“I would like to buy some socks, please” my friend said.  He was just inside the entrance to a V E R Y  nice men’s clothing store, responding to a sales person’s  gently formal yet genuinely warm greeting.

“Ah, of course,” responded the sales person, authoritatively. “Socks. Follow me.”

As they reached the socks, my friend picked up a package of black socks and squinted (nothing subtle here!)  at the price.

“Where are you going?” asked the sales person.

“The Bahamas,” said my still squinting friend.  “Wedding.”

About a half-hour later, my friend left the store with a shirt, a gorgeous silk tie, cologne, a blue bathing suit, and…. socks which (he later reflected) he chose on the basis of color, not price.

“It was amazing,” he said, shaking his head in delight, afterwards.  “It was convenient. He listened to me.  I have a relationship.  I know his name. I’ll go back there.”

Huh!  All this on the basis of “Where are you going?”…. followed by conversation that included, “Oh, how wonderful,” and questions about who will be there, what will you be doing during the day, oh, that’s  wonderful, you’ll need something pretty dressy for  that, what shoes will you be wearing, and where will you be having the rehearsal dinner, oh, the view from there is spectacular at sunset and, you know,  they have a very nice beach there,  and so on.

I don’t know whether the sales person has ever been to the Bahamas, and he sounded like he knew every step of the way.

(Shaking my head in wonder) A shirt, a tie, cologne, a bathing suit, and socks chosen for their color. My friend who (previously) would not have worn colored socks if you PAID him.

The most effective cross-sellers are curious.  They  focus on the big picture – goals, plans, challenges, opportunities, gaps.  They educate. They encourage. They offer options to consider rather than focusing one-by-one on specific needs or products.

The V E R Y nice clothing store sales person could have sold my friend the package of socks, three pairs. A standard “product bundle.”  And my friend would have been happy, his mission quickly accomplished.

However, the sales person wasn’t a “socks guy,” or a “suit guy,” or a “shoes guy.” The guy knew how to dress men, taking into account what the men he dressed were about and what they could tolerate, to help them express themselves best through their clothing.

The big objective was: “Assure this (new client) that he would make the right impressions, feel comfortable, stylish, almost a little trendy, at an important event with friends and family.”

“Where are you going?” was such a great question,  SO much more powerful than, “How many pairs, sir?”   We’re talking more than socks, here.

For branch staff and small business bankers, an introduction to a new prospect from a trusted third party—such as an accountant, lawyer, or real estate broker—is a critical requirement for success. But, as many business developers have found out in these challenging times, relying solely on these usual referral sources isn’t enough.  The good news, according to consulting and bank sales training firm Clarity Advantage, is that there are many more referral sources who can introduce bankers to desirable prospects.

Who are these referral sources? Where are they? What should bankers say to them once they are found? Clarity Advantage will answer these questions and more in a complimentary webinar entitled Building a Super-Referral Network.  Scheduled for Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET, the 30-minute webinar will benefit small business banking leaders, heads of retail and small business, heads of client experience, heads of small business strategy, small business bankers, and branch managers.

“In business networking, winning isn’t about ‘dying with the most toys’; It’s about living bountifully with the biggest focused network,” says Clarity Advantage President Nick Miller.  “In this webinar, we’ll focus on how to dramatically and quickly expand and focus referral networks (through both the usual and unusual suspects) and explore strategies that will position bankers as ‘the ones’ to refer to.”

During the webinar, Miller will discuss:

• Defining the super-referral network—who is included, how are they included, and how the super-referral network differs from a traditional network.
• The critical ABCs of building a super-referral network—Always Be… Conversing.
• Starting and moving conversations forward.
• Identifying the opportune moments to begin selling

To learn more about and register for Building a Super-Referral Network, visit http://www.clarityadvantage.com/wst/2012/04/news/webinar-may-17-building-a-super-referral-network/8

About Clarity Advantage: Consulting and bank sales training firm Clarity Advantage helps banks generate more profitable relationships faster with small and medium-sized companies, their owners, and employees.  Clarity consulting, communications, sales tools and training help banks recruit and deploy sales team members, choose their best business and consumer prospects and clients, then approach, engage, sell, expand, and retain relationships. Clarity also assists banks with consumer sales and cash management sales. Clarity clients have posted increases in household penetration, cross-sells, deposit volume, and loan volume.  Visitors to Clarity’s website, http://www.clarityadvantage.com, can subscribe to “The Weekly Sales Thought,” a free eNewsletter and podcast focused on business-to-business selling and sales management.

Contact:

Karen Tunks

Clarity Advantage

980-939-2112

karen.tunks@clarityadvantage.com

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The soccer game final score was a solid and satisfying 4 – 0 in “our team’s” favor.   Shots on goal, probably 12 – 3.

A few of our team’s forwards have the knack. They see the field, move to open turf, and touch balls past defenders legs and keepers’ hands into goal.  Others, try as they might, don’t and cannot.

And SO many close opportunities.  Balls played forward or crossed in well; forwards at net with open shooting angles, unable to one-touch balls, instead taking steps or dribbles, then shooting into defenders’ feet, knees, or hips. Aach!  Differences of inches and quarter-seconds in traffic under pressure, missing, so close, too slow, striking too hard, too soft, too late, growling in frustration.  It could have been 20 – 3 in shots, who knows the final score.

Some of the differences are physical – reaction times, spatial anticipation, muscle mass, speed, strength, height, mental quickness. Some bodies and minds are better for this game than others. Much difference, however, lies in repetitions – players’ abilities to watch better players over periods of years, learn, and adapt – a feint here, a tweak there – and practice, hours of repetitions and more repetitions – with pressure, without pressure, alone, in small sided games, in full sided games, and more hours after that, learning to see openings, anticipate angles, and develop touch to take advantage.

And they know the differences. Losing a close-scored but lopsided tournament final to their faster, stronger, defter-footed arch rivals last week, and returning the favor to an undermanned, scrappy but lesser gifted cross-town rival in this week’s season ending game. They know the differences.

The seniors graduate in a few weeks.  The rising underclassmen and incoming freshmen have four summer months before them to set their priorities, dedicate their time, work with a ball, develop their vision and touch…. or not. It’s a choice, one day at a time, to rise to the next level or not.

We, sales warriors all, have the same choices. Role plays, anyone?

Note: For those who have followed my son’s scholastic soccer career through these columns for the last few to more than a dozen years, this was his final game.  With delight, I watched as he scored one of the team’s goals today and hit the post on another  and applauded, with his smiling team mates, as he left the field with a few minutes remaining, co-captain of the victorious side. The game today finishes a career that included a national championship and two Massachusetts high school state tournament championships and generated many wonderful stories to share. Thank you, readers,  for your interest in him,  thank you for your comments through the years. I’m very, very  proud to be his dad.  Be well, all.

Positioning personal value is a critical skill for branch managers and other bankers who sell to business owners. In a new sales best practices video, consulting and bank sales training firm Clarity Advantage offers bankers a methodology for positioning their personal value that will differentiate them, build their credibility, and clarify the benefits they generate for business owners.

According to Clarity Advantage President Nick Miller, a well-articulated personal value focuses on results, experience, and examples. He says: “Quite often, bank sales people are asked, ‘What do you do?’ Most answer in terms of the industry they’re in or their position title, which doesn’t position them as a resource who can help business owners run their businesses more effectively.  Our video tells them how to answer in a way that emphasizes their unique experiences and the results they have helped clients achieve.”

Entitled Positioning Personal Value (http://www.clarityadvantage.com/knowledge-center/sales-best-practices-video.php), the two-minute video is one resource Clarity Advantage offers to help bankers position their personal value in sales calls.  The company also offers Winning at Prospecting and Accelerating Sales, two classroom sessions for branch managers and bankers who sell to small and medium-sized businesses.

“In Winning at Prospecting and Accelerating Sales, we work hands on with bankers, helping them to determine their distinctive strengths and how to articulate those strengths in conversations with business owners.  We teach them how to introduce themselves and translate their experience into potential value the business owner will welcome,” says Miller.

Positioning Personal Value  is one in a series of 12 educational videos Clarity Advantage will produce in 2012 aimed at helping business bankers increase their sales results.  To access Clarity Advantage’s video library, visit http://www.clarityadvantage.com/knowledge-center/video-sales-tips.php.

About Clarity Advantage: Consulting and bank sales training firm Clarity Advantage helps banks clarify, implement, and execute sales strategies to generate more profitable relationships, faster, with small and medium-sized companies, their owners, and employees, working with branch, field sales, and call center sales team members. The company’s sales techniques also assist banks to attract and expand relationships with individuals and families. Visitors to Clarity’s website, http://www.clarityadvantage.com, can subscribe to “The Weekly Sales Thought,” a free eNewsletter and podcast focused on business-to-business sales techniques and sales management.

Contact:

Karen Tunks

Clarity Advantage

980-939-2112

karen.tunks@clarityadvantage.com

###

With the melody, “Rock My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham,” and the rhythmic clapping of a fully aroused, Boston opening night audience still ringing in my ears, I stood at the end of Row Q, waiting my turn to step into the aisle and leave the theater.

In the aisle, waiting his turn to move past me, stood an older man, perhaps in his early ‘80s. In his prime, he would have been a little taller than me. Solidly built.  I imagine he was probably quite athletic and terribly good looking. Now he was an older man in a wrinkled tan rain coat and blue blazer, his head bowed forward, slightly, almost resting, waiting patiently for a throng of dance patrons to move up the aisle.

“Are you uplifted?”  I asked, looking at him.

He turned his face toward me, looking at me silently for a moment, as if gauging the source and the purpose of the question.  I smiled at him, gently.

“Yes,” he said, with a thin smile. “I am…. I saw it Tuesday night, I’ve seen it tonight, and I’ll see it Saturday night.”

“That’s a lot of uplifting in a week,” I grinned, raising my eyebrows.

“Yes,” he smiled back, more gently. “I’m Vice Chairman of the Board of the company. I see them perform 50 times a year.”

Twenty questions popped immediately to mind, and it wasn’t the time or place to be curious. So,  I thanked him for his work, applauded the impact of the new company artistic director, and wished him well for the Saturday night performance, and he moved up the aisle toward the door.

About 20 minutes later, as I headed down the stairs in the Boston Common parking garage,  I noticed the 50-ish woman in front of me, noting that she was carrying a program from the same dance performance.

“Wasn’t that a WONDERFUL program,” I boomed to the back of her head, three steps below me.

She reached the landing (now, remember, it’s 10:30 at night, and it’s just the two of us on the stairs, nobody else coming or going), turned, smiled, and said, “Yes, it was fantastic. I just loved the first piece, “Home,” didn’t you think that was wonderful? I just loved the music….”

After ten minutes of energetic conversation, I wished her well and we went our separate ways into the echoing expanse of the now almost car-less parking floor.

Common interests.  With a little care, it’s just amazingly easy to move past “normal social barriers” and start conversations with complete strangers if we can find common interests.  Or something about which to complement them.  Or something about which to be mutually curious, as in “Do you see that statue over there, do you know what that is?”  And then be genuinely interested in their answers, willing to follow the conversations more or less where-ever they lead. (Easy to do if the idea is to start conversation rather than achieve a particular conquest.)

On this particular night, between the Vice Chairman and the parking garage landing, I started four other conversations each of which lasted several minutes.  Piece of cake.

I couldn’t make out his voice as I tippy-tapped down the stairs into the musty subway station, but the haunting,  trebley-vibrato of his electric guitar pierced the incoming train rumble. I recognized it immediately –  Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” – “No, I…. don’t want to  fall in love….No, I….. don’t want to fall in love…”

His small amplifier behind him, and microphone and guitar case in front, open for donations, he worked his way up and down the guitar’s neck as I stood to one side, listening and admiring.

“I put a guitar solo in there to make up for my lousy voice,” he croaked, smiling over the train rumble and his music.

“It’s a great solo,” I said, smiling.  I put some money in his case and listened more, watching others pass by, staring away or dropping bills or coins into the guitar case.

He worked through another beautiful riff and I approached to drop more money into his case.

“Do you have a card?”  I shouted over the noise of an outgoing train.

At first he didn’t hear me, so I pantomimed my request.

He stopped short and said, “No, but I can write my number down for you.”  He pulled a pad from his backpack and started writing.

“Where are you from?”  he asked.

“Concord,” I replied. “20 minutes from here.”

“What do you do?” he asked.

“Consultant,” I replied.

“Consultant, huh?”  he said,  writing.  He smiled and handed me the paper on which he’d written his name, Jonathan, and phone number. “I give lessons and play parties,” he said.

Jonathan was masterful.  He attracted me with his music – I stopped to listen, passing the first qualifying screen. He engaged me with his croaking quip about his lousy voice – I smiled and engaged – second screen.  I demonstrated desirable behavior – I put money in his case, the third screen. When I approached, he qualified me with two questions, the answers to which could tell him something about my economic means.   And, as we finished, he delivered a seven-word positioning statement to see how I responded.

I turned to go, nearly bumping into a large man who’d stepped up behind me.  And as I turned, the large man addressed Jonathan, “I’ve been listening to you and I’d like to take some lessons.”

As consultants and sales representatives, we share a common challenge with Jonathan – attracting prospects and clients by demonstrating what we do – and we use a comparable strategy – speaking at local, regional, or national conferences and meetings, our version of playing for change in the subway.

Like Jonathan, when we speak, interested people from the audience line up to meet us, exchange cards, tell us about their problems, and become PROSPECTS!   Just as I did for Jonathan.

If we don’t have a “subway strategy,” we must find other ways to show up in front of prospective clients or referral sources, demonstrating our expertise, our values, and our work ethic.  Writing articles, if we can write, is a close second best to speaking. Volunteering in civic or other organizations is a good way, particularly if the members or clients of the organization are either prospective referral sources or prospective clients.  (Leadership positions in such organizations are important, if we can reach them, because the leadership position puts us side by side with other community leaders (referral sources or prospects) and because the position gives us the ability to demonstrate our strengths to them.

The key is consistency, showing up repeatedly, demonstrating our capabilities so that (again, like Jonathan), at the one time that someone needs our help or knows someone who needs our help, they think of us, confident in our abilities because of their experiences with us.

Fee: Complimentary

Host: Nick Miller, President of Clarity Advantage

REGISTER NOW

These days, everyone’s working hard to attract new small business customers. For branch staff and small business bankers, an introduction to a new prospect from a trusted third party (an accountant, lawyer, real estate broker) is a critical requirement for success.

But, as many business developers have found out in these challenging times, relying solely on these usual referral sources isn’t enough. The good news is that there are many more players who can introduce you to desirable prospects. 

Who are they? Where do you find them? And what do you say to them when you do?

In this session, Nick Miller, President of Clarity Advantage, will explore strategies to super expand your referral network.  Nick will discuss techniques that will position you as “the” banker to refer to and show you how to begin conversations with both the usual and unusual referral sources.

Here’s what you will learn:

• Defining the super-referral network – who’s included, how are they included, how is this different from traditional referral networks?
• The critical ABCs of building a super-referral network – Always Be…. Conversing
• Starting and moving conversations forward
• Identifying the opportune moments to begin selling

Intended Audience:  Small business banking leaders, small business bankers, branch managers, heads of retail and small business, heads of client experience, heads of small business strategy

REGISTER NOW

Business banking expert and president of Clarity Advantage Nick Miller was selected by Barlow Research as one of four judges for its 2012 Monarch Innovation Awards. In its fifth year, the Monarch Innovation Awards honor business-to-business innovation in the financial services industry within three categories: Innovative Industry Partner, Innovative Product, and Overall Most Innovative. This is Miller’s second consecutive year serving as a judge.

“The products submitted in this competition get stronger every year,” said Miller. “We see a clear trend toward bank payment management products that are more integrated, more interactive, and more convenient than they were a year ago. Increasingly, they deal with real business pain, have a better customer interface, and are better geared for business owners who are more mobile.”

Miller, along with the three other Monarch Innovation Awards judges, will participate in Barlow’s Annual Client Conference on April 24-25, 2012 in Atlanta, Ga., where the winners will be formally presented with their awards.   For more information, visit http://www.monarchinnovationawards.com.

About Clarity Advantage: Consulting and bank sales training firm Clarity Advantage helps banks clarify, implement, and execute sales strategies to generate more profitable relationships, faster, with small and medium-sized companies, their owners, and employees, working with branch, field sales, and call center sales team members. The company also assists banks to attract and expand relationships with individuals and families. Visitors to Clarity’s website, http://www.clarityadvantage.com, can subscribe to “The Weekly Sales Thought,” a free eNewsletter and podcast focused on business-to-business sales techniques and sales management.

Contact:

Karen Tunks

Clarity Advantage

980-939-2112

karen.tunks@clarityadvantage.com

###

I stand on one leg when I brush my teeth.

Seriously!

During the minutes I’m brushing my teeth, I stand on one leg. And not just stand.  I “lay out,” meaning that I lean forward until my chest is about 30% above horizontal and I extend one leg behind me so that my heel is about 30 degrees below horizontal.  I hold that position for about two minutes and brush my teeth.  Then, I switch tooth brushes and switch legs so that the other leg is extended behind me. Two more brushing minutes. **

“Um… interesting, Nick. Why did you start this?”

Well, I wanted Tai Chi benefit #10, improved balance and stability by strengthening ankles and knees, and I noticed I had some down staring into the mirror, examining facial pores while I was brushing my teeth. And, while I could have done something simple like “lift your foot three inches from the floor,” what’s the sport in that?  So, I lay out and brush.

While explaining this to my generally-one-step-ahead-of-me wife (who, it turned out, had developed her own tooth brushing movement system independently of mine), she said, “try that with your eyes closed.”

Huh, sure, no problem, piece of cake.  The next morning, I picked up brush 1, assumed the layout position, balanced, started brushing, closed my eyes, and …. promptly,  fell over.  Tried again.  Lurched into the opposite wall.

Turns out – at least for me, balancing on one leg goes MUCH better with my eyes open because … I use visual cues for balancing.  I can sustain the layout pose the longest and the most steadily if I keep my head up and focus intently on  a particular fixed object several feet away from me.  The further away the object, the better the balance.  Helps me steady my head and reduce “over-correction” when I need to adjust.

And, so it is:  We need balance when we’re managing account relationships. The more complex the relationships, the more we need balance.  Balancing our time and energy among accounts. Balancing our time within the account. Balancing the resources and specialists we bring from our organizations.

If we keep our eyes open to the client environment and focus intently on a fixed object some distance in front of us – an account objective, say, solving a particular client challenge, or doing business with particular buying centers, or booking a certain amount of revenue, we can manage the balance better, reduce ‘over-correction,’ and, presumably, hold the relationship “pose” longer to achieve our objectives.

Working an account relationship without the fixed point visual reference, the account objective, is like standing on one leg with one’s eyes closed.  Loss of direction and balance comes almost immediately.

**From the “Don’t Try This At Home, These People Are Professionals” Department: If you try this at home, be careful! Make sure you’re close enough to a wall or some other touch point to steady yourself when needed.

Imagine for a moment: You’re the owner/manager of a successful wine and spirits store. A guy you know as an occasional customer comes in one morning and says, “I am ready to start developing a small wine cellar, it’s been about 25 years since I really paid attention, I prefer reds to whites, I have a few bottles left from the early days, I like wines that are predominantly made with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, I’m thinking I’d like a mix of Bordeaux reds, Napa Valley cabernets, and a sprinkling of wines from Australia and New Zealand. I want some for current consumption, and some to lay down for the next five to ten years. I need some help from you deciding what I should be buying.”

You’d be all over that, wouldn’t you? A knowledgeable buyer, someone you could work with?

So, over the course of a morning, you spend about two hours with the prospect, answering questions, sharing stories, poking into trade publications and wine ratings, telling the prospect about the best years since your prospect stopped paying attention.

At the end of the two hours, your prospective customer sighs, says “You’ve been wonderful to spend so much time with me, thank you,” leaves with several trade magazines under his arm, without spending a dime, saying, “I’m overwhelmed.” You apologize, say, “yes, go home and think about it, sorry I talked so much, I love wine, I love to talk about wine, come back and we’ll get you started.”

Several weeks go by. Your prospective customer does not return. He does not return your phone calls. What has happened?

Well… Yes, the prospect seemed ripe and ready. Yes, the prospect wanted and needed information about wines – advice and counsel. Yes, the prospect had the means to complete the purchase. And, yes, the wine wizard carried the wines that the prospect wanted. But……….

There was something missing from the conversation — the discussion of issues RELATED TO the wine purchase, the story behind the story, about which there was an enormous hint in the customer’s opening. “It’s been about 25 years since I paid attention.”

What was that about? Sounds like the prospect was “in the game” at one point, and he’s been out for 25 years. What happened to take him out of the game? What’s changed to get him back in the game? Are any of the issues that took him out of the game still a challenge? Are there any new challenges that would stop him from moving forward?

And, if there are, how will the prospect resolve those challenges (not the least of which is where to store the wines he seeks in a way that doesn’t further irritate his wife who has made it pretty clear she thinks that wine is a goofy way to spend money and no, there’s no space in her basement to set up the cellar, and ‘when are you going to drink this stuff?’, and so on.)

The sale….really….will NOT be made on the basis of information about wine. That would be the EASY part. The prospect could, with some effort, generate all of this information on his own, through the Web.

The sale will be made  IF the prospect is able to resolve the nagging issues other than choice of vintage and vineyard.

The wine wizard’s best chance of closing the sale and making his money during his lifetime comes if he is able to help his prospect resolve these issues -  think through this story-behind-the-story. This sale isn’t just about product features, prices, and ‘how many of those would you like?’