No More Show and Tell -- By Kim Jones

I was recently speaking to a friend who is in the process of selling her home. She told me about her experience interviewing a prospective realtor.

He showed up at her home, armed with a thick, glossy, color brochure about his company. He laid it out on the dining room table and for the next sixty minutes proceeded to walk her through each page of the brochure. My friend, who apparently has the patience of a saint, still gets agitated when she retells the story.

Brochures typically tell a story that is all about your company, your products or your services. Which is great, except initially no one cares about your company, your product, or your services. They care about whatever it is they need to improve themselves, their business, their family, their health, their future, their community. The intersection, between what your company offers and what your prospects need, is called “the sale”.

When I train sales teams I always assign them the task of “selling naked” for a full week. My clients must meet with their new prospects armed with nothing but a pen and a notepad. No brochures, no samples, nothing, nada. This simple exercise forces them to do one thing; they start to ask good questions. With no brochure or pamphlet on hand this exercise forces the salesperson to get down to business and to start engaging in a genuine dialogue with the prospect.

My clients have found that something amazing happens when they “sell naked”. They start getting more sales! Why? Because without the crutch of the pamphlet or brochure they are forced to find out what is important to the prospect.

Rather than jumping into a page-by-page review of the company brochure they instead are forced to take the time to find out why the customer has invited them to meet. They also tend to do a much better job of uncovering the customer’s unique challenge or situation.

Think it’s easy? It’s not. For those of you who cannot imagine ‘selling naked”, try leaving your brochures out in your car on your next five sales calls. That way, if your customer specifically requests to see your materials you have them available. But go into the initial meeting armed only with pen and paper and see what happens.

Your success as a sales professional hinges on your ability to ask good questions and uncover prospects needs. Take the time to make that happen and remember no more “show and tell”.
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For over 15 years Kim Jones has been helping businesses grow through incomparable marketing and savvy selling. Questions or comments can be e-mailed to Kim Jones.

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Sluggish Sales? 4 Ways to Get Past the Excuses and Increase Profits By Bill Blades

Many organizations blame the economy when sales start to stagnate. What a timely crutch they have found. However, blaming the economy for sluggish sales makes about as much sense as thanking the economy when revenues rise. Neither option has much business merit.

All sales activity (or lack thereof) is a result of the salesperson's efforts. Whether the economy is up or down is irrelevant. What matters is what your sales team does differently to grow their sales by 25 percent.

Unfortunately, when most organizations encounter a sales slowdown, the top executives refuse to change their game plan. They simply encourage their sales department to do more of whatever activity is obviously not working, and they refuse to spend the money required to get out of the mess they are in.

In the midst of their dilemma, they cannot comprehend that they need to change their approach faster than their industry changes in order to avoid a more severe downturn-possibly even extinction. Only after it's too late do they realize that sales practices and diapers have one thing in common: they both need to be changed regularly, and for the same reason.

While there's no way to completely guarantee your organization will never face a sates slump, there are things you can do to ensure your team has the mindset for continued sales success. To keep sluggish sales from continually plaguing your organization, make the following practices a regular part of your sales department's culture.

Embrace and prepare for change...

Change is difficult for most people. Nevertheless, your sales team must learn to embrace change and prepare for it. Consider this: there is more change represented in the events described in today's newspaper than took place during the entire sixteenth century. The business world is no different.

For example, construction industry knowledge completely changes every six years. For the technology industry, the time frame is even shorter. Those who are most comfortable with change view it as an opportunity to try something new and to adapt new lessons to the current circumstance. They have the philosophy that in two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.

To encourage change, challenge everyone in your organization to put a creative spin on every sales technique they use. Then, challenge them to do ten new things for ten prospects. Reward those who come up with the most creative ideas. If something bombs, don't reprimand them. Compliment them for the effort and encourage them to keep trying new things. Remember, new things rarely are without bugs. Don't stifle your team's attempts at innovation.

Take risks...

If you want your team to sell with gusto, you must encourage risk taking. The fact is that most salespeople are creatures of habit. They make sales calls the same way they drive to work every day-without excitement and almost unconsciously. When it comes to sales, taking risks means having the courage to be zany. It is the ability to do unusual and even silly things by design in order to win loyalty and repeat business. Why is this so important? Because people enjoy working with those who are fun to be with.

Some examples of risk taking include setting up a hot air balloon ride and breakfast instead of the standard business lunch, sending a telegram rather than an e-mail or standard letter, or offering to baby-sit a client's kids so the parents can have a peaceful night out. While none of these suggestions are outrageous, they are unusual enough to make you more memorable than the average salesperson. Remember, when you're average, you're just as close to the bottom as you are to the top. Whether your team sells doors, chickens, trucks, or aircraft engines, being "off the wall" and taking an occasional risk beats the dull routine any day.

Encourage training and education...

Everyone on your team must have a passion for learning. Even though everyone shows up with raw talent, that's just the entrance price. To create an unstoppable sales force, you must invest in learning and fully expect individual growth. Unfortunately, most companies simply invest in equipment and ignore their employees' training needs. However, experience has shown that when your people have continued access to self- improvement opportunities, they simply become more talented than their competition.

As you plan training and education opportunities, realize that not everyone needs the same information reinforced at the same time. That's why targeted, self-education is always more effective than classroom learning. Talk with each of your salespeople one- on-one to uncover where their weaknesses are.

For example, if someone has difficulty writing sales letters, send the individual to a writing class, if someone needs to polish his or her speaking skills, pay for the person to attend the local Toastmaster's Club. Gear the training to the specific aspects each salesperson needs. Such focused and individualized training eliminates boredom and makes the best use of your education dollars.

Lead by example...

For an organization to be successful, it must have an unconventional person at or near the top rung. Such a leader must have a passion for the company and must be innovative in his or her approach. Since your sales team will copy whatever you as the leader do, you have an obligation to continually demonstrate the kind of sales behavior, attitude, and philosophy you want your team to employ.

The fact is that there are only two components in business: your own people and your clients. A competent leader will spearhead the love affair for both groups. After all, there can't be great external service unless there is first great internal service. When leaders demonstrate the principles of creativity and respect, and encourage an open and fun work environment, the employees' morale and enthusiasm for the company will shine during every client interaction. The result will be more sales, more referrals, and more profits regardless of the economic conditions.

It's not the economy that determines your company's sates success. What matters is your commitment to initiating change, your tolerance for taking risks, your dedication to employee training, and your ability to lead smart. When all these factors become daily practices, you'll have a world-class sales team that thrives even in the harshest economic climate.
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Bill Blades, CMC, CPS
William Blades, LLC
1240 Red Tail Way
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009
307-635-1989
www.WilliamBlades.com.

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Persistence Without Stalking By Kelley Robertson

Persistence is a vital skill that every sales person needs. It's been said that most sales are made after eight contacts with a prospect. However, most people tend to give up after just three or four attempts. Let's explore the behind-the-scene dynamics involved in a typical scenario.

Meet Mrs. Executive. Her day is booked solid, scarcely allowing her to catch her breath between each meeting. Some meetings are internal. Others are with clients and customers. And a few are with current suppliers or business partners. She has a dozen balls in the air and focuses most of her time trying to juggle them all and keep them in the air. She has several major goals she wants to accomplish this year but progress is slow because the demands on her time are non-stop.

Fortunately, she has an extremely competent executive assistant. Ms. Gatekeeper knows what projects Mrs. Executive is working on and does what she can to help her boss achieve these goals. She is very proficient at protecting her boss's time and has become adept at warding off unwanted calls, especially from sales people. Today alone, she has warded off fourteen people and it isn't even noon yet.

Today is your first prospecting call to this company. You believe that your solution will benefit them and you want to meet with Mrs. Executive to demonstrate this. You pick up the telephone and when Ms. Gatekeeper answers, you recite your well-developed opening and capture her interest. After a brief conversation you manage to schedule a telephone meeting with Mrs. Executive a few days from now and are given her direct number.

Fast forward three days. Your call with Mrs. Executive flows beautifully. Your pre-call research paid off and through effective questions, you learned additional information that gives you better insight to present your solution. Mrs. Executive requests an overview of your solution and you promise to email it to her within twenty-four hours. You also agree to discuss it with her next week.

The following week, you call Mrs. Executive at the scheduled time only to end up with her voice mail. You leave a brief message and tell her you will follow up shortly. You call again the next day and receive her voice mail yet again. After some debate you leave another message but as you hang up the phone thoughts of self-doubt creep into your mind leaving you wondering why Mrs. Executive has not returned your calls even though she displayed interest.

Meanwhile, back at the company, Mrs. Executive has been responding to several unexpected fires and critical issues. Shortly after these problems have been resolved, the CEO dumps two additional projects on her plate and clearly states that these new projects are of highest priority. The other projects go into a hold pattern while she takes care of the CEO's demands. A few days later she is shocked to receive a letter of resignation from her right-hand person, the Director.

She now scrambles to put into place systems and processes that will help her manage and deal with this unexpected void. Plus, she needs to begin the recruiting process to fill the gap. She is still interested in your solution but she simply does not have the time or resources to even discuss it right now.

Here's the dilemma. Do you keep calling? Or, do you leave a final message and tell Mrs. Executive to call you when she's ready to talk about your solution? So far, you have made five contacts with her which means you will probably have to make at least three more connections before the sale moves forward.

It is critical to recognize that executives are exceptionally busy. And while they may want to discuss your solution, other priorities crop up all the time. If you stop now, there is a good chance that she will forget about you and your particular solution when she is ready to move forward. Your goal is to keep your name in the prospect's mind and develop a "stay-in- touch" campaign. This can include email, voice mail, letters, and cards. Each point of contact should offer something of value and MUST be brief. Respect the decision-maker's time. Recognize that they have multiple projects on the go at any given time. Like you, they can only work on a certain number of them at once.

Many people close sales long after the initial contact simply because they have been persistent and executed a solid strategy and keep-in-touch plan. While the standard number of contacts is eight, this number is not carved in stone. You can rest assured that if you give up after three or four attempts, a competitor who is more persistent will eventually get the business. Are you willing to give business away or are you prepared to persist until you succeed?
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Kelley Robertson is a professional speaker and trainer on sales, negotiating, customer service, and employee motivation. Receive a FREE copy of "100 Ways to Increase Your Sales" by subscribing to his free newsletter available at his website. Visit KelleyRobertson.com. He is also the author of "The Secrets of Power Selling" and "Stop, Ask & Listen-Proven Sales Techniques to Turn Browsers into Buyers." For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.

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Building Long-Term Relationships By Brian Tracy

If you could take everything we know about communications, put it all in a large pot, boil it and distill it down into its critical essence, it is about the importance of relationships in successful selling.

Building and maintaining long-term selling relationships is the key behavior and skill of the top ten percent of the money earners in sales, in every field, selling every product and service.

The Reason for Success ...
Most of your success in life will depend on your ability to get along well with other people, and on the quality of your relationships. Psychologist Sidney Jourard, found that 85 percent of a person's happiness in life comes from happy interactions with other people. The reverse holds true as well: 85 percent of a person's unhappiness or problems in life comes from difficulties in getting along with others.

Sell to Lots of People ...
Anyone can sell to a few people, some of the time. But only the very best human relations experts can sell to a wide variety of people, and sell to them repeatedly.

The only way that you can make the kind of big money that you are capable of is by selling more easily, and more often, to the prospects you talk to, and by having those prospects open doors to others through testimonials and referrals. All top salespeople build and maintain high quality business relationships with their customers and sell to them repeatedly year after year.

Decide Emotionally, Justify Logically ...
We are all sensitive to the quality of our relationships with other people. We are primarily emotional and we make most of our decisions on the basis of how we feel inside. We may carefully consider all of the logical and practical reasons why or why not with regard to buying a product or service, but in the final analysis we tend to go with our gut feeling.

We listen to our inner voices. We obey the dictates of our hearts. We buy on the basis of how we feel about the relationship that we have with the other person. Where there is no relationship, there is no sale.

Focus on the Key Variable ...
Everything that you ever learned of value in the profession of selling, regarding your product or service, or personality, is only helpful to the degree to which it contributes to the building of high quality relationships with customers.

Action Exercises:
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, become a relationship expert in sales. Focus first on the relationship, above all, and the sale will take care of itself.

Second, take care of your relationships once you have built them. Never take them for granted. Tend to them as you would to a flower garden.
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Brian Tracy is one of the world's leading authorities on personal and business success. His fast-moving talks and seminars are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that you can apply immediately to get better results in every area. Visit the Brian Tracy web site.

Staying in Control of the Selling Process By Bob Burg

Every so often you'll find yourself in front of a "controlling" prospect. This is a person who wants to show you who is boss (and, as far as they're concerned, it ain't you!) :-) . They'll do this by asking questions - often in rapid succession - demanding fast answers. They will also demand that you answer questions; not ask them.

Avoiding "rapid-fire."

Although it's often good rapport-building to converse with your prospect at the same rate of speed as they are talking, this may not be helpful in a rapid-fire situation where, as soon as you answer, they fire back another question, trying to control the pace. Often, they are doing this to throw you off your timing (a form of passive-aggressiveness).

In this case, you need to slow down in order to get *them* to slow down. This must be done - not in a challenging matter, but in a kind, caring and respectful manner. Once they see you won't be intimidated, they'll slow down, as well.

Here's how you do it: when they begin to rapid-fire, you just take your time, and have that look on your face as though you are really thinking their question through before responding (which, of course, you are). Then, just a bit more slowly than natural, provide a thought-out response (of course, while respectfully letting them know within your answer that their question was good and valid). Then ask your own question of them.

Do this just a couple of times, and you will either gain their total respect and cooperation, or they will have to ask you why you won't just answer their question quickly. At that point, you can gently let them know you value them enough as a person and a potential client to give them the *best* information you possibly can, as opposed to the *fastest.*

Question to Ask Questions

Now let's look at how to work with the controlling prospect who demands that you answer their questions and not ask your own. Again, this is a form of passive-aggressive control on their part and, if you fall into this trap, you will not be in a position to effectively serve them.

Allow me to reconstruct an in-home presentation I was making to an extremely controlling dentist and his wife back in my direct-selling days. He would ask me questions and, instead of my simply answering, as he desired, I kept attempting to ask him questions that would help me to analyze their needs for the product I was then selling.

Suddenly, he said, "Listen, I'm the customer - I'll ask you the questions, and you give me straight answers, okay!?" (If you're thinking, "Why take that abuse - why not just leave then and there?" . . . there were two reasons. First, that was during my salad days (meaning that being able to afford a salad was a big deal) and I really needed the money, and prospects such as he were a definite part of my job. Secondly, what would have been the fun in leaving?) :-)

Me (gently): That's fine (always agree first) but, aren't you a dentist?

Dentist (a bit bewildered at my question): Yes, why?

Me (with a look of confusion on my face): I'm just thinking; if I'm sitting in your dentist's chair as a patient with an excruciatingly painful tooth-ache, you're going to ask me questions such as, "which tooth hurts?", and "how long have you been feeling discomfort?" and other pertinent questions, right?

Doc: Yeah, so what?

Me (tactfully): Now, what if I said to you "I'm the patient, I'll ask the questions - you just fix the tooth." Wouldn't that make it sort of difficult for you to help me?

As I said that to him, he and his wife began to chuckle, we all smiled and he replied, "Yes, I see what you mean."

Briefly, if/when this ever happens to you, relax, don't be intimidated, and in a very diplomatic fashion, have a question in mind that will gently but immediately move your prospect to understanding why it's in THEIR best interest for you to ask questions.
__________________
Bob Burg speaks on "Endless Referrals" and "Positive Persuasion." He is author of "Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts Into Sales" and "Winning Without Intimidation: The Art of Positive Persuasion." Visit Bob at www.Burg.com.

*brought to you by SalesTrainingAdvice.com

And How Are You Today? -- Yuck! By Sandy Schussel

Call me crazy, but when someone calls me to try to sell me something, I don’t hang up on him or her. I listen and respond and then make suggestions to the caller on how to improve his or her call.

For many people, prospecting -- marketing -- for new clients on the telephone, “cold calling” is the job of last resort. Who wants to be cursed at, hung up on and lied to? But many of my clients are in professions where cold calling is one of their necessary methods of prospecting.

Do people hate to receive calls at home? Do busy managers and executives hate to be bothered by callers trying to convince them to buy their products? Yes…and…no.

“If I were calling you to tell you that you just inherited a million dollars and I needed to arrange for you to pick up the check,” I ask in my workshops, “would you be angry that I interrupted your dinner?”

“No,” they all agree.

“If I were calling you at your place of business with a guaranteed way to make more money while simultaneously reducing expenses,” I ask, “would you be upset that I got past your “gatekeeper” to reach you?”

“No,” they agree again.

“So, then,” I ask, “what do your prospects hate?”

The answer usually comes into “sounding like a telemarketer.” There are, of course, successful telemarketers who sound natural and comfortable, like Amanda and her staff at Market Reach. But you know the type we’re talking about…

They mispronounce your name with no apology and no effort to get it right.

They sound like they’re reading a script.

They come on strong forcing a big “salesy” smile through the telephone.

They try to warm up the call by pausing to say or ask something disingenuous like, “And How Are You Today?” You know they don’t care about your health or well being at all.

They use “salesy” language like, “We’re going to be in your neighborhood on Tuesday” or “This is an exclusive offer.”

If part of your work is making calls to people you don’t know, the “telemarketer type” provides you a great guideline for how not to do it. Here are some suggestions:

1. Get the name right beforehand or apologize and fix it. If you can’t find out how to pronounce the prospect’s name ahead of time, ask if you got it right. Apologize and try again. Continuing to call me “Mr. Skuzzel” won’t help your cause.

2. Throw away the script—one way or another. Scripts are okay. Some of the best actors use them. But you change the channel quickly when the actor sounds like he or she is reading it. Either learn it so well that you no longer sound like you’re reading it, or toss it away and keep an outline with the bullet points of the things you want to say. It’s not a bad idea to keep it near you, but don’t read it.

3. Forget about the rule that you should sound “up.” Coming on too strong can be a turnoff. Don’t be timid, but start gently—and adjust to the person you’re talking with.

4. Don’t do AHAYT. “And How Are You Today?” raises an instant red flag that I’m going to be sorry I took this call, so just don’t do it. Get to the point of your call. Telemarketers use the greeting to catch their breath before jumping into the script—and prospects know it. Another killer is “actually” as in “Actually, the reason I’m calling is…”

5. Stay away from “salesy language.” “In your neighborhood” is a sales killer. If you’re seeing someone up the street or in that town, you have a better chance.

Make cold calling more fun for you and less painful for your prospective clients by aiming not for the appointment or sale, but to engage them in conversation. While this may, at first glance, seem like the long way to go about it, I promise that it will be much more effective.
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Sandy Schussel, is the "More Clients" Coach who went from being a rainmaker for his law firm, to running his own seminar business, to being hired as the national sales training director of a financial services brokerage. He is the author of the acclaimed book, The High Diving Board: How To Overcome Your Fears and Live Your Dreams. Visit Sandy’s website at BrassRingCoaching.com and sign up for his free weekly e-letter, REACHING…

Sales Contacts Via Email - By Tom Hopkins

Using email for prospecting and selling is one of the most powerful online tools a professional salesperson can have.

Unlike the passive strategy of a web site where you have to wait until someone visits your site before you can present to them, email is an active selling tool. You can compose a selling message any time and send it out to a database of prospects or your list of clients.

But don't think you can send just any email message out to whomever you please. There are rules to this kind of contact and communication. And if you break them, you can seriously harm your credibility and reputation.

One thing you don't want to be accused of is spamming your recipients. That means using only opt-in email lists — or permission marketing — which has a set of ‘best practices' that should be followed.

What you do is get your client's and prospect's permission to send emails before your message shows up in the email box.

Remember that building trust with your customer is job one for the professional salesperson. And your customer is your most precious resource.
_______________
Tom Hopkins International
7531 E. 2nd St., Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Tel: (480) 949-0786 or 800/528-0446 Fax: (480) 949-1590
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The Value of Good Client Care By Tom Hopkins

One of the biggest challenges facing any business is keeping in balance. In many businesses, more emphasis is put on getting new business than serving existing clients. Next to sales functions, customer service functions are vital to overall success and must be given appropriate emphasis.

Poor customer service will cost a company as much business as will having a poor sales person in the field. Both can damage a company's reputation and potential for future growth.

When businesses don't properly serve the customers sales people bring in and the clients go elsewhere, businesses sometimes assume they weren't good sales in the first place. That is not often the case. Where do customers go who don't stay with your business once they've made a single purchase?

Many simply buy from someone else. Amazingly, a large number of sales people who don't make the sale assume that most potential customers never made a purchasing decision at all. The sad truth is that because of this belief, they do not institute a proper follow-up sequence! If they would have followed-up, they would have discovered that the prospective client most likely bought from someone else. They either found a product or service that they liked better or a more persuasive sales professional.

I have a philosophy to share with you. Please commit to this statement:

“If I am a pro, they will buy from me unless they go out of business, or die.” Commit to yourself that you are going to be so professional that they are going to invest their money with you unless they are no longer in business or the decision-maker passes on to his or her heavenly reward. That may sound extreme, but that's the way you have to feel if you want to get the business every time.

Another thing that happens to people who don't do business with you is that the contact person or purchasing agent is replaced. In many businesses, purchasing agents change quite frequently. Every time there's a new person charged with making the buying decisions, you need to start over with gaining his or her confidence and continued business.

That's why it is important to keep watching every business in your territory for changes in decision-makers. When they change in a company whose business you don't already have, you can start fresh in your attempts to get their business. Remember, even if the competition serves them now, that sales person will be waging the same battle you are to win continued business.

The third reason people don't do business with you is that you have lost them to the competition. I hope you will be mature enough to say, “If I lost the business, I got beat because of skill and talent. I'm going to increase my skill level so it won't happen again.”

There will always be those clients that you simply cannot please. I've had clients and customers I've given so much service to and I know I earned the business, but for one reason or another I didn't close. I used to blame everyone else for these failures. However, the more I look at selling, the more I realize that if you lose to the competition, it's usually because they outperformed you. That's when you need to set a goal to get better at this game of selling.

The last reason customers don't buy from you is because they no longer use your type of product. If they have literally changed their way of doing business and your company doesn't have a product to satisfy the needs, you're going to lose the business. Accept it gracefully and move on to someone else you can serve. Your attitude at a time like that can earn you future business should their needs change.
_______________
Tom Hopkins International
7531 E. 2nd St., Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Tel: (480) 949-0786 or 800/528-0446 Fax: (480) 949-1590
Visit our website for a great "Tip of the Day".

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