Quantum Sales, UK business sales and marketing consultants

Selling Design

An interview with Datum, the broadsheet of the Design Business Association

Jeff Downs

Ian Rowland-Hill, Chief Executive of the DBA explores the sales techniques which are peculiar to selling design.

"Business is booming thanks to you getting me to throw away my portfolio, we have opened offices in Bristol which are growing rapidly, there are now 21 of us at Bluestone. Our New Media side of the business is really taking off with recent wins for Allied Domecq and Westbury Homes as well as BT, Swiss Air, Brittany Ferries, etc."

Mervyn Orchard, Bluestone

IRH	Selling clearly is an important thing. Without making a sale you've got no business, but are there techniques peculiar to selling design?
JD	I think there will undoubtedly be techniques that apply to designers in particular, because of the environment in which they are selling, what they are selling, and the people they are selling to as well as the fact that selling may not be their primary profession. I think there are bound to be differences between them and, say, those who sell cars or widgets.
IRH	Selling can be something of a dirty word even for people who have to do it.
JD	Yes, I think the stereotypical image of a sales person in the UK is very low.
IRH	Why is that?
JD	Standards generally, have been pretty poor. If I can compare us with the United States where for example if you say you're a salesman you are classed in the same category as a lawyer, teacher or a chief executive. We are more modest as a race and do not see selling as a profession.
IRH	Does this mean in the UK we need to have a different style and different approach?
JD	Yes. We need to be more subtle. Some of the techniques that were used in the 70's and 80's tended to be imported and that's when the image of the sales person got even worse. You know, the typical double-glazing salesman who won't leave until you sign the order or two guys turning up at once and putting on the pressure. With public and commercial awareness these days, if you try some of the fancy closing techniques of the 80's, people see it coming.
IRH	It's very important to close a sale though. If you don't you haven't got a sale.
JD	Absolutely. But the basis of that sale is to genuinely deliver what the customer wants, particularly if one is looking for a long-term relationship. I think that's where the difference is between what I would call consultative selling and sharp angle selling. I think as far as the commercial environment in the UK is concerned, we've still got a lot of companies that under-use their sales force or don't train them properly. There are a lot of people that want to go into selling; they're given the fast car and expense account without the right levels of support and they end up tarnishing the image of the professional sales person. In certain sectors selling has developed more professionally.
IRH	It amazes me, that in the past they weren't looking at the needs of the clients.
JD	I think they were trained that way to a certain extent. In the 70's and 80's sales people were told to go in, sell and then close the deal. There are books sold such as -'one hundred and one ways to close' which encouraged this approach. I think that with sales people, or anyone promoting their services, if they're enthusiastic about what they're selling, the tendency is to try to tell people what they want. They are the experts, they have all the ideas. In reality good selling involves listening and asking.
IRH	Giving people choice, allowing them to make up their own minds is perhaps a very 21st century thing and technology is helping this.
JD	Yes I think people do like to make more informed decisions, and to 'own' the solution.
IRH	When you develop people to sell, do you spend time on saying this is how not to do it.
JD	Yes, without a doubt. People go through phases of learning, but before they learn anything they have to see the gap. There is a phrase which we call 'unconscious incompetence' where people don't know what they don't know. The next stage is 'conscious incompetence'. I would always build in an element of getting people to 'conscious incompetence' so that they can actually see 'how not to do it'. Many myths need to be exploded, even amongst professional sales people.
IRH	Even for people who have been doing it reasonable successfully?
JD	Definitely. In many ways they can benefit even more - it helps them to understand why they are successful.
IRH	Can they really benefit from your advice? I suppose the answer is "everyone can improve and so on…." But a time commitment, that any worthwhile development programme would entail is a lot of time to a busy office. If they say, "I've been selling for twelve years and I don't seem to have a problems", what's in it for them?
JD	There are three considerations here. First, if they are successful and are going to use the same formula for the future, at the very least they can be reassured that what they are doing is the right thing and be encouraged to be consciously competent. This will enable them to stand back and look at the reasons for their success. Effective selling is only one reason. For example, the existing contacts, the market, strokes of luck, and levels of sales activity. There are all sorts of factors. Past successes aren't necessarily the best guide to the future. Look out of the front windscreen rather than the rear view mirror. That's the point. Another is that in any learning process there is always an element of a reminder, as well as revealing new ideas. The third thing is the time. In the competitive 21st century you have to be very careful how you use your time. If any business was to look at its conversion ratios, from, say, approach to winning business, it might find, for example, a one in three ratio. By definition this wastes two thirds of their resource, so if one can actually improve conversion ratios by improved selling techniques, it saves a hell of a lot of time.
IRH	I would have thought one in three was not a bad ratio.
JD	Well I don't know. It would vary by industry. But even if it was one in three, then two thirds of the organisation's selling time is wasted.
IRH	I may be being picky, but if you're not going to make a sale the good thing about it is you know fairly quickly. Quite often you make a cold call and they say "no thanks" and you haven't wasted too much time. In those places where people are employed just to make appointments, I think one in ten is considered not bad.
JD	Yes. I think you've got to measure all the ratios. From experience, my ratios for example indicate that if you were trying to get appointments with senior decision makers, one would need to make fifty, sixty, or more phone calls to get through to ten people. You've got to get past the secretary, then of the ten you speak to you'll get appointments from say three. And then from the three that you visit there is perhaps one opportunity to make a proposal. You'll see you've actually got some big wastage factors along the way which can be improved through the quality of your sales approach.

IRH	I suppose the selling approach varies depending on whether or not you want to reach the MD or someone "lower down"; and what do you do if you go in offering a strategic approach and all they want is a print job.
JD	Well, there are a number of things to look at. One is, if we could separate the sales process from the sales skills, (like identifying needs, questioning needs, note taking, benefits, closing etc.) they will be common to all sales situations. The sales process is a much more detailed subject. For example, if you have a client that you do good business with, the threat is someone else coming along to 'kick you into touch'. So doing the required things to improve the strength of your relationship is all-important. For example, if you're dealing with one person (a client) and that one person was to leave, you're in trouble. Whereas if you've dealt with a broad spectrum of people, your relationship with that client is much better. Understanding the decision making process is very important. The best approach may not be to the chief designer or the marketing director. It may be to meet the quality manager first, or PR department to find out more about the organisation.
IRH	What in your view is the difference between selling and marketing?
JD	Selling is part of the marketing process. One of the ways I look at marketing is that it gets you into the ballpark of doing business. Selling is the fine-tuning that kicks the ball into the goal. With design, you need to go out there and convince people that your services are better than the ones they're using.
IRH	How bad is it, from your experience, when you've sent a mailshot to someone and, you don't follow up with a call. Do you think they remember?
JD	Well, I think there are a whole variety of techniques one has to use. If you are trying to get an appointment, a mailshot or e.shot has to be memorable. I was involved with one where there was a pound coin attached to a mailshot and that tended to be remembered by the PA/Secretary as well as the decision maker. This was very important because it meant that when I called I could open with "remember me I'm the one who sent you the pound coin", and they'd say "Oh, it was you, was it? I've just bought a bacon sandwich with that!" It creates immediate rapport. A key rule is: always make the secretary your friend because often the chief executive will listen to the secretary when it comes to whom they should talk to. What you're doing here is teeing up personal contact via your mailshot and then through your telephone approach getting them to meet you.
IRH	We chatted briefly about design being different, and we talked about people who have been selling successfully for sometime. Does design need a different sales approach?
JD	In some senses "yes" because we're selling an intangible. One of the advantages of selling products is you can ask the buyer to hold it, feel it, see it, test it out and see what they think. With intangibles, one is trying to project a promise. I have a view that whether or not you're trying to sell a product or service, what you're really selling is what it actually does. A benefit is a benefit whether it be a widget or a service. It's all about knowing and articulating your value propositions no matter what you are selling.
IRH	I have a sneaky feeling that some clients welcome their contacts with designers because it's a little light relief from the world of hurly burly business and the role of the designer is the jester who is good to be with. Promoting design as a business resource, as an effective and measurable one, might take the fun out of it, as far as the client is concerned.
JD	Can I relate that to my personal selling? I sell the promise of improved sales effectiveness to my clients and if I look at my established relationships, we have a lot of fun. We look forward to our meetings. We have a lot in common and cover a lot of ground. So, I think that applies to many relationships and by definition, if you're going to win new business you're probably trying to displace someone else. One has to sum up whom we are dealing with. Look at the type of character. Did they offer you coffee and want small talk at the start of the meeting or do they want to get right down to business? One has to evaluate that. If it were a fifty/fifty situation I would always try to lead with the professionalism and let them discover the charisma a little later!
IRH	How much research is it possible to do, realistically, to find out whether the person you're going to be meeting is going to be wearing a suit and tie, that they support Arsenal or like to talk about golf? How much can you find out and how much should you find out? We know you can do a lot of business with someone because you represent the right image, say by wearing jeans because that reflects their culture.
JD	Yes. A few years ago now I made an approach to a sales director of a world wide TV satellite company based in London, I went along in my business suit, carrying my brief case and when I got there the sales director was wearing Levi jeans with a Levi jacket! Over time, as my working relationship has grew with them, I wore casual clothes, because I got to know them and their expectations. Although, as a rule, I believe that business atire is always most appropriate.
IRH	You mentioned earlier a good way to sell is to listen. Tell us a little more about that.
JD	I think it's very important that we understand a client's needs before presenting our services. Those needs are on two levels. What I would call the 'tip of the iceberg' needs; information you could obtain very easily - factual information. Other needs and emotionally based wants which they would not have thought about very much which are beneath the iceberg. Issues one can unearth with the right questions. One has to listen to the answers, understand them and come back to them. 'Active listening' is required, taking a genuine interest, hearing somebody out, and developing an issue before moving onto the next question or pitching the solution.
IRH	I have been sold to by PR consultants for example, who tell me how wonderful they are and forget to ask me what we need a PR consultant for.
JD	The biggest graveyard for people in selling is when they make assumptions or present solutions before they understand needs and wants. One of the potential problems whilst trying to penetrate the "iceberg information" is the client feeling manipulated. You have to be very careful with questioning, starting with broad open questions and working towards the more specific. The most important part is allowing the person to speak. People believe in their own ideas the most!
IRH	Okay, suppose I think you're worth the money on an intensive development programme, but I don't have a lot of time, what is the pay back period on this investment of mine?
JD	I've got to be honest and say there are certain aspects of consultative selling that will need to develop over a number of years, but there are benefits that can be seen immediately. You can differentiate yourself from the competition in the short term by, for example opening meetings more professionally. Typically we would ask delegates to open a meeting with a client. We would then comment, praise, criticise, and show them where they are going right or wrong and then 'put them together again' to see how much better they do. There is a lot of role-playing in our approach to developing sales skills. Selling is a skill like any other skill, like playing the piano or playing golf, it's about doing. To know and not to do is not to know!

Click here to go to Jeff's article entitled 'Design sells? Not without selling, it doesn't…'