All professional salespeople have to be involved in a presentation at some time in their sales career and Top 5 % players present their proposals every time.
Presentations allow us to : -
• Influence a group of important people.
• Gain consensus and commitment.
• Find out who the real players are and the real status.
• Set ground rules for a major sale.
• Make a lasting impression of professionalism.
When it comes to the enthusiasm that sales professionals have for making a presentation, they broadly fall into four categories, (as I highlighted in a previous article - :”When It Comes To Making Presentations, The Very Best Salespeople Are Seekers”)
The Avoider:
An Avoider does everything possible to escape from having to stand in front of an audience; in some drastic cases salespeople may seek positions that do not involve making presentations.
The Register:
A Register is also extremely hesitant of speaking in public, however Registers may not be able to avoid speaking as part of their job but they never encourage it. When they do speak they do so very reluctantly.
The Acceptor:
The Acceptor will give presentations as part of their job but does not seek opportunities to do so. Acceptors occasionally give a presentation and feel they did a good job. They even find that once in a while they are quite persuasive and enjoy the experience.
The Seeker:
A Seeker looks for opportunities to speak. They understand that anxiety can be a stimulant which fuels enthusiasm during a presentation. Seekers work at building their professional communication skills and self-confidence by speaking often.
The reality is, that making presentations is an essential sales skill, Top 5% achievers are very good presenters. Any salesman or woman, who has ambitions to become the best in their sector or industry, will need to ensure that they can deliver dynamic, convincing and professional presentations, whenever they are called upon to do so.
Becoming a Seeker is a pre-requisite to success!
There Are Four Key Elements Of A Successful Presentation:
Element One: Structure
In preparing for any presentation, there is a simple, yet useful structure: -
• Prospect Need
• Prospect Advantage
• Your Proposal
• Your Action.
Prospect Need:
It is essential that you consider your prospects/ audience’s views because every prospect/audience has a need. Need consists of two parts - symptoms and causes, (through identifying the symptoms we find causes).
Prospect Advantage
• Main - This demonstrates how your ideas will meet the needs and resolve the prospects problems
• Added - These are powerful persuasions that explain why your ideas are superior and compelling.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Real Time Hot Mortgage Leads
The fresher te lead, the better the quality, so it makes sense that Real-Time mortgage leads are the hottest they come. Think about it, mortgage borrowers looking to refinance or do some home improvements find a broker that is looking to give them a great rate, perfect match?
Of course it's a perfect match. The truth is that if a lead is not real-time then it might as well be a dead lead. Even a one day olf lead is useless if the potential borrower has already found a mortgage company while your 1 day old leads was making it's rounds through the different lead companies, and then getting to you. How many hands touched that lead being delivered in the next day's bulk lead email? There is no way of telling unless, one it is timestamped and origin-stamped.
Why Real-Time? Borrowers want to get info now! They want to be impressed when you call them within 2 minutes of them filling out the online application. What that says is yeah this loan officer and mortgage company has their heads on straight and can quickly take care of my needs. Usually a prospect starts working with th first person to contact them.
Real-Time Exclusive Mortgage Leads are the answers to your prayers. Real-Time leads need to be generated from a source which you can trust and actually visit yourself. You should be able to tell exactly what website generated the lead, and exactly what time. Real Time Leads should not be from some unknown 3rd party company your lead company buys leads from, and resells to you for a profit.
A Great Lead Company owns and operates their websites themselves and timestamp and origin-stamp (What website the lead is generated from) the lead any and every time. There is no playing games since everything should be automated and you can feel relax. Some lead comanies like Perfect Town USA have guarantee that if you don't get your leads in 5 seconds or less it's free!
Of course it's a perfect match. The truth is that if a lead is not real-time then it might as well be a dead lead. Even a one day olf lead is useless if the potential borrower has already found a mortgage company while your 1 day old leads was making it's rounds through the different lead companies, and then getting to you. How many hands touched that lead being delivered in the next day's bulk lead email? There is no way of telling unless, one it is timestamped and origin-stamped.
Why Real-Time? Borrowers want to get info now! They want to be impressed when you call them within 2 minutes of them filling out the online application. What that says is yeah this loan officer and mortgage company has their heads on straight and can quickly take care of my needs. Usually a prospect starts working with th first person to contact them.
Real-Time Exclusive Mortgage Leads are the answers to your prayers. Real-Time leads need to be generated from a source which you can trust and actually visit yourself. You should be able to tell exactly what website generated the lead, and exactly what time. Real Time Leads should not be from some unknown 3rd party company your lead company buys leads from, and resells to you for a profit.
A Great Lead Company owns and operates their websites themselves and timestamp and origin-stamp (What website the lead is generated from) the lead any and every time. There is no playing games since everything should be automated and you can feel relax. Some lead comanies like Perfect Town USA have guarantee that if you don't get your leads in 5 seconds or less it's free!
Friday, December 29, 2006
"High Touch" or "High Tech", What Do Clients Want?
I still hear comments from agents in our industry talking about the need for “high touch” versus “high tech”. They feel that we are all potentially losing our contact with our clients because of the impersonal nature of email and the internet. The National Association of Realtors completes a yearly buyers profile report. According to this report, the number of people initiating their home search on the internet continues to increase at an explosive rate. (Close to 79% of all consumers begin their search on the internet.) All trends are pointing toward greater reliance on real estate information on the internet: including listings, school information, and mortgage information.
With the popularity of real estate sites, it is clear consumers find value in the ability to search and find the information. We, in the real estate industry, are also consumers and prefer the speed, anonymity, and control provided by the internet. As a result, it highlights the importance for all real estate professionals to utilize and understand the technology that enables our clients to become more knowledgeable about the local market.
Being comfortable with technology, in many cases, allows us to communicate effectively with our clients and to be “high touch”. We are finding that many clients actually prefer the interaction through email. Communicating through email enables them to better control their time, balance their busy lives, while searching for a home. So our internet clients would agree that we are providing “high touch” customer service on their terms. With the increase in the number of internet and email users, the definition of “high touch” may be changing. Maybe the line between “high touch” and “high tech” is beginning to blur and the two are actually becoming the same thing.
With the popularity of real estate sites, it is clear consumers find value in the ability to search and find the information. We, in the real estate industry, are also consumers and prefer the speed, anonymity, and control provided by the internet. As a result, it highlights the importance for all real estate professionals to utilize and understand the technology that enables our clients to become more knowledgeable about the local market.
Being comfortable with technology, in many cases, allows us to communicate effectively with our clients and to be “high touch”. We are finding that many clients actually prefer the interaction through email. Communicating through email enables them to better control their time, balance their busy lives, while searching for a home. So our internet clients would agree that we are providing “high touch” customer service on their terms. With the increase in the number of internet and email users, the definition of “high touch” may be changing. Maybe the line between “high touch” and “high tech” is beginning to blur and the two are actually becoming the same thing.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Pulling the Trigger – Making Your Business Smoking Hot in 2007
How Can I Increase Business? A client once came to me having agonized for six months over a brochure. Helplessly, the manager, (a professional engineer), thrust the paper towards me, as he confided that he’d been dragged in from the field to make this happen. The poor little thing was all bloody with red-lined marks (the brochure, not the client), but no one had actually finished the copy, and all were afraid that it might not be just the thing they needed to bring in new business.
What went wrong, and how can you make your business smoking hot in 2007? The number one answer is by pulling the trigger. Define all you need to do. Start with one thing, add another and repeat what works.
Please understand that no business ever lived or died through one single marketing effort. A single postcard, letter or brochure is not a make or break marketing effort. It is but a whisper in the wind.
Remember, lather, rinse, repeat? A marketing effort is like that. You have to repeat it.
What went wrong, and how can you make your business smoking hot in 2007? The number one answer is by pulling the trigger. Define all you need to do. Start with one thing, add another and repeat what works.
Please understand that no business ever lived or died through one single marketing effort. A single postcard, letter or brochure is not a make or break marketing effort. It is but a whisper in the wind.
Remember, lather, rinse, repeat? A marketing effort is like that. You have to repeat it.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Make Money Selling Used Books on Amazon
First of all look for all the books around your home that you no longer want. Once you have your books at the ready then register on the Amazon site which will literally take ten minutes or so.
Listing the books on the site is extremely easy as you enter the international book standard number and it will automatically bring up your book. You then can see the market price for your used book.
I would recommend entering your book price at one penny less than the nearest person which ensures you get a low price tag next to your book. You then just click and complete your listing. Amazon will then send you a sold dispatch now email when the book is sold and you mail the book to your customer.
Once you need more stock I recommend looking at the local charity shops and libraries. Also car boot sales and fairs are very good too. I have bought books for 25p and sold them for 20 pound and this happens weekly.
Not every category of book will sell extremely well so it is very important to avoid modern fiction titles. There are literally thousands of used books in this category on amazon and you will not be able to generate income with these types of books.
You should really be looking for older books with a hobby connotation. Good examples of these could be music, religion, self help, military, arts and crafts, sports and poetry to name but a few.
It is very easy to get the hang of and in time you will easily be able to identify what sells and what does not sell. I also personally sell dvd's online too but you must make sure that your dvd works before sending out to a customer because good customer feedback is very important in this business. Having said that dvd's are fast moving items and can easily make you a lot of money.
If you have an amazon library online of about one hundred books or so then you can be expecting to sell about 30 books or so a month. When you reach this level of sales then it makes it worthwhile to become an amazon book seller. This costs 25 pound a month but also cuts the 85p charge that amazon puts on your account every time a book sells. Of course Amazon needs to make some income from the arrangement with yourself but as you can see the 30 book per month and over limit makes it a viable business decision.
Another top tip is to try and keep your books small to medium in size to save on the postage costs. Amazon are quite generous and will give you a good postage allowance when selling your books but on very large books you will actually lose out.
Having said that school textbooks and educational books are very good sellers and can attract prices over 20 pounds or so therefore I would make an exception for those type of books.
Listing the books on the site is extremely easy as you enter the international book standard number and it will automatically bring up your book. You then can see the market price for your used book.
I would recommend entering your book price at one penny less than the nearest person which ensures you get a low price tag next to your book. You then just click and complete your listing. Amazon will then send you a sold dispatch now email when the book is sold and you mail the book to your customer.
Once you need more stock I recommend looking at the local charity shops and libraries. Also car boot sales and fairs are very good too. I have bought books for 25p and sold them for 20 pound and this happens weekly.
Not every category of book will sell extremely well so it is very important to avoid modern fiction titles. There are literally thousands of used books in this category on amazon and you will not be able to generate income with these types of books.
You should really be looking for older books with a hobby connotation. Good examples of these could be music, religion, self help, military, arts and crafts, sports and poetry to name but a few.
It is very easy to get the hang of and in time you will easily be able to identify what sells and what does not sell. I also personally sell dvd's online too but you must make sure that your dvd works before sending out to a customer because good customer feedback is very important in this business. Having said that dvd's are fast moving items and can easily make you a lot of money.
If you have an amazon library online of about one hundred books or so then you can be expecting to sell about 30 books or so a month. When you reach this level of sales then it makes it worthwhile to become an amazon book seller. This costs 25 pound a month but also cuts the 85p charge that amazon puts on your account every time a book sells. Of course Amazon needs to make some income from the arrangement with yourself but as you can see the 30 book per month and over limit makes it a viable business decision.
Another top tip is to try and keep your books small to medium in size to save on the postage costs. Amazon are quite generous and will give you a good postage allowance when selling your books but on very large books you will actually lose out.
Having said that school textbooks and educational books are very good sellers and can attract prices over 20 pounds or so therefore I would make an exception for those type of books.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Are You Achieving Sustained Sales Growth Efficiently - Reliably And By Design
In his book “Fundamentals of Selling”, Charles Futrell identifies careful use of selling time as perhaps the distinguishing characteristic of the successful salesperson. Frequently there are two main pitfalls that even experienced salespeople can fall into in terms of activities. First, they simply aren’t doing enough. What’s enough? Enough telephone calls to make appointments, enough face-to-face calls, enough calls that involve or influence the decision-makers. In general, the more focused sales activity salespeople generate, the greater the number of sales opportunities they can create.
Poor Quality Activity:
Second, but equally important, salespeople often aren’t clear about how to identify the prospects most likely to have a genuine need for their product or service. Without an objective way to prioritise which prospects to contact first and/or an efficient strategy for contacting them, salespeople are doomed to waste a large percentage of their time.
Another huge dilemma for many salespeople is how to divide their time between servicing existing clients and generating new business from new prospects. Existing clients frequently make requests for service that could be dealt with by support staff. But salespeople who lack a disciplined, future-orientated plan for generating new contacts and sales often find themselves spending more time attending to “urgent” tasks for existing accounts instead. A common approach among salespeople can be summarised in the saying “If you throw enough mud against the wall, some of it is bound to stick”. This approach is exhausting, demoralising, extremely unproductive, and very expensive in the long term.
Speed Of Relaying Customer Information:
The Sales Director provides another interesting dimension to activity management. Apart from product or service knowledge, salespeople require knowledge about prospects, clients, and market trends. Therefore, if the information those salespeople require isn’t relayed in an efficient manner, their “face-to-face” selling activities are dramatically reduced.
Harder Rather Than Smarter:
In the book Emerson’s Essays, there is a section on “Law of Compensation”, which can be summarised simply as “give more, get more” This is what most salespeople try to do, so they end up working harder when they could be working smarter. This begs the question, are your sales activities deciding your strategy or is your strategy deciding your sales activities?
Poor Quality Activity:
Second, but equally important, salespeople often aren’t clear about how to identify the prospects most likely to have a genuine need for their product or service. Without an objective way to prioritise which prospects to contact first and/or an efficient strategy for contacting them, salespeople are doomed to waste a large percentage of their time.
Another huge dilemma for many salespeople is how to divide their time between servicing existing clients and generating new business from new prospects. Existing clients frequently make requests for service that could be dealt with by support staff. But salespeople who lack a disciplined, future-orientated plan for generating new contacts and sales often find themselves spending more time attending to “urgent” tasks for existing accounts instead. A common approach among salespeople can be summarised in the saying “If you throw enough mud against the wall, some of it is bound to stick”. This approach is exhausting, demoralising, extremely unproductive, and very expensive in the long term.
Speed Of Relaying Customer Information:
The Sales Director provides another interesting dimension to activity management. Apart from product or service knowledge, salespeople require knowledge about prospects, clients, and market trends. Therefore, if the information those salespeople require isn’t relayed in an efficient manner, their “face-to-face” selling activities are dramatically reduced.
Harder Rather Than Smarter:
In the book Emerson’s Essays, there is a section on “Law of Compensation”, which can be summarised simply as “give more, get more” This is what most salespeople try to do, so they end up working harder when they could be working smarter. This begs the question, are your sales activities deciding your strategy or is your strategy deciding your sales activities?
Monday, December 25, 2006
Sales Effectiveness: The Chemistry of Questions
Sales Effectiveness: The chemistry of questions
As most seasoned salespeople can tell you, the first issue is never the real issue.
When you learn to ask better questions, you get in touch with your genuine sense of curiosity. Your goal is to ask questions that will uncover valuable data AND not sound like every other salesperson's “stock” questions!
The answers you get are only going to be as good as the questions you ask.
I was in a sales call one time and this guy asked the client “What would you change if you had 30 days to make a difference and a magic wand you could wave over your business?” The look on the clients face was the famous “my wheels are turning because no one has asked me this before” look!
Now, you’ve left the realm of a routine sales call and you’ve embarked on a real discussion on matters that matter to your prospect.
Here is a list of questions. Go through the list and ask your self- “have I ever asked these before?”
•What are the biggest challenges you are facing right now?
•What one thing would change your business dramatically if you could do it?
•What has been your biggest breakthrough in the last few years?
•What do you want your business to be known for?
•What is important to you?
•What are you looking for that you haven’t found?
One last comment: these are not the best possible questions for you to use.
Why?
Because the best possible questions for you to use will come from... YOU!
Part of my sale effectiveness seminars involve creating customized questions – customized for your industry, your prospects, your personality, your experience, your sales cycle, and your personal preferences.
There is nothing worse than watching someone who leaves a sales course, memorizes 10 questions that the trainer said were the “best” questions to ask, and then watch that hapless salesperson get eaten alive on their next sales call, simply because they’re faking their way through someone else’s “system”!
As most seasoned salespeople can tell you, the first issue is never the real issue.
When you learn to ask better questions, you get in touch with your genuine sense of curiosity. Your goal is to ask questions that will uncover valuable data AND not sound like every other salesperson's “stock” questions!
The answers you get are only going to be as good as the questions you ask.
I was in a sales call one time and this guy asked the client “What would you change if you had 30 days to make a difference and a magic wand you could wave over your business?” The look on the clients face was the famous “my wheels are turning because no one has asked me this before” look!
Now, you’ve left the realm of a routine sales call and you’ve embarked on a real discussion on matters that matter to your prospect.
Here is a list of questions. Go through the list and ask your self- “have I ever asked these before?”
•What are the biggest challenges you are facing right now?
•What one thing would change your business dramatically if you could do it?
•What has been your biggest breakthrough in the last few years?
•What do you want your business to be known for?
•What is important to you?
•What are you looking for that you haven’t found?
One last comment: these are not the best possible questions for you to use.
Why?
Because the best possible questions for you to use will come from... YOU!
Part of my sale effectiveness seminars involve creating customized questions – customized for your industry, your prospects, your personality, your experience, your sales cycle, and your personal preferences.
There is nothing worse than watching someone who leaves a sales course, memorizes 10 questions that the trainer said were the “best” questions to ask, and then watch that hapless salesperson get eaten alive on their next sales call, simply because they’re faking their way through someone else’s “system”!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Sell More: Having A Defined Sales Process
Some of the salespeople reading this article book may be muttering to themselves “face to face selling... I wish! If I could only get more in-person time with my prospects, I wouldn’t need to be reading this article!”
If that’s your situation – that once you’re with a prospect, you’re home free and you do really well from there on out in your sales process – then pay careful attention to what we’re about to share with you.
Your challenge is linkage. You don’t start each phase of your sales process with a clear picture in your mind of what the next step is going to be.
Perhaps you feel that your selling process should be different with each prospect or that if you had a template or a system you use with everyone, that would be insincere or it would somehow ring false when you put different people through that same process.
Let’s turn away from sales for a moment.
Let’s talk about brain surgery. Or dental work. Or flying an airplane. Or doing someone’s tax return.
These processes all have the following characteristics in common:
•They are executed by a professional
•He/she has had a good deal of training
•This professional has had plenty of opportunity to practice under the supervision of someone more knowledgeable and experienced
•This person is required to continue their professional learning throughout their career
•This person uses a clearly defined, proven, documented system for making incisions, using anesthetic, take offs and landings, or amortizing expenses
•Many of these processes are system-atized to the point of using simple checklists, logs, and computer programs to ensure the proper sequence and completeness of steps
•Any significant variation or omission in these procedures is at the risk of injury, death, lawsuit, bankruptcy, prison time, or all of the above
If that’s your situation – that once you’re with a prospect, you’re home free and you do really well from there on out in your sales process – then pay careful attention to what we’re about to share with you.
Your challenge is linkage. You don’t start each phase of your sales process with a clear picture in your mind of what the next step is going to be.
Perhaps you feel that your selling process should be different with each prospect or that if you had a template or a system you use with everyone, that would be insincere or it would somehow ring false when you put different people through that same process.
Let’s turn away from sales for a moment.
Let’s talk about brain surgery. Or dental work. Or flying an airplane. Or doing someone’s tax return.
These processes all have the following characteristics in common:
•They are executed by a professional
•He/she has had a good deal of training
•This professional has had plenty of opportunity to practice under the supervision of someone more knowledgeable and experienced
•This person is required to continue their professional learning throughout their career
•This person uses a clearly defined, proven, documented system for making incisions, using anesthetic, take offs and landings, or amortizing expenses
•Many of these processes are system-atized to the point of using simple checklists, logs, and computer programs to ensure the proper sequence and completeness of steps
•Any significant variation or omission in these procedures is at the risk of injury, death, lawsuit, bankruptcy, prison time, or all of the above
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Sell More Using Sales Psychology
True sales pros use psychology to sell more, the psychology of urgency, time, choice and stories. Let’s look at each.
The psychology of urgency
Another typical sales scenario involves the salesperson doing everything right – until after the first appointment. Then, suddenly, the emails stop, messages don’t get returned, and the lead runs cold, leaving you scratching your head wondering how that nice, friendly, responsive, involved prospect dropped off the face of the earth.
Does that ever happen to you?
What you’ve just experienced is a good sales process gone bad for the lack of a key ingredient: urgency.
As Stephen Covey says, there is a big difference between the “urgent” and the “important.”
In everyday business, the urgent category includes soothing angry clients, “putting out fires,” production stoppages, surprise inspections or audits by regulators, labor problems, media blowups, and things of that nature.
The important category includes things like making employees feel appreciated, upgrading to new office technology, listening to someone’s ideas, increasing your industry knowledge, developing good corporate citizenship (charitable, environmental, etc) and so on.
Guess which category is at the top of every executive’s agenda each morning when they walk in the door?
If you’ve positioned the product or service you’re selling as a “nice to have” instead of a “have to have,” – or even better a “have to have now” – your leads will run cold. Simply put, buying from you (even if it’s important) takes a backseat to the urgent matters of the day.
If you as a salesperson haven’t identified the pain, then you will get a less than urgent response. If you walk up to someone on the street and they have a nail sticking out of their knee- they would have a high sense of urgency to have the nail removed. This is the same with the prospect. When you can identify their “nail” they will want to move on it quickly.
The psychology of urgency
Another typical sales scenario involves the salesperson doing everything right – until after the first appointment. Then, suddenly, the emails stop, messages don’t get returned, and the lead runs cold, leaving you scratching your head wondering how that nice, friendly, responsive, involved prospect dropped off the face of the earth.
Does that ever happen to you?
What you’ve just experienced is a good sales process gone bad for the lack of a key ingredient: urgency.
As Stephen Covey says, there is a big difference between the “urgent” and the “important.”
In everyday business, the urgent category includes soothing angry clients, “putting out fires,” production stoppages, surprise inspections or audits by regulators, labor problems, media blowups, and things of that nature.
The important category includes things like making employees feel appreciated, upgrading to new office technology, listening to someone’s ideas, increasing your industry knowledge, developing good corporate citizenship (charitable, environmental, etc) and so on.
Guess which category is at the top of every executive’s agenda each morning when they walk in the door?
If you’ve positioned the product or service you’re selling as a “nice to have” instead of a “have to have,” – or even better a “have to have now” – your leads will run cold. Simply put, buying from you (even if it’s important) takes a backseat to the urgent matters of the day.
If you as a salesperson haven’t identified the pain, then you will get a less than urgent response. If you walk up to someone on the street and they have a nail sticking out of their knee- they would have a high sense of urgency to have the nail removed. This is the same with the prospect. When you can identify their “nail” they will want to move on it quickly.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Cheap Mortgage Leads Equal Bad Leads
"You get what you pay for," the saying goes, and that's the real problem in the mortgage industry. A lot of mortgage lead companies sell leads to other mortgage lead companies which results in recycling leads within the mortgage lead industry before it even gets to the average mortgage loan officer or broker. The aftermath is not pretty, 20-40 calls a day for the prospective borrower just within the first 4 days if the lead being generated.
Obviously this creates a headache for the potential borrower who is being bombarded with endless phone calls, and unnecessary competition for already frustrated loan officers.
The Solution:
* A. Real-Time Leads
* B. Exclusive Leads
* C. Timestamped Leads
* D. Origin-stamped Leads
A. Real-time Mortgage leads are received within seconds of the borrower completing a short online form. These are perfect leads since the prospect is usually able to be contacted within 2 minutes of them filling out the form. The prospect takes the time to fill out a form so are not cold calls nor recycled. Just Fresh Leads. Also the prospect loves the fact that a loan officer got back to them so fast.
B. Exclusive Leads are leads that not only are designated for you but cannot be resold as a semi-exclusive or non-exclusive lead. Make sure the lead company you deal with is a reputable company has timestamped and origin-stamped the lead.
C. Timestamped leads are the only leads that should be bought. If a lead is not timestamped then there is no proof of when the lead actually was submitted. This is the problem that allows crooked lead companies to sell you recycled leads and waste your hard earned money.
D. Origin-stamped leads are leads that are stamped with the website that originated the actual lead. You should look for lead companies that obtain their leads through websites they own and operate themselves. If they won't tell you their website or don't have them posted then it's time to look else where. Otherwise they are obtaining them from third party companies and recycling them.
Obviously this creates a headache for the potential borrower who is being bombarded with endless phone calls, and unnecessary competition for already frustrated loan officers.
The Solution:
* A. Real-Time Leads
* B. Exclusive Leads
* C. Timestamped Leads
* D. Origin-stamped Leads
A. Real-time Mortgage leads are received within seconds of the borrower completing a short online form. These are perfect leads since the prospect is usually able to be contacted within 2 minutes of them filling out the form. The prospect takes the time to fill out a form so are not cold calls nor recycled. Just Fresh Leads. Also the prospect loves the fact that a loan officer got back to them so fast.
B. Exclusive Leads are leads that not only are designated for you but cannot be resold as a semi-exclusive or non-exclusive lead. Make sure the lead company you deal with is a reputable company has timestamped and origin-stamped the lead.
C. Timestamped leads are the only leads that should be bought. If a lead is not timestamped then there is no proof of when the lead actually was submitted. This is the problem that allows crooked lead companies to sell you recycled leads and waste your hard earned money.
D. Origin-stamped leads are leads that are stamped with the website that originated the actual lead. You should look for lead companies that obtain their leads through websites they own and operate themselves. If they won't tell you their website or don't have them posted then it's time to look else where. Otherwise they are obtaining them from third party companies and recycling them.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
How To Deliver A Professional Sales Presentation
All professional salespeople have to be involved in a presentation at some time in their sales career and Top 5 % players present their proposals every time.
Presentations allow us to : -
• Influence a group of important people.
• Gain consensus and commitment.
• Find out who the real players are and the real status.
• Set ground rules for a major sale.
• Make a lasting impression of professionalism.
When it comes to the enthusiasm that sales professionals have for making a presentation, they broadly fall into four categories, (as I highlighted in a previous article - :”When It Comes To Making Presentations, The Very Best Salespeople Are Seekers”)
The Avoider:
An Avoider does everything possible to escape from having to stand in front of an audience; in some drastic cases salespeople may seek positions that do not involve making presentations.
The Register:
A Register is also extremely hesitant of speaking in public, however Registers may not be able to avoid speaking as part of their job but they never encourage it. When they do speak they do so very reluctantly.
The Acceptor:
The Acceptor will give presentations as part of their job but does not seek opportunities to do so. Acceptors occasionally give a presentation and feel they did a good job. They even find that once in a while they are quite persuasive and enjoy the experience.
Presentations allow us to : -
• Influence a group of important people.
• Gain consensus and commitment.
• Find out who the real players are and the real status.
• Set ground rules for a major sale.
• Make a lasting impression of professionalism.
When it comes to the enthusiasm that sales professionals have for making a presentation, they broadly fall into four categories, (as I highlighted in a previous article - :”When It Comes To Making Presentations, The Very Best Salespeople Are Seekers”)
The Avoider:
An Avoider does everything possible to escape from having to stand in front of an audience; in some drastic cases salespeople may seek positions that do not involve making presentations.
The Register:
A Register is also extremely hesitant of speaking in public, however Registers may not be able to avoid speaking as part of their job but they never encourage it. When they do speak they do so very reluctantly.
The Acceptor:
The Acceptor will give presentations as part of their job but does not seek opportunities to do so. Acceptors occasionally give a presentation and feel they did a good job. They even find that once in a while they are quite persuasive and enjoy the experience.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Real Time Hot Mortgage Leads
The fresher te lead, the better the quality, so it makes sense that Real-Time mortgage leads are the hottest they come. Think about it, mortgage borrowers looking to refinance or do some home improvements find a broker that is looking to give them a great rate, perfect match?
Of course it's a perfect match. The truth is that if a lead is not real-time then it might as well be a dead lead. Even a one day olf lead is useless if the potential borrower has already found a mortgage company while your 1 day old leads was making it's rounds through the different lead companies, and then getting to you. How many hands touched that lead being delivered in the next day's bulk lead email? There is no way of telling unless, one it is timestamped and origin-stamped.
Why Real-Time? Borrowers want to get info now! They want to be impressed when you call them within 2 minutes of them filling out the online application. What that says is yeah this loan officer and mortgage company has their heads on straight and can quickly take care of my needs. Usually a prospect starts working with th first person to contact them.
Real-Time Exclusive Mortgage Leads are the answers to your prayers. Real-Time leads need to be generated from a source which you can trust and actually visit yourself. You should be able to tell exactly what website generated the lead, and exactly what time. Real Time Leads should not be from some unknown 3rd party company your lead company buys leads from, and resells to you for a profit.
Of course it's a perfect match. The truth is that if a lead is not real-time then it might as well be a dead lead. Even a one day olf lead is useless if the potential borrower has already found a mortgage company while your 1 day old leads was making it's rounds through the different lead companies, and then getting to you. How many hands touched that lead being delivered in the next day's bulk lead email? There is no way of telling unless, one it is timestamped and origin-stamped.
Why Real-Time? Borrowers want to get info now! They want to be impressed when you call them within 2 minutes of them filling out the online application. What that says is yeah this loan officer and mortgage company has their heads on straight and can quickly take care of my needs. Usually a prospect starts working with th first person to contact them.
Real-Time Exclusive Mortgage Leads are the answers to your prayers. Real-Time leads need to be generated from a source which you can trust and actually visit yourself. You should be able to tell exactly what website generated the lead, and exactly what time. Real Time Leads should not be from some unknown 3rd party company your lead company buys leads from, and resells to you for a profit.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
How to Close More Consulting Business With Less Effort
Far too many consultants spin their wheels chasing leads that just won't pick up the phone or return calls. In the beginning of your interaction it seemed the prospect was initially 'hot' for your services. You sent literature, did your song and dance… and now nothing. The prospect has turned cold to all attempts to further the sales process.
Why?
They suffer from a serious case of salespressuritis: a fear of being sold.
The cure for this ailment is a simple one. Avoid "selling" in the first place. I don’t mean stop all interactions. I mean toss out the gimmicky, 1980s talk-your-head-off, push-for-a-close techniques the 'gurus' of the past preached. Sales gimmicks DON’T WORK in consulting situations!
Today's market is too sophisticated. Hard selling especially doesn't work with big ticket items, the type of selling you are faced with as a consultant.
What does work? Talk less and listen more.
Let me explain. Some time after 1992 I came across a small case of booklets labeled, Xerox’s Professional Selling Skills System III. It was unlike any sales system I had ever seen before. It did not rely on talking, but relied on asking questions and determining expressed needs. I had no clue if it would work or not. I reserved judgment. So like Mikey, I tried it.
The results? My sales doubled and my confidence quadrupled.
Here's an overview of the Xerox selling system:
1. Uncover an expressed need or desire for the benefits you provide. If your prospective won't acknowledge a need, then they won't buy from you. The chance of a successful outcome are next to none. You actively listen to recognize the difference between a complaint that they don't like their current situation and an expressed need for a change. Have you ever met someone who complains about their lot in life to anyone who will listen, but refuses all attempts or suggestions for help? Your prospect may be the same way. If they don’t acknowledge wanting a change in their situation you might as well forget about trying to sell to them.
2. Memorize a number of Probes for different situations and attitudes (see #5 below).
3. Actively listen and verbally SUPPORT positive remarks about your services.
4. Follow a specific structure for CLOSING (this is bad because you are focused on what you want—a sale—instead of focusing on honest and open communication.
5. Listen for attitudes of indifference, acceptance, skepticism, outright objections, and stalling... and then use specific techniques for dealing with each attitude type differently.
Though effective, the Xerox system is a tedious process. And even worse, it often causes objections where there weren’t any before. How? By focusing on yourself in the beginning of the call, and encouraging you to work towards a close. Even if you don’t articulate a desire to close your prospective client, your prospective client will pick up on it in your attitude and efforts to move them along. Not good.
That’s why I started looking for something that’s just as effective but less mentally taxing -- for me and the client. Did I find something? Yes. But it’s not a single selling system, it’s a combination of two. SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham (available through Amazon) merged with Reverse Selling by Ari Galper (www.unlockthegame.com).
SPIN Selling makes the process of needs-based selling much easier to use because there are only four elements to focus on: situation, problem, implication, needs.
Since it’s such a simple selling model and all of my client interactions are by phone, I've broken the SPIN Selling process down into individual tabs in Microsoft One Note. One tab for each of the SPIN elements. I also have tabs for common concerns and I a tab for how to initiate follow up calls.
For each of the areas of the SPIN process I focus on the needs of the prospect, not lame sales closing gimmicks. Fortunately I learned early what works in the real world of selling is asking questions -- and listening. Not pushing people to do stuff they don't want to do.
The SPIN Selling method has holes that Ari's Reverse Selling method plugs. The underlying focus of Spin Selling is closing. That mentality is a disaster for consultative selling. Reverse Selling focuses attention on determining if you and the client are a true match. The focus is NOT closing. It's helping people.
That's why I use the Spin Selling only for its structure. But I recommend using Reverse Selling mindset of being truly accommodating and concerned about the client's needs and objectives, instead of SPIN Selling's view of working towards a close by "Sharpening Your Skills" (chapter 12 of SPIN Selling Fieldbook). Preparing a bunch of features and benefits in advance and then 'vomiting' that noise onto a client is the cause of skepticism and objections.
Why?
They suffer from a serious case of salespressuritis: a fear of being sold.
The cure for this ailment is a simple one. Avoid "selling" in the first place. I don’t mean stop all interactions. I mean toss out the gimmicky, 1980s talk-your-head-off, push-for-a-close techniques the 'gurus' of the past preached. Sales gimmicks DON’T WORK in consulting situations!
Today's market is too sophisticated. Hard selling especially doesn't work with big ticket items, the type of selling you are faced with as a consultant.
What does work? Talk less and listen more.
Let me explain. Some time after 1992 I came across a small case of booklets labeled, Xerox’s Professional Selling Skills System III. It was unlike any sales system I had ever seen before. It did not rely on talking, but relied on asking questions and determining expressed needs. I had no clue if it would work or not. I reserved judgment. So like Mikey, I tried it.
The results? My sales doubled and my confidence quadrupled.
Here's an overview of the Xerox selling system:
1. Uncover an expressed need or desire for the benefits you provide. If your prospective won't acknowledge a need, then they won't buy from you. The chance of a successful outcome are next to none. You actively listen to recognize the difference between a complaint that they don't like their current situation and an expressed need for a change. Have you ever met someone who complains about their lot in life to anyone who will listen, but refuses all attempts or suggestions for help? Your prospect may be the same way. If they don’t acknowledge wanting a change in their situation you might as well forget about trying to sell to them.
2. Memorize a number of Probes for different situations and attitudes (see #5 below).
3. Actively listen and verbally SUPPORT positive remarks about your services.
4. Follow a specific structure for CLOSING (this is bad because you are focused on what you want—a sale—instead of focusing on honest and open communication.
5. Listen for attitudes of indifference, acceptance, skepticism, outright objections, and stalling... and then use specific techniques for dealing with each attitude type differently.
Though effective, the Xerox system is a tedious process. And even worse, it often causes objections where there weren’t any before. How? By focusing on yourself in the beginning of the call, and encouraging you to work towards a close. Even if you don’t articulate a desire to close your prospective client, your prospective client will pick up on it in your attitude and efforts to move them along. Not good.
That’s why I started looking for something that’s just as effective but less mentally taxing -- for me and the client. Did I find something? Yes. But it’s not a single selling system, it’s a combination of two. SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham (available through Amazon) merged with Reverse Selling by Ari Galper (www.unlockthegame.com).
SPIN Selling makes the process of needs-based selling much easier to use because there are only four elements to focus on: situation, problem, implication, needs.
Since it’s such a simple selling model and all of my client interactions are by phone, I've broken the SPIN Selling process down into individual tabs in Microsoft One Note. One tab for each of the SPIN elements. I also have tabs for common concerns and I a tab for how to initiate follow up calls.
For each of the areas of the SPIN process I focus on the needs of the prospect, not lame sales closing gimmicks. Fortunately I learned early what works in the real world of selling is asking questions -- and listening. Not pushing people to do stuff they don't want to do.
The SPIN Selling method has holes that Ari's Reverse Selling method plugs. The underlying focus of Spin Selling is closing. That mentality is a disaster for consultative selling. Reverse Selling focuses attention on determining if you and the client are a true match. The focus is NOT closing. It's helping people.
That's why I use the Spin Selling only for its structure. But I recommend using Reverse Selling mindset of being truly accommodating and concerned about the client's needs and objectives, instead of SPIN Selling's view of working towards a close by "Sharpening Your Skills" (chapter 12 of SPIN Selling Fieldbook). Preparing a bunch of features and benefits in advance and then 'vomiting' that noise onto a client is the cause of skepticism and objections.
Monday, December 18, 2006
The Three Reasons Your Sales Stink
Is your organization currently meeting its sales goals?
Besides your market's leaders, who continually meet and surpass their sales goals, a good majority of those in your industry are failing to meet their productivity, sales and revenue expectations.
Although they give many excuses for this (the economy, too much competition, seasonal business, the sun and the moon aren't in alignment, etc.), there really are only three reasons for poor sales. Here they are:
1. No Demand for Your Product or Service
The first reason is nobody wants your product or service. This is rarely the case.
There is a simple test to figure out if this is the reason for your stagnant sales.
- Have you been able to sell your product or service in the past?
- Is another salesperson successful in selling your product or service?
- Is another organization successful in selling your product or service?
If the answer to any of these questions was "yes," there is a market for your goods. Therefore, it must be one of the other two reasons.
2. Ineffective Marketing and Advertising
The second reason for poor sales is your ads and marketing are ineffective. The goal of your advertising is to get your phone to ring, hits on your website or walk-in customers.
The only way you'll accomplish this goal is to distinguish your organization as the one to do business with in your industry. By tracking and measuring all of your ads, you should know which ones are working and which ones you should modify or cancel immediately.
3. Your Salespeople Don't Fit their Jobs
The third and most common reason for poor sales is the 80/20 Dilemma. Unlike your Market's Leaders, you haven't beaten the 80/20 Dilemma; where 80 percent of your sales come from just 20 percent of your salespeople. The dilemma robs your managers of their time and energy and is the most costly issue in sales.
To improve your sales, your number one goal this year is to beat the 80/20 Dilemma. Let me reword that: Not only beat it, but conquer it.
To do so, you must first understand why it has seized your sales force. Here's the hones truth: You simply have hired the wrong people to sell your product or service. Perhaps not all of them, but 80 percent of them.
A recent study of salespeople found that half of the people in sales should have never been hired in the first place. I'm sure you'd agree that the sales profession requires natural qualities that not everybody has.
Of the remaining 50 percent, only half of them will achieve their potential. There are two reasons for this. One, they are trying to sell the wrong product or service. Two, their skills are never properly developed.
That leaves the 20 to 30 percent who are in jobs they fit. They are the people who sell 80 percent of your products and services.
Besides your market's leaders, who continually meet and surpass their sales goals, a good majority of those in your industry are failing to meet their productivity, sales and revenue expectations.
Although they give many excuses for this (the economy, too much competition, seasonal business, the sun and the moon aren't in alignment, etc.), there really are only three reasons for poor sales. Here they are:
1. No Demand for Your Product or Service
The first reason is nobody wants your product or service. This is rarely the case.
There is a simple test to figure out if this is the reason for your stagnant sales.
- Have you been able to sell your product or service in the past?
- Is another salesperson successful in selling your product or service?
- Is another organization successful in selling your product or service?
If the answer to any of these questions was "yes," there is a market for your goods. Therefore, it must be one of the other two reasons.
2. Ineffective Marketing and Advertising
The second reason for poor sales is your ads and marketing are ineffective. The goal of your advertising is to get your phone to ring, hits on your website or walk-in customers.
The only way you'll accomplish this goal is to distinguish your organization as the one to do business with in your industry. By tracking and measuring all of your ads, you should know which ones are working and which ones you should modify or cancel immediately.
3. Your Salespeople Don't Fit their Jobs
The third and most common reason for poor sales is the 80/20 Dilemma. Unlike your Market's Leaders, you haven't beaten the 80/20 Dilemma; where 80 percent of your sales come from just 20 percent of your salespeople. The dilemma robs your managers of their time and energy and is the most costly issue in sales.
To improve your sales, your number one goal this year is to beat the 80/20 Dilemma. Let me reword that: Not only beat it, but conquer it.
To do so, you must first understand why it has seized your sales force. Here's the hones truth: You simply have hired the wrong people to sell your product or service. Perhaps not all of them, but 80 percent of them.
A recent study of salespeople found that half of the people in sales should have never been hired in the first place. I'm sure you'd agree that the sales profession requires natural qualities that not everybody has.
Of the remaining 50 percent, only half of them will achieve their potential. There are two reasons for this. One, they are trying to sell the wrong product or service. Two, their skills are never properly developed.
That leaves the 20 to 30 percent who are in jobs they fit. They are the people who sell 80 percent of your products and services.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Why the Bottom Line Isn't
Recently, I've been coaching a number of clients who work in highly competitive industries. It's not uncommon for these clients to have upwards of 30 direct competitors apiece - and that's just in the same town!
One subject that has been coming up a lot lately is what to do when the competition keeps dropping their prices. If you and your competitor sell the exact same product, this can be an extremely difficult situation. Regardless of how many times you remind them that "you get what you pay for," customers do tend to put the pressure on when they think they can get the same thing for less with someone else.
To counter this objection effectively, you must first believe that you are adding extra value for your customers, or providing a better service or product than your price-dropping competitors. If you aren't truly convinced that what you have to offer is better - in other words, if you can't justify a higher price to yourself - then you'll never be able to justify it to your customers.
Get the bad news out of the way first If your competitors always lower their prices, often the best thing you can do is bring it up early in the buying cycle with your prospects.
Yes - I'm suggesting you tell your customers that they can find what you're selling cheaper somewhere else. The key is in what you say, and how you say it.
For example, I usually say something like:
"Ms. X, I want you to know right up front that you will always be able to find a product similar to ours for less. While we are always competitive, we are not always the lowest price, and we are not always the most expensive. Knowing that we are not always the cheapest, does it make sense for us to move forward?" The answer you get will determine whether the customer is looking for value, or just looking for the lowest price.
The choice is yours
With the exception of Wal-Mart, no one wants to look cheap. As a result, the vast majority of clients will tell you that they're not interested in buying just the cheapest product or service.
In these cases, your response is simple: "Thanks for letting me know that. How will you be making your decision?" This takes you past discussing price, and onto a discussion of their true requirements.
But this approach is also highly effective even for those few people who will look you in the eye and say that if you aren't the cheapest, they don't want to do business with you.
Why?
Because it puts you in control. When someone tells you they only want to deal with you if you're the cheapest option, it gives you a choice. You can stay and play the discount game if there are good strategic reasons to do so. Or you can choose to walk away, and let your competitors lose money serving this prospect.
One subject that has been coming up a lot lately is what to do when the competition keeps dropping their prices. If you and your competitor sell the exact same product, this can be an extremely difficult situation. Regardless of how many times you remind them that "you get what you pay for," customers do tend to put the pressure on when they think they can get the same thing for less with someone else.
To counter this objection effectively, you must first believe that you are adding extra value for your customers, or providing a better service or product than your price-dropping competitors. If you aren't truly convinced that what you have to offer is better - in other words, if you can't justify a higher price to yourself - then you'll never be able to justify it to your customers.
Get the bad news out of the way first If your competitors always lower their prices, often the best thing you can do is bring it up early in the buying cycle with your prospects.
Yes - I'm suggesting you tell your customers that they can find what you're selling cheaper somewhere else. The key is in what you say, and how you say it.
For example, I usually say something like:
"Ms. X, I want you to know right up front that you will always be able to find a product similar to ours for less. While we are always competitive, we are not always the lowest price, and we are not always the most expensive. Knowing that we are not always the cheapest, does it make sense for us to move forward?" The answer you get will determine whether the customer is looking for value, or just looking for the lowest price.
The choice is yours
With the exception of Wal-Mart, no one wants to look cheap. As a result, the vast majority of clients will tell you that they're not interested in buying just the cheapest product or service.
In these cases, your response is simple: "Thanks for letting me know that. How will you be making your decision?" This takes you past discussing price, and onto a discussion of their true requirements.
But this approach is also highly effective even for those few people who will look you in the eye and say that if you aren't the cheapest, they don't want to do business with you.
Why?
Because it puts you in control. When someone tells you they only want to deal with you if you're the cheapest option, it gives you a choice. You can stay and play the discount game if there are good strategic reasons to do so. Or you can choose to walk away, and let your competitors lose money serving this prospect.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
9 Steps to Building a Profitable Customer Relationship
Success in sales depends directly on your ability to make yourself likeable, and create a positive experience for your customers. The following 9 Tips are some of the best - and easiest - ways I know to help you create a more positive customer experience:
1. Love what you sell, the company you work for and the customers you serve.
If you are truly passionate about these three things, your willingness to help your customers solve their problems will shine through. Customers will believe your sincerity and be captivated by your excitement. In short - you will be fun to work with. Our studies show that customers prefer to buy from sales people who overtly show that they believe in the products they sell, and the companies they work for. Choose to be honest, open and empathetic to your customers' needs, and you will experience consistent sales growth, build an excellent reputation and become one of the top performers in your field.
2. Be empathetic and compassionate.
Truly care about your customers, and remember that no matter how good an actor you are, faking it simply won't work. Ask questions, take notes and lean in to show that you're engaged in their answers. When you take an interest in people, they remember you - and when people remember you, it's good for business.
3. Add value and give first.
Share your network of contacts with your customers, and don't expect them to give you their business without you giving them something first. I don't mean give away free product in the hopes they will buy more. Instead, give away things that increase your value - like a referral to a partner of yours, a solution to a business problem that you read about or heard from someone else, or even help finding a new dentist!
4. Make eye contact.
This is especially important when you walk into a room full of people. Eye contact is also essential after we get to know people, because it cements our existing relationships and lets them know that we're still interested in their well being. Very few sales people ever look their prospects directly in the eye. By simply smiling and making eye contact, you'll be surprised how much you will set yourself apart.
5. Express your true intent.
Tell customers upfront: "I don't know if there's a fit between what you need and what I have right now, but I'm hoping we can explore that in more detail during this meeting." Or: "I only have your best interests at heart, and I promise to be honest with you throughout our conversation. In the end, I hope that we can mutually decide if there is a reason to move forward. If not, that's fine too, and I hope you'll feel comfortable telling me so." This advice runs counter to 90% of the approaches I see being used in the field today. But then again, maybe that's why only 10% of sales people are top performers. Try it yourself a few times, and you'll be amazed at the response you get.
6. Don't go for the big decision all at once.
In our personal lives, we don't propose to someone on a first date (at least, not usually!). The same is true in our business relationships. So get approval from the customer to move ahead in increasing increments. The first approval might be just to agree to speak openly with each other, as outlined in Tip #5 above. The second could be an agreement on a follow-up call time or meeting date. The third might be gaining agreement on the decision making criteria or a commitment to have the "big boss" present at the demo, followed by an agreement to a "go/no go" decision date. All too often, I see sales people jumping way ahead of their prospect's buying curve. This puts the buyer and seller out of sync. When the sales person is trying to close while the prospect is still evaluating options or determining risk, trust is broken, the prospect feels pushed and the sale comes dangerously close to disappearing.
1. Love what you sell, the company you work for and the customers you serve.
If you are truly passionate about these three things, your willingness to help your customers solve their problems will shine through. Customers will believe your sincerity and be captivated by your excitement. In short - you will be fun to work with. Our studies show that customers prefer to buy from sales people who overtly show that they believe in the products they sell, and the companies they work for. Choose to be honest, open and empathetic to your customers' needs, and you will experience consistent sales growth, build an excellent reputation and become one of the top performers in your field.
2. Be empathetic and compassionate.
Truly care about your customers, and remember that no matter how good an actor you are, faking it simply won't work. Ask questions, take notes and lean in to show that you're engaged in their answers. When you take an interest in people, they remember you - and when people remember you, it's good for business.
3. Add value and give first.
Share your network of contacts with your customers, and don't expect them to give you their business without you giving them something first. I don't mean give away free product in the hopes they will buy more. Instead, give away things that increase your value - like a referral to a partner of yours, a solution to a business problem that you read about or heard from someone else, or even help finding a new dentist!
4. Make eye contact.
This is especially important when you walk into a room full of people. Eye contact is also essential after we get to know people, because it cements our existing relationships and lets them know that we're still interested in their well being. Very few sales people ever look their prospects directly in the eye. By simply smiling and making eye contact, you'll be surprised how much you will set yourself apart.
5. Express your true intent.
Tell customers upfront: "I don't know if there's a fit between what you need and what I have right now, but I'm hoping we can explore that in more detail during this meeting." Or: "I only have your best interests at heart, and I promise to be honest with you throughout our conversation. In the end, I hope that we can mutually decide if there is a reason to move forward. If not, that's fine too, and I hope you'll feel comfortable telling me so." This advice runs counter to 90% of the approaches I see being used in the field today. But then again, maybe that's why only 10% of sales people are top performers. Try it yourself a few times, and you'll be amazed at the response you get.
6. Don't go for the big decision all at once.
In our personal lives, we don't propose to someone on a first date (at least, not usually!). The same is true in our business relationships. So get approval from the customer to move ahead in increasing increments. The first approval might be just to agree to speak openly with each other, as outlined in Tip #5 above. The second could be an agreement on a follow-up call time or meeting date. The third might be gaining agreement on the decision making criteria or a commitment to have the "big boss" present at the demo, followed by an agreement to a "go/no go" decision date. All too often, I see sales people jumping way ahead of their prospect's buying curve. This puts the buyer and seller out of sync. When the sales person is trying to close while the prospect is still evaluating options or determining risk, trust is broken, the prospect feels pushed and the sale comes dangerously close to disappearing.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Check Your Attitude - You Cannot Sell Ice To An Eskimo
Can you sell ice to an Eskimo? What about ice cream to an Eskimo? How about ice cubes?
If you said yes to the above questions, then congratulations, you suck as a salesperson!
Of course, nobody sells ice to an Eskimo. That is just a metaphor. But some salespeople love to boast that they can. It is my belief that those salespeople that claim to be able to sell ice to an Eskimo are actually bad salespeople. It is this cocky attitude that represents everything bad about the sales profession. When you say you can sell ice to an Eskimo, you are basically saying that you will sell anything to anybody, no matter if they actually need what you are selling or not. An Eskimo does not need ice.
Think about the image of the slimy used car salesman. People hate this person and everything he represents. He is out to make a buck at the expense of anybody he can swindle. He doesn’t care if he sells you a lemon as long as he gets paid his commission. It is cocky people like this that give sales professionals a bad image.
So, would you still want to sell ice to an Eskimo? If you sell something that doesn't actually need your product, your client will eventually come to terms with this fact and will probably end up telling others. You will eventually get a bad reputation and lose future customers. You can forget about getting future business referrals as well. People will generally dislike you.
If you said yes to the above questions, then congratulations, you suck as a salesperson!
Of course, nobody sells ice to an Eskimo. That is just a metaphor. But some salespeople love to boast that they can. It is my belief that those salespeople that claim to be able to sell ice to an Eskimo are actually bad salespeople. It is this cocky attitude that represents everything bad about the sales profession. When you say you can sell ice to an Eskimo, you are basically saying that you will sell anything to anybody, no matter if they actually need what you are selling or not. An Eskimo does not need ice.
Think about the image of the slimy used car salesman. People hate this person and everything he represents. He is out to make a buck at the expense of anybody he can swindle. He doesn’t care if he sells you a lemon as long as he gets paid his commission. It is cocky people like this that give sales professionals a bad image.
So, would you still want to sell ice to an Eskimo? If you sell something that doesn't actually need your product, your client will eventually come to terms with this fact and will probably end up telling others. You will eventually get a bad reputation and lose future customers. You can forget about getting future business referrals as well. People will generally dislike you.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
What If
What if this year;
You made one more prospect phone call every day?
You asked every prospect and client for a referral?
You eliminated one destructive sales habit?
You increased your market awareness with better networking skills?
You attended a sales seminar or sales boot camp that your company didn’t pay for?
You stopped accepting prospect’s excuses?
You became the most knowledgeable person in your industry?
These questions are endless and I won’t give you more to think about than you have time for today or even this week.
But I will share with you a simple truth – if you want to sell more every year you have to get better every year.
Let me get to the heart of the matter. If you have been receiving my tips for more than a few months you know that I have spent little time promoting my books, CD’s and boot camps. If you enjoy my tips and benefit from just a few hundred words once a week I would ask you – have you yet purchased one of my over 100 books, manuals or CD’s?
If yes, I hope you have enjoyed them and benefited from them. If not, why haven’t you? Is it the money? Remember the cost of not learning is far higher than the investment in learning. Is it the lack of time? Or some other reason or excuse?
Let me repeat at the sake of sounding redundant. If you want to sell MORE every year you MUST get better every year.
So let me ask you;
What is on your agenda this year to improve your skills?
What is your budget this year for improving your abilities?
What time have you allocated to learning and improving?
What career development organizations are you going to join this year?
What books are you going to read this year?
Let me leave you with some of the statistics and concepts that have driven my personal development philosophy for over forty years.
- Less than ten percent of the population gets what they want from life.
- Less than five percent of the population routinely invests in the improvement and
development of their skills and attitudes.
You made one more prospect phone call every day?
You asked every prospect and client for a referral?
You eliminated one destructive sales habit?
You increased your market awareness with better networking skills?
You attended a sales seminar or sales boot camp that your company didn’t pay for?
You stopped accepting prospect’s excuses?
You became the most knowledgeable person in your industry?
These questions are endless and I won’t give you more to think about than you have time for today or even this week.
But I will share with you a simple truth – if you want to sell more every year you have to get better every year.
Let me get to the heart of the matter. If you have been receiving my tips for more than a few months you know that I have spent little time promoting my books, CD’s and boot camps. If you enjoy my tips and benefit from just a few hundred words once a week I would ask you – have you yet purchased one of my over 100 books, manuals or CD’s?
If yes, I hope you have enjoyed them and benefited from them. If not, why haven’t you? Is it the money? Remember the cost of not learning is far higher than the investment in learning. Is it the lack of time? Or some other reason or excuse?
Let me repeat at the sake of sounding redundant. If you want to sell MORE every year you MUST get better every year.
So let me ask you;
What is on your agenda this year to improve your skills?
What is your budget this year for improving your abilities?
What time have you allocated to learning and improving?
What career development organizations are you going to join this year?
What books are you going to read this year?
Let me leave you with some of the statistics and concepts that have driven my personal development philosophy for over forty years.
- Less than ten percent of the population gets what they want from life.
- Less than five percent of the population routinely invests in the improvement and
development of their skills and attitudes.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
2007 Salesmanship Tips - Selling and Negotiating with Integrity
Perhaps you are already in a sales job or had been a sales profession for a while and you have read various books on the subject and you have decided to maintain and continue your sales profession ongoing education by also reading this book. This is a very smart habit for salespeople because it keeps them motivated and at the top of their game. But what he is a salesperson? In this book we will discuss selling with integrity and positioning yourself as a; Consultant, Problem Solver and Expert.
In my career I started out as a very small business and grew the business very large into a franchising company servicing 450 cities and 110 markets with franchisees in 23 states and four countries. In franchising there is a lot of sales going on for instance you have to sell the franchise and put the franchised outlet into the marketplace and then help the franchisee with their sales and train them to be effective. Also many franchise companies like ours had national accounts and those two needed to be sold. After all if the franchisees did not make money they would not be able to pay us the royalties.
As we set out to sell our franchises we realized that we had to sell only to qualified prospects who we believed could carry our brand name without tarnishing our stellar reputation. We also quickly realize that when we sold national accounts those companies were interested in saving money and would only hire our services if we could save them money and of course we could not take the accounts unless we could make money doing it. You can see quite quickly how selling with integrity and positioning yourself as a consultant, problem solver and expert was paramount to our success as a franchising company.
In my career I started out as a very small business and grew the business very large into a franchising company servicing 450 cities and 110 markets with franchisees in 23 states and four countries. In franchising there is a lot of sales going on for instance you have to sell the franchise and put the franchised outlet into the marketplace and then help the franchisee with their sales and train them to be effective. Also many franchise companies like ours had national accounts and those two needed to be sold. After all if the franchisees did not make money they would not be able to pay us the royalties.
As we set out to sell our franchises we realized that we had to sell only to qualified prospects who we believed could carry our brand name without tarnishing our stellar reputation. We also quickly realize that when we sold national accounts those companies were interested in saving money and would only hire our services if we could save them money and of course we could not take the accounts unless we could make money doing it. You can see quite quickly how selling with integrity and positioning yourself as a consultant, problem solver and expert was paramount to our success as a franchising company.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Don't Lose Control Of Your Sales Cycles
One of the biggest mistakes poor salespeople make is they lose control of the sales process. There are many ways they accomplish this feat, here are a few for your consideration:
1-They quote price just because the prospect has asked (before they have had a chance to build value.
2- They don’t ask enough questions early in the sales process, they just ramble on.
3- They send out literature when asked, without first qualifying the prospect.
4- They deliver proposals to the prospects door and wait for their answer, to buy or not to buy, that is the question.
5- They fail to set appointments that are convenient to them and always bow to the customer.
6- They lug equipment to demonstrate in the prospect’s office rather than getting the prospect to visit their office.
7- They don’t get deposits and hope the prospect will pay someday.
8- They leave –will calls- when telephoning a prospect.
I could go on but I am sure you get my drift.
Control is one of the key elements for success in sales. Successful salespeople understand that control is not manipulation but is in the ultimate best interests of the prospect or client.
I will bet you have a prospect right now as you are reading this where you have lost control. You are waiting for them to respond to your offer, appeal or whatever. I know because I teach this stuff and I am guilty from time to time of making the same mistake. How do you get and keep control? It is simple but not easy.
The best time to get control of the sales process with a new prospect is in the early stages of the relationship. It is very difficult, if not impossible to get it back later if you didn’t get it early. One of the best strategies is to get information before you give it. Questions always come before your presentation, pricing, literature etc.
1-They quote price just because the prospect has asked (before they have had a chance to build value.
2- They don’t ask enough questions early in the sales process, they just ramble on.
3- They send out literature when asked, without first qualifying the prospect.
4- They deliver proposals to the prospects door and wait for their answer, to buy or not to buy, that is the question.
5- They fail to set appointments that are convenient to them and always bow to the customer.
6- They lug equipment to demonstrate in the prospect’s office rather than getting the prospect to visit their office.
7- They don’t get deposits and hope the prospect will pay someday.
8- They leave –will calls- when telephoning a prospect.
I could go on but I am sure you get my drift.
Control is one of the key elements for success in sales. Successful salespeople understand that control is not manipulation but is in the ultimate best interests of the prospect or client.
I will bet you have a prospect right now as you are reading this where you have lost control. You are waiting for them to respond to your offer, appeal or whatever. I know because I teach this stuff and I am guilty from time to time of making the same mistake. How do you get and keep control? It is simple but not easy.
The best time to get control of the sales process with a new prospect is in the early stages of the relationship. It is very difficult, if not impossible to get it back later if you didn’t get it early. One of the best strategies is to get information before you give it. Questions always come before your presentation, pricing, literature etc.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Don't Overcome Objections - Sell Value
Sales resistance is a function of several things in the sales process. Some of them are:
1. Poor prospect qualification.
2. Poor timing.
3. Hidden agendas on the part of the prospect.
4. Lack of trust.
5. Lack of respect.
6. Lack of understanding by the prospect in some aspect of
your sales message.
7. Lack of acceptance of your sales message.
When a prospect gives you sales objections or sales resistance one of the above issues is usually the case. However, they might not tell you their real reason. There is what I call in the sales process a truth line. Prospects often tell you what is above the line hiding the real truth below the line. For example. The prospect says, the price is too high.” What else could they really be saying? What is below the truth line. “I don’t have the money or credit. You haven’t convinced me it is worth the price you are asking (perceived value). I don’t have the authority to make a decision , but I don’t want to admit that. So you see there is more to sales resistance than meets the eye. One technique I have used when I get sales resistance is to ask the prospect a question when I get any type of objection. “In addition to that is there anything else that would get in the way of our doing business together.”
The rationale for this question is: I am accepting their objection as real for them. I am not challenging it. But, I am asking what else is there? If there is nothing else they will either admit that there isn’t or make one up. In either case I am further below the truth line. If they admit there isn’t I am now closer to closing the sale presuming I can effectively deal with this issue.
The key to disarming sales resistance is to identify early in the process what the potential areas of concern are and then weaving the answers into the sales process.
You can effectively answer sales objections all day long and still not close the sale if you are not dealing with the real issues.
Why people challenge price.
Prospects, customers want several things from their suppliers. Fair price, quality products and services and timely service. (not in order of their preference) Surveys that have been done of consumers say that most consumers want: Timely and responsive service first, quality products and services second and low price third. For over 20 years I have surveyed my sales audiences and asked them what they think is most important to consumers and the results have been consistent: Low price, quality and service last. We seem to have a difference in perception here.
There are three elements that must be understood by salespeople if they are going to effectively deal with the price issue. First there is price. That is what people pay for what they buy. Second is cost. That is what they pay for what they buy, over time. And then there is perceived value. That is what they want for the money they pay.
Most consumers tell salespeople that what they want is low price when what they really want is low cost. Now I know that many of you will take issue with this statement but I only ask that you consider for a moment what you as a consumer want. Do you want the cheapest or that which solves your problem or answers your need or desire?
Most prospects or customers want their problems solved. They know that you get what you pay for and that the distaste of poor quality lasts far longer than the sweetness of low price.
People object to price when they feel that what you are asking them to pay is higher than their perceived value. Most poor salespeople when they get price resistance, lower the price. Most of the time it is not a price or cost issue but one of too low perceived value. How do you raise perceived value? Find out what is preventing your prospect or customer from getting a good nights sleep and show them how your product or service will satisfy this need or want or even better exceed their expectations for value, and I guarantee you price will be secondary. Not, cost, but price.
1. Poor prospect qualification.
2. Poor timing.
3. Hidden agendas on the part of the prospect.
4. Lack of trust.
5. Lack of respect.
6. Lack of understanding by the prospect in some aspect of
your sales message.
7. Lack of acceptance of your sales message.
When a prospect gives you sales objections or sales resistance one of the above issues is usually the case. However, they might not tell you their real reason. There is what I call in the sales process a truth line. Prospects often tell you what is above the line hiding the real truth below the line. For example. The prospect says, the price is too high.” What else could they really be saying? What is below the truth line. “I don’t have the money or credit. You haven’t convinced me it is worth the price you are asking (perceived value). I don’t have the authority to make a decision , but I don’t want to admit that. So you see there is more to sales resistance than meets the eye. One technique I have used when I get sales resistance is to ask the prospect a question when I get any type of objection. “In addition to that is there anything else that would get in the way of our doing business together.”
The rationale for this question is: I am accepting their objection as real for them. I am not challenging it. But, I am asking what else is there? If there is nothing else they will either admit that there isn’t or make one up. In either case I am further below the truth line. If they admit there isn’t I am now closer to closing the sale presuming I can effectively deal with this issue.
The key to disarming sales resistance is to identify early in the process what the potential areas of concern are and then weaving the answers into the sales process.
You can effectively answer sales objections all day long and still not close the sale if you are not dealing with the real issues.
Why people challenge price.
Prospects, customers want several things from their suppliers. Fair price, quality products and services and timely service. (not in order of their preference) Surveys that have been done of consumers say that most consumers want: Timely and responsive service first, quality products and services second and low price third. For over 20 years I have surveyed my sales audiences and asked them what they think is most important to consumers and the results have been consistent: Low price, quality and service last. We seem to have a difference in perception here.
There are three elements that must be understood by salespeople if they are going to effectively deal with the price issue. First there is price. That is what people pay for what they buy. Second is cost. That is what they pay for what they buy, over time. And then there is perceived value. That is what they want for the money they pay.
Most consumers tell salespeople that what they want is low price when what they really want is low cost. Now I know that many of you will take issue with this statement but I only ask that you consider for a moment what you as a consumer want. Do you want the cheapest or that which solves your problem or answers your need or desire?
Most prospects or customers want their problems solved. They know that you get what you pay for and that the distaste of poor quality lasts far longer than the sweetness of low price.
People object to price when they feel that what you are asking them to pay is higher than their perceived value. Most poor salespeople when they get price resistance, lower the price. Most of the time it is not a price or cost issue but one of too low perceived value. How do you raise perceived value? Find out what is preventing your prospect or customer from getting a good nights sleep and show them how your product or service will satisfy this need or want or even better exceed their expectations for value, and I guarantee you price will be secondary. Not, cost, but price.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Real Estate Marketing Strategies: Hate to Make Cold Calls? 5 Tips to Make it Easier
Have you often avoided making those “dreaded cold calls?” Do you dream of how much better your business could be but just can’t bring yourself to pick up the phone?
You’re not alone. In the 10 years that I have specialized in coaching real estate agents, I have noticed the same avoidant patterns in each of my clients. This article gives you 5 tips to make it easier.
Tip 1: Change the name
I’m not kidding. Do the words “cold calls” send a chill up your spine? It’s no wonder . Whoever created that term didn’t know what they were doing. So, change the term, because it’s inaccurate. First of all, many of the people you’ll be calling are leads. Second, why would you you think cold? Are you cold? Is the receiver of the call cold? Not likely if you’re living in a human body.
So maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but the point is, call it something different, call it what it is, “direct response calls”. My clients do much better when they realize they are making direct response calls.
Tip 2: Be in the right mindset
Are you calling to sell something? If so, put down the phone and start again. No, you are actually calling to give something and that is your time and expertise. Would you be scared if you had a gift you wanted to give someone? Unlikely. In the same way, be in the mindset that you have a gift and you are it.
Why is this so? Well, think about the fact that you have something to offer. You know much more about real estate than Ms. Jane Doe. So if you call to let her know what properties have sold in her area, that is valuable information. Likewise, if you want to offer her a Free Comparative Market Analysis. That’s a gift of your time , energy and expertise. You should be proud to offer that . Guess what? If you are proud to offer that , she’ll most likely feel appreciative of the offer. Our energy and mindset is transferred to our prospective clients.
Tip 3: Use a permission based approach
For example, when I do direct response calls, the conversation goes something like this, “My name is Maya Bailey and I work with real estate agents who want to double their income. If you’d like to take 30 seconds , I’ll be happy to tell you what I do.” Notice that I didn’t barrel my way through. I said as little as possible until I got their permission to continue.
Use this script as a template to make your own direct response calls. For example,” My name is ____________ and I’m your local real estate consultant . I have some news about the value of properties in our neighborhood. If you’d like to take 30 seconds, I’ll be happy to…..” Is this getting more clear? The latest trend in marketing is permission based marketing.
Tip 4: Get excited about the relationships you’ll make
If you approach this in a permission based way, people will be much more open and friendly to you. Instead of focusing on the occasional rude person at the other end of the line, focus instead on what you want.
Most likely what you want is to make some connections with a person , in which you can follow up , convert them in prospective clients and then convert them into transactions. Let yourself feel how good it’s going to feel to close those deals. Pat yourself on the back because it all started with the courage it took to make direct response calls.
You’re not alone. In the 10 years that I have specialized in coaching real estate agents, I have noticed the same avoidant patterns in each of my clients. This article gives you 5 tips to make it easier.
Tip 1: Change the name
I’m not kidding. Do the words “cold calls” send a chill up your spine? It’s no wonder . Whoever created that term didn’t know what they were doing. So, change the term, because it’s inaccurate. First of all, many of the people you’ll be calling are leads. Second, why would you you think cold? Are you cold? Is the receiver of the call cold? Not likely if you’re living in a human body.
So maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but the point is, call it something different, call it what it is, “direct response calls”. My clients do much better when they realize they are making direct response calls.
Tip 2: Be in the right mindset
Are you calling to sell something? If so, put down the phone and start again. No, you are actually calling to give something and that is your time and expertise. Would you be scared if you had a gift you wanted to give someone? Unlikely. In the same way, be in the mindset that you have a gift and you are it.
Why is this so? Well, think about the fact that you have something to offer. You know much more about real estate than Ms. Jane Doe. So if you call to let her know what properties have sold in her area, that is valuable information. Likewise, if you want to offer her a Free Comparative Market Analysis. That’s a gift of your time , energy and expertise. You should be proud to offer that . Guess what? If you are proud to offer that , she’ll most likely feel appreciative of the offer. Our energy and mindset is transferred to our prospective clients.
Tip 3: Use a permission based approach
For example, when I do direct response calls, the conversation goes something like this, “My name is Maya Bailey and I work with real estate agents who want to double their income. If you’d like to take 30 seconds , I’ll be happy to tell you what I do.” Notice that I didn’t barrel my way through. I said as little as possible until I got their permission to continue.
Use this script as a template to make your own direct response calls. For example,” My name is ____________ and I’m your local real estate consultant . I have some news about the value of properties in our neighborhood. If you’d like to take 30 seconds, I’ll be happy to…..” Is this getting more clear? The latest trend in marketing is permission based marketing.
Tip 4: Get excited about the relationships you’ll make
If you approach this in a permission based way, people will be much more open and friendly to you. Instead of focusing on the occasional rude person at the other end of the line, focus instead on what you want.
Most likely what you want is to make some connections with a person , in which you can follow up , convert them in prospective clients and then convert them into transactions. Let yourself feel how good it’s going to feel to close those deals. Pat yourself on the back because it all started with the courage it took to make direct response calls.
Saturday, December 9, 2006
How Many Times Have You Heard . . .
In 2006 I heard 58 times from prospects – “It’s not in the budget, that’s more than we had planned to spend, maybe next year we’ll have more available cash, we need to do it but can’t afford it at this time but keep in touch, get back to us next year - whatever,” or something similar. Ever heard any of these? Well, if you have been selling for more than twenty minutes I’ll guarantee you have heard something similar until you are blue in the face.
Here’s the problem from my perspective. What I am offering (selling) is a solution to these circumstances or conditions. What I provide is sure-fire techniques, ideas, concepts and solutions that will improve sales performance, income, margins and results that will solve this problem of a shortage of cash – or sales.
Believe me, either I am really lousy at selling or this is just a lame excuse to maintain the status quo.
If you offer solutions to your prospect’s problems, needs or circumstances that will improve their business or their personal life in some vital or important way and they tell you they can’t afford it – I ask you – what else could they be saying other than – we are really happy the way things are! We don’t want to change our state of affairs!
Or, could they be saying that you just haven’t convinced me that what you are offering will really do what you say it can or will do?
I have to believe that out of the 58 times I heard this reason for inaction last year at least some of them (I would like to think all of them but I have a lot to learn too) were just techniques used to get rid of me. Boy, does this really hurt when all I have in mind is their best interests at heart. Sure, we all make money when we sell, but I am sure you have figured out that the money you earn just comes and goes.
If you don’t get a certain degree of personal satisfaction and pleasure out of helping others, I urge you to seriously consider another career other than selling.
So, why don’t prospects just tell you and I that we just haven’t done a good job of selling or creating perceived value for them? Why the need to be illusive and give us some lame excuse for not buying? Why can’t they just say, “You are not any good at this selling stuff. Or, “We have bigger problems than the one you product or service will solve.” I don’t really care. Why do people feel they can’t just tell the truth? Are they trying to avoid hurting our feelings? Are they just lying and don’t want us to know? Who knows!
What I do know is that two things are going to happen.
First -They are not going to solve their problems or improve their circumstances or conditions unless they take corrective action. I don’t mean to imply here that there are not other sales training programs out there that are not as good or even better (Although unlikely) than mine. I love the line, “Expecting different or better results from repeated or not improved behavior is a mild form of insanity.” If you have heard this line before you may have noticed I took a little license with it. Delaying this corrective action only says that, “It’s not a problem or we have bigger problems to deal with.”
Here’s the problem from my perspective. What I am offering (selling) is a solution to these circumstances or conditions. What I provide is sure-fire techniques, ideas, concepts and solutions that will improve sales performance, income, margins and results that will solve this problem of a shortage of cash – or sales.
Believe me, either I am really lousy at selling or this is just a lame excuse to maintain the status quo.
If you offer solutions to your prospect’s problems, needs or circumstances that will improve their business or their personal life in some vital or important way and they tell you they can’t afford it – I ask you – what else could they be saying other than – we are really happy the way things are! We don’t want to change our state of affairs!
Or, could they be saying that you just haven’t convinced me that what you are offering will really do what you say it can or will do?
I have to believe that out of the 58 times I heard this reason for inaction last year at least some of them (I would like to think all of them but I have a lot to learn too) were just techniques used to get rid of me. Boy, does this really hurt when all I have in mind is their best interests at heart. Sure, we all make money when we sell, but I am sure you have figured out that the money you earn just comes and goes.
If you don’t get a certain degree of personal satisfaction and pleasure out of helping others, I urge you to seriously consider another career other than selling.
So, why don’t prospects just tell you and I that we just haven’t done a good job of selling or creating perceived value for them? Why the need to be illusive and give us some lame excuse for not buying? Why can’t they just say, “You are not any good at this selling stuff. Or, “We have bigger problems than the one you product or service will solve.” I don’t really care. Why do people feel they can’t just tell the truth? Are they trying to avoid hurting our feelings? Are they just lying and don’t want us to know? Who knows!
What I do know is that two things are going to happen.
First -They are not going to solve their problems or improve their circumstances or conditions unless they take corrective action. I don’t mean to imply here that there are not other sales training programs out there that are not as good or even better (Although unlikely) than mine. I love the line, “Expecting different or better results from repeated or not improved behavior is a mild form of insanity.” If you have heard this line before you may have noticed I took a little license with it. Delaying this corrective action only says that, “It’s not a problem or we have bigger problems to deal with.”
Friday, December 8, 2006
Sales Networking - How To Research Potential Contacts
I truly believe that every individual in the whole world is potentially only five or six contact steps away. This ‘five or six degrees of separation’ shows that even an entire population of over five billion people is still highly accessible.
However, for practical purposes, we don’t necessarily want or need to meet millions, or even thousands of people in different organisations, age groups, religions, professions, culture or places. We are just looking to develop a network that will eventually provide us with additional business.
Ideally therefore, we need some kind of filtering or research system that will help us to build a set of relationships of high quality, or a strong network that can find people and resources both efficiently and effectively.
First Steps
The first step in the filtering process is to establish what sort of contacts or relationships you think may be of value or benefit to you (or the organisation of which you are a part). This is not to run counter to the idea that networking is primarily about giving, but suggests that some relationships are clearly more valuable in the long-term for both sides, given careful thought in the first place. Only you can determine this ‘value’.
You may already know, or be close to, someone very powerful or influential but gain no benefit from association. On the other hand, you may find someone in the street where you live who can bring you great benefit if you build a relationship with them. You just need to know what you’d like to achieve in order to make reasonable assessment.
Networking Pyramid
When you start to network more widely, you quickly realise that there is a pyramid, or hierarchy of depth or quality in all of your potential relationships.
However, for practical purposes, we don’t necessarily want or need to meet millions, or even thousands of people in different organisations, age groups, religions, professions, culture or places. We are just looking to develop a network that will eventually provide us with additional business.
Ideally therefore, we need some kind of filtering or research system that will help us to build a set of relationships of high quality, or a strong network that can find people and resources both efficiently and effectively.
First Steps
The first step in the filtering process is to establish what sort of contacts or relationships you think may be of value or benefit to you (or the organisation of which you are a part). This is not to run counter to the idea that networking is primarily about giving, but suggests that some relationships are clearly more valuable in the long-term for both sides, given careful thought in the first place. Only you can determine this ‘value’.
You may already know, or be close to, someone very powerful or influential but gain no benefit from association. On the other hand, you may find someone in the street where you live who can bring you great benefit if you build a relationship with them. You just need to know what you’d like to achieve in order to make reasonable assessment.
Networking Pyramid
When you start to network more widely, you quickly realise that there is a pyramid, or hierarchy of depth or quality in all of your potential relationships.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
How To Create A Sales Network Map
There is ultimately no better way to start networking than to try it for real. The easiest way to do this to commence with the clients you already have, rather than to find new ones.
One highly beneficial task you can undertake at the outset is to map or chart your contacts. This mapping can be done in a number of ways.
Network Mapping Methods:
• Write a manual list of who you know and what they do
• Build an electronic database of contacts
• Keep a journal or diary of who you meet, where and when
• Draw (and keep updating) a contacts map
Mapping Your Network
Whilst you may eventually choose to adopt two, three or all of these methods, in the early stages it is the last of these options that is often the most helpful and potentially revealing.
A network map is simply drawn (using squares or circles). You start by putting your name in the centre of the page in a circle and commence drawing connecting lines to people you know, before drawing connecting lines from these people to others that they know.
One highly beneficial task you can undertake at the outset is to map or chart your contacts. This mapping can be done in a number of ways.
Network Mapping Methods:
• Write a manual list of who you know and what they do
• Build an electronic database of contacts
• Keep a journal or diary of who you meet, where and when
• Draw (and keep updating) a contacts map
Mapping Your Network
Whilst you may eventually choose to adopt two, three or all of these methods, in the early stages it is the last of these options that is often the most helpful and potentially revealing.
A network map is simply drawn (using squares or circles). You start by putting your name in the centre of the page in a circle and commence drawing connecting lines to people you know, before drawing connecting lines from these people to others that they know.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
The Nature Of Sales Networking
Networking effectiveness starts with a positive personal attitude and an understanding that successful networking is built on a spirit of giving and sharing and not of bargaining and keeping score.
Armed with this knowledge, we can now look at how the process of good sales networking actually works in practice.
The first thing to realise about networking is that everyone you meet is a useful prospective network contact. This seemingly simple fact is often overlooked, as people engage in their own private screening process before they will talk to anyone.
There is obviously a line to be drawn between talking to anyone and everyone in the street and talking to almost no one. However, if you want to network more and to do so successfully, there are many situations that qualify as “the right opportunity”.
Taking An Interest in Anybody & Everybody
It is often the case that we don’t really know very much about even close people around us (let alone distant contacts). Even if we do know a little, we are less likely to know how far or deep their skill, knowledge or resources extend. If this is true of your knowledge of others, how much do they really know about you?
Herein lays the basic secret of networking success:
• You have to become interested in anybody and everybody
• You have to share more about yourself than you may have done in the past
It is out this mutual exchange of knowledge that network contacts will connect and start to offer support, help, advice, favours, referrals and other benefits on a regular basis.
Core Processes
Developing a conscious understanding of this giving and sharing strategy can take some time and some practice.
In her book ‘How to master networking’, Robyn Henderson calls this process earning the right to ask a favour of another person, or giving without hooks. Both of these statements imply two processes that operate pretty much at the same time (and neither of them necessarily out first reaction).
Armed with this knowledge, we can now look at how the process of good sales networking actually works in practice.
The first thing to realise about networking is that everyone you meet is a useful prospective network contact. This seemingly simple fact is often overlooked, as people engage in their own private screening process before they will talk to anyone.
There is obviously a line to be drawn between talking to anyone and everyone in the street and talking to almost no one. However, if you want to network more and to do so successfully, there are many situations that qualify as “the right opportunity”.
Taking An Interest in Anybody & Everybody
It is often the case that we don’t really know very much about even close people around us (let alone distant contacts). Even if we do know a little, we are less likely to know how far or deep their skill, knowledge or resources extend. If this is true of your knowledge of others, how much do they really know about you?
Herein lays the basic secret of networking success:
• You have to become interested in anybody and everybody
• You have to share more about yourself than you may have done in the past
It is out this mutual exchange of knowledge that network contacts will connect and start to offer support, help, advice, favours, referrals and other benefits on a regular basis.
Core Processes
Developing a conscious understanding of this giving and sharing strategy can take some time and some practice.
In her book ‘How to master networking’, Robyn Henderson calls this process earning the right to ask a favour of another person, or giving without hooks. Both of these statements imply two processes that operate pretty much at the same time (and neither of them necessarily out first reaction).
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Stating the Case for Online Sales Taxes
The Internet has Congressman Ernest Istook all worked up. That was plain to see at the press conference he held on the Hill last week. But it wasn't music piracy, child porn, ID theft or the other usual hot-button technology topics were riling the Oklahoma Republican.
Istook took his time on the steps of the Cannon building, just across the street from the Capitol, to talk about taxes. Sales taxes to be exact. His new bill, introduced last week, would offer the federal government's stamp of approval for a national online sales tax plan.
Istook is a proud Republican -- not exactly a pro-tax poster child. But Republicans also call themselves the party of states' rights. Simply put, the Washington politicos should keep their grubby hands out of the states' affairs. And that means if they want to tax Internet sales, so be it.
Most states require citizens to pay use taxes on things they buy online or in another state, but few consumers comply because it's almost impossible to enforce. Not only that, a 1992 Supreme Court decision forbids the states from forcing businesses to pay up if they're located in another state.
That's why people in Washington, D.C., like buying big-ticket items in sales-tax-free Delaware. It's what sends Mainers over the border to buy their liquor in New Hampshire. It's what is sending more people than ever onto the Internet to buy just about anything.
The national sales tax plan would throw all this aside and let the states take the money they say they need to keep vital services up and running.
That argument has found little support on Capitol Hill so far, prompting Istook and William Delahunt (D-Mass.) to take the first step.
"If Congress does nothing, then we will be besieged with larger-than-ever requests that Congress make up the difference to support local schools, roads, public safety and hospitals," Istook said.
Istook and his congressional allies are proof that a quiet effort, led mostly by state-level tax experts and a handful of their allies in the business world, is starting to pay off. Officials who gathered under the auspices of the "Streamlined Sales Tax Project" cleverly drafted an Internet sales tax plan that offers something to everyone: States get the money to shore up their cash-starved budgets, online retailers get an easy way to collect taxes for many different masters and offline retailers don't have to feel like they're getting a raw deal because thrifty shoppers choose e-commerce instead.
The result is that for the first time in the short history of the World Wide Web, Internet shopping could be taxed like any other business.
But the taxman is not here yet. After all, it is unclear whether Congress will approve any proposal that boils down to "taxing the Internet." Nor is it certain whether the major retailers that would be most affected will actually endorse the online sales tax campaign.
One of the chief obstacles to the legislation is the House Republican leadership which, under Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), advocates a decidedly anti-tax platform.
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) believes it "very unlikely" that the House will enact the legislation.
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who co-chairs the U.S. Congressional Internet Caucus, shares Cannon's opinion.
"I would rate the chances of this bill passing at the present time at close to zero," said Boucher.
Steve Kranz, tax counsel for the Council on State Taxation and a supporter of the online sales tax legislation, said action on the bill needs to happen now because it won't have a chance in the 2004 election season.
Even if the legislation were signed into law, it would take months to change the way the system operates. That includes certifying tax software vendors, educating and auditing online merchants, exchanging tax revenue between the states, dealing with popular "sales tax holidays" to encourage more people to shop and dozens of other daunting tasks that will cost the states time and money.
Powerful lobbyists for online and online-related businesses that are fighting to keep their tax-free edge over their brick-and-mortar counterparts have helped fuel the opposition on Capitol Hill.
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), whose members would be affected by the sales tax plan, released a study in June undercutting estimates of how much revenue would be generated by Internet sales taxes. The study said that the amount of uncollected taxes on e-commerce would be $3.2 billion by 2006, far lower than the $45 billion projected in an often-cited 2001 study by two University of Tennessee professors.
Online auction site eBay is against the plan as it's currently written. The Information Technology Association of America, an influential technology trade group that lobbies on behalf of more than 500 of the nation's largest high-tech companies, also stands against it.
NetChoice, a lobbying group that represents online retailers, said that supporters of the sales tax plan leave too many questions unanswered and instead are "rushing to sneak this legislation through Congress."
Istook took his time on the steps of the Cannon building, just across the street from the Capitol, to talk about taxes. Sales taxes to be exact. His new bill, introduced last week, would offer the federal government's stamp of approval for a national online sales tax plan.
Istook is a proud Republican -- not exactly a pro-tax poster child. But Republicans also call themselves the party of states' rights. Simply put, the Washington politicos should keep their grubby hands out of the states' affairs. And that means if they want to tax Internet sales, so be it.
Most states require citizens to pay use taxes on things they buy online or in another state, but few consumers comply because it's almost impossible to enforce. Not only that, a 1992 Supreme Court decision forbids the states from forcing businesses to pay up if they're located in another state.
That's why people in Washington, D.C., like buying big-ticket items in sales-tax-free Delaware. It's what sends Mainers over the border to buy their liquor in New Hampshire. It's what is sending more people than ever onto the Internet to buy just about anything.
The national sales tax plan would throw all this aside and let the states take the money they say they need to keep vital services up and running.
That argument has found little support on Capitol Hill so far, prompting Istook and William Delahunt (D-Mass.) to take the first step.
"If Congress does nothing, then we will be besieged with larger-than-ever requests that Congress make up the difference to support local schools, roads, public safety and hospitals," Istook said.
Istook and his congressional allies are proof that a quiet effort, led mostly by state-level tax experts and a handful of their allies in the business world, is starting to pay off. Officials who gathered under the auspices of the "Streamlined Sales Tax Project" cleverly drafted an Internet sales tax plan that offers something to everyone: States get the money to shore up their cash-starved budgets, online retailers get an easy way to collect taxes for many different masters and offline retailers don't have to feel like they're getting a raw deal because thrifty shoppers choose e-commerce instead.
The result is that for the first time in the short history of the World Wide Web, Internet shopping could be taxed like any other business.
But the taxman is not here yet. After all, it is unclear whether Congress will approve any proposal that boils down to "taxing the Internet." Nor is it certain whether the major retailers that would be most affected will actually endorse the online sales tax campaign.
One of the chief obstacles to the legislation is the House Republican leadership which, under Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), advocates a decidedly anti-tax platform.
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) believes it "very unlikely" that the House will enact the legislation.
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who co-chairs the U.S. Congressional Internet Caucus, shares Cannon's opinion.
"I would rate the chances of this bill passing at the present time at close to zero," said Boucher.
Steve Kranz, tax counsel for the Council on State Taxation and a supporter of the online sales tax legislation, said action on the bill needs to happen now because it won't have a chance in the 2004 election season.
Even if the legislation were signed into law, it would take months to change the way the system operates. That includes certifying tax software vendors, educating and auditing online merchants, exchanging tax revenue between the states, dealing with popular "sales tax holidays" to encourage more people to shop and dozens of other daunting tasks that will cost the states time and money.
Powerful lobbyists for online and online-related businesses that are fighting to keep their tax-free edge over their brick-and-mortar counterparts have helped fuel the opposition on Capitol Hill.
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), whose members would be affected by the sales tax plan, released a study in June undercutting estimates of how much revenue would be generated by Internet sales taxes. The study said that the amount of uncollected taxes on e-commerce would be $3.2 billion by 2006, far lower than the $45 billion projected in an often-cited 2001 study by two University of Tennessee professors.
Online auction site eBay is against the plan as it's currently written. The Information Technology Association of America, an influential technology trade group that lobbies on behalf of more than 500 of the nation's largest high-tech companies, also stands against it.
NetChoice, a lobbying group that represents online retailers, said that supporters of the sales tax plan leave too many questions unanswered and instead are "rushing to sneak this legislation through Congress."
Monday, December 4, 2006
Study: online sales to top $200 billion
After topping the $100-billion mark just three years ago, online sales will soar to $200 billion this year, according to the 2006 State of Retailing Online study conducted by Forrester Research and Shop.org. The study found that this year's online sales, including travel, should rise 20% to $211.4 billion, and will reach $138 billion, excluding travel.
Sunday, December 3, 2006
The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International launched eConnect, an online source for hospitality and travel sales and marketing informa
* The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International launched eConnect, an online source for hospitality and travel sales and marketing information, research, contacts and best practices. The content of the six key subject areas are continuously updated. To log on to eConnect, go to www.hsmaieconnect.org or access it through the resources section of www.hsmai.org.
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Costs
There are three kinds of total cost:
1. Total fixed cost is the sum of those costs that are fixed in total – no matter how much is produced. Among these fixed costs are rent, depreciation, managers’ salaries, property taxes, and insurance. Such costs stay the same even if production stops temporarily.
2. Total variable cost, on the other hand, is the sum of those changing expenses that are closely related to output – expenses for parts, wages, packaging materials, outgoing freight, and sales commissions. At zero output, total variable cost is zero. As output increases, so do variable costs. If Wrangler doubles its output of jeans in a year, its total cost for denim cloth also (roughly) doubles.
3. Total cost is the sum of total fixed and total variable costs. Changes in total cost depend on variations in total variable cost – since total fixed cost stays the same. And there are three kinds of average cost:
1. Average cost (per unit) is obtained by dividing total cost by the related quantity (that is, the total quantity that causes the total cost).
2. Average fixed cost (per unit) is obtained by dividing total fixed cost by the related quantity.
3. Average variable cost (per unit) is obtained by dividing total variable cost by the related quantity.
Cost-oriented pricing requires an estimate of the total number of units to be sold. That estimate determines the average fixed cost per unit and thus the average total cost. Hen the firm adds the desired profit per unit to the average total cost to get the cost-oriented selling price. How customers react to that price determines the actual quantity the firm will be able to sell. Further, the quantity the firm actually sells (times price) determines total revenue (and total profit or loss). A decision made in one area affects each of the others – directly or indirectly. Average-cost pricing does not consider these effects. A manager who forgets this can make serious mistakes.
1. Total fixed cost is the sum of those costs that are fixed in total – no matter how much is produced. Among these fixed costs are rent, depreciation, managers’ salaries, property taxes, and insurance. Such costs stay the same even if production stops temporarily.
2. Total variable cost, on the other hand, is the sum of those changing expenses that are closely related to output – expenses for parts, wages, packaging materials, outgoing freight, and sales commissions. At zero output, total variable cost is zero. As output increases, so do variable costs. If Wrangler doubles its output of jeans in a year, its total cost for denim cloth also (roughly) doubles.
3. Total cost is the sum of total fixed and total variable costs. Changes in total cost depend on variations in total variable cost – since total fixed cost stays the same. And there are three kinds of average cost:
1. Average cost (per unit) is obtained by dividing total cost by the related quantity (that is, the total quantity that causes the total cost).
2. Average fixed cost (per unit) is obtained by dividing total fixed cost by the related quantity.
3. Average variable cost (per unit) is obtained by dividing total variable cost by the related quantity.
Cost-oriented pricing requires an estimate of the total number of units to be sold. That estimate determines the average fixed cost per unit and thus the average total cost. Hen the firm adds the desired profit per unit to the average total cost to get the cost-oriented selling price. How customers react to that price determines the actual quantity the firm will be able to sell. Further, the quantity the firm actually sells (times price) determines total revenue (and total profit or loss). A decision made in one area affects each of the others – directly or indirectly. Average-cost pricing does not consider these effects. A manager who forgets this can make serious mistakes.
Friday, December 1, 2006
The Four Influencers In A B2b Sale
Are you touching base with all of the buying influencers in your prospect’s account?
There are four groups of people you have to pay attention to in any B2B sales situation. Each of these groups – it may be only one person in any of the groups, depending on the size of the organization – has an influence on whether you will close the sale or not.
To disregard any one of these influences will probably mean you will not make the sale. This is the real difference between consumer sales and B2B sales. An enterprise sale becomes more complex, because each of these influencing authorities has two agendas they need fulfilled.
Each of these people or groups is influenced by how your product or service will affect them in their job. They are also looking at how your product or service affects their company. They need to know they are making the right decision for themselves and their company. They do not obviously want to hurt their career, and if you can help them advance their career, then you will be miles ahead of any competition.
Because you have to convince so many people in a B2B sale, this is the reason the selling cycle takes so long.
These four influences are.
1. The Financial Influence(s)
2. The User Influences
3. The Gatekeeper(s)
4. Your Champion or Sponsor
Each of them is important, and each of them plays a very important role in whether their company will buy from you.
My next four articles will look at each of these influences in depth, and what you need to know about each of them in order to influence their decision about your proposal and your company.
There are four groups of people you have to pay attention to in any B2B sales situation. Each of these groups – it may be only one person in any of the groups, depending on the size of the organization – has an influence on whether you will close the sale or not.
To disregard any one of these influences will probably mean you will not make the sale. This is the real difference between consumer sales and B2B sales. An enterprise sale becomes more complex, because each of these influencing authorities has two agendas they need fulfilled.
Each of these people or groups is influenced by how your product or service will affect them in their job. They are also looking at how your product or service affects their company. They need to know they are making the right decision for themselves and their company. They do not obviously want to hurt their career, and if you can help them advance their career, then you will be miles ahead of any competition.
Because you have to convince so many people in a B2B sale, this is the reason the selling cycle takes so long.
These four influences are.
1. The Financial Influence(s)
2. The User Influences
3. The Gatekeeper(s)
4. Your Champion or Sponsor
Each of them is important, and each of them plays a very important role in whether their company will buy from you.
My next four articles will look at each of these influences in depth, and what you need to know about each of them in order to influence their decision about your proposal and your company.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
The Sales Sandwich
Legend has it that the 4th Earl of Sandwich placed his meat between two pieces of bread because it allowed him to continue playing cards while eating without getting his cards sticky from his greasy hands -- hence the name “sandwich.”
If you will pardon the pun, if your advertising sales are not a sandwich you are missing the bread and butter of the sales process.
Each of the most popular sandwich making salads (tuna, chicken salad, egg and ham, etc.) can be served on a bed of lettuce, a salad, or between slices of bread, a sandwich.
The salad is the heart of the sales meal. Within the salad, you have mixed all the facts and benefits that make the meal. You are pitching the best ingredient you can muster. You have seasoned to the prospects taste. You have added the mayo of your personality to bind it all together. You’ve added bits of pickled testimonials, diced onion stories, and the salt and pepper of evidence. You have tossed together the best of all possible sales salads.
At the risk of pushing the analogy too far, the Earl of Sandwich’s motive for bread was to keep his hands clean. He knew he needed to eat, but he didn’t want to interrupt what he was doing. If you consider the fact that your prospective client is also more interested in what she or he is doing, than eating what you are serving. It makes sense to present your “sales salad” in bread as a sandwich. This way they can partake without getting their hands greasy.
Now, let’s look at the bread. The two slices of bread needed to create a sandwich, represent the before and end of the sales process. The bottom slice is the foundation, the preparation you have made. The marvelous thing about selling today is that most of your prospects have been kind enough to post everything we need to know about them on the internet. It used to be that doing a detailed, “customer needs analysis,” was the vital portion of the sale cycle. Today, investigating all the available information on the web is the first step.
This first slice of bread is the critical piece of the sales sandwich. Here’s why:
•Preparation Prepares You – remember as a kid the days you really did your homework. You were ready for class. You couldn’t wait for the teacher to call on you. Oh, those might have been rare days, but you remember them. Your confidence was high. You were proud. You were ready. Selling is no different. When you are well prepared for a sales call, you exude confidence, a certainty of demeanor that breaks down resistance.
•Confirming answers is better than asking questions – How much more powerful is it to say, “My research tells me you have been in business for 15 years. Is that right?” or, “How long have you been in business?” Obviously, the answer is the first. It tells the prospect you have researched her business. You’ve taken the time to prepare. You are serious. You are a pro.
•The little time it takes makes a big difference – The world is full of advertising sales people. Why? Because, there is a lot of advertising to be sold. You’re second most important task is to differentiate yourself from you own competition. (You decide what the first most important task is.***) The first slice of bread is what few, if any, of your competitors do. It takes a few minutes, may be ten, to make you ten times better than the others.
•People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Show them you care, by showing what you know. Among Dale Carnegie’s Human Relations principles is, “Talk in terms of the other person’s interest.” Your first slice of bread will put you on the road of a professionally caring relationship with your client. It is what make business worth doing. It is what builds lasting business and life long friends.
Now, if I have convinced you to put a slice of bread down, then go ahead and spread out the presentation salad. Put it on thick. Give ‘em their monies worth.
Now let’s top it off with the other slice of bread --closing. Yes, I said “closing.” You simply ask for the order. As in, “Can we go ahead and start?” Asking for the order is critical. Everybody talks about it, but few do it. Failing to do so makes it an opened faced sandwich and hard to eat. If your purpose is to close a sale, then go ahead and close the sale. Asking is not being pushy. Asking is being professional. Selling is what you do, so do it! Ask for the order. Top off the sandwich with another slice of bread.
Thinking of the sales process as a sandwich provides a solid diet of quality sale calls. The fact is that having great sandwich filler is important, but serving it between two slices of fresh bread is what makes for the most rewarding sandwich.
If you will pardon the pun, if your advertising sales are not a sandwich you are missing the bread and butter of the sales process.
Each of the most popular sandwich making salads (tuna, chicken salad, egg and ham, etc.) can be served on a bed of lettuce, a salad, or between slices of bread, a sandwich.
The salad is the heart of the sales meal. Within the salad, you have mixed all the facts and benefits that make the meal. You are pitching the best ingredient you can muster. You have seasoned to the prospects taste. You have added the mayo of your personality to bind it all together. You’ve added bits of pickled testimonials, diced onion stories, and the salt and pepper of evidence. You have tossed together the best of all possible sales salads.
At the risk of pushing the analogy too far, the Earl of Sandwich’s motive for bread was to keep his hands clean. He knew he needed to eat, but he didn’t want to interrupt what he was doing. If you consider the fact that your prospective client is also more interested in what she or he is doing, than eating what you are serving. It makes sense to present your “sales salad” in bread as a sandwich. This way they can partake without getting their hands greasy.
Now, let’s look at the bread. The two slices of bread needed to create a sandwich, represent the before and end of the sales process. The bottom slice is the foundation, the preparation you have made. The marvelous thing about selling today is that most of your prospects have been kind enough to post everything we need to know about them on the internet. It used to be that doing a detailed, “customer needs analysis,” was the vital portion of the sale cycle. Today, investigating all the available information on the web is the first step.
This first slice of bread is the critical piece of the sales sandwich. Here’s why:
•Preparation Prepares You – remember as a kid the days you really did your homework. You were ready for class. You couldn’t wait for the teacher to call on you. Oh, those might have been rare days, but you remember them. Your confidence was high. You were proud. You were ready. Selling is no different. When you are well prepared for a sales call, you exude confidence, a certainty of demeanor that breaks down resistance.
•Confirming answers is better than asking questions – How much more powerful is it to say, “My research tells me you have been in business for 15 years. Is that right?” or, “How long have you been in business?” Obviously, the answer is the first. It tells the prospect you have researched her business. You’ve taken the time to prepare. You are serious. You are a pro.
•The little time it takes makes a big difference – The world is full of advertising sales people. Why? Because, there is a lot of advertising to be sold. You’re second most important task is to differentiate yourself from you own competition. (You decide what the first most important task is.***) The first slice of bread is what few, if any, of your competitors do. It takes a few minutes, may be ten, to make you ten times better than the others.
•People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Show them you care, by showing what you know. Among Dale Carnegie’s Human Relations principles is, “Talk in terms of the other person’s interest.” Your first slice of bread will put you on the road of a professionally caring relationship with your client. It is what make business worth doing. It is what builds lasting business and life long friends.
Now, if I have convinced you to put a slice of bread down, then go ahead and spread out the presentation salad. Put it on thick. Give ‘em their monies worth.
Now let’s top it off with the other slice of bread --closing. Yes, I said “closing.” You simply ask for the order. As in, “Can we go ahead and start?” Asking for the order is critical. Everybody talks about it, but few do it. Failing to do so makes it an opened faced sandwich and hard to eat. If your purpose is to close a sale, then go ahead and close the sale. Asking is not being pushy. Asking is being professional. Selling is what you do, so do it! Ask for the order. Top off the sandwich with another slice of bread.
Thinking of the sales process as a sandwich provides a solid diet of quality sale calls. The fact is that having great sandwich filler is important, but serving it between two slices of fresh bread is what makes for the most rewarding sandwich.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Costs Analysis
Careful analysis of most marketing costs shows that the money is spent for a specific purpose – for example, to develop or promote a particular product or to serve particular customers. By breaking out and comparing the costs of different sales reps, the marketing manager has a much better idea of what it is costing to implement the strategy in each sales area. Two basic approaches to handling allocating costs are possible – the full-cost approach and the contribution-margin approach.
In the full-cost approach, all costs are allocated to products, customers, or other categories. Because all costs are allocated, we can subtract costs from sales and find the profitability of various customers, products, and so on. The full-cost approach requires that difficult-to-allocate costs to be split on some basis.
When we use the contribution-margin approach, all costs are not allocated in all situations. The contribution-margin approach focuses attention on variable costs – rather than on total costs.
The difference between these two approaches is important. The two approaches may suggest different decisions. Arguments over allocation methods can be deadly serious. The method used may reflect on the performance of various managers – and it may affect their salaries and bonuses.
To avoid these problems, firms often use the contribution-margin approach. It’s especially useful for evaluating alternatives – and for showing operating managers and salespeople how they’re doing. The contribution-margin approach shows what they’ve actually contributed to covering general overhead and profit.
Top managers, on other hand, often find full-cost analysis more useful. In the long run, some products, departments, or customers may pay for the fixed costs.
In the full-cost approach, all costs are allocated to products, customers, or other categories. Because all costs are allocated, we can subtract costs from sales and find the profitability of various customers, products, and so on. The full-cost approach requires that difficult-to-allocate costs to be split on some basis.
When we use the contribution-margin approach, all costs are not allocated in all situations. The contribution-margin approach focuses attention on variable costs – rather than on total costs.
The difference between these two approaches is important. The two approaches may suggest different decisions. Arguments over allocation methods can be deadly serious. The method used may reflect on the performance of various managers – and it may affect their salaries and bonuses.
To avoid these problems, firms often use the contribution-margin approach. It’s especially useful for evaluating alternatives – and for showing operating managers and salespeople how they’re doing. The contribution-margin approach shows what they’ve actually contributed to covering general overhead and profit.
Top managers, on other hand, often find full-cost analysis more useful. In the long run, some products, departments, or customers may pay for the fixed costs.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
How to Build a Sales Pipeline
Many salespeople or businesses never build a sales pipeline that will deliver the results needed to become successful. These are guidelines for building a successful sales pipeline. Before we begin, we must define what a sales pipeline is.
A sales pipeline is any list of qualified prospects that aren't ready to buy right now.
A good analogy is fruit on a fruit tree that hasn't ripened. You many have qualified these suspects as good prospects for customers. However, you must be around when these prospects are ready to buy. If you don't build a contact pipeline to them, these prospect opportunities will wither away. Worse yet, someone else will be around when the prospect ripens and you miss out on new business.
Follow the Best Practices of Selling When a master gardener lays the foundation for a lawn or garden sprinkler system, they plan the pipeline down to inches. The gardener starts out with a map of where they want the water to go. The same is true with sales except it will be your contacts that feed sales instead of water. Think about sales as if they were fruit trees and you wanted to increase the fruit yield each year. You must lay the sales pipeline so it provides the contact nourishment for maximum yield. This would be the best practices of selling.
If a fruit tree could talk, it would tell you not to forget about it and tell you to water it consistently over time. The tree would tell you to water it during the hottest months just like you should contact your hot clients when they are most likely to need your services. This requires a system that will regulate your contacts with each client. The important thing is to listen to your clients and follow the best practices.
If a client tells you they will be ready in about 6 months, you should have an action plan that will contact them regularly during the time period they ask. The consistency of your action plan will yield the most sales. Just like with an automatic watering system, your sales plan should be automatic.
Automate Your Selling System for Best Results Many of the contact management systems on the market are only semi-automatic. This means that they require a human to do most of the work and it isn't the same as an automated system. Additionally, many of these sales systems don't have the best practices built into them. An automated sprinkler system is designed to water at about the same time each day and with the correct amount for each plant or tree. Ideally, a sales action plan will provide the correct amount of contact for each type of situation for each contact. This would be based on the contacts selling position in the selling process.
One sales program, Impactivator, is designed to mimic the feature of an automated sprinkler system. With the push of a few buttons each morning, a salesperson is able to manage their sales pipeline with consistent results. This is because the program uses the best practices of selling. There are about seven positions that cover the typical sales path.
* Introduction
* Qualify
* Closing
* Proposal
* Satisfaction
* Maintenance
* Waiting
Although most businesses are different from one another, most of them require a similar pipeline system. When you build your sales pipeline, it should be customized to match your business and have the flexibility of change. Think of this creation like you would if you were laying a garden plot or an orchard of fruit trees. You will want to deliver the right amount of water. In selling, this would be the right type of contacts such as email, letters, personal visits and telephone calls in the right sequence.
For the best results, you should seek assistance from a resource experienced in your industry. You will want specific expertise with the type of clients you want to do business with.
A sales pipeline is any list of qualified prospects that aren't ready to buy right now.
A good analogy is fruit on a fruit tree that hasn't ripened. You many have qualified these suspects as good prospects for customers. However, you must be around when these prospects are ready to buy. If you don't build a contact pipeline to them, these prospect opportunities will wither away. Worse yet, someone else will be around when the prospect ripens and you miss out on new business.
Follow the Best Practices of Selling When a master gardener lays the foundation for a lawn or garden sprinkler system, they plan the pipeline down to inches. The gardener starts out with a map of where they want the water to go. The same is true with sales except it will be your contacts that feed sales instead of water. Think about sales as if they were fruit trees and you wanted to increase the fruit yield each year. You must lay the sales pipeline so it provides the contact nourishment for maximum yield. This would be the best practices of selling.
If a fruit tree could talk, it would tell you not to forget about it and tell you to water it consistently over time. The tree would tell you to water it during the hottest months just like you should contact your hot clients when they are most likely to need your services. This requires a system that will regulate your contacts with each client. The important thing is to listen to your clients and follow the best practices.
If a client tells you they will be ready in about 6 months, you should have an action plan that will contact them regularly during the time period they ask. The consistency of your action plan will yield the most sales. Just like with an automatic watering system, your sales plan should be automatic.
Automate Your Selling System for Best Results Many of the contact management systems on the market are only semi-automatic. This means that they require a human to do most of the work and it isn't the same as an automated system. Additionally, many of these sales systems don't have the best practices built into them. An automated sprinkler system is designed to water at about the same time each day and with the correct amount for each plant or tree. Ideally, a sales action plan will provide the correct amount of contact for each type of situation for each contact. This would be based on the contacts selling position in the selling process.
One sales program, Impactivator, is designed to mimic the feature of an automated sprinkler system. With the push of a few buttons each morning, a salesperson is able to manage their sales pipeline with consistent results. This is because the program uses the best practices of selling. There are about seven positions that cover the typical sales path.
* Introduction
* Qualify
* Closing
* Proposal
* Satisfaction
* Maintenance
* Waiting
Although most businesses are different from one another, most of them require a similar pipeline system. When you build your sales pipeline, it should be customized to match your business and have the flexibility of change. Think of this creation like you would if you were laying a garden plot or an orchard of fruit trees. You will want to deliver the right amount of water. In selling, this would be the right type of contacts such as email, letters, personal visits and telephone calls in the right sequence.
For the best results, you should seek assistance from a resource experienced in your industry. You will want specific expertise with the type of clients you want to do business with.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Top 10 Reasons Salespeople Fail
We studied how the Top One Percent of Salespeople in 23 industries actually sell. They earn more than the average CEO, yet they seldom work as long, nor as hard. Almost all of the Top 1% utilize a consistent sales process with all their prospects and customers. Most of them print out their sales process in questionnaire format so that they do not have to memorize anything. That way, they can focus all of their attention on their prospects, rather than thinking about their next question or the next step in their sales process.
We have also studied how most of the other 99% of salespeople actually sell. Most of what they do is in direct opposition to how the Top 1% sell.
1. Most salespeople don’t prospect efficiently, effectively and enjoyably. (See my previous article, “Top 10 Tips for Prospecting Success".) Therefore, they spend most of their selling time with prospects who will not buy.
2. Most salespeople do not utilize a consistently effective sales process. Therefore, each sales opportunity is handled differently, based on what they are comfortable doing. Their results are hit or miss. The Top 1% consistently do what has the highest probability of producing high closing rates.
3. Most salespeople believe that their primary function is to persuade and convince prospects to buy their products and services. Therefore, they utilize manipulative persuasion tactics, which most prospects resent. That creates sales resistance and results in low closing rates. The Top 1% know that persuasion and convincing are obsolete sales tactics. They utilize selling tactics that are compatible with the way the human mind works.
4. Most salespeople fail to get a conditional commitment to do business at the beginning of the sales process. Therefore, they waste too much time with prospects that have no commitment to buy.
5. Most salespeople neglect to determine the exact buying intentions of their prospects, including what their financial capacity is, when the purchase will occur, who makes the final decisions, etc. Therefore, they spend too much time and resources on low probability prospects.
6. Most salespeople attempt to do what they call “building rapport." However, what they are really doing is trying to get the prospects to like them, which is an inherently manipulative process. Most prospects are far more concerned about whether they can trust and respect you. Therefore, you must learn how to immediately develop that kind of a relationship.
7. Most salespeople do “sales presentations,” rather than determining what their prospect wants, and why. Therefore, their prospects feel neglected and disrespected.
8. Most salespeople close at the end of their sales process. Top salespeople start closing at the beginning of their sales process – as in item 4 above – and continue to close throughout the process, as many as thirty times. The sum of all those commitments adds up to a relaxed, no-pressure close.
9. Most salespeople learn a few techniques for “overcoming objections” which are largely Manipulative Rhetoric. Top salespeople eliminate almost all objections with their sales process.
10. Most salespeople are locked into old beliefs about selling. Therefore, when they try to improve, they only improve on what they already know. That can only result in small incremental improvements. Top salespeople look to make dramatic changes in their sales process in order to get major increases in their sales productivity.
We have also studied how most of the other 99% of salespeople actually sell. Most of what they do is in direct opposition to how the Top 1% sell.
1. Most salespeople don’t prospect efficiently, effectively and enjoyably. (See my previous article, “Top 10 Tips for Prospecting Success".) Therefore, they spend most of their selling time with prospects who will not buy.
2. Most salespeople do not utilize a consistently effective sales process. Therefore, each sales opportunity is handled differently, based on what they are comfortable doing. Their results are hit or miss. The Top 1% consistently do what has the highest probability of producing high closing rates.
3. Most salespeople believe that their primary function is to persuade and convince prospects to buy their products and services. Therefore, they utilize manipulative persuasion tactics, which most prospects resent. That creates sales resistance and results in low closing rates. The Top 1% know that persuasion and convincing are obsolete sales tactics. They utilize selling tactics that are compatible with the way the human mind works.
4. Most salespeople fail to get a conditional commitment to do business at the beginning of the sales process. Therefore, they waste too much time with prospects that have no commitment to buy.
5. Most salespeople neglect to determine the exact buying intentions of their prospects, including what their financial capacity is, when the purchase will occur, who makes the final decisions, etc. Therefore, they spend too much time and resources on low probability prospects.
6. Most salespeople attempt to do what they call “building rapport." However, what they are really doing is trying to get the prospects to like them, which is an inherently manipulative process. Most prospects are far more concerned about whether they can trust and respect you. Therefore, you must learn how to immediately develop that kind of a relationship.
7. Most salespeople do “sales presentations,” rather than determining what their prospect wants, and why. Therefore, their prospects feel neglected and disrespected.
8. Most salespeople close at the end of their sales process. Top salespeople start closing at the beginning of their sales process – as in item 4 above – and continue to close throughout the process, as many as thirty times. The sum of all those commitments adds up to a relaxed, no-pressure close.
9. Most salespeople learn a few techniques for “overcoming objections” which are largely Manipulative Rhetoric. Top salespeople eliminate almost all objections with their sales process.
10. Most salespeople are locked into old beliefs about selling. Therefore, when they try to improve, they only improve on what they already know. That can only result in small incremental improvements. Top salespeople look to make dramatic changes in their sales process in order to get major increases in their sales productivity.
Top 10 Reasons Sales Managers Fail- and What To Do About It
Sales managers fail for two primary reasons: 1) They don't know how to manage their people; and 2) They don't rigorously implement effective selling processes. Just as an engineering manager needs to be a pretty competent engineer, a sales manager need to be a pretty competent salesperson. In both cases, however, their essential responsibility is to manage staff performance. Understanding modern management principles beyond a few readings of “The One Minute Manager" is critical.
Most engineering managers know that technology is evolving too quickly for them to keep up at the level of a functioning engineer. However, they do know enough about the latest technology to manage the engineers deploying it.
In contrast to engineers, most sales managers believe that very little has changed in the "Sales Game" since they became a manager. Therefore, they tend to manage their people in the same way that they used to sell. However, the markets for every product and service have changed dramatically in the last twenty years. Information Overload, the Internet, inexpensive communications, increased competition, more savvy prospects, brain science and new sales channels have affected all businesses.
Top salespeople have developed new sales processes to address and exploit these changing market conditions. That is what most sales managers don't know.
1. Most sales managers don't know how to use highly effective tools to recruit and train salespeople that will perform well in their organization. Therefore, they often hire salespeople who are incompatible with their company’s culture and lack the appropriate sales aptitudes for their industry.
How to Hire the Right People: Contract with a service agency that will benchmark you and your best salespeople, find candidates with similar aptitudes, and select salespeople most compatible with your management style.
2. Most sales managers don't have a highly effective, uniform sales process for their company’s products and services. They advocate “best selling practices” based upon past market conditions and obsolete sales strategies. Therefore, they focus on the wrong metrics, which inevitably are flawed.
How to Focus on the Right Metrics: Develop a sales process that is very different from the one that you are now using. Talk to sales training companies, and look for a company that will customize and optimize the selling process for your company and industry.
3. Most sales managers don't know how to train, supervise and track their salespeople's performance to optimize their sales effectiveness.
How to Keep Salespeople on Track: Maintain a uniform and consistent process, monitoring and benchmarking all sales activity throughout the sales process.
4. Most sales managers lack skills in target marketing and prospecting. Therefore, their salespeople waste most of their time with prospects who will not buy.
How to Focus on Likely Buyers: Set demographic, situational and attitude standards for the type of prospects that are most likely to buy. Develop criteria based upon booked business.
5. Most sales managers believe that “you can't close if you don't get in front of prospects.” Their salespeople go on as many appointments as possible, spending far more time with prospects who will not buy than with those that will buy.
How to Stop Wasting Time with the Wrong Prospects: Insist that salespeople find and make appointments only with highly qualified prospects.
6. Most sales managers believe that salespeople should be able to convince prospects to buy. Therefore, they have their salespeople try to persuade prospects to buy when they are merely “interested.” It doesn't seem to occur to them that their salespeople can't convince people to do anything they don't already want to do.
How to Stop Losing at the "Persuasion Game": Abandon the game altogether- there is no way to consistently win. Insist that your salespeople treat prospects with trust and respect, utilize an effective sales process, and abandon all forms of persuasion, false urgency and manipulation.
7. Most sales managers don't know the difference between qualification and DISqualification. Therefore, their salespeople create sales resistance by selling to prospects when they are not ready to buy. That lengthens the sales cycle and decreases their closing rates.
How to Shorten the Sales Cycle: Insist that salespeople only make appointments with prospects who are ready to buy or specify. Closing rates will increase dramatically.
8. Most sales managers don't understand how the human mind works, and how it accepts or rejects information. Salespeople typically spew features and benefits in terms of industry jargon.
How to Communicate with Prospects: Use words that prospects can readily understand. They'll feel more motivated to keep listening, they'll absorb and retain more information, and they'll be more actively engaged in the sales process.
There have been many studies about how to communicate most effectively. We used much of that research, as well as our own studies, to develop the High Probability Prospecting Offer Design Template. You can have a copy by sending us an email request with the words “Offer Design Template” in the subject line.
9. Most sales managers believe that most prospects make logical buying decisions. If that were true, enrolling in logic courses would be the path to success in sales.
How to Really Get Through to Prospects: Engage prospects emotionally. Recent studies in Brain Science have revealed that most important decisions are made in the part of the brain that deals with emotions. In High Probability Selling, we incorporate that knowledge into the selling process, resulting in higher closing rates.
10. Most sales managers don't know how to get salespeople past their fears. Therefore, most of their salespeople stay in their comfort zones and under-perform. The cost of this problem is enormous.
How to Boost Performance: Almost all salespeople, whether beginners or veterans, can learn how to get past their fears and avoid slumps and/or burnout. It just takes a specialize set of psychological principles. Getting your sales forces to operate at optimum effectiveness is an entirely reachable goal.
Astute readers will notice that there really aren't 10 Reasons That Sales Managers Fail! Underperforming sales managers make two fatal errors in myriad permutations:
1. They fail to target their true market and drive salespeople to "sell" to prospects who are unlikely to buy now.
2. They drive their salespeople to utilize obsolete persuasion systems because they don’t know how to the harness the power of Relationships of Mutual Trust and Respect.
How to Dramatically Improve Sales Performance? Develop a uniform structured, effective and quantifiable selling process that optimizes sales process, increasing the probability of closing the sale every step along the way.
Most engineering managers know that technology is evolving too quickly for them to keep up at the level of a functioning engineer. However, they do know enough about the latest technology to manage the engineers deploying it.
In contrast to engineers, most sales managers believe that very little has changed in the "Sales Game" since they became a manager. Therefore, they tend to manage their people in the same way that they used to sell. However, the markets for every product and service have changed dramatically in the last twenty years. Information Overload, the Internet, inexpensive communications, increased competition, more savvy prospects, brain science and new sales channels have affected all businesses.
Top salespeople have developed new sales processes to address and exploit these changing market conditions. That is what most sales managers don't know.
1. Most sales managers don't know how to use highly effective tools to recruit and train salespeople that will perform well in their organization. Therefore, they often hire salespeople who are incompatible with their company’s culture and lack the appropriate sales aptitudes for their industry.
How to Hire the Right People: Contract with a service agency that will benchmark you and your best salespeople, find candidates with similar aptitudes, and select salespeople most compatible with your management style.
2. Most sales managers don't have a highly effective, uniform sales process for their company’s products and services. They advocate “best selling practices” based upon past market conditions and obsolete sales strategies. Therefore, they focus on the wrong metrics, which inevitably are flawed.
How to Focus on the Right Metrics: Develop a sales process that is very different from the one that you are now using. Talk to sales training companies, and look for a company that will customize and optimize the selling process for your company and industry.
3. Most sales managers don't know how to train, supervise and track their salespeople's performance to optimize their sales effectiveness.
How to Keep Salespeople on Track: Maintain a uniform and consistent process, monitoring and benchmarking all sales activity throughout the sales process.
4. Most sales managers lack skills in target marketing and prospecting. Therefore, their salespeople waste most of their time with prospects who will not buy.
How to Focus on Likely Buyers: Set demographic, situational and attitude standards for the type of prospects that are most likely to buy. Develop criteria based upon booked business.
5. Most sales managers believe that “you can't close if you don't get in front of prospects.” Their salespeople go on as many appointments as possible, spending far more time with prospects who will not buy than with those that will buy.
How to Stop Wasting Time with the Wrong Prospects: Insist that salespeople find and make appointments only with highly qualified prospects.
6. Most sales managers believe that salespeople should be able to convince prospects to buy. Therefore, they have their salespeople try to persuade prospects to buy when they are merely “interested.” It doesn't seem to occur to them that their salespeople can't convince people to do anything they don't already want to do.
How to Stop Losing at the "Persuasion Game": Abandon the game altogether- there is no way to consistently win. Insist that your salespeople treat prospects with trust and respect, utilize an effective sales process, and abandon all forms of persuasion, false urgency and manipulation.
7. Most sales managers don't know the difference between qualification and DISqualification. Therefore, their salespeople create sales resistance by selling to prospects when they are not ready to buy. That lengthens the sales cycle and decreases their closing rates.
How to Shorten the Sales Cycle: Insist that salespeople only make appointments with prospects who are ready to buy or specify. Closing rates will increase dramatically.
8. Most sales managers don't understand how the human mind works, and how it accepts or rejects information. Salespeople typically spew features and benefits in terms of industry jargon.
How to Communicate with Prospects: Use words that prospects can readily understand. They'll feel more motivated to keep listening, they'll absorb and retain more information, and they'll be more actively engaged in the sales process.
There have been many studies about how to communicate most effectively. We used much of that research, as well as our own studies, to develop the High Probability Prospecting Offer Design Template. You can have a copy by sending us an email request with the words “Offer Design Template” in the subject line.
9. Most sales managers believe that most prospects make logical buying decisions. If that were true, enrolling in logic courses would be the path to success in sales.
How to Really Get Through to Prospects: Engage prospects emotionally. Recent studies in Brain Science have revealed that most important decisions are made in the part of the brain that deals with emotions. In High Probability Selling, we incorporate that knowledge into the selling process, resulting in higher closing rates.
10. Most sales managers don't know how to get salespeople past their fears. Therefore, most of their salespeople stay in their comfort zones and under-perform. The cost of this problem is enormous.
How to Boost Performance: Almost all salespeople, whether beginners or veterans, can learn how to get past their fears and avoid slumps and/or burnout. It just takes a specialize set of psychological principles. Getting your sales forces to operate at optimum effectiveness is an entirely reachable goal.
Astute readers will notice that there really aren't 10 Reasons That Sales Managers Fail! Underperforming sales managers make two fatal errors in myriad permutations:
1. They fail to target their true market and drive salespeople to "sell" to prospects who are unlikely to buy now.
2. They drive their salespeople to utilize obsolete persuasion systems because they don’t know how to the harness the power of Relationships of Mutual Trust and Respect.
How to Dramatically Improve Sales Performance? Develop a uniform structured, effective and quantifiable selling process that optimizes sales process, increasing the probability of closing the sale every step along the way.
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