Sales Success Stories - 60 Stories from 20 Top 1% Sales Professionals

2.

Determination and Persistence

By Dayna Leaman

Some accounts make you wonder why you stayed in sales, let alone decided it was a good idea to start in the first place. I think many of us have these thoughts in our head at some point.

I know that more than one account brought me to this point. Maybe that’s because the model for Higher Education technology sales is quite… well…crazy. For starters, the sales cycle is typically long, similar to waiting at the DMV…but longer. Many customers demand constant change, while others demand none at all. Most of all, it includes several layers of decision-makers, all of whom could undermine the process at multiple points.

Let me explain. In selling technology in education, the sales rep rarely sees the actual buyer: the student who uses the platform to study for her courses. It’s an odd way to do business, but nearly every player in the market approaches it in this way. So, while the nature of the business is changing constantly, it’s mainly the professor that makes the final decision about which book is being used—and if the technology is being used at all. Once the professor makes the decision, the bookstore orders the package and posts the required course materials on their website. If the stars align or the Cleveland Browns win the Super Bowl (whichever happens first), the students buy it or they purchase it directly online from the publisher or bookstore. What’s more likely to happen? Students figure out how they will not use it, thereby not making the purchase and saving the money for some sort of social gathering that involves coins, plastic cups and a fermented substance made with wheat. A final alternative—the Hail Mary-- students figure out how much it’s worth towards their grade, and once again ask themselves: “Is this really worth it?”

Yes, this is my fate—along with never winning the door prize at any of these company functions. However, I manage the sales process. It’s a little odd, not selling directly to your customer, but there are others who do it, right? And they make money too, right? It’s always been my motto to begin with the end in mind. One of my great mentors at Wiley, Bonnie Liberman, used to tell me this a lot, especially when I was frustrated or confused by this rather oxymoronic process. Case in point? My ‘end’ was making sure that Christine Smith at Tulane University was going to use my Financial Accounting text and learning platform, WileyPLUS. Allow me to share this story with you.

I tried for years to have Christine use my products, but she was too busy with going to school while teaching, helping her students, and keeping up with all the demands of teaching and working at a university. She always had a line of students outside her door during her office hours (many of whom, no doubt, felt that their ‘C’ should be upgraded to a ‘B’); it was simply just hard to get to her. You’d have a better chance of meeting up with Aaron Judge after a game at Yankee Stadium. This happens a great deal in this business, but some people just don’t want to change their approach or mindset. This is where fortune favors the bold.

Christine taught Intermediate Accounting for years. While we had wonderful conversations where she promised to review my products, she just never made the time or showed any real willingness to change. I got tired of waiting, so I found other “fish to fry.” Nonetheless, I never forgot about Christine. I knew that whatever opportunity she might still be able to present, I had to make a number. Her business, at least for the present and immediate future, was not going to be in that number.

Then, as always in sales, something changes--something truly out of your control. Christine’s father, who taught the Financial Accounting course, suddenly passed away. She then decided to take over the course. Showing more perseverance than the coyote after falling off yet another cliff after chasing the roadrunner, I thought I saw a way in! However, there are many details I didn’t initially realize; for example, she was involved with another publisher and had an agreement with them that she would use the same text her father had used.

Time passed and, as we often see in sales, time can both help and hurt. I can’t tell you why I never gave up or stopped pursuing this business. Maybe it was because I liked Christine a great deal; I knew she did an excellent job in her role and truly cared about her students’ success in school and their future careers. Her attitude and passion drove me to be better— helping me to think outside the box and be a more resourceful salesperson. I started getting her involved with reviewing potential projects and asking her opinions on things—even though she wasn’t yet a customer.

She was getting the entire Dayna experience (sorry for referring to myself in the third person—I haven’t done that since I was a pop singer). With this process and customer, I was more engaged than Elizabeth Taylor (or, for those of you who are younger, a candidate on The Bachelorette). I was beginning to understand that I was part of a special process. I was finally gaining ground, but during this time, I made sure that her feedback mattered. I had a NEW MINDSET! I had to be patient, but NOT patient, both at the same time. This is sort of like being in the front seat and back seat of a car at the same time—only a lot less dangerous!

Finally, the time had come for Christine to review a new version of our Financial Accounting book and homework system, and I was going to make sure that she did just that. I checked her teaching schedule, found her before and after class, and even walked with her to her classes. How could I make her realize that doing business with Wiley would make her life better at the end of the day? How could I do that without her thinking of me like a housefly you can’t seem to swat despite your best ninja moves?

Lisa Earle McLeod asked in her book, Selling With A Noble Purpose: “How will this customer be different as a result of doing business with us?” How incredibly powerful. This kind of attitude can be a true game changer and force you to shift the focus to the customer. Yet, it also involves being bold. Stating you want the best for your customer and even saying it out loud is simply not enough; I had to make bold promises, share them with her, and SHOW her that I could keep them. So yes, sometimes you must be like Joe Namath after he guaranteed the Jets would beat the Colts in the Super Bowl. Who’s Joe Namath? He’s a quarterback from the ‘60s, but my brother told me that you can’t talk about being bold without mentioning Broadway Joe. Whatever.

I finally called her (on her cell phone, of course) right after one of her classes (timing can be everything). I told her what I could do for her and how her life could be better---and I said it to her in a very bold tone. This is a part of the mindset. If you don’t believe it, neither will your customer. I believe Yoda said that. If he didn’t, it was something very close! But seriously, I told her we would take over her custom build-out and convert all her assignments from her current system to our system. We would make sure that her teaching assistants were trained on the system. We would have a student partner help students from day one, and I would come to her class and talk about the new system. Most of all, I told her I would be there for her in order to address every single doubt and question. I told her I’d have an answer and a real solution; my answers and solutions would always be centered on her success and the success of her students while doing whatever was possible to minimize the demands on her time. Once again, it’s about being bold without always sounding so bold. You can call it buffering. You can call it Jedi mind tricks. Call it whatever you want, but it works.

It’s human nature to get so bogged down in the process of the sale that you forget about the actual needs and mindset of your customer. This can negatively impact your morale and cause you to give up, to get sullen, to get angry, and maybe even not want to call on that customer ever again. However, forgetting that the real purpose is dangerous and that the real purpose is all about the customer and what they want to achieve. You are a part of that process. You are the driver. You are the catalyst, but you can become so focused on the task that you forget to shift your perspective and ask yourself why you’re doing the task in the first place: for them.

This sales process taught me that having the right mindset is critical and that truly successful salespeople don’t deal in the short term; they deal with the long term. The nitty-gritty of the process is your mindset. Your perspective. Your paradigm. Whatever you want to call it… it’s what enables you to always come back to what matters—the bigger purpose and how you will make your customer’s life better by doing business with them. It is SO worth it!

Lessons Learned:

• Begin with the customer’s end in mind and how it looks for you.
• Find a mentor(s) and trust what they’ve discovered in the past to inform your motions in the future.
• Listen to your inner voice about what is working and not working—make the change.
• Don’t forget the real noble purpose as to why you are helping your customer.
• Write down your purpose, prepare...