Episode #14: Stop Sales Suicide

What we say and how we say it matters. It matters in life, in families and in business- especially in sales. Sale’s talk is very semantics driven. By the way, the classic Hollywood big talking salesperson is an archeological artifact, a dusty relic, now banished to the tombs. Today, salespeople have to be articulate but not glib, concise not flowery, evidence based not barrow-boy spivs.

Japan presents a challenge with developing salespeople. Invariably, they are the undereducated graduates of OJT or On-the-Job Training. This OJT approach will work for certain technical themes, but not necessarily for the broader art of sales. If your boss is a great salesperson and a great coach, then well done you. In Japan, that combination is a rare bird.

Attempts by foreign corporates to rectify this OJT problem for developing salespeople are often laughable. Bosses who don’t speak Japanese or don’t have a sales background or even worse lack both, send in the English speaking instructors from the corporate APAC hub, to dole out the sales medicine. It is always snake oil.

Sales training for salespeople must be based on the reality of selling to clients in the client’s native language. If the clients are Japanese, then the training has to be done in Japanese, because what we say and how we say it are so culturally and linguistically specific, there is no way you can satisfactorily train this in English. You can explain the theory perhaps, but where is the coaching of the role play, the examples, the finer points of nuance?

This doesn’t stop people from trying though. The snapper is when they add to their woes by using the in-house HR trainers from Singapore or Hong Kong, the usual hub centers in Asia. These individuals are invariably smart, sharp, rapid fire Chinese speakers of accented English. They facilitate from the global corporate sales textbook, but sadly the local Japanese participant’s English language comprehension levels max out at around 60% in the morning sessions and drop to 15% to 10% by mid-afternoon.

As noted, there is no instructor understanding of the subtleties of the Japanese language, the cultural reference points or the opportunity to coach the sales roles plays in Japanese. Knowing and doing are not the same. The practice component, with powerful coaching, is the winning formula.

Let’s stop wasting time and money and get this done properly in the language of the client. There are plenty of sales fails anyway. The first big fail is lack of preparation and anticipation of the issues facing the client. Because of this the language being used by the sales person is vague and often meandering. Salespeople should complete a mini-SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis on the industry and the company, to flag potential problems requiring solutions and direct the discussion to the elements of the greatest interest to the buyer. If they have dealt with this industry before, then they should have some ideas on the more common issues and can test for relevancy. We need to be asking good questions, to find out what the buyer needs and using SWOT allows us to get to the key points faster and builds more credibility.

Blocker words are another killer of sales success. This is directly related to a lack of discipline on the part of the salesperson. They go shooting their mouths off, without engaging their brains, and in the process out pour words that scupper the deal. What are these notorious blocker words – some common ones include: “sort of”, “a few”, “kinda”, “sometimes”, “more or less”, “about”, “some”. These are all vagaries, to which no useful sales evidence can be attached. We should speak with authority and certainty, because clients want our full belief and commitment, so that they can trust what we say is true. We need to bring data, proof, evidence, examples, testimonials to back up what we are saying.

Words like “price”, “cost”, “contract” are also poor selections. These words create an image of money going out like a flood from the client, but no value coming back in. We should only be speaking of “value” and “investment” instead. Value makes price and cost relevant for the buyer because there is something in return for them. We should be focusing on the value our solution brings. Also, your parents told you to be careful about signing a “contract”, so let’s sign an “agreement”. Simple semantic switches in emphasis, but these make a big difference to what clients hear.

Salespeople often talk too much. They love people and they love to chat. Too many words begin to pop up into the conversation, which add no value to the sales process. Being concise is the key mantra here. Pare back the dialogue to only words which are relevant, project value, are laden with evidence and which build trust – everything else has to go. This is not easy for loquacious salespeople but we have to be very disciplined. Many a deal has been sunk because the salesperson couldn’t shut up and just added that extra tidbit which overly complicated the whole arrangement. Be concise.

Getting people to hand over their hard earned cash is hard enough and using poor communication skills makes it even harder. We need to train people properly and monitor their sales conversations to make sure they are achieving the maximum success possible.

Action Steps

1. Train your salespeople in the language of the client
2. Don’t allow laxity of word usage because semantics matter in sales
3. Be super concise and clear in your verbal sales communication
4. Bring evidence to back up your big words and glowing pronouncements
5. Explain the value of your solution at length first, rather than diving into the nitty gritty of the detail
6. Bring insights to the buyer, based on your analysis of their industry and your experiences with other similar clients

Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com

If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.

About The Author

Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan

In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.

A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.

Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.