Monthly Archives

March 2017

Mar 28
0

Amy Poehler — Improv Comic or Sales Guru? Part 2

By | Be Genuine, Be Reasonable, Inspire Ideas, Motivate Others
If you read last week’s BLOG, you are probably just as disappointed as me to hear that Amy did not reach out to me and tell me how brilliant she thought the BLOG was. That probably would have made an awesome BLOG for this week, but since she didn’t, here is Part 2 as promised. Blame Amy.
 

The Not-So-Obvious Characteristics a Sales Person Should Have Part 2

Sales people need to have the answers.
 
Yes, and…when they don’t have the answers, it is ok to be the “one” who knows how to get the answers. Often sales people are too afraid to not answer a question or say I don’t know. This is super dangerous. Some of the most successful sales people achieve success because they know how to connect prospects with the right people to get the answers. Don’t try to be a know-it-all. Just try to be a know-where-to-get-the-info-all.
 
Sales people need to know how to answer questions.
 
Yes, and…they also need to be curious. Genuine curiosity can often uncover clients’ needs sales people may not even be aware of. Asking “why” or “how does that impact you” or “what have you tried before”. Asking probing or follow-up questions in lieu of just accepting a response at face value can be the differentiator between you and your competitor.
 
Sales people need to close the deal.
 
Yes, and…they also need to admit when they are not the right fit. Staying focused on closing the deal may lead to overselling, undelivering and ultimately winning a one-time customer. Instead, if you are not a fit, admit it, offer an alternative solution and remind the prospect what you are a good fit for and what types of problems you can help them solve. A prospect is more likely to come back next time around as opposed to buying an un-needed product or service a second time.
 
Sales people need to keep the client happy.
 
Yes, and…they need to be willing to push back when the client has unrealistic expectations. Scope creep, intentional or unintentional can kill a relationship. Be honest with your client about what they are asking. Don’t just agree to everything and assume you have to say yes. Sometimes, clients are asking for things they may not even need which gives you the opportunity to come up with a solution that works for the client and your own company.
 
Sales people need to know their numbers.
 
Yes, and…well they need to know their numbers. What is the goal, how many calls, to get how many proposals to close how many deals in how much time? What is the average deal size? How long is it taking you?
 
Sales people need to be confident.
 
Yes, and … they need to trust the knowledge they have already gained but they also need to be coachable. They need to be able to take advice from senior management, and have the flexibility to change their styles or adopt new selling techniques if their industry demands it.
 
Click here to read the rest of the not-so-obvious characteristics. If you have any of your own to share, tweet me @jax_rosales
 

 

Mar 20
0

Amy Poehler — Improv Comic or Sales Guru?

By | Be Genuine, Create Value, Invoke Passion, Motivate Others

Can you guess which one is me?

The Not-So-Obvious Characteristics a Sales Person Should Have

Do you know who you look like? Yes, and 4,000 other people have told me the same thing. I might be as funny as Amy Poehler, I’m definitely not as rich as her. But she’s pretty cool, so I’ll take it. But what does this have to do with sales?

Amy Poehler  began her career doing improv. Any improv fans could tell you about the “Yes, and” tool of improv. The “yes” essentially represents the acceptance of the person’s idea, while the “and” encourages a continual line of thinking. When it comes to assessing sales people, we need to continue the line of thinking, and investigate a little further.

I have probably read like 10 zillion articles on sales with a good percentage of them being about hiring good sales people, identifying good sales people, or how to be a good sales person. You can find lists of successful sales people’s characteristics ad nauseam. I find myself in a constant state of eye rolling, as while I often agree with some of the fundamentals, I always seem to be thinking “sure, but…”, I mean “yes, and…”.

So is there a a lot info out there on what makes a great salesperson great? Yes, and…

Sales people must know the products and services they are selling.

Yes, and….they also need to ask good questions of prospects and clients. Asking clients about their business, about their pain and about their need to solve the problem (and who else cares about it in the organization) allows the sales person to talk to them about the products and services that make the most sense. There is nothing worse than a sales person blabbing on and on about a product or service that is totally irrelevant to the client’s need.

Sales people need to be independent.

Yes, and…. they also need to ask for help and input from others. Despite how successful a sales person is, thought partnership from a colleague or boss can be invaluable and is often overlooked. The least attention typically gets paid to the highest performer which is not always fair. Brainstorming on how to tackle client issues and objective points of view may be just what is needed to close the deal.

Sales people need to be smart.

Yes, and…they need to be likable. People buy from people they like. You can be super smart, know EVERYTHING about your business and your client’s business, but if you aren’t able to get people to like you in short order, you are going to have a hard time.

Sales people need to be aggressive.

Yes, and…they need to be genuine. Often times in sales situations the “seller” forgets they are human – or worse, forgets the prospect is human.

Mind blown? There’s more. Next week I’ll be sharing the other half of my list — the not-so-obvious characteristics a salesperson should have.

Mar 15
0

Telltale Ten Does Tech

By | Be Clear, Be Honest, Create Value, Inspire Ideas, Invoke Passion

If you read my Telltale Ten regularly, you know that I like to write about a bunch of random things like buying travel accessories at the Dollar Store, or how to assess personality traits. I rarely write about topics specific to the Market Research industry. So you might be surprised to learn that I actually do know a bit about Market Research, the industry as a whole and what we are doing at SoapBox to stay ahead of disruption. The super cool people at Wakoopa (who also seem to know a thing or two) invited me to be interviewed as a part of their blog series called Behavioral Data Barometer. If behavioral data is what gets you excited, definitely check it out. If it is not what gets you excited, read it anyway and maybe you will find yourself excited (or confused – it could go either way).

What made you decide to go into passive metering?

When SoapBox launched at the very end of 2012, it was seemingly the most ridiculous time to enter the “online sample” space. The market was saturated and companies were fighting to sell $2 sample. We saw a unique opportunity to stay focused on the evolution of research, the convergence of technology and the changing behavior of consumers.

Passive metering has actually been around a lot longer than most researchers know. There were some forward-thinking early adopters, and then lots of chatter. Researchers tend to be slow to adopt new technology, but in this case, it was not only the technology (which has since caught up), but also the data. Researchers and marketers have a great appetite for understanding how people behave and make decisions online. Brands want to understand their audiences beyond demographic and attitudinal data; passive tracking data fills this need by showing how consumers move across the digital world with step-by-step interactions. Connecting actual digital behavioral data with demographic/attitudinal data, results in the high-depth, actionable insights clients want.

We recognized the benefit of contributing to the rise, understanding, adoption, shaping of best practices of passive metering. We were lucky to partner with a forward-thinking client who was ready to take risks and experiment, almost immediately following the launch of SoapBox. That experience really propelled us into passive metering and we are continuing to evolve.

How has SoapBoxSample incorporated ‘My Soapbox Meter’ in its panel model? How did it help/change your position as a panel provider?

We have a two-pronged approach. We do a lot of custom recruitment for our clients. They are typically looking for a very specific audience and want to meter them for a designated period of time. Sometimes, they are looking for passive data alone, and other times they want to incorporate methodologies like surveys or diaries. We also recognize clients’ desire for look-back data which was initially the driver for building our existing metering panel. The metering panel also helps with profiling, targeting and a host of other advantages – some of which we are still uncovering.

Where do you see the most valuable use cases of behavioral data?

There are two key areas we focus on with clients. The first is gathering a 360-degree view of the consumer journey. By gathering consumer behavior (as opposed to relying solely on recall) we can see the influence certain types of sites and apps (social media, review sites, coupon sites, etc.) have on the path to purchase. This helps our clients intercept their audiences with the right message at the right time. The second use case we focus on is building digital profiles of our clients’ target audiences. By understanding how certain segments use websites, apps, and search terms our clients can optimize their media spend to reach their target audiences at an improved ROI.

What do you see as the main challenges when dealing with behavioral data?

One of the major challenges about passive metering data is that there is a ton of it and it is totally unstructured. Some of that data is incredibly valuable and relevant to the research objective and some of it isn’t. It takes time, experimentation and the willingness to dive into the unknown to find the connections between seemingly unrelated data points. The idea is to help brands understand their customers by taking millions of tiny details that, when seen as a whole, paint a vivid picture of their customers and their underlying motivations.

Another challenge we deal with regularly, is that most often the clients asking for “metering” data don’t understand the methodology yet and often try to make it fit where it doesn’t, or assume it is the Holy Grail of research data that can answer any and all questions about what people are doing online and on their devices. This is a struggle as there is really no checklist for what metering can/cannot do. Well, there are some checklists on what it can’t do, but the newness, combined with the complexity is a brand new challenge. Clients have to work in partnership with their providers, take risks and be willing to delve into the unknowns to get the magic nugget of information.

How will the growing importance of mobile affect passive measurement?

Opportunities for brands to connect with people, and for people to connect with brands increase as we spend more time on our mobile devices, and we have more devices in our hands. Each item (computer, phone, tablet, wearable) offers researchers another window into people’s online lives. Passive metering is the most effective way to find out what people are doing without disrupting the process, and I believe it will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

How will passive metering influence sampling, data collection and surveying?

I think the research industry is beginning to recognize the value of passive data collection. What remains to be seen is to what extent passive data will replace traditional surveys, how often it will be used in conjunction with traditional surveys, and how data integrations from a variety of sources (survey, transactional, customer, 3rd party, passive) will be leveraged. At SoapBox, we’ve had a lot of success with blending methodologies to create innovative solutions to help answer client’s business questions.

For me, the most unexpected (and potentially disruptive) shift I am seeing is that sample providers, and/or data collection providers in general, are moving away from being order takers of pre-determined research approaches by full service agencies or end users/brands, and now have a seat at the table in designing and contributing to the research approach. It is super exciting to see collaboration from the start of a project to the end.

Is there any advice you would give the market research industry?

My advice would be to stay as lean and nimble as possible. Now is the time to dive in and start even though things aren’t all “figured out” yet. Those who wait and watch, will be passed over. With the coming advances in AI and Machine Learning, the market research industry will certainly be faced with major disruptions — more than we think, and earlier than we expect. We all need to hone our adaptation skills to survive in this business environment. I say learn how to anticipate the ever-changing needs of the industry and be ready to pivot at a moment’s notice.

Mar 06
0

I Know Something You Don’t Know. Wanna Know?

By | Be Genuine, Have Fun, Invoke Passion, Motivate Others

Bet you didn’t know…Sam Ashburner, one of SoapBox’s Project Managers, once worked at The Price is Right. His job was to warm up the crowd.

Get to Know Your Staff — They May Surprise You

Some people like to keep their personal lives and professional lives completely separate. I don’t really get those people. One of the things I enjoy most about being a business leader is getting to know my employees on a personal level. I’m super lucky to work with such an amazing group of people. Learning what makes them tick has been half of the fun. Although sometimes the things I uncover leave me shaking my head, these are totally worth sharing. Here are the Top Ten Most “Interesting” Facts I know about my staff…

  1. Aaron Cole, SoapBoxSample Director of Systems and Programming, spent 2 months traveling around in Japan. When he ran out of money, he survived by eating out of dumpsters. This was before he started working at SoapBox, and I’m happy to say that we pay him enough to buy food.
  2. Sam Ashburner, Project Manager, once worked on the TV show The Price is Right. His job was to warm up the crowd. (Pictured above. Look how warm that crowd is.)
  3. Kevin Moran, who does our panel support, practices fencing (sword-fighting) in his free time. In fact, he and his wife do it together. Makes me wonder if that’s how they settle arguments.
  4. Dan Parcon, who has been with SoapBox from the very beginning, has a weird talent for running into celebrities. The biggest star he ran into was Brad Pitt. They shared an elevator in 1996, but Dan didn’t say anything to him.
  5. Nicole Restivo, our Sales and Marketing Admin, appeared in the music video for the 2004 mega-hit “Hey Ya,” by Outkast. She shook it like a Polaroid picture.
  6. If you ever want to torture Kristin Muir, Junior Project Manager, act like you are going to touch your eye. It freaks her out.
  7. This one is not so much weird, as it is impressive. Bruce Tate, Chief Technology Officer at icanmakeitbetter, has written 10 books. All of them are about computer technology, otherwise known as Things I Don’t Understand.
  8. Meg Ryan, SoapBoxSample Senior Account Executive, collects political buttons.
  9. Andrea Spiros, Project Manager, likes to drizzle ketchup and mayonnaise on her pizza. Some people get very disturbed by this.
  10. At the age of 6, Kealan Crowley, Estimator and Vendor Relations Associate, appeared on The Jay Leno Show with his First Grade class. He wowed the audience by playing the slide whistle.

I could probably come up with a hundred of these quirky tidbits. I love knowing entertaining things about my staff, and sharing them with the world (through this blog) makes it even more entertaining.