I saw Paul Kenny of Ocean Learning speak about sales least year at the Business of Software Conference. I thought he was great and so when we were talking about how we should present our case for changes in my group to management, I thought of Paul. I was going to be in the UK, Paul lives there, and so I suggested him. His video is here from last year.

My boss jumped on it as he had been at BoS 2008, and yesterday Paul came to speak to my group of 6 people. I wasn't sure what to expect since this was supposed to be a bit longer and was surprised that we spent the first 45 minutes or so talking about our priorities and what we wanted to present while Paul sat there and took notes. I almost interrupted a few times and I'm glad I didn't because apparently this was what Paul wanted.

Once we'd come up with our list of priorities, Paul took over the show and started to talk about influence. What it is, how you get it, and what it means. He sees it as a state, meaning you have it or don't, but persuasion is how you use your influence to deliver a message. It was fascinating in that he talked about the stages of relationships and how people form them and create influence. A lot of his talk related well to dating as well as business relationships and he has a great way to of teaching by asking questions and forcing you to interact with him.

I'm not entirely sure of everything that was presented in the two hours, but I did learn a few things. One is that we need to present our case after having assumed they will say yes, and work backwards through all the questions we think they'll ask. We should answer them proactively in our presentations.

We should also work on building relationships outside of the presentation. Get to know the people that we work with and ask things of. Or might ask them of us. We definitely realized we were approaching our presentation the wrong way. The last thing I got was that it pays to understand the type of person you're presenting to, and Paul had a few times. Is this a conservative or radical person? Are they a big picture person or tiny detail person? Are they seeking pleasure (looking for the good) or pain avoiding (avoiding issues)?

I can't recommend Paul enough. He's the only motivational person that talks sales I've enjoyed listening to and I think he's worth hiring if you can to talk to any of you employees.

I'm starting a series of blog posts from the Business of Software conference that I attended last week in Boston. If you are part of a small technology business (software, hardware, etc.), especially if you are an owner, I'd highly recommend that you attend this conference next year. It's small, 250 or so people, and everyone is interested in business. It's not a lot about technology, but it's inspiring and exciting to talk about business with lots of people looking to build their businesses.

I wasn't sure what to make of this session when it started. Paul Kenney, a sales trainor from the UK, was giving a talk on selling 101. Since I am like most of the geeks out there, and don't like selling, it was good to hear Paul take a different approach. He talked to us at our level and I think won a few people over. I know he won me over.

Paul started by having everyone stand up. No one wanted to, but his enthusiasm got us up. He then asked a series of questions, having us sit down if we disagreed (or agreed, can't remember now). In any case, he asked some standard things like "who likes being sold to", "who could sell something they believe in" and a few more. The answers are probably what you expect: most of us don't like selling or salesman.

Paul then proceeded to say that he thinks we haven't encountered many good salesman. He then told us that a salesman can really help you, but they have to be properly trained. I was skeptical, as you probably were, but Paul won me over. He gave a few examples that really helped.

The first was a doctor situation where a new drug was being marketed to help people with osteoperosis. The drug was more effective with fewer side effects, but also more expensive. Insurance companies didn't want to pay for it, and doctors had ot prescribe it. In showing the literature and test results, most salesman weren't effective. A few were, and the doctors and patients were very pleased with the results. What was different?

Paul asked us and people had theories, but the result was that those salesman made it personal. Rather than framing the drug as it will help some people, or old people, they framed it as "it will help Mary, your 70 year old patient." By showing the results to specific people, the doctors were more willing to listen.

Playing on emotions? A bit, but also framing the product correctly. Sometimes people are too busy, even to hear about something that is beneficial and a salesman helps facilitate a good dialog. A second example about a hightly specialized piece of drilling equipment showed a similar result. Even though companies needed a lot of expertise to use the product, a good salesman helped.

From there Paul talked a bit about finding the right salesman. He stressed the need for training, but also that you need different salesman for different types of sales. As the sales cycle becomes longer and more involved, you need a more skilled salesman. There ended up being 3 types he sees, the ones that can close quickly and take orders (low skill, low complexity). A medium skilled one that can get to know customers and make them feel confortable, but doesn't take forever to close, and then a long term salesman that can work with customers over a year or two to close a deal. It takes different people to do those jobs.  A long term salesman in a short term situation doesn't know how to close quickly and move on (or let the deal go).

It was an interesting talk, especially for the end of the day slot just before happy hour. I think people really enjoyed it and I let Neil know that Paul is a speaker to bring back next year. If you need sales training, he's at www.oceanlearning.co.uk.