Jeff Goldberg is a professional speaker and an award-winning sales professional with over 4 decades of sales, sales management, training & consulting experience. You can connect with him at E-Center Training.
You’ve been in sales for over 40 years. How did you get started, initially?
Almost no one goes to school to become a salesperson and neither did I. My father and step-father were career salespeople, as were both my grandfathers and I SWORE I’d never go into sales! During college I got a part-time job at a nearby furniture store, doing office work. One day, one of the salespeople called in sick and at a busy time of the day a potential customer came in and needed help. My boss said, “Jeff, go sell those people.” I replied with, “But I don’t know anything about selling…what do I do?” My boss said, “Follow them around…smile a lot. Take notes on whatever it is they say they’re interested in then come back to me and I’ll give you pricing. 42 years later I’m still in sales!
In that time, you’ve worked in sales, as well as sales management, training, and consulting. First of all, how has your sales experience affected your management and consulting practices? Likewise, how has your management and consulting impacted your own business endeavors?
My experience as a highly successful salesperson at Encyclopaedia Britannica led to me being offered the chance to become a manager. Fortunately, I had great mentors who taught me the basics of being a sales manager. Having the successful background in sales allowed me to have credibility with the people I managed and allowed me to be able to “Talk the talk AND walk the walk.”
It’s challenging for someone to manage salespeople unless they know the art and science of sales management as well as having done so successfully. No salesperson is going to respect someone they don’t believe can do the job themselves. When consulting for clients, they too are impressed with and reassured by my track record.
In my training practice, it’s imperative that the attendees of any session believe that I know what I’m talking about…too many trainers seem to have thought stuff up and developed a program around it…everything I teach is what I’ve learned over the last 4 decades and is what I continue to do today. One of the reasons I believe my sales training produces great results is because I’m teaching what I do. I still sell…in fact when I’m not training or managing or consulting, I’m out speaking with potential prospects, selling my services using the exact same tools, tips, and techniques that I’ll teach to their salespeople and sales managers.
You’ve also worked in both stand-up comedy and theater. How has your background in performing influenced your sales career?
My experience in local theater and a brief foray into stand-up is part of what makes my work successful! I’ve been (and I’ll bet you have too) to lots of lectures, seminars, and workshops where even though the speaker had good information to impart, they didn’t engage their audience…they were boring and it takes no talent to be boring. One of the things that differentiates me from most trainers is that I engage my client’s reps and managers from the beginning of the program and I keep them engaged all day so that they are entertained while they learn to earn!
Technology’s a double-edged sword for salespeople, offering more opportunity and more powerful tools than any other time in history. Are you optimistic about the state of the sales industry, at the moment?
ABSOLUTELY! I love technology, and employ it wherever appropriate, but I don’t see salespeople going away anytime soon. Prospects have lots of information available to them today that wasn’t available 15 or 20 years ago…the Internet has been a big book to consumers in terms of educating themselves. That said, most people want to deal with a live professional who gets to know them and understand them and their needs. I believe the future is bright for many years to come for professional sales reps.
What are a few of the most promising and powerful tools that sales teams should be using to maximize their potential?
Every sales rep should be using some type of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software to keep track of prospects and clients and every interaction with them. Salesforce is probably the most popular today (though I’m not a huge fan…it’s overpriced and bloated and many companies I work with have a challenging time getting compliance) but there are tons of them that do a good job. ACT!, Zoho, Sugar and many others are highly useful and necessary tools.
A smartphone is a must-have and I also love my Microsoft Surface Pro which serves as both a tablet and a laptop.
There are also a ton of software offerings that can help organizations be more aware of their pipeline and opportunities. One of my favorite clients is using TopOPPS and while I’m not an expert at it yet, I’m loving it!
Likewise, can you share a few of your personal favorite productivity tips and tricks, to make the most of the current digital economy and diminish the setbacks that come with technology?
One of my favorite productivity tips has little to do with technology…it’s called “calendarization.” (I must have made up that word as every time I put it into a document, MS Word tells me there’s no such thing!) Calendarization simply means putting EVERYTHING on your calendar and assigning the appropriate amount of time to each task. When I say everything, I mean everything! What time will you wake up? Exercise? Meditate? Eat? Shower? Appointments? Prospecting? Paperwork” etc…
Things that are on your calendar are WAY more likely to get done than those on a list or are simply in your head. I use Google calendar which allows me to see my calendar from anywhere there’s an Internet connection and also allows my partner and me to know the other’s schedule so we can set appointments for each other.
Another productivity tip that I preach is consistently prospecting first thing in the morning. Consistent prospecting is one of the ways to ensure success in sales but it’s also the thing that salespeople tend to hate the most. By scheduling it on your calendar and doing it the first thing you never get to the end of the day and say, “Darn…I meant to prospect today. I’ll do twice as much tomorrow.” Consistent prospecting solves many, if not most, sales challenges.
What are some things that have remained constant, throughout your sales career?
The sales process has remained constant during my career.
Whether 40+ years ago or today, I still have to:
Establish rapport
Gain the right to ask questions
Ask LOTS of the right questions (the most important step in the sales process)
Confirm the answers
Give a presentation using all 4 elements of a successful presentation (most reps use only 1 of the 4)
Negotiate effectively
Close
Another constant has been that people do business with those they like and trust. In fact, people will go out of their way to NOT do business with you if they don’t like and trust you. The only exception to this rule is if you sell a product or service that someone needs and they can’t get it anywhere else, but for most of us that’s not the case. The competition is out there, ready to eat your lunch. Establish and build rapport, and always come from serving your customer.
Forbes.com recently published an article called “Outsmart Your Competition With Content Marketing.“. What are your thoughts on content marketing, as far as today’s digital marketplace? What would you recommend for companies that feel like they don’t have the time or resources to pursue content marketing?
In today’s climate content marketing is one of the important parts of the “blended approach” to prospecting that I preach. It seems that today, no one prospecting methodology is working great on its own so we have to use a number of techniques, and we have to execute them well and consistently if we’re going to fill our calendars with appointments. I blog, send newsletters, post articles on LinkedIn and Facebook, participate in discussion groups, etc. Is it time-consuming? Sure, but using content to market your product or service is a non-threatening way to get people to “raise their hand” and let you know that they may have an interest in what you have to offer.
For organizations that don’t have the time, there are lots of companies that specialize in creating content for you and placing it where it may get read. It can be pricey, and you have to make sure whoever is writing your content understands you and your products/services and your market, but if you have the money and not the time, this can be highly valuable.
There’s been a lot of pessimism, regarding the digital marketing of all kinds, with diminishing organic reach on virtually every social network and ever-changing algorithm rules. There’s a bright side, however, with more value being given to “high-quality content”. Do you see this trend as a positive or negative, as far as sales and marketing are concerned? Why is it important for companies to place more value on creating real value and worth for their customers?
Today’s customer is better informed than ever. It’s imperative, for those of us in sales, to offer value in every interaction. High-quality content, written and delivered with the prospect/customer in mind, can drive sales (or, at least, appointments). Whether through content or our products/services, we should always strive to be adding value to our prospects to help them choose to become our customers. By consistently adding value during the sales process you make it easier for the prospect to come to a positive decision.
One of the most pressing challenges facing most sales teams is a lack of genuine leads. What are some different cues or things to look for, to find potential new customers? Where should business owners, sales and marketing teams look for these cues?
Finding prospects is the #1 challenge at almost every organization I meet with. As far as I’m concerned there’s nothing more important a sales rep can do on a daily basis, to be successful, than a prospect. Organizations and their reps must have a deep understanding of their value (what they bring to the table) and must communicate that to prospects as often as possible. Once you have that understanding you have to develop an ICP (Ideal Client Profile) so that you know what a good “lead” looks like.
It’s like dating…how will you know when you meet the “right” one if you don’t have a definition for who they are and what characteristics you’re looking for? Based on your ICP you must then develop a strategy for reaching out in the marketplace. Look at what your competitors are doing successfully…see what you can borrow from the and improve upon. Study your market and the ever-evolving methods for penetrating that market. (It seems like a new method comes out every day!) Test and measure. Most companies are afraid to fail. At my company, we probably fail way more than most but that’s because we try more than most and aren’t afraid to fail. We test and measure everything so that we know what’s working and what isn’t. We keep what’s working and discard the rest. It’s important to never get complacent…keep moving forward!
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