Secret Eaters and Sales People

Have you seen the programme? I believe it’s particularly popular currently as we feed our appetites for voyeuristic entertainment. Apparently, the Secret Eaters believe that they are only eating reasonable portions of healthy food with the occasional treat and yet, when filmed, it appears that they have altogether different eating habits.

What relevance does this have for Salespeople?

When I described a key element of what I do to one of my Strategic Partners, she said, “Oh, it’s just like Secret Eaters because you reveal to Sales People what they are actually doing rather than what they think they are doing”.

I am sure that we all kid ourselves to a degree about some of our actions; what we eat, how much exercise we do and so on. The same happens at work. Often, we are not aware of what we do or say and the impact that has on other people.

This is of particular importance in the most valuable time of a salesperson’s diary – the face to face meeting with customers or prospects. Salespeople might think that they asked a certain question, but our minds often play tricks on us.

I was working with a client yesterday who was convinced that he had asked the customer a vital question in a meeting I was observing. But they hadn’t. The only way to convince him in the end was to ask him what the customer’s response had been to the question. The realisation eventually came to him and we discussed the lessons for future meetings.

Having a second person in those important meetings can be incredibly helpful especially if all they are doing is recording the interaction and then giving feedback to the salesperson after the event.

This most valuable process is often ignored by Sales Managers and they tend to get involved in the meeting. It’s in their nature but it’s not helpful in understanding where development and training is needed.

If this resonates with you as a Senior Manager and you would like to discuss it more, please feel free. It’s part of what I do and, as you might see from my testimonials, a lot of my clients find it invaluable.

Here’s an example Testimonial from just such a client:

Jonathan has been a great help to me recently. He has been out on several field visits, given constructive criticism but more importantly given me useful tips, tatics and tools and how to implement them to add value to my customers and developing business opportunities with them. Since working with JMR I have also recommended Jonathan to a friend's business with a £25million turnover. Jonathan is now working with the Sales force there now!

Darren Whiteside – Contracts Manager – International Bedding Company