Who we are:

Business Black Box, a business platform (magazine, interactive website and events) with a mission to advise, connect, and grow business in the Upstate. Our readership includes small business owners, entrepreneurs, investors, and others in the economic development and business communities. Oh, and you should probably know that we’re a publication of ShowCase Publishing and a sister company of ShowCase Marketing.

Who we need:

We’re seeking two account representatives passionate about consultative selling, and experienced enough to recognize a match between businesses and advertising/marketing products they need. It’s not really about how many friends you have or how much your momma likes you. It’s about helping create and build a sales force that can knock it out of the park.

So, if you have established relationships with existing small-to-medium sized businesses in Upstate South Carolina, this might be a phenomenal career move for you. If you don’t, it’ll be difficult to survive.

Is it a fit for you?

If you need to be micro-managed, aren’t self-motivated, and aren’t passionate about seeing businesses grow, this is not the position for you.

If you have been in a marketing/advertising position and/or some sort of advisory position with business owners, you should seriously consider this position. Business consultants, former agency employees, media sales reps are ideal types of backgrounds.

The right person, with the right experience and the right existing relationships (and enough of them), will be able to hit the ground running and make an impact immediately.

What you’ll spend your days doing:

Building relationships, spending time with business owners one-on-one and attending networking events.

Ultimately, you’ll get paid well if your clients buy advertising in the magazine, and if they hire you/us to help them rebrand, develop new websites, video, and other marketing needs.

You think that’s good? Even better—there’s minimal paperwork and reports…we have “people” who can do that for you. Why? Because if you’re a fit, we want you to spend all your time doing what you’re gifted at: building honorable relationships and helping businesses find the right advertising and marketing fits.

Who you’ll spend your days with:

Unlike most sales environments where you are “on your own,” you have an entire creative department to spec ads, brands, and other proposal elements on short notice, as you secure opportunities to meet with businesses.

When you are not meeting with prospects, you will find yourself working in a 7,000 square foot space, collaborating with a cutting-edge staff who can often be found brainstorming ideas at our in-house coffee bar.

The moral of the story:

Sell a lot, earn a lot. And of course, there are opportunities for advancement down the line. But that would take up a lot of space here and we’re already telling you a lot.

Okay, I’m interested. What do I do now?

Send resumes to Jenny Williams.

Oh yeah…Resumes only, don’t waste your time typing the perfect cover letter, because we don’t bank much on those anyway. So save a tree or two. Your resume should demonstrate your track record of success and speak for itself. If we interview, you can share what you learned from your past failures and successes, and we can discover together what you feel you’re wired and gifted to do, what you’d like in the future, and determine if we’re a fit.

I recently read a fantastic book entitled Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. In the book, the authors focus on winning by not competing – a strange and yet profound approach to business strategy. 

Instead of wading among your competition, they define a blue ocean as a market that has yet to be realized or created. A great tool, many of the strategies and principals dissected in the book directly relate to the future of the selling profession.

The sales profession, like many others, is constantly moving and changing to meet the demands of our now flat world. However, there are principals and laws involving human nature and relationships that will never change. I was very fortunate to learn and begin practicing one of these never-changing laws early in my life. That law is very simple “Whatsoever you sow, that shall you reap.”

The problem is the vast majority of salesmen are trying to reap where they have not sown. Think of this: When you go into a sales call, who and what is on your mind? Are you calculating your potential commission, going over your presentation (which just happens to be all about your product and what you think it can do for your prospect), checking to see if you brought plenty of brochures (inevitably destined to line the prospect’s trash can)? If you walk in the door with nothing to offer and nothing to sow, why are you surprised when you walk out the door without the contract?

Now, by saying “nothing to offer” I am not talking about your “product offering” or “service value.” Everyone, including your competition, has that.

Instead, blue ocean selling is becoming a partner and a consultant to a prospect before you get the first sale or contract from them. You are sowing your hard work, time-consuming research, and hard thinking into them before you ask for a single thing.

Imagine being a couch salesman and sitting down with Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, at his small coffee shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 1971. Your pitch sounds something like this:

“Mr.Schultz, thank you for investing a few minutes of your time with me today. I realize that, as a small business owner, your time is very valuable and because of that, I have poured much time and effort into an idea that could potentially change the way the world views a cup of coffee. Would you like to hear it?”

The focus does not have to be on selling your couch over the competition’s couch. There is no competition. After all, who sells couches to a coffee shop?

Obviously this is not the way that Starbucks was originally founded, but what if it was? How many couches would that guy have sold? Everyday that you wake up, you hold the potential to create a blue ocean idea for your customer and industry that changes everything (including your income). It is obviously not an easy task, and not every idea will be a home run, but you will soon develop an ability to see the opportunities with less time and effort.

By sowing these efforts and ideas into your prospect/customer, you will never have to “ask for the sale” or “ask for the appointment.” You will simply reap what you have sown. In fact, if done well, they will invite you to see them, because every time you visit you add value to their business.

Let’s talk a minute about what I call the “Aroma” Principle.

In 2007, Starbucks started selling hot sandwiches and other foods to help strengthen their cash flow and solidify them as a hip, dining establishment. Sales were decent at first, but soon sales in coffee started dropping off. The decline was so noticeable that Starbucks investigated deeper into this growing trend to see why sales of coffee were declining.

After months of polling data and number crunching, they came to the conclusion that the smell of the hot sandwiches interfered with (and sometimes overpowered) the smell of the coffee. Coffee is what Starbucks does. They were creating other items that competed with the aroma of coffee. Coffee is Starbucks’ golden child, its core brand. No longer did their staple item stand alone. It now had competition.

Scent is the strongest cue for our senses. It can invoke a more powerful emotional and mental response than any other sense in the human body. Think about it…What is the first thing you think of when going to a dentist or doctor’s office? The smell is almost always the first answer. It evokes an emotional and mental response.

Every business has an aroma. I’m not always talking about the natural sense of smell. What do people remember about your business? What emotional or mental response do they associate with your business? Does your core message and how you communicate that message attract them to you?

Here’s my point: Keep the air around your business clean & clear. Don’t stink up your business with other things that cover the aroma of your core message.

Read. Study. Think.

Sir Francis Bacon said, “Time is the measure of business” in the 1600’s. Those words are truer today than ever. How many times have you sat through a meeting that was a waste of time? We all have, in fact, we have even set them up and in the end realized it was not time well spent. How many times have you met the same person or group and walked out of the meeting with comments like “great meeting”, nice people”, “that person is really smart”, but what was the outcome? Why did I just spend one hour of my day with this person or group.

There is a fine line between spending an incessant amount of time with people vs. being the business butterfly catching bits and pieces before moving to the next meeting. The key is to develop a strong habit of understanding what you want out of a specific person or group, determine how you can be of benefit, and what will be the achievable first steps as an outcome.

As we close on 2008 and enter a very challenging 2009, it will become increasingly important to maintain concise timeframes that connect with the people that we meet.

Do The Work
Read up on the person, company, market, product before the meeting. Coming to a meeting with more “intel” than the others is always a benefit to you.

Get To Specifics
You should be able to get through the intro, history, and current events within the first three minutes. The next step is to specifically state why you are having the discussion and what you hope to get out of it.

Bring Something
The assumption is that you have an idea why you are meeting. Make sure you have an inventory of how you can help the person or group you are meeting; your experience, your knowledge of the industry, market, or products. Don’t give it all away for free, but just enough so they know you are needed.

6 Degrees Of Separation
Most people meet other people through introduction; so do the same. Give the person you are meeting a name of someone that will be very relevant to your discussion, even if it does not help you directly. It will come in handy later.

Look For Opportunities
Disagree with every 3rd statement if you’re in one of those “me too” conversations. It helps to bring clarity to concepts and ideas as they’ll have to articulate. By the time you have finished you will both learn something.

The “Deal Junky”
As an entrepreneur or senior manager, it is important to pursue a steady stream of new contacts, while managing existing relationships. However, be skeptical of people who discuss deals that appear very attractive on the surface, especially when they bring up more than three in the same meeting. Some checks and balances are; what product or service do they bring to the table? What is their main function or core competency in the deal? Do they have real contacts and funding? Do the “Deal Junkies” do anything or do they just do everything?

What Are The Actions
There must be a reason to meet next time. If not, then the meeting did not follow the above steps and should not have been setup in the first place. What are very specific actions that are going to take place by you and for you that will require another discussion or meeting?

While you are making your new years resolutions, try to interweave time into your activities; it will be very important. Keep this inventory list in mind for your next “let’s have coffee”. In addition to helping you, it will be a relief to the person or group you plan to meet.

In discussing our plans for Business Black Box in 2009, there were a few things that occurred to us.  First, 2009 is shaping up to be a lot bigger than even we anticipated for the magazine, our events and our interactive platform.  Second, we realized we really needed a couple passionate, experienced sales reps on our team to share in the excitement and the growth of this publication’s brand. Third, we needed sales reps who don’t think their success is attributed to being sales reps, because they recognize they don’t sell anything. They build relationships with business owners, discover where the business needs help, and partner with them to grow.

So, we thought: Where are those 2 people? How do we ensure that the people who are part of our team – but don’t even know it yet – find us?

Got it. Through our existing business relationships. The people who already care about helping businesses grow, and only enjoy working with “sales reps” who think like they do. And we believe in the power of spreading the word through connected relationships.

So what’s this “opportunity” look like?  Well, knowing ourselves pretty well, we can tell you this: we need

•   People who don’t just see the Vision, but they get it. Live it. Promote it.

•    People who understand how important a team culture is, and want to play nice with others

•    People who have demonstrated an ability to be passionate about what they sell, and prefer seeing others succeed as their road to success, knowing if it works for the client, they’ll get paid well in the process. After all, we’re not selling a magazine, event sponsorships and web advertising. We’re connecting businesses to advice, relationships, and growth opportunities, and a “sales rep” will get paid very well if he/she can catch that paradigm.

•    People who expect to be treated and compensated well for succeeding, not just being professional visitors. We’re funny about results, too.

•    People who much prefer spending their day meeting with businesses than filling out more than an hour of sales reports every week (we have people who love doing that…if you do, you’re not the right fit. That’s ok too!)

•    People who, when we share that our benefits package includes things like paying for marriage conferences, books, and other things to invest in your personal growth, that instead of thinking “Oh, that’s nice” you think “That’s what I want! Not just a job: A culture that challenges me, puts demands on my gifts, and allows me to do the same with others”

Compensation will be based on experience, character and ability to run with a vision pretty hard. Maybe it’s a little non-traditional, but that’s how important getting the right person – not just a high performer – is for us.

If you get the opportunity, here’s the cool thing…we’ve got a marketing engine behind the scenes with full design, video, interactive and marketing experience to fuel you building your client relationships.

So if it sounds like you, you’ll need to know the following:email us at sales@insideblackbox.com, or call us at (864) 281-1323 x. 1010 with your choice for interview time. Be sure to bring a copy of your resume with you to your appointment. Or send it to us before hand so we can talk about you when you’re not around.

Still have questions? Good. We like questions – it means you’re open to new information and you believe you’re worth it. Call us at (864) 281-1323 x. 1010 or email sales@insideblackbox.com

Had lunch with a friend, Glenn (Thompson), General Manager of the Commerce Club, a private dining club in our city. Before executing all the tasks a waiter is expected to do, his server said: “Mr. Wasserman, do you prefer a white or black linen napkin”?

Here’s what he really said: “You’re important to me. You matter. Lint on your pants matters to you, so it matters to us. By the time you leave, expect to feel like the most important customer we ever had, because we’ll anticipate your needs before you get here. We know you’ll tell others about your experience, no matter what we do. So we know WE are in control of what you say to others.”

As a restaurant owner, if you try to use marketing to increase sales in a slow economy, you missed the boat. What you start doing today, though, can dramatically impact 2009 once customers spread your story like a virus. Regardless of the economy, people return to experiences that stand out as authentic, remarkable and personal. We set expectations every day for relationships (yes, and for our business too) when we set the table, not when the food’s served.

Here’s one question and one resource for your staff to consider to dramatically change your restaurant’s future:

Question: What little-to-no cost ideas would make our customer experience so remarkable someone would blog about OUR restaurant? Not a new recipe, menu item or price deal…focus on customer experience. Here’s one to get you started: Why couldn’t you change perception of your wait staff from being order takers to conscierge? Example: When a party is seated, ask about post-meal plans (Movie? Show?), offer to make reservations. Have a daily list of show times so they aren’t pressured. Who knows..might sell an extra drink or dessert. High probability of a better tip…CERTAINLY a memorable service that your competitors won’t take the time to offer…happy employees, happy business, happy culture, happy (and loyal) customers.

Resource: Here’s a GREAT resource (for restauranteurs AND entrepreneurs in general): Click here »

In these economically distressed times, there are very few companies that are not facing uncertainty in how they will move their business forward. One thing is clear, we are all emotionally tattered trying to increase the top line and optimize the bottom line. A quality axiom states that if you increase the level of quality you “Hold the Gain”. This is also true for the sales professionals that are on the front line dealing with your customers. They need to get the sale and “Hold the Gain”. In order to do so, they need to understand what the customers hate about them.

You Don’t Listen
This is the number one reason and the number one area that is taught in every sales program. Lack of attention to what the customer wants means a failure to address the key issues and/or needs. Time is not on your side, listen to what the customer wants, repeat it in your words, and provide a solution or action plan on what will be done. In the end, if the customer’s answer is “no”, then there is nothing to gain by pressuring them. Find another value premise that will allow you to get their attention.

You Talk Too Much
This goes hand in hand with point one. Ask open-ended questions and let the customer do the work. The key is to provide a solution to the issues, not to give information on how much you know, whom you know, and experience you have…no one cares.

You Lack The Knowledge
In today’s real time, data rich, hyperactive environment, information is only a few clicks away. You must know about your company, products, competitors, and applications. You need to know about your customers, their competitors, their markets, and their applications. You should know the economy, political impact and the national/global issues. Come to the meeting with more information than your customer and give them “free” information throughout the discussion where it is appropriate.

You Don’t Follow-up
No news is worse than any news, good or bad. The customer should never have to call you to ask for a follow-up. If they do, then you have failed on your commitment. The lack of response is ten times as critical prior to any sale being made than with an existing customer. Why? If you don’t respond before a sale, then the customer will have serious questions about what the level of service will be after the orders are booked.

You Lied To Me
The reputation and trust of a sales person is completely destroyed if the customer finds out through their own channels that you lied to them. Depending on the severity of the situation, the only option is to apologize to the customer, tell them someone else will handle the account, and hope your boss does not fire you. In addition, if you do not get fired then seek management help on how you can prevent this from ever happening again. Walk the talk or don’t walk.

These are five very simple errors to correct, for every salesperson and organization. However, it is amazing how many move away from them in the height of emotion as business conditions become strained. Do you want to “Hold the Gain”? Then let the others make these mistakes, while you book the orders.

Unprecedented opportunity is virtually always buried within a problem or undesirable circumstance. Most of the time the size of the opportunity is directly related to the size of the problem. The bigger the problem or situation the bigger the opportunity that lies buried deep within it. The problem staring all of us in the face today is quite obviously the state of our economy, but as an article written by G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Viton states (Link to article) “If handled correctly, a downturn can be a good thing for your company. It can give you the opportunity—and the funds—to innovate and get a substantial leg up on the competition.” For those of you that are in Ad sales you have an unprecedented opportunity to become a valuable resource to your client or prospect while increasing your sales. There are hundreds of articles and compelling factual stories that prove the case for maintaining and even increasing advertising campaigns during a recession. You have the opportunity to establish yourself as a consultant/business partner and not just another salesperson trying to get them to open their wallet during lean times. The question for all of us to answer on a daily basis is “Are we digging deep enough to find the unprecedented opportunities in our lives and businesses that are masquerading as problems”?