Anthony Carter is Sales Director at Martek Marine, a world leader in safety and emissions monitoring for the shipping industry. He kindly agreed to be subjected to our 20 questions.
1. What was the first thing that you sold?
Double glazing. I was studying at college and to keep my car on the road I canvassed for double glazing. I ended up running a sales team while I was a still student - I’d pick them up straight after college and we’d go to an area, working it from 5pm to 9pm. The steady and increasing income I achieved gave me my first tastes of sales success and changed my plans of university.
2. Did you intend to go into sales when you started your career?
Not at all. I’d studied to become an electronics engineer but discovered I was colour-blind. I worked weekends in a sportswear shop when I was at college and found I enjoyed working with people, cross selling and getting customers to spend more.
There was a woman there who used to be the butt of some comments because her partner worked as a double glazing salesman. It wasn't until he turned up one day driving a new 5 Series BMW that I thought, perhaps there’s a bit more to this direct sales thing…
3. What’s the single most important quality you need to succeed as a salesperson?
Integrity. Even in double glazing! While some people were tempted into sharp practices, honesty was vital if you were going to succeed long-term. People after a quick buck don’t really care about integrity, but that’s a short-term mentality – if you’re in sales for the long haul it’s important to be ethical in every aspect, otherwise it will eventually catch up with you.
It’s also easy to spot those who really care about a quality sale from those playing the numbers game, hitting KPIs but not getting any long-term clients. Selling someone a pup is a huge mistake because it always backfires, and you spend more time and effort correcting and trying to reassure the client than you would have done if you’d been honest from the outset. Ripping someone off also takes away the sweet pleasure of a good sale to leave a sour taste.
4. What is the one thing you would love to sell?
The benefit of hindsight. Just think about the potential market for knowing something is a mistake before you make it.
5. What’s the last thing you would like to sell?
Bad advice, although there’s a huge market for that!
6. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
There are two. The first is that “no” is only a “no, not today”. If your product is right, it’s being aimed at the right people, you’ve researched your market and there’s a need, then you can and should sell that product.
The other is that people hate being sold to but they love buying: think about your own purchases…there’s no feeling like spending cash that’s burning a hole in your pocket. The secret is keeping the sales process as comfortable, as beneficial and as painless as possible.
7. What advice would you give to someone following in your footsteps?
To find the right balance between being too aggressive and having no customers, and being too weak and having no sales.
8. What did you buy with your first bonus?
The first bit of bonus that didn’t go on paying off the mortgage or the car was a no expense spared trip to Paris. I think that my wife rather appreciated it.
9. Who do you most admire in your industry?
If we’re talking electronics generally then it’s Steve Jobs at Apple, because he’s built a business that seamlessly combines marketing, design and application.
10. How would you sell ice to an Eskimo?
By using a bit of reverse psychology. I recently read a study that found 84% of sales are based on emotion rather than logic, so with each sale of snow – which they don’t need – I’d include a free handwarmer, which they do. It’s listening to customer need rather than pushing your product.
11. How important is image for a salesperson?
Extremely. There’s the old adage that a good salesperson sells themselves: having the correct image not only inspires confidence in the customer but in yourself. But it’s also important to remember that a salesperson is acting as an ambassador for the company, and if you show no self-belief then how can the customer have confidence in either you, the business or the product, or that you are the person will look after them?
12. What is the single most important skill you need to close a sale?
There are many people who know how to talk themselves out of a sale by not asking the right questions, not listening to the answers or too busily pushing their own agenda. They fail because nine times of ten they don’t hear or uncover the customer’s need.
13. Has anything ever gone wrong, that in hindsight, has worked out well for you?
Considering that I’d like to sell hindsight the answer is no, I don’t think I’ve ever had a catastrophic event that somehow managed to work out better in the long run.
14. What’s been your biggest success?
A project I did a few years ago with a large multinational telecom manufacturer based in Swindon involving the systems used in the base units for mobile connections. It was so much more than just a sales win – it was creating a vertical market by knowing the benefits, the products and people who could make it work. It involved identifying the opportunity, the engineers who could do it, working with the end customer and further up the supply chain to design and develop the system, putting together a five-way consortium, and creating a global package that was worth $10m a year for a decade.
15. If you were to pack up your desk and leave today, what would you like to be known for?
Positive motivational attitude and determination. I don’t view sales as an art, but as a science and there are things we can do, levers that we can pull, new ways in which we can work.
16. How has sales changed from when you started out?
Hugely. Back in the 80s the philosophy was ABC – Always Be Closing. Now sales is less about pushing product and more about understanding our customers, finding out their needs, providing features and then linking to tangible benefits.
17. What are the current challenges facing your industry?
The shipping industry is building and managing vessels not only to meet global standards, but to comply with ever higher levels of safety. The task for us is to design and create products that help customers not only meet but exceed those standards, making them aware of a need and fulfilling it. We need to ensure customers are aware of compliancy issues and that they fit them now rather than at the last minute so they’re compliant and avoid any unnecessary delays as the compliance window draws nearer.
18. How has the digital age changed sales?
A lot. Never before have customers had such a wealth of choices and information on what it is they're buying. Increasingly transactions are being made online, and that means we’re becoming one step removed from the final sale. So rather than leading on price we need to provide other benefits, such as outrageously high levels of customer service, reliability, trust.
19. What will never change?
People buy from people – that's the fundamental difference between transactions and selling. Customers might go to a website to complete a transaction, but it’s the salesperson that not only takes them there and creates that level of confidence and trust, but also provides the level of service which leads them not only to buy, but to come back again.
20. Who is the best salesman ever, real or fictional?
The best example on how to sell – if you don’t mind the bad language - is Ben Affleck in The Boiler Room. He has the line “act as if” – how you should act as if you are running the business each time you sell, and he’s right.
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