Episode #289: Blocking, Tackling And Grinding In Sales

The famous Green Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardi often referred to the importance of the basics in the American Football game, the blocking and tackling. Being an Aussie and a Rugby fan, I sort of know what he is talking about. The brilliant plays, full length of the field returns, Hail Mary throws, the tactics and strategies are all important, but if the basics are not being done properly, it all comes crashing down and you will never win. Sales is the same.

Blocking and tackling is boring, grinding, not flashy and not exciting. There are many aspects of sales which are dead boring, painful, annoying and irritating, but they have to be done. For some salespeople though, landing the whale client is a much more scintillating idea. I have had a number of salespeople, who were very talented, smart individuals, who found all that blocking and tackling was for lesser mortals. They decided to start at the top and work up from there. Their intelligence proved to be a stumbling block to success in sales. That big deal would be the game changer. This client is going to be a huge contributor to profits, once the deal is landed. Except I am still waiting years later for that deal to be landed. That revenue they trumpeted never turned up and they are gone, gone, gone.

Recently a friend of mine asked me to coach someone whose business was struggling. In the course of the conversation, it became clear that the blocking and tackling of sales wasn’t exciting for him. Here is a revelation – it isn’t exciting for anyone! Nevertheless, the business needed income and he was the one designated to go out and get the deals. Our mindset can work against us, as well as for us. If we want to pursue bright shiny objects, because that is exciting and we want to avoid the slog of sales because that is boring, we will be out of a job or out of our business. We have to change our mindset and there is nothing like survival to focus your attention where it needs to be.

The pandemic has not negatively affected all industries, but it has hammered most, mine included. This is the most difficult time in business I have ever experienced, due to a catalyst we haven’t seen in play since the Spanish Flu in 1918. There is no corporate memory on how to deal with this existential threat to corporate survival.

Clients are now working from home. You call their office and all you get is subordinate obscurantism regarding their email address or their phone number or any other details about how to get in contact with them. The blocking and tackling of cold calling has become so irritating in Japan.

Maybe it is the same everywhere, but here there is a definite mindset that anyone calling the company is an enemy and they must be thwarted at every turn. The boss’s minions who answer the phone probably imagine they are doing a good job keeping their boss away from callers, but are they really helping? The wheels of commerce need to turn and nothing happens in business until a sale is made. We need new and better services than we did pre-pandemic, but it is proving very hard to get that message out.

Consequently, cold calling is in remission for most salespeople. Blocking and tackling still has to move forward and we need to think of different ways of grabbing buyer attention. In normal times, turning up to the office and trying to see the buyer would be thought to be inefficient. Tobikomi eigyo (飛び込み営業) needs to make a comeback. It is much harder to eject people from the office reception than on the phone or over email. Companies are getting back to the office at least a couple of days a week, so there is a chance the buyer will be there and guess what? They are not meeting other sellers because the guard dogs are keeping salespeople at bay and no one else is just dropping in. Naturally, many of the newer buildings have elaborate entry procedures requiring QR codes etc., but not every buyer is thus shielded from us dropping by.

Is it efficient? Compared to just getting blocked all of the time, it is slightly better than nothing. At least it gives us a chance to meet the buyer and set up a formal appointment for a later stage. Is it enjoyable, just suddenly barging into the reception area and trying to meet the buyer? Not really, but you need a thick hide, if you want to be in sales, so you have harden up. By the way, if anyone ever complains to you about your tactics to see the buyer, just say, “Yes, I can completely understand your viewpoint and I am also sure that this is the type of mindset and approach you would want to see from your own sales team, when facing these tough times due to the pandemic”. Believe me they will quickly get the point and even if you are still blocked, there has been no brand damage.

Sending something interesting by mail is another good idea. The guard dog will block your call but will diligently deliver the mail package to the boss’s desk. Put together some contents which will get the buyer interested. Make the package slightly lumpy, so that it doesn’t look like a bunch of boring documents. What ever you need to put in there, it better answer the buyer’s most pressing need and be able to inform the buyer of that fact in two seconds. The window of attention is only showing a sliver these days, as everyone is so busy. We have to make the most of the chance we have manufactured.

Blocking, tackling and grinding drives us all crazy, but we cannot defy the truth of the importance of mastering the basics in sales. You can talk up a storm, project the arrival of the whale any moment now and make all manner of excuses, but either the deal gets done and the money gets banked or it doesn’t. Back to basics everyone, if you want to survive what the world is throwing at us all right now.