Posts from — April 2007

‘Doc…I got this cough.’
‘Is it a light cough?’
‘No Doc it is a deep hacking cough like this….KUUH… KUUH’

‘Okay, anything else?’
‘Yeah, I got the shivers and this red bumpy rash.’
‘Oh, well you have got the Jungle hemoglobin neuro-cardio virus. Take these pills for two weeks and you will be as good as new.’ Isn’t it amazing how a doctor can listen to the symptoms and then accurately diagnose what is ailing you?

Well, if you are in sales you should be able to do the same. Listen to what your customers are telling you and it will tell you where you are going wrong in your presentation.  Read more...

While most people think that the biggest fear we face in sales is the fear of failure, the fear of success is actually much more pervasive and paralyzing.

Lisa, age 28, had been earning $40,000 a year at her technical job and switched to a straight commission sales job with a company that provides printing services, because it promised her unlimited earning potential and flexible hours.

In her first six months in sales, starting with cold calls, Lisa cleared $31,000. But how much do you think she earned in her next six months?  Read more...

It is our contention that the greatest success strategy in the world is to increase your failure rate; to do what we call, “going for no.”

One of the key strategies we talk about in our programs and workshops is having “no” goals. We are not saying not to have goals, we are talking specifically about having goals for the number of times you are turned down, rejected, told “no.”

Here is an excerpt from our book, “Go for No! Yes is the Destination, No is How You Get There!” that explains this cutting edge process through the dialog of our two main characters:  Read more...

The 1960 Presidential Debates between Vice President Nixon and Senator Kennedy were the first nationally televised debates in presidential campaign history. With the advent of television the debates took on a visual dimension and for the first time, 70 million voters were given the opportunity to not only hear the candidates, but to visually compare them as well.

Surprisingly, opinion polls revealed a sharp contrast between the voters who had actually watched the debates on TV versus those who had merely listened to them on the radio. While radio listeners clearly thought that Nixon had won the first debate, television viewers were captivated by Kennedy’s smile, charm and athletic appearance.  Read more...

You know how critical it is to follow up your initial contacts or mailings with a personal phone call, but somehow your list of calls to make always seems to get longer instead of shorter.

Days or even weeks go by before you place important calls, and there always seems to be something more important to do. Why not make this the month you get off the dime and get on the phone?

Here are seven steps to make it easy for you:  Read more...

Can you provide potential clients with strong demos or 30-day trials of your product or service? If so, you need to master the Puppy Dog Close. It’s patterned after a method used for years by people selling pets, especially puppies.

You let uncertain potential owners take the puppy home for a couple of days to see how it goes. By the second or third day everyone is in love with the puppy. They’ve named it. They’ve snuggled it. They’ve bought it toys, feeding bowls and food. In other words, it has become a part of the family. It’s impossible to think of returning it.  Read more...

What is the emotional process that leads to a purchase? It involves a transition from one emotional state to another. It’s a new development in the buyer’s self image. The buyer begins to see himself or herself in a new way: as the owner of your product or service.

If the projected purchase is small, that change need only be small, but if the purchase is a large one in relation to the buyer’s current situation, the change in self image that makes the purchase possible will be large. Such a change can come about very quickly. It can take within a few minutes, even seconds.  Read more...

For more than a decade I have had the opportunity to interact with thousands of salespeople and I have discovered a few myths that many of them have fallen prey to. Here are just a few.

* Buyers are liars – I’m constantly amazed how many salespeople use this expression. Do people mislead salespeople? Absolutely. But this usually occurs when the sales person has failed to earn that person’s trust. Gaining someone’s trust means not pushing them into making a buying decision. It means focusing your attention on THEIR situation rather than trying to close the sale. Earning trust means treating people with respect and dignity even if they are not prepared to make a buying decision right now.  Read more...