When you are approached by a sales person, do their questions actually irritate you? Do questions move the needle towards you buying their product or service? Emotions are a bad word in business probably because men are not comfortable in letting down their guard. Getting men in business to imagine their business with your products or services can be achieved by using stories. Consulting firms call their stories "case studies".Here is a great article on using stories.

During years, I have been taught that art of selling had a lot to do with the ability to ask intelligent questions, and then to present one's offer in the context of the answers provided by your counterpart.

However, with hindsight, when I look back at my most significant sales - or at least those I am the most proud of - 3 spring to my mind. And I have to recognize that what they have in common has little to do with my ability to ask "intelligent questions". These transactions shares a common characteristic, though: they were all generated via a story loaded with emotion.

• More than 20 years ago, as I was working as a sales executive with a computer manufacturer, one of my customers was a large insurance company. One day, as a bold move, I decided to call the CEO of the company and I provided him with some evidence that, without a fast move from his company in terms of increasing their IT processing power, they might find themselves confronted with difficulties during their beginning-of-the-year premium collection process. 3 weeks later, I was signing a $6m transaction with this insurance company.

• About fifteen years ago, I experienced a situation with a business intelligence (BI)project manager with a mobile phone operator who wanted to equip his sales people with customer intelligence capabilities on their laptops. After a few words, it appeared clear to me that this project manager had a competitive technology in mind and that the only thing he wanted from me was just a low price, which he could leverage to make his preferred vendor drop his own price. In a state of desperation, I decided to tell the project manager the horror story of another mobile telephone operator who had launched a similar initiative, and who had experienced a resounding failure. Why? Simply because the sales executives had not made the effort to use the new capabilities. Too far from their good old habits. Too much disruption. After telling this story, and presenting some elements that he might consider to avoid falling in the same trap, my counterpart revisited the specs of his project, and eventually made the decision to buy... from me.

Are you misinterpreting the CFO?

It is unlikely that companies would deliberately be reluctant to consider new ideas that would save millions of dollars. However, what might be misinterpreted as reluctance, is that some organisations may find it more challenging than others to take ideas from the drawing table and translate them into reality.

Being organisationally effective at considering, adopting and implementing new ideas requires people to have the skills to change their behaviours to an appropriate extent and at an appropriate speed to be able to work with new ideas.

Some organisations are good at equipping people with such skill sets enabling them comfortably experiment with new ideas, and find ways to integrate them into the activities that drive the bottom line. However, it’s not just about equipping people with these skill sets but also about providing an environment where people are given a certain percentage of their working week as ‘time out,’ to reflect, experiment, and look for applications for new ideas.

Jacoline Loewen   See Jacoline on BNN, The Pitch  Author of Money Magnet Director, Crosbie Co.

Crosbie & Co.

150 King Street West

Toronto, ON

M5H 1J9

416 362 7726

Is Health and Wellness a cost?

Is Health and Wellness a benefit or a cost? Why would a CFO in a larger, employee heavy firm, not take a look at implementing a Health and Wellness program?

It is easier to get fired for doing something that went wrong or that someone found objectionable than it is to get fired for maintaining the status quo.

For example, in the corporate health and wellness industry, there is decades of evidence that positive ROI can be created with a solid wellness program. (And of course a poorly run wellness program can cost hundreds of thousands.) 

With health insurance costs skyrocketing it often amazes me when I see not fund a proper wellness program and go with "free" health fairs that are designed and run by medical doctors who simply use the corporate event to fill their out-of-network medical practice with patients.

It is management's responsibility to maximize the value of the organization but, despite all of the evidence that corporate wellness programs work, the average CFO still refuses to fund a professional program.  Their Human Resources or Benefits department struggle.

Jacoline Loewen   See Jacoline on BNN, The Pitch  Author of Money Magnet Director, Crosbie Co.

Crosbie & Co.

150 King Street West

Toronto, ON

M5H 1J9

416 362 7726

Why do cost saving ideas not get done?

The degree to which companies are having to cut spending and budget expectation is directly proportionate to the degree of cost saving ideas that have been implemented. 
Gary Hamel startled me in his book, Leading the Revolution, many years ago when he pointed out the top line of ROI and the bottom line.
CFOs are risk adverse by the nature of their characters. Ideas push up their blood pressure. Why take a risk?
Let's keep cutting costs because I can cope with revenue payments but not with a new project face plant.

Of course, wisdom indicates that no one will save themselves to prosperity. But is does turn an umbrella into a shelter.

Are CFOs using "Cost" as a reason not to start new projects?

I believe that cost is a major factor why companies are reluctant to consider new ideas right now.
Implementing new ideas can have significant upfront costs, while the savings and returns are usually only realized in the long term.
Companies are cutting costs and budgets due to the current economic climate, and this has a direct impact on what money is available for innovation and new projects.
Are costs holding back business growth this next quarter?

Jacoline Loewen See Jacoline on BNN, The Pitch Author of Money Magnet
Director, Crosbie Co.
Crosbie Co.
150 King Street West
Toronto, ON
M5H 1J9
416 362 7726

http://www.crosbieco.com/

How terrified are managers to do personal annual reviews?

You can never look bad to the board when you tell them you have some new ideas that will increase revenue that ties into the strategic plan. It shows that you are forward thinking. It is my opinion from being in these type of situations that the answer is this. 

Most of the executives I have worked with (70%) lack managerial courage. When you talk about saving millions dollars that means "beaucoup" changes in the organization that probably will effect people's jobs, layoffs, your power and control and the size of our office. This means having to talk to people who work for you that may not be good news for their self interest. 

Just look at how terrified managers are to do personal annual reviews. It takes courage to tell an employee they just aren't cutting it. A majority of men don't have the talent to resolve conflict and avoid it. They avoid conflict just like at home with their wife. Women run the house. (I learned this in Pyschology and talking to my coach) I was with a company who as a perk gave the three C-Level staff their own coach. 

We all know in our organizations staff who are negative and cause so much unproductivity but are given 5 stars at every review because their boss is afraid of conflict. I had a senior manager have a melt down one time because he was going to a different office without his mountain view. He tried to get me to back down on the change with intimidation. Conflict avoiders are everywhere. 

Many seasoned executives are afraid of new ideas because they don't want the pain of making the changes. Change agents don't last long in an organization. The executives that I have talked to who have been with the company the longest had one pervading quality. "They never took sides on anything and never initiated any change" 

I admire how quickly how quickly Microsoft could make organizational changes versus IBM whose ego really got in the way.

Jacoline Loewen, author of Money Magnet and on BNN The Pitch

Jacoline Loewen   See Jacoline on BNN, The Pitch  Author of Money Magnet Director, Crosbie Co.
Crosbie & Co.
150 King Street West
Toronto, ON
M5H 1J9
416 362 7726

Canada M&A deals drop 15 pct in Q3 as sellers wait

What is happening to businesses in Canada? It seems that the sellers are waiting for uncertainty to pass. When BNN asked Ed Giacomelli, Partner at Crosbie & Company, for his views on where we were, he said that the Q3 deal volume down 15 pct from Q2, 25 pct on year. BNN asked Mr. Giacomelli for his opinion on these lower rates of M&A, he said he believed it was due to the uncertainty but that by next year, sellers will be more confident again.
In addition:

* Deal value of C$40.5 bln was up 18 pct from Q2

* Big CNOOC/Nexen deal skews data

TORONTO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The volume of merger and
acquisition activity in Canada slowed 15 percent in the third
quarter from the second as market uncertainty held back
prospective deals, though a blockbuster bid by China's CNOOC Ltd
for oil producer Nexen Inc helped boost the overall value of
transactions, a report showed on Wednesday.

Worried that a new project may ruin your image?

Even though a new project or tool is going to make the CFO look good, there is always that other side...that 'why didn't he/she come up with the solution earlier since it was out there before?
The CFO needs to remember that since they have the opportunity to do something about it, now is the time to do it.
Don't worry about anything else except that it makes sense for the business or the practice. 
It makes sense to get it done, now.

Have you heard of Insight Selling?

Implementing any consulting service involves focusing more on the potential for the prospective client to change and less on clients with potential to buy. 

This involves "insight selling" as opposed to old school "solution selling". The difference is insight selling involves looking for agile organizations who have not identified the potential problem you can help them solve while "coaching" them into the buying decision through producing disruptive information that uncovers unmet needs vs. asking a lot of questions hoping to . 

This is typically easier to accomplish when you target people within the organization who fall into the category of go-getters, teachers, and skeptics. Avoid people who fall into the category of guides, friends, climbers, and blockers who while friendly can't build consensus within the organization to change providers or take actions that would lead to saving money.

Jacoline Loewen, The Pitch on Business News Network, BNN

Jacoline Loewen   See Jacoline on BNN, The Pitch  Author of Money Magnet Director, Crosbie Co.

Crosbie & Co.

150 King Street West

Toronto, ON

M5H 1J9

416 362 7726

How does an outside advisor get the CFO to buy?

A CFO's reluctance to try something new, even something that would save the company significant dollars, can be attributed to the initial lack of trust in the advisor that brings the idea to the table. 
It takes time to foster a relationship of trust with an individual who has much at stake in a company – whether it’s just a job, equity, leadership position, or just plain reputation. 
So if the idea is presented by an outside advisor, that advisor should invest into the relationship and over time gain the trust that is necessary to execute the idea presented. 
Additionally, new ideas typically require a lot of work above and beyond the normal day to day responsibilities of the status-quo. So it is imperative to obtain buy-in from every individual that will be involved in the process. 
You know how the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That, I believe is one of the biggest hurdles companies need to overcome when considering new ideas. Everyone has to be on board so that it is properly implemented and successfully launched. 
My 1.5 cents.

Jacoline Loewen, BNN The Pitch 

Jacoline Loewen   See Jacoline on BNN, The Pitch  Author of Money Magnet Director, Crosbie Co.
Crosbie & Co.
150 King Street West
Toronto, ON
M5H 1J9
416 362 7726