Updated on by Fraser Davidson
Cyclr CEO Fraser Davidson was reflecting on his early sales career with the team. It reminded him of the values he learnt early on and has used throughout his career.
The Early Days of Sales
I started sales in 1996, aged 21, as a door-knocking salesman. I was a London rep, for Interflon Scotland Ltd. This job involved visiting industrial estates – cold calling – and selling Teflon-infused industrial lubricants. During this time I met and worked alongside Jim Craig, whom I am eternally grateful to for teaching me the skills and craft. As it is his teachings that have stayed with me throughout my career.
I could never match Jim’s charisma and charm – but I could build and develop on his lessons.
Across a couple of summers, I went from door-knocking golf clubs and small industrial units to knocking on the door of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon) and Mars UK on the Slough Trading Estate. I fortunately made sales in both instances. There wasn’t much glamour at the time, but there were core values I learned:
- Empathize and resonate with who you are selling to, it’s important to remember that you are selling to a person. You’ll be a better salesperson if you can view it from their point of view as well as from a sales perspective.
- Sell benefits not features, when in the throughs of a sales conversation remember to sell the benefits of the product or service you represent. Consumers want to know how it will make their lives easier aka benefit from it.
- Be honest, if the product or service isn’t a good fit or they aren’t ready for it yet tell them.
- Don’t be pushy, be patient and nurture relationships rather than force them.
- Be bold, even if a potential client feels out of reach make that initial email, call or LinkedIn connection you never know where it might lead.
I still use and apply these lessons to Cyclr in the same way as I did back in 1996. It is easy to forget that we are not selling software, rather we are selling outcomes for people. Our software should make people look good in their role, save time, save cost and make them more efficient. We keep that front of mind.
Selling Benefits, Not Features
Sell benefits, not features. Software demos in the first meetings are banned at Cyclr. This is because too often prospects will sit in a first meeting as someone pitches a rehearsed demo, 90% of which is irrelevant to you. The important questions haven’t been asked, and the hierarchy of problems to be resolved hasn’t been established. In other words, the seller hasn’t endeavoured to walk in the prospect’s shoes.
Remember sales are about people and this enables you to craft the conversation to be highly relevant. Prior to a sales call with a prospect, there should always be light discovery, and then a helicopter view of the solution. Politely focus on what is important to the prospective partner and not what you have rehearsed.
Honesty is the Best Policy
Then comes honesty. If you can help – say so. If you can’t – say so. Lay out your cards because good sales are not about the win, it is about retention and engagement post-sale. Honesty in the sales process will improve retention – you get the right kind of partners that get long-term benefits from your product/service.
Don’t Push It
Don’t be pushy. Short-term targets are just that, short-term. If you’re pitching an innovative solution (as we were at Interflon and do now at Cyclr) then the need might not be there today – but it should be down the line. Don’t burn tomorrow’s bridges today. Build, and then maintain, a relationship for the future.
Be Bold
And lastly, be bold. There is no such thing as impossible – you just need to work out the route (however long and convoluted and how much work that might be) to get to your outcome. I got through the door of Mars UK with a cold call when I was 21 in my shiny suit.
I know these aren’t ‘traditional’ sales values but they work for me – has your journey influenced your approach to sales?
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