I recently had dinner with Joanne Lekas, a high school friend who was a highly-successful sales executive selling big ticket, high-end enterprise management software to CIOs, CTOs and IT directors of Fortune 500 companies before retiring to start Happy Dog, a Boston-area dog training service.
The wine just about blew out my nose when Joanne told me about this career switch. She hadn’t grown up with animals and had always been comfortable playing with the tough decision makers in board rooms vs. playing with mutts in the backyard.
But Joanne said there are far more similarities than differences between a career in consultative selling and dog training. Here are some of her observations and lessons.
You’ve said that you see similarities between dog training, which I guess is really dog owner training, and sales. What are those similarities?
My sales efforts involved making presentations to large groups of disparate people – educating them before I could ‘sell’ them anything. These presentations involved fielding questions and keeping things on track – just like teaching a puppy class.
My sales efforts also involved a fair amount of consulting – gathering information, asking the right questions, uncovering problems, assessing the priority of these problems and offering up solutions that would be feasible based on the environment and budget. My ‘products’ were actually a combination of hundreds of software applications that could be sold individually or in combination depending on the complexity of the situation.
When a Happy Dog client calls with a serious behavior issue that their dog is having, I have to first gather information, ask the right questions, uncover the real root of the problem, focus on the most serious issues first, and offer up a training and behavior modification program that will work for that owner based on their time, budget and focus (ie, single owner vs. family with 3 kids). In my dog training bag are dozens of training approaches that may be used to address the problem. Sound familiar?
Do you see any similarities between the most difficult sales prospect and the dog owners who have the most problems with their dog?
A difficult sales prospect is one that constantly gives excuses about why something will not work. One that constantly challenges the information I provide. One that can not focus or follow through on their end of the bargain. Or it could be someone who is just overworked and overwhelmed.
A ‘difficult’ dog owner can have these same issues. They may not buy into the positive reinforcement approach to training. They may not be able to manage the situation to prevent the behavior. They just may not have the time or motivation to practice any of the training or techniques that I teach them. Or they may just be too busy with full time jobs and families.
What makes for a great relationship with a customer — and what are the parallels to dog training?
A great relationship with a customer required that I be able to put myself in their place and understand what they really need and how I can help them. It is based on mutual trust (trust that I am really trying to help them vs. just get the sale) and good communication (instead of just agreeing with what I say – they challenge and question it so they can truly understand it and buy into it).
It’s the same with a Happy Dog client. Interestingly, I can put myself in their place because it was not that long ago that I came home suddenly with a new puppy and I had no idea what to do. I can empathize that they are tired and struggling with house training. I can communicate effectively in a way they will understand as to how their puppies really learn so that they can have a foundation for communicating with their puppies that will reward good behavior and not the bad.
Looking back on your successful sales career, and reflecting on success in your new one, what three pieces of advice would you provide to sales reps and dog owners alike?
- Take the time to build a good relationship – understand your customer and work to give them what they want in order to get what you want. Take the time to understand how your puppy learns, understand what your puppy loves and ask your puppy for what you want and reward your puppy with what he wants.
- Understand your customer – understand their issues, priorities, needs and goals and constantly reassess this. Work towards addressing their needs and goals with this thorough understanding. Understand your dog – his need for care, exercise, attention and training and work to meet these needs.
- Follow through – respond to your customer thoroughly and completely. If you say you will follow up, make sure you do. If you say you will get them information about something, make sure you do. With this, you will earn the right to ask things of them. Follow through with your dog. If you ask your dog to Come – make sure they do it – otherwise they will learn they don’t have to listen to you or respect your requests.
To learn more about Happy Dog, email Joanne@happydogtrain.com.
Takes a lot of guts to change
Very Brave