Ernest Shackleton placed this advert in papers around London in the early 1900’s. You might imagine that the response would be terrible.
Who would be mad enough to seek out a ‘hazardous Journey….with safe return doubtful’?
Well, it seemed to strike a cord with men of the day because the response was overwhelming and Shackleton was oversubscribed for his Antarctic expedition.
2009 and beyond will see fantastic companies flourish. Companies that have great relationships with their customers will continue to grow, take market share and even make market share that did not exist before.
Where are you in this process? If you are not at the top of your game yet then don’t panic. Some focused activity and attention will enable you provide your customers what they really want. But do you know what that is?
Verry often when undertaking a sales consulting project the company is not quite sure what their customers want. When we discuss this and the company sees the importance of this knowledge for their business they immediately think of a brainstorming session, a strategy review and a trends analysis. Whilst these are all excellent ideas there is something else you should be doing first.
As much as I do know about sales, sals techniques, sales approaches and emerging trends in the Industry, there is so much more that I have yet to become acquainted with.
One of the first things I tell delegates on my sales training is that if they are ever in a training and someone stands up and says their way is the only way to do it, then run a mile. Training should be about providing options, different approaches and giving the delegates the confidence to try out differenet ways to see what is right for them.
To help me stay current I spend a lot of my time reading other peoples blogs and news sites. I thought it only right, that I should share with you the top resources that I use. They are not ranked in any particulat order. Rather, just how they come.
Karl Goldfield —– An extremely likeable, tech savvy US blogger and Consultant.
It’s funny but as a sales trainer and consultant it’s very rare that I wear a tie anymore. And do you know what I don’t miss them one iota!
I was reading through a classic sales ‘text book’ from the early 1990’s recently and was caught by the Way that the advise has dated so much in just ten years. I won’t give the name of the book because it was once regarded as the best sales texts books available and it would not be right.
The suggestions when it came to dress were:
‘Mens suits should be solid blue or gray, pinstripe or chalk stripe or modest gray plaid. Wool or polyester that looks like wool, is preffered. The darker the suit, the more authority it carries, although black is funeral. Men’s shirts and ties are important. Generaly, shirts should be white or pale blue or have mdest stripes………The ages of the salesman and the customer he is facing will affect the choice of dress. For salesman, considerbly younger than his customer, particularly buyers over the age forty eight, it is advisable that the salesman adopt the high - authority pattern of a dark suit along with a white shirt.’
It is extremely interesting to read the latest buzz around the area of Cold Calling and Telemarketing dying a death due to Social Media and other modern prospecting methods. I’m going to be upfront, here and give my opinion. Cold Calling will never disappear and that is a good thing.
Let me get this straight. I’m not talking about mass market business to consumer calling, which is prehistoric and will die out. I am talking about professional, business to business calling. Or as I prefer to call it:
“Identifying people who potentially might have challenges you could solve, or goals you can help them achieve, and seeing if you can help them. If you both decide it warrants you meeting or further action then you can agree to do so”
One of the single biggest areas that delegates on my sales training workshops want to cover when we look at cold calling and appointment setting is CONFIDENCE.
When we all set goals at the beginning of the day almost everyone wants to walk out of the door with:
“more confidence in my ability to make cold calls and to sell”
Some of the next questions I ask are to find out what actions the delegates to develop their own confidence and also what their current thoughts of their offering are.
Do you truly believe in the value of your product or service?
How well do you know businesses of your target clients?
When times are tough, the temptation is to consider dropping your prices. Don’t!
If you drop your prices you are only adding to your own difficulties. The table above shows the impact small changes in the price you sell at can have on your business.
1. Shows no fear: Never ‘pushy’ and does not resolve to hard sell. No signs of weakness and venerability to rejection. The master closer is confident and relaxed, and lets the conversation take its own course and move at its own pace. He wants the prospect to buy but understands the pace that needs to be at.
2. Not selling just for the commission: Profound genuine belief in the value of what he is selling. Matching the right people to the right product/service.
3. Never gets down on herself/himself: Knows how to control his inner critic. May use errors to improve but never as a stick to beat himself with.
4. Very Organised and straightforward in asking for action: “Here’s how we will get started”
5. Understands the prospect has doubts, fears and the temptation to avoid confrontation too: They understand their job is to close sales more than anything else. Knows the prospect wants him to be firm, convinced, and reassuring to help the prospect act rather than avoid/postpone a decision.
Objection handling must be up there with closing as the two most debated parts of the sales process. Much has been written telling you what you should do, what lines to use and how to deliver them.
This article is refreshingly different because it tells you what not to do. There are a few key things that you should never do when faced with an objection. They are:
“The Wrongs”
Don’t pounce: an instant response, sometimes even before the prospect has finished speaking, creates an emotional barrier because it suggests you have not considered what has been said. It also indicates a ‘canned’ answer that you give to every one. People like to be heard and made to feel special and this does not help you do that!
If you are having difficulty putting together a logical and emotional reason why your potential customer or client should use you then look at the quality of the questions you asked initially.
It may not be the definitive list of questions to ask but I guarantee you, that if you have managed to get the answers to all of the following questions then you are well on your way to a sale.
What is the customers/clients situation?
What is the customer’s perspective on the situation?
When I develop sales training courses I spend a lot of time considering and planing content based on the way that we learn. Recently I have had an increase in conversations with Sales Managers and Sales Directors who are looking to increase their own ‘bitesized’ in house sales training as a way of keeping on track with sales performance.
To help I have set out a few things for you to consider if you are designing your own mini sales training sessions.
If you don’t think this applies to you remember that everyone that buys from us is human and processes information in the same way! Therefore —- Think -
“How can I use this Information to make my sales presentations better?”
To ensure your stability and sales success in difficult times why not adopt a business diversification strategy.
If you own a SPAR retailer consider a Subway franchise. If you are a huge department store, how about adding an old fashioned gents hair cutting and shoe shine shop.
Ah, the long running debate that splits the opinions of the Sales world. Mostly because people are vying for position or want to be seen to take a stance. My belief is that cold calling will never die. It is by far one of the best ways to introduce yourself to another business person. My two caveats are:
Business To Business. Cold Calling people at home is pre-historic.
With business to business you must be able to demonstrate value.
There is much debate around social media, google search and networking being the death of cold calling. I don’t believe so. I believe these are fantastic ways of getting leads through the door but they do not in themselves provide the ‘magic bullet’ that means you can sit back and wait for the phone to ring.
Invest in these prospecting methods. Learn about them and use them to the max, but don’t stop all the things that have proved successful for you in the past. Like cold calling or as I like to call it: Read the rest of this entry »
Very few people on my sales training can tell me exactly what level of income they are looking to achieve or even how much are they are worth per hour. You see, if you had a clear understanding of how much your time is worth per year you would get a whole new perspective on the importance of the actions you take.
My view on time management, activity planning and delegation took a dramatic upheaval when I went through an exercise I found in a book by Dan Kennedy called “Time Management for Entrepreneurs”. I guarantee that your view of your own personal worth will never be the same again either!
Are you productive all of the time?
I guarantee that you are not. At best you are actively productive one third of your working day. That is engaged in activities that are going to make you money as opposed to firefighting. If you think you are productive 1/3 of the time then use that number in the example to follow. Be honest as you are only cheating yourself if you don’t. The rest of the formula works on the basis that there are on average 220 working days per annum and this is our ‘money making days. If yours is less than this because of extended vacation or lifestyle aspirations then again be honest with yourself and reduce this number.
I was recently tidying out some old paperwork and came across some notes I made when reading the Seth Godin Classic - “Purple Cow”. I think I made these notes back in 2006 or 2007 but they are just as relevant in todays business world.
We are faced with uncertain times and many people are fearing the worse about their ability to sell their products and services in his recession. It may not be easy but there are some proven ways that, if you work smart, will guide you in the right direction.
One of the key areas that I have worked with sales teams over the last few years is the ability to develop their ‘emotional’ skills in selling. No - this is not about removing their own emotions to overcome their fear of rejection. It is about developing the ability to appeal to the emotional needs of the potential buyer - whether they are selling to business or consumers.
When selling in a recession this is more important than ever. Especially if you are selling to consumers. Consumers are proven to be seeking out confidence and escapism. Businesses tend to seek out products and services that they have confidence in and gives them confidence for the future.
Think what this means to you?
How can you inspire confidence and appeal to the desire for escapism with your products and services. In my sales training business I have seen an increase in the number of enquiries from ’stressed’ sales people and sale managers. They need things that will give them confidence in themselves, their products and services and they are also looking for confidence in the people they turn to help them through this period.
I have recently finished reading “The Power Of Your Subconscious mind” by Dr Joseph Murphy and it really struck a chord with me based on the current business climate. I have been hearing a lot of negative talk from many business owners and sales people I meet recently.
If you are determined to set yourself up to fail I have drawn up the 7 key things you should say to yourself on a daily basis to ensure that you speed up your failure as soon as possible. Might as well get it over and done with right?
