There's the story of a 1980s salesperson for a Des Moines-area publication who used a pull-behind cart to tote with him a huge database of client information meticulously written on 3x5 index cards kept in plastic containers. That card file, he said, was the secret to his successful 20-plus year sales record. Everything from wife's/husband's names, to birth dates, to frequency of advertising, to commission potentials were recorded on those cross-referenced cards. Clive author and chairperson of the Marketing Department of Des Moines Area Community College, Jerry Manning, would describe that salesperson as visionary for the time in his successful sales textbook, Selling Today, first published in 1980 and frequently revised. In his new companion text, Selling-Today.com, that same salesperson would be described as cutting-edge if he transferred that collection of index cards to an automated data management system. Manning, who got his start in sales as a 14-year-old co-owner of a used car lot in his hometown of Thief River Falls, Minn., said the management and referencing of client information is how people prefer to make a deal today.
He said the old philosophy of "peddling" wares has been replaced by the need to "partner" with clients to the mutual benefit of both. "I operated my own used car lot in high school," Manning said. "I enjoyed developing relationships with my clients. I listened to what the customer wanted. If we didn't have it on the lot, we went out and found it. That process of listening to what the customer wanted, finding the car, and seeing the smile come over their face when they test drove the car, was exhilarating. I enjoyed it." Manning has taken that early "partnering" concept, combined it with sales research and personal experience as a consultant largely to Iowa businesses, to formulate an instruction textbook so thorough that it has been chosen by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as the primary reference tool for its Certified Marketing Services International sales program. ISO is a quality-control organization that sets the standard for international trade with the European Common Market. Originally established to focus on manufacturing and product quality, ISO has now expanded its work to include the areas that lead to the sale, especially the sales contact.
Being approved by ISO prior to entering the international market is a big leg up on the competition especially with Iowa aggressively seeking foreign trade, Manning said. Views on selling and marketing began to evolve with the coming of the information age, Manning said. That year, most business professionals agree, was 1957 the first year more workers entered information type jobs instead of traditional manufacturing jobs. Also in that year, a General Electric executive first introduced the large-scale concept of partnering, Manning said. Effective use of partnering leads to increased sales from three areas, he said: repeat customers, referral customers and sales inspired by valued added as the result of partnering success. "Selling has become the master skill," he said. "In the game of life today, successful people are those who relate well with others. Everyone has an impact on the long-term relationship with the customer." The four components of sales skill are: persuading, informing, influencing and reminding.
"...the old philosophy of "peddling" wares has been replaced by the need to "partner" with clients to the mutual benefit of both."
"In the game of life today, successful people are those who relate well with others. Everyone has an impact on the long-term relationship with the customer."
All of those sales functions are enhanced by the effective management of data base information. Computers can be cued to automatically send letters, order reminders, birthday greetings, targeted faxing, etc. to customers based upon the input information. This frees up the salesperson to prospect for new clients or to better service the existing base, he said.
The book itself is also cutting-edge, Manning said. It is one of the first books to replace the use of footnotes with web site links. The direct links allow students to interactively follow-up on information presented in the texts. The author's web site also offers downloadable software to support exercises in the text. All of this is new to the industry. Computers, while a prominent tool in driving sales, will never replace face-to-face meetings, Manning said. That takes two people's minds working together the salesperson and the client. The salesperson becomes an expert consultant marketing their knowledge to the customer."
To introduce Iowa business people to these sales concepts, Manning has been a presenter and consultant to many organizations. Lars Peterson, Program Manager with the Small Business Development Center based at Iowa State University, Ames, said Manning is a popular speaker and mentor. "Audience like him so well that he is always rated right at the top on surveys following our programs," Peterson said. "CEOs of small- to medium-sized business in Iowa find his message practical and compelling." One of those business people, Gary Clem, owner of Almaco in Nevada, actually hired Manning as a consultant following a seminar that the author spoke at. "Jerry is very proactive, very upbeat and very positive," Clem said. "He offered excellent information on vision statements, mission statements, setting up long-term goal systems. He offered an excellent view of the futuristic needsof businesses. I was so impressed by Jerry, I hired him to work on a sharing program, succession program and on establishing long-term goals." Clem said that Manning's insights have proven successful for his specialized agricultural equipment company that sells worldwide. The web site for the book is http://www.selling-today.com.