Sidehill Blog

Managing Sales in a Northern New England market can be tough gig.

I often hear how the New England market is different, especially in the apparent intensity of relationships required just to get a foot in the door. You can add to that a perception that great reps are few and far between and even tougher to retain – not to mention motivate - for consistent performance.

Popular rumor has it that New England definitely skews the average when it comes to relationship based sales, and the further from Boston you get, the more skewering you can expect! There was a time when I believed that, as well.

Having cut my teeth in Silicon Valley’s boom or bust mindset of newer, faster, stronger, smarter, quicker, go go go or get gone - it seemed normal, even expected, to change roles when a ‘better opportunity’ came up - and they came up often. More than 2 years in any position meant you were headed for the tattoo parlor for the word ‘lifer’ and a company logo tagged across your chest. Lasting relationships were personal because company affiliation was fleeting, for everyone. The motto then was New, Fast, More, then Change and Go.

A move to central New England, about 2 hours West and three round-a-bouts North of Boston, changed everything. Here’s what I found when I got here:

A lot of small towns, and small businesses. Everyone knows everyone and their business. Relationship Building isn’t a sales training topic here, it’s an inherent sales position qualifier. ‘How long have you been here?’, ‘Where did you come from?’ and ‘What did you do before?’ must be answered before even thinking about mentioning why you’ve called. No history = No relationship = No needs = No sale: No exceptions.
Instead of ‘New, Fast, More, Change and Go’, I’d landed in the middle of ‘Consistent, Paced, Reliable, Fixed and Skeptical.’ Both business and personal relationships here are much more personal.

For Sales Managers here, the challenge with that premise is this: You either run the rest of the business (as well), or spend the majority of your time running interference on client relationship ‘challenges’ - or both. The more you build solid business and staff around client relationships, the more those relationships control your time. Less time means less investment in activities that generate growth. Growth then becomes subordinate to account maintenance. Not great. Worse when economic conditions slow your existing account purchases. A disaster if you prefer hunting to a farmer/gatherer role.

After living this a short while, most good and growth oriented managers will attempt to create change in sales activity with training. Training is great – for the reps. You pay decent money for your reps to become sales experts, only for them to leave you for one of the ‘big’ firms down near Boston. The turnover creates more relationship issues on your plate, and the dream that got you excited when you first signed on starts seeming like just that - a dream. Your career and your income potential plateau, and next thing you know you’re considering a position with a ‘big’ firm based down near Boston, or Minneapolis, or maybe even somewhere where water stays wet in the winter.

That is a familiar tune here in Northern New England, but it’s not a new song for anyone in a heavy relationship selling role. It happens in Chicago, Houston, Silicon Valley, even at those big firms down in Boston. Intense relationship based selling has the potential to divert your sales volume, your income, your career, and your dreams to the middle of an immense flat plateau of 100% pure farming, with no visible way off but ‘down the river.’

So, the question is this: Is there a way to create and manage genuine, consistent growth in a relationship intense sales environment without having to add or re-train staff every 14^th month?

In local terms, “e-yuh”.
The key to escaping that hunt-free plateau is managing your relationships for growth – starting with the growth of those time-intensive clients you already have. Work with your team to instill the 4 following tasks into habits, and watch that ocean liner sized ‘relation-ship’ morph into a nimble selling sloop:

They grow, you grow: Focus your client facing time on uncovering ways to help them achieve their growth goals, and tell them so. Saying so up front will help you keep the conversion mutually productive, with the added benefit of uncovering new opportunities at old clients.

Referrals. Common sense, yet still the most underutilized growth tool going. Strong relationships mean your clients know you and your product well. They’re a trained resource with a whole network of potential new clients for you. Just imagine the list of warm ‘cold calls’ within easy reach.
ASK for the referral EVERY time you meet, and that includes internal referrals! “Is there anything you wish we could provide you that we haven’t provided yet?” and “Who else can you think of that might need…?” should both be part of the regular conversations you and your staff has with any client. (Bonus: Try that first question with an unhappy client!)

Goodbye. Use it regularly, use it often. Your clients will appreciate you not taking any more of their time than necessary. Build your bonding and rapport up front. Then, when business is done, reaffirm the relationship, the next actions and best contact point, then leave.
Instead of 30 minutes, maintain your relationships in 30 seconds: “Great seeing you again, Charlie! Keep up the great work on that knee surgery rehab. You’re in great hands with Mary, and she’ll be here on the 23^rd to work on that project with you, as we agreed. I know you’re busy with other things as well, so I’ll get out of here and let you get back to it. Goodbye!”

Know no’s. Aggressively qualify up front. Dig, deep, for the ‘yes’ and keep digging until obtaining either a solid yes with a next step, a solid no, or (worse case) a ‘not no, but not now’.
When it’s a ‘not now’, you must deal with the stall immediately and lock down both the when and the why for a next step (more on this later!), then ask for a referral, and then say goodbye.
If it is truly a no, thank them – they just saved you a ton of time - ask for a referral, and say goodbye.

We’d love to hear from you on how this works out. Send us your before and after scenarios!