Shy Bairns Get Nowt!

What a great North East saying: 'Shy bairns get nowt!'. I loved it from the moment I first heard and understood it, and have taken the liberty of including it frequently in my sales training and motivational talks (said of course with still a hint of an Irish accent). Roughly translated as ‘If you don’t ask, you won’t get’, this saying lies at the heart of effective selling. So much so, in fact, that I’m devoting a whole section to this theme in my soon to be published book, Selling For Start-Ups. A different slant on this might be found in the Great Book itself: ‘Ask and you shall receive, knock and it will be opened unto you…’.

As someone who has worked extensively in international sales and more recently coached SMEs and start-ups predominantly in the North East, I have reached the conclusion that for some reason (you may be able to share with me your views) the English in general, and particularly those in the North East, tend to be quite shy about two critical aspects of business development:

 

1)    Blowing their own trumpets

and

2)    Asking for business

 

Call it modesty, call it shyness; maybe it’s about not wanting to appear pushy or arrogant, or simply a fear of rejection. The fact is that we tend to hold back where others would boldly venture and therefore we don’t always reap the rewards for our talents and skills. In business it is sadly quite often not a question of the best product or person who wins. Rather, it’s about the one who manages to get himself best heard in a noisy marketplace and, more importantly, remembers to ask, versus those who naively hope or wait for others to respond.

 

I bumped into a lady at a conference recently and upon hearing what I do, she quickly said: “Oh, I’m not very good at sales, I don’t like to be pushy!”. Being pushy is not good salesmanship and is indeed a real turn off. However, having the confidence to go for it and ask for the business (when it makes sense) is an entirely different matter. This is about controlling the sales process and ensuring a positive outcome for both parties! It requires a delicate balance of timing, intuition and confidence.

 

The thing is, some buyers will naturally take action themselves and will not require you to do much more than be the right person, with the right product, at the right time. Others, however, will hold back and wait. They know they need to take action but procrastinate or get distracted. This is where you need to help your buyer buy well and buy YOU! If you are offering real solutions that deliver real tangible benefits, then you have an obligation to help the buyer buy now and buy from you and not waste time. If you don’t help them buy and lead them towards the right solution, they may end up buying the wrong one or none at all and then you’ve done them a disservice.

 

I had a real light bulb moment some years back when I read about the 64% dilemma in The New Solution Selling, by Keith M. Eades. It really clarified for me, the need for a sales process and asking or closing rather than waiting and hoping. In brief, if we apply the 20:80 rule to buyers and sellers, the market is made of 20% natural born sellers (eagles) and 80% average to poor (journeymen), coupled with around 20% great buyers (innovators / early adopters) and 80% average to poor buyers (pragmatists, conservatives, laggards). Illustrated in diagram form, this looks roughly as follows:

 

This illustrates that 4% of the marketplace is made up of great sellers selling to great buyers where it all happens fluidly, easily and with best outcome. However, 64% of the marketplace is made up of average to poor skilled sellers selling to average to poor skilled buyers, hence the need for process and taking control of the sales situation. If not, inertia, procrastination or, worse still, poor buying decisions. This also highlights the critical importance of training or coaching if you find yourself or your team in the 64% dilemma - i.e. with average sales skills or confidence - selling to the most challenging or difficult buyers.

 

So, in summary, take heart, be confident and don’t be afraid to lead your buyer and ASK, remembering ‘Shy bairns get nowt!’. If you have connected with a potential buyer and established real need and you believe in your value to that customer, then ASK for the business. Or indeed, after you’ve got your first order, what about the next sale or referral? ASK!

 

After all, what’s the worst thing that can happen – you hear NO! So what!? Move on - at least you know! A far better option than sitting around waiting and wondering or, worse still, being pipped at the post. 

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