Use Leap Day to LEAP into 2012 Results!

I am currently on a plane this morning to do a workshop in Southern CA today.  While in line at TSA an hour ago, I heard someone complaining that they had to work an extra day this year for free due to the fact that this is a Leap Year.  Obviously, this is a salaried person; not hourly or commission based and certainly not one with a very entrepreneurial mindset.  I would imagine that they would feel differently if February 29^th had fallen on a weekend or if it was a paid day off!  I feel that they are looking at Leap Year in a totally wrong way.

Every four years the world is blessed with Leap Year, allowing us to catch up with the Earth’s rotation around the sun.  This extra day on our calendar every four years affords not only the Earth to play a little catch-up, it also allows every person to do a little of the same—should they choose.  What a gift!  What will you do with an extra 24 hours this year?  Here are a few suggestions:

For the salesperson:

• Call or send a handwritten note to your top 20 clients and thank them for their business over the past three years since the last Leap Year.  I bet no other salesperson will do that.  Have no agenda other than pure Leap Year gratitude!
• Schedule 2 hours specifically for prospecting 20-30 new major accounts.  This is like found time!  Imagine if you were able to create a new opportunity with it.
• Get your butt out of bed at 4:00am and WORK until 9:00pm on all of the things that you never seem to get a chance to.  That is 17 hours of Leap Year productivity!

For the Sales Manager:

• On Tuesday, the 28^th, spend a few hours in the morning connecting with all of your sellers to go over their plans for their Leap Day.  Get their heads in the right place about the day making sure they take advantage of it.  (See above)
• Spend the day in the field with 1-2 of your top salespeople showing them how to make new sales LEAP into their book of business!  Model the behavior you’d like to see every day from them.
• Get your butt out of bed at 4:00am and WORK until 9:00pm on all of the things that you never seem to get a chance to.  That is 17 hours of Leap Year productivity!

For the Entrepreneur:

• Use today as a chance to GROW your business!  Connect and add some value to the relationships with your top clients, your top employees, and your top growth initiatives today.  No maintenance today—just GROWTH!
• Pull out your business plan for the year and make sure that you are at least one sixth of the way to your goal for the year.  Remember, today is a free day for you to gain on it and surpass it.  You only get this once every 4 years!
• Have a morning ALL-HANDS meeting to “set the stage” for an ultra-productive, over-the-top, kick-ass day!  How about a “Sweat the Small Stuff—Everything Matters” Leap Day?  Perhaps a company-wide contest to see how many new sales dollars can LEAP to the top line?
• Make Leap Day a super-fun, growth focused day that nobody will ever take for granted.  It’s a freebie!  If this were football, it’s an extra possession to gain yardage or score.  In baseball, it’s an extra “at-bat” to get a runner in scoring position or to hit a home-run.  In golf, it’s a “Mulligan” to get you closer or to make that putt!  In tennis, it’s a third serve to score that ACE.

…and, for all:

• Use Lead Day as an extra day to give thanks for an extra sunrise and an extra day on this planet to pursue and accomplish your goals.
• Use Leap day as an extra day to say I Love You to those closest to you.
• Use Leap Day as a day to invest an extra 24 hours into making YOU a better YOU and the world a better place for our children.

I read an article recently that stated (in Europe) that the extra day on Leap Year will mean an extra 100 million Euros to the economy.  I would assume that similar gains stand to be made all across the world.  This Leap Year, I hope that some of those additional “digits” drop onto your bottom line!

 

Preparation + Practice = Profit

I was watching some golf on TV this past weekend and happened to notice Vijay Singh’s name near the top of the leaderboard for the first time in (what seemed like) a long time.  I did a little research and discovered that he has won over $65 million dollars in his career and over $2 million of that was last year.  Not bad for a guy that I thought was washed up.

For those of you that do not know, Vijay Singh is one of professional golf’s most ardent “practicers.”  He is well known for spending hour upon hour on the range honing his swing, polishing his skills, and trying to perfect a game that cannot be perfected.  Vijay Singh is not the most naturally gifted.  He is not the longest hitter nor the best putter.  He simply works harder than most and practices his skill daily for hours.

I recently also read an article on Peyton Manning, one of the NFLs all-time greatest quarterbacks.  As many of you know, Manning did not play in 2011-2012 due to a series of 4 neck surgeries.  By the way, his team, the Indianapolis Colts, went from being a perennial playoff team to last place in his absence.  (How’s that for valuable?)   Last year alone, Peyton Manning earned a salary of over $11 million dollars and next month is up for a $28 million dollar payday if the owner of the Colts does not trade him to another team due to his injuries.

The interesting part of the article that I read was in regards to where he may go if he does get “let go” by the Colts.  The article referred to his current home in Indianapolis where he has a basement called “the cave” where he spends hours upon hours per week studying and analyzing game film to truly understand the defenses that he is up against each week.  Peyton Manning is not fast.  He is not mobile.  He is, however, one of the most prepared quarterbacks to ever strap on a helmet and lead a team.

If you were to look at the majority of professional sports teams and professional athletes in general along with the schedules that they keep, you would see that the overwhelming majority of their time (even though they are the TOP of their games) is spent in strategy, preparation, and practice.  In fact, I would bet that percentage is close to 90% just in rehearsal for the “game.”  That leaves only 10% of their time left for the actual game itself.  So, they are earning 90% of what their pay doing the things necessary to win! (to practice)

Imagine if salespeople understood that the money that they earn comes 90% during the time that they were preparing for and practicing their “stuff” that they need to execute on during the sales cycle.  Imagine if they scheduled the time to practice.  In the world of sales, we find the exact opposite.  If ever we see training, strategy, preparation, or practice as a part of the salesperson’s time, it is most likely about 10% of their time.  That means that 90% of the time, salespeople are “in the game” and trying out their moves on the customer!

So here is my suggestion for all of you salespeople and sales managers reading this post.  (BTW, just reading this puts you in the minority because most salespeople/leaders don’t engage in their profession enough to want to read, learn, and think.)  Let’s make a pact to schedule 45 minutes a day, three days a week, for the next 3 months to do NOTHING but work on the skills that are necessary to GROW your business…not to MAINTAIN it.  Let’s figure out the things on which we need to improve. Let’s NOT just keep repeating and rehearsing our pitch.  Here are a few things that you can do during your “training time.”

• Think of, plan, write down, and practice THREE voicemail messages to get you call returned.
• Think of, plan, write down and practice 6-10 provocative questions you will ask to better diagnose the customer’s current situation and desired business outcomes.
• Think of, plan, write down, and practice appropriate responses to manage the most consistent customer concerns or objections that you run into each day.
• Think of, plan, write down, and practice 5 comfortable CLOSING questions that you will ask each and every time that you have earned the right to do so. (“So….what’s our next step?”)
• Have role PRACTICE (not role play) sessions with two other colleagues in which you not only practice your message, questions, and objection responses but in which you also listen to someone else give theirs.  (What may sound right to you, coming out of your mouth, may sound odd to you, coming from someone else.)
• Think of, plan, write down, and practice what the first 3 minutes of a sales call will sound like to better “set the stage” for your success.
• Define and practice a “trade show approach” to a prospective customer.
• Define and practice a “30 second networking event approach” for your next networking event.

These are just a few ideas to get you started but there needs to be many on your calendar.  It seems that we have two considerable challenges as human beings:

#1—The areas in which we have some skill and thus some success, we do not regularly try to improve.

#2—The areas in which we have difficulty and challenge, we avoid and thus, never work to get better.

Let’s change that…..NOW!  This week, start your practice routine and build it into your schedule every week for the next 3 months.  I’ll bet you start to win more often and earn the results and the PAYCHECK you deserve.

Personal Branding…What are YOU Known For?

TOP Salespeople use Personal Branding as a very special way to stand out in the minds of the market.  Most of them don’t even know that they are doing it!  Why do they do it?

• Personal Branding gets your phone to ring.
• Personal Branding separates you from all of the competition.
• Personal Branding puts VALUE ahead of COST.
• Personal Branding elevates you and thus your company/product/service in the minds of your customer.
• Personal Branding, quite simply, creates more sales for you!

Companies spend millions of dollars every year to burn their brand into the hearts and minds of their potential customers.  This is done with advertising, jingles, and repetition of their messages.  Nike built a brand around that “swoosh” logo such that its worldwide proliferation is staggering.  You cannot go anywhere in the world of sports without seeing the “swoosh.”  In fact, the “swoosh” has become synonymous with excellence in sports.  The result?  An empire of shoes, clothing and sports gear that commands top dollar in the marketplace.

Starbucks did it with coffee in a different way.   They chose to create a customer “experience” that is consistent throughout the world.  They created a brand and invested their millions into teaching us (through their employees) a different way to order and drink coffee.  They train their people (The Barista’s “Green Apron Book”) and invest in the customer experience that we receive in any Starbucks.  The result?  We will go out of our way AND pay a premium to “find a Starbucks shop.

What is it that YOU can do as a sales professional to position yourself and your company as THE CHOICE rather than simply A CHOICE?  Through the appropriate Personal Branding tactics, you can:

•  Establish yourself as an expert (Don’t just be “in” your field…be perceived as the “best” in your field.)
• Be known as a resource (Don’t be a “taker” of orders….be a “maker” of profits and success for your customers)
• Create a demand for your product or service  (Customer’s will call you…instead of the other way around)
• Build prospective customer’s trust in you and your company (People do business with whom they trust and know….get KNOWN to gain their trust!)
• Differentiate yourself from the competition (If you don’t stand out, you don’t stand out!)

How can you create a brand for yourself as a sales professional?  Let’s look at some of the first steps that you must take:

1. Clearly define the “brand” that your desire to create and communicate to your marketplace.  How do you want to be known?  What words or phrases will your customer’s use to describe you?  How will you choose to differ yourself from the competition?
2. Establish  a “special sauce statement” that states what it is that you bring to the table in a way that nobody else does.  This should be from the customer’s viewpoint (benefit driven) not from yours (feature driven.)
3. Create a list of no less than 10 ways to communicate this BRAND every day in every way to your prospects, customers, and clients.  You must walk the walk that you wish to be “known for.”  Consistency is absolutely the key.  Every move that you make needs to be preceded with the following questions: “Is what I am about to do consistent with the brand that I have created?”

Personal Branding is the key to greater sales.  It is often the difference between you getting the contract or the other guy.  More importantly, it is most often the main difference between you having to sell your product or service and people wanting to buy your product or service!

It has been said that in the profession of selling, it’s not who you know, but rather who knows you that counts.  Call our office today at 866-979-LAYO (5296)—yes, the phone number is part of my brand—and get enrolled for any of our upcoming events.  You can also go to www.GerryLayo.com and enroll  for any of these events online.

Remember, if you can’t name 2-3 things that you are KNOWN-FOR, how can you expect your customers to list ONE?

Are you Just DUMB ENUFF to Believe?

Well, here we go!  I was recently asked if I would like to join a group of Sacramento business leaders in a quest to train for and ride in “America’s Most Beautiful Bike-Ride” which is a 100 mile ride around Lake Tahoe.  The event is on June 3^rd and my first training ride EVER with a group is this morning and will be about 35 miles.  Actually, it will close to 45 by the time we ride to the starting point.  Now, this may sound fairly logical to you as we are shooting for 100 in a few short months.  But here is what you need to know:  I have NEVER ridden more than 20 miles!  Nonetheless, I have no doubt that I will be able to do this, and keep up with the majority of the group. Call it blind faith or dumb stubbornness but I see this belief in many entrepreneurs every day…just like this group!

What does it take to have the blind faith to begin a sales career?  There rarely is a curriculum that one gets exposed to extensively until they are “up to their necks in it.”  There is often very little training for the new salesperson outside of product knowledge.  And rarely does someone working their way through high school or college ever state, “I cannot wait to pass this final exam so I can get out into the marketplace and SELL SOMETHING!”  Often times, a sales career is stumbled upon…as are (unfortunautely) many of the skills necessary to excel.  Most times, it is the blind faith and enthusiasm of the new salesperson that gets them started and carries them through the initial period until they woirk their way into a few opportunities or a few sales, thus justifying or validating their decision.  I like to say that often new sellers are “just dumb enuff to believe they can do it”…so they do it!

Think about it:  When you started your career or your company, did you do so with a clearly laid out plan and a strong confidence that you knew exactly what you needed to do and where this thing was headed?  Or did you follow the “leap and the net will appear” philosophy?  Sometimes a decision needs to be made FIRST before anything of value can be craeted.  I have seen many people of considerable talent that wait and wait, pause and ponder, stall and analyze before they even make a move.  They face the curse of the Perfection Trap!  Sometimes, you just need to dive in!

I am a huge fan of preparation and strategy in business and most things.  In fact, I spent 3 hours (and a small fortune) at the bike shop yesterday asking questions about nutrition, hydration, equipment, and other topics.  I have purchased and read 3 books on cycling in the past two weeks.  And I have joined a team (Team In Training) that has massive coaching and support as well as a very thorough training plan.  All that said, I have to DIVE IN for what will be a 45 mile ride this morning!  Am I scared?  A little, yes.  And that is exactly the motivation that I need to get this program under way and hit this goal.  In then end (and I will keep you updated here on this blog) I am positive that this 100 mile ride through the mountains and around one of the country’s most beautiful lakes will “go down” and I will have a wonderful set of memories and a few awesome pictures.  I am just DUMB ENUFF to believe that and thus I will accomplish that!  But for now…..I gotta go get started.

**Post blog post…Although I am posting this today (Monday) I wrote this blog post yesterday morning (pre-Super Bowl) and accomplished the ride yesterday in a much better time and condition than I (or any of the other riders) expected.  Although I was a sore unit last night (and a bit still this morning), I feel awesome.  And…..I am still just “dumb enuff to believe” that I can make to 100 mile ride around Lake Tahoe!  Have an awesome week!

Don’t Make Every Day YOUR Groundhog’s Day!

“Well…what if there wasn’t a tomorrow?  There wasn’t one today!”  Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray)

In the movie 1993 “Groundhog’s Day,” a weatherman, played by  Bill Murray, gets stranded in Gobbler’s Knob (home of the famous groundhog, Punxatawney Phil) and has to re-live the same day over and over and over again.  Every day, he sees the same people, saying and doing the same thing, living the same lives.  For a while, he is confused.  Then, he gets scared and tries to change it—even END it by killing himself and the groundhog!  Eventually, as the movie continues, he learns that the day will continue to be the same unless he changes.  So he increases his awareness of his surroundings, learns from his mistakes of days gone by, starts to adapt, makes adjustments to his behavior, and gets out of the nightmare that his life has become in Gobbler’s Knob!

I think that this movie storyline is an interesting metaphor for BAD salespeople.  Day after day, most of them head into the marketplace re-living their Groundhogs Day.  They knock on the same doors, start conversations the same way, do presentations just like they did yesterday, try the same old tired negotiation tactics and closing lines and all too often, get the same results.  What a life!  Don’t they learn?  Can’t they adapt?  Why don’t they make adjustments?

What about their Sales Managers/Leaders?  Why do they continue to observe the same behavior day in and day out, week in and week out, year after year with no suggestions or coaching to a new approach?   Instead they PUSH you to “do it more,” do it faster,” “do it to MORE people!” STOP IT!  Many times, we need to step back and reassess what it is that we are doing and make proper adjustments.  Salespeople and Sales Managers need to THINK!

• If that did not work the last 6 times we did it, should we make a change?
• If that salesperson hasn’t grown his/her business in the last 6 months, should we make a change?
• If my sales meetings are making no IMPACT on my people, should I make a change?
• If my prospecting efforts have been getting little to no results, should I make a change?
• If my conversion rates have dropped over the past 6 months, what do I need to change?
• If I do the same things this year that I did last year, what can I expect to change?
• WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?
• What do I need to START doing that I may have never done?
• What do I need to ACCELERATE (do more of) that I have stalled or slowed down doing?
• What do I need to KEEP my focus on and never lose sight of?
• What do I need to STOP doing that is keeping me in this nightmare?

This morning, the groundhog saw his shadow.  This means, apparently, that there will be six more weeks of the same old stuff you have been experiencing for the past several months.  What if that applied to all areas of your life, just as it did in the movie?  What if that extended over the past few years?  What if YOU did not adapt to your surroundings, your environment, and your opportunities?

One thing that differs in this life from the movies; the marketplace offers a new twist every day.  Your competition tries new approaches and desperate moves at every turn.  Prospects and customers are bombarded with new information, more data, and higher output expectations each hour!  Political environments change.  Buying decisions change.  Everything changes and there is very little you can do about most of it unless….you DO something!

The only thing that you can control is how you adapt, how you change, and how you work to get out of your nightmare and get into your dream situation and your dream results daily. So…what do you need to do today to make Punxatawney Phil a liar?  What will you do today to take control and get the hell out of Gobbler’s Knob?

Have an outstanding Groundhog’s Day!

The TWO Irrefutable Laws of Selling

There are two laws about the profession of sales that all salespeople (and marketing people) need to remember.  These two laws may have  very few exceptions to them but for most, these rules need to guide you in your approach.  Here is the first law:

Law #1—NOBODY wants to BUY or OWN what you are selling!

Most salespeople are taught (too often) to go out into the marketplace and extol the many various features and benefits of their products and services and tell wonderful tales about the companies that provide them.  They work for hours on the fine points of the presentation, the cool graphics on the PowerPoint slides, and the delivery of all of those to the prospective buyer.  On top of that, the way that they describe their company, products and services are peppered with terms and phrases that make a prospective buyer go “brain-dead” such as:

Vertically Integrated—Cutting Edge—Innovative—Industry Leader—Cost Effective—Premier—Unique–Scalable–Turn-Key—Value Added–Synergy—Next Level–Customer-Centric–Strategic

What does this drivel all mean to the customer?  NOTHING!!  In fact, these words more often today begin to shut down the customer’s interest.  Why, because they are tired of YOU talking about YOU!

Here is the fact:  NOBODY really wants to buy and own your stuff!  Even those of you that sell cool consumer products such as electronics, cars, and clothing have to think beyond what it is that you sell and get the heart of “the WHY” it is that they want it.  (Think image, differentiation, status, etc.)  for the most of us out there (myself included) the customer is looking to achieve, accomplish, or attain something that our product/service helps them with.  We need to focus on THAT, understand THAT, and get them to discover and admit THAT to us in the sales process.  Is it easy?  NOPE!  Why?  Because we are not programmed or trained to dig for their motivation and work to understand their needs.  We are taught to go give information and repeat a pitch!  Is it simple?  You bet!  How?  You need to change your thinking in advance so that you can change your approach throughout!  It’s all about THEM Stupid

Law #2—Customers don’t know how to BUY!

Sounds weird doesn’t it?  Think about though!  How soon and how often does price come up in the conversation today?  If you are not selling in a typical retail environment where there is a price-tag or a menu with prices, the customer seems to be primarily interested in the price (the cost) of your offering.  Customers may not know how to buy but they certainly know to ask “How much?”  Why?  Simple; because salespeople LEAD with their wallets way too often in their approach.  They enter the conversation with things such as “We want to make sure we get you the lowest price” or “Our product/service will save you money on….” or “we are the price leader in the market…” blah, blah, blah.  In other words, the customer has been trained to go to price soon and to go there often.

Salespeople need to stop SELLING and to start helping customers buy! 

• They need HELP making a decision!
• They need HELP understanding their problems!
• They need HELP assessing their current situation and their future needs.
• They need HELP analyzing past decisions that got them there.

They don’t need a walking, talking brochure vomiting on them!  But, too often, what they GET is just that!  Thus….”How much?”

So…what to do?  First off, stop being a self-centered, product pushing braggart with commission breath!  Get into every opportunity focused on the intent of learning, engaging, and discovering your customer’s “needs to buy.”  Get them OPEN and sharing information about their favorite subjects—themselves and their situation.  The more they are talking to you, sharing with you, and open to you…..the more often that they differentiate you, value you, and will choose to do business with you!

Understand this:  Most salespeople don’t get this!  Most salespeople are not trained to diagnose before prescription.  Most salespeople are NOT tough acts to follow! Learn these two LAWS of buyers and separate yourself from that crowd!

What if You Couldn’t Blame “Price” for Lost Sales?

Just recently, I was doing a presentation for a group of CEOs and key executives in the Northeast.  During the period before I began my session, I as meeting a few of the attendees and, like I often do, got into a “confrontational coaching session.”

The attendee was a sales manager for a company that sells a commodity (home heating fuel-oil) to the residential homeowner.  He and I were in a conversation which got into the importance of new sales due to the inevitable loss (attrition) of customers each year.  He stated that his company brought in about four thousand new customers each year and HAD to because they LOST about four thousand customers each year!  Whoa……..!  Who can afford to lose four thousand customers a year?

“WHY?” I cried!  What in the world could cause thousands of customers to leave every year?  He stated that ALL of these customers left due to price.  You see, they were the highest price in the market justified, no doubt, by high levels of service.

Each of us has a justification why we lose a customer whenever it happens.  In fact, many times, we own or work for a company that chooses to be a higher priced company with a higher priced product in the marketplace.  In doing so they/we have made a choice to bring MORE to the table than our competitors—to add more value!  We cannot simply MAKE more money, we must do things to EARN that additional margin and thus EARN that raise!  Too many times, as I suspect with this company, the additional “service” offered is simply lip-service!

Back to my story:  I stopped this young man from going any further and asked him to re-answer my question (“WHY do they leave?”) with a new rule imposed (my favorite rule):  He could not that say PRICE is why they left!  Although he fought to continue to go back to the PRICING issue, I simply would not let him.  I gave into the fact that a certain percentage (cross-industry standards of 3 years ago said 17%) of customers buy or leave based primarily upon price.  I figured that left more than 3000 customers—homeowners who, at least once, had said “I trust you and your company and I am willing to take a chance on you” had left for something in addition or other than PRICE!

By then, several other attendees of the same session were settling in and starting to pay attention to our dialogue.  Some of these attendees were also customers and past customers of this gentleman’s company.  They also started challenging him on the “WHY ELSE do they leave?” line of questions.  It started to get a little defensive, a little heated, and aLOT interesting!  You see, he HAD to listen to some of these people.  They were his current and past customers.  They were telling him—yelling at him—that they did not choose to come to his company OR leave his company because of PRICE! They told him that they came because of SALES (and thus, due to the promises that were made by sales) and they left because of sales (and thus, due to the promises either made by another company’s sales rep or the promises NOT KEPT by the original company!)  What an eye opener for ALL of us!

Let me get to the lesson here:  We can look at many ways to improve the IMPACT of your sales approach out there.  We can address all of the ATTITUDE, SKILL SETS, and ACTIVITIES of your salespeople.  We can turn to prospecting, lead generation, lead pursuit, presentation, negotiation, objection management, closing and follow-up skills.  BUT, we need to look at HOW we deliver on what it is that we promise as well.  We need to look at HOW we truly differentiate our product and service in the minds of our customers.  A personal inventory is the hardest one to take.  But it must be done!  Do you and your people, through all of your processes and policies, truly stand out and WALK THE TALK of the sales and marketing promise.  If not, don’t blame price!

Where are the customer killers in your business?  Remember that every time someone chooses to “do business” with you or your company, they receive an experience.  Is it always as promised?  Is it always as expected?

Listen to me:  It’s is rarely ONLY a price issue.  Often times, your service and deliverables are so much like the competition’s (in the mind of the customer) that all the customers have to rely upon is what IS different…the competition’s price!  If you don’t stand out in their minds, you have to stand out in their wallets.

 

The Top TEN New Year’s Resolutions for Salespeople-Part III

Here is the final post of a THREE part series on New Year’s Resolutions for salespeople.  Grab you 1-2 of the Top !) and get to work this year.  And don’t forget to share these posts with 6 of your friends!  Have an awesome 2012!

FOUR Magic Pre-Call Questions

FACT:  There are 4 questions that, when asked internally (and answered) before every sales call, you LOSE LESS and always sell more!  Pay attention because here they are:

1-What is the purpose of this call? Seems like a simple question doesn’t it?  In fact, I ask this question repeatedly to salespeople every year on ride-alongs and field observations.  The most common answer that I get is, “The purpose of this call is to make a sale.”  Now, although I agree that the purpose of the sales cycle is create a customer and a profit, the purpose of every sales call is NOT to make a sale.  In fact, when one thinks that the purpose of every call is to make a sale, the conversations tend to be focused on the product, not the customer.  Instead, think about what you need to learn, uncover, or discover.  What are your targeted take-aways from the call?

2-What do we know?  Another simple question designed to help us to identify and inventory the information that we have about the prospect, customer, or client and their current situation, needs, structure, buying process, etc.  We cannot send in salespeople half-cocked with little-to-no information about the account anymore.  In fact, especially in the B2B sales world, there is NO EXCUSE today for a salesperson to be underprepared for a sales call.

3-What do we need to know?  This list is easy to make and yet rarely created in advance.  There are a variety of things that we need to uncover and discover throughout the sales process and if we understand in advance what these are, chances of making sure we cover all of these bases is better.

4-What do we need to get “out on the table?” The answers to why someone buys come from their motivations—not ours!  Those motivations are often hidden and rarely offered up voluntarily by the prospect, customer, or client.  With the proper preparation, focus and questions, however, they will often come up in the conversation.  You need to get these motives “out on the table” from the other party because when they say it, it is fact!  When you say it, it is suspect because you have an agenda—to make a sale.

**Action Step

Create a process by which you will have to answer these four questions OUT LOUD or IN WRITING before every sales call on the phone or in person.  Once these 4 questions (and subsequent and answers) become part of your routine/your habit before each and every call, you cannot help but win more often!   Challenge a colleague or your manager to hold you accountable for solid answers to these questions.  This is the NUMBER ONE thing you can do to be more effective in 2010!

THREE Closing Questions

A funny thing happened on the way to this challenging economy…we forgot how to close!   Salespeople today have faced so much stalling and price hesitance that they have gotten “gun-shy” about asking for the business once they have earned it.  I see this happening every day in the field and in our prep work with clients.  Too often, when sales take a dip and opportunities become fewer and farther apart, the salesperson hesitates to ask for the YES because they are afraid to hear the NO!  But more often today, I see salespeople that are taking on the role of “hesitant visitors” and “product demonstrators!”  They have lost focus on their role.  Although the purpose of every call is not to close a sale, every call must have forward movement towards the next call!   And that requires a CLOSING QUESTION!

**Action Step

Write down three specific ways that you will ask for the business (or the next appointment) on each call.  The questions do not need to be overly difficult to come up with (example: “So…do you see any reason why we should not go ahead with the order?”) and do not need to be over-analyzed. There are three main rules to remember once you have come up with your 3 closing questions:

#1—Write each closing question down 100 times and then read them out loud to develop the confidence to ask them. (Sounds silly?  How did we learn math as children?  Repetition is the mother of skill.)

#2—Earn the right to ask for the business!  Do the proper discovery…ask the appropriate questions…dig…diagnose…connect the value.

#3—Use these 3 questions regularly.   Too many times I see salespeople on the precipice of greatness in a sale and they forget to take that final step.  Closing is the natural conclusion to the professional sales process but you still need to ask!

TWO Networking Events per Month

Again, I impress upon you the importance of getting out there and getting visible to the marketplace in which you choose to thrive.  Whether your opportunities to network come in the form of trade shows, mixers, association events, charity events, customer expos, luncheons, or learning events, you need to have a plan!  Just as important as it is NOT to be invisible in the Social Networking arena online, it is equally important to be physically visible in the events where your prospects and customers can see you!

**Action Step

Grab a calendar and schedule up to 24 events this year in which you can “press the flesh and kiss the babies!”  You need to get out and make connections for and with others.  Go beyond the obvious!  Join a morning leads group and get involved.  Get on the board of the associations to which your customers belong.  Volunteer in the charities that your customers support.  Start a running club….a biking club and invite prospects, customers, and clients—you can promote these through your Social Media efforts.  Remember that Networking and NOTworking are two different words.  These efforts are all part of a process and not simply events.  They take time, preparation, planning, execution, and follow through.

ONE Book per Month

Zig Zigler, known all his life to be an avid reader once said, “It’s not what I get out of the book that counts.  It’s what the book gets out of ME!”  I have rarely met anyone at the top of their game that has not spent considerable amount of time in the pursuit of getting better.  In the profession of selling, this is done through education, exposure, preparation, and practice.  Leaders are readers!   It’s as simple as that!   One of the greatest habits in which you can ever engage is that of reading.

Two of the biggest mistakes that we make as human beings are; #1-We don’t try to get better in the areas in which we currently do well AND #2-We avoid the things that we don’t do well.

**Action Step(s)

First, identify and write down 4 areas in which you need some improvement. Next, identify and write down 4 areas that, if you “moved the dial a few notches” it would mean more sales—even if you are already good at them. Next, identify 4 areas in which you need to learn something new in order to “stay ahead of the game” or to “catch up” with your customers.  Now, you have 12 topics to seek out education and to build a reading curriculum.  Go to Google or to Amazon.com and enter these words or phrases into the search bar and check watch what appears.  Suddenly, at your fingertips, you will have multiple suggestions on article and books from which to gain your education and to see what “the book gets out of you!”

Finally, a note of caution: It almost seems that New Year’s Resolutions are almost made to be broken and that it is often only a matter of time (days or weeks in most cases) that we are back to our existing routines and habits.  This suggested list of Sales Professional Resolutions may seem somewhat daunting as a group but if you grab 1-2 and make a firm commitment that you engage in this activity and this behavior for a solid year, I’ll bet you grow as a sales professional.  So….get to it!

The Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Salespeople–Part 2 of 3

It’s a New Year and those New Year’s Resolutions are pouring out of you. Here is Part 2 of a 3 part blog post (go back and read Part ONE) defining The Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for 2012 that will help you kick some serious butt in the sales world.  Pick a couple and get moving:

SEVEN Extra Minutes Preparing for Every Sales Call This Year

It has been my contention for years that the time spent preparing for the sales call creates the success of the sales call.  In today’s challenging selling environment, many salespeople are getting fewer opportunities than ever.  Thus, it is even more important to build the habit of greater pre-call preparation before every call.  Whether you sell over the telephone or in person, the majority of the pre-call preparation needs to be focused on the customer and their needs.  So…we need to learn (or re-learn) how to “THINK!”  Idea:  As we head into the New Year, it is a very opportune time for every salesperson to have a few deep conversations with their customers about their (the customer’s) goals for the upcoming calendar year.  A great way to engage the customer might be something like this; “Help me understand what it is that you MOST want to accomplish in 2012?”

**Action Step

List a series of topics (and corresponding questions) that you would like to see covered on each of your sales calls.  Where would you like to see the conversation go?  What answers from the customer would best help you build your case of value?   In my experience I have found that, if YOU do not decide, in advance where it is that YOU want to go, then the customer will often take you to where it is that THEY want to go…and too often that means discussing price!

SIX Specific “Thanks-Yous” to Your Internal Customers

It is my belief that anyone in your organization that touches the customer plays a role in sales.  In fact, it is this specific group of “non-traditional salespeople” that ensure your commission every day.  They deliver on the promises that you have made.  They make sure that your customer feels the love that you committed.  The serve, they help, they fix, they direct, they listen, they cure, and they deliver. They deliver the EXPERIENCE that you sold.  In fact, without what they do, you cannot do what you do!  When is the last time that you took the time to say THANKS?  Every other month this year, you need to identify and go out of your way to let someone know that you appreciate their efforts.  It is a fact that you are on the top or the bottom of someone’s to-do list every day.

**Action Step

Identify and write down the names of those individuals in your organization that play a role in your customer care/experience.  Who do they speak with when they have a problem?  Who deals with them  regarding their billing?  Who delivers your products/services to them?  Who handled their issues most often last year?  Now, immediately schedule the time to sit down with those people to express your gratitude for their efforts and to have a conversation about the GROWTH your customers.  Throughout the course of the year, you need to express your thanks (catch them doing something right) in 6 unique ways.  Ideas could range from a handwritten note to movie tickets to dinner gift certificates.  Praise in public or in private…but PRAISE their efforts and be thankful…because the things that get recognized and rewarded, get done again and again!

FIVE More Questions to Get to “WHY?”

Take a shovel with you to every sales call this year.  The shovel is not to shovel more of your #%@ on them!  It is to dig a little deeper to get to the answer behind the answer.  Most questions can gather information and data.  Great questions get to the motives behind that information and data.  In other words, instead of just finding out about the who, the what, the when, the where, the how, and the when (all of these are important), ask FIVE additional questions to get to the WHY!  Rarely does any customer really want to buy or own what you are selling.  They do, however, wish to accomplish, cure or avoid something in their business or personal lives.  Your product or service can most likely help them do that.  Make sure your questions uncover their motivations. Get to the WHY!

**Action Step

Go back to the drawing board and write down the main 3 or 4 BENEFITS that your customers receive from your product or service.  What pains will it cure?  What problems will it solve?  What fears will it offer peace of mind to?  What goals will it help accomplish?  Make sure that the things that you list matter to the customer.   Remember also that, with the changing economic environment, customer’s motivations today may be different from last year.  Next, list a series of questions that you will ask to get to the “why” in the conversation.  Dig, dammit! Dig! There’s GOLD in those answers!

 

TEN New Year’s Resolutions for Salespeople to THRIVE in 2012!

Here it is that time of year again where everyone’s thoughts turn to self-improvement and new behavior.  The New Year brings up an entire host of New Year’s Resolutions for many people.  Commencing on January 1, new commitments will be made to “turn over a new leaf” and do something that requires change in the New Year!  It is in this spirit that I (again) offer a suggested list of New Year’s resolutions (ACTIONS) specifically for the salespeople on your team.  This is part ONE in a THREE-part series of blog posts over the next week to identify the Top 10 you need to do to make an IMPACT:

TEN Handwritten Thank You Cards Every Week

The habit of sending a handwritten Thank You card is a dying habit that has been replaced with email.  In my opinion, the art of communicating a heartfelt Thank You gets somewhat watered down if it is done ONLY in the form of an email.  So, in addition to your regular email courtesy Thank You, get in the specific habit of handwriting a personal note to two people every day.  The recipients of these cards may be prospective customers that you have just met, new contacts from a networking event, existing customers or clients that continue to do business with you, internal customers that help you do your job, or past customers that you’d like to invite back!

**Action Step

Order some Thank-You cards (now) that are specifically designed for YOU!  Although you can make a good impact with any nice Thank-You card, it is the card that is uniquely yours that will show that you went the extra mile!  You can even customize the cards with your own picture if you’d like.  Handwrite, hand-address, and hand-stamp each card for the best effect….and DO IT 10 times per week!

NINE Minutes Every Day on Social Media

Although this is most likely going to require some new education and exposure, this one area can help you become so much more connected in and visible to your marketplace.  The world of Social Media is rapidly becoming one of the fastest and easiest ways for a sales professional to create and permeate a brand, to add value to prospects, customers, and clients, and to remain connected and visible.  Social Media outlets are ways that you can create a “known for-ness” about yourself and come out from behind that vendor mask as a value-add contributor.  Initially, Social Media is not about selling anything but rather about giving of yourself (value.)

**Action Steps

Open personal accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that are designed for BUSINESS use (versus personal use.)  You may want to consider opening a blog account.  You can do this through a variety of sites such as WordPress. Don’t worry if you don’t have a handle on what to do or how to do it just yet.  You first need to get these accounts open.  Next, you need to READ—get some training—get some exposure to what to do on these various sites and why.  It is very important that you first define who you will be and how you wish to be perceived in the Social Media space.  Remember, if you are NOT visible in the areas that your customers are (or will be) then you are Invisible

EIGHT Unique “Touches”

Again, we come back to being visible to your marketplace.  All of us have past, existing, future customers to whom we must remain visible.  Although we mentioned 9 minutes per day needed to be spent on Social Media to do so, we must also create 8 specific touches for your entire marketplace/database that are unique and add-value. Examples will be found throughout this article and will include things such as a quarterly ezine/eNewsletter, specific articles sent to them, invitations to events, personal visits, handwritten notes, referrals/introductions, webcasts, training offerings, blog posts, and more.  Get creative and new!  Remember that each “touch” must be about adding value and differentiating yourself.  Selling is a CONTACT SPORT and the effort of building a “touch campaign” is to stay on the top of mind of your marketplace.

**Action Step

Think of no less than 8 unique ways to “touch” your prospects, customers, and clients this year and write them down!  Define what it will take to create each of these touches!  Now, start putting these in the calendar.  Eight touches throughout the course of the year (when you are NOT trying to SELL them something) will create a value-add exposure to you about every 1 ½ months. This consistency  will help keep you front and center in their minds and hearts.  Here is a hint for you; Integrate your Social Media postings and findings into your “”touch campaign” and link much of this back together.

Stay tuned for THREE MORE New Year’s Resolutions that will rocket your sales in 2012 on next week’s blog on Monday!  And…if you like what you’re reading, forward this post onto TEN friends that need a good kick in the “sales” ass for 2012! Until then, have an OUTSTANDING and SAFE close to your 2011!