photo credit: caseywest

Here’s the big secret to selling — you have to match the way you approach selling to you.  Now that we have the big secret on the table let me explain more about what I mean.
If you listen to some people you’d think there is one and only one recipe to sales success.  Yet common sense if you look at other successful people around you tells you that simply isn’t so.  So how about if you started listening to your common sense, and applying that knowledge to yourself to increase your sales?

Imagine for a moment if you stopped trying to sell the way someone else thinks you should sell, and start selling in a way that matches:

• the way you already behave naturally
• what drives you to take action
• your natural strengths

If you’re naturally more extroverted you may:

• have a take charge and keep charging forward attitude
• think “no” just means “yes” later
• have no fear of rejection
• find it easy to meet and greet people
• can’t imagine everyone wouldn’t want to buy from you

If you’re naturally more introverted you may:

• feel uncomfortable meeting and greeting new people
• dread rejection
• not be able to bring yourself to push for the close
• not be able to stand treating people in a pushy, coercive, manipulative way like you think you have to
• believe “no” means “no” now and forever

No matter your natural behaviors you should never treat your prospects and clients in a disrespectful, unkind, or disingenuous manner.  Rather than trying to force yourself to sell according to a sales process that doesn’t align with who you are and your strengths learn how to sell based on your strengths.  Playing to your strengths will make it easier for you to succeed with far less effort than trying to force yourself into a mold you don’t fit in.

No matter your natural behaviors, strengths, and motivators there is a way for you to excel in sales.  Your sales success is directly proportional to your ability to use your strengths in a way that respects your clients and prospects helping them through the buying decision process.  Your primary objective is to determine if there is a valid reason for doing business together.  Then through a genuine conversation you both discover how and why you should work together.

photo credit: Fábio Pinheiro

The End of Sales Management as We Know It
by Paul McCord

Whether you’re a salesperson, sales manager, or sales executive, you’re about to see major changes in your life. Over the coming years the basic roles and functions of sales managers will be changing—radically. Some will embrace these changes, others will resist, some will refuse to adapt and leave the sales industry.

What are these changes, why are they coming about, and how will they impact you and your company? Well, I’ll give a tease here, but to really find out you’ll have to visit The Management Curve a new blog dedicated to a discussion and debate about how the new sales technologies of Client Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Performance Management (SPM), and Sales Force Automation (SFA) will impact companies, salespeople, and most specifically, sales managers.

I host the blog and am joined by a number of hand selected regular contributors. Those contributors include sales management trainers and consultants such as Jonathan Farrington, Silvaraman Swaminatha, Michael Webb, James Obermayer, Jan Visser and several more to be announced shortly. There will also be posts and commentary by representatives of the sales technology developers with representatives from Oracle, Onyx, ForceLogix, i-Snapshot and several others giving their perspective. In addition, real live salespeople and managers who use these products will relate their experiences—good and bad–with the products their companies have purchased. In addition, we’ll talk to corporate executives from companies of all sizes to get their ideas of what they hope the products will accomplish for their firms and what changes or additions to the technology they would like to see.

Posts and discussions will range from very basic discussions of the various types of programs available to reviews of various products to critical discussions of the real impact of these programs on salespeople, managers and the company itself.

The real crux of the blog’s focus is on how current sales management theory and practice will have to change to work within the framework of the sales management environment created by this technology.

Disagree with the basic premise? Don’t worry; contributors come from all perspectives. Some agree with my view, others are 100% opposed, others somewhere in the middle.

Come visit The Management Curve. It was only launched a few days ago but already there’s some discussion going on with much more to come as more and more blog authors join the fray. No matter your perspective, things will not only be interesting, they’re dealing with real issues that you and your company will have to face sooner or later.

photo credit: lumaxart

You can go it alone and work the hard way or you can align yourself with others helping each other.  The obvious choice is forming mutually beneficial partnerships.  You work together promoting each other and helping each other make connections you couldn’t make on your own.

Kevin Eikenberry shares a networking tool on his blog.  Check it out and learn more about it.

If you’re still wasting your time and energy networking at chamber events it’s time to open up your world and discover the truly valuable networking opportunities all around you.  Let me know your favorite networking events, tools, and opportunities.  Tell me what you like about them and how you use them.

photo credit: Kanzeon Zen Center

You want a financially secure business.  To get that you need a steady flow of good clients entering your business.  Simple in concept yet difficult for most people to pull off.

Why is it so difficult to get those good clients entering your business?  Could it be because of the way prospects think of you or that they don’t think of you at all?  The space you own in a prospects mind is your position.

Lee Salz stresses, “partners formulate mutually beneficial relationships.”  That’s a very different approach than acting like a sales person.  So how do you bridge this gap?

The way you approach the sales process both establishes your position in the minds of your prospects and your clients, and demonstrates your expertise.  You want to position yourself as a trusted business adviser not a “sales person”.  You can only do that when you are the expert.

As the expert you:

• understand your best prospects very well
• know what they really want
• help them discover and uncover how your solution is right for them

Questioning and really listening is how you set yourself apart from the rest and earn your spot as the trusted adviser.

photo credit: markhillary

You are in for a special treat today.

Hi Readers,

Today I’ve been able to secure a special article for you from my friend Jonathan Farrington.
Jonathan Farrington is a globally recognised business coach, mentor, author and consultant, who has guided hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals around the world towards optimum performance levels. If you aren’t familiar with Jonathan yet I strongly urge you to sign-up for his newsletter.

Cheryl

Enjoy….

Emerging salespeople typically believe that all business is good business and to an extent, I can understand this viewpoint. If you are trying to make a name for yourself, being put under pressure by your sales manager to get “runs on the board” and earn the respect of the more experienced and successful members of the team, it is difficult to walk away from any opportunity if you believe you have the remotest chance of winning it.

However, it is essential that more seasoned professionals fully understand both the value and importance of rigorous objective qualification, not just at the front end but right the way through the sales cycle. Qualification is a process not a single event and even internal and reactive salespeople should be fully skilled in asking a small number of basic questions regarding precise requirements, time scales, budget, competition etc before they are prepared to reveal their price and delivery.

As the value of the product, service or solution increases, the depth of the qualification should increase proportionally.

External salespeople have the opportunity to meet with prospective customers and it is far easier to extract information face to face than it is via the telephone, however, it is vital that some initial answers are elicited prior the that first exploratory meeting in order to ensure that the meeting will be worthwhile to both parties. With sales costs spiraling upwards and sales time becoming limited, considerable prudence is required on the part of the salesperson.

During that first meeting, a considerable amount of detail can and should be uncovered e.g. background and history of the company, the key individuals, the composition of the DMU (Decision Making Unit) if there is one, timescales, budget, competition, current suppliers, buying criteria etc. Only by rigorous questioning will the salesperson be able to answer the following questions when they get back to the office: Is there a requirement/need that my company can satisfy? Is it winnable? Do I want it?

The very best sales professionals will not pursue the opportunity, after proper objective analysis, if the answer to any of those questions is “No”. They will rather invest their precious selling time seeking out and closing opportunities that will provide a profitable return on that investment.

At the very highest selling levels i.e. strategic “big-ticket” selling and marketing, clearly the sales cycle is much more protracted, complex and typically moves through four stages i.e.

- Rigorous Opportunity Assessment
- Develop A Strategy
- Present The Solution and Re-Assess The Opportunity
- Gain Formal Commitment, Sign The Order and Develop

In my latest newsletter, I have provided a link to the full document entitled:

“The Four Stages Of A Consultative Sales Cycle”

In Summary:
Having a tilt at every windmill that presents itself, is neither practical nor profitable. Qualification, is a core competency that every professional salesperson should take on board as quickly as possible. Working to the maxim that “All business is good business” is unrealistic and totally erroneous. It takes just as long to work an unprofitable opportunity through the pipeline only to lose it at the death, as it does a profitable one – the ability to determine which is which, can have a huge impact on your ultimate success in a front-line sales role

Copyright 2008 Jonathan Farrington. All Rights Reserved

photo credit: preciouskhyatt

Are you tired of sitting around waiting to be seen, tired of being stood up, tired of being treated like you’re a zero?  It’s embarrassing, frustrating, and unproductive.  Unfortunately, you’ve positioned yourself to be treated this way.

You actually fuel this negative treatment through the way you think.  You think you have to work long and hard, pay your dues, in order to “make it” in your profession.  You’re even told this by others in your profession who’ve supposedly “made it”.  If you’re willing to bite on that it will hold true for you, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

You actually further fuel the negative treatment you’re experiencing when you believe that if you just think positive thoughts you’ll think your way to success.  You do need to have a positive attitude so you’re a pleasant person to be around.  However, you can’t simply think happy thoughts and end up with a bundle of success because you’re just so darned positive.

You earn the position you’re earn.  And it begins with the first contact.  That’s why cold calling is such a bad thing for you to do as your first contact.  When you cold call a prospect they immediately categorize you as a loser and an unwanted pest that must be swattted away ASAP.

Position yourself for increased sales by preparing the way for the position you want.  You want and deserve a position in the prospects mind as a trusted adviser.  To get that position from the onset you must:

•  confidently know the ultimate outcome you help your clients to get that they want
• refuse to invest any of your valuable time and energy on anyone who doesn’t fit your profile for an ideal qualified prospect
• develop the systems that set you apart as a professional they can count on to get it done.

photo credit: Dan4th

Have you ever noticed that Top Producers always have time to succeed?  Top Producer’s are busy people, don’t get me wrong, yet they have time to do everything they need to do plus time to live their life the way they want to live it.  Isn’t that what you want too?

Have you also noticed that the busiest salespeople are often the least productive salespeople?  Now that doesn’t seem possible does it?  However, it makes perfect sense when you understand why some people always have time to succeed and others never have time for anything.

It’s miserable never having enough time.  Removal of this misery is entirely within your power.  There are several things you should know about time management.

1. You can’t effectively “manage” your time when you haven’t figured out exactly what you’re trying to accomplish with your life.
2. You can be both successful and trapped by your success.  Better to set your sites on the life you want to live.
3. Poor time management is predominately a bad habit.
4. Time management problems stem from planning and goal achievement failures.
5. It’s the simplest things that have the greatest impact improving your time freedom.

Are you beginning to understand that if you want to invest your time the way you want, you have to start in your own head?  Millions of dollars have been spent on calendars, day planners, time management books, etc. to no avail for most people who struggle constantly juggling their time.  Why?  Because until you understand what about your behaviors and attitudes is getting you into this mess you’re in, until you understand time management is a habit either good or bad and identify the specific small habits you want to replace and why, you will return to those un-fulfilling habits over and over again.

If you’re serious about wanting to control your time so you can increase your sales and add balance to your life you have some serious work to do.  Starting with listing all those bad time habits you already know you have, and then asking yourself what about those habits is rewarding to you.  I know, you’re initial reaction is they don’t reward you they make you miserable.  That simply isn’t true.  Deep down on some level in some way something about that seemingly negative habit feels good to you.  You also can’t just stop a habit.  You have to replace the habit you don’t want with a habit you do want.  If you try to stop a habit without replacing it with a more rewarding habit you’ll fall off the wagon so to speak, and return to your old comfortable habits.

photo credit: Jay Erickson

Are you tired of objections stopping your sales progress?  Effectively handling objections is a quick way to increase sales.  One of the best ways to overcome objections is to acknowledge and address them before the prospect does.

Most sales people fear bringing up objections because they don’t want to fuel the flame.  The reality is that when you bring up the objections you know a prospect is likely to have before they do, you have the power to direct what you want the prospect to focus on.  Plus the prospect begins to respect and trust that you understand them, and have their best interests in mind.

To do it effectively you must properly prepare. 

• What are the objections you know your prospects commonly have?
• What questions must they have answered to make a buying decision?
• What must they believe to buy what you have to offer?
• What other options do your prospects have?

Stories are among the most powerful multi-purpose tools you have in your sales tool kit.  Stories are highly effective and very non-threatening.  They engage the prospect and they’re an easy way to make your point.  Develop a story to overcome the objection.

The way you structure, or how you tell your story makes all the difference.  Your story must be in alignment with the beliefs your prospects already hold.  They should demonstrate the actions you want the prospect to take.  The story itself could be based on a case study or a seemingly unrelated story that makes the point you’re trying to make.

Clarification is another powerfully effective tool to eliminate objections.  You know your prospects have options and so do they.  However, being the expert you are in a position to make it easy for the prospect to compare the outcomes each option is likely to produce.  The features each option has or doesn’t have.  When a simple chart, table, or graph can tell your story by all means make one and use it.

The more you remove objections by working with your prospects the more your sales will increase.  

photo credit: ogimogi

When you can’t hit your targets it must be the target’s fault, right?  I know that sounds silly yet salespeople fail to hit their targets everyday and they always have someone or something to blame.  It couldn’t possibly their fault they didn’t hit their target, or could it?

If you were throwing darts and missed the entire bull’s-eye would the target itself be to blame?  Would you need to move the target making it easier to hit?  Would you need bigger darts making it easier to hit the target?  Of course not, you’d need to adapt and adjust how you threw the dart so you could hit the target.

The same is true in your daily sales activities.  When you’ve consciously chosen a good target for yourself there isn’t any reason or excuse for changing the target.  It isn’t acceptable to make excuses for yourself when you haven’t hit your targets at the end of the week.

However, there is a lot to learn and a lot to be gained when you don’t hit your targets.  As you track your progress you know exactly where you are at the end of the week, and why you’re where you are.  You also know where you intended to be.

So why is there a gap between what you set as your target and what you got as your outcome?  What do you need to do, and what are you willing to do differently to hit your target the following week?  There has to be a change in the actions you’ll take.

When you continue to take or avoid the same actions you’ll continue to get the same results.  No big mystery there.  Yet that’s exactly what the majority of sales people do week in and week out.

If you don’t know what to do or how to do it, what will you do to know?  Until you do something you’re stuck, and as long as you’re stuck you can’t hit your targets.  So stop blaming the target, stop repeating poor or non-existent behaviors, and start racking up those bull’s-eyes.

photo credit: anders.rasmussen

If you don’t offer your clients a good, better, and best option you’re cheating your clients and yourself.  When I hear salespeople complain that nobody has the money to do business with them I know one thing for certain.  The salespeople who have that complaint aren’t demonstrating the value of their service to their prospects.

Those who do demonstrate value who do have the interest of the prospect who do have a prospect that wants to buy but doesn’t, has made one other fatal flaw.  About 30% of the people who buy from you or want to buy from you but don’t want the best option available, and you haven’t shown them that you have that option to offer them.  There’s an entire population of people out there who aren’t bargain shoppers shopping on price.  These folks are shopping for the greatest VALUE with the corresponding greatest SERVICE to provide that value.

You don’t want the price shoppers in your business.  Price shoppers complain far more than value shoppers.  Price shoppers have a low retention rate because they’ll leave you at the drop of a hat to save a buck.  And price shoppers are highly unlikely to buy more.  Plus you don’t want the referrals you get from price shoppers because they’ll refer more price shoppers.

You want value shoppers and you want lots of value shoppers.  You can’t get them though if you don’t have a better and best option.  They’ll mistakenly think you only provide the low value option, and they won’t tell you they don’t want your option because it’s too cheap for them.  They will tell you they don’t want it because it’s too expensive.  In their minds the cheap option is either too expensive for what you get, or of so little value that any investment is too much.

So no matter the service industry your in ask how you can ramp up your service options for your clients.  Don’t think of things that are expensive and difficult for you.  Rather think of the things that are easy for you, that don’t cost you a whole lot to provide; but that are very attractive to your clients.  These will typically be things that make their lives easier, that make them feel special or exclusive, or that increases the value of their original investment.