the boat launch, needs to stay warm all morning with her cup of coffee, and then drives all through the night to get back home. Talk about "America Runs on Dunkin' Donuts!"

She continued to talk about how "velvety and smooth" the coffee was, and how much she enjoyed drinking a cup of it when catching up with her sister. Okay my mouth is watering now- I must get coffee soon!

In my mind, this is how every sale should be... a great conversation infused with energy and passion... and maybe a little caffeine too! She had nothing to gain by talking to me about Dunkin' Donuts, but that is honestly all I have thought about since our conversation! Well that and Bounty Fishing:) If you can't get excited about what you're selling it's an uphill battle.

So go grab a cup of java and get excited about what you're selling!

Pictured left to right: Jim (McDonald's Coffee), Me with Dunkin' Donuts- of course, Jeff and Mike heading out on a bitter cold November morning.

Below: 2 out of 4 Anglers prefer Dunkin' Donuts Coffee.

Limits, Quotas and Goals- One Step at a Time

2008-02-25T07:49:00.000-05:00

The Bassmaster Classic has concluded and Texas angler Alton Jones is the winner. So what did this pro do to stay focused while pressure was mounting in the final day?

"Jones said he kept repeating out loud three mantras to himself all day: 1) Catch the next bass; 2) Make every cast count; and 3) Back to the basics. When he didn't get a bite in his first two areas, he tried to focus on just catching one, and not think about catching a limit."
- www.bassmaster.com

When I think about how much I need to sell annually (or monthly) to meet my personal goals or the company quotas expected of me it can seem daunting, just like it may feel to need a limit of bass on the last day of a tournament. But limits, quotas and goals are achieved one step at a time. Jones' mantras are a great reminder to us to stay focused when pressure is mounting. In our sales world we could rework the mantras:

1) Close the next prospect
2) Make every call count
3) Back to basics (applies the same to selling and bass fishing) ... focus on closing just one sale, and not all that you need to meet your goal.

Bass fishing, though more physical than most initially think, is primarily a mental game. In this case, Yogi, 100% of the game is half mental! The same goes for sales. It's easy for our minds to get cluttered with information or thoughts that interfere with our focus. That's when our mind starts telling us you can't catch that many bass today... how are you ever going to sell that much... too hard... too much... impossible.

We then have two options: Buy into the doubt, or ward it off with a mantra and get focused on accomplishing our goal.

So go out there and don't worry about catching five fish, just focus on catching the next one... you may end up with your limit and a $500,000.00 check at the end of the day! Congrats Alton!

Don't Let Mistakes Get in the Way of Your Success

2008-02-22T13:17:00.000-05:00

For those of you non Bass Fisherman reading this I should tell you that the Bassmaster Classic started today. This is the "Super Bowl of Bass Fishing." Check it out on ESPN/ESPN2 if you are interested.

Since it is such a big week in the sport of bass fishing I have been jonesing for as much BASS information as possible, so you can imagine my delight when my crisp copy of Bassmaster Magazine arrived in today's mail:) On the cover it read 10 Mistakes You Are Making Now.

I immediately turned to page 44 to learn exactly why I'm not catching any fish! Not all 10 related to our success as Salesmen, but a couple definitely popped out at me.

#8 They Don't Fish Their Strengths on New Water. The article goes on to quote BASS Pro Greg Hackney, and he advises that we not listen too much to "dock talk" (i.e. the stuff all of the locals are yapping about... lake trends... what they're biting, etc.). Instead he encourages us to focus on fishing to our strengths.

I couldn't agree more! I remember a few years ago, before I really got into artificial baits and competitive bass fishing, I was desperate to find some really big craw dads. So I walked into this bait shop, and I asked the guy behind the counter for some craw dads. Well he hands me the tiniest craw dads I have ever seen, and then goes on to tell me that they're not biting on craw dads, try minnows... and you got to go deep for them. I could have bought those horrible craw dads and some minnows and then fished at 40 feet all day, but that's not what I was feeling. I loved throwing a huge craw dad in shallow water- without even using a sinker. So I went to another bait shop, where they let me hand pick the fattest craw dads they had, and guess what I did? I found some shallow water (maybe 5 feet), and I plopped those big craw dads on my line and I started annihilating the smallies! It was awesome! Maybe he was right... maybe I could have caught some bass deep with minnows, but that wasn't my strength at the time.

The same thing happens in sales. Everybody has their own personality, and their own strengths. Occasionally I will hear a colleague talking about how they closed a sale, or what their tactics are for finding new business. Sometimes it sounds great, and other times it doesn't play into my strengths. If you're great at setting appointments over the phone- and it's working for you- don't listen to the guy in the next cube who dismisses telemarketing for face-to-face cold calling. If you prefer giving a presentation with PowerPoint, don't worry about the guys who are doing something different. If your strengths are working for you, ignore the dock talk!

#10 They Overlook the Obvious. This was great too. Hackney describes how oftentimes some Pros might catch bass in really obvious places, like an obvious-looking area near the boat launch, and then others will pass that spot by assuming that it's been over fished because it's so obvious!

Guilty! Especially when it comes to sales. I will constantly assume that particular prospects have been bombarded by everyone in the industry, so I won't call them. Or if they are with a competitor of mine I will assume they have all of the services they need. Or maybe I talked to them last year and nothing happened. I get so focused on finding less obvious prospects that I won't bother making the obvious calls, and as a result could potentially be losing money!

Don't outsmart yourselves. If your passing by an obvious spot, take a few seconds to throw your line in. It may just be that easy!

I could elaborate more on the eight additional mistakes, but I need to go catch up on the Classic and WBT coverage! My personal #1 Mistake is watching ESPN BASS all day when I should be out selling something! Cut me some slack... this is the Super Bowl of bass fishing!

The Zen Master Says Practice to Get in the Zone

2008-02-21T17:36:00.000-05:00

Is this man crazy? Just look at that Jack Nicholson-esque eyebrow raise. This is Bass Pro Rick Clunn, a.k.a. the Zen Master, who was recently voted as one of the best anglers of all time.

He is definitely quirky, but he's one of my absolute favorite guys to watch and read about because he's so passionate about bass fishing. His fishing game has evolved over the past three decades to a metaphysical level, and many of the sport's finest are taking note. I've read several columns this past week- leading up the the Bssmaster Classic- and many of last year's successful Pros have mentioned working on the mental aspect of the sport so they can achieve the heights of success Rick Clunn has. It would be the equivalent of basketball players trying the elevate their game to a Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan level. But the only thing Rick Clunn has in common with Michael Jordan is Phil Jackson... both Rick and Phil are a little out there... or are they?

One of the things Rick repeatedly talks about is being in the zone like a basketball player just shooting, knowing the ball's going in!

For me casting is much the same as shooting a basketball was in my younger high school days. I enjoy watching even the best college and pro basketball players artistic ability with the ball. Most great shooters shoot the best when little conscious thought appears to be involved. Pure shooters or casters seem to work best when working from a level free of conscious thought where they achieve a perfect rhythm between mechanics and intuitive action. Conscious though for most is an unwelcome intruder, which disturbs that perfect rhythm, that perfect stroke, or perfect cast.

He goes on to emphasize the importance of practicing:

There are many ways to improve mechanics. Practice certainly is one of the most important. Hours of practice allow casting to become intuitive, much the same as running your trollmotor when you operate it without thinking. Allowing casting to be an automatic process should be ones goal. When I am casting at my best I achieve a perfect rhythm between mind and body. Over the years I have learned to minimize everything that can interrupt this rhythm.

I recall the first time I used a trolling motor while casting. Ugly! I was so focused on steering the boat with my left foot, I could hardly send any brain signals to my right hand to cast! Of course practice made things better, as Rick suggests.

I always thought sales was a very spontaneous, ad-lib, type of event. Of course I would think that, since I was told to go into sales simply because I had a good personality. Surely such a profession would be free of practice! To make matters worse there was no sales training in my first sales job, so I oftentimes found myself clumsily trying to handle prospect objections while managing the process. Let's just say I was very, very far away from the zone! It wasn't until I moved on to other organizations with in-depth sales training that I learned the value of practice in sales.

There are several things I have practiced for my sales jobs from rehearsing cold calling scripts and elevator pitches to practicing demonstrations and overcoming common objections. I've role played sales calls with managers and peers. I've delivered presentations to myself in the mirror. At first I thought a lot of this stuff was over-the-top and unnecessary, but over time I have realized the benefit of it all. Practice puts us in position to enter the zone.

These practice sessions have allowed me to experience the zone. Maybe I don't get in the zone during every single sales call, but there are great days when- without even thinking about it- I'm rattling off answers to technical questions, booking appointments and closing sales and feeling completely confident about everything.

Maybe you have had formal sales training that focused on practicing or rehearsing certain things, but if you haven't you should heed the advise of the Zen Master, Rick Clunn. Practice! Practice all of the mechanical things you can, so when you're on a call you can do them without even thinking about it. It will make you a better salesman for sure.

Stay in Motion...Moving Targets Get the Hits!

2008-02-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

My Mom and Dad had this Norman Rockwell Gone Fishing print in their house years ago when I was a child (I'm not sure if it made the move to the new house- perhaps it's buried in the basement with my 1987 Topps baseball card collection). When I tell people that I enjoy fishing I believe that they conjure up an image not too different than the one Mr. Rockwell painted.

Depicted is a passive angler (so passive he's asleep) with a bunch of lines in the water, motionless and presumably baited with worms that have been nibbled away by small panfish.

I've actually had days at the office that felt like this painting. I wasn't really sure which prospects to move along the sales cycle, so I passively sat at my desk and sent some letters and e-mails, and made some phone calls to assure my prospect that I was still there, dangling in front of them like a worm. And do you want to know how many deals I close on days like that? Probably one for every fish that old guy in the painting caught that hazy summer day. None.

Bass fishing, for the record, is nothing like the painting. It is an incredibly active, and sometimes exhausting sport. I don't have all of the Bass Pro statistics memorized, but I'm confident no one has ever caught a winning fish while sleeping. So while everyone may have an image in their heads of what fishing is... or what selling is (isn't it relaxing days on the golf course schmoozing clients?) the true professionals are in constant motion actively leading their prospects through the process.

Bass are not only visual feeders, but rely on motion detection as well.

Simply put, bass are virtually obligate motion detectors. To a bass, motion signals life and hence the possibility of food. Motionless objects are quickly classified as non-living and ignored.
- Knowing Bass, Keith A. Jones, PhD

That's why the pros are, themselves, in constant motion. Casting, reeling, casting, reeling. In the water the bass see motion and follow the opportunity. The lures, with each ripple through the strike zone, are taunting the bass... "hey, I'm a tasty live treat. I have so much to offer you. Come a little further this way..." Meanwhile the bass is thinking I better get a move on it or I'm going to miss this great opportunity. The whole time the pro is angling the fish toward the boat and is in control of his own tempo.

I've learned that the best sales people do the same thing. They present an opportunity and then begin directing (reeling) it back into the close. They control the timing and the tempo. Essentially they say to the prospect "I've got something of value for you and the time to act is now, so come a little further this way." They have created a sense of urgency.

Think about what motivates you to buy something. If you know that car you want is always going to be at zero percent financing do you jump right away? Heck no! But if that's the car you want and the zero percent financing ends this weekend you're going to get a move on it!

So instead of just making your sales pitch and leaving it in the prospects hands, find a reason to continually keep them moving toward the close. And if they don't budge, you can reel in and cast to another prospect! If you're not in constant motion you're going to end up with as many fish as the old man.

Order Taker or Salesman; How Well Can You Arouse the Sleeping Giant?

2008-02-18T06:50:00.000-05:00

I have this recurring fantasy that I'm sitting on the beach in a recliner drinking margaritas and my BlackBerry is exploding with calls and e-mails for new orders. Everybody wants what I'm selling, and they're coming to me! Later, in the same fantasy, I leave the beach to go to an inland lake for some bass fishing. While cruising out to my first spot I notice, on my fish finder, a school of bass following me... and as soon as I cut the engine and drop the trolling motor they start literally jumping in my boat! Five and Ten pounders just flopping right in!!!

Reality check. That's not how selling or fishing usually occurs.

Why not? Simple. Bass and prospects don't move around in a constant state of hunger. We know how easy it is to sell to somebody who is actively looking for our services- perhaps they called us, and we merely take their order. Likewise, when bass are feeding we can enjoy a great day of angling. But after the bass eats his fill he's no longer hunting for food.

... bass don't stay in a constant state of visual alertness. They are not always actively scanning their surroundings. Sometimes they are more in what might be politely called a mental fog.
- Knowing Bass, Keith A Jones, PhD

So what is our job? "Stage 1: Arousing the sleeping giant," as Dr. Jones outlines in Knowing Bass. His research shows that even in this mental fog, since they are opportunistic predators, bass will become aroused by bait that crosses their path... and if it's enticing enough the bass will launch an active search for that prey, run some taste tests, and ultimately strike or turn away.

Wow, is this sounding familiar! Though I would never say my prospects were in a mental fog- at least not publicly! Seriously though, most of my prospects have already acquired the service I provide, so they are not actively looking for it. They are usually in a status quo mode, or hunting for some other business (or personal) need they have. Rarely do I call on someone who is waiting for me, ready to do business.

More often than not, I have to find a way to arouse the prospect, so they will actively engage in the rest of the sales process with me. So how is that accomplished? First- you have to get close enough. If a bass is not actively hunting he's not going to care about a lure that's hundreds of yards away. Do whatever you can to get in front of your decision maker. Once you're in front of him or her you have to offer enough of a value proposition to get them engaged. If the bass isn't excited by the movement, color or odor of the bait he will simply slip back into that inactive state.

Remember what links us to bass and to our prospects: we are all opportunistic predators! If a great deal comes swimming right under our nose we will check it out.

So two things I have worked on- and constantly tweak- are my strategies for getting directly in front of decision makers, and what I can tell/show them immediately that will engage them. If the fish and the prospects aren't biting, it's probably you, not them! Do something to arouse them.

I was recreationally fishing Lake Ontario with Rhett and Chris a few summers back when I put my pole down and declared that the fish weren't biting. Rhett, in his infinite wisdom, quipped "the fish don't stop biting, John. The fishermen stop fishing."

Knowing now what I know about bass, Rhett's remarks are even more profound. Rhett, I guess what I meant is that the bass weren't actively feeding!

So I say to you: the prospects don't stop buying, the salesmen stop selling.

The PD's D'Arcy Egan talks to Local "Reel Lady" Bass Pro

2008-02-16T08:50:00.000-05:00

Lady on the water

Chagrin Falls' Marcia Rubin earns shot at bass fishing greatness

www.reelady.com

Talking with Clients is a Drag, so Keep a Tight Line of Communication

2008-02-15T09:16:00.000-05:00

There are many aspects of bass fishing and selling that can be taught (no pun intended... tight lines, taught... I digress.), but much of the finesse must be learned through experience. Perhaps the most critical aspect of fishing and selling- reeling the prospect in after he's hooked- is one of those things that can only be learned through experience. That finesse is learned through trial and error, and a lot of heartbreaking tales of the one that got away.

Bass fishing pundits can tell you where to fish, which lure to use, how to cast and how to set the hook, but nobody can tell you exactly how to set your drag, when to reel in or when to let the fish run with the line... and that's the most important part of landing the fish successfully. That fishing line is the only think connecting you and your fish, and a lot can go wrong on the way to the boat.

Similarly in sales, my boss can tell me where to go, which presentation to give, and which close to try, but the real fun(again, no pun intended... real fun, reel fun) begins after the prospect says yes! A lot can go wrong on the way to delivering that product or service.

This truly is the most crucial aspect of selling and fishing, but it is also the most fun! Bass are consistently voted as one of the most fun species to sport fish for. Why? Because pound-for-pound they give the best, most exhilarating fight. What's better than reeling in a lunker bass that shoots out of the water like a missile and has the raw strength to run away with your line... or break it? That exchange of give-and-take is exactly why I love bass fishing! I'm actually getting pumped up just writing about it now!!!

Likewise, what's more rewarding than finally landing that stubborn prospect that said "yes," but then fought you like hell on the contract specs, price, or some other element of the sale? Many of my clients have exhausted me through that process, but at the end of the day, they are my clients!

Set your drag and keep a tight line.

The drag is a device on the fishing reel that, depending on the type of line used, allows the fish to run with the line. Too little drag and the fish may run the line a mile away and wrap it around a tree stump. Too much drag and the line may snap as soon as the fish starts bolting. Again, the perfect amount of drag is deduced over time.

Your line and drag are your communication after the hook has been set.

Have you ever had too little drag after a sale?

One time I closed a sale, and was immediately bombarded with a thousand questions and request. "Yes, John, we would love to do business with you... BUT can we see this spec? Can you send us that report? Is it possible for it to be delivered in this manner?" I didn't know how to reel them back in. They ran so far with the line. The danger is that the farther the line goes without being reeled back in the greater the chance of losing the sale, which is exactly what happened.

I've also had too much drag.

After seeing how a sale was lost by not taking control of the post-closing process I took a hard line stance with some future prospects. Yes, John, we would like to do business with you... BUT...
"Great," I interrupted "I'll just have you sign right here and we'll start the first of the month."
But we're a little concerned about...
"We'll make sure that's all addressed after we deliver the service."
We want to make sure...

By being to hard and fast at the beginning you risk breaking the line and losing the sale... which is exactly what happened.

Undoubtedly there needs to be a strong, tight line of communication post-close. Occasionally the prospect will run off on some tangent, and the salesman has to allow them to run- only so far- and then reel them back with strong communication... assurances... answers to their questions, etc.

The bottom line (seriously, I did not intend that pun at all) is that the art of fishing and selling is all about finessing that line of communication. It cannot be taught in a class or seminar. It's developed over time, so in the mean time enjoy the process of learning which techniques help you best land more fish. And enjoy the fight- it's the most exciting part of the process!

Fall in Love, Success is Sure to Follow...

2008-02-13T15:34:00.000-05:00

I haven't forgotten that this is a blog about bass fishing and selling, but cut me some slack here- it's Valentine's Day- so we have to talk about love! And believe or not it is one of the most relevant themes in bass fishing and selling, or any other career for that matter. Notice I said career, not job. The people who love what they do are the most successful.

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time:

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything."

Attributed to Pedro Arrupe, S.J. (1907-1991)
Superior General of the Society of Jesus 1961-1984

To me that is one of the most complete definitions of love. Father Arrupe's definition drives into the very core of what we are supposed to be, as defined by what we are in love with. And according to him, this is even greater that finding God! How very cool... and eerily self-enlightening.

So what are you in love with? What gets you out of bed in the morning? How do you spend your weekends? What do you read? What breaks your heart...

So where am I going with all of this mush? It's no secret that the Bass Pros love what they do! They have to. It's not about the money- especially at first. There are a handful of guys making "good" money on the Tours, but the rest of them are pursuing a passion! They are spending weekends and evenings traveling across the country... getting up at 3:00 AM to launch their boats. It's what they read... it's who they know. And when they win... or lose by a single ounce, it's what amazes them with joy and gratitude... or breaks their hearts. The guys who don't truly love it never reach the top level of success, because it's too grueling to do for any length of time if you don't have a passion for it, if you don't love it.

The same rule of love applies to our careers as salespeople. Those of us who love our companies, products, jobs, etc. achieve the highest levels of success and personal satisfaction... personal fulfillment.

I'm a lucky guy because I love my wife and daughter, my family, my career, bass fishing and a long list of other things I won't bore you with, but they define me nonetheless.

So, it's Valentine's Day for crying out loud, go out there and "fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything."

Trust Me, I Wouldn't Lie About This

2008-02-13T10:58:00.000-05:00

...of all the liars among mankind, the fisherman is the most trustworthy. ~William Sherwood Fox, Silken Lines and Silver Hooks, 1954

Why is it that fishermen and salesmen have a reputation for, shall we say, stretching the truth? Well it's not without merit, that's for sure. The difference is that fishermen lie about the past whereas salesmen lie about the future.

Disclaimer: These stories may or may not be things I have actually said in the past:

That bass had to be 10 lbs! He broke my line, jumped out of the water, smirked at me and swam away! Past.

I fought this lunker for 30 minutes before landing him. Then nearly flopped off of the boat, but I grabbed him with one hand. Past.

Absolutely Mr. Prospect, I guarantee that you won't have any problems whatsoever with our product. Future.

Yes Boss, I will be turning in paperwork for 4 sales by the end of the day. Future.

The lesson here is simple. If the salesman desires to earn the title of "most trustworthy" of the liars, then he needs to stop lying about the future. Go ahead and swap war stories with your colleagues about the one that got away, or your end of the sale heroics, but don't oversell (i.e. lie) to your prospect or your boss. The true professionals in fishing and sales have, over time, earned trust and respect, and it pays huge dividends!

Shut up and Show Me

2008-02-12T10:45:00.000-05:00

I'm a salesman, so I am notorious for talking a lot. Sometimes too much! I think this must be a problem for a lot of us (i.e. salesmen) because almost every sales seminar I have ever attended has a session on listening and I have yet to see one on talking. So what does the bass have to teach the salesman?

Sight is more important than sound. Bass are visual feeders. Why? Probably because there's so much background noise, and their hearing is limited. Keith A. Jones, PhD, author of Knowing Bass, discusses this in great detail. Essentially all of the background noise from boats, waves, and other marine inhabitants creates an environment that is not favorable for the bass to make feeding decisions based on hearing. Sound familiar? Think about all of the background noise we hear as consumers? Or all that our prospects must hear? We're bombarded every day with internet, TV and radio ads... telephone solicitations, and so on. It creates a lot of background noise, so prospects must make buying decisions based on something other than what they hear.

So show them what you got! Find a way to demonstrate your product or service, and you will likely increase your chance of getting the prospect to bite.

There's much debate among anglers about what, visually, is most important to bass: size, color, shape, motion, etc. To a degree we can have the same argument about our prospects. What's more important, this feature or that benefit? In a way, it really doesn't matter as long as we're showing them something. The advantage we have with humans is that, while showing them, we can ask them what is most important to them- this is when the afore mentioned listening comes into play... and if need be, we can show them exactly what they want/need.

Seeing is believing for bass and buyers, so quit talking and start showing!

Fish or Cut Bait

2008-02-11T11:15:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a day at the office where you were super busy, but at the end of the day didn't talk to any prospects? I definitely have. It is so easy to think of those as productive days, since we feel busy, and we're probably getting critical things crossed off of our to-do list, but don't be fooled. A Bass Pro would be mortified if he had to waste an entire day on the lake without getting his line in the water.

The philosophies of fishing and selling are identical: spend as much time as possible in front of your prospects, enticing them. In fishing this translates into having your line in the water... In sales this means talking to your prospects, either face-to-face or over the phone. So what can you do to ensure that you're fishing instead of cutting bait?

Get organized, and plan ahead.
This seams obvious, but it is often overlooked. The top professionals, however, take the time to get organized and plan ahead so they can maximize their time on the water. Nothing is left to chance. They categorize their baits by type, size, color and weight. They routinely check their rods, reels and line. And, of course, everything on the boat is checked. When a tournament rolls around they check the specs of the lake and the weather forecast and decide which types of baits they will use, and they rig their rods up ahead of time.

I was so impressed with my boater during my first tournament. He had eight rods (4 spinning and 4 baitcaters) fanned across his bow, already rigged and set to go. I, on the other hand had my rods tangled in a mess next to me rigged with a dried out plastic worms from last season. I really didn't have a plan for the day.

At each spot he quickly picked up has rod and began casting, while I sat there staring at my tackle bag wondering what to tie on. He knew even before we got to the spot what he was going to cast. If his line got snagged he would cut it and immediately throw the next line in. If he had to replace a lure he knew exactly which box it was in and would tie it on within seconds.

The result... as you can imagine he far outfished me that day. Why? Because he maximized his time, and spent most of the eight hour day actually fishing, while I spent most of it trying to figure out what to do next. He did all of the other stuff the day before the tournament.

The same thing should apply to your sales day. Define what constitutes "time on the water," otherwise known as prime selling hours. If that time is 9-5, then do all of your other stuff before or after that. Look at where you are going the next day, and decide how and what you're going to pitch to the prospect, and then prepare it. Make your copies, submit your paperwork, check your e-mails, print your directions, fill your gas tank up... so that you're not doing the next day while someone else is in front of your prospect.

Remember: A productive day of fishing does not entail cutting bait. That should be done some other time.

No Spin, Be Reel to Get In Front of Hard-to-Find Prospects

2008-02-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

There's a phenomenon called "fishing pressure" that anglers can often use as their excuse for no, or very few, fish caught. Pressure occurs when a body of water becomes over-fished. Perhaps a small lake, notorious for lunker bass, has hosted weekend tournaments for several consecutive weeks. Suddenly, guys who were catching 5 pounders can't even get a bite. Does this mean all the fish have been caught, or they're just harder to get in front of now? Does this sound like a familiar sales problem? What does a successful angler or salesman do to get in front of prospects in a saturated market?

You have to be willing to go where the other guys won't go, so learn some new tricks and build up your arsenal. I've certainly had to do this professionally, in sales, and I had to do this with my fishing technique too. But be WARNED: Trying something new can be awkward and uncomfortable!

After successfully fishing for years (with a spinning reel) I started fishing in a few BASS tournaments. These tournaments were just little club tournaments on some local lakes, but pressure was a big problem. Some weekends there would be 5 or 10 other club tournaments on the same lake, so the fish became harder to come by. My boater (fishing partner) would start working some shore lines and docks with his baitcasting reel, flipping and pitching. I, meanwhile, began casting out into the lake where everyone else had already cast- that's all I could do with my spinning reel. With great precision he was placing his lure on sunken tree limbs, over rock piles, under docks and just about anywhere you wouldn't want to get your line stuck. But he maneuvered it deftly and caught a limit of bass. He was willing to go where nobody else was able to go, and he had the skill to do it.

Shortly after that I bought a baitcaster and, awkwardly, began practicing with it. It felt like I had to learn to fish all over again- left handed! But I knew that if I could start doing some of the things that my boater had done I would be a multidimensional fisherman, and would be able to catch fish even when others couldn't.

It's easy to blame the market when you can't seem to close a sale, but step outside of your comfort zone and learn some new sales techniques. Who knows, you may find a big fat prospect just waiting for you to close them!

Hunters Need Not Apply; Bass Fisherman Please Send Resumes

2008-02-07T13:09:00.000-05:00

While perusing the Help Wanted ads last weekend for sales positions I noticed that a lot of the companies are looking for "hunters." I'm not exactly sure why that would be desirable. If you want someone who would sit in a tree all day and wait for a single prospect to walk by, only then to kill it, then perhaps "hunters" are what your business needs. I would propose that we begin hiring fishermen, Bass Pros in particular. Here's why...

We want someone who will completely scour a territory looking for prospects- speeding to every hot spot and pitching to thousands of prospects. I'm pretty sure that's what these employers would rather have than a hunter stuck up a tree. Once those prospects are caught, we don't want them killed. We want them safely placed in the livewell, brought back to be assessed (weighed), and then released so they can continue growing and multiplying, so we can do it all over again next week, month, year, etc. Clients who have a good experience with their sales reps- and who live to tell about it- spread the word, multiply, and become our greatest endorsement. Clients that end up flayed on the top of our SUV's aren't really good references... and usually become a liability.

So the next time I'm in an interview and someone says they're looking for a "hunter," I'll kindly excuse myself and tell them I'm looking for a more active and lucrative sales position.

Three Thousand Casts a Day; How Many Cold Calls Did You Make?

2008-02-06T16:59:00.000-05:00

When I think about how tiring prospecting or cold-calling can be I always try to think about it in terms of fishing. Some of the Bass Pros make over 3000 casts in a tournament day, tirelessly looking for their next strike. Oftentimes you will hear a pro mention that his best fish was caught with the very last cast of the day, right before he sped back to the weigh-in. It's that never-quit attitude that separates the pros from the starving fisherman. Even when they have already caught their limit, they are still trying to land something bigger.

I've found that the same attitude applies toward the truly successful salesmen I know too. Even when they have met their quota for the day (week, month, etc.) they are still perpetually prospecting. The guys who, instead, hit the golf course after they have hit their numbers find themselves on a slippery slope to sales suicide.

I know both feelings. I know what it feels like to want to rest on your laurels, but I also know what it feels like to constantly want more. The next time I feel like taking the afternoon off I will pretend that each cold call is another cast in search of landing Walter. After all, I have made sales on my last call of the day before, and I have caught lunker bass on my last cast. You never know what you can reel in.