SMEI Establishes $500K Research Endowment at UBC

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After 40 years of dedication to the education of tomorrow’s leaders in sales management and marketing, Dan Gardiner has retired from the Sauder School. He leaves a twofold legacy: the many students who learned from his expertise and a new PhD research award established in his honour.

SMEI Presentation to UBC

Dean of the Sauder School, Robert Helsley (L) and SMEI’s CEO, Willis Turner (R) unveil the presentation of $500,000 donation by SMEI in honour of Dan Gardiner (C).

Thanks to a generous donation of $500,000 from Sales & Marketing Executives International (SMEI), The Sales & Marketing Executives International Dan Gardiner Research Endowment Fund has been created to support a PhD student who demonstrates a great passion for teaching and who is conducting research in the field of sales and/or marketing.

“SMEI is proud to have partnered with the Sauder School of Business for more than 60 years to help educate generations of sales and marketing professionals,” said Willis Turner, SMEI President and CEO. “Honouring the contributions of educators such as Dan through the establishment of this endowment fund will allow his teaching legacy to continue.”

The gift announcement was made at a reception recognizing the lifelong commitment and enthusiasm Gardiner brought to the classroom. At the time of his retirement, Gardiner was a senior instructor in Sauder’s Marketing Division and Program Director for the UBC Diploma in Marketing and Sales Management Program, which is run in cooperation with the SMEI.

The SMEI Vancouver chapter has partnered with the Sauder School for more than 60 years to train professionals and entrepreneurs through this diploma program. SMEI is a worldwide professional organization devoted to providing knowledge, growth, leadership and connections between peers in both sales and marketing.

SMEI is one of the biggest supporters of the Marketing Department at Sauder through professorships and research awards in the Diploma in Marketing & Sales Management program and scholarships offered to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Commerce.

“Through our collaboration with SMEI, we have the opportunity to foster new talent and prepare business leaders to meet the sales management and marketing needs of numerous organizations that are making a difference in our communities,” said Robert Helsley, Dean of the Sauder School. “Now, through this generous gift, we also have the opportunity to further inspire our students, and generate new knowledge in the field of sales and marketing.”

2 Ways to Keep Your Cool in a High Stress Environment

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In challenging times, leaders strive to find ways to increase their effectiveness as they pursue their business goals.  At times the equilibrium between the daily pressures and the long term goals becomes unbalanced and can send an individual into a flight or fight response derailing their success.

Frustrated Businesswoman on Telephone

We’ve all seen it; professionals unexpectedly losing their composure.  An individual blows up in a meeting, an angry e-mail is sent or a terse statement issued that is quickly retracted, the slamming of the phone’s handset two offices down.  These are all responses driven by our limbic system to real or perceived threats.  As the limbic system engages it shuts down the executive (higher) brain functions.  Surprisingly it may be something small that triggers this reaction.  But why does this happen and what do we do to prevent reaching that moment?

The good news for leaders is that there are findings from neuroscience that can help reduce the levels of frustration and provide insight into how better to effectively tackle these challenges without impacting our performance.  My fellow researcher (and wife) Moreen Singh is doing work around the optimum balance needed by the brain to ensure peak performance.  She is exploring the effect that the proper balance between sufficient energy reserves, effective decision making, having clear purpose and maintaining composure has on our performance.  Her research into the “Optimum Balance Model” shows that having even one of these areas out of balance can adversely affect the rest.  In some cases this imbalance can create catastrophic career limiting situations.  For example lack of exercise, improper sleep and poor diet can affect our energy reserve in turn making it difficult to maintain proper and professional composure.

One of my areas of research is on how you maintain balance or composure in a powerful life or death event (critical incident) while avoiding or minimizing a limbic response.  You may think that this is a reference to an emergency services incident, but in reality a powerful life or death event is defined by the individual experiencing it.  It could be organizational change, the drive towards quarterly sales results or a performance appraisal.  Any of these can affect an individual’s optimum balance by creating ambiguity and stress which in turn affects our ability to make sound decisions and maintain composure.

The brain is a wonderful thing – it contains our wisdom and our intelligence.  It is also hardwired to, at times, let us do dumb things.  Dr. Avian Gordon proposes that the core motivation underlying all brain processing and behaviours is minimizing danger and maximizing reward. The key processes of emotion, thinking and self-regulation interact in parallel along a continuum of time, and the non-conscious and conscious modes of brain and body activity can help or hinder composure. Understanding this relationship lays the foundation for developing effective regulation strategies.

Most of us will encounter situations and people at work or home that cause us to have an emotional response and lose our composure.  By understanding how and why we think the way we do, we can improve or maintain our performance and be better equipped to deal with those around us.

For example two of the more commonly employed composure regulation strategies are avoidance and suppression.  However, in reality physically avoiding an individual or a situation is not realistic in a business setting and only delays the inevitable confrontation.  Suppressing emotions is a temporary measure and, according to extensive research, if constantly employed can lead to long term physical and mental health issues.  There are more effective ways to down regulate the fight or flight reaction and regain composure.  Two that I have found that work in a variety of situations are:

  1. Distancing – by stepping out of the situation and intentionally viewing (replaying) it through the eyes of a third party the limbic response begins to subside and the higher brain functions begin to re-take control.
  2. Labelling – by labelling the emotion he or she feels the individual recognizes/r confirms its existence.  Once we acknowledge what we are feeling/experiencing we can begin to use our higher brain functions to understand it, deal with it and regain our composure.

Neuroscience explains how the brain works and how it is hardwired to react a certain way.  The application of neuroscience in the business environment challenges leaders to use this knowledge to understand not only their behaviour, but to apply it to their peers and subordinates.  Think of the potential if a leader can anticipate rather than be surprised by people’s reactions in a variety of settings then develop, prior to the encounter, strategies to keep his or her colleagues and customers moving forward towards common goals.

Join SMEI Vancouver for an event focusing on this topic on June 13, 2013 at the Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver.

The Post-Sell: Crucial First Steps to Retain Your New Client

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By Nigel Assam, SMEI Baltimore

What happens after you close the sale? How do you make sure your client won’t get buyer’s remorse? How do you get future business?

At April’s SMEI Knowledge Session presented by the Baltimore Chapter of Sales & Marketing Executives International, Jason Dixon, executive vice president of Neuberger & Company, Inc., spoke to an intimate gathering of members of the local business community about meeting clients’ expectations.

Clients will leave you for any number of reasons and they may not always be honest about why. Some of us have heard the following excuses: “We’ve chosen to go in a new direction,” or “It’s not you, it’s us,” or any other similar attempt at justifying a decision.

Sometimes it just may be that you did not meet their expectations, while other times your competition stole them away.

1. In the Post Sell, Jason explained that the first danger is the back out. You’re just at the point in negotiations when the contract is close to being signed when the client calls to say he’s changed his mind. One way to avoid this scenario is by having the “tough conversation.”

In the tough conversation, you’ll warn the client about the pitfalls of backing out and why it’s in his or her best interests to stay the course. By having this conversation, you’ll also put yourself in the role of trusted advisor.

Since there is the likely danger of your competition entering the picture, it’s important to inform your client about this. Explain why the competition won’t be able to deliver the same quality as you can. By coaching your client about your competition, he’ll be ready to counter their offers of promising lower costs and other benefits when they come calling.

2. After you’ve secured the deal, it’s crucial to have a communication process in place. How much will you be talking to your client? Between the two of you, it’s paramount to set up a schedule so you’ll know when and how often there’ll be in-person meetings. These in-person meetings are important for updates on your progress and grading, during which time small milestones are shown and you can prove that expectations are being met.

As part of the communication process, you’ll have to define what gets you fired. We all want to avoid this topic, hesitant to plant any negative thoughts in our client’s head. But it’s vital to learn why your client ended the relationship with your competition. This way, both you and the client will have a better understanding of each other. You’ll also have further understanding of your client’s needs.

During the relationship, it’s also necessary to keep a Fuzzy File. “It’s adding the personal touch, knowing personal information such as birthdays, hobbies, things like that,” Dixon said. “You do a little background research in order to know who your client is. I sent a birthday greeting to a connection on LinkedIn and it took no more than eight seconds.” It makes the client happy.

3. Finally, how and when do you ask for referrals? How do you get future business for both you and your client? The best time to ask for referrals, Jason advised, is when the contract is being signed. “That’s the happiest moment in the relationship. You’ve gained your client’s trust, he’s signing the contract and now paying you.”

But how do you ask for referrals even before you’ve actually delivered on your promises and met the client’s expectations? Using Emerson’s Law, “If you want more, give more,” offer the possibility of future business to the client. If you know of someone who could use your client’s services, mention this to him.

If you don’t yet know of anyone, you can simply put the idea in the client’s head by simply saying, “Hey Bob, if I know of anyone who could use your services, I’ll let you know, and I’d hope you’d keep me in mind for others.” Doing this may bring to mind an actual lead. It also lets your client know you care about his success.

Remember, even in the post sell, you’re still selling – but you’re no longer trying to win the client; you’re selling dependability to retain your client.

54 Complete Salesperson Certification Course in China

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Welcome to the 54 newest members of SMEI who joined during an SMEI Certified Professional Salesperson™ (SCPS™) preparatory class held April 15 – 18th near Beijing, PRC.  All of class members are employed by China Petroleum Technology & Development Corporation (CPTDC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Petro China.  Individuals attending the class are global business development managers, many of whom work in countries outside of China.

SMEI Members in China

Business development managers from CPTDC join Willis Turner, SMEI President & CEO to celebrate completion of their SCPS Course and membership in SMEI.

CPTDC boast annual revenues of 5 billion USD and provides its products to 78 countries and regions across the globe.

4 Corporate Video Mistakes to Avoid

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Not everyone is a film-maker, but everyone has opinions on film-making.  Here’s some of the common things we’ve heard come from around the boardroom table when it comes to producing corporate films.

1. “Don’t worry about the length.”

Actually, you should.  One of the most common mistakes in corporate video production is

Making a corporate video

Making of a video. Photograph by By Frank Schulenburg [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

making the run-time too long.  The ideal length you should shoot for is two to three minutes—that’s the perfect amount of time to build a compelling, focused message for virtually any product or service, without overstaying your welcome.  You might have a complicated and content-rich story to tell, but packing more messages into your video won’t necessarily make it more effective.  Audience attention spans are notoriously short in the digital age.  Use the discipline of a shorter run-time to hold your audience, as well as to help distill your messaging.

2. “Let’s do a viral video.”

No one can predict what special alignment of planets is necessary for a video to go viral.  The fact is that they are variables that are out of your control, so don’t make a million hits your business objective, or you will most likely be disappointed. Quality will always trump quantity in the corporate film world.  This isn’t a cute baby or cat video we’re talking about—it’s a business message intended to create action.  Set reasonable viewership targets, and allow sufficient time for your film to be properly seen, recommended and linked to.  Get your story right, execute it well, and the numbers, and eyeballs, will follow.

3. “It’s just our people talking, so we don’t need a script.”

Regardless if you are producing a video in documentary style, using interviews with real people, you most definitely still need to have a proper script or creative outline to guide your production.  Even a short, simple video will require you to make dozens, even hundreds of creative choices.  Where should we shoot the interview?  What should our talent wear?  What kind of background music should we use?  Should we have background music at all?  A proper script or outline can help you make all these decisions.

Take the time to describe your idea on paper.  What is the main message you want people to take away?  Do a proper outline of how you see the copy flow and edit working.  Prepare a proper shot list.  Don’t be lazy, or leave things to chance on shoot day.  The more pre-production work you do in advance, the better your shoot and post-production will follow.

4. “Let’s do it ourselves.”

Sure you can write, direct, shoot and edit a video yourself.  You might even get lucky and have a finished result that sounds and looks pretty good.  Now all you have to worry about is getting the proper codecs, streaming bitrates, aspect ratios and screen resolutions worked out to make sure your film plays properly on-line.

But technical production issues aside, the question isn’t whether or not you can produce a corporate film yourself, it’s whether or not you should.  Will your brand or company image suffer irreparable harm if you decide to DIY your annual sales video?  Probably not.  The issue is the potential opportunity cost you might lose in deciding to save money by keeping the job inside.  The biggest thing a film production company can offer you isn’t just technical competence—it’s helping you create a selling idea that just happens to be delivered in film form.  That’s the difference between 3 minutes of pretty pictures and 3 minutes of deliberate, strategic, persuasive storytelling.

One last thing to consider is that video production is very time-intensive.  If you do elect to manage the production yourself, it will be a full-time job for several weeks for at least one or two people.  In the final analysis, the cost you think you might be saving by doing it yourself may ultimately turn out to be more.

Join SMEI Vancouver on April 17, 2013, when David Martin, an award-winning writer and film director, presents his ideas for how to use corporate film to build your business.

The Ultimate Salesman’s Test with Jeff Gordon

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Jeff Gordon and Pepsi MAX go to a car dealership where a disguised Jeff Gordon takes an unsuspecting car salesman on the test drive of his life, or was he really unsuspecting?

In any event, you’ll be the judge, and be sure to watch until the end to get the final comeback from the salesman.

Let us know what kind of “tests” your customers put you through, and how you stand up like a true professional.

Social Selling Creates New Opportunities for Marketing and Sales

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Kurt Shaver is Founder of The Sales Foundry, a company specializing in helping B2B companies implement Social Selling strategies. He has trained thousands of salespeople how to increase their sales production using applications like LinkedIn. For more information, visit www.thesalesfoundry.com.

In the past, Marketing and Sales had distinct roles. Marketing generated leads and Sales converted leads to orders. Social Media has blurred these responsibilities because now every salesperson can be an individual marketer. Innovative companies are taking advantage of this opportunity by implementing a new type of collaboration between Marketing and Sales.Social Selling Culture

The B2B buying process has changed. Buyers now are 57% of the way through the buying process before engaging a salesperson.1 To influence the decision early in the sales cycle, salespeople need to build strong relationships and contribute valuable information on the social web. Social Selling can aid both these objectives, but not without cooperation between Marketing and Sales.

While good salespeople know how to build relationships, they are often too busy or not trained on how to create messaging. Marketing is the official keeper of corporate messaging, but it does not posses the close relationships that salespeople have.

The best of both worlds is achieved when Marketing and Sales work together. Marketing supplies the right messaging and Sales acts as the most trusted distribution network.

As an example, a computer security company may discover a new vulnerability in a popular Operating System. To seize the opportunity, Marketing alerts the market and provides a web link for a discussion forum. At the same time, Marketing creates a post to be shared by the sales team. The post to each salesperson’s network has the advantage of coming from someone the receiver actually knows. The message for Sales could include a different link to the same forum, allowing for comparison of responses. This example underscores the need for salespeople to build strong social network connections with their customers.

By combining the messaging skills of Marketing with the trusted network of Sales, innovative companies are increasing the odds that the right message gets to the right person at the right time.

SMEI will present a webinar with Kurt Shaver on the subject of “Building a Social Selling Culture” on Tuesday, April 16th from 2:00 – 3:00 PM PT.

SMEI to get its SXSW fix through #shamber

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How will you be taking in SXSW this year?  You can see by this infograph that sales & marketing are in the top 10 for attending what once was a music festival!

SMEI will be following Shannon & Amber #shamber from our amazing sponsor 6S Marketing as they totally do Austin!

The Evolution of SXSW

The Evolution of SXSW infographic by jrayvision.

 

5 Ways to Keep From Freezing Up Before Your Next Big Presentation

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Honor Morris, BA, is an award winning broadcaster and Media Relations Consultant

It is often said that the human brain starts working the moment we’re born and never stops – until we’re asked to stand up and speak in public! Many of us freeze, lose our train of thought and even become physically unwell.  Public speaking is considered to be one of the scariest things that we may have to do in our lives.  Stage fright can take over our minds and bodies as most of us have this hidden fear of looking foolish in front of others.  It is important to understand the psychological aspects of your fear.  There are visualization techniques to help you overcome these fears and to assist presenters in finding the courage to use their voice.

Your Next Big Presentation

  1. Read the room and position your presentation to your audience.  It is equally important to deliver your presentation in a clear and concise way, as if you were explaining the topic to your grandmother.  Avoid getting too technical and using language that not all audience members may understand.  The audience needs to understand you and you need to understand your audience.
  2. Recall a great presentation that captivated you.  Do you remember a speaker who really captivated you?  What was it about their presentation that made it so interesting?  How did that person hold your attention for an entire presentation while someone else can put you to sleep?
  3. Tell a good story. When developing your narrative, be sure to hit the hot points while you are telling a story…everyone loves a good story.  Your message also needs to be delivered in the context and terms of your audience.  In other words, what is your key point?  Be sure to prove it and don’t forget to conclude it!
  4. Be prepared.  You can never have enough hints and tips for delivering effective and dynamic presentations. Effective presentations require ample preparation, proper timing, key messaging and powerful delivery to keep your audience engaged and interested.  The art of storytelling can make a powerful impact to your presentation.
  5. Manage the Q&A.  There is one part of a presentation that every presenter dreads…the very disruptive Q&A session. Just when you feel that you made it through your presentation without a glitch, clients and other members of your audience get the opportunity to fire questions at you.  Knowing some basic techniques for handling Q & A sessions will help keep you from coming unraveled.  It is imperative at this point of your presentation to handle the questions appropriately and to get your desired points across.  Visualization techniques will enable you to anticipate the questions and help you answer them while still getting your key point across in a clear concise manner.  There are decades worth of examples from politics, sports and show business that we can go back to and learn what to do and what not to do.

Join SMEI Vancouver on March 14, 2013 when Honor Morris, an award-winning broadcaster and oral coach, will pass on her hints and tips for delivering effective and dynamic presentations.

The Role of Trust in Professional Sales – Six Core Drivers

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Trust is the key for building successful sales relationships; it is also the driving factor for success in business and personal relationships. The absence of trust is a one-way ticket to failure. People in general, and customers in particular, are more suspicious than ever about claims companies and salespeople make. Companies must create trust to gain and maintain a competitive advantage, build their brand and become the employer of choice. Those of us in the sales and marketing profession must do the same to become the supplier or partner of choice and to be viewed as a trusted advisor by our customers.

Role of Trust in SalesBold proclamations and hyped–up statements regarding products and services along with unsubstantiated claims and promises abound everywhere. In the midst of all this confusion, how do we differentiate ourselves in a genuine, credible and trustworthy manner? Start by clearly defining what it is you stand for and promise to deliver. Trust is created when you tell your customers what they can, and should expect when dealing with you. Things such as core values, guiding principles and promises your branding messages communicate all govern and influence actions and behaviours and lead to a consistent customer experience that will build trust.

If you are serious about building trust, make it personal. Go beyond your company’s promises or slogans and define what your customers can expect from you as a sales and marketing professional.

This is the key point of differentiation for those that achieve top tier status in our profession. Ultimately trust is earned based on actions and behaviours not on words or empty promises. This truth is captured in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote “Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you say”. Do your actions reinforce your words and claims?

Consider the impact of trust – improved speed of doing business; increased creativity and innovation in the solutions and services provided; absence of suspicion or doubt; reduced claims or rework due to misunderstandings; increased profitability because of improved efficiency and clarity. Probably the most important outcome of all is the increased perceived value of you, your services and products because you and your customer are operating in the zone of truth and trust.

The six core drivers that lead to building strong trust based relationships are:

  1. Self Trust – Do you trust yourself? Before you can lay claim of being a sales person or marketer that can be trusted to provide high value solutions, you must be able to define the attributes which make you trust worthy.  Here is a list for you to consider and reflect upon. Are you responsible, accountable, credible, trustworthy, reputable and authentic in all your dealings?
  2. Dependability – This attribute is critical to become trusted and sought out as the provider of choice. Too many sales and marketers promise the moon and deliver nothing more than moon dust. Dependability is forged by doing the following – making your word your bond, following through, demonstrating loyalty, being reliable and keeping your promises and not wavering even in challenging or difficult situations.
  3. Competence – The professional marketer and seller must deliver solid results and outcomes to demonstrate their competence and skill. Customer’s trust and support of us increases when we deliver on, or exceed their expectations. Our competence and ability is evidenced by our education and certifications, experience, skill, thoroughness, diligence and attention to detail. Education and knowledge upgrades are essential for professional marketers and sellers. SMEI offers a variety of resources such as chapter events, online programs, and certification which are all valuable resources to increase competence and remain current on best practices of our profession.  
  4. Ethics – Perhaps nothing says more about your trustworthiness than your ethics. Making decisions and taking action that is right versus expedient is essential if you are committed to being a marketing and sales professional. Ethics and standards are not a do-it yourself job. If you are not certain regarding the ethical standards for our profession visit the SMEI web site and review the 11 points in the Marketing Creed as a starting point. Factors relating to ethics are confidentiality, discretion, diplomacy, respect, integrity and professional certifications that define the code or standards by which we operate.
  5. Customer Centric – It’s not about you. As the sales legend Zig Ziglar said “You can have anything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want”. Customer focus and allegiance, commitment, selflessness (without being taken advantage of) and dedication are the foundation for long term success in sales and marketing. Commit to provide value in every customer encounter whether in person, via email or when using social media; make everything you do count to become more valuable to your customers.
  6. Likeability – Being a person that is genuinely liked and valued by customers is one of the key factors for success in selling. This does not mean playing up to your customers in a patronizing or disingenuous manner. I am referring to a genuine likeability because of your professionalism, manners, positive attitude, courtesy and a sincere desire to assist without immediate reward or recognition. The ultimate goal is one of long term results and success.

Trust – it’s ultimately all dependent on you! It is essential that you consider the various ways of enhancing and building your personal brand to the point where you are viewed as a strategic partner or trusted advisor in the eyes of your customers. Apply the six core drivers to become more successful and develop trust based relationships and grow your career as a professional marketer or sales person.

SMEI will present a webinar with Ralph Kison on the subject of the Role of Trust in Professional Sales on Thursday, March 14, 2013.

ABOUT RALPH KISON

Ralph Kison, President of Growth Through Learning, Professional Development Specialists

Ralph assists organizations committed to employee development in the areas of: Training and Development, Management Coaching, Talent Management and online learning. He brings passion, innovation and experience to each project. He leads and directs organizations and their employees to achieve their full potential by acquiring skills and applying proven business development processes and techniques.  Ralph’s career spans over 25 years in sales, management and consulting with experience in the engineering, architectural, construction, distribution and insurance industries.  An accomplished speaker, Ralph has addressed numerous organizations and groups across North America.

Ralph is a graduate of the University of British Columbia Marketing and Sales Management Program and a certified CME and CSE. He has taught professional sales courses at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and for SMEI Vancouver. Ralph is a member and past President of Sales and Marketing Executives International of Vancouver (SMEI) and is a member and past President of the Canadian Society for Marketing Professional Services of Vancouver (CSMPS).