Here’s what I see:
* They bring their own name tags – professional looking, legible, easy to read and memorable. It helps you stand out and won’t end up on the floor half way through the evening.
* They sip Club soda, or tonic. Don’t get me wrong, I like a cocktail or three myself, but you are here on business. Ever see an attendee with one too many? It’s not the impression you really want to make, is it?
* Have their business cards ready in a pocket, not hidden in a deep inside some fancy card case – hey I’ve got a couple of those too, but trying to shake hands, swap cards and juggle a glass or a plate of food is quite a trick.
* Show interest in others and ask good questions. Not the just boring ones, like who do you work for – okay, I’ll fess. I ask that myself. You almost have to. But asking things like what are some of your challenges at work, or who do you want an introduction to. It builds a relationship much faster.
* And here’s one that really works – when they hand you their card, look at it for a moment. Comment on their title. And when the conversation wraps up, turn their card over and ask how they like to communicate. Write it down on the back of the card and then follow up. Nothing like making someone feel special to make even a brief encounter memorable.

And isn’t that what business networking is – strategically building a group of diverse professionals who share interests with you?

Obviously, whoever in marketing put together the schedule announcing this Webinar believes that the topic is so compelling I will shuffle my calendar to accommodate it. Either that or they think I am just sitting back spending my time blogging away, waiting for their invitation. Hmmm?

My next thought is what is the gap between Marketing and Sales. The former is tasked with creating ways to get more leads to the top of the Sales Funnel. They strategize, plan and come up with creative ways to get prospects interested in finding out more about the products and services that my company offers. Sales, on the other hand, is responsible for taking the leads from the top of the Funnel and moving them through the process of qualifying and closing as quickly as possible. The higher the closing ration the better. So, when you boil it down Marketing gets paid to generate leads; Sales gets paid to convert those leads into revenue. The company logo on everyone’s check is the same, isn’t it? So why is there a gap in the first place? Aren’t both Marketing and Sales responsible for delivering the same thing – the success of the company? Or am I missing something?

Guess I will just have to sign up for the Webinar and see.

If something is Free, what’s it’s value to me? Why should I care? After all, it’s Free. It’s not going to cost me anything, except time to read the message, sign up for whatever they are pitching me on and then fend off the inevitable onslaught of junk solicitations and spam. It’s Free. Do they think my time has no value? It takes far less time to click delete or move it to my Spam folder, than it takes to fill in the information they are asking for.

But wait. Here is another email announcing another webinar, and, yep, it’s free too. Guess where that one goes. Spam folder, you’re right. Oh, there’s one more. How did I get on this list? How do I get off the list. This is really annoying! And so it goes. But wait…here’s one that says it is complimentary. Hmmm. I know it probably is just like the others that I junked earlier. But at least someone has thought enough about their message to offer me something that is complimentary. Does that make it better? Maybe. Maybe not. But I will take a few seconds to look it over and decide.

Google “Buying Funnel.” Again you get pages of colorful jpegs, sites and blogs. These detail the process that your sales prospects adhere to when they progress through their purchase cycle. Both funnels look similar – they identify key milestones in the process of moving towards a successful transaction. As the process moves to completion it narrows. Not every sales prospect becomes a client; not every vendor earns the business.

Sellers need to acquire more qualified prospects at the top of their funnel. Once they are at the top, the plan is to move them through the steps of the sales process as rapidly and efficiently as possible. The result is a higher close ratio at higher margins. The objective is to control the selling process.

The Buyers’ Funnel is a set of well defined steps a company goes through when they make a purchase decision. When executed correctly, it guides the evaluation process and helps companies make the best decision in a timely manner. It saves time and overhead; it helps to avoid making costly mistakes and keeps the process on track. The objective is to control the buying process.

Sales’ and buyers’ funnels are not always aligned. In fact the two are often considerably different. Sellers are not fully aware of the entire buyers’ process, but are keenly focussed on moving their own process forward. Buyers frequently anticipate what sales is trying to accomplish – close the deal. And buyers often are frustrated that sales does not understand or respect their process. The result can be unsatisfactory for both.

So I ask…Whose Funnel is it, anyway?

Our conversation quickly moves to a string of questions. Probing. Looking for the needs of my company. You want me to admit where my pain is, so you can show me how your band aid will fix it. You pull out your glossy brochures and slide them across the desk, blabbering nonstop about features, crowing about the great and wondrous benefits we will realize. You drop a trial close into the conversation. You silently wait for my push back, ready to rebut any objections I may have. I let you sit in silence, while I watch you squirm just a bit. Shame on me! Then I stand up – you follow my lead, of course -gather your collateral and hand them back to you. “Not today, thank you,” I say. “I will let you know next week,” and I walk you out the door.

You did an okay job of doing what you were trained to do. You followed the sales plan as your were taught. The problem is we have an agenda too. We have a process which we adhere to when we are considering purchases. And you never took the time to find out anything about that process. Don’t feel bad. Neither did the person who was in my office puking their features and benefits on my desk just before you. I hope the next person is a sales professional who will take the time to understand our processes.

We want a partner not a peddler. Today that is more important than price.

So, with high expectations, I pulled up my chair, put my cellphone on vibrate and even had a clean pad of paper and a pen that works all ready to go. You know what’s coming next, don’t you?

I logged on 3 minutes prior to the advertised launch. Up popped the first slide and nothing. No elevator music, no announcer, no one home. Okay. So by 5 minutes after, I logged out and tried again. Again nothing! 3 minutes later, and miraculously I see the slide change and, shortly thereafter, a voice says, “Good Afternoon. We apologize for the delays.” At last. So go ahead and educate me, please.

First Slide – 5 bullet points, each with 12 or more syllables in a tiny font over a wildly busy background. My eyes are scanning the words on bullet point 3, while my brain is trying to make sense of them. Meantime, I am listening to the presenter drone on about bullet point 1. Oh, this is not good!

Still, I blocked out an hour, so let’s suck it up and see. By the fifth slide, things have not changed for the better. Too small graphs. Too much data. Too hard to read information. I don’t think the presenter has asked a single question. No polls, no attempt to engage the audience. My eyes are glazed, and I just don’t want to waste more time. I am so out of here.

Why do so many professionals butcher their presentations? It’s an investment on their part to prepare and market the webinar to their desired audience. It’s an investment they hope will repay them with a higher profile and the opportunity to upsell me with additional services. If that was their intention, they failed miserably.

Oh, and the title of the Webinar that caught my eye originally “10 ways to improve your webinars!”
NOT!

Think you don’t fit that broad generalization? If it’s true you don’t, Great! But let’s test that idea, shall we? What is the first step in your sales process? Find a prospect? Check. Good for you! You can’t move to step two, until you have identified one. Step two is what? Qualify your prospect? Check. That’s what we all learned in the sales courses, the books, CDs and seminars. Step Three? Uncover their needs. Probe for Pain. Again, check. And your next step? Of course, give your prospect a proposal, one that addresses their needs and overcomes their pain. Does any of this sound familiar? And the next step in your sales process is? Overcome the prospect’s objections. Negotiate. Try to Close the deal, of course. And next? Try to close again – heck we all have lots of different closing techniques in our repertoire, don’t we? And where do you go from here? Well, every sales opportunity is unique, I know. But we have been taught to chase the prospect and continue to try to close the deal. We are invested in getting to this point. You have established rapport, identified the needs, done the demonstrations the due diligence and the meetings. You crafted a proposal, negotiated, handled objections and followed up as promised.

So what’s wrong with this picture? Where does Einstein come into this discussion? We are doing exactly the things we were taught to do by the experts, our mentors and bosses. But here’s what is wrong. Our prospects know what we are doing. They have come to realize what our steps are. They anticipate it, and they don’t like it. Remember, people Love to buy, but they Hate to be sold. Yet we pursue the same course of action. That’s Insane!