B2B Sales Information and Tips

The Sales Apprentice - Tips from the hit TV show

Written By Gavin Ingham

Episode 8

At the top of the show Ghazal was talking about the fact that SAS is considering the contenders seriously. I don't know what evidence she had to support this but I really think he shouldn't be with a couple of exceptions! I have had so many emails about this "no contest" that I almost decided to cancel the diatribe this week but I concluded that there were many sales training lessons to be had yet and I wasn't to be disappointed tonight!

Tonight's team leaders were Jadine and Ghazal. The task was to come up with a brand name and a logo for an advertising campaign for a pair of trainers. SAS wanted a "big idea", a TV advert, photography and a brand pitch. He wanted ideas that would win sales not advertising awards. Good man. Even before they started it was clear that this was going to pose a problem for some of our apprentices. Most of them are just not sales focused enough to deliver on this brief.

The groups started positively doing some market research. This seemed to consist of speaking to people in the street about their trainers. Tre was in a confident mood, "This is my forte. I have been doing this for a living. As long as everyone listens to Tre we should be fine."

Jadine's team quickly came up with a brand name, "Street", and a theme of beat boys and street culture. The idea was that street culture was being taken over by the big brands and that they needed to retake the street with an underground message. This theme seemed to mainly come from Tre and seemed a good one.

In the girls' team however, despite having two ad professionals in Naomi and Katie, things were not going so well. The girls could not agree on a theme. Kristina and Naomi wanted to base their theme on "image is everything". Katie wanted to go with "music is everything". Ghazal was losing control. Eventually, they did manage to agree that their brand would be called JAM.

Sales training tip for success: Learn how to work as part of a team.

I think what is really annoying me about this show is the fact that our Sales Apprentices are seemingly incapable of working together. They spend so little time working as a team and so much working divisively. Take a moment to look around your team and think of simple things that you can do to support and challenge each other. What about arranging cold calling sessions (without your manager telling you to!) or running mini DIY sales training sessions?

On Jadine's team things were deteriorating. Having failed to book any dancers for their street video, Cambridge graduate Simon was proposing that he write and deliver the "street" rap. I wasn't impressed and neither was my sound guy! People ought to do what they are best at ... surely they would be better with a real street rapper? Nothing kills sales faster than pretending to be something you are not.

Fortunately for Street they were going to get away with any number of mistakes because JAM was all over the place. After agreeing the "image is everything" idea Ghazal, under pressure from Katie, reverted to the music theme. I didn't get this theme at all and I don't get why everyone cannot see through Katie. She keeps making daft decisions, seems to have little idea about business or sales and is getting nastier and nastier. Check out these comments...

"Kristina is a total arse coverer. It's a shame she doesn't do it a little better with the skirt that she wears!" And later on that she would love Kristina to be fired but she would prefer it to be physically.

Miaow.

Kristina and Naomi were up in arms about the new theme. Kristina said it did not make sense. Naomi asked what it had to do with trainers. Kristina said that she didn't get it. No more popular was their new strapline, "A new vibe for trainers. Superlight. Superdurable. Sole." Kristina and Naomi asked what does it have to do with music? Where's the theme gone? I agreed.

Ghazal was not one for listening. She had made her mind up and she was sticking to it.

Sales training tip: You need to be able to take on board feedback.

Without feedback you will find improvement and progressions difficult. Without improvement and progression you're unlikely to make more sales. Too many salespeople are closed to feedback, struggling on with the mistaken belief that they know best.

With their films, photos and ideas consolidated our Sales Apprentices descended upon CIH (an advertising agency) who would give feedback to SAS. The pitches were to be done by Katie and Jadine.

To give her her due Katie was a natural presenter. Her stance was natural, her voice engaging and conversational and her words painted a picture. What a shame then that the idea she had created was all wrong, One of the ad execs challenged the double meaning in the word Sole (Soul) calling it a "grammatical rollercoaster". Worse - this poor play on words would be unlikely to be spotted at all by their target 14 year old consumer. Even if they did spot it they would be unlikely to think it clever. Another case of forgetting WHO your client is.

In the board room they had to repitch to SAS. He challenged Jadine and Street on a couple of issues but dived straight into JAM...

Where was the brand? Don't you see your error? You've screwed up big time. All I am getting is music. What's the ad about? It doesn't jump out at me. For once in my life the ad agency aggress with me. No big idea - none whatsoever!

Ghazal and her team had lost. It was night of the long knives. Ghazal said that with hindsight we can say anything. Kristina said it wasn't hindsight she'd said it was rubbish all along. To be fair, she had. (Ed. She's still my recommendation).Ghazal asked why Naomi didn't bring better ideas to the table. SAS said why didn't you? Ghazal tried blaming Katie, Naomi, the team, anyone but herself. It didn't work.

Ghazal you're fired.

Tonight's big lesson has to be about Taking Responsibility. Ghazal would not or could not take Responsibility for her failures. Katie would not take Responsibility for her ideas. I talk a lot about Responsibility. It's not sexy and it's also not taught in society like it once was. And that's a shame. Once upon a time people used to talk about your Responsibility to society, to your family, to your employer and to yourself. But not so much any more. People seem to spend rather more time talking about their rights.

I meet salespeople every day who carry this attitude into work. It's someone else's duty to give me leads, to train me, to manage me, to make sure I can do my job etc. Sure, they don't say it quite like that but it's what they mean...

"The database is no good", "I've not had any training", "The market's rubbish"...

All of these statements miss something out. They miss out your Responsibility for sorting out your own sales results and your own success. I don't want to debate the rights and wrongs of society nor do I want to discuss whether these things should or should not be provided to you by your employer... that's not of interest to me...

What's of interest to me is your success. To be a great salesperson you need to take full Responsibility for your success. That means sorting these things out whether they are your Responsibility or not.

Sales training challenge of the week: Look at your sales results, your sales skills and your personal success and ask yourself where you could take more Responsibility for getting more of what you want in your life right now?

Until next week, sell with passion.

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