How to Sell in Germany

Erich Norbert Detroy is one of the most sought after sales experts in Germany today. He is the head of two companies: Detroy Consultants International, a multinational training firm that instructs over 10,000 sales managers and salespeople each year in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and Marketing Vision, a sales and marketing consulting group with 30 full-time consultants serving leading international companies looking to sell more in Germany.

During his 22 years in the field of sales training, Detroy has moved away from the traditional lecture method and innovated a series of highly-effective training concepts that have dramatically improved participation, enhanced learning and increased sales.

For example, Detroy’s “Customer Congress” allows sales executives to interact with real customers during the training course. In Detroy’s innovative “Training and Information Fair,” salespeople move from training room to training room to collect new ideas, upgrade their skills or test their knowledge through computerized tests or mini-presentations. Several times a year Detroy stages a “Sales Management Theater” where a cast of actors assume the roles of a sales team interacting with the sales manager on stage. After each scene, Detroy involves the audience in group discussions to help participants focus on the critical how-to skills of leading and managing a sales team.

In this exclusive interview conducted in German and translated for Personal Selling Power readers, Erich Norbert Detroy shares his candid views of U.S. selling methods and explains why German selling techniques need to follow a higher standard simply because the typical German customer demands a more precise level of product knowledge and more personal level of selling skills.

PSP: How do you compare European selling skills to American sales know-how?

Erich Norbert Detroy: I get the impression that Americans think that Europeans are lagging behind them, and many Germans tend to think that everything that’s new in selling comes from America. Take Zig Ziglar’s latest book Der Totale Verkaufserfolg (the translated version of Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale). I don’t want to say anything negative about the author, but there is nothing new for us in his book. I think that Europeans are getting much better in the field of selling because European customers are tougher, more skeptical and more demanding.

How do you see the difference between American and German salespeople?

I see the typical American salesperson as a more money-oriented thinker. The German salesperson is more critical, more reflective and often more skeptical.

Can you give me an example of how that translates into their everyday behavior?

Most German salespeople are much more critical of their own companies. They think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. For example, we’ve trained salespeople in the top German blue chip companies–these are the absolute market leaders in their fields –and these salespeople openly expressed strong criticism about their own product lines, their sales systems and their management. German salespeople tend to experience ongoing conflict over this question: To whom do I owe my chief loyalty, the customer or my company?

Can you describe the basic characteristics of German salespeople?

The average German salesperson works about 50 hours a week, drives a company car like an Audi, BMW or Mercedes, earns about $45,000 a year and is entitled to 30 days paid vacation per year. Top salespeople can earn up to $200,000 a year. The typical salesperson is usually someone without a college degree, who may have tried a number of different professions before going into sales. Given the current unemployment rate and the high income opportunities in selling, there are many former teachers, government workers, as well as East Germans, entering the profession.

What does it take to succeed in sales in Germany?

The most successful salespeople in Germany share such common characteristics as high ego drive, and a great amount of inner motivation. Good salespeople develop the ability to think themselves into the customer’s situation. This allows them to deliver more than the customer expects. A successful salesperson has to develop a positive image of himself, his company and his product.

Do you refer to what we call “positive thinking”?

We’ve gone a step beyond that. In the past, we taught salespeople to think positive in terms of future outcomes; today we focus on how we can really like whatever goes on around us in the here and now. When you really like dealing with a customer, or when you really like your job as a salesperson, you’ll do a much better job. Someone who learns to like what he is doing will stop striving to win at all costs. He’ll be able to let other people win and end up winning more for himself in the process.

What are the dreams and goals of a typical German salesperson?

To become the sales manager. That’s often a tragic mistake, because the company usually gains a poor manager and loses a great salesperson. Salespeople don’t realize that and, as they move up in the hierarchy, the air gets thinner and people tend to get intoxicated as they get closer to power.

What have been the most significant changes in selling during the past few years?

We often take American methods for sales and management and apply them with great enthusiasm only to find that these methods can backfire very quickly. For example, when “Management by Objectives” was introduced here, salespeople became driven to achieve higher quotas at any cost. When numbers become more important than people, hard-sell techniques drive out common sense. Many customers got turned off. The media began to expose the hard-sell schemes of the German industry. A series of new magazines was spawned to help German consumers deal with the all-too-eager insurance agent, the sleazy car salesman and the questionable financial services rep. Within a few short years, salespeople in many different industries were considered hucksters, tricksters or crooks. The image of German salespeople suffered greatly and, in the process, customers became even more critical and skeptical.

How has the situation changed?

Sales training and management had to focus again on establishing trust. We’ve developed what we call “Reflective Selling.” That means to take more time to listen to real customer needs, to identify the customers’ true motives for buying. We teach salespeople that their presentation should reflect 100 percent of the customer’s logical and emotional needs. If someone who buys a car has a high need for security, then a discussion about the car’s capability to go 60 mph in seven seconds would be meaningless. The pleasure of pulling away quickly from danger would be more reflective of the customer’s emotional needs. In Reflective Selling the salesperson provides the customer with an emotional and logical experience that is a true reflection of the customer’s situation, not of the salesperson’s.

How do you go about establishing trust with a German customer?

We see a great comeback to basic human values. German customers trust people who are polite, well mannered, friendly, very knowledgeable, and very punctual.

When salespeople make an appointment with a customer, does the customer see them on time?

In general, customers who have made an appointment with salespeople don’t let them wait. The typical purchasing manager is trained to form a partnership with the salesperson. Any sales negotiation with a German customer is still tough, but today’s customers show more respect for the salesperson as a human being.

When a German salesperson states his objectives, what will he typically say?

I want to sell only on the condition that you will benefit from what I have to offer. My goal is much more than just to sell. I want to sell more, a lot more, but I can only succeed after you’ve been satisfied to the point that you will recommend us on a continuing basis to others in the industry.

To what degree do German salespeople use computers?

Most companies in the insurance and financial services industry use laptops on a regular basis. We have many customers who have equipped salespeople with mobile data communications systems where orders are sent to headquarters by modem on a daily basis.

How about cellular telephones?

More than 50 percent of all sales managers use cellular telephones in their cars. Since the cost of a cellular call is about three times higher than a normal call, there are only a few salespeople who use that technology.

How about fax machines?

We had a slow start in Germany, but today nearly 100 percent of all sales organizations use the Fax as an everyday business communications tool.

What type of software do salespeople use in Germany?

There is a steady trend away from the traditional “contact management” oriented software towards “customer needs” oriented software. For example, Nordstar, an insurance company we’ve worked with recently, has developed a program for its agents where the computer screen signals the agent to explore a specific customer need at the next call. Let’s say that you have insured your car and your home with us, but you have not purchased a life insurance policy. The computer will tell me in a special, blinking field on the screen to talk to you about life insurance.

The purpose of a computer software program is not to replace the old file cabinet, but to increase our sales potential. That’s why we need more customer needs oriented software programs — customized to different industries.

How long has this “customer needs” software program been in operation?

About two years. As a result, the average number of policies per customer has increased from 1.7 to 2.9 since the introduction of the software.

It sounds as if the personal computer is beginning to revolutionize selling in Germany.

Germans are fascinated by computers. There has been a flood of new computer stores in Germany. There are many small computer stores everywhere. They are typically run by people in their early twenties. It is not uncommon for them to sell about $50,000 worth of computer products a day.

To what degree do German companies use telemarketing?

There are certain restrictions. First, federal law prohibits calling people in their homes unless the company has established an ongoing business relationship with the person. For example, the publishing house Bertelsmann has called subscribers of their book club to reactivate canceled memberships with great success. However, the courts have ruled this as illegal because the business relationship has ceased after the customer’s cancellation. There are no restrictions for business-to-business telemarketing.

How is business-to-business telemarketing used today?

There are many small telemarketing companies that work for larger sales organizations on a contract basis to achieve such specific goals as selling smaller products, identifying decision makers in larger companies or making appointments for face-to-face sales calls. As in the United States, there have been companies that abused telemarketing. This has led to more regulations and restrictions of this industry.

Are there restrictions to direct mail?

There are concentrated efforts against the overstuffed mailbox. Every newspaper and consumer organization in Germany periodically distributes stickers for mailboxes that say “Stop — do not deliver advertising material.”

Do those stickers help?

Well, most of the advertising material is delivered by private couriers who get paid by the number of leaflets distributed. Some respect these stickers, but some ignore it. There is an ongoing consumer push towards eliminating junk mail.

When salespeople visit their customers, to what degree do they use air travel?

In general, German salespeople travel by car. Air travel is used for salespeople who sell capital goods nationwide.

Would you recommend using a business lunch to close a sale?

I don’t think it is a good idea to mix eating with selling. German customers don’t like to feel obligated to a salesperson who invites them to an expensive lunch or dinner. A good meal can follow after the delivery of a product or to celebrate a milestone in the customer’s business.

What are the secrets to winning German customers?

First, the German customer is very well informed and very skeptical so the salesperson has to spend more time preparing for each call. The product literature has to be complete, detailed and well organized. Germans are known for being thorough and detail oriented. That’s why it’s a good idea to plan every conceivable detail in advance of your meeting with the customer. German customers are always looking for improvement and, as a result, they are not very loyal. If they can buy a better quality at the same price, or the same product at a lower cost, they’ll switch to a new supplier in a heartbeat. Of course, the product has to meet their standards. I believe one of the real keys to success with selling to Germans is to work as diligently and hard as they do.