June 16, 2008
I'm sorry for the lack of posts this week, but I've been engrossed in Chet Holmes' book The Ultimate Sales Machine. If you haven't read it yet, click on the link above and order it from Amazon today! Chet discusses the 12 key strategies that you need to focus on to radically improve your company's sales. What an amazing book!
Which leads me to today's topic: What are you reading (aside from this blog) to help make you a better person? Do you regularly read great books? If not, why not?
I can hear the excuses already:
"But I don't like to read!"
"After 10 hours in the field, you want me to come home and read?!"
"With everything else I've got going on, I just don't have time to read!"
Well...tough! Get over it. You simply can't afford not to be an avid reader, especially if you ever want to be a superstar. I've said it before, so I'll say it again: true sales genius (or any other kind, for that matter) starts on the inside. Success is an inside job. In other words, if you want to change your outer results, you start by changing your inner thoughts, beliefs, etc.. And how do you do that? By reading great books!
Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm a voracious reader. In fact, it used to drive my wife a little crazy because I can't read just one book at a time...I usually have 4 or 5 scattered around the house, some fiction, some non-fiction, all of which I'm reading simultaneously. You don't necessarily need to do that (especially if you're just getting started), but if you're not reading at least one great book a month on self- or skills-improvement, you're doing yourself a great disservice.
Not sure where to start? Click here to visit the "Essential Reading List" section of my website, www.inside-out-solutions.com for a list of the 10 books you should start your library with. If you'll make a commitment to read just 10 pages per day, you can read all of these books in less than a year. Imagine where you'll be if you make the simple decision to start today.
Look: it's really simple. Reading is a critical part of your growth as a salesperson, and if you’re not growing, you’re dead. If you really want to grow, you should always be on the lookout for new books that will expand your horizons and challenge you to really think about where you're headed and how you'll get there.
Of course, if you're already a reader be sure to leave a comment with a suggestion for a great book. I'll be looking for another good read soon!
Happy sales to you, until we meet again!
Have You Read It Yet?
Information Overload: How to Avoid Overwhelm
June 8, 2008
With Monday morning on the horizon, I want to chat for a bit about information overload and its effect on the unwary salesperson. I'm sure you would agree that it's very easy to get bogged down with too much information: from the daily news to talk radio to the endless stream of e-mail alerts and RSS feeds, we receive far more information in a day than we can hope to process. This often leads to that old disease, the paralysis of analysis.
When we ask our minds to process too much information, we have a tendency to lose sight of the fact that information alone is useless. We have to put that information to use, and in a positive direction, before we receive any value from it. For example, consider all the data you've seen recently with regard to the economy. From the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the related dip in real estate prices, to the oft-repeated fear of recession, we are bombarded by data that has worked many people into a state of panic. This panic has caused many salespeople to fall into negative thinking patterns ("No one is buying in this economy!") which prevents them from engaging in the very activities that could bring a swift end to all the bad news. Enough is enough, already!
Consider a different way to look at, process and do something with all that information that comes in the form of "bad news" about the economy. What if, instead of buying into the panic, the salespeople of the world looked at the situation as their cue to step up their efforts and invigorate the economy? What would happen then?
I'll tell you what would happen: we would get the blood (in other words, the money) flowing again. That is the power that you, the world's sales force, holds in your mortal hands. You see, I know that salespeople are the backbone to any thriving economy; at the same time, we can also exacerbate a stagnant economy. The only difference is in our attitudes. If we buy into the dismal outlook regarding the future, are we really going to feel motivated to get out and make our daily quota of cold calls? If, on the other hand, we choose to let all that information motivate us to take responsibility for getting things moving again, we can really make a difference.
I'd like for you to try a little exercise with me. Whenever you sell something, I'd like for you to visualize the process by which that product or service arrives at the customer's door. Think of all the folks who receive a paycheck along the way; try to imagine what they, in turn, buy with the proceeds of that check and all the subsequent paychecks that generates. Keep it up until you can see a crowd of at least a thousand people in your mind's eye, all smiling and waving their checks over their heads. Now, I'd like for you to accept that you are responsible for making sure they continue to get those checks! That certainly changes the way you look at your sales day, doesn't it?
Here is another suggestion: try going for a week without listening to, watching or reading any news. I realize this isn't going to be easy for some of you, but I'd like for you to try it anyway. I think you'll be surprised at how much better you feel when you don't know the up-to-the-minute body count in Iraq or this second's price of crude oil. Some of you are asking, "But...but...how will I now what's going on in the world?!" Well, I have a question for you: what difference does it make? How does all that information really benefit you? What does it do, aside from making you a stressed-out wreck? As a salesperson, when has the news ever actually helped you close a deal?
I'd like for you to spend at least one full week testing this out. Ignore the news and focus all your attention on closing deals. If you need something to listen to in the car, try Tom Hopkins' Audio Sales Collection instead of talk radio. Need something to read? How about Jeffrey Gitomer's Sales Bible. If even 20% of the salespeople in this country would take this challenge, we could actually do more than ignore the news: we could change it! And don't worry; if something really important happens, you'll find out, I promise. Just focus on making some sales. It will be good for the economy, and it will be good for you, as well.
Until next time, happy sales to you!
Do you know (and follow!) the Rule of Three?
June 5, 2008
“I’ve got bad news, Boss,” said the account manager on the other end of the phone call. “I just got a call from Company XYZ, and we lost their account!”
“What happened?” I asked, expecting to hear a tale of missed deliveries, rude drivers or that old standard, high prices.
“Well, he didn’t really say…just that his boss told him they are going to start buying from Competitor ABC. What should we do?”
I asked the account manager to set up an appointment with the customer for the following day so that we could make an “autopsy” call to find out what had gone wrong and what, if anything, we could do to salvage the business.
I can honestly say that was one of the most dissatisfying sales calls of my career. It was clear from the outset that there was little we could do to win the customer back: Competitor ABC’s equipment was already in place and ours was sitting outside, waiting to be picked up. At least it wasn't raining! The shop foreman was very friendly and accommodating to our interview, but not very helpful to our investigation. Apparently service was not an issue; in fact, he said that our service over the years had been quite good. He also didn't think price was a factor. In fact, he wasn’t really able to give us any clear idea of why we had lost the business. It was exactly what he’d said: his boss had made the decision, and we were out of luck.
So, what's the moral of this sad story? The moral is the Rule of Three! The Rule of Three says that, no matter how certain you are that your main contact at a given account is the true decision-maker, you should be familiar and friendly with at least two other people in the organization. Why? Very simply stated, the more contacts you have within an organization, the more stable your relationship with that organization is.
In the example stated above, the fact that our account manager only had one point of contact, the shop foreman, left us exposed to the possibility of a competitor selling to someone above that person’s head; in this case, Competitor ABC contacted the Vice President of Operations and sold to him. Up to this point, the decisions about who to buy from had always been left to the shop foreman; now, though, the VP had decided to flex a little muscle and we were out in the cold. Perhaps if our account manager had been familiar and friendly with that VP, we would have retained the business. Instead, he now has the daunting task of getting to know the VP from the outside and convincing him to give us another shot.
Getting to know other people besides their one main contact intimidates some sales people, but don’t let it intimidate you. The fact that the customer already buys from you is your ticket to, at the very least, a “getting to know you” meeting with your main contact’s boss. Don’t be afraid to ask for it…you might regret missing the opportunity later! At the same time, don’t pass up the opportunity to meet and become friendly with people below your main contact as well; after all, that receptionist you smile at and call by name might be the purchasing agent who decides to continue buying from you (or not!) a few years from now. Even now, he or she might be the one who lets you know that the boss has been talking to one of your competitors.
The important lesson to remember in all of this is simple: shop supervisors sometimes quit, purchasing agents sometimes get fired, CEOs sometimes retire and owners sometimes sell their businesses. If that shop supervisor, purchasing agent, CEO or owner is your only point of contact in the organization, you leave yourself open to receiving the kind of disappointing phone call our account manager did. On the other hand, if you cultivate at least three points of contact in all the organizations you sell to, you greatly increase your odds of warding off those pesky competitors!
Until next time, happy selling!
Tired of all the Objections?
June 3, 2008
Do you ever get the feeling that all of your prospects have read the same book on how to get rid of salespeople? Are you tired of hearing the same objections over and over again? When it comes to objections, do you feel like you've heard them all? Well, you're right: you probably have heard them all!
It should come as no surprise that there are very few surprises when it comes to objections. After the first few months of selling, you rarely hear an objection that you haven’t heard several dozen times before. In fact, if you were to sit down and make a list of the objections you most often hear in your sales efforts, I’d venture to say that your list wouldn’t be very long. In fact, you probably won’t come up with more than 10, and those 10 will represent 95% of the objections you hear. That being the case, why not invest some time in learning to overcome those 10? It's an easy task; all you have to do is script a simple, direct answer that allows you to get past the objection and continue your conversation.
For example, you might have this objection on your list: “Thanks for stopping by, but I’ve been buying from Company X for 20 years, and they’ve always taken good care of me.” If you’re not prepared, that can seem like a pretty convincing reason to cast your bait elsewhere, and you might just leave a business card and be on your way. That would be a huge mistake! After all, wouldn’t you like to have a customer who was that loyal to you? Well, what might you say that would allow you to continue the conversation?
How about something like this: “Well, Mr. Prospect, I certainly appreciate that kind of loyalty and would hope that my customers feel the same way about me. I’m certain that when you first started doing business with Company X, they offered the best value around. However, a lot of things have changed in our industry in the past 20 years. What I’d like to propose is that you and I schedule a brief meeting to discuss some of those changes and make sure that you’re still getting the best available service and value. If you are, I'll be on my way with no hard feelings. If not, you can decide how we'll proceed.”
There you have it—an answer that is simple, direct and easy to remember. Why not prepare something like this for each of the objections on your list? Put them in your own words, memorize them and rehearse them. The next time you’re hit with an objection, you’ll have a ready response that will allow you to continue your conversation with the prospect, a conversation that can eventually lead to a sale!
Until next time, happy selling!
Creating Your Daily "Must Do" List
June 1, 2008
Monday morning is upon us...are you ready? What will you do this week that will move you closer to your goals? Do you have a clearly defined, written plan to get you where you want to be? If not, what are you waiting for?!
We've all heard that what gets written down gets done, yet very few of us are doing it. It really amazes me how many salespeople I talk to who have no idea what they need to accomplish on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis to help them achieve their goals; in fact, I still encounter many people who have no idea what their goals are! I only have one question: if you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you've arrived? More importantly, how will you even know if you're on the right course to get there?
Specific written goals are vital to your success. You know that. If you haven't written out your goals for this year, stop reading and go do it now. Don't come back until you're done, because what I'm going to suggest next will require you to have your written goals in front of you. This is a powerful tool that will help you achieve any goal you set, and it is actually very easy to do. Unfortunately, anything that's easy to do is also easy not to to do. So I want you to make a commitment, here and now, to try this method out for the next seven days. If it doesn't work for you, you can stop; but you have to try it for at least seven consecutive days before passing judgment. Ready?
Looking at your list of goals, I want you to think of the six most important things you could do tomorrow to move you closer to their accomplishment. Limit your list to only six things, the six most critical. Now, prioritize the list in order of highest impact; in other words, the most impactful thing you could do becomes number one and so on. Now comes the hard part.
Tomorrow morning, start your day with task number one from your list. Don't do anything else until you have completely finished task number one and can cross it off the list. Next, move on to task number two, again not moving on until it is completely finished and can be crossed off. Do the same for the rest of the tasks on the list. If you get to the end of the day and haven't completed all the tasks, those left unfinished move to the top of tomorrow's list. Do this for seven days, and you'll be amazed at what you've accomplished.
How do I know this works? When I first read about this technique a few weeks ago in James Arthur Ray's new book Harmonic Wealth I decided to give it a try. You wouldn't believe the impact this habit has had on my effectiveness every day since! Knowing what you need to be doing now and what comes next is truly one of the most powerful methods I've ever used to get more done.
So, no excuses now! Get out your day planner and make your "Must Do" list for tomorrow; repeat this practice every day for the next seven, then let me know what you think. I look forward to reading all you comments. Until next time, happy selling!
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