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How to Get Someone
to Buy Something
Fear and Loathing of
Cold Calls & Closing
By Larry Grimes
Another “One Little Book”
Most technical books are just too large.
We base our books on the philosophy of the “80-20 rule”, the Pareto Principle.
(You only need 20% of the resources to complete 80% of the work.)
We give you 80% of what you need in “One Little Book”.
http://www.onelittlebook.com/
It all started with “One Little Book”
Copyright © 2008-2009, Larry Grimes
V1.01
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Published by ―OneLittleBook.com‖, ofCourseWARE
http://www.onelittlebook.com/
Without limiting the rights under this copyright, no part of this publication may
be reproduced, stored in or introduced into any retrieval system or transmitted in
any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise), without prior written permission of the author.
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For acknowledgement, I really need to thank Geoffrey James (who I‟ve never
met by the way). I was inspired to write this book when reading his blog and
I borrowed a considerable amount of ideas from his B2B Sales Blog. If you
are involved at all in sales, you really should read his blog regularly:
http://blogs.bnet.com/salesmachine/
Is this just another book on sales?
Well…, yes (and no).
With the recent and rapid innovations in technology and social networking,
the process of selling has advanced dramatically. Much of the available literature on sales is very outdated. Still, some of the traditional knowledge is
still valid. Knowing the difference seems to be a significant key to success.
I‘m a former community college professor, an engineer, a writer, trainer,
instructor, speaker and an amateur behavioral scientist. I‘ve spent a good
deal of my life studying behavior, motivation and productivity.
With this book and the psychology of marketing, I have basically taken a
behavioral based approach to sales, behavior modification, persuasion and
influence of the self and others, using time-tested, practical techniques.
FEAR and REJECTION
I started out creating a small personal reference. The more I worked on it,
the more I realized others may want it too. It is my attempt to create one
small book with an emphasis on handling fear and rejection (just the
thought of cold calling really frightened me and being a former rugby and
semi-pro football player, very little scares me), to carry in your pocket, brief
case or whatever and have it handy for a reference and motivational tool.
Larry Grimes, Author
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IN AN EMERGENCY?
Read this first, any time you:
page
Can’t make a sale!
123
Are immobilized by fear or rejection.
126
Are anxious or can’t relax.
135
Can’t stop negative thinking.
144
Can’t get motivated.
149
Can’t make a cold call.
164
Can’t handle objections.
176
Can’t close a sale.
190
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TABLE of CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Everyone is a Salesperson ........................................................... 9
Chapter 2 The Real Secret................................................................................ 17
Chapter 3 You, the Salesperson .................................................................... 29
Chapter 4 Customers .......................................................................................... 52
Chapter 5 Relationships .................................................................................... 82
Chapter 6 Presentations ................................................................................... 97
Chapter 7 Negotiations .................................................................................. 106
Chapter 8 Follow Through ............................................................................ 113
Appendix A How to Change Your Own Behavior..................... 117
Appendix B How to Overcome a Sales Slump ......................... 123
Appendix C How to Overcome Fear and Rejection ................. 126
Appendix D How to Overcome Anxiety ................................... 135
Appendix E How to Overcome Negative Thinking .................. 144
Appendix F How to Get Motivated .......................................... 149
Appendix G How to Cold Call ................................................... 164
Appendix H How to Overcome Objections .............................. 176
Appendix I How to Close a Sale ................................................ 190
Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 199
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Chapter 1
Everyone is a Salesperson
(just some are better than others)
"Don't bother to buckle up you may not want to survive this.”
John Lithgow, in the 1994 American movie, "Cliffhanger"
EDITOR’S NOTE:
From this point forward in the book, the term
“product” refers to any combination of products,
services, offerings, ideas, concepts or anything
else you may be selling (or trying to sell).
Everyone is a salesperson, selling themselves, their ideas and decisions – Learn to sell as if your life depends on it (because it does).
There is no life skill more valuable and more important than learning
how to sell, yet people have negative attitudes about salespeople.
You're selling any time you're trying to persuade, convince or talk
someone into doing something you want. You are basically:
TRYING TO GET SOMEONE TO BUY SOMETHING.
It's just that some are better and more experienced than others.
What‘s the difference between the skill levels of salespeople?
The novice “product-oriented” salesperson says:
"We have the finest acne cream on the market today."
The average “solution-oriented” salesperson says:
"Your face will glow when you use our acne cream."
9
The true professional “results-oriented” salesperson says:
"Imagine how fantastic you‟re going to feel at your prom with
everyone watching you get out of that limousine with a
completely clear complexion."
It is paramount to your success in sales that you understand what
really motivates you to sell and what drives people to buy.
Everything has to be sold. People are constantly selling or buying
something, all of the time. When you're buying anything, you are
selling your side of the transaction to get the best deal you can.
Anytime you are trying to:
*
Acquire anything.
*
Negotiate for something.
*
Convince someone of something.
You are selling!
If you are trying to get the best of any situation involving yourself
and at least one more person, you are selling.
You are selling:
o
When interviewing, you're selling yourself.
o
When trying to get your kids to do their homework, you're
selling the benefits of education.
o
When fighting a traffic ticket in court, you're selling the fact
that you're really a safe driver.
o
When asking someone for a date, you're selling the benefits
of your companionship.
10
o
When getting a loan, you're selling the ability to pay.
o
When making a decision, you're selling the idea to yourself.
Even when you're buying something, you are selling back at the person selling to you. You're trying to get the best deal, which is why
some end up spending less than others for the same automobile.
“Every actor is somewhat mad, or else he'd be a plumber or a
bookkeeper or a salesman.”
Bela Lugosi, early 20th century American film actor
"SNAKE OIL" and USED CARS
A lot of people feel that sales is the greatest occupation in the
world. To them, it's unbelievably exciting, satisfying, fun and can pay
you handsomely without having to give up all that much of your
own personal freedom and time, especially compared to other occupations that even come close to paying so well.
On the QVC Cable TV channel, Ron Popeil sold over a MILLION
DOLLARS worth of chicken rotisseries at $127 a piece, in one hour!
He could to grab the willing attention of thousands of TV viewers,
overcome their objections to buying something most people would
question whether they really needed and get them to part with a
substantial amount of cash for it, all in a very short time.
One of the richest men in the world, Ross Perot, became a Billionaire, creating EDS (Electronic Data Systems) from the money he
made as a salesman for IBM. Some salespeople make more than
most of the executives at some of the more sales-oriented companies. There is a lot of money to be made in sales. Without sales,
most companies couldn‘t even exist and some don‘t even know it.
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“The salesman knows nothing of what he is selling save that he is
charging a great deal too much for it.”
Oscar Wilde, 19th century British author
On the other hand, there was a post in one of the Internet blogs
about a woman making $40,000 A MONTH and absolutely hated her
sales job. The only reason she remained was the money.
WHAT? Why doesn't everyone feel this way? Why do most people
feel sales is probably the most terrifying, demeaning task and probably the greatest source of rejection than any other occupation?
o
You have to make cold calls.
o
You get hung up on.
o
You get doors slammed in your face.
o
You have to get attention from people who don't want to
give it to you.
o
If you're lucky enough to get their attention, you have to
keep it for much longer than they want to give it to you.
“If a man smiles all the time he's probably selling something that
doesn't work.”
George Carlin, American comedian, journalist
Why in "heck" would you want to be considered by a large portion
of the population to be a “Huckster”, someone involved in the purveying of Snake Oil and Used Cars?
There are a LOT of people who neither like, nor respect salespeople
and especially ones working for their own company, such as MLM.
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“There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an
evening with an insurance salesman?”
Woody Allen, American actor and author
Selling IS difficult. The more the potential buyer:
o
Is aware of many different sellers.
o
Is aware of many different similar products.
o
Is uncomfortable with the price.
o
Doesn't know who makes the product.
o
Doesn't know who the seller is.
o
Doesn't know what the product is.
o
Doesn't know what the product does.
o
Doesn't know who manufactures the product.
The harder it is to sell.
But, some people like Snake Oil and want to buy some. Millions of
people want and need to buy used cars. They need someone they
can trust to buy from.
It's your job as a salesperson to find these people and make
them comfortable about their purchases, hopefully from you.
If you keep everyone involved completely informed at every step in
the sales process, it will go a long way to counter the misconceptions of the Snake Oil salesman.
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RISK
"First you jump off the cliff and build wings on the way down."
Ray Bradbury, American science fiction author
ALL selling (and actually just about everything worthwhile in life) involves risk. If you don‘t assume any risk, you won‘t get anywhere
(anywhere worthwhile, anyway).
WordNet defines ―risk” as:
“…a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
…expose to a chance of loss or damage …in the hope of a favorable outcome.”
NEVER forget, risk goes both ways. Your prospect or customer is
assuming what seems to them to be quite a lot of risk dealing with
you. They‘re risking their time and if they‘re a business and they buy
from you, they may be risking their career.
The Key to Successful Selling
Don't waste your time dealing with people who won't buy what
you're selling (but first, make sure they really aren‟t viable).
The primary keys of success as a salesperson:
o
Value the SCARCE resources of time and money.
*
You HAVE to respect BOTH your time and your potential customers‘.
*
You HAVE to respect that your customer wants (and
needs) to use their money in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
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o
Discover as rapidly as possible whether the person you're
contacting is truly a potential customer.
Is this person the one who makes the decision to buy? Or, is
it their supervisor or their supervisor‘s boss?
o
Discover as quickly as possible if your customer can actually
buy what you're selling.
DO NOT be rude, curt or short with someone when you find
they‘re not an immediate customer. They still may buy in
the future and/or they may have other people they would
recommend to buy what you‘re selling. ALWAYS thank them
for their time.
“Everyone lives by selling something."
Robert Louis Stevenson, 19th century Scottish novelist
There are plenty of potential customers. You just have to find them.
The major problem is most customers have already been contacted
by SEVERAL other salespeople, selling similar products to yours and
already been rejected.
Your job is to be BETTER and counter obstacles to closing the sale.
The salesperson‘s job is to get the customer's willing attention. Respond to all objections in a timely and effective manner to get the
buyer to part with their valuable resources of time and money.
The difference between low-income and high-income salespeople is
the "willing attention" and "objection response".
“There is no such thing as a natural born salesperson. No woman
in the delivery room looked at her newborn child and said, `We've
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got a champion salesperson here!‟ Everyone starts out with pretty much the same abilities. Where you go from there depends on
a lot of factors. However, what you become in life boils down to
what skills you master along the way.
“Selling has been called an art and a science. The title doesn't really matter. What matters is that selling skills are there to be
learned. Like the skill of riding a bicycle, it just takes practice.”
“Another aspect of this myth needs to be addressed. It is that in
order to succeed in sales, you must have `the gift of gab‘. While
it's true that you must not be afraid to talk with people, it's even
more important that you learn to listen. The human body is
amazing. We have been given two eyes, two ears and one mouth.
They should be used in that proportion. Learn to listen and observe twice as much as you talk and you will succeed in sales.”
Tom Hopkins, the dean of American sales trainers
EDITOR’S NOTE:
We have deliberately not included very many
examples, because we want to stress the necessity for you be as unique and creative as possible and not do the same things in the same way
as other salespeople.
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Chapter 2
The Real Secret
(suckers, no more)
“Know where to find the information and how to use it - That's
the secret of success”
Albert Einstein, 20th century German-born physicist
th
P.T. Barnum, the 19 century American showman and circus owner
once said, “There‟s a sucker born every minute”. In the past, way too
many so-called salespeople took this approach to their sales pitch.
This created a very negative stereotype, still generally accepted by
most people today.
With the current accelerated advances in technology and extended
social networking, this approach has little success in today‘s world of
business. Customers are very savvy today. With the Internet, they
can find just about anything they want to know (even if it‟s not true)
within seconds and easily find a reason NOT to buy from you, let
alone even talk to you.
“No hawk swooping down upon his prey, no stag improvising new
detours by which to trick the huntsman, no dog scenting game
from afar is comparable in speed to the celebrity of a salesman
when he gets wind a deal, to his skill in tripping up or forestalling
a rival, and to the art with which he sniffs out and discovers a
possible sale.”
Honore de Balzac, 19th century French novelist
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If you are still using these types of techniques or your management
is forcing them on you, your future in sales is very bleak.
Today‘s customers may need to and be willing to pay for something
to achieve a result, but they hate being "sold" to. Millions of people
automatically assume (until proven otherwise) a salesperson will be
pushy and arrogant. There are millions of salespeople in this world
who think selling is something that you "do to" a customer, not
something that you "do for" a customer.
In today‘s climate, you HAVE to:
o
Have your customer feel they can TRUST you.
o
Leave your customer feeling HAPPY AND SATISFIED.
o
Have your customer GLAD to have dealt with you.
o
Be REMEMBERED by your customer in a positive way.
THE FUNDAMENTALS
"To make an apple pie from scratch ...first invent the universe"
Carl Sagan, American astronomer, author of, "Cosmos"
This is the beginning, the fundamentals of sales, persuasion and negotiation. And, anyone's sales abilities are solidly based on the
foundation, the base, the bedrock of the basics and fundamentals.
When you can't:
*
Make a sale.
*
Are afraid of a sale.
*
Feel rejected by someone.
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It‘s because your sales ability is faulty and this ALWAYS is a problem
with the fundamentals of selling.
The legendary American NFL Hall of Fame football coach Vince
Lombardi (of the Green Bay Packers dynasty in the 1960's, winning
the first two Super Bowls), after embarrassingly losing a game the
team should have easily won, lectured the entire team, both veterans and rookies alike on the "Basics of Football".
He actually held up a football and said, "This is a football".
Side Note: Wide receiver and punter, Max McGee jokingly
spoke up and said, "Coach, you‟re going to have to
slow down. You're going too fast for us”.
He continued to talk about the ball's size and shape, how it can
be kicked, carried and passed. He took the team on the field and
said, "This is a football field". He walked them around, describing
the dimensions, the shape, the rules of the game and how the
game is played. By explaining EVERY fundamental, he was sure
not to leave anything out.
Vince Lombardi was a remarkably successful coach. He continually
taught and coached the basics, firmly establishing a secure foundation before continuing on to more advanced and complicated strategies. He made sure the team had completely mastered a concept
or play, before moving on. When there were problems, he started
over at the very beginning with the most fundamental concepts.
He learned how important this was and how successful it was, when
teaching Latin, Chemistry and Physics to high school students. He
found when teaching these extremely difficult, esoteric subjects, if
he started from the beginning, repeated each individual concept
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until the student understood, he could help almost anyone struggling with the subject become successful.
If a student was faltering at any point, he discovered the student
hadn't mastered an earlier concept. Applying the same techniques
to seemingly not-so-difficult subjects (such as football) ensured the
pupil was proficient.
"The difference between something good and something great is
attention to detail."
Charles R. Swindoll, American clergyman, author
Revisiting the basics and fundamentals forces you to pay more attention to details. Over time and with repetitive use of techniques,
the details will get lost. You tend to forget the real reason why
you're doing something and you just do it. Do it the way you've always done it and the method you use, becomes predictable, boring
and uninteresting, almost guaranteeing a lost sale. The simplest detail is ALWAYS worth revisiting when things aren't going well.
No matter how accomplished you are, never be afraid to start all
over from the beginning. Why is this important? If you had truly
mastered the fundamentals in the beginning, you probably wouldn't
be having problems now.
“Success is neither magical nor mysterious.
Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the
basic fundamentals.”
Jim Rohn, American success speaker and motivator
Every time you start from the beginning, you're looking at the basics
of selling, your techniques, policies and procedures through more
educated eyes. If you're actually paying attention, you'll find things
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you NEVER saw before. Errors and inaccuracies are discovered, new
ideas and concepts are created and you begin a fresh, energized
and enthusiastic start from the beginning, doing what you should
have done in the first place.
Fundamentals from Canadian motivator, Robin Sharma's Blog:
“We forget the fundamentals.”
“Fundamentals, like every one of us is meant to be great — in our
own unique way.”
“Fundamentals, like that stranger walking down the street is just
like you: he was someone's child. He hopes for some happiness.
He once had dreams. He needs to be loved. Fundamentals, like no
matter who you are and what you do, if you choose, you can
make a positive difference at work and in life today.”
“Fundamentals like life are good. And we can find joy in the simplest of things over these coming hours, if we have the good sense
to focus on them.”
The American Heritage Dictionary defines ―sales” as:
"...to persuade (another) to recognize the worth or
desirability of..."
Persuasion is a form of social influence, guiding people toward the
adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic
(though not always logical) means. It is strategy of problem-solving
relying on "appeals" rather than strength.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary defines ―persuasion” as:
"...the act of influencing the mind by arguments or reasons offered, or by anything that moves the mind or passions, or inclines
the will to a determination".
Persuasion is NOT manipulation, which is coercive, negative and a
real barrier to future sales. Manipulation is taking persuasion to the
extreme, where one person benefits at the cost of another.
WordNet.com defines ―manipulation” as:
"...exerting shrewd or devious influence especially
for one's own advantage"
"Worth or desirability" is the VALUE in your product. THIS is what
you're selling, NOT the product itself. You're selling VALUE. Your job
is to convince someone they are receiving GENUINE VALUE for the
exchange of their precious resources.
Wendy Weiss, in her very popular sales book, "Cold Calling for
Women: Opening Doors & Closing Sales":
"...to succeed in sales you MUST believe in the 'WORTH OR
DESIRABILITY' of your product or service. Before you can ever
convince someone else to buy, you must first 'BUY INTO' the
worth or desirability of that product or service is the cornerstone
of making introductory calls and indeed of the entire sales
process. If you don‟t have this deep belief in your product or service, get another product to sell."
After studying what the "Masters of the Universe" (of sales anyway),
Earl Nightingale, Og Mandino and Zig Ziglar, this is how they basically (and collectively) describe as the elements of a sale:
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o
Know your product, company and market (inside - out).
o
Find a potential customer and establish a relationship.
o
Get to know your customer (inside - out), establish rapport
and discover their needs.
o
Convince them what you're offering meets (or better, exceeds) their needs.
*
Adapt your sales approach to customer needs
*
Make your sales presentation memorable.
*
Sell a solution, not a product.
*
Avoid canned sales pitches.
o
Handle ALL their objections.
o
Get their money (get the business, close the sale).
o
Follow up.
o
Get referrals from established, trusting customers.
.
The main problem with the older approaches is some people have
taken these steps as gospel. They‘ve sealed this list of procedures in
stone and sell by checking off each item in order. Some organizations even require their people to strictly follow a list like this.
If you do this, you are violating a fundamental concept of selling
today. The customer‘s wants and needs are left out of the process.
They most likely DON‘T want to follow your list. They probably have
their own list. Salespeople who aren‘t flexible enough to adjust to
the customer‘s desires, needs or requirements of their own organization to buy will lose out to a competitor who does.
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In September 2007, Geoffrey James in his sales blog spells out his
five steps to the selling process:
1.
Adapt your sales approach to customer needs.
2.
Make your sales presentation memorable.
3.
Sell a solution, not a product.
4.
Avoid canned sales pitches.
5.
Close the deal when the moment is right.
A year later in September 2008, he revised the steps:
1.
Discover where your customer is today.
2.
Discover where your customer wants to be.
3.
Position your solution as the best vehicle to get from the
current situation to the desired one.
4.
Repeat steps 1 through 3 with multiple, increasingly important, contacts.
5.
Close the deal.
Brian Dietmeyer, American CEO of e-ThinkINC.com and negotiation
trainer breaks down the selling process in three general steps:
*
Prepare.
*
Present.
*
Negotiate.
ALL of these sets of steps are valid as long as you‘re flexible and always consider the customer. Create your own list based your skills,
your company, your industry and your product.
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THE REAL SECRET:
Just do ALL the above DIFFERENTLY than everyone else.
Highly successful poker players instinctively play the same hand differently every game. They always try to play in a way other players
can't predict, so their opponents are caught guessing and unsure
how to play their hands. They keep their opponents ―off‖ their game.
Ironically, good poker players often play a hand in the obvious way,
because their opponent is expecting something else. If you can predict what the other player is going to do, it's easy for you to know
whether, "to hold 'em or fold 'em".
To be really successful at selling, you ABSOLUTELY have to do everything more uniquely, cleverly and intelligently than most of the other salespeople. You want to keep the customer “off” their game of
trying to catch you in the process of selling. Today‘s savvy customer
seems to be looking for a reason to find another salesperson,
another product, a way to get you off of their phone.
If the prospect can't predict your behavior, you've got a much better
chance of getting/keeping their attention. If what you say is unique,
interesting and memorable, they‘ll listen to you much more than
someone else using "traditional" selling techniques, especially if the
salesperson seems to be working from a list.
SALES SKILLS
What's the difference between novice, average and truly professional salespeople?
Unknowledgeable salespeople attempt to sell products. Product
Marketing is the activity centered on products: defining them, positioning them, comparing them, etc.
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Average, competitive salespeople sell solutions, not products.
Most sales professionals spend an extraordinary amount of time
translating product feature/function information into something the
customer will value, turning the "product" into more of a "solution".
But, the customer doesn't want a product or a solution. Customers
actually (whether they're aware of it, or not) need you to be responsible for results and have no real interest in your products, even if
repackaged as "solutions." The customer wants results. They want
the salesperson to manage those results.
REAL sales professionals sell:
RESULTS
NOT products and NOT solutions.
The novice product-oriented salesperson says:
"We have the finest acne cream on the market today."
The average solution-oriented salesperson says:
"Your face will glow when you use our acne cream."
The true professional results-oriented salesperson says:
"Imagine how fantastic you‟re going to feel at your prom with
everyone watching you get out of that limousine with a
completely clear complexion."
Notice how much creativity and information the results-oriented
salesperson required for their response. The product wasn't even
mentioned. They had to do a lot of homework, but closed the sale.
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The results-oriented person paints an emotional, vivid and memorable picture, making the decision to buy very easy.
How the Internet Changed Sales & Marketing
The Internet has changed the business world in a way no one expected, changing “product selling” into “consultative selling”.
WikiPedia describes “consultative selling” as:
―Consultative selling emphasizes customer needs and meeting
those needs by combining products and/or services to create solutions. A consultative salesperson provides detailed instruction or
advice on a solution that best meets their needs.”
It's created tremendous new opportunities for salespeople who understand it.
Back in the 1990s (the original Dot.Com period), it seemed like almost everyone assumed the Internet was going to remove the
"middleman", the salesperson.
The salesperson has actually become more essential than ever before. Customers soon found even though they could do their own
research on the web, the research eventually involved an expert in
selecting the proper product.
With complicated products and services, few customers want to take
the time and energy to learn the details of every product and service
they need to run their business. Companies want to outsource everything they can and focus on their core specialty.
Selling isn't selling any more. It's an outsourcing service. Rather than
being an information provider/order taker, the salesperson must
now be capable of managing segments of the customer's business
27
the customer prefers not to manage directly. The customer needs
the salesperson to become more like a contract employee paid with
a commission as the result of the outsourcing.
To be successful in sales today, you need to become THE EXPERT in
THAT particular segment of your customers' businesses.
Selling Before the Internet:
1.
Customers know the product they want.
2.
Prove your offerings are superior to the others.
3.
Build a trusting relationship with the customer.
4.
Close sale. Write order. Follow up. Ask for more business.
Selling After the Internet:
1.
Customers are too busy to know what's needed.
2.
Build relationship so customer trusts you to deliver.
3.
Remove confusion from conflicting information.
4.
Take ownership of customer's needs.
There is GOOD NEWS and BAD NEWS!
The BAD NEWS is there may seem to be too many people selling
too many things to too few people.
The GOOD NEWS is (you can ask practically any previous customer),
most salespeople don‘t seem to have a clue to this, "SECRET".
——————————————————————————————
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Chapter 3
You, the Salesperson
(Willie Loman never made a lot of money)
"Who are you really? And what were you before? And what did
you do? And what did you think?"
Humphrey Bogart, 20th century American actor
The greatest obstacle you will ever face as a salesperson (or any occupation) is negative thinking. The most successful people in the
world have to battle with it continually. The best positive thinkers
often find themselves falling back into thinking the opposite of their
normal thought. You must maintain a continual vigil to ensure you
operate at peak performance, effectiveness and efficiency.
You must assume responsibility for your own thoughts and question
your values, because that‘s where all your thinking (and reacting)
originates. But, you first have to be sure you are receiving exactly
what is presented to you, otherwise everything is moot.
PERCEPTION
If your perception is faulty, your reasoning and overall thought
processes will return faulty results (“garbage in — garbage out”). This
leads to inappropriate reactions, incorrect responses and embarrassing behavior. To perceive and think properly is a MUST for a good
sales acumen (as well as almost everything else in life). If you can‘t
see what‘s really in front of you or hear what‘s really said to you, you
are beginning with a very strong disadvantage.
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To anyone else, you will appear incompetent and/or ignorant if you
have to continually qualify what you think others are saying or
doing, or worse if you act on an incorrect assumption. How many
times have you seen people waste precious resources on a project
and get it wrong because they didn‘t understand it in the first place?
Patterns in the Chaos
If you understand how the mind works, it can go a long way to interpreting reality accurately. To begin with, everyone‟s perception is
faulty. The conscious mind can only assimilate a limited amount of
information, so it uses filtering mechanisms to choose what stimuli
or input to process and what to ignore.
The subconscious mind is constantly searching for familiar patterns,
primarily patterns that may indicate possible danger. This primitive
quality of the autonomic nervous system is left over after millions of
years of evolution. Your subconscious mind‘s primary responsibility
is to ensure the survival of the species. Faces, sounds and places can
come close enough to previously recognized patterns that the subconscious pays extra attention to them. This explains the “Déjà Vu”
phenomenon, just as if we really had experienced this before.
When our subconscious mind reacts without conscious awareness,
we're not apprehending and understanding the difference between
our "inner" and "outer" worlds (fantasy and reality). The subconscious mind doesn‘t know the difference between our imagination
and reality. Our subconscious makes very quick, grand assumptions
and generalizations for us. These unthinking generalizations help
create our prejudices.
The subconscious mind has to make sense of everything, even the
nonsensical. It's genetically-programmed. The primitive subconscious mind isn't aware that our survival isn't in danger. It doesn't
30
realize when we have time for our conscious mind to figure things
out, it just reacts. We unfortunately tend to be lazy and too often
assume our first thoughts about an event are correct.
Since it‘s the subconscious mind that recognizes this “pattern”, the
effect on the psyche is very strong. This is why some people still insist they are completely right; despite overwhelming evidence that
they‘re wrong. All this occurs with very little conscious awareness.
Haven‘t you ever been in a situation where you can‘t explain being
uncomfortable with a person you‘ve never met before or a place
you‘ve never been before?
The only way to combat this unconscious, primeval urge to be right
is to ALWAYS ASSUME YOU MAY BE WRONG, despite common
sense or any other evidence that you may be sure you‘re correct.
Until 1940, for Newtonian physics to be universal, the speed of light
had to be variable. Back then, astronomers observing a full solar
eclipse noticed a phenomenon that completely changed our common sense notions of time and space. Until that time, most everyone, including the most prominent scientists, thought time and distance were constant and the speed of light, like the speed of everything else in the universe, was variable.
The astronomers detected the gravitational force of the earth was
bending, altering the path of the solar rays of light around the
moon: proof the speed of light was not a variable, but a constant
value.
In 1905 an unknown author, unrecognized as a scientist, published a
three-page paper in an obscure scientific journal, without any proof
or authority, proposing the speed of light to be constant. On that
day in 1940, Albert Einstein became an instant celebrity. His theory
2
of relativity, E=mc , proved that properties (size, weight, density,
31
speed) of everything in the physical universe existed only in relation
to everything else. We perceive the universe AS WE SEE IT, NOT AS
IT REALLY IS. What we observe, is not true reality.
A man with a poor formal education and a background in mathematics severely lacking in credibility, daydreamed almost constantly
about the speed of light. His imagination and visualizations changed
everything we knew about physical science.
He was right and practically EVERYONE else was WRONG.
If you approach every situation with the mindset that YOU could
possibly be wrong, you open your mind to more possibilities.
People can keep different thoughts or concepts in their mind seemingly simultaneously, but this is only an illusion. Your mind thinks
so rapidly, switching between different thoughts that it appears to
be thinking them all at the same time. Most people can have three
at a time. Extremely intelligent people can have up to seven. But,
your mind can actually only think of ONE thing at a time.
An optical illusion:
This is a famous perceptual illusion from
the 1800s where the brain switches between seeing a young girl and an old
woman (or "wife" and "mother in law").
One is a young woman from the back,
looking over her left shoulder. The other
is a profile of an old woman with a large
head, nose and chin, looking down to the bottom left corner. If
you‘re having trouble, the eye of the old woman is the ear of the
32
young one. The necklace of the young woman is the mouth of the
old one.
Can you see both? Yes, but you can only see ONE AT A TIME. You
can only think of one thing at a time. If you think you see both,
you‘re actually only switching back and forth very rapidly.
When you know you are completely right, that is the only thing you
can think of. It blocks out other thoughts and possibilities. To others, you may seem to be arrogant and/or obnoxious if they think
differently than you. The last thing you need is to have a customer
think these things about you.
We don't have to be victims of our primitive intelligence, we can
think and reason. We can avoid being trapped into reactive, illogical,
subconscious thinking, by reasoning and using our rational, intellectual common sense.
When dealing with others, remember this:
o
You may be wrong.
Assume the other person is possibly correct and both of you
can create a mutual consensus with a proper conversation.
But, you do have to overcome the obstacle of having the
customer insist that they are right. You have to give them
overwhelming evidence, authority and substantiation of
your side of any disagreement.
o
You may not know enough.
Assume the other person knows more than you.
Ask quality questions to assess the situation.
33
o
You may not have enough experience.
Assume the other person has more experience than you.
With these attitudes, you are in a much better position to understand the other person‘s perspective. With enough knowledge of
both sides, you can tremendously increase your negotiating ability.
NEGATIVE THOUGHT
Negative thinking can put you into a downward cycle of failure.
Value Circle of Feedback:
If you don't have solid, positive core values and you are experiencing poor results (such as rejection), it reinforces your negative beliefs
(“I‟m not a good salesperson”), manifesting in your attitude (“Why
even try?” — You‟re just going through the motions), creating an
emotion (fear of failure), affecting your performance (losing the sale),
34
adversely contributing to more negative (and even worse) results. All
of this reinforces your shaky foundation of negative values.
It's a downward cycle. The easiest way to get out of a downward
cycle and back to an upward cycle is to change your beliefs about
your negative thoughts, if your core values are solid.
"Never underestimate your power to change yourself."
H. Jackson Brown, Jr., American author
If those beliefs are strong enough, they'll change your attitude and
emotions, improving your performance and results, reinforcing your
core value system.
Instead of clinging to a negative belief, such as:
"Rejection means I'm a horrible person".
Consider this question:
“How much MORE successful could I be if I REALLY BELIEVED the
same beliefs about rejection that motivate and energize the most
successful people in the world?”
This Value Cycle also maps positive values and becomes an upward
cycle. It works in the opposite direction.
If you have solid, positive core values and you're experiencing excellent results, it reinforces your positive beliefs, manifesting in your
attitude, creating an emotion (elation), affecting your performance,
affirmatively creating even more positive results, another illustration
of the value in positive thinking.
"If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those
precious values that all reality hinges on moral foundations..."
35
Martin Luther King, Jr., American civil-rights leader
VALUES
What‘s really important to you? — What do you really value?
"Personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and
values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with
them."
Stephen Covey, American leadership consultant and writer
"It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values
are."
Roy Disney, American Film Writer, Nephew of Walt Disney
"...the great parts of the miseries of mankind are brought upon
them by false estimates they have made of the value of things."
Benjamin Franklin, American politician, inventor, scientist
What are your core values, not what you think you value, say you
value, want to value, wish you could value? What is the true source
of your real core values? The answer is your character.
Character
“It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved
us into action and discipline that enabled us to follow through.”
Zig Ziglar, American sales guru
Without character, NO ONE, including you, can trust the value of
your thoughts and actions. Without honesty, they have no value. A
person's character is evident by their actions. What they say they
36
think and what they say they do is totally immaterial. It's how they
act on a continual basis that is infinitely more important.
Former U.S. Congressman and University of Oklahoma quarterback,
J. C. Watts once said,
"Character is what we do when no one is looking."
There is one and only one, principle to judge character:
Don't do ANYTHING to ANYONE
you wouldn't want them DOING TO YOU
(or to anything you are responsible for).
The American military academies have a motto to judge character:
"I will not LIE, CHEAT or STEAL, nor TOLERATE anyone who does."
You can‘t have one set of rules for yourself and another for others.
If we are fully aware of anyone else violating our character principles
and we tolerate it, is our character intact? The answer is:
Would we want someone doing this to us?
This should be obvious, but to most people it isn't. The fullyfunctioning character MUST exhibit ethical behavior at ALL TIMES. If
we can't live in our "outer" world with honesty, our "inner" world is
full of turmoil and confusion, with what psychologists call, "cognitive
dissonance".
“It is the eternal struggle between these two principles: right and
wrong. They are the two principles that have stood face to face
from the beginning of time and will ever continue to struggle. It is
the same spirit that says, `You work and toil and earn bread, and
I'll eat it.‟"
37
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the U.S.
If you feel it is okay to break the rules sometimes, it becomes more
and more difficult for you define, "sometimes". You begin to make
LOUSY decisions. You can't predict or control your own behavior.
Character is easily evident by how we handle mistakes. We learn
from our mistakes. As long as we alter our behavior from the
mistake forward, we make fewer errors over time. Each time we
don't do wrong as we would've done before, our character grows.
Character is built with discipline.
Discipline
WordNet defines ―discipline” as:
“…the trait of being well behaved. …training to improve strength
or self-control”
You build your character and reinforce the benefits of discipline by
doing what you know is the correct thing to do, but for some reason
(laziness, discomfort, anxiety), you don‘t want to do it. Paperwork,
cold calls, follow-ups, all have to be done and you need the discipline to force yourself to do these things, especially when you really
don‘t want to do them.
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience
in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to
say to yourself, `I have lived through this horror. I can take the
next thing that comes along.‘ ...You must do the thing you think
you cannot do."
Eleanor Roosevelt, former American First Lady
38
As Tony Robbins says, if you don‘t want to do something you really
need to do right now:
You MUST do it!
And, do it now! You‘ll feel much better, because it‘s done, you‘ve
reinforced your discipline to make it easier to do in the future and
you‘ve contributed tremendously to your character.
Back to THE GOLDEN RULE
You use your character and discipline to keep your values in check.
It all comes down to the principle that is as old as mankind. It's "The
Golden Rule" - found in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Seneca, as well as:
"Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do
unto you!"
Confucius, Chinese thinker and social philosopher, author
of, "Analects" (15:23), approx. 500 BC
"…do unto others as you would have them do unto you..."
The Bible, book of Matthew (7:12)
"And what you hate, do not do to anyone."
Ancient Jewish book of Tobit (4:15)
[Included in Christian Aprocrypha as the book of Tobias]
"Do not do to others what you would not like done to yourselves."
2nd-Century documents, Didache and Apology of Aristides
39
"Whatever I judge reasonable or unreasonable for another to do
for me, that by the same judgment I declare reasonable or unreasonable that I in the like case should do for him."
Samuel Clarke (1675-1729), major intuitionist, philosopher
But we've heard this all our lives, why should it be different now?
Authority figures from our past giving this advice didn't follow it
themselves, so why should we?
The reason to have integrity has nothing to do with anyone, but
ourselves. We like ourselves. We can trust ourselves. We're the kind
of person we would like and want to know. Think how it would feel,
not having to say to yourself:
*
―Why did I do that?”
*
”Why did I say that?”
*
”Why didn't I do that right the first time?”
With integrity, you just don't treat yourself badly.
It's all so simple — just, don't do what you wouldn't want done.
“Becoming a successful professional at selling takes a little more
effort than it took you to learn to live with the Golden Rule. In
selling, rather than treating people as you would like to have
them treat you, you want to treat people as they want to be
treated. Every action, gesture and word should make them feel
important. It should tell them that you are there to serve their
needs. You're not the stereotypical salesperson who is only out to
get their money. With an attitude of servitude, your business will
grow exponentially."
Tom Hopkins, the dean of American sales trainers
40
In a society where you continually interact with others, if you don‘t
think what others value is important, your own values are virtually
impotent and immaterial. They only have meaning to you.
BELIEFS
The American Heritage Dictionary defines a ―belief” as:
"Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or
validity of something...”
“Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular
tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons."
What is true for you in your world? That is your belief. Severe problems arise when a person‘s beliefs do not agree with the beliefs of
others. Some even have inner beliefs that conflict. It‘s difficult, if not
impossible to transact with customers with incongruent beliefs.
Beliefs come directly from values. If you have problems with your
beliefs, it‘s because you have problems with your values. When
there‘s a disagreement in beliefs, examine your values. If you can‘t
change your beliefs, it‘s because you can‘t change your values. You
have to seek business elsewhere.
"The person we believe ourselves to be will always act in a manner consistent with our self-image."
Brian Tracy, American sales trainer
If you bypass your beliefs and values (“sell your soul”), your personal
and professional life, as well as your long term income, will suffer. Is
it really worth the sacrifice of your long term life‘s vision and purpose for a short term gain? The internal struggle you create will
eventually affect your mental and physical health, as well.
41
“I can believe anything provided it is incredible.”
Oscar Wilde, 18th century Irish playwright, novelist, poet
There‘s a ton of business available in pornography, but many people
can‘t get involved because of their beliefs, beliefs validated by their
core values. Validation is directly related to values.
False Beliefs Are False Limitations
Our experiences lead us to believe things about ourselves. In our
mind, it doesn't matter whether these beliefs are really true or not. If
we accept them as true, they are true for us. False beliefs are just as
valid as true ones.
Abandon Mistaken Beliefs
"Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes,
that he also believes to be true."
Demosthenes, ancient Greek statesman and orator
It is not just the process of going from negative thinking to positive
thinking. It is thinking properly by correctly interpreting reality.
Both positive thinking and negative thinking are filtered through our
belief system. Right thinking comes from being in touch with reality,
being aware of what is really true in any situation.
You MUST avoid negative anticipation. You can't ignore problems. It
is important to face your challenges head on. If you face them with a
clear and open mind, a mind free from negative anticipation, you
have more energy and wisdom to handle problems.
42
Are you psychologically prepared to sell?
Business trainer, Ron Willingham in his book, "Integrity Selling for the
21st Century", says these core beliefs are required to be psychological prepared to sell:
*
"I am aware of my basic values about people and life."
*
"I know the proper steps to selling."
*
"I honestly believe I can take these steps."
*
"I really am committed to taking these actions."
*
"I really believe in the product I'm selling."
If these core beliefs are incomplete, incongruent, unbalanced or inconsistent, you'll be constantly waging an internal battle with yourself. You're conflicted and don't really know why or if selling is really
the right career for you.
Did you ever wonder why sales organizations encouraging high
pressure tactics have such high turnover rates?
Anyone that deeply feels a difference between their personal values
and the values of their company's or customer‘s culture can become
physically ill. Such internal conflicts lead to stress-related illnesses,
alcoholism, drug abuse and depression (all are some form of escape).
You're going to spend a third of your life at work. Why spend it
doing something that makes you miserable?
Beliefs that Cause Sales Failures
Three very common beliefs that ALWAYS create failure in sales:
1.
“My self-worth is based on what others think of me.”
43
When convinced that people think badly of them, these
people suffer from low self-esteem and lack of confidence.
2.
“My past failures affect and limit my future performances.”
Some find failure so unpleasant they avoid it at all costs.
They avoid any risk. There are NO sales without risk.
3.
“My life is controlled by the stars, fate or luck.”
Some people believe their status in life and potential as a
person is completely determined by luck, fate or divine intervention.
These people don't take personal responsibility for their
actions. They tend to ignore anything that could show the
folly of what they believe. No one wants to feel foolish, so
they go out of their way defend their beliefs wholeheartedly.
If you believe any of this, you cannot be successful in sales.
"...people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten
at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who
have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have
taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose
opinions about them were not worth a ..."
Mark Twain, American humorist, satirist and writer
ATTITUDES
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings
can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."
William James, American author, physician, psychologist
44
The American Heritage Dictionary defines ―attitude” as:
“A state of mind or a feeling; disposition”
Your attitude may be a state of mind, but you can‘t judge your attitude. Many people easily delude themselves into thinking or feeling
they have a good attitude or positive thinking. Others (in a much
better position to evaluate), may have a totally different opinion.
Attitude is a state of mind, but it is an outward manifestation of your
core values and beliefs. Faulty values can create a poor belief structure, creating a bad attitude.
"SUCCESS — it's a matter of having a positive attitude and applying motivational principles on a daily basis."
Jeff Keller, American attorney, motivational speaker
Your attitude is only what others perceive it to be, no matter what
you think it is. If you think your attitude is okay, and other people
are acting otherwise, you are probably wrong.
"The basic thing is that everyone wants happiness, no one wants
suffering. And happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors. If your own mental attitude is correct, even if you remain in a hostile atmosphere, you feel happy."
The Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual and political leader
If you are perceived as a person with a bad or poor attitude, hopefully you‘ll get enough feedback from others to give you motivation
to change your values and beliefs. If your life is not what you want it
to be and you seem to be blaming other people or outside events,
you need to learn to control your emotions, so you can alter your
value/belief system.
45
"Attitude isn't the only thing, but it is one thing that can make a
difference in your life."
John C. Maxwell, American author and leadership expert
Where Did You Get Your Attitude?
Have you ever heard someone say, "Attitude is everything"? This
seems to be a favorite line of some motivational speakers. According to them, a great attitude is all you need to be successful. Unfortunately, it's just simply not true.
A motivational speaker may make you feel as if you have a better
attitude, but the next day you're not sure why.
“Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman - not the
attitude of the prospect.”
W. Clement Stone, American author, motivator
The promise that "Attitude is everything" is hollow. If believe that, it
may actually hurt more than help you. If attitude WERE everything,
then the only real thing between you and a gazillionaire is just the
belief "you can do it". There IS another factor, TALENT.
On the TV show, "American Idol", plenty of terrible singers loudly
insist they really can sing. It's just their opinion and opinions can
obviously be wrong. Just because you want to do something,
doesn't mean you can do it. No attitude can substitute for a lack of
talent. Again, it‘s so important in life to interpret reality accurately.
“I have a talent for convincing people to try something new. I am
a good salesman. When I'm on form, I can sell anything.”
Brian Eno, English musician, composer, producer
46
The BIG FIVE Attitude Obstacles:
*
Discouragement.
*
Change.
*
Problems.
*
Fear.
*
Failure.
Most people have to deal with at least one of those obstacles every
day, if not every hour!
"Attitude is an inward feeling expressed by outward behavior."
John C. Maxwell, American author and leadership expert
Some people mask their negative attitudes, but the cover-up
doesn't last long and the real attitude ALWAYS manages to wiggle
its way out into the light of day for all to observe eventually.
Your attitude colors every aspect, every corner of your life. It is the
mind's paintbrush. It can paint everything in bright, vibrant colors,
creating a masterpiece or it can color everything dark and dreary.
Attitude is:
*
*
*
*
*
*
Your best friend or worst enemy.
More honest than your words.
What draws people to you or repels them from you.
Librarian of your past.
Speaker of the present.
Prophet of your future.
"The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is
positive or negative."
W. Clement Stone, American author, motivator
47
There is NOT a single portion of your life not affected by your attitude. Your future completely depends upon your attitude today.
EMOTIONS
"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with
creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion."
Dale Carnegie, renowned American author of,
"How to Win Friends and Influence People"
Managing your emotions is probably the greatest asset you can
possess. To avoid emotional interference with situations requiring
logical, concrete thought and decision making, emotions can severely cloud perception and response time.
Review Appendixes A through F. They deal with recognizing, handling and controlling emotions.
“Emotion turning back on itself, and not leading on to thought or
action is the element of madness.”
John Sterling, 19th century British author
PERFORMANCE
“Practice as if you are the worst. Perform as if you are the best.”
Anonymous sports coach
You cannot perform in a manner inconsistent with the way you see
yourself. If you have solid values and beliefs, study and rehearse
with purpose and passion, you can‘t help but deliver your best performance and get the best results.
48
The secret, as with anything in life, is to make it look easy. If you
practice enough, the performance becomes second nature and
practically automatic. When this happens, it allows you to divert
your attention and energy to paying attention to the customer.
NEVER get so rehearsed that you become complacent, scripted and
predictable. This is worse than not rehearsing at all. NEVER lose your
interest, enthusiasm and energy to be the best.
“Let your performance do the thinking.”
Horace Jackson Brown, American Olympic athlete
RESULTS
Results are the outcome of your endeavors, expenditure of your
precious time and energy. Without measurable, positive, effective
results, everything is a wasted effort. Are you just going through the
motions? Or, are you achieving results you‘re proud of?
"There's a difference between interest and commitment.”
“When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when
circumstance permit.”
“When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses,
only results."
Art Turock, American corporate trainer, speaker
There‘s an old saying: “With ham and eggs, the chicken is involved,
but the pig is REALLY committed.” You need to be committed.
To continue to create more and gain continual momentum, you absolutely need to read, study, listen to something every day to improve yourself, your abilities, your capabilities, your skills, your
49
knowledge and your professionalism. Always strive to become a
better person and a better salesperson.
Self-Education
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then
success is sure.”
Mark Twain, American humorist, satirist and writer
ALL education is self-education. You are the only person in control
of what you learn. You will only learn if you know how to learn.
The big secret in Epistemology (the theory of knowledge) is one
thing so few people seem to be aware of in the process of learning:
ALL LEARNING IS BY DISCOVERY.
To retain, recall, analyze, synthesize and learn anything, you have to
discover it for yourself. It can‘t be told to you and you really can‘t be
taught anything. That‘s why most sales training and motivation
classes, seminars and sessions give you a warm, fuzzy feeling until a
week later, when you start asking yourself, “What did I learn?”
If you don't discover for yourself what you're supposed to know,
you'll never really learn it. If you don't get that fulfilling, selfactualizing, "AHA!", "eureka!", "I've found it!" you're basically wasting
your time. As an adult, self study is often the best way to learn.
"You see, it's never the environment; it's never the events of our
lives, but the meaning we attach to the events — how we interpret them — that shapes who we are today and who we'll become
tomorrow."
Tony Robbins, American self-improvement guru
50
In sales, especially in technical sales, education is a continuing responsibility. You get behind at your peril. Everyone learns in their
own way, at their own pace and for their own reasons.
You need to discover for yourself, the best way for you to assimilate
and retain necessary information and experience, then always repeat
this method when trying to learn something new.
It is your job to create an environment where your customer discovers and educates themselves the value of what you‘re offering.
"We learn through experience and experiencing. No one teaches
anyone anything. This is as true for the infant moving from kicking to crawling to walking as it is for the scientist with his equations. If the environment permits it, anyone can learn whatever he
chooses to learn; and if the individual permits it, the environment
will teach him everything it has to teach.”
Viola Spolin, American drama teacher and author
If you don't completely understand it, go over it repeatedly. Each
time, look at it from a different angle, perspective, speed (slow down
each time) and with a different motivation. Keep at it until you get
that wonderful, self-actualizing, "AHA" experience of "getting it”.
"In my conversations with hundreds of top salespeople over the
years, I have found that they all have one thing in common. They
have taken the time to sit down and create a clear blueprint for
themselves and their future lives. Even if they started the process
of goal setting and personal strategic planning with a little skepticism, every one of them has become a true believer."
Brian Tracy, American sales guru and trainer
——————————————————————————————
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——————————————————————————————
Chapter 4
Customers
(all that is worth doing is what we do for others)
“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
James Stewart, American Actor and motion picture star
It should be obvious, but without customers, sales are impossible.
But, without qualified and motivated customers, the process can be
very depressing and make sales very close to impossible. It‘s your
job to qualify and motivate your prospects into buying customers.
Believe it or not, some “traditional” salespeople still view the customer as an obstacle to sales, someone to “coerce” to buy as soon as
possible so they can move on to the next one and keep their quota.
Even if a prospect doesn‘t turn into a direct sale, almost everyone
you establish a good rapport with can help expand your network.
“First, treat every customer as if he is going to be a great source of
word-of-mouth advertising for you. Remember that every person
knows about 300 other people."
Brian Tracy, American sales guru and trainer
Jeffrey Gitomer in his book, "The Sales Bible”, describes how to turn
a prospect into a customer with 39½ rules. Here‘s a sample:
o
Have a positive attitude.
o
Believe in yourself, your product and your company.
o
Redefine rejection. They're rejecting your offer, not you.
52
o
Set and achieve goals.
o
Understand the customer.
o
Be prepared and be sincere.
o
Anticipate and overcome objections.
o
When you ask a closing question shut up and listen.
o
Follow up.
o
Don't blame anyone or anything, but yourself.
o
Be persistent. Take "NO" as a challenge, NOT a rejection.
o
Be passionate, memorable, creative, positive, professional.
If you don‘t put the customer first, ahead of you, ahead of your
commission, ahead of your company, ahead of your product, you
are creating your own obstacles and making sales difficult.
If you don‘t consider:
o
Who the customer is?
o
What the customer really wants?
o
What the customer really needs?
o
What keeps the customer awake at night?
o
How will their life will change after doing business with you?
You don‘t have a clue about how to conduct business and sell in
today‘s environment!
53
Customers:
o
Are VERY busy.
o
Attention span is VERY SHORT.
o
Will only connect if they feel valued by you.
o
With common interests, have a natural rapport.
o
Love to teach you things they know.
o
Buy emotionally and defend logically.
Customers want to feel they're:
*
Important.
*
Appreciated.
*
Understood.
Customers also want:
*
You to truly listen.
*
To associate with others who can help.
*
Two basic things in life: success and happiness.
Customers are:
*
Drawn to those who show genuine interest.
*
Not particularly interested in you.
"If you don‟t take care of your customer, your competitor will."
Bob Hooey, Canadian sales trainer and motivator
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COMMUNICATION
The American Heritage Dictionary defines ―communication” as:
"The exchange of thoughts, messages, or information..."
Communication is basically the (hopefully accurate) transfer of information between two or more people. Get that? “BETWEEN
PEOPLE” — Remember, if you‟re talking, you‟re NOT listening.
"Ideal conversation must be an exchange of thought, and not, as
many of those who worry most about their shortcomings believe,
an eloquent exhibition of wit or oratory."
Emily Post, 20th century American author, "etiquette" expert
The primary things to remember with communication are:
o
It NEVER matters what you think you said.
People often say things they didn't intend to say and don't
recall actually saying it.
While speaking, if you are distracted or if you pay too much
attention to what you've said in the past or what you're
going to say in the future, you will often NOT say what you
think you're saying in the present.
o
What REALLY matters is what they understand and retain.
People often hear things not actually said.
While listening, if you are distracted, if you pay too much
attention to what you may recall in the past or what you
think you will hear in the future, you will often NOT hear
what is said in the present.
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The omission, replacement or transposition of just one or two words
can dramatically alter the intent of a communication.
This "attention filtering" applies to printed, graphical and textual information, as well. You can be distracted while writing and they can
be distracted while reading. Just because you've read something, it
doesn't necessarily mean you grasp what was actually intended.
In the eyes of the reader, ANY spelling, diction and/or grammatical
errors in printed communication, decreases its accuracy, validity,
importance and professionalism (often dramatically).
It is important to ALWAYS follow up any important communication
with a question of clarification. ALWAYS make sure the other person
is aware of EXACTLY what you meant to say.
The Elements Of Communication
The "7% - 38% - 55%" Rule:
You've probably seen this "rule" in a communication seminar or
course somewhere. The original research is from Albert Mehrabian (Professor Emeritus of Psychology, UCLA) in 1971.
Mehrabian determined the proportion of meaning in any message:
7%
is Choice of Words.
38%
is Tone of Voice.
55%
is Body language.
Mehrabian reached conclusion with experiments dealing with communications of feelings and attitudes (such as like and dislike).
The main thing to remember is:
ONLY 7% Of Communication is in Words.
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When interpreting the meaning of face-to-face communications,
you really need to be aware of how aspects (other than the words),
influence the delivery of the message. Basically, you MUST pay very
careful attention to yours and the other person's attitude much
more than the words both you both use.
When practicing any presentation, in addition to WHAT you're
going to say, also rehearse HOW you're going to say it and HOW
you
will
move
when
you're
talking.
Get
feedback
from
friends/associates to determine the effectiveness of your delivery.
Also remember, on the telephone, all this means:
"TONE OF VOICE" is MORE important than the words.
Your voice tone is ALWAYS evident to your customer. If you‘re not
honestly positive and enthusiastic, your tone of voice reveals it.
BODY LANGUAGE
In any face-to-face interaction in sales, if you don't have at least a
basic understanding of body language, your chances of success are
significantly diminished before you even walk in the door.
Body language is communication using body movements and/or
gestures and facial expressions. This includes the most subtle
movements many people are not aware of, including winking and
slight movements in the eyebrows.
People send and receive non-verbal signals. The idea of mirroring
body language to put people at ease is commonly used in interviews. It can set the person being interviewed at ease. Mirroring the
body language of someone else may indicate they understand the
other person.
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Body language signals may have a goal other than communication.
o
One of the most basic and powerful body-language signals
is when a person crosses their arms across the chest. This
may indicate a person is putting up an unconscious barrier
between themselves and others.
It can also indicate the person's arms are cold which would
be clarified by rubbing the arms or huddling. When the
overall situation is amicable, it can mean a person is thinking deeply about what is being discussed. In a serious or
confrontational situation, it may mean a person is expressing opposition. This is especially true if the person is leaning
away from the speaker.
o
Constant eye contact may indicate a person is thinking positively about whatever the speaker is saying.
But, it can also mean the other person doesn't trust the
speaker enough to "take their eyes off" of the speaker. Lack
of eye contact may indicate negativity.
Be careful when trying to interpret lack of eye contact.
People with personality problems or mild anxiety disorders
are often unable to make eye contact without discomfort.
Eye contact is often a secondary misleading gesture because we're taught from an early age to make eye contact
when speaking.
o
Disbelief is often indicated by averted gaze, touching the
ear or scratching the chin. When a person is not being convinced with what someone is saying, attention will wander
and the eyes will stare away for an extended period of time.
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o
Boredom can be indicated with the head tilting to the side
or the eyes looking straight at the speaker but being slightly
unfocused.
But, a head tilt may also be a sore neck and unfocused eyes
can indicate visual problems.
o
Interest can be indicated through posture (leaning forward)
or extended eye contact.
o
Deceit or possibly withholding information can SOMETIMES
be indicated when someone touches their face during conversation.
Other researchers have determined the level of nonverbal communication can be as high as 80% of communication. More reasonably
it could be at around 50-65 percent.
PERSONAL SPACE
When involved with anyone in a close interaction, you need to be
aware of the psychological phenomenon of personal space.
If you are closer than arm‘s reach, you are in someone‘s personal
space. But, it is also culturally defined. For instance, people from the
Middle East and China tend to have a smaller personal space, but do
not count on it. Just be aware they may seem to crowd you.
You should NEVER create a situation where a person believes
their intimate space is or is about to be, invaded with another
person or an object.
A person in this position will clam up and practically refuse to
pay attention to anything. Even if their sense of security is restored, they will remember who originally violated their security.
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If for any reason, you need to approach a person's intimate
space when they wouldn't normally expect it (such as a handshake), ALWAYS ask for permission first.
When a person feels their space is compromised, to create at least
the illusion of more space, they will often tense up, hold their arms
close to their body (often crossed) and avoid eye contact.
FINDING CUSTOMERS
There are three ways of finding new customers:
1.
Cold calling.
Go out and find new customers.
2.
Networking.
If your current customers trust you, they will go out of their
way to help you find other new customers.
3.
Demand creation (most expensive and time-consuming).
Create conditions where customers come find you.
Advertise and use Public Relations, using testimonials.
Cold Calling
There‘s good news and bad news about cold calling. The bad news
is you usually HAVE to do a lot of cold calling earlier in your sales
career. The good news is once you have a good-sized customer
base, the personal referrals you get from that network ensure you
don‘t have to cold call much, unless you encounter a sales slump.
Review Appendix H — “How to Make a Cold Call”
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Networking or Referral Selling
1.
Ask people who trust you.
The most effective referrals always come from people who
already know and trust you.
When you're bootstrapping a network, you're better off using your personal contacts than your business contacts.
2.
Ask at the right time.
Ask existing customers ONLY after you've established a relationship with good rapport and it's obvious they trust you.
The best time to ask a client for a referral is after you've
proven you can deliver. You can ask earlier than that, but
only if your sales skills and industry knowledge have created
enormous credibility.
3.
Ask at the natural time.
There is no point in the sales cycle that is always the right
time to ask. When you're getting referrals, you're leveraging
social connections, even when those connections are in a
business context.
Ideally, each contact with a potential "referral source" has
more the feeling of a meeting between friends (or potential
friends) rather than a formal interaction between the salesperson and a potential customer.
4.
Ask for an action, not just a contact name and number.
If all you get from the referral source is some contact information, you're just setting yourself up for a cold call.
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While you can always say something like, "Joe told me to contact you", these phrases are used so frequently they're meaningless.
For all the contact knows, your customer might have given
you their name just to get you off the phone! Rather than
asking for a name, ask the referral source to call or email the
contact and then get back to you to confirm the action has
been taken.
5.
Follow up regularly and religiously.
Contact the source of your referral within 24 hours of the
conversation and express gratitude. This is not only polite; it
allows you to gracefully remind your contact of their commitment to make the referral. Send a gift, if you want.
After you have contacted the person you were referred to,
send another thank you/status report email to the referrer.
If the referral results in a sale, send another thank you.
Demand Creation
1.
Printed material.
Marketing tends to use too much printed material, too
much jargon, too many buzzwords. Don't use it or rely on it
unless you absolutely need to or are asked to provide it. Although when asked for a brochure, make sure this is not an
immediate opportunity to handle an objection or keep the
sale moving forward. A customer asking for printed material
can terminate a presentation.
Some feel marketing material should emphasize ―benefits‖.
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The problem with product "benefits" is they're always the
same. Every automobile gets you where you're going. Why
would you bother to point it out?
2.
Use testimonials in any printed material.
What works for demand creation is with TESTIMONIALS, real
customer narratives with high emotional content. With
something unique about the product that either saves the
customer from massive pain or creates massive pleasure,
preferably both.
Dell Computer did some research into the effectiveness of
their marketing and found the only real thing that drove
buying behavior was a positive recommendation from a
peer, a testimonial.
3.
Advertising and Public Relations.
Ensure you use testimonials in all advertising and PR.
GENERATING LEADS
Anytime you generate leads, always qualify the prospects and get
the best return for the expenditure of scare and precious resources.
Make sure you spend your time and money with people that will
either buy your offering or help you connect to others who will.
Cold Calls
Review Appendix H — “How to Make a Cold Call”
When making cold calls, target your list. Prepare, practice and accept rejection as just part of the process. Do not sell anything; just
make appointments for meetings or a better time to call. Have fun!
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Marketing Surveys
A fantastic way to generate leads is to conduct your own marketing
survey. People are more open and much more approachable if they
know immediately you‘re not trying to sell to them.
People are naturally attracted to others who are truly interested in
them, but not trying to manipulate or take advantage of them. As
long as you maintain this environment, you can generate information, leads and references as long as you‘re up front and straight
forward. As soon as you blow this, you are history.
Now remember, this applies much less as you go up the chain of
command in a business, because the higher they are, the busier they
are and they deal with unplanned distractions much less.
Don‘t even start to think about selling. That‘s not your purpose. You
are generating information and people are actually willing to give it
to you. If you‘re honest about it, you will establish rapport.
o
Start with a question about a current event or topic related
to your questions.
This gets the conversation to start flowing.
o
Keep it short. No more than 5 or 6 questions.
A short survey can be tolerated by even the busiest of
people. It's also long enough for you to know if you're
building any personal rapport.
o
Create open-ended questions.
Include specifics to your product, but not just your offering.
It will look like you‘re selling.
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o
Ask if you can give them the results later.
This gives you a golden opportunity to follow up and then
start qualifying them as a potential prospect.
Email
Be VERY careful using email to generate leads, because it can backfire on you in ways you can‘t imagine. Most people tend to just delete emails from sources they don‘t recognize. Others, especially
tech-savvy users get so upset with what they call “spam”, they will
go to great lengths to retaliate.
You need to ensure your emails are solicited (the receiver knows who
you are and expects your email). Most website hosting administrators have a passionate dislike for spam; they define as ANY unsolicited e-mail. Draconian measures, such as removing a website (with
or without warning), is a very normal response to what they consider
to be spamming. Terms of service agreements with Internet Service
Providers‘ contracts permit these actions. The emailing party often
has no recourse.
If you‘re going to use email, make sure it‘s to known prospects/customers and personally addressed to them. Do not broadcast the same message to everyone. Software and websites are
available to help automate the creation of end user-specific email
campaigns.
You can get email campaign support from:
ConstantContact.com
ExactTarget.com
iContact.com
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StreamSend.com
VerticalResponse.com
NOTE: NONE of these sources is recommended. It's just a list of
available sources. You can easily find the best source for
your product line on the Internet.
Website
If you‘re independent, a website is a MUST in today‘s high-tech
marketplace. It MUST be professional in content and appearance.
Blogging
Make your expertise known to the world. Create a blog and write
interesting and informative articles about your product and industry.
Knocking on doors
This is pretty much the same as cold calling and seems to be used
effectively in real estate. Don‘t you think people would remember
someone who knocked on their door in the middle of winter? At
least you put a face to your cold call.
Again, just make an appointment for later. DO NOT SELL, unless you
have the gut feeling you can close. If you do decide to go ahead and
sell, you‘d better be an expert closer. Don‘t blow a qualified lead.
Farming
Pick a market of 200 or so homes or businesses. Saturate that area
and become the one person people think of with anything to do
with your product.
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Seminars
Advertise and give informative, informational and interesting seminars. Attract people with freebies and qualify leads. You‘d better
give them something worth attending.
Junk Mail
If you‘re going to make mass mailings, target your audience and do
everything you can to get them to at least glance at what you‘ve
sent. Otherwise, it‘s a waste of money, because people get way too
much garbage in their mailbox and almost everything goes right
into the trash can without a second thought.
Newspaper Ads
Remember, most people don‘t read many newspapers anymore, but
some people still do. It‘s questionable whether the return on the
investment in this type of advertising is worth it or not.
“PennySaver” and other handout newsprint ads can sometimes be
effective if you have the right product.
If you create a display ad, make sure it doesn‘t look exactly all the
other ads included with yours, so at least it stands out.
Trade Shows
If you have an appropriate product and can get a table for a reasonable expense, this can be lucrative. Make sure it‘s the appropriate
venue for you and not too many similar, competing products. Be
creative, it could be good for you if you‘re the only life insurance
salesperson at a home improvement show.
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Cable TV Advertising
This is a lot more affordable than it used to be. Contact your local
provider to see what they can do for you. Make sure your spots are
created as professionally as possible and they‘re targeted to the
proper audience at the proper time. There‘s nothing cheesier and
less effective than a laughable, amateur feebly attempting to make a
TV commercial.
Some companies, other than providers that can help:
JiVox.com
MediAssociates.com
SpotRunner.com
NOTE: NONE of these sources is recommended. It's just a list
of available sources. You can easily find the best source for your
product line on the Internet.
HOW TO QUALIFY LEADS
When salespeople use outside leads or generic prospect lists to
make cold calls, it takes an average of THIRTY calls to generate one
sale. The most talented salesperson can get discouraged after making dozens of calls without much success.
To be successful, instead of longer generic lists of prospects, you
must have shorter lists of qualified leads. And, if you work for a large
company, you're probably not going to get that from your marketing department.
If you're independent or your job requires you to generate your own
leads, you can get these kinds of leads from sales leads companies:
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GoLeads.com
InfoUSA.com
LeadDogs.com
SalesGenie.com
Trade-Pals.com
USAData.com
NOTE: NONE of these sources is recommended. It's just a list of
available sources. You can easily find the best source for
your product line on the Internet. BEWARE of free leads
from these companies! Everyone gets those leads. They‘re
not much better than just going through the phone book.
Generic Leads
You need to filter generic lists to the prospects most likely to buy:
1.
Determine your target industry.
With your experience (and your friends/associates) discover
one or two industries having the greatest need and have the
money to purchase what you're selling.
Remove everyone on your list not in one of these industries.
2.
Determine your target job titles.
In each industry, there are "natural" buyers who either purchase offerings similar to yours or influence such purchases.
Find the specific job titles of this natural buyer. Remove everyone without these titles.
3.
Create a targeted message.
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Based on what you know about the buyer in your industries,
create a targeted, compelling message. Identify a problem
that keeps that prospect awake at night and how what
you're selling helps solve their problem.
Use high emotional, vivid content.
4.
Check the list and message.
Call several random prospects on your edited list. Just explain you want to understand how to sell to their industry.
Referrals
Sales are all about relationships. Sales are difficult to create when
you're cold calling. The best way to get a sale is a personal referral.
ANYTIME you have ANY positive contact and have established a
positive relationship with ANYONE who does or can appreciate what
you're doing, ALWAYS ASK THEM FOR REFERRALS. It's a natural extension of helping anyone is to just ask them if they're aware of anyone else that may benefit from your help.
Smart salespeople will break even or even lose money to create a
relationship with a new customer. They understand that once they
have a relationship with a client, selling to them becomes easier.
“Word of mouth” is a very powerful tool. When you harness this
power, you can build relationships with more people through the
network that your clients have. Since we all trust our family and
friends more than we trust salespeople, getting a new client by referral is much easier than by any other means of promotion.
A referral gives you instant credibility with the family and friends of
all your current clients. When your clients refer someone to you or
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your business, they are giving you a personal endorsement. They're
saying to that friend or family member, they trust you and whatever
bond you have with your clients can and often will get transferred to
their friends when they're enthusiastically told about you.
If the new contact doesn't become a prospect, they can still become
a referral source. If you keep linking this chain, you'll end up with a
network of contacts and prospects you can constantly draw upon to
generate new sales. It really cuts down your lead generation and
cold calling.
Referral Selling
1.
Expand referrals beyond your customers.
If you're credible and obviously knowledgeable about your
industry, your suppliers and vendors will probably be willing
to refer you to prospects.
2.
Expand referrals beyond your business.
The most effective referrals come from people who already
know and trust you. Many of your most effective referrals
will come from people you know from outside the business
world, such as relatives, neighbors and friends.
3.
Expand referrals to get more referrals.
All your referrals know someone else who could be a prospect. If you're trying to reach a particular executive, you
probably know somebody who knows somebody who plays
golf with him/her.
4.
Adopt a new selling model.
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Referral selling involves activities (like social networking) that
are different from the old "turning prospects into customers"
selling techniques. In referral selling, the salesperson sees
every call, even those that will never create future customers, as an opportunity to discover new contacts.
Research has shown well over half of the sales generated as the result of referrals end in a sale. That's much better than other lead
generations, cold calling, advertising and direct mail. Also, sales
created through referrals tend to be larger than other sales.
The source of the referral eliminates questions blocking sales in the
early stages (such as "can I trust this person?"). With a referral, the
sales process builds momentum quickly, resulting in faster closing.
DO NOT ask for referrals until after you've sold a customer and
you've created an in-depth relationship. Referrals are all about risk
and trust. When a customer gives you a referral, they're risking the
relationship they have with a friend or colleague.
To earn a referral:
o
After the customer is completely satisfied with you, your
company and what you're selling, that‘s the time to request
referrals. You are only offering to help others the customer
knows in the same way you've helped the customer.
o
If you can acquire a customer for your customer, it's only
appropriate to ask for referrals. You've earned them.
To instill confidence in your referral source, let them know exactly
what you will do when they give you a referral. Your referral source
has developed valuable relationships over the years and is reluctant
to do anything that might jeopardize those relationships.
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Be specific as to what happens when you get a referral. A simple,
step-by-step process that shows how you will represent yourself will
provide assurance that the potential customer will be treated with
respect and dignity.
When a satisfied customer sends someone to you, they should immediately receive some recognition and appreciation. Send a quick
thank you note or telephone call immediately.
Then be creative. Send them something completely unexpected that
you know they‘ll really appreciate. Send things like steaks, books,
clocks, calculators, small electronic items, gadgets, flowers, lobstergrams. Use your wildest imagination.
Send a different gift each time the person refers you to someone.
You want them to lay awake at night thinking of people they can
refer to you.
As you gain a reputation for being the best, showing your appreciation and helping your customers get more business, your customers
will be recommending you to everyone they know – without you
having to ask.
NETWORKING
With the advent of the Internet, you‘re going to be lost in today‘s
world if you don‘t learn to use it to your advantage, everyone else is.
Almost every Internet user has an account in at least one in the long
list of social networking websites. It has changed the way we keep in
touch with our friends, associates, colleagues and how we meet
people from different places. We keep our network of people updated with photos, videos, and blogs.
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Online social and professional networking enables business professionals to research, network and collaborate by title, industry and
business interests so that they can discuss interests, stay informed
and share knowledge.
Online networking communities are Internet users greeting, meeting
and collaborating virtually, especially with people sharing the same
interests. You can promote yourself, your business and website.
Setup your profile to present yourself, your interests, expertise and
any of your websites. You can search for other profiles; join forums
and discussions where you can get some business ideas.
Investigate which web sites (especially LinkedIn & Xing) apply to you,
your company, your product and your industry:
FaceBook.com
LinkedIn.com
MySpace.com
Plaxo.com
Ryze.com
Twitter.com
Xing.com
KickStart.Yahoo.com
There are many more industry-specific networking sites. As you start
with the main ones, your network will make you aware of more locations more appropriate for who you are and what you‘re doing.
ADVERTISING and PR
With advertising, always ensure you‘re getting a good return for
your investment. It can be expensive, unproductive and often a
waste of resources. The key is to NOT do the same as others. When
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you do, it just becomes a game of who can spend more. Be unique
and clever, just like in all your sales efforts.
To generate leads, focus your advertising message on the benefits
and applications of your products or services as results from other
users. Let the layout and design of your ads enhance your image.
When creating ads:
o
Put benefits in your headlines (with a hook).
If you really want the prospect to read what you have to say,
you‘ve got to catch their attention and get them to read
your advertisement.
o
Be specific about your product.
You‘re trying to get qualified customers, people who are
truly interested in your offering and willing to pay for it.
Target your message to specifically reach these people and
get them to respond.
o
USE TESTIMONIALS.
Assume you have NO credibility. Nothing creates instant
credibility better than testimonials.
State what others think about your offering as clearly and
obviously as you can. It can‘t be said enough. If someone
else likes what you have, the customer might too.
o
Make an offer they can‘t be refuse.
Create a call to action. Give them a compelling reason to
inquire IMMEDIATELY.
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o
Make it easy for your prospect to respond and mention
your website. Don‘t have a website? You should get one before you do anything else.
Be cautious with any advertising. According to the advertising guru
David Ogilvy, the wrong advertising can actually REDUCE the sales
of a product. From his book, ―Ogilvy on Advertising‖:
“I have seen one advertisement actually sell not twice as much,
not three times as much, but 19½ times as much as another, Both
advertisements occupied the same space. Both were run in the
same publication. Both had photographic illustrations. Both had
carefully written copy. The difference was that one use the right
appeal and the other used the wrong appeal.”
Your ads absolutely have to be properly appealing to the potential
customer, as well as getting their attention and getting them to act.
Remember with anything in print, LESS IS MORE. People really do
not read much, if anything. Make it easy for them. Don‘t overwhelm.
Public Relations
Always consider using PR before anything else in promotion. You
use it to broadcast information to the largest audience for the lowest cost. Sales people can use press releases to get exposure.
A release should be no more than two pages long and sent only to
the media covering your industry, containing newsworthy information about you, your organization, services or products.
The media really appreciate you writing their articles for them or at
least providing them with ideas. Connect something you are selling
or doing to current news or trends. Create a pitch (or query) letter
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with a few paragraphs suggesting a story idea that a reporter or editor will follow up on and write.
Good reasons to send out press releases are new offerings; hires or
strategic partnerships; awards/funding received; major sales; and
projects successfully completed with results.
You can get professional assistance and results at an extremely low
cost at: eReleases.com.
ASKING QUESTIONS
The quality of your questions to prospects and customers is directly
related to your success in sales. Again, you absolutely have to do
things differently than everyone else.
Questions serve three functions in a sales conversation:
1.
They gather more information about the prospect, allowing
you to learn more about how (and if) you can help.
2.
They move the conversation forward, so you can continue
to ask more and better questions, and learn more.
3.
They help build rapport, to easily move the sale forward.
The best questions are open-ended, elicit long answers, and help
build rapport. The worst questions have one word answers.
Since people generally like talking more about themselves and their
achievements, with quality questions, the prospect will probably
warm up and the entire conversation will be more productive.
It helps to practice questions with a friend/colleague.
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You can't understand a prospect's true needs without asking the
proper questions at the proper time during sales calls:
1.
Plan the conversation.
If you don't know what questions to ask, you won't discover
anything useful.
o
Do your research.
NEVER ask a customer anything you can easily find
elsewhere.
If you haven't done a Google and linkedin.com search,
examined the customer's website and SEC 10-Q filings,
you're not ready for the call.
o
Prepare.
Spend a minute before the call mapping out questions
to ask.
Consider what you already know and what you'd like to
know.
2.
Rehearse the conversation.
Effective questioning requires practice, practice, practice.
3.
Relax during the conversation.
Questions must flow naturally out of the conversation.
NEVER interrupt with a question.
4.
Lead with open questions.
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Better to ask a leading question that's too general than one
that solicits a one word response.
5.
Keep quiet.
During a sales call, let the customer speak, MOST of the
time.
6.
Listen, REALLY LISTEN.
Listening, not asking is the most important element of effective questioning.
7.
Don't rush.
Effective questioning is 90 percent patience. LISTEN to the
answers.
Always ask for clarification. NEVER assume you understand what the
person just said. Always ask:
o
"How do you mean that, exactly?"
o
"Could you please elaborate on that?"
This is the most powerful question for controlling a conversation. It's
almost impossible not to answer. When you ask, "How do you
mean…?” the other person can't stop from answering. Follow up
with other open-ended questions and keep the conversation going.
If you really are unsure of what they said, REPEAT their statement in
your own words and ask,
o
"Am I on the right track?"
o
"Is that correct?"
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Don't do this too often or your competence may appear to be questionable. While it's normal to ask questions during sales calls, don't
give the customer the third degree. It may take more than one
meeting to get all the information you need.
Previously rehearsed questions and canned sales pitches are strictly
for novices. If you need something to keep you on track, jot down
key words to remind you of general subjects of inquiry.
Really LISTEN to the answer. Listen carefully, pause to think about
what the customer said then lead the conversation where you want
it to go. Keep copious notes to keep on the subject.
How to Discover Customer Needs
Asking questions is the only way to find what the customer really
needs. But, it can be challenging, especially if the customer isn't being helpful nor has much time.
During a sales call, make the most of the time:
1.
Plan your questioning beforehand.
Always plan the types of questions to ask. Identify gaps in
your understanding of the customer's business and direction. Decide the general questioning areas.
2.
Target your questions.
a.
Where is the customer now?
b. Where does the customer want to go?
c.
What's keeping the customer from getting there?
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d. What are the business and personal motivations influencing the final decision?
e.
What is the authority, the budget and resources that
can be committed to get there?
f.
3.
Is there anything that has failed in the past?
It is a conversation, not an interrogation.
Don't try to extract too much information at any one time.
Get your answers over a series of meetings.
4.
Don't rehearse your questions.
Have a clear idea of the kind of questions you're going to
ask. Don't sound too mechanical, canned and/or rehearsed.
Definitely DO NOT sound as if you‘re reading something!
Create just some keywords to remind you of the type of
questions you want to ask. It will seem more natural.
5.
Listen (REALLY LISTEN!) to the customer.
Pause to think what the customer really said, decide where
you want the conversation to go and take it there.
6.
Ask abstract leading questions.
Set questions in neutral and abstract terms that give "room"
to for the information you need.
Get quality information from you prospects and customers by asking quality questions. Be the expert your customers need you to be.
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Chapter 5
Relationships
(two monologues don‟t make a dialogue)
―The Chinese philosophy of guanxi is the belief that deep relationships between people are formed through acts of reciprocity. …If I
do you a favor, I have an asset, and you are liable to pay [me]
back, …That means there is always a reason for the relationship
to continue, and the relationship itself creates value.”
Kristen Fiani, in a Business Week article,
“The Art of Relationships”
Selling consists mostly of customer relationship development.
Most salespeople think a customer relationship should be like a
friendship.
WRONG.
You can be friends with plenty of people and never get any
business from them.
Business relationships are much deeper than friendships:
o
Importance.
In a business relationship, you trust that person with your
career, your reputation and your ability to feed your family.
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o
Access.
In a business relationship, you have access to each other
when you want it and especially when you need it. It's not a
matter of convenience as much as it is of integrity.
o
Intensity.
In a business relationship, you are duty bound to listen to
each other in an unbiased way and make unbiased decisions
based upon mutual best interests.
Your ability to sell at the highest levels will depend completely on
your ability to build strong business relationships.
There are four traits to the perfect relationship, mutual respect, trust,
admiration and appreciation.
RESPECT
Respect is at the heart of building business relationships. It is the
glue that holds together the functioning of teams, partnerships and
managing relationships (up and down, peer-to-peer, internally and
externally). Respecting the right to differ is a concept like apple pie
and motherhood. We all agree with it, but can we truly foster it?
Identify where you‘re different. Many people see things in terms of
right/wrong. "My way" is right and therefore "other ways" are wrong.
When a situation is viewed through this lens, a power struggle ensues. When a situation is a matter of difference and opinions, cooperation and compromise are possible. Identifying and understanding
differences allows people to shift their position to one of the compromises and negotiation:
o
Respect leads to accepting a person for who they are.
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o
Accepting a person where they are helps create trust.
o
Trust, leads to a willingness to be open to:
*
New opportunities
*
New collaborations.
*
New strategies.
*
New ideas.
*
New products.
Differences to be aware of:
1.
Communication Styles.
People don‘t communicate in the same manner. Make sure
you‘re aware of your prospect‘s mood, manner and delivery
when trying to persuade or convey information.
2.
Non-Verbal Communication.
All forms of communication must be considered. NonVerbal communication (body language and tone) is more
covert, but still very important. Non-verbal communication
may differ from verbal communication. Ensure you‘re aware
of what the customer is really saying, despite appearances.
3.
Different Values.
There are times when incongruent values are so different
they can‘t create a productive relationship. With mutually
exclusive values, don‘t waste time. The sale is already dead.
4.
Boundaries.
We all have a different personal space and boundaries.
(Boundaries are the limits you have for the behavior of oth-
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ers). Be aware of other‘s boundaries and approach them
respectfully. Avoid conflict and strengthen the relationship.
5.
The Self.
Mutual respect begins with you. Self-respect is vital to form
strong, healthy, effective relationships. Being aware of your
own needs and true personality ensures relationships are
more solid and fruitful.
TRUST
Without trust, there is no relationship. There is too much at stake, to
deal with anyone where there's even a hint of untrustworthiness.
When you do business with someone, you trust each other with
your careers and reputations. To have a strong, solid customer relationship, you need to establish mutual trust above reproach.
Trust in a business relationship has:
1.
Professionalism.
People want to do business with individuals who are serious
about their profession and industry. Customers expect you
have excellent communication skills, sales skills and a complete, in-depth understanding of the customer's industry.
2.
Integrity.
Integrity means your word is solid. You mean exactly what
you say and completely follow up with what you've said.
This is same, in public or in private.
A person with integrity is willing to take a stand, especially
when it's unpopular with your customer or your company.
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You have unshakeable confidence and don't just argue arbitrarily. You have the ability to make quick decisions based
on what you know to be correct, despite others who think
differently.
3.
Caring.
You always put the customer first, truly care about your customers and really listen to what they have to say.
4.
Knowledge.
People will trust people with unique knowledge, when it's
relevant to the situation. To be considered trustworthy, you
don't have to be an expert on everything, but you must
have in-depth knowledge that is of value to the customer.
If a customer trusts you, they will:
o
Accept what you say is true.
o
Feel secure when dealing with you.
o
Be open and honest with you.
o
Not be afraid to expose their weaknesses.
To build trust:
o
DO NO HARM and actively seek to protect people. Show
that you care about them personally.
o
Manage expectations and ALWAYS keep your promises.
Your behavior is predictable.
o
ALWAYS be reliable. ALWAYS be on time.
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o
ALWAYS tell the absolute, complete truth.
Actively maintain your reputation and integrity. Your personal philosophy is always in agreement with social norms.
“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick
themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”
Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister
ADMIRATION
"I have always been an admirer. I regard the gift of admiration as
indispensable if one is to amount to something; I don't know
where I would be without it.”
Thomas Mann, German novelist, Nobel Laureate
To have real depth in a relationship, there must be true admiration.
If both parties admire each other, the other aspects of relationship
and rapport building are easier and sometimes automatic. People
naturally want to create a relationship with an admirable person.
Sports figures, celebrities and other well-known people create almost instant admiration. Even if you don‘t admire them, plenty of
other people do and that is admirable, by itself. It should be obvious. However, when actually doing business with these people you
don‘t get star-struck and ignore the other necessary requirements
for a valid, strong and effective relationship.
"Some people are molded by their admirations, others by their
hostilities.”
th
Elizabeth Bowen, early 20 century Irish novelist
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It‘s your job to discover as much as you can admire about the person you‘re dealing with. Get as much info in advance as possible
from contacts and the Internet. Then, ask the appropriate questions
at the appropriate times during personal encounters. Where did
they go to school? What degrees? What awards, achievements, certifications, other relationships? Just having a relationship with other
admirable people is admirable.
Notice the word, “discover”. The customer also needs to acquire information to admire about you, BUT you can‘t tell them. They have
to DISCOVER it for themselves. If you tell them directly about your
admirable qualities, that‘s not very admirable. Also, if you don‘t have
anything to admire, GET SOME. Get certifications, awards, testimonials, relationships, join trade organizations, anything that‘s unique,
authentic and professionally recognized.
APPRECIATION
For a relationship to be complete there has to be a mutual benefit
both parties appreciate. Appreciation is basically going out of your
way (the extra mile), to show each other how much you like doing
business together.
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in
others belong to us as well.”
th
Voltaire, 18 century French Enlightenment author
Appreciation is very powerful, yet misunderstood, misused and untapped. We‘re used to thinking appreciation is just another work for
gratitude, an expression of recognition, thanks for a job well done, a
service performed or an unexpected kindness.
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From marketing consultant, Jacki Semerau's blog,
"...there's a big difference between Marketing Opportunities and
Relationship Building Opportunities. Many people confuse the
two. …try thinking `Appreciation‟ over Self-Promotion. …when you
promote yourself to 100 people, maybe 10 of them will contact
you, and maybe 1 or 2 of those people will actually close business
with you.”
“However, when you reach out in appreciation to people who
have either done business with you, or have somehow helped you
in your career path, do you know what happens? They turn into
evangelists about your services. Now they are busy spreading the
word about your services. They are creating Buzz, and Buzz leads
to increased business. They are actively looking to refer you, because they know if you treat them well, you'll treat their friends,
family and associates the same."
In her book, “The Power Of Appreciation In Business”, Noelle Nelson
cites recent scientific research on the effects of appreciation on the
brain and the heart. She describes how appreciation works to remove resistance while encouraging people to do their very best.
From Noelle Nelson‘s book:
“Companies that effectively recognize excellence enjoy a return
that is more than triple the return of companies that don‟t.”
If you don‘t actively demonstrate appreciation to prospects and customers you are dramatically affecting your income. As well, remember to do everything you can to discover what you can appreciate
about the people you do business with.
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Appreciated customers will go out of their way to be your unpaid
sales ambassadors.
RAPPORT
The American Heritage Dictionary defines ―rapport” as:
A “relationship …one of mutual trust or emotional affinity”
An effective relationship in sales practically demands rapport and
mutual trust, hopefully with affinity or likeability.
Have you ever had an experience with a salesperson where you said
to yourself, "I will never buy ANYTHING from them"? Also, you‘ve
probably had the opposite experience of hitting it off with a salesperson and you‘d buy just about anything from them.
Why is that? Because you didn't like or trust the first and you did like
and trust the second. Why did you like and trust the second person
so much? They took the time to establish rapport with you. They
probably showed a sincere interest in you and/or were a lot like you.
The best thing you can do is listen and listen completely. Sales really
is all about asking the right questions, keeping your mouth shut and
waiting for the answers.
Rapport is the ultimate key to selling. If you've got great rapport
with customers, they'll naturally want to buy from you. Every customer meeting is more productive. If rapport is weak, meetings are
awkward and difficult. Making the sale becomes difficult, if not impossible.
Rapport begins with your first impression. If you're like most salespeople, you use some kind of icebreaker at the beginning of that
initial meeting to overcome the social awkwardness.
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1.
Relevant Opening Line.
Open with something letting the prospect know that you
have researched the prospect and their firm. At the least,
you should have checked the Internet for an overview of the
prospect's business and for any important biographical information about the prospect and their career.
2.
Warm Initial Greeting.
Deliver your initial greeting with true graciousness and
warmth of a real guest. When you welcome guests, you are
typically glad to see them and you want them to feel comfortable and appreciated.
3.
Natural Follow-Through.
Continue with a question about the business or the individual that leads towards a productive conversation moving
the meeting to the next step.
This is a natural segue, because you've already placed the
conversation in a business context, while still showing an interest in the customer. You're not wasting the customer's
time with remarks that have no relevance to your business
relationship.
4.
Get to know the customer.
Include questions about the person, their interests, how
many kids they have, the kind of car they drive, where they
work (if you‟re not at their place of business), etc.
Get to know them like you would meet a new friend. Find
out as much as you can about them, all the time looking for
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common interests. REMEMBER everything, so you can ask
pertinent questions about all this in future meetings.
People love to talk about themselves. Let them talk as long as they
like. The more they talk and you show a sincere interest, the better
they will like and trust you.
The Attitude that Builds Rapport
Robert Cialdini in his book, "Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion",
demonstrates "likeability" in sales situations comes from finding similarities between the salesperson and the prospect.
People naturally like people with similar interests. Since most people
are interested in themselves, if you're interested in a prospect, the
two of you have something in common and establish rapport.
Rapport building isn't friendliness (aside from likeability and/or affinity) but CURIOSITY. During an initial customer meeting, rather than
trying to come off like the prospect's long lost friend, be genuinely
interested in the customer as a person.
Curiosity builds rapport (where false friendliness doesn't) because:
1.
It is entirely appropriate to be curious about someone
you've met for the first time.
2.
Everybody likes thinking they're interesting, so your curiosity is a natural compliment.
3.
Curiosity leads to the discovery of commonality, the basis of
a relationship.
4.
Curiosity about the prospect easily transfers into curiosity
about the prospect's business needs.
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False friendliness along with false enthusiasm will quickly turn a
meeting with a prospect into something both parties can‘t wait to
run away from.
Genuine curiosity about the individual is the proper attitude in sales.
If you're truly interested in the person you're meeting and want to
discover more, you'll find it much easier to build rapport. That curiosity will express itself naturally in the conversation.
To establish rapport quickly, use mirroring and matching. Pay attention to the other‘s communication style. Do they like to get right
down to business, tell stories or joke around? Do they talk softly,
loudly, quickly or slowly? How do they communicate? Are they visual (using words like „see‟, „clear‟, „reveal‟), auditory (using words like
„hear‟, „clear as a bell‟, „tune in‟) or kinesthetic (using words like „feel‟,
„get a handle on‟, „concrete‟)?
Pay attention to their body language; how they‘re sitting or standing. Are their legs crossed, arms folded, do they use their hands
when they talk, do they lean forward with their arms on the desk?
Once you understand their communication style, mirror and match
them. Do what they do. If they talk loudly, then talk more loudly
than you normally would. If they‘re visual, use visual words in your
communication.
If they cross their legs, cross your legs (after a pause). Use some discretion. Don't immediately cross your legs when they do. This takes
some practice.
Once you establish rapport and they seem to like you, trust you and
feel you care about them, then (and only then) should you ask business-oriented qualifying questions.
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Building Rapport on the Telephone
In a personal initial prospect meeting, your voice is only part of the
overall package, and often a relatively unimportant one.
On the phone, the qualities of your voice assume an exaggerated
importance, taking on the entire burden of building rapport that in a
personal meeting is carried by your appearance, poise and bearing.
During a phone meeting (especially a cold call) the prospect decides
whether or not you're a potential friend based purely upon the quality of your voice.
With a little practice, you can alter the qualities of your voice to
closely match those of the prospect, creating conditions where you
can create rapport much more easily.
The key is similarity. Likability and affinity emerge from similarity.
We want to be friends with people who are similar to us and share
similar interests.
At the lowest level, any element of the voice can (and should) be
mirrored. If the prospect speaks quickly, you should speak quickly,
as well. If the prospect has a regional accent, SLIGHTLY change your
pronunciation and enunciation of vowels to sound somewhat closer
to the prospect‘s speech. If the person has a gruff tone, match it, still
maintaining your own distinct personality. If the prospect uses
words and phrases suggesting their age, use similar or complementary phrases suggesting you are close to their age.
The secret to executing this technique is to make the changes in a
sense that's not intrusive, obvious and/or hopefully not obnoxious.
You're attempting to communicate, "I'm not a threat but a potential
friend and ally" at the visceral level. If the prospect's conscious mind
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becomes aware of what you're doing, the technique either falls flat
or worse, makes the person think you're mocking them.
Many salespeople fail to establish rapport and then can't figure out
why the prospect won't buy.
BE AN ENTERTAINER
You don‘t have to be a showman, but to be memorable, you HAVE
to be entertaining. This doesn‘t mean telling jokes or stories unrelated to the selling process. It means you HAVE to be interesting.
The best way to be entertaining is to ask interesting questions and
let the prospect or customer entertain themselves.
NEVER tell a joke. There is too much risk that can backfire on you. It
is difficult (if not impossible) to recover from using something the
customer thinks is distasteful or inappropriate. If it really is appropriate, use humorous anecdotes and stories that are completely relevant to the current discussion or conversation. In these circumstances, LESS IS MORE. Use these techniques VERY sparingly. Just be
an avid, active listener, responding positively to the customer.
In Dale Carnegie's book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”,
he talks about a man invited to a party where he only knew the
hosts. He mingled with many of the other people and they told the
hosts what a terrific person this guy was. When the hosts asked
these guests what they found so interesting about him, they realized
they really hadn't learned much about him at all. He had made them
feel important by getting them to talk about themselves. He was
interested in them.
“The interesting person entertains. The interested person lets others do the talking. The lesson to learn from this is that you can
benefit from a little of each disposition. In sales, you want what
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you say to have an impact and in some cases achieving that impact requires a bit of entertaining.
“However, if you keep your focus on asking questions about the
clients' needs, what they like about what they've seen so far, what
they'd like to know more about, and so on, they'll end up telling
you just what they want to own.”
“From there, it‟s just a matter of handling the paperwork, scheduling delivery or getting their investment information and final approval to make the sale.”
Tom Hopkins, the dean of American sales trainers
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Chapter 6
Presentations
(no one can remember more than three things)
“Life's like a play; it's not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters”
Seneca, ancient Roman orator and writer
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
Duane Allman, the late lead guitarist of the early 1970s American
musical group, “The Allman Brothers Blues Band”, once revealed in
an interview how he learned to play so well. He said he learned and
played every song note by note by note and played completely and
accurately by rote. The secret to doing anything well is to practice.
After playing thousands of songs in the same manner, suddenly one
day, the guitar just started playing itself. He didn‘t have to think any
more, it just happened. He never played the same song in the same
way again. By exercising the discipline to play the same for a long
period of time, he learned how to improvise, “make the guitar talk”.
The lesson is: you can never get enough practice.
Before you ever do anything in sales you REALLY need to have at
least one elevator pitch about you, your company and your product.
If you can‘t squeeze your pitch into a few sentences, a longer presentation will actually suffer, because you don‘t know your main
points, ideas and concepts.
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How to Create an ELEVATOR PITCH
Sometimes opportunity strikes when you're least prepared. The right
pitch at the right time can change the future of an individual, a
product or company overnight or at least create a lot of business.
If the people you're pitching to are potential customers, you want
them either ask for more information or contact you in the very near
future.
Steve Strauss, from Microsoft's Small Business Center says:
"An elevator pitch is a brief statement about who you are, what your
business is, and why it is special. …If you were in an elevator with a
potential business investor and you had only 30 seconds or an elevator ride to make a memorable impression, what is it that you could
say to make an impact?"
The elevator pitch is, by definition, a seemingly impromptu, extemporaneous presentation (in actuality, it needs to be well-prepared
and practiced beforehand) given on the fly, often with little to no
prior notice.
It is a quick, clear and concise sales presentation within 15-30
seconds, sometimes as much as 60 seconds. You may want or need
to create different versions for different audiences or time lengths.
Your primary concern is to generate immediate interest in you, your
product and/or your company. Your pitch should be practiced over
and over until you can recite it anywhere, at any place, at any time.
But, it cannot sound like you're just reading it.
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Your presentation MUST be:
*
NATURAL (as if part of a normal conversation).
*
Focused.
*
Interesting.
*
Engaging.
*
Completely memorable.
Four points to creating an effective elevator pitch:
1.
State who you are, your company, what you do and why.
2.
Say why you, your organization, your offering, product
and/or service is unique and special. If it‘s appropriate, you
should include goals and objectives.
3.
Create a story using visual imagery to make it memorable.
Make it powerful and exciting. Keep it simple, targeted and
goal-oriented.
4.
End with a hook to spark further interest or a call to action,
such as getting an appointment.
On paper, it should only be a few sentences and certainly not more
than one paragraph.
Again, all this MUST be created with the three C's:
CLEAR, CONCISE and COMPLETE.
From Alan Riggs‘ blog at eyesonsales.com:
"If you want to pump up your sales prospecting success rate, develop a truly compelling elevator pitch. Make sure your elevator
pitch identifies your target prospects, how they will benefit from
using your company's products and services, and one or more ex-
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amples of quantified impacts that you (or your company) have
actually produced for other customers.
A properly designed elevator pitch will help you stand out from
other salespeople; break through your prospect's mental clutter,
to grab their attention. These are the crucial first steps to convincing prospects to schedule time for more in-depth conversations!"
Once you‘ve nailed your elevator pitch or pitches, then you‘re prepared to start on your full presentation.
HOW TO GIVE A SALES PRESENTATION
Make your presentation entertaining, fun for you and your audience.
You've got to:
*
Keep them awake.
*
Keep them engaged.
*
Be memorable.
Hopefully, your audience will remember what you presented. For
any presentation remember, you also have to be awake, engaged
and recall what you're representing.
Mental & Physical Prep Before the Presentation
The more prepared you are, the more confident you feel. To be totally confident, you have to be:
*
Completely relaxed.
*
Comprehensively prepared.
*
Fully practiced.
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Key presentation points:
o
Visualize a positive outcome.
o
Drink enough water (but not too much).
o
Get a good night‘s sleep.
o
Eat light before.
o
Breathe.
o
Think before you speak. Take pauses.
o
Speak slower.
o
Talk to individuals (not just one) in the group.
Preparing Your Visual Materials
With visual aids (slides, printouts, etc.), remember LESS IS BEST.
People will read these during your presentation and will get distracted from what you‘re saying.
o
Keep text to a minimum.
3 to 5 bullet points per slide. Keep them to one core idea.
o
Balance contrast and font size.
Make sure people can read it.
o
Use pictures to get your idea across.
Graphics are much easier to remember, less distracting and
make more impact.
o
Avoid complicated charts and graphs.
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They‘re hard to follow. Keep visual ideas simple.
o
Check the resolution of your presentation.
Use 800 x 600 video, just to be safe.
You're never really sure how it‘s going to work when set up.
No matter what you predict, there's almost always some
surprise you didn't expect or plan for.
o
Have easy to follow, printed notes with your slides and talking points.
They should serve as a reminder, not something distracting
or to read from.
o
Anticipate time changes.
Prepare for more than you have time for. Also be prepared
to cut it short and still be comprehensive.
Giving the Presentation
Things to remember when speaking:
o
Think positively.
o
Tell stories.
Stories will get your idea across much better than charts and
graphs and numbers. They also help engage your audience.
o
DO NOT READ your slides.
The audience can do that. The slides should support what
you're saying, not be what you're saying. The same goes for
your notes.
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What you say should be completely different than what they
can read, but it should be the same subject matter.
o
Keep your introduction short and strong.
People want to know who you are (if they don't already), but
they also want to get to the meat of your talk. A quick, solid
and clear intro is better than a meandering joke or list of accomplishments.
o
Keep it slow and steady, but NOT boring.
Pause when you need to take a breath, you‘ll think better.
o
Don‘t agonize over mistakes, and DON‘T apologize.
Keep confident and keep going. If you mess up, move on.
o
Pause to let strong ideas sink in.
This can be difficult to remember.
But, your audience needs time to absorb what you've presented. Take breaks with an extremely long presentation.
o
Smile, joke and laugh only when appropriate.
A little humor goes a long way. Don‘t overdo it.
o
Learn from your mistakes.
In your current presentation, act like mistakes are just part
of the show (which they are). Don‘t let them slow you down.
o
End strong.
Make your closing:
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*
*
*
*
o
Crisp and concise.
Clean.
Powerful
Memorable.
ALWAYS be prepared for interruptions and questions.
If you are doing well, you‘ll have lots of questions.
If you're not getting questions, ask questions yourself. Keep
the audience engaged.
SALES PRESENTATION CHECKLIST
You
o
Have you thoroughly researched the customer?
o
Are you enthusiastic about what you're presenting?
o
Are you confident the presentation will win business?
o
Are you prepared to answer any questions?
o
Have you rehearsed until you're comfortable?
Slides
o
Have you selected a visually appealing background?
o
Does the cover slide correctly identify the customer, event?
o
Do your slides use color, fonts and boldface ONLY to highlight what's really important?
o
Are graphics simple, understandable and not confusing?
o
Does each slide contain less text than your audience can
read in 20 seconds?
o
Did you use a simple font that's easy to read?
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o
Can every slide be read from the back of the room?
o
Have you eliminated ALL uppercase, underlining, italics?
Narrative
o
Does your opening statement capture attention?
o
Does your presentation persuade rather than lecture?
o
Are ALL your statements supported by evidence?
o
Have you removed buzz words and jargon?
o
Will your presentation use time effectively and efficiently?
o
Are your stories, anecdotes, etc. vivid and memorable?
o
Do you have a clear closing or call to action?
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Chapter 7
Negotiations
(more anxious to agree than disagree)
“Imaginative, sanguine men will never recognize that in negotiations the most dangerous moment of all is when everything is
moving according to their wishes.”
Honore de Balzac, 19th century French novelist. playwright
Negotiation is basically a conversation and requires accurate communication by both parties. Ask the proper questions at the right
time and with the right answers, negotiating is a lot easier. Keep
asking until you get the right answers.
BASIC NEGOTIATION
From Colleen Francis, on her blog at eyesonsales.com:
The Right Frame Of Mind
Do you REALLY believe your product is worth the price you're charging? If the answer is no, you can't possibly negotiate successfully.
Hold Firm
Sales experts revealed salespeople in the top 20% of their fields
NEVER cave in on the first round. Don't give in to what your prospect is asking for right away. Remember, negotiation is a game. According to Donald Trump, it's "The Art of the Deal".
A lot of people love to negotiate. To them, there's nothing more
frustrating than a salesperson that caves in and drops the price on
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the first round. The salesperson is just NOT playing the game.
They've taken the fun out of it. If a client asks for a 20% discount
and you immediately say yes, they feel:
“The price must have been inflated to start with.”
“I should have asked for BIGGER discount. Next time, I will!”
Neither of these outcomes is good for you. Next time your prospect
asks for a reduction in price, try:
"I can certainly appreciate you looking for the best deal, but we've
already given you our best price".
"You're definitely smart to be looking for the best deal. Our pricing is always competitive. I just can't go any lower".
"A discount???" (act surprised, confused)
Many savvy customers just ask for a discount to see if you'll lower
your price. Don't do it!
40% of customers are thinking or even respond with either, "I had to
try" or "I thought I'd ask". Since over 50% of salespeople cave in on
the first try, it gives the prospect a great reason to try.
This is where your belief system is really put to the test. To be successful, you HAVE to believe you're already giving your prospect a
great price.
When you discount (especially in the first round), it's a lose/lose situation for everyone. You reduce your commission, your company reduces its profit and your customer feels dissatisfied because you
refused to play the game. You didn‘t give them the best price first.
Hold firm and practice your response in advance.
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Repeat
Some press again with their request for a discount. Mostly, they're
looking for assurance you've really given them the best possible
price and no more room to move. They want to make it a little uncomfortable for you, ensuring you sweat at least a little and you are
worth their time.
Continue to hold firm. Reassure your customer they're getting the
best deal. Remind them of the hard work you've both put into this.
Try:
"We've spent 6 months putting the project together. I'd hate to
see it not go ahead just because we can't settle on price".
"I knew you'd be tough to sell. We provided our best, aggressive
pricing up front".
20% of sales are closed at this time. 60% of sales are closed without
ever having the price reduced.
Take Their Mind Off of the Bottom Line
If your prospect is still pushing for a discount (40% will). They just
want something more to feel like they've made a "deal". Find something else to give them that doesn't reduce your price.
You know this may happen, so have a list of things you're willing to
offer prepared well in advance, so you can draw on it during the
negotiation.
It's difficult to reason well and creatively in the heat of a negotiation.
Planning ahead gives you a ready-made solution (away from the
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emotion of the moment), leaving both you and the client feeling satisfied with the transaction.
The Last Line of Defense
If the client is STILL asking for a discount, at this point you may have
to give it to them to close the sale. Before you do, ALWAYS ask:
"Why is an X% discount so important to you?"
This flushes out any remaining details and possible overlooked objections that may help to find a different way to structure terms and
pricing. It still allows you to keep your price and let the customer
walk away with their needs met, as well.
If you ultimately have to reduce your price:
o
Never reduce your price without getting reciprocation.
Getting something in exchange for a pricing concession is
the key to managing customer expectations, that future discounts are easily available.
Whatever you ask for, prepare a list in advance to respond
quickly and smoothly.
o
Get a FIRM verbal agreement. This is the ONLY discount
AND the deal is done.
"I don't know if I can get this price. But if I can, is it fair for
you to sign the agreement this week?"
Nothing is worse than coming to an agreement on price (especially
a reduced price!) and the prospect is still looking for even more concessions.
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NEGOTIATE THE BEST DEAL
Three levels of sales negotiations:
1.
Bottom level = Competitive.
The salesperson and the customer view the negotiation as a
win-lose proposition. It‘s only a game.
Concessions by one side are viewed as a victory for the other
side. The emphasis is on having your side win at all costs.
Such negotiations generally damage customer relationships.
One side ends feeling they were definitely taken advantage of.
2.
Middle level = Cooperative.
Both sides are trying to be fair to one another and see the need
to maintain a long term relationship.
The negotiation is all about compromise and not losing too
much. Such negotiations seldom damage relationships, but they
don't improve them either. In the worst case, both sides end up
feeling they might have gotten taken advantage of.
Many salespersons wrongly think that this is the best approach/
But, it's actually not much better than the competitive level.
3.
Top Level = Collaborative.
The salesperson and the customer see their goals as aligned and
work together to create an arrangement moving both forward.
The emphasis is on finding a way for both sides to win, big time.
Such negotiations are the building blocks of the strongest customer relationships.
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You MUST get the customer to see the value of a higher-level negotiation. Your challenge is to move the negotiation as far as possible
up the scale to collaboration, even if the customer starts negotiating
competitively at the bottom.
If a negotiation starts out competitive, you MUST try to elevate to at
least the cooperative level and hopefully on to collaboration.
NEGOTIATION POWER
Negotiating is using your power to eliminate or counter arguments
and reach an amicable agreement. Don't negotiate from weakness.
You can't negotiate when one party has all the power. The customer,
with their money, originally seems to hold all the power.
You have to create power before approaching the table. Push for a
collaborative deal to benefit both parties. But, that's only possible
when you come to the table as equals.
To increase your power to counter:
o
Generate contacts within the customer's company.
o
Establish a complete, totally trusting relationship.
o
Inform them of your policies and previous deals early.
o
Have a solid understanding of their needs.
o
Provide a unique solution to their problem.
o
Have endurance. Do not give in.
o
Have pre-defined possible concessions, only if needed.
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If you wait until the point of negotiation to develop power, it's too
late. If you attempt to develop additional contacts while you're negotiating, your primary customer contact will perceive your sudden
interest as threatening.
If you've got negotiating power, there's no need to give in just to
keep the deal active. You can be confident, stand firm, create a deal
making sense for both of you and earn the customer's respect.
“When a man says that he approves something in principal, it
means he hasn‟t the slightest intention of putting it in practice.”
Otto Van Bismarck, 19th century Prussian statesman
Remember, a savvy customer will continually test you, to ensure
their company is receiving absolutely the very best deal.
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Chapter 8
Follow Through
(it ain‟t over „til it‟s over)
“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you
could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them
as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old
nonsense.”
th
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19 century American philosopher
Great golfers and baseball players have a great swing. What makes a
great swing? Follow through. You can‘t have accuracy and power
without completing the swing and completion means great follow
through. When boxers throw a punch, they aim far beyond the target, giving them extremely increased power.
In sales, you ALWAYS follow up. Way too many salespeople stumble
at this point. They're so elated at getting the business, they forget
the job isn‘t done and don't take necessary steps to ensure the sale
is completely executed and the customers remain happy.
Ensure each after sale step is completed and the customer is satisfied with it. Failing to follow through will cost future business and
can even cancel the current sales deal.
Following up continues to maintain trust, rapport and the relationship as a whole. A satisfied customer will go out of their way to help
you get more business with them and actively get you qualified referrals for future business elsewhere.
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BEYOND THE BOOK
There‘s a wealth of free selling references and information online:
Sales.About.com
Bnet.com
BusinessWeek.com
CanDoGo.com
ChangingMinds.org/disciplines/sales
Entrepreneur.com
EyesOnSales.com
Inc.com
SalesMBA.com
SalesOpedia.com
SalesResources.com
SBA.gov
Score.org
SellingPower.com
SuccessMagazine.com
Sales Training
YouTube has free Selling Power sales training videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SELLINGPOWER
Customer Research Locations on the Web:
Digg:
http:// www.digg.com/
Dun & Bradstreet:
http://www.dnb.com/
Hoovers:
http://www.hoovers.com/free/tools/bcl/
Jig Saw:
http://www.jigsaw.com/
PR News Wire:
http://www.prnewswire.com/
SEC:
http://www.sec.gov/
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Always have as much information about a prospect or customer as
possible in advance of any contact.
The REAL SECRET to selling:
o
Be prepared. Be confident. Be the best.
o
Have a sense of urgency and meticulous attention to detail.
o
ALWAYS be early for everything.
o
Consider your customer first.
o
Sell yourself to the customer and establish rapport.
o
Ask quality questions. Keep copious records.
o
Listen completely and let the customer answer fully.
o
Discover your customer‘s needs.
o
Fill those needs better than anyone.
o
Show, don‘t tell. Let the customer discover.
o
Close the sale. Follow up religiously.
o
Help your customer get new customers. Get your customers
to help you get new clients.
o
Enjoy yourself, sales is a fantastic occupation.
“Life's like a movie, write your own ending.”
Kermit the Frog, from the 1979 American movie,
"The Muppet Movie"
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Appendix A
How to Change Your Own Behavior
“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe
more; Talk less, say more; Love more and good things are yours.”
Swedish Proverb
Changing your behavior involves controlling your emotions. If you
don‘t learn to control your emotions, you‘re destined to live a life
much more bleakly and drearily than someone who can. If you don‘t
think you can learn to do this,
YOU’RE WRONG!
If brain-damaged people can learn to eat and walk again, you can
certainly learn something much simpler. It really is not difficult at all.
It‘s very, very easy. Just follow these instructions, DO IT!
PAIN vs. PLEASURE
There are two primary sources of motivation, pain and pleasure. It‘s
instinctive for the biosystem to seek pleasure and avoid pain. But,
you are INFINITELY more motivated by pain, than pleasure.
You really anticipate something pleasing, but you RUN from pain.
Pain makes you jump. Just the thought of pain makes you squirm.
Think of the most pleasurable, exciting, wonderful time in your life.
Really nice isn‘t it?
Now think of the most painful time in your life.
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Which is more vivid? Which is more emotional?
It would be terrific if the most emotional time in our life was positive, but it isn‘t. Our evolution and genetics ensure pain has much
more impact. Seeking the affection of others is basically a long-term
goal. But, running away from immediate pain is a short-term necessity, mainly because it can save your life.
If you can‘t live, you certainly can‘t love. That‘s the way our body
reacts anyway, despite what your mind thinks is best for you. You
will pull a kitchen knife out of a live light socket MUCH faster than
you‘d walk across a room to ask someone to dance with you. But,
you also may not walk across that room (no matter how much you
want to), if it‘s too painful for you (because you might get rejected).
"The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure
instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you're
in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you."
Tony Robbins, American self-improvement guru
Positive Thinking
We‘ve all heard that positive thinking is all you need. That and a dollar will buy you a couple of really cheap donuts.
If you believe “touchy-feely, positive thinking” psychobabble is all
you need, you will NEVER change anything. People using “new age”
positive-only thought processing think they‘re actually doing something constructive. Without real results, they need to blame their
negative thinking on something, ANYTHING other than themselves.
After all, they are “trying”. They are thinking positively, but can‘t
keep from thinking negatively at times when they really need their
positive thoughts.
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Why doesn‘t positive thinking work? As soon as you experience any
pain whatsoever, all positive thought is gone. It‘s immediately replaced with a negative reaction. Just see how positive you are when
you stub your toe or get in an automobile accident. This instinctive
negative reaction automatically creates negative thinking.
I once had a chance to make a stab at stand-up comedy. I got myself totally propped up with the best positive thinking I could muster. Even though I had extensive experience as a teacher and public
speaker, when I got in front of the microphone, I couldn‘t say anything, no matter how hard I tried.
Actually everyone thought it was an act and very funny, but it sure
wasn‘t funny to me. All the positive thoughts I had before stepping
on stage were gone in an instant. Actually, had I extensively practiced enough, I probably would‘ve done okay. I erroneously thought
I didn‘t need any rehearsal.
Negative thoughts create fear. Fear creates immobilization. When
you “freeze up”, it keeps you from doing the things you know you
need to do, but you just “can‟t”:
o
“I can‟t pick up the phone.”
o
“I can‟t talk to this person.”
o
“I can‟t close this sale.”
o
“I can‟t get out of bed.”
But, as Tony Robbins said, “If you can‟t do something you really
need to do, you MUST DO IT!” Every time you accept a “can’t”
excuse, you decrease your power and lessen your will to control
your emotions. You lessen your ability to keep from, “giving in”.
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With many things in life, if you‘re not willing to “think outside the
box”, think differently, think in a new and unusual way, the chances
of you changing anything are from remote to impossible. It‘s surprising, but it‘s actually easy to control your negative thinking.
To change anything, you absolutely have to do more than just want
to change or read about how to change. You have to actually do
something! You have to change!
The Behavior Modification Mechanism
Your “behavior modification mechanism” is as simple as a rubber
band. Just put a thick rubber band on your left wrist and snap
yourself (enough that it‟s actually painful) EVERY TIME you have a
negative thought. Remember, pain is the MOST effective motivator.
Ignore anyone who says anything about your rubber band. If you
feel you have to say something, just tell them, “Oh, it‟s just a
reminder” (which it is).
Now, before you start thinking this is some kind of joke, this technique was extracted from the book, “The One Minute Millionaire”, by
Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen.
Mark Victor Hansen is the original author of the “Chicken Soup for
the Soul” books and Robert Allen is the author of, “No Money Down”,
two bonafide millionaires.
This is actually a technique that they and many of their millionaire
associates, acquaintances and highly successful people really do use
themselves. Here‘s how the book says to do it:
“This technique is so simple. Wear the band 24/7 for the next 30
days — that includes to bed and while showering. After a red welt
forms on your left wrist you‟ll start to quickly, safely and satis-
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fyingly CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR. No one needs to know you‟re
doing this except you. It works rapidly — within a month. It will
amaze and delight you...”
“Your thoughts have the power to curse or bless. They can lead
you to plenty, abundance. surplus and ‗have-ness‘ ...or to lack, limitations, deprivation, scarcity and ‗have not-ness‘. The choice is
yours. You can control your thinking. Your thinking controls your
behavior. Your behavior controls your results.”
DOUBLE THE POWER
Affirmations (new age self-talk) usually don‘t work by themselves
and if they do, it takes a long time. But, if you combine a verbal affirmation with your “behavioral modification mechanism”, you can
make miraculous changes more rapidly.
The human brain functions on multiple levels. You need to inoculate
yourself against habitual emotions that emerge despite your beliefs.
Art Mortell, in his book, "The Courage to Fail", says the best way to
do this is to repeat a "power mantra" or affirmation to yourself repeatedly, reinforcing the positive new belief in the mantra.
The affirmation should be a short (five words or less) phrase or
statement that reflects and reinforces your powerful new belief.
It should be personal, vivid and colorful, using words that produce strong emotional meaning.
Examples:
o
“Rejection means I'm doing my job.”
o
“Hostile people amuse me.”
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o
“Negative feedback kick starts my engine.”
o
“I do much better under pressure.”
o
“Cold calls are stepping stones to success.”
o
“I thrive on anxiety.”
o
“There are no bad days.”
o
“Rejection equals money.”
When you find yourself engaging in negative self-talk, snap yourself
with your rubber band and repeat your affirmation several times.
If you're alone in your car or anywhere else where no one can hear
you, say your affirmation forcefully out loud. The more forceful, assertive and often you do this, the less often (eventually, not at all)
you will engage in self-defeating, demeaning, debilitating and immobilizing self-talk. If this seems silly to you, remember this is what
the most successful people do.
Negative thinking is a sickness eating away at your potential sales
success. Cure this illness and you'll sell at a much higher level.
I personally know this really works. I could to completely quit using
profanity (especially while driving) over a couple of weeks. If you use
profane language, you‘re NOT a positive thinker.
Manage your emotions, change your behavior and be free from the
burdens of anxiety and worry. Enjoy the fruits of your success.
See:
Appendix C – “How to Overcome Fear”.
Appendix D – “How to Overcome Anxiety”.
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Appendix B
How to Overcome a Sales Slump
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist
sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister
Are you using your ―behavior modification mechanism‖? -- If not,
first go to Appendix A! If you‘re not willing to at least do this, none
of this will be much help.
When sales are down, instead of investigating, some tend to push
for orders instead of working on their best game plan at a natural
pace.
When you feel pressure, the prospect senses it, backs off and makes
things MUCH worse. The down cycle continues. When things get
worse, you can‘t sell, begin to panic and the down cycle continues.
If you‘re in a slump or you can‘t get out of a sales rut:
*
DON’T PANIC.
The most damage and loss in automobile collisions is
caused by the over-reaction (over-steering) of the operator.
*
Don‘t react by pressing too hard.
*
Don‘t think negatively.
*
Don‘t get angry.
*
And above all, DON’T QUIT!
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Sales cycles have ups and downs. What causes a slump?
YOU DO.
And, you are the ONLY person that can fix it. Once you accept it‘s no
one‘s fault but your own, you can begin to recover. If you blame
anything or anyone but yourself, you‘re giving away the only power
you have to make this work.
“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the
seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
Napoleon Hill, 20th century American author
Your sales slump is created by your attitude, work habits, misperceptions, possibly a large canceled order or more likely, a combination of all these. Mostly, it‘s your attitude, because if you had the
proper positive attitude, you wouldn‘t be asking why you‘re in a
slump in the first place. You wouldn‘t let anything affect your future
sales.
To help cure ailing sales:
o
GO BACK TO THE BASICS.
o
Review your goals (or make a new plan) for success.
o
Change your presentation.
o
Talk to your best customers.
o
Get to work an hour before everyone.
Put in more productive time. Did you know most successful
people wake up at 5:00am (or earlier) in the morning?
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o
Stay away from negative people.
o
Spend your time with positive, successful people.
(This is the BEST way to get back on the success track.)
o
Keep everything in perspective.
Get spiritual. Find sustenance, inspiration and enlightenment in something greater than yourself.
o
Exercise more.
Expend negative energy and create new positive energy.
o
Listen to your favorite music before the presentation.
o
Change your world, your routine and rearrange your office.
o
Practice, video tape and review your presentation.
When baseball players are in a batting slump, they do anything to
―change their luck‖. They do superstitious things from carrying a
lucky charm, not shaving, wearing the same underwear, to changing
their batting stance, watching videos, extra coaching.
The one thing that usually breaks the slump is extra batting practice.
o
They go back to the fundamentals.
o
They, like you, have the ability, but temporarily lost it.
Manage your emotions and get out of your sales slump.
See:
Appendix C – “How to Overcome Fear”.
Appendix D – “How to Overcome Anxiety”.
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Appendix C
How to Overcome Fear and Rejection
“Fear creates anger, resentment, anxiety... none of which will
make you successful.”
Wally "Famous" Amos, American actor, cookie tycoon
Are you using your “behavior modification mechanism”? -- If not,
first go to Appendix A! If you‘re not willing to at least do this, none
of this will be much help.
FEAR
Any time you feel overwhelmed with fear:
STOP!
Stop whatever you‘re doing. Take deep, slow breaths. Get fresh
blood flowing back into your brain, so your mind can function more
effectively and efficiently. Calm down and relax, relax, relax... Get the
blood that left your brain to allow the body to handle this erroneously perceived emergency back in your head where it belongs,
so you can begin to reason your way back to serenity and calmness.
“I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake
me up and get going, rather than retreat.”
Sylvester Stallone, American actor
Fear can be helpful at times. It could be a clue you really haven‘t
done your homework. If you‘re properly prepared, truly think and
react positively, fear won‘t be much of a problem or even an issue.
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Don‘t be afraid of fear. Fear is a completely instinctive and natural
reaction of the body (NOT the mind!) to unfamiliar, unknown or previously painful situations. When experiencing fear, your ability to
think logically and rationally has been involuntarily bypassed.
If you normally think and react positively, you very seldom will experience the pain and agony of true fear. Now,
What are you afraid of?
No really, WHAT are you really afraid of? Have you honestly thought
about it or have you just reacted instinctively to a situation and
completely bypassed your sense of reason? All too often we bounce
around our world, not really being truly aware of what is actually
happening to us. All we know for sure, is we‘re scared to death.
“Should I stay or should I go?”
Any time you sense fear, if you haven‘t conditioned yourself to react
otherwise, your biosystem drastically alters itself to confront the perceived danger. Your autonomic nervous system stops and your sympathetic nervous system kicks in and causes your body to involuntarily and immediately assumes a “fight or flight” response, totally
bypassing your ability to reason, ignoring your ability to think rationally and appropriately about the situation.
All fear by definition is irrational, because you‘re ignoring the mind.
The blood drains from your brain (making you less effective at thinking) and pours into your lower limbs (making you more effective to
physically react to the situation, defending yourself or running away).
Unless you‘ve got a really big, really mean, dog chasing you, you
don‘t need to react physically. You need an increased ability to function well mentally. Unfortunately, the opposite occurs. And, since
127
your system doesn‘t observe any recognizable obvious threat, the
instinct is to run away, anywhere but where you are now.
That‘s why we feel such an uncomfortable internal conflict. We know
in our minds that running away is not the best response, but our
body is flooded with hormones practically FORCING us to run. We
now have an instinctive NEED to run away, but we rationally WANT
to stay and handle the situation intellectually. Our “need” to run is in
opposition to our “desire” to stay. This is why some people sometimes “freeze up” when confronted with overwhelming fear.
If remain fearful, you will soon become exhausted. It squanders precious energy, especially if you‘re not in the best physical health.
REJECTION
"I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They
teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart
of hearts, `To hell with you‘."
Saul Bellow, American author
"A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit
of success."
Bo Bennett, American entrepreneur and success coach
A quick response to rejection:
Don‟t take it personally — It’s NOT about you!
Everyone has VERY different priorities than everyone else. Just
because someone else‘s, “to do list” doesn‘t include you, it is NO
reason for you to think your self-worth is worth any less.
Some level of rejection is completely inevitable in all areas of life.
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Our need for affiliation and social interaction appears to be particularly strong when we're under stress, such as in a sales call. If you
fear rejection, you'll avoid cold-calling, difficult negotiations and
hesitate to close calls.
Rejection is painful and will cost you money. If you can‘t handle rejection, someone else who can is getting your customers, your sales.
It's completely normal to avoid pain. Pain creates fear and fear is
immobilizing and debilitating. The body reacts viscerally to any pain,
regardless of what the mind wants to accomplish.
When we interfere with another person's plans, purpose and direction in life, it's only normal for them to have an adverse reaction to
us and our purpose.
"We keep going back, stronger, not weaker, because we will not
allow rejection to beat us down. It will only strengthen our resolve. To be successful there is no other way."
Earl G. Graves, publisher of “Black Enterprise” Magazine
Abraham Maslow and other behavioral scientists have suggested
the need for love and belongingness is a fundamental human motivation. According to Maslow, all humans need to be able to give
and receive affection to be psychologically healthy.
Humans are social beings. As a group, we tend to find safety in
numbers and respond to peer-pressure. Unfortunately, you spend
most of your life alone. To cope with loneliness, learn to be alone.
To succeed, you have to do things differently than everyone else
and leave them behind. The winner crosses the finish line alone.
You have to ignore the rejection of others. Continue on your path.
Get the customers and close the sales before your competitors.
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There seems to be a stronger genetic predisposition that makes
some people more vulnerable to rejection experiences and more
likely to develop rejection sensitivity, than others. Also, early childhood experiences can contribute to this level of sensitivity. It appears children receiving less attention from their parents tend to
require more attention from others as adults.
These factors DO NOT give anyone an excuse to avoid rejection. It
means these people need to work harder on overcoming their fears.
If you have a negative reaction to cold calling, closing sales or anything else, you just need to work more on improving those skills.
We all too often, take rejection personally. We sometimes erroneously think our fear of rejection is seeking the acceptance of the
person rejecting us. We don't take time to realize that the person's
rejection has nothing to do with us personally. We are intruding into
their life, their plans, their way of doing things and forcing them to
make some adjustments they're probably uncomfortable with.
"Practice, practice, practice until you eventually get numb on rejections"
Brian Klemmer, American author and speaker
DEALING WITH REJECTION
From Robin Sharma‘s website, robinsharma.com:
To accomplish anything, we must regularly face rejection and disappointment without being distracted by these useless emotions. The
only way rejection can get you down is by reinforcing the doubts
you already have. Without doubt, there is no rejection.
The way to protect yourself against disappointment and rejection is
to remove your doubts. The best way is with commitment and prep-
130
aration. False bravado or arrogance is futile and will do nothing to
remove doubt. You must build solid confidence and truly convince
yourself of the worthiness of your pursuit.
Know you're:
*
Capable.
*
Prepared.
*
Committed.
*
Willing to do whatever it takes.
These are how you remove doubt. Without doubt, you remove rejection and disappointment.
Honestly and completely believe in what you're doing and nothing
can divert you from your path. When you truly believe, each disappointment you encounter just makes you stronger. Each source of
rejection will become a challenge, a source of fun and excitement.
Rejection Is Actually Motivating
Why are you in sales? Or better yet, why do you do anything?
Money? Recognition? Achievement?
WRONG, WRONG, and WRONG AGAIN!
Those reasons are just results of the real, honest goal in your life:
You really just want to feel good about yourself.
You think you sell because you want money?
WRONG!
What you really do want is what money can buy.
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It's not a new Mercedes, Rolex Watch or Caribbean Vacation.
It's how you think you will feel after getting those things.
It's all about feelings! It's all about emotions: YOUR EMOTIONS.
No matter what the reason is you're in sales, dig deep, follow your
reasoning and you'll eventually get to "it makes me feel good about
myself". That's really all there is to it.
Rejection is so insidious, immobilizing, debilitating. With our human
genetics, we can't help but be social. Most people base their feelings
about themselves on the opinions of others.
"There are two wrong reactions to a rejection… deciding it's a final judgment on your talent and deciding it's not a judgment on
your talent."
Nancy Kress, American science fiction author
Rejection hurts because you think it makes you feel as if you're not
worthwhile. And, your base human instinct is to avoid pain, at all
costs. You may feel rejection is blocking you from attaining whatever it is that you think will make you feel better about yourself.
However, the idea, "rejection is painful", is only a result of an emotion, created by a false belief. If you change the belief, you change
the emotion and remove the source of pain.
REJECTION = MONEY
You're actually being paid to be rejected.
People that can‘t handle rejection don‘t get paid. If there were no
rejections, sales wouldn't pay so much and everybody would be
doing it. The better you handle rejection, the more money you will
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make. If you're not getting rejected, you're not selling. You're taking
the path of least resistance, which will lead you nowhere and will
certainly NOT make you any money.
NEVER be afraid of rejection.
Really successful salespeople do not take rejection seriously. They
develop skills to use any negative feedback to create greater successes. They condition themselves to see rejection as a challenge.
The bigger the obstacle, the more money you will make and your
ability to overcome larger challenges is increased, dramatically.
CLINICAL POSSIBILITIES
Some people have extremely deep-seated, hard core emotional
problems left over from childhood and may require some professional help. Behavioral Science has made blindingly rapid advancements in the past 30 years. Investigate into the new clinical technologies of behavior change, like NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming)
and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reconditioning).
These approaches go a long way to help people react more effectively the external world by only taking a few sessions and costing a
TINY fraction of time and expense of the traditional psychological
and psychiatric therapies. Also, some people do have psychological
symptoms to physical problems, such as chemical imbalances that
do require psychiatric and pharmacological treatment.
Do not be afraid to seek such help, if you feel it‘s really appropriate.
EMDR:
http://www.emdr.com/clinic.htm
NLP:
http://www.nlp-practitioners.com/
Cognitive Therapy: http://www.abct.org/
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Do not let fear and rejection control your life and keep you from
seeking and fulfilling your desires, aspirations and dreams.
"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to
lose sight of the shore."
Andre Gide, 19th century French author, Nobel Prize winner
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the
things that you didn't do than by the ones you did... Throw off the
bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds
in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain, infamous 19th century American author
Manage your emotions and free yourself from the shackles of fear
and rejection.
See:
Appendix D – “How to Overcome Anxiety”.
Appendix E – “How to Get Motivated”.
Appendix E – “How to Overcome Negative Thinking”.
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Appendix D
How to Overcome Anxiety
“Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are
drained.”
Arthur Somers Roche, American fiction author
Are you using your “behavior modification mechanism”? -- If not,
first go to Appendix A! If you‘re not willing to at least do this, none
of this will be much help.
If possible, make sure you‘ve read “Appendix C - How to Overcome
Fear and Rejection” before continuing.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines ―anxiety” as:
“…A state of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from
the anticipation of a realistic or fantasized threatening event or
situation, often impairing physical and psychological functioning”
Notice “…fantasized threatening …” in the definition.
ALL ANXIETY IS A FANTASY!
Anxiety and worry, unlike fear, is completely a creation of your mind.
It is a physical reaction of your body to an IMAGINED event in your
mind. You‘re unnecessarily making yourself sick with irrational, negative thinking. Anxiety is only a symptom of thinking incorrectly.
Learn to think correctly and there‘s no more anxiety, no more worry.
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WORRY
You‘re worrying about things that may or may not happen, but by
being anxious, you are helping to create the environment where
what you fear can actually occur. Anxiety robs your biosystem of its
precious mental energy, making you much less effective at successfully handling the event.
"It makes no sense to worry about things you have no control
over because there's nothing you can do about them. And, why
worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps
you immobilized."
Wayne Dyer, American popular self-help author
Break the Pattern of Worry
The irony about worry is we live through the anticipated event
before it ever happens (usually many times). If and when the event
actually occurs, it's rarely as bad as we originally anticipated.
"A coward dies a thousand deaths. A hero, only one..."
William Shakespeare, in his play, "Julius Caesar”
Most anxiety comes from “perceived” pressure.
PRESSURE
“Pressure is something you feel when you don't know what the
hell you're doing.”
Peyton Manning, American All-Pro football player
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The American Heritage Dictionary defines ―pressure” as:
“A compelling or constraining influence, such as a moral force, on
the mind or will … Urgent claim or demand.”
You can command tremendous respect if you demonstrate to others
how well you handle pressure that normally cripples people.
HOW TO RELAX
1.
Find a location where you can sit down, relatively private
and away from distractions.
A restroom stall (if necessary) is just fine.
2.
Spread the fingers of both hands as far as you can without
straining.
Touch the fingertips of each hand together fan-like, with the
palms comfortably away from each other.
Place your arms comfortably in front of you on your lap.
3.
Lean your head comfortably back, looking at the ceiling.
Close your eyes and imagine you‘re slowing going down.
4.
Inhale through your nose slowly to the count of ten and
exhale back through your nose for another ten.
As you're breathing, imagine air flowing through the balls of
your feet and passing through the fingers and hands.
Think of nothing but the slow count and the moving air.
This will relax you very quickly and easily.
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If you can‘t do all of this, hopefully you‘re in a place where you can
close your eyes. Just tilt your head back, close your eyes. Breathe
slowly through your nose, imagining the air flowing in and out of
the body through your nose and the balls of your feet.
It is normal to have a healthy concern (you MUST be concerned
about the results of events), but it‘s unhealthy to experience the
much more intense and useless emotion of worry. Don‘t over-think
the situation with exaggeration and hyperbole (extreme exaggeration). Keep your feet on the ground. Maintain solid contact with reality, relax and keep your concern in check.
Time Management
Probably, the greatest source of anxiety is failure to manage your
precious time wisely. If you‘re often or always late, missing appointments or can‘t finish details, you HAVE to work on your use of time.
You can‘t rent, buy, borrow or lease time.
Andrew Carnegie, the great American steel magnate, offered Napoleon Hill $25,000, to come up with the most effective and efficient
way of getting things done. During the depression in the 1930‘s,
that was A LOT of money. Hill told Carnegie first thing in the morning; make a list of the ten most important things to do that day.
Then start on the first one. Carnegie paid the money.
We're all familiar with creating and setting priorities with "to do"
lists. Some trainers say you should rank according to how long each
task will take. Others suggest you start with the least desirable item.
Some even say to start with the easiest, just so you get something
done right away and create some momentum. Find your own way of
handling your list. The MAIN thing is to have a list.
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But, to even have time to get to your "to do list", you HAVE to get
the most from your time:
o
GO TO THE GYM!
If you're not taking time to exercise, you're making the
WORST possible decision in time management.
Exercise is absolutely the best time investment you can
make. If you take a little time and energy to get your blood
flowing and force fresh oxygen to stream through your biosystem, you get a tremendous amount of energy in return.
You can't get more time, but after exercising, the quality of
the time you have left, improves dramatically!
o
Stop doing things that don't really matter.
Set your priorities!
Spend your time on only what ABSOLUTELY has to be done;
things that help you keep your job. You'd be surprised at
how much time you spend on things that aren't important.
o
Follow the money.
What decisions are most likely to generate the most money
in the least amount of time?"
o
Set aside time to deal with necessities.
Instead of dealing with menial, but necessary chores such as
filing, organizing, writing reports as they arise (always at an
inopportune time), set aside SPECIFIC times to handle routine tasks. Avoid spending precious selling hours on nonrevenue generating tasks.
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Delegate them to non-selling hours, such as an hour every
Sunday evening. Answer non-critical phone messages
AFTER business hours.
o
Multi-task.
Be clever and discover ways to do two things at the same
time. Read trade magazines or review proposals on the Lifecycle at the gym. Return calls while driving to your next appointment and drop in on another customer while you're already in the neighborhood. Always carry something to read
with you. You never know when you're going to be delayed
somewhere. You can get some benefit just waiting.
o
ALWAYS ask:
"Is what I'm doing right now, getting me where I want to go?"
Dealing with Difficult People
Difficult people have been conditioned and reinforced to act as they
do since early childhood. They have actually been rewarded for their
negative behavior throughout their entire lives. Difficult behavior
worked for them as children and it continues to work for them as
adults.
Most of us are born with the capacity and desire to love and be
loved. As we grow, we respond to verbal and visual cues and begin
to adjust our behavior to obtain positive responses. Children who
manipulate their parents soon learn to enjoy feelings of power and
control over others.
We reward difficult people by giving in to their needs and continue
to reinforce their awful behavior. If someone's behavior is consis-
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tently unacceptable towards you, are you rewarding their negative
behavior?
There are three responses to another person:
1.
Be positive.
2.
Be negative.
3.
Ignore or avoid them.
Avoidance is ineffective, because it‘s a positive response for difficult
people. When we ignore inappropriate and/or unacceptable behavior, it continues to happen because our avoidance tells the difficult
person that we are willing to accept their behavior.
Difficult people live by their own rules and have different rules for
everyone else. They want to do what they want, in their own time, in
their own way, without interference from anyone. They expect everyone around them to cooperate (even work extra hard) to ensure
this happens.
They don't see anything unreasonable about these expectations. It's
just a normal part of their day, as it has always been. There is little in
their experience to tell them their actions are inappropriate. They
also have little (if any) desire or reason to change their habits.
What can be done about it?
We can learn a lot from these people. We tend to tolerate their behavior, hold back our feelings and swallow our words, just an effort
to maintain some kind of stability. We may even make concessions
when we don't get anything in return. We may even rationalize or
question our own ability to relate and communicate with other‘s
reasoning, "It's partially my fault".
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We can't change difficult people. We can only change the way we
react to their behavior. They have to get our permission and cooperation to manipulate, intimidate and control us to get their way. As
in most relationships, we are treated exactly the way we allow ourselves to be treated.
By focusing on ourselves and changing our reactions and behaviors,
we can maintain our sanity by standing up to them when it's appropriate, reminding ourselves it has nothing to do with us and not
reinforcing their behavior.
ALWAYS demonstrate basic respect and manners towards these
people, but make sure you stand up for yourself. Doing this will at
least produce some respect from the person and make it easier to
deal with them in the future.
Professional Politics
WordNet defines ―politics” as:
“…social relations involving intrigue to gain authority or power”
Politics is basically the use and misuse of perceived power.
In any group, because of differing personalities, ideas and opinions,
there is always some conflict in assumption of leadership, guidance
and advice. Even if there is a formally assigned leader, the others
may pay more attention to others they respect or agree with more.
There is always some kind of “pecking order”, creating some level of
discord will exist with those not so easy to compromise or get involved with some consensus. The whole concept of personal power
and inflated egos can disrupt the success of the group.
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If the difficult person is your:
o
Customer.
Be VERY cautious when dealing with difficult customers. They can cost you your career. You can't let
these people take advantage of you, though.
o
Your boss.
Remember, your supervisor has direct control of
your professional life.
o
You co-worker.
You usually spend too much with co-workers to tolerate much difficulty for long. You must confront
the person and handle the situation, even if it involves getting your supervisors and HR involved.
If you continue to have major problems with these people, document EVERYTHING. Your hardcopy will beneficial for substantiating
any decision you make in the future.
It is primary to remember when dealing with difficult people to not
take their behavior personally. These people deal with almost everyone in this manner, even though it may seem at the time to be only
you. Maintain your basic respect for them, but keep your cool, your
poise, your professionalism and above all, demand your dignity.
Manage your emotions and be free from the burden of worry.
See:
Appendix C – “How to Overcome Fear”.
Appendix E – “How to Overcome Negative Thinking”.
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Appendix E
How to Overcome Negative Thinking
"The truth is that we can learn to condition our minds, bodies,
and emotions to link pain or pleasure to whatever we choose. By
changing what we link pain and pleasure to, we will instantly
change our behaviors."
Tony Robbins, American self-improvement guru
Are you using your “behavior modification mechanism”? -- If not,
first go to Appendix A! If you‘re not willing to at least do this, none
of this will be much help. Half of the information needed for eliminating negative thought is in Appendix A. So, read it first!
If possible, make sure you‘ve read Appendix C – “How to Overcome
Fear and Rejection” and Appendix D – “How to Overcome Anxiety”
before continuing.
Hopefully, by the time you got to here, you‘re well on your way to
learning how to control your emotions. If you can‘t control your
emotions, you cannot be successful with affirmations, positive thinking or anything, for that matter.
It‘s not actually thinking you‘re concerned with at all, it‘s:
POSITIVE REACTING
As said earlier, all the positive thoughts you can accumulate will dissolve the instant something bad happens to you and you immediately REACT negatively. You MUST teach yourself to react positively.
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SELF TALK
Sales skills are all about communication. Every sales training course
deals with specific techniques with what you're supposed to say to a
customer or how you're supposed to say it.
We tend to ignore the most important communication when it
comes to sales success: the communication that goes on inside your
own head, what you say to yourself. Self talk is the most important
communication you will ever have. How successful you are at anything depends on how well you talk to yourself.
No matter what you say to yourself, you're LISTENING.
What you say to yourself and how you say it has everything to do
with who you are and how you act as a person.
An upbeat, positive, complementing, energetic person almost always has nothing but good, harmonic, continually positive thoughts
floating around inside their minds. Dealing with these people is a
real pleasure.
Negative, angry, dissatisfied, complaining, downbeat people have
little to nothing positive to say to themselves. They are continually
squandering precious energy, constantly struggling with the conflict
and discord banging around inside their minds. Having anything to
do with these people is a real pain.
When thinking negatively, some part of you would rather not do
something:
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*
You don't like doing it.
*
You're afraid of the outcome.
*
You'd rather do something else.
Another part of you knows you really do need to do whatever you're
avoiding to become successful. A process of internal communication
takes place and one of the two segments of your mental processes
wins the battle.
You're either motivated to do what you need to do or you're not.
Communication is the core to sales and internal communication is
the core of motivation. Sales success doesn't exist without motivation.
A motivated salesperson continually works at an opportunity
until it results in a sale.
Unmotivated salespeople do anything and everything to find an
excuse to keep from doing what it takes to make the sale. They
always have a valid reason why a sale didn't go through.
You should spend at least as much time and energy learning and
understanding your internal communication processes as you spend
on sales gadgetry and sales skills.
The foundation of your internal communication is your belief system. Beliefs determine the quality of your internal communication.
Positive beliefs are invigorating, enervating, motivating.
If you believe problems and challenges are potholes rather than
roadblocks, you're more likely to tell yourself that taking the
next step and going the distance pays off and you eventually
succeed.
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If you believe you're in command of your own life rather than a
pawn in the game of life, chances are the part of you that craves
to be successful wins the communication battle with the part of
you that wants to hide from the world and play Solitaire all day.
You continue moving forward, even when the going gets rough.
If you believe challenges are games to win, puzzles to solve,
you're thinking positively.
Negative beliefs create the opposite effect.
If you believe your self-worth is being determined by other‘s
opinions (your boss, customers, relatives, friend, acquaintances,
even strangers), your brain creates internal messages based on
the comments you've heard about yourself.
When these comments are negative, you can't help but be unmotivated and discouraged.
If you believe failure is so painful or uncomfortable, that it must
be avoided at all costs, your internal communications will reinforce the messages and ideas that allow you to avoid any situations where failure is possible. Your irrational fear, based on
"hear-say" will immobilize you from being productive.
If you believe challenges are obstacles to be avoided, you're
thinking negatively.
A belief acts as communications channel that:
1.
Speeds thoughts along that agree with the belief.
2.
Filters communication, blocking thoughts that disagree with
the belief.
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The combination of these determines how your mental process
wins the battle over how to spend your time and energy.
If you have positive beliefs, the part of your mind that wants to be
successful at sales will win, and you'll be motivated.
If you've got negative beliefs, you'll constantly be unmotivated and
engaged in an uphill struggle just to make a sale, let alone do what
it takes to be successful.
POSITIVE THINKING
Norman Vincent Peale, in his book, “The Power of Positive Thinking”,
says that with true positive thinking, you can:
o
Expect the best and get it
o
Believe in yourself and in everything you do
o
Develop the power to reach your goals
o
Break the worry habit and achieve a relaxed life
o
Improve your personal and professional relationships
o
Assume control over your circumstances
If you‘ve read Appendix A, you already know all you need to learn
how think and react positively instead of negatively.
Manage your emotions and eliminate negative thoughts
See:
Appendix C – “How to Overcome Fear”.
Appendix D – “How to Overcome Anxiety”.
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Appendix F
How to Get Motivated
“The moment avoiding failure becomes your motivation; you're
down the path of inactivity. You stumble only if you're moving.”
Roberto Goizueta, 20th century CEO of Coca-Cola
Are you using your “behavior modification mechanism”? -- If not,
first go to Appendix A! If you‘re not willing to at least do this, none
of this will be much help.
“It‟s easy to write a novel. Just put a blank piece of paper in the
typewriter and stare at it until blood appears on your forehead.”
Ernest Hemingway, iconic American author
REAL MOTIVATION
Most people don't understand what motivation really is. They tend
to think motivation is a REASON to do something.
WRONG!
Because of their false assumptions, these people often find it not
just difficult, but often impossible to become motivated.
WordNet.com defines ―motivation” as:
"The psychological feature that arouses an organism to action
toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives
purpose and direction to behavior…"
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Note the "...to action..." Motivation is actually DOING SOMETHING,
NOT just a reason to do something.
A reason is a start, but the reason must be acted on.
An active person is motivated. An inactive person is NOT motivated.
REAL motivation is doing something YOU DON'T WANT TO DO!
REAL motivation is to continue cold calling after ten or more
rejections.
FALSE ENTHUSIASM
Far too many companies encourage, even demand, false enthusiasm, very shallow positive thinking. They hide behind it to avoid
confronting problems.
“Everything is wonderful.”
“Think happy thoughts.”
“The glass is half full, not half empty.”
And, anyone who even hints that anything is wrong anywhere in the
known universe is suffering from a negative attitude and ought to
stop bringing themselves and everyone else down.
To management "he has a positive attitude" often means, "he doesn't
bitch about our stupidity and says all the right things". Critical voices
are dismissed with, "He's just being negative".
If you try to muster false enthusiasm before making a call or meeting with anyone, you will be perceived as phony and very unprofessional. You must be truly enthused with who you are, enthralled with
what you‘re offering and ecstatic about the opportunity to create
results for your prospect by solving their problems.
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Cheerleading
You are the quarterback AND the center.
(The center gets the ball to the quarterback then protects him, so
he can throw or run with the ball. The quarterback gets all the
glory and attention. But, he can't do his job without the thankless, grinding it out, painful grunt work of the center).
You also have to be your own:
*
Coach.
*
Manager.
*
Trainer.
*
AND, you have to be your own cheerleader.
When you're the cheerleader, you HAVE to keep cheering when the
team is losing. If you cheer, you increase the chances of winning
immeasurably. You may not win, but you sure make the game a lot
more fun and the score will be a lot closer. Don't cheer and YOU
WILL LOSE, because your team will have a much more difficult time
being motivated because it doesn't have much of a reason to win if
the fans (you) don't seem to care.
"Enthusiasm is the inspiration of everything great. Without it no
man is to be feared, and with it none despised."
Christian Nestell Bovee, 18th century American motivator
You CANNOT use false enthusiasm. You MUST be truly enthused.
You've seen crummy cheerleaders that just go through the motions
and not motivate anyone. And, you've also seen very good ones
who seemed to be active and positive, no matter what. They get the
bored crowd excited. That's got to be you.
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PROCRASTINATION
The American Heritage Dictionary defines ―procrastination” as:
“To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness …To postpone or delay needlessly”
Notice: “habitual carelessness”, “laziness”, “needlessly”. Procrastination is a bad habit. Just DO IT. If it‘s small and not that important,
DO IT. Get it out of the way. Keep small things from building up into
big things.
PAIN vs. PLEASURE
Review Appendixes A, C, D and E to understand basic motivation.
GOALS
One of Microsoft's earlier slogans was, "Where do you want to go
today?" Can you answer the question? What do you want to accomplish this week? — This month? — This year? — The next 5, 10 or 20
years? Most people can't even define in concrete terms what they
want right now! You get a vague answer such as happiness, money,
the perfect mate. Goals are just reasons for doing things.
Don't do anything you don't enjoy unless you have to. Find a way to
make it fun. It's not the destination, it's the journey. It's not the finish
line, it's the race. Find a way to enjoy the running.
The Three Questions:
1.
Do you know WHAT YOU WANT?
2.
Do you know HOW TO GET IT?
3.
Is what you're doing RIGHT NOW getting it for you?
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Ask yourself these questions before you:
o
Get out of bed.
o
Do ANYTHING important.
o
Face a customer.
o
Do anything else after facing the customer.
o
Go to bed.
The answers to these questions:
o
Provide a vision for attaining your goals.
o
Give you most of the motivation you need.
If you don‘t make goals:
o
Life without a goal is a trip without a destination.
o
Life without a plan is a trip without a map.
o
Life without a vision is like being lost in the forest.
You won't see very far and no matter where you go, it all
looks the same.
Vision is using your imagination to look much further than you
can see (beyond the horizon).
Without a goal, a plan or a vision, you will wander around aimlessly
and may actually get somewhere, but you will always be uncomfortable knowing it probably wasn't where you wanted to go.
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“Desire is the key to motivation, but it is determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal. A commitment to
excellence that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”
Mario Andretti, Italian-American racecar driver
An effective goal is a magnet. If you go through the proper steps to
create the proper goal, motivation is automatic. The goal will draw
you to it. Doing something that takes you away from achieving that
goal is uncomfortable, even painful.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
"Goals are dreams with deadlines."
Diana Scharf Hunt, author and motivational speaker
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
th
Benjamin Franklin, 18 century American statesman
To Dream the Impossible Dream
―A fool with a plan can outsmart a genius with no plan.”
T. Boone Pickens, American Oil Billionaire
Dan O'Brien, the 1996 American Olympic Gold Medalist in the Decathlon, deemed at the time "the greatest athlete in the world", told
this story to a journalist shortly after his victory:
"Our coach asked us if we had set our goals. We all said that we
had. Then he asked, "Do you have them in your pocket?"
“From that moment on, I carried my goals in my pocket and reviewed them several times a day. If I was to point to one thing
that made a difference that was it."
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BABY STEPS
When people take on one big goal at once, they invariably fail.
Remember, we discover in small increments, with baby steps, little
bites. We extend our boundaries an inch at a time. Denis Waitley
said the most insightful thing about setting goals, "Keep them out of
reach, but not out of sight”. Most motivators teach people to, set
one, five, ten and twenty year goals. If you're not used to goal setting, this is a very big change. Remember, most people (subconsciously) don't like change. Change is uncomfortable.
"In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely
loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it."
Robert Heinlein, American science fiction author
For a goal, a reason, we need a direction, a purpose. For that, we
need a target. The farther away our target, the higher our aim has to
be. If we haven't practiced shooting, we're not going to hit anything.
If you don't have long term goals, it's only because you haven't
practiced making them. Have you ever looked back at the end of a
day and said, "I didn't do anything today"? If you haven't started setting goals, just start with a list of things to do. Then check them off
as you go along. This gives you practice. At day's end, you can look
at your list and feel the sense of accomplishment you need to go
further. Just improve on this a little, every day. Before long, you'll
have your long-term goals. Make your goal setting enjoyable.
Take even the smallest steps toward your goals. People usually procrastinate because of fear and lack of confidence and ironically, become even more afraid when under the gun.
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"By the inch it's a cinch, by the yard it's hard!"
Denis Waitley
How do you eat an elephant? — One bite at a time.
If you had to swallow a chicken breast all at once, you'd choke. You
have to cut the chicken into small pieces, eating one bite at a time.
Take a project and break it down to bite-sized pieces. Each small
task collects into a defined objective, a mini-goal. Complete each
piece of the goal, these individual objectives and the goal becomes
manageable. You get positive feedback and reinforcement from
each small completion.
MOTIVATION and GOALS
Believe it or not, there is little difference between physical and mental energy. If you vividly imagine exercising, you can work out just by
thinking! As long as you visualize feeling exactly like the activity. This
really works.
In NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) this is known as Future Pacing, to "embed" change into the contexts of the future, to give the
person an experience of dealing positively with a situation before
they get into the same situation again. This is based on visualization:
the mind cannot tell the difference between a real scenario and one
that‘s vividly, clearly, concretely visualized.
“Make sure you visualize what you really want, not what someone
else wants for you.”
Jerry Gillies, 20th century author of books on prosperity
The idea is, having visualized positively, when in the situation again,
the previous experience will serve as a model for how to behave,
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even though the previous experience was imagined. As the mind
cannot tell the difference between the visualization and reality, it
accepts it as reality and makes the change.
“A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You
must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.”
Denis Waitley, American author and motivator
Both the mind and body can perform miraculous feats. It just takes
conditioning and reinforcement. Have you heard of the “Ironman
Triathlon” in Hawaii? The contestants swim in the ocean for 2.5
miles, bicycle for 112 miles through hills, then run a 26.2 mile marathon. All this is completed, not just on the same day, but consecutively. Most participants finish within six hours! Imagine the physical
and mental resources required to do this, let alone within six hours.
The body can expand its limits to unbelievable levels, as long as it‘s
trained to do so. The mind can be trained to expand, as well.
The point is: anyone can do this! Anyone can do anything! For most
it will take more dedication and work, but it still can be done.
It just requires:
1.
You really WANT to do it.
2.
You're willing to SACRIFICE the time and energy.
3.
You do WHATEVER IT TAKES!
You will never do anything well if you don't want to do it, no matter
what it is. If it's distasteful for you, and you really don't want to do it,
you absolutely have to:
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Find a way to want to do it!
You and only you are responsible for your motivation. You're responsible to discover whatever it takes to make the task interesting,
exciting, satisfying and fulfilling. Get excited! Be your own cheerleader!
Since the biosystem is so resistant to change, it takes time to recondition your psychological and physical abilities. Remember, the
more you do, the more you can do. Be your own hero!
The only person you have to impress is yourself!
All you have to do is improve. Just do a little more than you did yesterday. Do you know how to eat an elephant? — One bite at a time.
Always start anything new, anything unfamiliar with:
Baby steps — Little bites.
You learn to swim by first putting your big toe in the water. Just do
what you're comfortable with, then analyze the situation, see how
you're doing. Then get comfortable, adjust your approach, and take
just a little bigger step. You have to teach yourself. Be your own
coach!
Take a jar and put a penny in it, two pennies in the next day, then
three and so on. After a month, you'll have almost five dollars, not
that much. However, after six months, you'll have $163.00! Saving
pennies! That's all it takes! It's the same with physical fitness, just get
active, then do more each day than you did the day before. In six
months, one half of a year, you'll be in the best shape of your life!
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TAKE ACTION
From Napoleon Hill's book, "Keys to Success":
Progress towards success begins with a fundamental question:
Where are you going?
A clearly defined purpose is the starting point of ALL achievements.
Most people stumble through life, without a direction, a purpose, a
goal. Every person who has achieved lasting success and each had a
definite major purpose. Each had a plan for attaining their goal and
spent the majority of their thoughts and efforts to that end.
If you don't know where you're going, how do you know when
you've arrived?
A definite major goal is a BURNING DESIRE! Without a burning desire, a passionate drive, you will probably not even come close to
attaining what you seek.
The difference between a passion and a wish is crucial. Everyone
wants better things in life and most people just wish for them,
dreaming when their ship comes in or winning the lottery. Wishing
for anything is a passive waste of mental resources. Passion requires
mental and physical energy and action to actually do something to
achieve what you desire.
One of Sir Isaac Newton's Laws of motion: inertia, states:
A body at rest tends to stay at rest.
A body in motion tends to stay in motion.
GET MOVING! — DO SOMETHING!
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"All mankind is divided into three classes:
those that are immovable,
those that are movable and
those that move."
th
Benjamin Franklin, 18 century American statesman
If you know what you want from life, if you are determined to get it,
desire becomes an obsession. Desire is a wish, obsession is passion.
Your success in life depends heavily on your ability to gather a great
deal of knowledge, develop a specific skill and perform exceptionally. A clear, realistic, defined purpose acts as a magnet, attracting you
to the specialized knowledge and experience necessary for success.
“Never let school interfere with your education.”
Mark Twain, American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer
The continually attaining knowledge and experience in your chosen
skill associates you with like-minded others. This relationship networking can't help but eventually present you with many opportunities you would otherwise overlook or not even be aware of.
"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the
shoulders of giants."
Isaac Newton, 18th century English mathematician, physicist
Successful people make decisions quickly (as soon enough facts are
available) and firmly. Unsuccessful people make decisions slowly
and change them often.
Make ANY decision. Any decision is better than none. The best way
to discover if you've made a wrong decision is to make it. Once
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you‘ve discovered you‘ve made a mistake, change your direction
and KEEP GOING!
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and
courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think
about it. Go out and get busy.”
Dale Carnegie, renowned American author of,
"How to Win Friends and Influence People"
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough,
we must do.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 19th century German writer
Make a decision and ACT on it.
"Action is the foundational key to all success."
Tony Robbins, American motivator
SMILE DAMMIT, SMILE
Believe it or not, one way to get energized, enthused and motivated
is to smile. If you think this is a joke, remember that when you are
positively energized and happy, you can‘t help but smile. This happens because serotonin, endorphins, adrenaline and other “happy”
chemicals are flowing through your body.
If you actually FORCE yourself to smile, you can create these “happy”
chemicals almost on demand. Find somewhere that others won‘t
observe your unusual behavior (a restroom stall is perfect) and just
smile. Smile big and hard, really smile for a minute or so. It will get
you well on the road to motivation.
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Still not motivated?
There is one way that ALWAYS works! Jeffrey Gitomer, in his bestselling book, "Little Red Book of Selling..." says four little words to
motivate yourself:
"KICK YOUR OWN ASS!"
“No one will do it for you. No one really wants to help you. Very
few will inspire you. And, even fewer still will care about you.
People care about themselves, just like you do.”
Just as all education is basically self-education, every motivation is
self-motivation. Others may create an environment where it may be
easier to become enthused or excited, but you (and ONLY you)
make the decision to be motivated to act.
Knute Rockney, the infamous former Notre Dame football coach
found his team without a score, trailing Army by 35 points (a seemingly insurmountable obstacle) at halftime. The team sat alone in
the locker room waiting for the coach to give them the chewing-out
they were expecting. Rockne just let them sit quietly by themselves
for the full 15 minutes before he opened the door and said, “Let‟s go
girls”. Notre Dame won the game, 42-35.
Knute didn‘t motivate his players that day. He let them motivate
themselves to accomplish an impossible task.
If you blame anyone or anything other than yourself, you will not
get motivated. Everyone‘s organization or boss could be better.
When it comes down to it, no matter what your situation is or where
you work, you are truly the only person responsible for you.
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You HAVE to be your own boss. You HAVE to answer the question:
"What would an effective boss do to get me to accomplish this?"
THEN DO IT!
Like the Nike athletic shoe commercial states:
“JUST DO IT!”
If you CAN'T do it, then ALL IS LOST and you might as well give in,
go home, let YOUR family starve and let other people eat YOUR
steak and/or lobster, reap YOUR rewards, enjoy YOUR successes.
Manage your emotions and create true enthusiasm.
See:
Appendix C – “How to Overcome Fear”.
Appendix D – “How to Overcome Anxiety”.
Appendix E – “How to Overcome Negative Thinking”.
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——————————————————————————————
Appendix G
How to Cold Call
"The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we
desire not things we fear."
Brian Tracy, American sales trainer
Are you using your ―behavior modification mechanism‖? -- If not,
first go to Appendix A! If you‘re not willing to at least do this, none
of this will be much help.
If you have not read this entire book before trying to make a cold
call, you are begging for one heck of a lot of personal pain (that is
really not necessary).
Most people hate cold calling. That fear feeds on itself, making your
performance ineffective when you pick up the phone. The person on
the other end of the line can't help but sense your negativity, tone
and attitude, making everything even worse. All this creates a
downward cycle. Your fear of cold calling creates more failure, making each call worse than the previous one.
If public speaking is what most people fear the most, cold calling
has got to be a close second. If you are NOT comfortable speaking
in public, how well do you think you can make cold calls or even
effectively sell something?
Cold calling is an unbelievably painful struggle. If you go on using
the same old cold calling methods, you'll go on experiencing everincreasing pain. Continuing to experience mental pain over a long
period of time can actually create physical symptoms.
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If you are averse to public speaking and want to remain in sales, you
really need to improve those skills. Join Toastmasters and/or take a
Community College or Adult Education course or two in speech
and/or forensics (debate). This will increase your confidence and skill
set tremendously.
CALLING COLD
The American comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, in one of the episodes of his
now syndicated TV show, answered a call from a telemarketer:
"I'm really interested in what you have to say, but I don't have
time to talk right now. Can I have your home phone number and
call you later?"
..."Oh, so you don't want anyone to call you at home? Now you
know how I feel". CLICK.
Have you ever heard of the "numbers game"? It came from a salesperson making a call, getting rejected and the boss saying:
"Call someone else!"
Cold calling is purely a game of numbers. Your success requires
making dozens or hundreds of calls and it's just not economical to
spend an hour researching every prospect on your call list. Save your
energy for prospects who are interested. You know they're interested if they're willing to make an appointment.
Some define insanity as, continuing to do the same thing over and
over, but expecting a different result. Using that definition:
COLD CALLING IS INSANE (a little humor here, hopefully).
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Paul McCord, in his blog on eyesonsales.com:
“The simple answer to why decision makers hate cold calls is cold
calls are one of the biggest time wasters for them. Decision makers hate cold calls and have no interest in taking your call because all you do is waste their time, Period.”
“…decision makers have made it as obvious as possible they don‟t
want your call. They‟ve put gatekeepers in place to keep you out.
They‟ve got voice mail to filter who they ...talk to and who they
don‟t. They put signs on the door that say „no solicitation‟. As soon
as they discover you‟re a salesperson, they say „no,‟ and hang up.”
“In order to overcome that, you have to make massive numbers of
calls in order to find someone, anyone you can corner.”
Your aversion to cold calling is really just a healthy defense mechanism of your biosystem.
If You Absolutely HAVE to Make Cold Calls
I just saw an ad for an entry-level financial planner with a wellknown national, but local-office brokerage. It had a requirement of
self-generating 25 COMPLETE sales interviews A DAY! How many
cold calls in a day do you think you‘d have to make to do that?
If you‘re self-employed, a low-level or an entry-level salesperson, it‘s
often a requirement to make “X” amount of cold calls per day. So, if
you have to make cold calls, there are ways to do it and still keep
your sanity and have some success.
Cold calling successfully is a rapid way to conduct your own marketing research. You may even tell prospects you‘re conducting research. If you do this, actually DO some research and only ask relevant questions. Once the research is completed, you can always ask
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the person if you can contact them later, but don‘t tell them it‘s for a
sales call. When you do call back, ask them if you can present your
request for an in-person appointment.
Wendy Weiss, in her very popular sales book, "Cold Calling for
Women: Opening Doors & Closing Sales", begins the book with:
"Cold calling is a way of introducing yourself, your company, your
service and/or your product to others. It is a way of broadening
your range of influence, generating interest and bringing new
prospects into your market. The cold call is a way of networking, a
way of starting new relationships and most importantly, a way of
developing and expanding your business."
That's very nice, BUT we ALL know what "cold" calling REALLY is:
*
Calling up a total stranger.
*
Interfering with whatever they're doing.
*
Wasting their precious time.
*
Trying to talk when they don‘t want to
We know this is true, because we all get cold calls. All this surely
sounds like fun, doesn't it? Cold calling is often a necessity in sales.
Even if your company has telemarketers that generate leads for you,
sometimes the quality of those leads may require you to do some
cold calling yourself, to get much better leads for yourself.
If you generate your own leads by cold calling, you're in a much better position than using someone else's leads. You've already created
a relationship with the prospect and they will be more comfortable
with someone they've talked to already.
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Now, the REAL secret to cold calling:
Wendy Weiss says changing the definition of cold calls may
help. Think of these calls as, "Introductory Calls". Wendy states:
"You are calling someone who potentially 'NEEDS' you or your
product or your service. You are introducing yourself, your company and your product."
There really ARE people who actually NEED what you are selling or
promoting. The quality of their lives will be measurably increased by
acquiring what you have to sell. These people more than likely,
probably don't even know they need what you're selling.
“The book salesman should be honored because he brings to our
attention …the very books we need most and neglect most.”
Confucius, China‘s greatest philosopher and teacher
With cold (introductory) calling, your job is to:
FIND THESE PEOPLE.
And, convince them of their need for what you're selling and how
their lives can be improved with it.
WITHOUT YOUR CALL, they may NEVER be aware of this!
Geoffrey James, in his blog says when cold calling, you've got 10-15
seconds to convince them you are worthy of their attention. Immediately mention something that keeps the prospect awake at night.
What's their biggest worry?
Create a SINGLE SENTENCE that makes you the person who can
make their pain go away and let them sleep at night again.
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An opening line:
"Hi, I'm Joe Dokes from WhatsIsJammer. I need to meet with you
to see if I can help prevent the FlabberJammer problem pacing
your WhatEvers on a SillyScope FlapSlam like we did with the
FloppyDoo Corporation. I‟m free Tuesday at 10am."
The key to this is not tricking the prospect, but bypassing their normal defenses, generating INSTANT CREDIBILITY. Notice the phrase,
“I need to meet with you”. This hopefully catches the customer off
guard and helps create the illusion you‘ve spoken before or the customer is familiar with who you are or was expecting your call. You
HAVE to be unique and clever like this to be successful.
If you can mention a previously satisfied customer (that hopefully,
they recognize), it dramatically increases your chance of success.
Notice this type of call requires a considerable amount of prior information from relatively extensive research. It demonstrates you‘ve
done your research, you‘re aware of the customer‘s problem and
you have a possible/plausible solution. It requests an appointment.
Remember though, it‘s often NOT economical to do much research
for cold call prospects. There are so few successes in comparison to
so many rejections. It may make sense for big ticket items. Research
is ABSOLUTELY necessary for referral calls.
The purpose of a cold call isn't to sell!
The purpose is to get the prospect to commit to meet with you, either in person or on the telephone later, NOT now. You've interrupted the prospect's routine. They will be much more attentive with
a scheduled appointment. Asking for an appointment forces the
prospect to declare whether they are actually a potential customer.
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You DON'T ask when it would be convenient to meet. You suggest a
SPECIFIC time, implying you are busy and important, too and not
just some telemarketer begging for Ms. or Mr. Big Wig's time.
If the prospect doesn't immediately agree to the meeting, ask again.
You should ask for an appointment AT LEAST THREE TIMES before
concluding the prospect is truly not interested. Make sure you ask in
a different way each time, to keep the call from being repetitive,
predictable and boring.
Make Cold Calling Easier
To turn cold calling from a chore into a spark for success:
o
Get a better list.
Get QUALIFIED leads. If you have to, create it yourself.
o
Get some referrals.
Great prospects ALWAYS come from existing customers.
o
Get feedback.
Get your sales manager, a friend, associate or someone to
listen to a few calls. Hopefully, they can tell, better than you
can, what you're doing wrong.
o
Improve your attitude.
Your effectiveness depends directly on if you sound truly
positive, motivated and can create value for the customer.
o
Don't call on Mondays or Friday afternoons.
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These are awful times to make cold calls. Find the time of
the week that works best for you AND your leads.
o
Try different scripts.
Different ways get different results. Get creative.
o
Track your success rate.
Unless you're measuring your performance, you won't know
whether your cold calling is doing any better. Keep a record
of what works best for you.
Be a Cold Calling Rock Star
Imagine your cold calling as a performance. Think of yourself as extremely talented (which you should be or will be soon, anyway), an
award-winning actor, an accomplished athlete, a great musician, a
star performer who can (MUST) excel under the most unbelievable
pressure.
Great performers:
o
Rehearse daily.
o
Warm up before the performance.
o
Review their performances to learn to improve the next one.
Wendy Weiss ("The Queen of Cold Calling") suggests nine ways to
overcome the fear of cold calling:
1.
Prepare.
Know your goal, what you want to say, how to say it and
how to represent you, your company and your product.
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Review what you know about your prospect, your prospect's
company and industry. Map out the steps in your pitch on
paper. Anticipate objections and imagine how you'll convince the potential customer to make an appointment.
If you've done all the preparation, you should feel very confident of your ability to make a successful cold call. Let this
confidence dominate your thoughts.
Assume your prospect needs you. Remember there are
people who need what you're selling. Approach the call as if
you have all the information the prospect needs and can
contribute to the success of the prospect's business and/or
their quality of life.
2.
Practice.
Rehearse calling conversations out loud. Role-play with others. Focus on your prospect instead of your fear.
Go over the script enough times so it becomes more natural. Rehearsing REALLY reduces anxiety.
3.
Force yourself to make just a few calls.
The "FEAR" you're creating for yourself is far worse than the
actual cold calls. If you've prepared and practiced, you will
overcome this fear by just making some calls.
Differentiate yourself immediately. Make sure you don‘t
sound like every other cold calling telemarketer.
Anticipate many of your calls will not be successful and
don't let anything shake your confidence.
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4.
Start easily.
If possible, begin with less important leads. Once you feel
more comfortable, start working on your more important or
difficult leads.
Don't get distracted from your mission. There may be times
when you're involved in an in-depth conversation. Gradually
move the conversation towards getting your appointment.
Mirror your prospect's speech pattern.
Your prospect is thinking and speaking at a rate comfortable to them at that moment. Don't agitate the prospect by
interrupting their flow of thought.
Mirror (but don't mimic, they will think you're mocking them)
the tempo and rhythm of the prospect's way of speaking. If
they talk fast, talk quickly, but accurately. If the prospect
drawls, slow down your talking speed. Try to match their
apparent flow.
When you feel the time is right, ask for an appointment.
5.
Stay calm.
If the person you've called is rude, remember they're probably just having a bad day and move on. DO NOT take their
behavior personally.
6.
Don't project.
Your priorities and your prospect's priorities are different.
Don't read anything into the early conversations with your
prospect.
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Don't let their tone and attitudes affect your delivery.
7.
Keep your perspective and have fun.
If the call went well, you celebrate. Pat yourself on the back.
Give yourself some positive reinforcement.
If the call didn't work out, figure out why. What was needed
for that call to be successful?
A lot of things are out of your control. What you do control
is continuing to prospect and continuing to make calls.
The fate of the world doesn't rest on your shoulders and
your phone calls. Relax and be creative.
8.
Make it a Game.
You can easily handle negative responses by giving yourself
a point for every "NO" answer. When you've reached 100,
give yourself a prize.
Remind yourself, you can't find the people who really do
need your product, if you don't call the people who don't
need it. Your calling is the ONLY way to find these people.
9.
Make LOTS of calls.
The more calls you make, the more success you have and
the unsuccessful calls have less impact.
DETACH
Probably, the best thing you can do when dealing with any unpleasant situation, is to detach. You must detach yourself, your ego and
emotions from the process. Completely detach your emotions, like
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physicians, nurses, police officers, EMTs and firefighters, who easily
bypass the worst blood, gore and stench to do their jobs effectively.
Take your sensitive ego out of it. It‘s completely different for each
person. Discover for yourself how to do this. Some people describe
their detachment as if actually just observing the activity from a corner in the room and were not directly involved.
Remember, you‘re a professional. Set a goal to increase the quantity
and quality of those FIRST calls. One of the most exciting things
about sales is you personally have the power to increase your income and success by increasing the quality and quantity of contacts
you make. It is an absolute requirement in today's ever-changing
social networking, high-tech oriented marketplace.
Manage your emotions and get results when making telephone calls
the receiver is not expecting.
See:
Appendix C – “How to Overcome Fear”.
Appendix D – “How to Overcome Anxiety”.
Appendix E – “How to Get Motivated”.
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Appendix H
How to Overcome Objections
“Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining
customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.”
Zig Ziglar, American sales guru
Are you using your “behavior modification mechanism”? -- If not,
first go to Appendix A! If you‘re not willing to at least do this, none
of this will be much help.
A refusal is an "objection". An unexplained lull in the prospect's responses during a sales pitch can be an objection. These can range
from a hopeful, "Please call me back later" to the seemingly fatal,
"I'm not interested".
Beginners tend to take these rejections at face value and give up.
After enough of these objections, the novice is ready to look for
another occupation. A professional knows an objection is just a
foundation to start from. The customer just needs more convincing.
Every salesperson abhors objections, but they exist in almost every
sale. After doing a great job presenting your pitch, the last thing you
want to hear is:
o
"I have to think it over."
o
"We have a supplier for this."
o
"I have to get approval from my boss."
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o
"We really don't need this right now."
o
"I have concerns about your ability to do all this."
...or whatever reason prospects give when they're being cautious, suspicious, bored or interrupted.
Usually, the most common objection is: "It's too expensive". Every
time you've treated yourself to a luxury, haven't you personally
thought, "it's too expensive"? But, doesn't the fact that it's too expensive actually HELP make it desirable?
If a customer is objecting to the price, you HAVE to help the customer understand the inherent value in the product. The German
automobile Porsche‘s advertising once stated, “There is NO substitute”. Apparently, it helped, because a Porsche costs 4-5 times as
much as an averaged-priced car. That computes to four or five cars
for the price of one. That‘s a lot of perceived “value” to pay for.
Sometimes a customer just doesn‘t understand that many other
people have no problem paying the price. Again, it‘s your job to
help them understand this, without denigrating them or making
them feel ignorant or inferior, in any way.
Most sales objections contain a small opening for a successful sale.
"I want to think it over", implies the customer secretly wants to buy.
The phrase, "your service department stinks", includes a hidden message: "If it weren't for that, I'd be buying".
Tom Hopkins, arguably the dean of American sales trainers, said
until you hear an objection, you're not even close to making a sale.
When people want something there's a natural response to come
up with a reason why they can't have it or shouldn't get it. The appearance of an objection is usually the first sign that you're going to
make a sale.
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It is only natural that people want to get the best possible use of
their precious resources. They need to feel they‘re making the best
possible decision and will often create imaginary objections just to
keep from making a decision. After all in business, a wrong decision
can cost them their career. And, sometimes when a manager loses
their job, some of the people under them, lose as well.
That‘s why you have to be sure the customer is completely aware
they‘re making the right decision. For your own confidence, you also
have to be completely certain your customer is making a proper
decision. If you‘re not comfortable with what the customer is doing,
you could subconsciously do something to screw things up. Make
sure all objections are addressed completely, for both you and your
customer.
Disarm the objection while reinforcing the idea the prospect will
buy. There's no reason to lose confidence when inevitable objections occur. Again, this is very natural.
Two Basic Approaches to Objections:
o
Persuasion.
The salesperson convinces the customer the objection isn't
really an objection, doesn't really matter or is something to
be approached later.
This is where you bypass the objection and keep the original
flow of the sale moving forward. If you agreed to visit the
objection later, you‘d better do it!
o
Leverage.
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The salesperson digs into the objection to keep the process
from stalling and moving the sale forward after the objection was addressed.
This is where you directly address or attack the objection.
This is a MAJOR decision, because the original flow of the
sales process is diverted to answer the objection. It may be
difficult to return to the original flow.
The two methods are exact opposites. But, they both can work
under different circumstances.
The choice between persuasion and leverage depends on the situation and is generally determined by the customer. You may want to
defer the objection, but you can‘t without the prospect‘s approval.
An Objection Doesn't Mean "NO"
NEVER stop at an objection. Always question the premise.
Objections happen. After a LOT of work and practice, when you get
to where you do the best sales pitch possible, you will reduce the
amount of objections, but they still happen. People are naturally
uncomfortable making major decisions.
Welcome objections! Objections can be transformed into opportunities. You can increase your understanding of the prospect's situation
and to get closer to them, developing and creating a more trusting
relationship, making everyone aware of how solid this decision is.
When you have a prospective customer on the phone, you should
ask for an appointment at least three times before you can conclude
the prospect really isn't interested.
If a prospect REALLY isn't interested, they just hang up on you.
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At first, write down every objection you receive. Once you've got a
collection, create and memorize a short response to each objection.
A salesperson's response to any objection should be:
o
Informative.
o
Engage the customer while demonstrating a sincere interest
in addressing their needs.
o
Give the client a reason to continue to deal with you.
o
Request an appointment.
Answer any objection in a way that leads you to your goal, getting
the appointment. Create a response to neutralize the objection and
lead immediately into another request for the appointment:
Objection: "I've had or heard about a bad experience with you, your
company or your product".
Response: "We've changed a great deal since then. Whatever happened in the past, it's my job to assure you it won't happen again. If I could come by Tuesday at 10 AM, I could
learn more about what happened and show you how we
can now help you."
Keep probing calmly and empathetically. Address the
problem, dismantle it, neutralize it and move on.
Objection: "I'm too busy".
Response: "The last thing I want to do is waste your time. I'd like to
come by when you have more time to talk. How is Tuesday at 10 AM?"
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Objection: "I have a cousin in the business".
Response: "You know, since I'm not your cousin, you can say
ANYTHING you want to me. You won't have to worry
about hurting my feelings. If we can get together Tuesday
at 10 AM, we can compare what you can get from both
your cousin and I."
Make it clear the benefits for using you instead of the
customer's cousin. Always ask probing questions to verify if this relationship has actually benefited the client.
Objection: "It costs too much".
Response: "I can certainly understand why you may think that way.
If we could get together Tuesday at 10 AM, I could show
you the real value of our product and you can understand what I mean."
When price is an issue, build value into the purchase. If
the customer does not appreciate the value, any price is
too high. Often, price is not the REAL objection. You just
haven't convinced your customer yet.
Each response agrees with the objection. You want an appointment,
not an argument. Make the request for a meeting fit into the natural
flow of the conversation and include a time and date. That lets the
customer know your time is valuable, too.
If you've done your homework and research, you've pre-qualified
your prospect. If you do well with this approach, in most cases, you'll
get the appointment after answering one or (at most) two objections. If you get a third objection, it's over.
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Using persuasion and leverage:
1.
Artfully Dodging:
Acknowledge the objection and continue without answering,
saying you'll address the objection later.
Tom Hopkins says that shelving the objection works because
you keep the customer from focusing on the objection. If the
rest of the presentation is strong, the objection may be addressed before it's over or the customer may have forgotten it.
Be careful, this technique runs the risk of annoying customers
who feel you may be brushing them off.
2.
Quickly Changing:
Transform the objection into a benefit. Agree with the objection then relate it directly to a specific benefit.
If you have a prepared response to an objection at hand, first
take time to acknowledge it. This lets the customer know you're
actually listening to them and not just involved in a back-andforth tennis match.
3.
Reframing Instantly:
This renowned, time-honored technique works great for, "it
costs too much". With your response, change the cost measure so the amount seems trivial.
If the customer asks for a discount, spread the amount equally
over the life of the asset, to show the amount is not significant.
This works best when you sense the prospect really does want to
buy, but needs a price concession to feel better about the deal.
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4.
Leveraging and Clarifying:
When you hear a vague objection like, "I'd like to think it
over", inquire into the customer's reasoning to discover the
REAL objection (which is more definitive), then you can respond appropriately.
As a side benefit, this technique can bring to light objections
that really are deal breakers, like "the budget doesn't allow for
this" or "we can't get credit". In these cases, the sale is dead anyway. Move to the next prospect, content with the knowledge
you did your best and didn't waste precious time on a “no sale”.
This also works those objections like, "it's too expensive". The objection might be temporary and workable, such as, "it's not in
this month's budget". You can't work out these issues if you don't
know what they are. Further in depth questions can reveal more
valuable information.
NEVER stop at an objection. Always question the premise.
5.
Delaying Gratification:
When all else fails, push the objection off the table by promising an answer it in the future.
Hopefully, the prospect will consider the objection "answered"
and will buy without actually seeing the information. The secret
is to keep the sales conversation going rather than letting the
objection block the sale.
You MUST fulfill your commitment, even if the prospect has already purchased the product.
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Create a template for reframing the objection, so the objection itself
creates momentum and moves the sale forward.
Handling objections is one of the trickiest requirements in the sales
process. If you think you may need some organized assistance, there
are several structured models you can use to handle objections. I‘ve
included two, ―Tipping The Bucket‖ an LACE, two of the easiest to
use. Bucket tipping can actually be incorporated in LACE.
Get really familiar with these two before investigating others, because most of them have a good deal in common.
LACE
There are many canned approaches using easy-to-remember acronyms to handling objections. You can always do a Google search
and find many references to them.
LACE is one of the easiest to learn, use and present to you.
L - Listen, A - Accept, C - Commit, E - Explicit action:
Listen
Before you act on any objection, make sure you properly understand
the objection AND the thoughts and emotions behind it.
Find the Objection
Ask questions about the background and objection details. Listen closely, "read between the lines". Always probe for more detail asking, "Is there anything else?" and "Why?"
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Find Remaining Objections
Always find out if there are any more objections. Often, the first
objection isn't even the REAL objection. If you don't seek out
remaining objections, they will pop up later to frustrate you and
make the sales process much more difficult than it needs to be.
Accept
Accept the objection and the person.
Accept the Person
In sales, the customer is EVERYTHING. Always accept the person.
Accept they have a perfect right to object. Accept they're objecting because you haven't fully understood them.
Show you‘re accepting with your attitude, manner and overall
presence. It can actually become uncomfortable for the person
doing the objecting. Some people will fear your reaction to
them. By not reacting negatively, accepting the objection, you
also accept the person.
You will build both their trust and their sense of identity with
you. You also set up an environment where they may feel a
sense of obligation to repay your acceptance.
If handled properly, objections create a Win/Win situation.
Accept the Objection
Understand how it's reasonable (from their viewpoint) for them
to object to what you may believe is an excellent offer. They
can't possibly see things the same way you do.
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Accept the work required to address the objection. Objections
can be frustrating. If you object to the objection, you will create
a mutual stalemate. Don't let your fragile ego destroy your sale!
Commit
With your increased understanding and trust, you have an ideal opportunity for a trial close.
Get Their Commitment
Get a commitment from them. If you can satisfactorily address
their objections, they‘ll agree with you and make the purchase.
This is an excellent way to identify further objections you may
not have encountered earlier. If they say no, continue listening
and accepting with any new objections. Eventually, they run out
of objections. If you can address these, you can move to close.
Make Your Commitment
Make your commitment to resolve their objections. This can be
difficult and create more work for you, from calling in favors
from other people to exerting additional efforts.
Persuasion is often an exchange, a compromise and you can
always back out. Make sure the sale is worth the additional resources you have to commit to close.
Explicit Action
After you've addressed the objections, take explicit action on your
commitments.
There are two types of objections:
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REAL and ACCIDENTAL
Accidental objections are usually due to some misunderstanding
you‘ve concluded somewhere in the process. These are usually
easy to address with an apology, an explanation and some small
action to remedy the situation. Explaining to the customer what
you've learned from the situation always helps.
Real objections take more work. If they can be resolved, you've
got the sale!
Persuade Your Way Through the Objection
Persuading your way through an objection requires changing
the way the customer views the objections. You can wear them
down so they no longer view the objection as being worth pursuing or much better, you can help them view the objections
more positively, so they don't appear important.
Concede Your Way Through the Objection
You can also concede, giving in and effectively buying their
commitment. If they object to the price, you can lower it. If they
don't want it now, you can come back next week.
Concession can be both a useful approach (especially if you are
in a hurry) and a threat. But, If you give them an inch, they may
want a mile. A prepared concession strategy can pay dividends.
Tipping the Bucket
When observing anything you consider being intuitive or just plain
common sense, thinking "outside of the box" requires you to investigate an opposite, counter-intuitive, even nonsensical concept.
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A surprisingly effective approach to handling sales objections is,
"Tipping the Bucket". Spill the beans, go for more.
When prospects object, before addressing their concerns:
ASK FOR MORE OBJECTIONS.
Ask questions like:
"Do you have any other reasons why you're not ready?"
"What else is keeping you from making a decision?”
"You seem to have more concerns. What else is on your mind?"
The first advantage of this technique is, it advances the conversation, keeping the process moving forward, instead of slowing or
even aborting it. Secondly, you become aware of most, if not all of
their objections and give you an opportunity to address them all.
Believe it or not, this really works. It causes the potential customer to
take another look at what you're offering and it tends to distract
them from the original objection and reduces its relative strength in
their mind. It's possible the prospect may even forget or ignore the
first objection.
This really makes sense when you consider it shows you're interested in them personally and appear to really want to help solve their
problems.
It also builds trust and enables you to re-frame the situation as a
joint problem solving effort, rather than just you trying to sell them
something and fending off their objections, like every other salesman they've encountered.
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Empathize with the customer, telling them you understand how they
feel. Tell them about another customer who felt the same way and
how they found it was actually a very good decision.
By empathizing with how they feel, you‘re building harmony with
them, creating more rapport. When you talk about how someone
else felt, you change their focus to more objective thinking they‘re
likely to trust more than their uncomfortable feeling. This also includes them as part of a group of others, so they don‘t feel so alone
making their decision.
You often have to educate your customer to give them confidence
in buying, so they can easily justify the decision to their superiors,
spouse or parent, depending on what you‘re selling.
When people object, often they are saying what you‘re selling is
somehow confusing, unfair or even wrong. If you demonstrate that
it is a clear, fair, reasonable and correct decision, they no longer
have a reason to object.
Rather than fight the objection, justify why it is reasonable. Inform
the customer how you have deliberately made what you are selling
this way for particular reasons and what is different and unique
about your product.
Manage your emotions and get results by overcoming objections.
See:
Appendix C – “How to Overcome Fear”.
Appendix D – “How to Overcome Anxiety”.
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Appendix I
How to Close a Sale
“Let us never negotiate out of fear.
But, let us never fear to negotiate."
John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the U.S.
Are you using your “behavior modification mechanism”? -- If not,
first go to Appendix A! If you‘re not willing to at least do this, none
of this will be much help. It will help understand closing better, if
you‘ve read chapter 5 – “Negotiations”.
To close a sale, get the money. It‘s not closed until then. When the
customer can still back out of their decision, the sale is not closed.
Selling is all about closing. Proper closing helps the customer move
through each stage of their buying process. Closing is not just where
the buying decision is made.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
“First things first, but not necessarily in that order.”
Dr. Who, BBC TV series character
Before you even think about closing, make sure you have a “YES”
answer to ALL of these questions:
1.
Are you working directly with the decision maker?
Ask: “Do we need additional approval?”
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Ask: "Who signed the paperwork the last time a decision was
made like this?"
2.
Is there an immediate need for your product?
Do you have to help create the need?
Ask: "What issues are not resolved right now?"
3.
Do they have the money or budget for your product?
Ask: "Do you lease or purchase products like these?"
Ask: "Are you going to need help with financing?"
Ask: "How often do you buy things like this?"
4.
What is their timeframe?
How much time is involved to make a final decision?
Ask: "When do you expect delivery?"
Ask: "Is there any reason to delay the decision now?"
Remember, people have a natural defense against making major
decisions. They can‘t help thinking about the possible results of
making the wrong decision. In the business world, a wrong decision
can cost someone their career. That‘s a lot of pressure. It‘s the salesperson‘s job to ensure the customer is completely comfortable with
everything in the sales process, so it‘s easier for them to decide.
You basically need to help make the customer feel they‟ve made
the best possible decision. If this is true, closing is easy.
The primary secret to closing a sale is to continue questioning the
customer and handling their objections until they‘re all completed.
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You can‘t close until the customer is comfortable with their concerns. During the sales process also ask questions relevant to closing, so when all objections are handled, it‘s almost relatively easy to
know when to close the sale.
Some people have trouble with closing because the customer still
has objections, some even the customer may not be aware of. If you
haven‘t gotten the correct answers to enough proper questions,
both you and the customer may be shaky about the end the sale.
HOW TO OVERCOME FEAR OF CLOSING
Some salespeople seem to have a debilitating fear of closing, if
they‘re new to sales or selling at a higher level that is new to them.
Techniques to overcome fear of closing:
o
Familiarity.
The more you close, the easier it is to close. Treat the sales
cycle as a series of smaller closes. Closing on the big deal
really isn't such a big deal by itself.
o
Rehearsal.
With emotions, your brain can't differentiate between what
it imagines and what's really happening in the real world.
If you rehearse closing repeatedly in your mind and while
rehearsing, FORCE yourself to feel confident, your behavior
in the real world will imitate your imagination.
o
Reframing.
What's the worst thing that can happen, really?
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o
Association.
Ever been to an amusement park? If so, you probably paid
$30 to $50 to be frightened. The "fear" part of selling is like
going on a roller coaster, except you get to do some steering yourself, so you're much more in control. The "fear" is
actually the exciting part of selling.
Redefinition:
Fear is actually just a signal you need to do something.
If you're afraid to close, it's just your subconscious mind
telling you that it's getting close to the point where you
need to ask for the business.
FIRST, Don't Give Up Too Soon
If you think the deal is dying:
1.
Find out why you may be losing the sale.
You can't get better at sales if you don't know what you did
right and what you did wrong.
2.
Ask the customer to restate and clarify the decision.
If you find out why you're losing the sale, you still might be
able to convince the customer to buy from you.
3.
Even if you lose the sale, leave the customer with a positive
feeling about you, your product and your company.
You can't get references, referrals or call in the future if the
customer won't talk to you.
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Ask:
"Do you mind if I ask you why you're no longer sure you want the
product? Was it because of our price?"
BUYER’S REMORSE
When closing, not only do you have to handle your own fears, but
you also have to handle the customer’s fears, as well. Buyers naturally do not want to make the wrong decision. It may often seem
better to them that no decision is better than a wrong one.
It is the primary responsibility of the salesperson to help the customer make the right decision, be comfortable with it and have the
confidence to handle objections from their side of the transaction.
Obstacles to Closing
o
Avoid distractions.
Remember, customers are always busy and you are interrupting their normal flow of operation. They naturally want
to return to their normal flow.
To the customer, it may seem easier and less time consuming to return to their normal flow, by rejecting you or not
making a decision, at all.
When closing, make sure the time is right for the customer.
o
Inertia.
A body at rest tends to stay at rest and it takes a good deal
of power to get it into motion.
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When closing, the salesperson‘s job is to get the customer
moving and establish momentum.
o
Fear of failure or criticism.
The customer has a natural aversion to failure and it may
seem as if there is less chance of failure by rejecting you or
not making a decision, at all. Also, the customer may want
to avoid criticism from their peers and supervisors for the
same reasons.
When closing, handle the customer‘s objections. You have
to give them the confidence to buy and help them handle
the objections of others.
o
Everyone buys.
If they don't buy from you, they'll buy from someone else
that actually helps them decide. They may acquire something of lesser quality or benefits because they didn‘t buy
from you. The other salesperson gets YOUR commission.
When closing, you MUST discover a way to overcome the natural
physical and psychological obstacles to buying.
Always ask if this is a good time for the customer to give you their
undivided attention and give them every reason you can think of to
be confident in dealing with you and making the right decision.
HOW TO CLOSE
From the book, "Perfect Selling" by Linda Richardson:
1.
Know what you want from the customer.
Without a measurable objective, you can't close on it.
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2.
Continually ask for feedback with relevant questions.
Make sure you're on track. NEVER wait until the end of the
call to get feedback.
3.
Ask for the business or nail down the next step.
Keep the momentum going by confidently asking for the
business or (if it isn't complete) ask for the next step.
MOST IMPORTANT:
o
Maintain momentum.
o
Decide what you want.
o
Move in that direction.
o
Always check if you're on target.
o
Build confidence leading naturally to the close.
The ability to close (consistently, rapidly and easily) is the single most
valuable skill any sales professional can have.
WHEN TO CLOSE
Dave Stein, in his blog on eyesonsales.com, says when to close:
o
The prospect has acknowledged all questions and concerns
have been addressed.
o
Potential risks have been mitigated.
o
Pricing and terms have been agreed upon.
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If you‘ve done your best, being prepared and questioning the customer properly, closing should actually come very naturally. If you‘ve
encountered and handled ALL their objections, there is no reason
whatsoever to fear closing. JUST DO IT!
If you really are still having trouble with closing you‘re just not asking enough of the proper questions. See Chapter 4 – Relationships.
Manage your emotions and close the sale at the appropriate time.
See:
Appendix C – “How to Overcome Fear”.
Appendix D – “How to Overcome Anxiety”.
Appendix G – “How to Overcome Objections”.
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Bibliography
Branden, Nathaniel, “The Psychology of Self-Esteem”
Jossey-Bass, 2001
Covey, Stephen R., “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”,
Free Press, 2004
Hansen, Mark Victor & Allen, Robert G., “The One Minute Millionaire:
The Enlightened Way to Wealth”, Harmony, 2002
Heckler, Richard, “In Search of the Warrior Spirit”,
North Atlantic, 1992
James, Geoffrey, “Selling Power Sales 2.0 Newsletter”,
Amazon Kindle, 2008
Lakein, Alan, “How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life”,
Signet, 1989
Mandino, Og, “The Greatest Miracle in the World”,
Frederick Fell, 2005
Maxwell, John C., “Developing the Leader Within You”,
Thomas Nelson, 2005
Robbins, Anthony, “Awaken the Giant Within”, Fireside, 1993
Waitley, Denis, “Seeds Of Greatness”, Pocket Books, 1986
Ziglar Zig, “Selling 101: What Every Successful Sales Professional
Needs to Know”, Thomas Nelson, 2003
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