Sales Advice You Can Use!

Lesson 6: Humility

2008-02-23T10:35:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipedia: "Humility is the defining characteristic of an unpretentious and modest person, someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others."

Is this you? Are you humble? Are you humble in your approach to your customers? Are you humble in approach to your leaders? Are you humble in your approach to your peers?

Would you buy from someone whom you get the impression feels better than you or that the deserves your business?

If you are working, and you are not at the top of your game, how can you get help without if you are not humble?

When you are at the top of your game, you may feel on top of the world. The best salesman bar none. Guess what: You're not. And the next guy, who has more humility than yourself will eventually run right past you because of his or her ability to become humble and learn from each encounter.

Remember, it was Benjamin Franklin who said: "A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle."

- Nathan

Get Slightly Famous

2008-01-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

I came across this in my email today:

It emphasizes the importance of becoming a recognizable expert in your field. Use PR to your advantage.

There are many ways to create "buzz" marketing and get people talking. (think: that commercial that reaches people that never saw it because people tell their friends how funny it is)

Its audio about 10 mins long:

http://blogs.bnet.com/intercom/?p=1512

-Nathan

Top 3 Must Watch Sales Movies For New Years

2007-12-31T18:46:00.000-08:00

Check out these movies for sales motivation 08! Find your favorite clips and play them on a challenging day or in the mornings and it will affect your performance:

Glengarry Glen Ross
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9qY

Boiler Rooom
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1C6ZeKpx7xY

Thank you For Smoking
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iBELC_vxqhI (trailor)

Christmas break

2007-12-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

Everyone have a good Christmas. My posts will continue on the 26th

Gift for the Sales Pro: books

2007-12-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

Books I highly recommend are by Jeffery Gitomer. The most well rounded would be The Little Red Book of Selling. I am not going to post an Amazon link at this time but you can check out www.gitomer.com. You can also subscribe to the free weekly E-zine. Any of Gitomer's "Little books" are great reads. Second is Joe Girard "Sell Anything to Anyone". He has a couple and he is old school. I think the books are written in the 70's but he has the same idea.. Principles haven't changed, just the clothes you wear when you apply them!

Lesson 5: Listening

2007-12-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

If you don't listen well, then you won't know what your customer is trying to tell you.

It sounds obvious, but we still end up puking all over the place to fill the void.

Remember this:
Any time your customer says or does anything they are telling you what they want! They are telling you how to sell to them.

Your conversations should be about 75% listening and 25% asking questions and overcoming objections. (unless you are a firm believer of the 80/20 rule, then that works too, its the principle not the percentage)

Listening is a skill. You have to practice. Here's how:

You need a friends help. Listen to a story or someone's opinion of something. If no one has anything good to say, have someone read you a short editorial from the paper.

Just listen. Listen to the whole story and take it in. Connect the dots and listen for hotpoints and cues.

Next, tell them the story in your own words and touch on the most important parts and motives.

You should be able to get the entire point across in your own words.

Fine tune this skill to help you in your sales.

-Nathan

Everything You Need to Know About Customers

2007-12-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

I just finished writing my last post, and was doing some reading and stumbled upon Geoffrey James' rendition of Jerry Acuff's Everything you need to know about humans.

Its a great refresher (and quick):

http://blogs.bnet.com/salesmachine/?p=188

Lesson 4: Value

2007-12-17T22:20:00.000-08:00

Ask yourself: Why would a customer want to work with me? Why me?

Have you compelled your customer to buy from you or simply to buy the product?

(Also: The last thing you want is to convince them they need your product from your competition)

Have you truly earned their business or are you simply feeling entitled to the sale?

If you deliver value throughout each phase of the sale, the chances of getting traction increase throughout each phase.

The value is in you, then the product.

Alot of times, your product is pretty similar to the competition. Nowadays, there are so many palces a consumer or business can get your product. All things being equal, if you were buying from you, would you be impressed? Would you be so impressed that you would want to buy from you even if the product was more expensive?

What is value?

Have you ever had such great service at a restaurant that you felt like you wanted to tip much more than the normal 20% simply to show you were impressed by their service?

Have you ever met a door to door sales guy that just had it down, so well, you were laughing, and opening up, and spilling your guts all over the place before you knew it (and buying???)?

Have you been to a nice hotel where they won't STOP serving you?

These people have delivered value to your transaction!

Remember:

Always put in the extra mile.
Anticipate questions, concerns, reports, testimonials etc a step ahead and be ready to impress at all times
Impress your customer!

-Nathan

Lesson 3: Definition of Insanity

2007-12-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

Short and Sweet: What is the definition of insanity? Anybody?

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”- Sudden Death by Rita Mae Brown, Bantam Books, New York, 1983, p. 68.

I think the jest is that if you don’t change your approach when something doesn’t come in your favor, then your are not learning from each encounter and experience.

Therefore, if you aren't closing, you need ask yourself what you would do differently next time.

-Nathan

Lesson 2: Stay Rounded

2007-12-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

Okay : Sales is necessary. You have to learn and practice and study the art to truly master it. However, if you are too weak in other aspects of your practice that support your art, then you will not perform to your best.

We will learn many great sales tips, but lets get some of the other stuff out of the way:

Stay organized. Time management gets put off, but its important. When you are organized you will perform better.

Utilize resources - Master Outlook and your CRM programs. You shouldnt be fumbling around in a program that IT has developed to make your job easier.

Communication with other departments - This is important. Keep your relationships strong because you will need them. The last thing you need is a bottleneck within the company after the sale when service is key for retention.

Keep Up To Date - If your customers are telling you about new trends you are doing something wrong. You should be the expert in your field. You should know more then the experts if you hope to perform. Subscribe to magazines, blogs, newspapers. Check out www.gitomer.com for an example of keeping up on sales. If you are Mercedes salesman you should be an active memebr of www.mbworld.com and every otherl last Mercedes forum.

- Nathan

Lesson 1: Pride will bring you down

2007-12-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

Let's start simple guys. I am not perfect. You are not perfect. When you make a pitch, do you always get a deal? C'mon. ... depending on your industry, you are making 5 - 10 - 15 pitches a day. How many are you closing? The best guy with a high-converting lead might get 3 maybe 4 of them. Now if you had those same exact leads, would you close that many?

You have to remember that you can use your peers, team mates, even other teams, to leverage their skills. If you are any good you are trying new thing all the time. Constantly improving your weakest skill. That is key. What are you doing differently?

Ask your self, what is your biggest strength? What is your biggest weakness?

Now think of who you know that has your weakness as a strength...don't know anyone that fits? Ask around! Be humble.

One thing sales people who try and fail have in common is the lack of reception to new ideas.

I always think of what I am just killing it at! That's great! Say you have your appointment pitch down pat! That is the part of your "well-rounded" sales ability that you can back off for now and start to re-esemble the strategy for the skill that you aren't killing it at that may be hurting you. Make that weakness your new strength and your old #1 will go down to #2...

Now what's the new weakness? Get the trend here??

Check out that next post for skills that fit in this criteria.

-Nathan

Welcome

2007-12-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

This is the blog where you can find sales advice that you can apply TODAY!!

Please feel free to follow up and keep up with me.

-Nathan