Handling the Economy Objection Once and For All by Mike Brooks

If you're still getting the "We're just not going to do anything until the economy (settles down or improves, or whatever...), when you are closing the sale and asking for the order, then I've got some good news and bad news for you:

First the good news: After reading this article, and applying the techniques in it, you will virtually eliminate this objection once and for all.

Now the bad news: If you're getting this objection during the close when you're asking for the sale then you're responsible for creating it.

Here's the bottom line: It's your responsibility to qualify out any economy, price, budget objections on the front end call so that these objections don't come up during the close. If you're still getting these objections later on, it means you didn't "disqualify" out the non-buyers - which are what you're dealing with when you get this objection.

It doesn't mean they aren't ever going to be buyers, it just means they aren't going to buy now. And you need to know that in the beginning and not send any information or demo out.

Here are some questions to ask to identify who will and who won't use the "We're just going to wait until the economy gets better" objection.

During the qualifying call, make sure and ask any of the following questions by working them into your specific sale:

"A lot of companies are taking advantage of this (your product or service) now that the economy is slow - do you think the time is right for you, too?"

"Given what's happening in the economy right now, do you still see yourself (or your company) moving forward with this now?"

If they say they don't know, then layer it with:

"When do you think would be a more appropriate time for you?"

Also, ask:

"How are you doing in this economy?"

Layer:

"Are you still going to be able to participate in this if we can get you the (price, rate, deal) we're talking about here?"

Ask:

"__________, many of our clients find that this (your product or service) is still important regardless of what is happening in the economy - is it
something that you still have in your budget?"

I think you're getting the idea, right? The bottom line is that it's up to you to eliminate any budget objections before you get into the closing arena. And you'll do this by asking these types of qualifying/disqualifying questions in advance.

Start using them today and watch as your closing ratio goes up, and your frustration level goes down.
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Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, works with business owners and inside sales reps nationwide teaching them the skills, strategies and techniques of top 20% performance. If you’re looking to catapult your sales, or create a sales team that actually makes their monthly revenues, then learn how by visiting: MrInsideSales.com

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-Were the ideas above helpful? What were some key points that stood out? Do you have any other sales strategies along these same lines that would be helpful? Use the comments to join the conversation.

The Key to Influencing Others By Brian Tracy

Do Nice Things For Others...
One of the best ways to influence someone is to do something nice for him.

I know many successful salespeople who make a habit of taking their prospects out to breakfast or lunch. During the breakfast or lunch, they do not talk about their products or services unless the client brings it up. They merely make small talk, ask questions and listen.

They work on building trust, and they work on establishing a friendly relationship. At the end of the breakfast or lunch, they tell the prospect that they will be getting in touch with him sometime in the future with the possibility of talking to him about helping him in some way.

See Them As Friends and Partners...
The best salespeople and businesspeople in America today are those who look upon their customers and prospective customers as friends and partners.

They always look for ways to help their partners improve their lives in ways that are not directly related to the products or services they sell. They sow seeds, and they reap a harvest. They trigger a desire in people to reciprocate.

When the time comes for those salespeople to approach their prospects with the possibility of buying their products or services, the prospects are wide open to the questions and inputs of the salespeople. The prospects have a deep-down desire to reciprocate.

Send Thank You Notes...
One of the best ways to use this principle in your interactions is to continually look for ways to say and do positive things for people. Look for ways to do kind acts and favors for your friends and prospects.

Send thank-you notes. Send birthday cards. Send clippings from newspapers about subjects that you feel may be of interest to them. Always keep your promises, and follow up on your commitments.

Always do what you say you will do. Do everything possible to put in, knowing confidently that you will ultimately be able to get out far more. You will reap if you sow.

Be A Go-Giver Rather Than A Go-Getter...
Someone has observed that no one ever built a statue to a person to acknowledge what he or she got out of life. Statues are built only to people to acknowledge what they gave.

The most powerful, influential and successful people you will ever meet always look for ways to do nice things for others.

When you meet someone under almost any circumstance, one of the best questions you can ask is this: "Is there anything that I can do for you?"

Always look for ways to put in rather than to take out. The successful man or woman of today is a "go-giver" as well as a go-getter.

Be Open and Empathetic...
The more that people feel that you are open and empathetic and sensitive to their needs and concerns, the more open they will be to your influencing them positively in some way.

And the more you can influence others with the power and impact of your personality, the more you will accomplish, and the faster you will accomplish it. The more rapidly you will move toward the great success that you desire and deserve.

Action Exercises:

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

First, look for ways to do nice things for other people, especially your family, friends, and customers. The more nice things you do for others, the better you feel about yourself.

Second, take time to really listen to people, especially your staff and coworkers. The more and better you listen to others, the greater is your influence over them.
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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.

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-Are you using any of the ideas shared above? Do you have any suggestions that might be helpful, but weren't included in the above article -- use the comments below to share your thoughts :-)

Mine Proposals for Hidden Gems of Opportunity By Kendra Lee

With the economy causing prospects and clients alike to clamp their wallets shut, we’re looking everywhere to fill our pipelines. One place you may not have examined recently is in your past proposals, yet they could be the quickest place to find new opportunities.

When I’m working with a prospect, I like to look further and deeper than the initial problem they see to get to all the potential issues creating it. Often the problem isn’t a simple one and the deeper I dig with questioning, the more I learn about how we can solve it.

My consultative approach results in a proposal that goes beyond one recommendation. It includes four, five, six suggestions or more on things they can do to address the challenge, complete with several options of how to get started.

It’s beefy and full of ideas they can choose to implement – or just think about for now.

And therein lies the opportunity for us in a tough economy!

If you’re writing a meaty proposal like I do, often your clients will choose to move forward with only a portion of what you recommended. They liked your ideas, but budget, resources, or timing limited their initial implementation.

They probably even told you they’d like to “wait and do the other things later.”

And, if you’re a savvy seller you pinned them down to dates of when they’d do the “other things.”

But busy as we are, and aware of how clients are looking to conserve spending, you may not have revisited those “other things.”

Now’s the time! You could have a goldmine of opportunity right on your hard drive!

Go back and revisit your proposals from the last twelve months. Look first at the suggestions they chose to invest in.
* How’s their implementation progressing?
* What progress have they made in solving the problems they chose to deal with first?
* Where do they still need help to eliminate those challenges? Do you smell an opportunity there?

Then, look at all those great recommendations you made but they elected to wait on. Here’s the goldmine just waiting for you to unearth it!
* Do the issues behind your suggestions still exist?
* Could they make a difference in your client’s profitability or cost cutting if fixed now?

Don’t wonder. Go find out!

Set up a review meeting to do a status check with your client.

I really like review meetings. These are your opportunity to check in on how you’re doing, reinforce the great work you’ve completed so far, and get your client’s agreement on value they’ve already experienced.

Dust off the proposal and use it as your guide in the meeting.

The best part is, your client will remember it well. Before making any decision in the first place you know he spent a great deal of time studying it. You reviewed the document in depth with him to be sure he did!

Use the proposal to revisit the issues you originally discovered and agreed upon before you started working together. Share the areas you think you can help take the results they’ve already experienced to even higher levels with some simple tweaks or additions.

Next, remind your client of the recommendations you’d made. Discuss those things they wanted to “wait and do later.”

As you talk, the pain of those yet unsolved issues will come roaring back. Your client may see the need to address them now, especially if it’ll help reduce costs, drive more revenue, or improve the productivity of an already overworked staff.

Get creative and show how you can help even within their tight budget. Your clients will appreciate the attention you’ve given their problems.

Before you know it, new opportunities will surface and your pipeline will be healthy again.
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Kendra Lee is author of "Selling Against the Goal" and president of KLA Group. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. To find out more about the author, as well as subscribe to her newsletter visit www.klagroup.com or call +1 303.773.1285.

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-What are your thoughts on the ideas above. Do you have any other ideas you'd like to share on uncovering hidden opportunities to make more sales?

Greatest Sales Strategy Ever By Jon Gordon

As a student of people and ideas I had to admit that what two guys are doing in a Northeast Florida Starbucks is absolutely genius.

The other day as I tried to pay for my green tea at my local Starbucks the cashier said, “Don’t worry about it sir.

Those guys over there are paying for it today.” She then handed me their business card from a stack by the register.

Turns out the guys were wealth management, financial planners who once a week, at different times, will spend a few hours at this Starbucks and buy customers their coffee.

Most people, like me, will walk over and thank the gentlemen and walk away with their business card in our pocket.

I thought about how brilliant this was. People love their Starbucks in the morning. While they are waiting in line they smell that aroma and think, “Yes, there is a God for only God could make something that smells so good.”

For many the Starbucks experience has become a ritual or right of passage that helps them take on the day. It’s become an emotional experience that makes them feel good. It’s become a bond of love.

Imagine yourself at the register, which is very easy for many of us, as you anticipate holding that coffee in your hand, thinking “YES”. Then the cashier tells you it’s FREE. Wow, an unexpected gift. Now instead of feeling good you are feeling great.

You feel so good you don’t mind placing a stranger’s card in your pocket. When you walk over and say thank you to these financial planners they cease to be strangers and become more like acquaintances and neighbors. Then about an hour later when the caffeine really kicks in you’re feeling so great, you think, “Wow, those financial planners are great guys.”

Now instead of acquaintances they have become more like long lost friends. These financial planners brilliantly connected something you love with a service they offer.

Not surprisingly I found out that these men do receive a good number of calls from the Starbucks customers interested in planning for their financial future.

It is said we remember one third of what we read, half of what people tell us and 100 % how feel. Whether we are watching a commercial, listening to a teacher, or talking to a sales person it is how we feel that impacts us the most.

We can’t remember what we ate for lunch a week ago but we can remember where we were on 9-11 when we saw the World Trade towers collapse. We remember how we feel and when it comes time to investing our money, buying a product, purchasing insurance, or choosing a restaurant and we will make choices based on these feelings.

This leads us to the greatest sales strategy ever—but it doesn’t involve coffee. While the Starbucks idea is brilliant it isn’t the best way to build a business.

There is a far more powerful strategy to create an emotional connection and foster and emotional memory. It’s so simple and it doesn’t even cost a dime. It’s to love your customers. Caffeine is temporary but love lasts forever.

Love and business are two words you usually don’t here in the same sentence but when it comes to sales, customers do business with people they like and who love and care about them.

When customers feel like they matter and feel cared for they love back with more loyalty, more business and more referrals.

So if you are in sales, and we all are, I encourage you to make loving and caring about your customers your top priority. You don’t have to buy them coffee to connect your product or service with something they love. You can be the connection. Your love can be the bridge that connects your customer with your product or service.

After all no matter what we are selling, people are always buying our energy and making decisions based on how our energy makes them feel. And while coffee is an energy source that makes people feel good it doesn’t compare to the energy of love.

Look out for your customers interests. Show them you care. Share the love and you’ll be so successful you’ll be able to buy your own Starbucks and give away all the coffee you want.
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Jon Gordon is a speaker, consultant and author of the international best seller The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy and The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work, & Training Camp: What the Best do Better than Everyone Else. Visit him at www.JonGordon.com

*brought to you by SalesTrainingAdvice.com

P.S. If you're looking for someone to get your sales team fired up and ready to unleash their best contact motivational speaker Josh Hinds about appearing at your next company meeting or sales rally!

The Instinct of Herding: How Sales Professionals Can Capitalize on it to Sell More. Part 1 By Skip Anderson

I spent some time with one of my friends a few weeks ago. Now retired, he had been a very successful career salesperson who sold wholesale clothing to clothing retailers. We chatted about the nature of buyers and customer psychology.

“Who Else Is Buying It?”
Dave told me how he would walk up and down Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis in decades past, calling on each of the men’s clothing stores to present his lines. Nicollet Mall (the name of a street not a shopping mall, was formerly the major retail center in the Twin Cities area. It was home to many of independent clothiers at the time. Dave called on all of them.

Dave told me that when he would show his spring collection to one of the retail buyers, the buyer would almost inevitably ask, “Who else is buying it?” (Meaning, “What other retailers have already purchased this from you?”). Dave said that, almost without fail, if other stores had purchased his merchandise, his prospect would, too.

The Influence of Others in Buying Decisions

So what was going on with those retailers? The psychology of buyers is complex. It’s not as easy as “customers buy to solve problems” or “people buy to relieve pain” or other overused clichés I read about.

One element of buying psychology is that buyers often herd together, just like a herd of cattle or a flock of geese or a school of fish. Why do they do this?

There are three major reasons why customers herd, or are highly influenced by other customers:

1. Prospects prefer not to take risks.

Although some are more risk tolerant than others, prospects prefer to avoid too much risk (however they define risk). Instead, they tend to buy tried and true products from tried and true sources in tried and true ways. This is one reason it can be challenging for a new player in an industry to be successful right out of the entrepreneurial gate.

2. Prospects believe there is safety in numbers.

If everybody is opening coffee shops on every street corner, it must be safe to open a coffee business of your own, right? And better yet, it must be better to open a coffee shop on a corner that already has a coffee shop, correct? I know of at least one urban intersection that houses three coffee shops on three of its four corners.

3. Prospects are highly influenced by others.

Even highly independent customers take cues from others and are influenced by the buying behavior of others. Belonging to a group is an important purchasing motivator. This helps to explain why one home on Park Street installed a paver driveway last summer and two more homes on Park Street will follow suit this summer.

* You can read Part 2 of this article here.
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Skip Anderson is a speaker, management consultant, sales trainer, writer, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. The creator of 3D Selling™, Skip works with companies and individuals to capitalize upon the buying potential of every prospect. He is an authority on customer engagement and B2C selling.

-What are some key ideas you took away from the ideas above & how can you use them to improve your sales results?


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The Instinct of Herding: How Sales Professionals Can Capitalize on it to Sell More. Part 2 By Skip Anderson

Herd Mentality in Selling

Wouldn’t it be great if you could leverage these behaviors, which I have termed herd mentality, to help you sell more?

You can! Here are FIVE ways to use herd mentality to grow your sales revenue:

1. Let’s imagine that you’re doing a home improvement project at a customer’s home. When the project starts, send a salesperson up and down the street to door knock to find prospects. Do it again one month after the project, and again six months later. Supplement the door- knocking with a targeted direct mail campaign timed to maximize herd mentality. Customers are more likely to add a patio to their home if one or more of their neighbors recently added a patio to their home(s).

2. When you sell to someone, ask the customer to provide you with the names and contact information for their family and friends. A marketing campaign including warm-calling, direct mail, or email can help some of these customers begin to form a herd.

3. Put photos of your customers on a display wall in your retail store. Either add to the wall over time or rotate pictures onto the wall. This technique is especially effective if you include your (their) product in the photo (think sofa, refrigerator, convertible, etc.). Include the names of the customers if possible, and the city in which they live. When a shopper points at a picture and says, “Hey look, Honey, there’s Jim from the club…” you’ve got a herd beginning to form.

4. Create a buying frenzy. Let’s say you sell retail furniture, and two of your sales colleagues happen to be showing their shoppers a wall unit to house a TV. Even if your shopper is in your store to look at bedroom sets, walk buy the wall unit on the way to the bedroom sets, and as you walk buy, stop and explain to your prospect that “this particular wall unit has just been flying out of here…what do you think of it?” If you’ve successfully engaged your prospect previously, your prospect will likely answer the question, and some of your prospects will even say something like, “Wow, I love it!” Can you picture the herd forming?

5. Schedule follow-up appointments with prospects in your showroom when you have a lot of foot traffic. More activity in your showroom equals more herd potential!

6. When one house goes up for sale, you may have neighbors who have been on the fence decide to put theirs up for sale. Introduce yourself to the neighbors. Do some investigating. Then investigate some more after the house has sold.

7. At your trade show, hire one or two people to stand in your booth and talk to you when your booth is empty. When passersby see the other people at your display, herd mentality takes over and some will stop at your booth who would have otherwise passed right on by. Your stand-ins can leave and walk around for ten minutes until the next time your booth is empty. Prospects at trade show displays are more effective at generating traffic than salespeople are.

8. Create fans who are wild about you, your product, or your company. When they talk to others, others will be more likely to join your customer ranks. Host a weekly radio show with fresh content, but encourage your customers to call in and talk about their purchases of your products or services. Have social get-togethers with your customers and let them meet each other. Herd mentality starts with just two people, and can grow from there.

9. If your company does service work or installation in your customers’ homes, post a lawn sign on the property if possible. If you get three lawn signs on a block, chances are fabulous that you’ll get a fourth customer soon.

10. Have a special sale only for customers. Keep this one legitimate. Have it after hours. Everyone there will know that everyone else there is a customer. Hold drawings and festivities. Let the herd take shape. A larger herd is more likely to attract more members than a smaller herd.

11. Have a thick book of customer surveys to show your prospect (work it into your sales process if possible). These are more effective if the surveys are written in the customer’s own handwriting, and if the customer’s name and address are on the form. This doesn’t work so well with five customer surveys, but if you can provide two or three hundred, it will help you create a herd.

* You can read Part 1 of this article here.
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Skip Anderson is a speaker, management consultant, sales trainer, writer, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. The creator of 3D Selling™, Skip works with companies and individuals to capitalize upon the buying potential of every prospect. He is an authority on customer engagement and B2C selling.

*Every professional salesperson knows the importance of staying motivated -- stay inspired by reading the Motivation and Inspiration Journal of Josh Hinds.

*brought to you by SalesTrainingAdvice.com