SOLD Sep'2012 by Elena Bereschinova

September 2012

№ 15

Body Language in Sales Greg Williams

shares how to read the body language during the negotiation

p. 50

Body Win the Sale by Saying Language that

“NO!” p. 30

RUINS Your

Presentation

p. 40

Everyone Wants to Move Forward Now, you can learn HOW YOU CAN is a book of HOW . . . specifically how to improve your personal performance and achievement. In this groundbreaking new book, renown peak performance expert John Von Achen walks you through a proven methodology guaranteed to help you reach your maximum potential. There is no hype in this book, no filler and no excuses. Only solutions for how YOU CAN produce better results in everything you are doing.

Meet the Author One word describes John Von Achen, RESULTS! John Von Achen is one of the most respected thought leaders and peak performance experts in the world today. He has become a legend when it comes to helping individuals and organizations achieve their maximum growth, performance and profitability. Known as an inspiring, forward thinking business leader, John Von Achen has consistently provided his clients “real world” solutions they can transfer into immediate results.

Learn more at www.youcan2012.com/

Founder of SOLDLAB.com and SOLD Magazine John Von Achen Editor-in-Chief Helen Bereschinova Copy Editor Oleg Vetoshnikov Designer Lubov Karmanova Cover story: Greg Williams Contributors: Confidence S. Anthony Iannarino, Ron LaVine Networking Tim J. M. Rohrer Influence Kathy Maixner, Andrew Rudin Presentation BRODY, David Newman Negotiation Greg Williams, Jeff Koser Loyalty Maz Iqbal, Ian Brodie, Bill Quiseng COLUMNISTS: Stan Billue, Jason Forrest, Zeke Camusio, David Steel, Jeff and Chad Koser, Maura Schrier-Fleming, Mark Holmes, Arnold Sanow, Phil Waknell, Peter Temple, Kelley Robertson, Dan Waldschmidt, Shep Hyken

Owned and Operated by CENTE MEDIA, LLC. Address: 1800 Pembrook Dr Ste 300 32810 Orlando, Florida

CONTENTS 8 Business Acumen: A General Understanding of Business Principle 11 Stepping Outside Your “Comfort Area” 14 Creating Urgency for Sales Success. RECLAIMING Our HOPE 16 Success Secrets from a Sales Super Star. Motivation and Confidence for Sales Pros (Part 1)

18 18 A Sailboat on a Calm, Sunny Day 21 Chasing Zebras. Selling to Zebras 24 Using Social to Sell. Social Media Killed the Phonebook. Is Your Business Next? 25 SOLD Q&A. Ask the Sales Pro 26 The Steel Method. Social Media 101 for Sales Teams

30 The Sales Begins with Telling the Prospect, NO 33 ‘Stop Selling!’ – A Trendy Idea, But Bad Strategy 36 Up Your Charm IQ. Keeping Connected in a Connection-Challenged World 38 Cranky Sales Manager. 6 New Secrets for Closing Sales

September 2012

September 2012 40 Does Your Body Language Stop a Sales Presentation before It Starts? 43 Public Speaking: The Original Social Media for Sales Pros

46 Visually Speaking. News Flash: Words Don’t Actually Exist 48 Presentation 2.0. Exemplary Selling

50 To Close More Sales – Read Body Language 55 Negotiate From a Position of Strength 57 Fearless Selling. What Every Sales Person Needs to Know about Negotiating 60 Selling on the Edge. How to Never Lose Another Negotiation Ever Again

66 62 Why Price Matters and How It Is Tied up with Marketing, Service and Customer Experience 66 How to Turn Old Contacts into New Clients 68 Great Service is Great Theater 70 Create Customer Amazement TM. Amazing Customer Service Shouldn’t Be a Surprise

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Are You A Closer? TAKE THE TEST Are You A Natural Born Closer? Take the following Test to find out The drive to take command of a situation is instrumental to a salesperson’s success. Salespeople with a weak dominance instinct are never quite in control of an account. They operate under the direction of customers or are at the mercy of the competition. They also find it more difficult to close the sale because they are uncomfortable exerting their will over the customer. Dominance is gaining the willing obedience of the customer. The customer listens to your opinions and advice, internalizes your re c ommend ations and agrees with them, and when you close the sale call follows your course of action. Your personality greatly influences the way in which you establish dominance during sales calls. Nowhere during the sales process does dominance play a more important role than when closing. Take this short test to determine your natural tendencies to dominate group settings. Score your answer after each question with zero, one, or two points.

Assertiveness within groups. Let’s pretend you are having a hallway conversation with three colleagues. Do you remain silent the majority of time letting others speak (0); Speak an equal share of the conversation (1); Or usually find yourself talking the majority of the time (2)?

Conformity within situations. Using the hallway example above, if someone said something you disagreed with would you typically – Remain silent (0);

Might challenge the person to explain themselves (1); Or usually confront the person directly (2)?

Self-consciousness around people. If a colleague said one of your important ideas was stupid Would your embarrassment cause you to remain silent (0); Perhaps defend yourself (1); Or would you reject the person’s comments outright and criticize their arguments (2)?

A salesperson’s goal is to gain dominance over a submissive customer

Candor around people. When speaking with colleagues are you – Someone who carefully edits your words (0); Tactfully speaks your mind (1); Or is completely open and honest with all your thoughts (2)?

There are two basic approaches to establish dominance during sales calls. The direct approach is based upon personal prowess, while the indirect approach is based upon finesse. The approach you should use depends upon attributes of your personality. If you scored a high level of dominance, you are typically well suited to use a direct approach. This approach is based upon first establishing yourself as the focal point of the purchase. In essence, the customer is buying your credibility, your personal experience, and your ability to help them accomplish their goals. If you scored a low level of dominance, you are more likely better suited to use an indirect approach. This approach is based upon establishing your product and the capabilities of your company as the focal point of the purchase before you start selling yourself. For example, a salesperson with low dominance that transitioned his career from a technical position into sales can have an equally dominant presence as a seasoned sales veteran. However, he has to use a different approach. Instead of projecting a powerful presence in person, his deep-rooted technical understanding of his product draws customers to follow him. A salesperson’s goal is to gain dominance over a submissive customer. While dominance is commonly associated with brute force, this is not the case in sales. It’s simply how people judge others. People are continually sensing whether their position is superior to yours, relatively equal, or inferior in some way. In turn, this impacts what they say during the conversation and how they behave. by Steve W. Martin

Humility around people. Are you someone who Feels genuinely humble and respects all others (0); Generally believes you are equal to others (1); Or usually thinks you are better or superior in some way to people around you (2)? Total your score for all questions. A score of 6 or below indicates you have a low natural tendency to establish dominance in group settings. Consequently, you may have a more difficult time closing. A score of 7 or more indicates high natural tendencies. Most likely, you are a “natural” closer who is more comfortable in the uncomfortable position of asking prospective clients for their business.

Steve Martin recognized as the foremost expert on “Sales Linguistics,” the study of how customers use language during the complex decision-making process. He is the founder of the Heavy Hitter sales training program and the author of critically acclaimed “Heavy Hitter” series of sales books for senior salespeople. His latest book is titled Heavy Hitter Sales Psychology: How to Penetrate the C-Level Suite and Persuade Company Leaders to Buy. The Heavy Hitter sales training program has helped over 100,000 salespeople become top revenue producers at leading companies including IBM, AT&T, Allstate Insurance, and Prudential. Visit www.stevewmartin.com to learn more.

Business Acumen:

A General Understanding of Business Principle

Business acumen doesn’t follow closing, differentiation, or prospecting, even though it is fourth on the list. Although there are salespeople who may be able to close and obtain commitments, most of the time the ability to obtain commitments is reinforced or enabled by the salesperson’s business acumen.

September 2012

here are lots of ways to differentiate yourself and your company from competitors, and business acumen is surely one of the most important. These two attributes and skill sets enable and reinforce each other. Prospecting is a skill that may precede the need for business acumen, but in most cases it is made immensely more powerful by the addition of business acumen.

What Is Business Acumen? Business acumen is a general understanding of business principles. It is the ability to make thoughtful business decisions. Mostly, business acumen relates to the ability to make decisions that lead to profit.

Business Acumen in Sales It is only recently that business acumen became one of the primary drivers of success in sales. In the past, it was often enough to possess product knowledge, features and benefits knowledge, and a strong sales acumen (overcoming objections, rapport building, etc.). As sales has evolved, the role of value creation has required a new set of skills. Great salespeople understand how business works. They understand their company’s go to market strategy, their company’s unique value proposi-

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tion, how they compete and win in their market, and their financial metrics. Great salespeople also understand generally how their clients compete in their market segments, their client’s unique value propositions, and their client’s financial metrics. Great salespeople are now great business generalists. Great salespeople are comfortable discussing profitability, metrics, throughput, and any number of financial metrics. They are as comfortable proving ROI using a spreadsheet as they are presenting ideas using PowerPoint. Great salespeople are comfortable discussing execution with their client’s operations staff, and discussing technical ideas and details with their client’s technical team. Great salespeople are comfortable discussing compliance and legal issues with their client’s procurement and risk management teams. Great salespeople leverage their business acumen to identify areas where value can be created, to build the vision of how that value will solve problems or create a competitive advantage, and to work with their clients to build solutions that deliver the promised outcomes.

When Business Acumen is Missing? When business acumen is missing, the salesperson struggles to understand how their own company competes and wins in the marketplace, and they chase opportunities that don’t fit their company’s target or client models. They often try to sell price when their company doesn’t compete on price.

Great salespeople are now great business generalists When business acumen is missing, the salesperson is unable to speak the language of business with their prospects. They lack the conceptual understanding to be able to discuss the business issues, challenges, and opportunities in a way that is meaningful and valuable to their prospects. When business acumen is missing, the salesperson doesn’t understand the financial metrics that drive their prospect’s business, and they cannot develop solutions that improve those metrics. They are uncomfortable with numbers, spreadsheets, and proving ROI. When business acumen is missing, the salesperson struggles to build consensus with their prospect’s buying teams. They cannot speak to operations about execution, they cannot speak to technical issues with the technical team, and they cannot speak to legal and compliance issues with the procurement. When business acumen is missing, the salesperson cannot develop and create the vision of improved performance or the solutions that will deliver that value for their clients.

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All of this can be lacking in a salesperson with very high sales acumen. They may have a natural ability to develop rapport and present ideas. They may have very high-level skills at prospecting and closing. Without business acumen, these are no longer enough to succeed in sales. Better the salesperson have the business acumen and the desire to sell.

Conclusion In the past, success in sales depended very heavily on the salesperson’s sales acumen. While sales acumen is still necessary, business acumen is now equally as important as sales acumen (and in many cases, more!). The business of sales is now the business of business. Salespeople now need the business acumen of a great general manager. by S. Anthony Iannarino

Anthony Iannarino is the Chief Sales Officer for SOLUTIONS Staffing, a best-in-class staffing firm with offices across the United States; the principal of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy, a sales coaching and consulting firm with international clients; and an adjunct faculty member of Capital University’s School of Management and Leadership where he teaches MBA courses on Persuasive Marketing and Personal Selling. Anthony’s focus is helping individuals and organizations to make the strategic behavioral changes that allow them to massively improve their sales performance and their financial results. Anthony writes about sales effectiveness, competitiveness, marketing and strategy at The Sales Blog.

September 2012

Stepping Outside Your “Comfort Area”

he challenge is to reduce the gap between your actual performance (inside the comfort area) vs. your potential performance (outside the comfort area). _________________________________________ Outside the "Comfort Area" – Potential Performance _________________________________________ (Gap) Inside the "Comfort Area" – Actual Performance (Gap) _________________________________________ Outside the "Comfort Area" – Potential Performance _________________________________________

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The Japanese have a term for this called "Kaizen" or the implementation of continuous incremental improvement. Simply put, this is doing what you are currently doing but learning new ways to expand your ability to do it better. Applying this to yourself, you might look at the two of the basic skills for successfully conducting business over the phone. They are the Planning Arena and the Account Qualification Process. These skills have a number of components with room for incremental improvement once you decide to move out of your "Comfort Area."

Areas for improvement in the Planning Arena might include looking at how you:

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You are what you think. Your attitude determines your altitude Set your call objectives, Prepare yourself before beginning a call, Maximize your energy during the day, Determine the intervals between your calls, See yourself achieving your goals, Examine your current pattern of making calls, Handle your weaknesses once they've been identified.

Account Qualification area improvements may include: Examining what are the common characteristics of your most profitable or and "ideal prospect", Preparing questions to find these characteristics, Planning how you can create a good first impression, build trust and credibility, Expressing your confidence in a relaxed manner, Matching and modeling the speed, volume and tone of what how your contact speaks, Following the 80/20 rule of listening (this rule says we need to invest 80% of your time listening and only 20% speaking). IMPROVING YOUR "COMFORT AREA" FUNDAMENTALS "Comfort Area Fundamentals" include improving your: Abilities, Education & Knowledge, Achievement Orientation. An incremental increase in the “Comfort Area Fundamentals” allows you to expand the way you operate and will, if constantly put into practice, lead to greater performance. This is why it is important for you to consistently focus on and practice improving the "fundamentals" so it becomes easier when you find yourself outside your "Comfort Area."

dents? You are a problem solver not a peddler or a pusher. What I hear, I forget; What I see, I remember; What I do, Becomes a Part of Me. Being the best is not as important as doing your best.

Education and Knowledge Napoleon Hill in his book Laws of Success (published by Success Unlimited in Chicago, IL. And available through www.bn.com), defines Education as "the development from within, of the human mind, through unfoldment and use". What are some specific ways to increase your Education & Knowledge? Setting aside time to read about your industry and your account's industry has always been a wise investment. Paying attention to the news (the Sales Intelligence Report Email Newsletter is an excellent source of concise news www.ast-incorp.com) and pointing out items that may have an impact on your client's business shows you care about them and the challenges they are facing in their businesses. Listening to audio cassettes and reading books by successful sales executives is a "sure-fire" way to strengthen your knowledge on how to use the "Comfort Area Fundamentals" to their greatest advantage. Attending user conferences, industry specific events and going through sales training classes on a regular basis also adds to your reservoir of knowledge.

Maintaining an Achievement Orientation Maintaining an Achievement Orientation requires you remember that action follows thoughts so think great thoughts and focus on the positive. Think of yourself as successful and well thought of and doing more than you are asked to do. Help others as you have been helped and you will be rewarded with the success you deserve. You are what you think. Your attitude determines your altitude. by Ron LaVine

Ron LaVine, MBA is president and founder of Accelerated Cold Call Training, Inc., a cold call training firm located in Oak Park, CA. If you would like information on How to Make Successful Cold Calls – LIVE

Abilities

Call Training please call Ron at 818-519-

Ability is defined as the power to do. Will your future be a series of goals you've set or a series of acci-

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September 2012

Magazine Subscribe to SOLD Magazine Today its FREE! Yes, that’s right . . . you can subscribe to SOLD* magazine right now for FREE, and each month receive relevant and practical insights from some of the world’s leading sales professionals, experts and trainers. They will share with you their sales secrets and their best practices for winning in today’s challenging sales environment. Each month, learn how you can: • Increase your confidence as a sales professional • Find qualified customers faster, with less effort • Improve your presentation and demonstration skills • Flawlessly negotiate with power, purpose and elegance • Overcome objections and challenges with ease and precision • Increase the level of loyalty from your customers • Close more sales more often (and close larger sales too) • Use the latest technology to streamline your sales process

visit www.soldlab.com now! Every day we post Practices new articles,for videos, podcasts and audio NOW Professional Selling programs on the SOLDLAB.com site that are not included in SOLD Magazine. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to make sure you don’t miss anything.

*SOLD is a monthly digital publication dedicated to helping sales professionals rise above their competition and earn larger commissions.

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Creating Urgency for Sales Success

RECLAIMING Our HOPE An introduction to the Creating Urgency series by Jason Forrest Anyone who chooses a career in sales also chooses the potential risks and rewards of the trade. And whether we’re telling the family that Christmas is going to be a little lean this year or riding high on the thrill of success; the consequences have a big impact. But what bothers me is the notion that we have to depend on economic conditions (whether good or bad) to determine that success. I just refuse to believe that. And that’s why I’m a proponent of reclaiming our hope – first by changing our language (and the beliefs behind that language). While there are other factors I’ll focus on in future columns, we’ll start here – with something you can implement today.

The Situation: I understand the economic conditions haven’t been sunshine and daisies lately, but the mindset that says we are at the mercy of those conditions is what bothers me. And it’s not just a mindset; it’s often the very words coming out of people’s mouths. Things like, “We’ll weather this storm,” or, “We’ve just gotta sit tight and wait for the upswing.” Since 2007, I have had countless managers show me their numbers, and then defend themselves and their team by blaming the market. They say things like, “Well, it’s just a really tough market right now,” or, “You know, it’s bad now, but things will get better when the market picks back up.” They think they’re doing their team a favor. They think they’re being encouraging. But what they don’t realize is that they’re making a bad situation worse.

The Problem: Behind such words of “comfort” are the pressure, anxiety and dread that come with feeling like we don’t have any influence over results. It kills morale and makes people feel powerless. And that’s the last thing we need when we’re trying to instill confidence and motivation in our buyers. It affirms the wrong attitude and enables organizations and individuals to pass the blame and point the finger when profits fall. And it’s a poison that spreads through every part of

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the organization – affecting the way sales coaches and their teams do business. When a sales coach tells sales professionals that poor sales numbers are due to the market, they’re communicating that great profits only happen because of great markets – not because of great salespeople. Sales pros then take themselves out of the equation, believing they don’t make a difference. They begin to think that they have no influence over someone’s decision to buy. If success only comes from great markets, then why should they bother to improve their sales skills? Why go to training? Why be coached? Why should they attempt to make a difference? Do you see what’s happening? This victim mentality then cripples our self-worth. And when salespeople and sales coaches lose belief in themselves; they lose their desire to improve. After all, why challenge the market when you’ve been told that it’s a losing battle? When sales teams feel powerless to change their circumstances, their only hope is that the market will improve. Each month, they look at their diminishing paycheck and wonder when things will get better. They grow weary and increasingly at risk for bad attitudes and burnout.

The solution: My wife and I love Facing the Giants, a movie about a small private school’s lackluster football team. They never won. But even worse, they lost hope that they could win. They lost hope in themselves. As their coach helped to restore their confidence and courage, their lives and their game transformed and they began to face the giants in their lives – both on and off the field. And, you guessed it; they rose to win in spite of the odds stacked against them. Their circumstances didn’t change – their beliefs did. Many sales professionals and sales coaches have lost hope. And no wonder! Basing your livelihood on market conditions and feeling like you are just at the mercy of the sales gods is just no way to live life.

September 2012

Your ability to make the income you desire is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. The choices you make each week determine your future – not any other factor. And the first (and most powerful) choice you can make is to think and talk differently. Enough of this market-blaming, “I’ll just ride it out” talk/way of thinking. We cannot continue to blame bad markets for our failures and then praise ourselves when we win in the good years. We cannot allow ourselves to be victims of circumstance. No matter the conditions around us, we must choose to say, “If I can start performing at a higher level, I will sell more.” If we do not choose to reclaim our hope, if we do not choose to take ownership of our success, we will eventually lose the belief that we influence people to buy and we will continue to believe that people only buy because of outside factors. I don’t know about you, but I just won’t accept placing my life in the hands of a market, an industry, or numbers ticking across the bottom of the television screen. I don’t want to listen to media reports that tell us that our only hope is when the president fixes this or Congress fixes that.

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I challenge you to put aside the headlines and everything your peers, your family, and your circumstances have led you to believe about tough markets. This is your chance to start fresh, to reclaim your hope in yourself and your potential. If you allow yourself to break free, you will have the power to be successful regardless of market conditions.

One of Training magazine's Top Young Trainers of 2012, Jason Forrest is an expert at creating high-performance sales cultures through complete training programs. He incorporates experiential learning to increase sales, implement cultural accountability, and transform companies into sales organizations. Forrest is the author of Creating Urgency in a Non-Urgent Housing Market and 40-Day Sales Dare for New Home Sales. Consulting for many of the leading homebuilders in the United States, Canada, and Australia, he is a regular speaker at professional builder association events and national conferences and a member of the National Speakers Association’s Million Dollar Speakers Group. www.forrestpg.com

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Success Secrets from a Sales Super Star

Motivation and Confidence for Sales Pros (Part 1) Stan Billue has been a Student of Sales an average of an hour a day for 35 years. Each month he shares several Success Secrets to assist you to achieve your next level of Success. by Stan Billue Editor Note: “This is the first article in a two-part series of articles in SOLD where THE Sales Training Legend, Stan Billue, shares some great secrets of Motivation and Self-Confidence” Volumes have been written about and most people agree that “Your Attitude determines your Altitude”. However the majority of salespeople do not purposely learn something new each day to develop and maintain a constantly great Attitude and to Motivate themselves. At the same time, most salespeople do not learn a new skill or technique each day to become Confident. I don’t know the exact percentage breakdown however I do know that it takes both a Positive Mindset and a Superior Skill level to achieve any level of greatness. You can have a great Attitude and a lousy command of Skills and never reach anywhere near your potential. On the other hand, you can have a vast amount of Skill about your Industry or Profession and a miserable Attitude and you are also doomed to mediocrity. Why not start each day by checking the Obituary Column in the local Paper. If your Name isn’t on the list, get down on your hands and knees and give praise for the Gift of another day. By the way, each new day is called the Present because it is a Gift. If you can’t be excited about each new day, try missing one sometime. When you arrive at wherever you perform your daily duties, walk in 10 feet off the ground and be thankful that you have an opportunity to execute with excellence and make everyone you come in contact with today feel thankful that they were lucky enough to be able to work with a Pro like yourself. Remember,

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there are over 39,000 ways to make a living. If you don’t love and have a passion for what you do for a living, PLEASE talk to Management about a Career Adjustment and go do something else for a living. It’s also critical that you stay ahead of the competition by constantly adding to and upgrading your Skill level. If you aren’t learning a new skill, technique or choice or words each day, you are in a rut and standing still. Of course when you aren’t moving forward, your competition is passing you by. Following are some of the basic Universal Laws that you should embrace.

Enthusiasm Selling in its most simple form is nothing more than a transfer of feelings. The single most important Skill in Communicating, Negotiating, Selling, Leading, and Managing is to be Enthusiastic. Yes, it’s more important than Sales skills, or Listening skills, or even Product knowledge. Enthusiasm is a sign of belief that your Prospects, Client or Customers can sense and feel. When you can get them as Enthusiastic as you are about your Product or Service or Idea, they will want it. The more excited you are about what you’re offering, the more excited they will become. Always remember that the last 4 letters in Enthusiasm are IASM, which stand for “I Am Sold Myself”. Have you ever been around a person who loves what they do and they are so excited and enthusiastic that you start to get excited? Of course some people don’t believe in Motivation because they say it doesn’t last. Neither does a Bath or a Shower however it’s a good idea to take one everyday. Always remember that as we go through Life we have 2 distinct choices:

September 2012

[1] [2]

We can reach down and pull people up to our level of enthusiasm. They will reach up and drag us down to their lack of enthusiasm. So how do we develop and maintain a high level of Enthusiasm from the moment we start each workday to the very end? One simple shortcut is to pick out and start using a Magic Word or Power Phrase. You’ll have the opportunity to use it 50 to 200 times a day when people ask you; “How you doing?” or “How’s it going?” or “Wass up?” Instead of giving them a normal answer like; “Not bad for a Wednesday” or “Fine” or “OK I guess”, we can respond by using our Magic Word or Power Phrase. Instead of whining at people, we can say; “Great” or “Super” or “Getting better by the minute” or “If I was any higher on life I could go Duck hunting with a rake”. I also urge you to put some money where your mouth is by telling everyone what your new Magic Word or Power Phrase is, and tell them that if they ever ask you how you’re doing and you don’t respond correctly, you’ll pay them a nickel or a dime. Then, over the next few months, work your way up to a $1, and then $10, $20, and even a $100 Bill. This is called discipline and it will force you to “walk the talk”. Here are the phenomenal results you will enjoy by using a Magic Word or Power Phrase. It will give us something to live up to. If we tell 100 people a day that we are “Great”, how could we now be negative? We would be one of the biggest hypocrites in the World. We will start to believe it. Since the subconscious mind does not have the ability to doubt or reason, it believes everything we program into it. If we tell ourselves that we are “Great” 50 to 200 times a day, after just several days we actually start believing that we are great. We will drive people nuts. You’ll be amazed at how many of your friends, neighbors, and relatives will start to ask you; “What are you

so happy about?” or “What are they putting in your water down at work?” Many of them will actually start to become jealous or envious because “misery loves company”. When you start to become happy, motivated, and positive, you will quickly become a threat to them and neither one of you will be comfortable being around each other any longer. That’s actually good, because those people weren’t really the President of your Fan Club. You might know that my word is “FANTASTIC” and I’ve had a standing offer since 1977 that if you ask me how I’m doing and I don’t say “FANTASTIC”, I will pay you a real $100 bill. I’ve only been caught 6 times in 35 years so your odds aren’t very good, but please keep asking me because it forces me to stay sharp. Of course I also drive people nuts with that word and they often ask; “Don’t you ever wake up Grumpy?” Heck no, I usually let her sleep. That brings us to another critical point, which is to only associate with Winners and not the Whiners of the World. I’m sure you know the type of person I’m referring to. You hate to ask them how they are doing for fear they might actually tell you. Some people call it “Stinken Thinken”. If you have lunch with, or even take breaks with whoever is at or near the bottom of the monthly production chart, what do you hope to learn? Granted, I guess you could learn “what not to do”, however why not hang with the Top Pros? Watch them, study them, listen to them, and even brain-pick them. Always remember; “Don’t go for advice from someone that wants to be as miserable as you do”.

Enthusiasm is a sign of belief that your Prospects, Client or Customers can sense and feel

[1]

[2]

[3]

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Stan Billue is known as THE Sales Training Legend as he is credited with creating more 6 and 7 figure a year Income earning Sales Pros than any other living Trainer. You may subscribe to his free monthly Newsletter and weekly Marketing Tip by visiting www.StanBillue.com

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A Sailboat on a Calm, Sunny Day I was a couple, six months into my new job as a salesperson at Magic 96 radio and I had hit a slump. Prospecting was still part of my regular routine but I clearly didn't have as much time to do it as when I was brand new. My plan had become "work smarter not harder" and I was being rather selective about on whom I was making prospecting calls.

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September 2012

don't know. Maybe, I was just fooling myself into believing that there was such a thing as "smarter" work. Perhaps, I should have just been working more hours so that after servicing my existing clients I could commit as much time to cold calling as I had done when I first started. I looked around the sales floor and saw a variety of plans that people were working and I was having a hard time discerning which plan was responsible for which results because there didn't seem to be rhyme or reason. With these doubts in my pocket, I trudged down the hall to meet with Dick. My first and most influential manager in the radio business, Dick Harlow, seemed glad to see me. I wondered why as I clearly wasn't performing at peak efficiency. Shoot, I wasn't performing at all. Dick took a look at my prospect list and asked me how it was going with Robinson Marina and Pasta Town and Burgess Carpet. My answers followed a pattern: I did a little research to qualify each and then I called, spoke to the decision maker and was granted an appointment. After meeting with them, the process lost steam and now each was kind of dead in the water. I was a sailboat on a calm, sunny day – looking good but going nowhere. Dick suggested that we go out and see my best three prospects together and figure out if there was something different that I could be doing. So, I set it up and a couple of days later we headed out to see Pete Robinson at Robinson Marina. On the way over, I told Dick about the prior meeting and then warned him that Pete wasn't much of a talker. We introduced ourselves to the receptionist who said that Pete would be out in a minute and to make ourselves comfortable. I sat down in a chair as Dick wandered over to look at a boat. Pete came out and I jumped up to greet him and introduce him to Dick. After handshakes all around, Pete asked us to come back to his office and I was two steps in that direction when Dick said, "Pete, can I ask you a question?" "Sure, of course," Pete replied. "This Bayliner brings back some great memories for me. I remember going out to

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my uncle's cabin on Lake Canandaigua in Upstate New York when I was ten or twelve and just having the best time tubing off the back of his boat. I think my cousin even kissed me on that boat before either of us realized that it just wasn't going to work out." Pete was smiling. I had never seen Pete smile and, frankly, I thought it would crack his face. Dick smiled too and continued, "Anyway. Are these among your best sellers?" "What a dumb question," I thought to myself. "Of course a Bayliner is a top seller. I read a half a ream about Bayliners and SeaRays and MasterCrafts and could have answered that question on the way over." But, Pete didn't think it was a dumb question at all and he answered, "Yes. You know we like to say that you could walk across the lake on Bayliners there are so many of them out there." "Well, it certainly is a nice looking boat but I wonder what makes it that much more popular than some other brand of boat," Dick said curiously. Pete looked like Johnny Bench winding up to hit a 3-1 fastball out of the park. "Really it's a combination of practicality, good looks and value pricing. Bayliner has spent thousands of hours asking boaters exactly how they use their boats and have put all that research into the development of a boat that just flat out works great for families with about $20,000 to $30,000 to spend." "You seem to know a lot about who would be interested in a Bayliner," Dick said thoughtfully. "Could you describe the buyer of this type of boat in more detail?" "Sure, it's a family – not just the husband but the wife, too. Both are making the decision so we spend a lot of time talking directly to the woman and never make the mistake of directing all of our attention to the man. Anyway, they often bring their kids – which is why we have that little video arcade room over there."

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For the next half hour, it was as if Pete was making up for lost time he talked so much. Dick asked the occasional question and Pete unloaded valuable information as I took notes. As Pete began to slow down, Dick told him that based on everything we had learned he was confident that we could help Robinson Marina reach exactly the kind of folks that would love to own and could afford to own a Bayliner. To my amazement, Pete agreed and told Dick that I had done a very good job of presenting the value of our station and that if I could help him work out the co-op with Bayliner he would be happy to buy $5,000 worth of advertising in May. We shook hands all around one more time and we left. The next two calls went almost exactly the same way. Dick was relaxed and casual and told stories that eased us into important conversations about marketing goals and business plans. The prospects praised me for being a fountain of valuable product information but it always turned out they had a question or two they hadn't quite gotten around to asking me. The end of the day came and Dick took me for a beer. "What did you learn today, Timmy?" Dick asked as he waited for the three inch head of foam on his beer to subside. "To take you on all my calls! Dick, that was amazing. None of those people ever had nearly as much to say when I was talking to them on my own. You were like Spock – doing some sort of Vulcan mind trick on them," I gushed. "Here's the thing. All of those people and most everybody else who owns or runs a business wants to talk. They mostly want to talk about their business, though and not ours. You've probably been too focused on providing information instead of having a conversation." "Okay," I said intently, "I'm going to go out there tomorrow and start making it happen. I'll come up with relevant stories

and interesting anecdotes and get some orders!" "That's not the way it works," Dick said earnestly. "It's obvious that you've been out there trying to make it happen and it's clear that you've been getting appointments and making presentation but what is not clear to you is that you can't 'make it happen' by trying harder and being more persistent." I was crestfallen. If persistence and determination weren't going to make it happen I really had no idea what to do. "Timmy, let me tell you something. The more you try to force people into having conversations with you and the more you try to make it happen by presenting the benefits of your product, the less likely success will be. People want to grow their businesses and they know they need advertising as part of that process. People know about and like our station and they want to buy it. You need to stop trying to make it happen and begin to let it happen." In 1992, I wasn't quite sure what that meant but I did learn to relax a little more and I did begin to figure out that people have to be okay with you before they are willing to buy your product. There was no question that it was an evolutionary change for me but the advice was dead-on 20 years ago and it applies as much today. Forget about making it happen and focus instead on letting it happen. by Tim J. M. Rohrer

Forget about making it happen and focus instead on letting it happen

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A recognized leader in sales, sales management & sales training. Available for speaking engagements – timrohrer@comcast.net

September 2012

Chasing Zebras

Selling to Zebras

The Untold Story… For salespeople Chapters 9-12 Jeff Koser | Chad Koser

Selling to Zebras

The Untold Story… For salespeople Jeff Koser | Chad Koser Chapter 9 – Quantity versus quality Chapter 10 – What to measure Chapter 11 – When it rains it pours Chapter 12 – Pursuit of a solution Time to pool resources and find answers. Kurt’s anguish is all too familiar. As he ponders potential solutions to solve his mounting business problems, Kurt realizes his home life is and has also been suffering. Read on and find out what’s in store for Kurt and his team. A burning question that Kurt will address in the coming chapters: (Is this familiar?) Aside from the obvious quota-to-date calculations, “how do we measure sales success?” How do you currently measure success? Did you miss the previous chapters? If so, they are available through SOLD; previous issues. http://www.soldlab.com/archive OR purchase the eBook directly from Amazon.com -Find Your Stripes!

Chapters Chapter 9 – Quantity versus quality Chapter 10 – What to measure Chapter 11 – When it rains it pours Chapter 12 – Pursuit of a solution

Chapter 9 – I’ve spent my entire flight home solving today’s problems. I made a dent but still have many left as my plane lands.

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On my ninety-minute drive back to Clintonburg, it starts to rain as hard as I have seen in quite some time. The rain makes it difficult to see, much less keep my car on the highway. Even with the distraction of the rain, however, I resume thinking about my conversation with Kent, especially about one of the questions he asked me to ponder. I wonder aloud, “Aside from the obvious quota-to-date calculations, how do we measure sales success?” In our business, it takes so long for prospective business to generate an order that we measure all of the small, activity-based successes along the way. I suppose measuring activity is supposed to makes us feel like we’re getting somewhere, but unless we close the deal, isn’t it all just wasted time? Counting and monitoring these small activity-based successes is part of what justifies Bertha’s existence. Does it even make sense to track these activity steps? How else could we evaluate salespeople who might work several months, or even a year, to turn a sales prospect into a customer and to secure an order? Halfway into my drive home, I decide to call Dave Bird. Dave, our VP of presales consultants, always has a good idea of what is really happening in the field. He and Sam make one heck of a strong team. I value his opinion. Dave’s wife, Pam, always includes a “Bird Family Update” in her Christmas cards. In last year’s

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Chasing Zebras “I’m doing well. I was just thinking about starting a fire in the fireplace as I relaxed here with Pam.” “Oh, I’m sorry, Dave. I’ll let you go. Let’s talk tomorrow instead.” I’m once again acutely aware of my intrusion on Dave’s personal life. “I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions, but they can wait.” “No, really, fire away, Kurt. . . . Hey, what’s that noise?” “It’s raining buckets out here, Dave. . . . I’ll talk to you first thing tomorrow.” “Pam, is already up off the couch on her way to get us both some more wine. And she didn’t whine about it,” Dave laughs at his own joke. update, Pam described how each family member was doing and the activities they had enjoyed throughout the year. She mentioned my name in the note, saying, “We are grateful that Kurt has changed some of Dave’s responsibilities, allowing him to reduce his travel time to only four days per week instead of five.” I remember the sinking feeling I had reading about Pam’s gratitude for such a small reduction in Dave’s unreasonable amount of required travel time.

“That was quick witted, Dave, but you’d better keep your day job.” Dave obviously isn’t going to let me go, so I get to the point to avoid taking much more of his time. “Say, do we have you and your team working on projects we don’t have a chance to win?” “Is this a trick question?” Dave asks.

“Hi, this is Dave.” Link to remaining chapters “Dave, it is Kurt. How are you this evening?”

Jeff Koser has more than thirty years of experi-

Chad Koser Chad

ence in consulting, executive sales management, busi-

Koser, Co-authored Sell-

ness strategy, and sales enablement. In addition to his

ing to Zebras after over

many speaking engagements, Jeff is co-author of the

a decade of experience

award winning book, Selling to Zebras, HOW TO CLOSE

working with ZEBRAselling

UP TO 90% of the BUSINESS YOU PURSUE, FASTER,

philosophies. Using Zebra

MORE EASILY and MORE PROFITABLY. And the recently

principles, Chad estab-

published, Selling to Zebras The Untold Story, for salespeople. And In

lished a reputation for exceeding sales targets

1999 founded Selling to Zebras, Inc. Selling to Zebras, Inc. is a sales

at organizations including Baan Supply Chain

enablement company offering unique, effective and winning sales solu-

Solutions, VoiceStream Wireless (now T-Mobile)

tions to businesses. Using the ZEBRAselling Process, Jeff and Selling to

and GE Medical Systems Ultrasound. Chad's

Zebras, Inc. have established a proven track record of successfully help-

contributions have helped Selling to Zebras,

ing companies increase sales in a variety of industries. The ZEBRAselling

Inc. customers to penetrate Power-level deci-

process is chronicled in the book Selling to Zebras. Learn more at

sion makers, thus shortening sales cycles and

www.sellingtozebras.com

increasing average deal sizes.

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September 2012

Using Social to Sell

Social Media Killed the Phonebook. Is Your Business Next? by Zeke Camusio Social Media Killed the Phonebook. Is Your Business Next? Social Media is a critical marketing tool that shouldn’t be ignored. Recently at a neighborhood gathering someone asked if anyone was planning on using the latest phonebook that was tossed on our front porches. As we all shook our heads back and forth my ten-year-old nephew, Jacob, turned to me and asked, “What’s a phonebook?” The phonebook is a casualty of an online generation. Just as businesses that once relied heavily upon phonebooks had to adapt to the shifting habits of consumers, so must your business. Most businesses have a webpage and if yours doesn’t, it’s time get one. Once a webpage is in place the question becomes, “How do I drive buyers to my business?” This is where social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn come in. The challenge can be knowing how to best use social media. To help you find success in social media marketing and not end up like the phonebook consider the following suggestions.

Pick Your Platform

There is an increasing divide growing between Facebook and LinkedIn. People do not want to mix their personal and professional lives online. This makes Facebook a great platform for marketing to individual consumers and their personal network. However, it is becoming a wasteland for business-to-business marketing. Users want to talk about hobbies, friends and life events on Facebook and they are engaging with their professional life on LinkedIn. While there are always exceptions, business-to-business sales efforts should be directed to LinkedIn and business-to-consumer marketing should be focused on Facebook.

Stay Engaged

Once you start using social media you must continue using it. There are two reasons for this. First, social media typically does not provide you with immediate benefits. Often times, if can take weeks before you see an uptick in business from your social media marketing.

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Second, social media provides social validation to your visitors. If someone on your Facebook page sees you have very little activity and a small number of followers it will have a negative impact on the perception of your business. However, if you have fresh content and a strong group of followers, prospects will feel more confident in your business.

Use Paid Advertising

Both LinkedIn and Facebook sell ad space. When a user provides them with personal details those details become available to advertisers. For example, LinkedIn will share your previous employers, your job title, geographic region, education level and other information you submitted. While creepy, this allows you to create extremely targeted marketing campaigns. Let’s say, for example, you want to market expensive running shoes sold at your retail store. Facebook would allow you to design an ad that would only be seen by users who have graduated from college, live within five miles of your store and indicate that running is an interest. Thus, everyone who sees your ad will be someone who should have a need for your shoes, lives close enough to come to the store and likely can afford it. The best part is that you only pay when someone clicks the ad. My neighbors don’t use phonebooks any more. They will ask their friends for a recommendation, buy from someone they trust already or they are going to find someone online to buy from. If you don’t begin, maintain and grow your social media marketing efforts you run a huge risk of going the way of the phonebook.

Zeke Camusio is a serial entrepreneur who has built and sold three successful businesses. Zeke is the author of The Internet Marketing Bible and CEO of The Outsourcing Company, an Internet marketing agency with over 300 clients (including Chevrolet, Burger King and Subaru).

September 2012

SOLD Q&A

Ask the Sales Pro

Maura Schreier-Fleming, sales strategist and consultant answers your sales questions. What sales issue are you facing that you want some direction? Ask Maura. by Maura Schreier-Fleming What is the best way to inform your clients about a new service or an offer? Always position it as something you thought would benefit their business or get them better results. We all realize that your job is to sell something. Really, your job is to sell long-term to clients and get more business. It's poor selling to just pitch things to sell without a thoughtful reason that benefits customers. Certainly you want to showcase that each customer is important. As you present your new product, you can mention that you're bringing this information to your most important clients or some other exclusive group. You are more persuasive when you make a customer feel exclusive. Maintain certainty when you recommend your products. It's not, "This should work," but, "This would be a great addition to your products."

What are some of the worst things you've seen people do at networking events? This is an easy question to answer as it's been over 10 years and this still sticks in my mind. I was at a Chamber of Commerce event and there was a woman who spoke with me and another person briefly. Then she excused herself by saying, "Excuse me, I need to go now so I can collect the cards of the 50 other people in the room." As I turned to the guy next to me I said, "And what will she be doing with those cards? Wallpapering her room?" At any networking event, your job is to be able to recommend/suggest other people. You want to be perceived as a resource. If you simply collect as many business cards as you can, you're not only sending the wrong message, you're also wasting your time.

How can one balance relationship-calling with prospecting? Not sure what this one means. If you mean calling on existing customers vs. prospects... then here's an answer: Each one serves a different purpose. You certainly want to maintain your existing business because the costs to acquire new business are 6-10 times more than keeping the customers you already serve. Yet, you still want to grow your business and prospecting is the way to do that. Where the two groups intersect is that your existing business can be a great source of prospects. When you do great work for existing customers and ask for referrals, you're more likely to get a prospect who is open to hear your selling message and is more likely to buy. If you're not asking for referrals, you are making your prospecting much, much harder.

Maura Schreier-Fleming, is an international speaker and sales consultant. She works with business and sales professionals on their persuasion and communication skills. Her books include Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results and Monday Morning Sales Tips. She writes the women in business blog for Allbusiness.com and is a sales coach for them. She's been quoted in the New York Times, Selling Power and Entrepreneur. Clients include UPS, Fujitsu, Capital One, Ebby, the Houston Texans, and Conoco. She was Mobil Oil's first female lubrication engineer in the U.S. and sold $9 million of industrial lubricants when hydraulic oil was under $2.50/gallon. Website: www.Bestatselling.com

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The Steel Method

Social Media 101 for Sales Teams by David Steel Social media platforms open up avenues not previously available to sales teams in many companies. For the Forward-thinking Corporation and sales team, social media marketing and sales can be an effective way to engage clients in unique arenas and with creative, informative online interaction. Many times, companies discover their sales teams and employees have been using the social networks all along but while individual activity may be useful, it can also cause problems if not strategically thought out and in line with the company's overall plan. Not only does this have potential confidentiality issues attached to it, but it also might affect the quality of your customer relations. This doesn’t even include the potential for misinformation to go viral and potentially quickly damage your brand reputation. Well, now that I’ve scared you, let me explain how, if used properly with clear guidelines, social media can be an excellent way to improve your sales. Whether we know it or not, sales teams are front-line advisors and experts on your products and services, as well as how your company does business every day. They’re a huge asset to you in the area of social media because through their efforts to interact with the public for leads and additional sales they’re constantly chatting with people. Instead of companies trying to eliminate the individual online activity within the teams they should find ways to incorporate the interaction into the overall business strategy. This will empower the teams who are out there working to make the sale and help make them social networking representatives for your brand. Some companies choose to have their social media efforts handled purely in the marketing. Though there is some validity to this; after all marketing teams are great at distributing focused communication. However nobody engages prospects quite like sales people and social media is all about engagement. Sales teams are constantly reaching out to customers using many of the standard ways of communication such as phone and email, so why not modernize things a bit and add the social media websites

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to their communication tools, and keep social media within the sales arm of your organization. Still not convinced or don’t know where to begin? Check out these suggestions for your sales teams to effectively engage clients through social media interactions: Set up a page in one or more of the social media sites for your company. This could be Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, Pinterest, or YouTube, just to name a few. This will be the center of social networking activity for your salespeople. Give them access to creative content to get the attention of followers and guidelines regarding discussing the appropriate information. This can include call-toaction statements, invitations and offers or just a daily fun facts about your company to get conversations started. Set reasonable expectations and give them resources to use so each salesperson can represent your company but still keep his or her identity. Being genuine and forthright when speaking to clients online is important. You want dynamic members of your sales team to be able to bring their true personalities to the online forum just as they would in person. Part of why they are successful is because they are able to use their assets to talk with people. Social media should not inhibit those skills and may even enhance them. But it’s also necessary to remember they’re representing the company so they should use their best manners and consider if something is offensive in person it will be online as well. Being respectful and adding value to conversations in a tone that doesn’t translate to ranting or being unapproachable will go a long way. Monitor social activity daily for signs of leads. Sales teams need to watch the conversations and statements made by not just the customers, but also the B2B buyers to see signs of where possible

September 2012

leads may be. Interacting daily, following up on the conversations and really knowing the type of customers that best suit your business can not only expand your network but increase revenue too. It’s not unheard of for larger corporations that focus on social media activity to turn it into millions of dollars in sales; just ask IBM! Use the tools available within these sites to discover new discussions or pertinent topics to join in. Many of the social sites have their own search engines or other search engines, such as Topsy and Socialmention.com that can be helpful. Google Alerts is another potential source for finding conversations worth looking into. If this doesn’t appeal to you, there are always monitoring programs that can keep track of what’s happening after you’ve customized them. After initially setting it up this can be an efficient way to zero in on the social site activities.

cial and prevent a missed chance to save an unhappy customer or get more leads.

Manage and update content regularly. Most sales teams are extremely busy, so a little planning and time management can go a long way when creating social media sites. Whether it’s original or repurposed material from your company, your pages need to be refreshed often, if not daily. Creating fresh, high-quality content continually can be overwhelming. Work with your Marketing department to get images of new products or ask for ads that your team can share and discuss. If you don’t have internal resources to lend a hand, your team should think about outsourcing for content creation at least to get them started. Setting up a schedule for updates that map out the postings ahead of time can also alleviate some of the pressure.

Suggestions of Social Media Platforms and How the Salespeople Should Use Them

Participation is the key to getting leads and improving your customer base. Your team should be in there often and adding value wherever possible. This may sound time consuming, but if salespeople want to be successful generating leads with social media, they must participate in discussions on a daily basis. Responding to comments or questions immediately or at least within 24 hours is a priority, so they will need to monitor the activity closely. Scheduling specific times throughout the day to update the social media sites may be benefi-

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Why Use Social Media? Think it will be difficult to get your team on board? Here are a few reasons to add social media to your sales practices. Social media sites help: Build relationships with the public quickly and economically online Pinpoint customer needs and resolve issues immediately Broaden your business’ reach to target larger numbers of potential customers Gain brand loyalty, which can lead not only to initial sales, but also referrals and return sales Generate leads for new customers through discussions and sharing information Drive sales, after establishing relationships through your social sites

Not every platform will be a great fit for your sales team but to get you started here are a few suggestions:

Information is easily shared through blogs. In this format anything from solving a problem to outlining the perks of buying a new product can be displayed and archived for visitors to read and comment.

Tweeting short messages to create hype over a new product launching is one example of how Twitter is ideal for networking and broadcasting topics on a massive scale. I like to think of it as an online bumper sticker because of its the 140-character limit. But you don’t need a lot of text to get attention. “Take a look!” is under 20 characters!

Most everyone you know is on Facebook, including many companies now. It’s has a great sense of community and a good source of referrals. Wordof-mouth recommendations often develop out of relationships built in the platform. If your sales team bond with their “friends” and build a trust, sales will find them.

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Based on the concept of a bulletin or corkboard, this social network site is one of the latest trends in social media. Pinning up colorful and interesting images that attract people and linking them to your company information is a low maintenance way to reach a large group.

Another visual social media tool and ideal for sharing content quickly. Publishing a link to a product demo or your latest commercial as a sneak peak for loyal followers can quickly spread virally to increase your brand’s popularity. It can also be a great way to share a demo to problem solve and trouble shoot issues customers may experience so they can walk through it with the video instead of calling customer service. I really believe that sales teams need to embrace the effective use of social media in all its forms. There’s no better way to connect with large numbers of people with very little expense or effort involved. Once you’ve established a presence on these sites and built relationships, the number of leads you generate from this type of interaction with the public

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may surprise you. Social media sites are constantly changing and being created. So, get comfortable using the sites that work for your business, and then stay on the lookout for in new sites where your sales team can branch out. Don’t be afraid, just get out there and try it. If you’re not sure it’s for you, feel free to contact me for more information 800-223-4342.

For nearly two decades, marketing visionary David Steel has taught companies how to engage customers and prospects to drive sales. After founding his first company at the age of 20 and successfully growing and selling it to a Fortune 150 firm, David founded “Sneeze.it” one of today’s fastest growing social media businesses dedicated to helping companies build online revenue streams and integrating social media into an organization’s sales process. David is a renowned keynote speaker, motivator, trainer, and strategist. He is widely recognized for his ability to help organizations to monetize social networks. David’s latest book – Sneeze It is due out later this year. Contact David for more information 800-223-4342

September 2012

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The Sales Begins with Telling the Prospect,

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September 2012

How often do you read an article that tells you to put on the brakes with new prospects? Most salespeople are encouraged to take whatever business is out there in a flat economy. The truth is this: If you begin a relationship with a new prospect in a one-down position, you’ll never regain ground. By saying, “No”, to unrealistic expectations and setting solid parameters right from the start, the relationship becomes reciprocal and respectful.

ay in and day out salespeople hear “No” from prospects and either move on or, if wise, create a strategy to convert “No” into “Yes”. What I’m referring to by “telling the prospect ‘No’” is to say “No” in those situations where stringent rules are laid out by unrealistic prospects or clients that almost always end in a downward spiral. Turning down business is not always easy. In fact, when the economy is less than optimal, it’s natural to gravitate toward any business that will put bread on the table. It’s normal – although not advisable – to cave on pricing issues or agree to provide more and more value without raising fees. Normal or not, I’m telling you to hold your ground. When working with clients, the relationship has to be reciprocal. As with any good connection, one party can’t be in a subservient position. Otherwise, if that person is you, you will be relinquishing your power and foregoing what you know to be true: That what you provide is valuable and that you matter. When an exchange of money is involved, those with money, if not careful, can abuse the power through the concept of leveraging. Thankfully, most clients will not abuse the power and will remain respectful of the sales representative and his or her company. The only way to garner respect is to begin first by respecting one’s self. When we respect ourselves, we are able to make the tough decisions and

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stand firm to our values. Whether in business or our personal lives, we won’t allow others to take advantage of our desire to connect. Too often salespeople concentrate solely on the sale. They believe the sale can come at any cost and that they can justify the means to achieve the end. If you work with prospects or clients who are only interested in “winning”, then someone has to lose. That “someone” is usually YOU! When you lose, you feel badly about yourself and discover your commission check is smaller than it could have been had you been dealing with a reputable prospect or client all along. Ultimately, you are positioning yourself to repeat your negative behaviors, because now these behaviors may not seem so bad. You begin to rationalize that business is business and hence position yourself to be known as the “low-cost solution provider”. Perhaps you have a Manager who is focusing solely on the metrics. I, too, was a Sales Manager for years who learned the hard way that there is much more to a sale than the numbers – such as what behaviors or activities lead to healthy numbers. When I began to focus on behaviors as a prelude to results, my sales team found that they felt less imprisoned to do deals just to meet quota. The quality of the business they brought in improved tremendously. They were happier. How we tell a prospect or client, “No”, is critical. If the requests being made of us are unreasonable

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You can’t allow your prospects or clients to dictate how they will treat you or not sustainable from a profitability standpoint, we must turn away. In turning away, we are saying to our prospect or client and, most importantly, to ourselves, that this arrangement is not a reciprocal arrangement. We are defining to ourselves those times when securing the business is too great a price to pay and that our value is more important than the almighty dollar. If a prospect makes an unreasonable request for a low price or sets high expectations for you to meet by expanding the originally-agreed upon scope of work, it’s time for a discussion. Understand that you are being tested by your prospect to see how serious you are about the reciprocity you require. If you crumble on price or agree to provide extra services without additional compensation, you are failing. Your choices will always determine your outcomes. If you’re a parent, you don’t allow your children to tell you when they can go to bed, what they can eat or

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how they can treat others. In a similar vein, you can’t allow your prospects or clients to dictate how they will treat you. When bringing in new business, be sure to heed to the following rules: Clearly define in the Service Agreement or pro1 posal what the scope of the work will include AND won’t include so there are no misunderstandings. Put in writing what your expectations are for 2 your client under the current scope of work in order for the deliverables to be met. If your client can’t provide what you’re requesting, it’s time to talk about what you both believe are reasonable requests and if you want to move forward. Be sure your can justify your costs and scope 3 of services without being defensive. If your costs and what you are providing for those costs are fair and competitive, the conversation should be short. Always look for a win-win solution that respects 4 everyone involved. There is usually a middleground out there that all parties can live with. Once you provide services that your client appreciates, your value will far exceed any costs. Let me repeat that most prospects and clients 5 are fair and reputable. They draw salespeople to them like magnets, because they understand the importance of long-term business relationships. While “opposites may attract”, in pursuing new business continue to discover those who have similar values and work ethics. You’ll sleep easier at night. by Kathy Maixner

Kathy Maixner is Chief Outcome Strategist for The Maixner Group, a nationally-recognized sales consulting company that helps its clients identify their best business growth strategies AND align them successfully with powerful sales tactics. Kathy has the ability to bridge the gaps between theory and application, resulting from her longstanding work in the field of interpersonal communication. A successful entrepreneur for 16 years with a Master’s Degree in Communication Studies, Kathy works with clients to integrate their big-picture thinking with practical, results-driven behaviors. She has helped her clients to achieve millions of dollars in annual contracts, while remaining focused on longterm, sustainable growth. www.themaixnergroup.com

September 2012

“You shut your mouth when you’re talking to me!” Any analysis of this line from the movie Wedding Crashers would only dull the effect. It's just plain funny.

ut just for grins, let’s beam this comedic irony to a sales context. Let’s hire salespeople to sell our products, and assign them a quota. We’ll put some of their compensation at risk by paying revenue commissions. Even offer a bonus carrot for outstanding performance. Then, we’ll castigate them for selling. For some reason the irony fails to raise even a halfhearted chuckle. Stop selling, experts urge salespeople. They do it through blogs, training sessions, and “motivational” speeches. Here’s a sampling:

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Want to Sell More? Stop Selling, Start Engaging. Stop Selling – Innovate the Sales Experience Stop Selling (and start listening, helping and connecting) Stop Selling, Start Listening I’ll stop at four because there’s not enough space. If you wanted to express slightly more disdain, you’d only need to substitute the word stealing for selling. How did Selling become something to get rid of, like an old smelly rug? Clearly, many people who write about selling are conflicted, or self-loathing. There’s rationale. “Customers don’t want to be sold,”

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Stop selling the wrong way. I buy that. But not stop selling. No commercial enterprise has been successful long term without being really, really good at it more than one person has told me. A popular sentiment that’s totally illogical. The marketing equivalent of attempting to prove that the angles in a triangle don’t total 180 degrees. I’ll get to the reasons in a moment. To be fair, there’s nothing wrong with engaging, innovating, listening, helping and connecting. But these activities are the fabric of selling, not oppositional forces. Effective selling consists of all the activities associated with acquiring and retaining customers. Stop selling? No wonder salespeople are confused. Managers, too, for that matter. What’s happened is that an innocent participle got hijacked, and became stained with the image of the stereotypical aggressive salesperson, with his nonstop, jargon-filled product prattle, bad breath, cheap suit, Timex watch, and transparent drive to make a buck. That’s wrong. The better message is stop selling the wrong way. Stop selling only means quit, which is fine, if that’s what you intend to do. I would be less irritated by Stop Selling confusion if I didn’t see it lead to bad strategy. Great listening skills are fantastic. Who shouldn’t do more listening? But salespeople also have to articulate messages – by talking and writing – that tie customer need to potential value delivered. Call that essential skill making a sales pitch. Call it persuasion. I don’t mind. And in today’s collaboration-fueled business environment,

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building and engaging communities would make the top of anyone’s sales strategy list. But if there are no mechanisms to close the deal, to get a signed order, to execute a contract, or to swipe a credit card, there’s no buying. And there’s no selling. Sure, we have empowered customers, but nothing gets bought without a vendor's facilitation. If you’re reading this blog on an iPad, it was likely one that you bought – and Apple sold – through a complex orchestration of product development and support, distribution, retail savvy, staffing, supply chain logistics, application development, pricing strategy, point-of-sale technology, and social media. If you liked the experience of buying it, chances are that the selling processes worked synchronously. You appreciated the delighted feeling you had when you walked out of the Apple store. It was no mere accident. For Apple, Selling is not only desirable, but deliberate and fine-tuned with more precision and attention to detail than most customers will ever know. No bad breath. Selling – embraced, not expunged. “My new iPad. I can’t wait to start using it!” Ka-ching! Buying and selling are reciprocal for customers and vendors. That exposes the logical fallacy in the admonition to stop selling. One doesn’t exist without the other. So the notion that customers don’t want to be sold means logically that they don’t want to buy. In that sense, even the term customer is misapplied. You get the point. Stop selling the wrong way. I buy that. But not stop selling. No commercial enterprise has been successful long term without being really, really good at it. by Andrew Rudin

Andrew Rudin serves as Managing Principal of Outside Technologies, Inc., a firm specializing in social media and sales strategies for B2B companies, associations, and non-profits. Andy has over 30 years of industry experience in technology, manufacturing, government, and professional services. A specialist in marketing and sales risk management, he has been a successful sales executive, marketer, and product manager, and he has delivered projects for organizations large and small. Andy has a BS in marketing and an MS in information technology, both from the University of Virginia.

September 2012

Will you close more this year? Maybe SOLD TV can help? Straightforward, practical and positive, SOLD TV is a web television show for sales professionals, sales executives and anyone interested in mastering the art and science of selling. Hosted by John Von Achen, each week SOLD TV delivers original ideas, relevant strategies and invaluable inspiration to add power and results to your sales career. And, most probably, you will start closing more sales more often (even in the tough times)

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Meet John Von Achen Known as one of the most respected sales experts in the emerging markets of Europe, Asia, Russia and the C.I.S., John Von Achen has become a legend when it comes to helping individuals and organizations achieve their maximum performance. Through his thought provoking seminars and exceedingly popular books, John Von Achen reaches an audience of tens of thousands from around the world every month. Because of his record for enhancing corporate and personal achievement, small progressive companies, medium sized enterprises, Fortune 500 companies and multinational organizations regularly turn to John Von Achen for their sales training, coaching and consulting needs.

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Up Your Charm IQ

Keeping Connected in a Connection-Challenged World by Arnold Sanow We now frequently As we increasingly live in The more elaborate walk, drive, and even fly the fast lane, a few road our means of without noticing or acsigns might be useful communication, the less knowledging the people to guide us along the we communicate. who are sharing that slice way – words warning us of time and space with us, when good connections ~ Joseph Priestley because we’re too busy are being overlooked, conversing with people threatened, or endanhalfway around the globe. gered. Some possibilities might include: Yield to ConFor example, if you were seated or standing next nection, Stop to Connect, or Use Caution! to someone right now, that person could be starved Relationships at Work. for attention, for any human contact on any level – Following these signs could make the paths we but how would you know? When we do reach out, we travel more satisfying, as well as directing us to some can never guess what effect our connection at that fascinating and fulfilling destinations we might have point in time will have on others. otherwise missed. These are signs for our times to Even the briefest encounter can bring someone keep us focused on the proper care required to cultia moment of much needed comfort or delight. vate good connections. For many of us, even an instant interaction can Our personal “connect-ability” is at risk of eromake a world of difference in whether we feel consion more than ever from a culture being transnected, visible, and cared about. That’s why it’s even formed by technology and increasing anonymity. more important to connect with intention and “show The more plugged in we’ve become for the sake of up” to extend our best. speed and convenience, the more our once-tradiIncreasingly, we’re losing the valuable connections tional connecting points for personal relationships of greeting and interacting with the fellow travelers we are disappearing. Our high-tech culture has ushencounter along life’s complex, multiple networks. ered in bittersweet experiences; it has made conEmployees whose sole job is to serve customers may nection faster and more fleeting, yet we’re reaping barely acknowledge their presence during a transacmore frequent episodes of disconnected humanity, tion. People walk along city streets, shopping malls, a danger whose consequences may be more farsupermarket aisles, and office hallways, plugged into reaching than we suspect. wireless networks rather than being wired to the moPhone calls and meetings are increasingly rement and connecting with each other. placed by e-mails, which may leave us confused and As we whirl past one another in dizzying style, trying to read between the lines. Complex automatic frazzled from our fast-paced lifestyles, connectedvoice messaging systems wind us through a maze of ness can indeed unravel, unless we’re careful to keep computer generated prompts, frustrating us when weaving connecting threads back to one another. we just want to talk to a living, breathing person who With technology changing the landscape of living, can address our concerns. coupled with corresponding changes in today’s culCell phones interrupt personal conversations, tural fabric, we risk losing something precious – the disrupt meetings, and block us from conversing wondrous slice-of-time adventures with other huwith the everyday people passing through our lives. man beings, the people who show up in our lives and We gas up our cars, pay by credit card, and drive off make a difference. These are the most delicious fruits without a “thank you.”

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September 2012

of life’s connections, the unexpected pleasures that flow from people who make us smile, laugh with us, help us out, offer directions, take time to share, save the day, and more. Personal “connect-ability” is indeed vital, as is our ability to be “hightouch” in the face of frequently more faceless connections. In our increasingly anonymous culture, when someone takes the time to notice, tune in, care about, or fuss over us, that benevolence ripples out in wonderful ways. We’re constantly creating currents of energy that envelope the people with whom we live, work, and share time and space – bathing them in the rich warmth of our kindness, understanding, and appreciation. It’s all part of the interconnected nature of life. But the connections you make can create waves of positive, negative, or neutral energy. You must decide what message you want to send out to the universe and to all the people in it. By awakening to the abundant pleasures and joy of joining, you connect at the core of what’s meaningful and makes a difference to others and to your life experience. People connecting to people bring

ordinary moments to life through extraordinary acts of valuable, high-touch humanity. When we create that “Wow, you noticed!” experience, a magical bond forms that leaves an enduring impression. We may rather quickly forget neutral experiences that don’t leave an impression on us one way or the other. The bad taste left from negative experiences we likely wish we could forget. But it is the compelling nature of our positive interactions that forge enduring connections – compelling vibrations of dynamic power and vibrancy, created in a place we call “The Connection Zone.”

Arnold Sanow, MBA, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) is a customer and workplace relationship expert who speaks and consults. He is the author/co-author of 6 books to include, “Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” and “Present with Power, Punch and Pizzazz.” He was recently named by Successful Meetings Magazine as one of the top 5 “best bang for the buck” speakers in the USA. www.arnoldsanow.com – speaker@arnoldsanow.com – 703-255-3133

“Arnold’s program was perfect. He was terrific with lots of humor, relevant information, and effective examples. Overall A+.” ~ Lorelei Long, HR Manager, Mayer, Brown, Rowe Law Firm

When You’re Looking For:

✓More Than Just Another Rah-Rah Rally ✓More Substance and Less Hype ✓More Humor, Interactivity, and Content ✓Specific Strategies and Solutions You Can Use ... NOW! Arnold Sanow, MBA, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) will deliver a customized, entertaining, information-packed, interactive and non-boring presentation with plenty of “walk away” information that can be used … Immediately! Arnold has delivered over 2,500 paid presentations to more than 500 different Companies, Governmental Agencies and Associations. Over 90% have hired him again. He is the author/co-author of 5 books to include, “Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere”, the “Charisma Card Deck,” and “Marketing Boot Camp”. He is a frequent guest in the media (USA Today, Wall Street Journal, CBS evening News) and a former adjunct Professor at Georgetown University.

www.arnoldsanow.com • speaker@arnoldsanow.com

703-255-3133

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Cranky Sales Manager

6 New Secrets for Closing Sales by Mark Holmes Trying to close a lot more sales than you did the first half of this year? Think you’re going to do it using the same approach, message or strategy you’ve always used? Scratch that plan my friend. Would you like a few new secrets for ramping up a highly effective approach to closing sales? If yes; then read on.

Here’s the thing – a closed sale is the result of making not one, but ten positive impressions. Decide on the image you want your customer to form, and work proactively to create that image in everything you do.

Closing the sale is a mindset that begins with the first contact.

Sounds obvious, right? Not so fast buckaroo. Boring customers to death occurs more quickly than you might realize. Why? Because “attention span” has declined significantly over the years. Face it, we live in the age of sound bites and tweets. It’s not a fad. It’s a bona fide piece of the social fabric. Tell me. But do it fast. Explain your advantages. But give me only the highlights. Get this point, please. You can lose the prospect’s attention in under fifteen seconds, not fifteen minutes. Customers won’t listen to boring sales dribble. They don’t have time. Many salespeople don’t work diligently at becoming more persuasive. Why? I’m not sure. But it’s a bad idea. There’s never been a more critical time to get your message through, succinctly. Get to ‘‘the’’ point. Quickly. Clearly. Compellingly.

Most salespeople don’t think this way. They believe that closing a sale occurs during the final step(s) in the process. Big mistake, if you ask me. Here’s a question I got from one of my coaching clients the other day: “So, I’d like to know what to do when I get to the point when it’s time to close?” I told him, “You got to that point the first time you contacted your customer.” And I got that quizzical look, “Huh?” So, I offered this metaphor from professional football. Suppose an NFL team always waited until the fourth quarter to pull out a victory? They played the first three quarters, but it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that they really began to focus on winning. No team becomes championship material with that mindset. Same thing for closing sales. The best closers don’t start thinking about closing the sale only at the final stage, they think about closing the sale from the outset.

Don’t say stuff that bores your customer.

Create your image proactively.

Understand, there ‘is’ such a thing as a stupid question!

Yes, proactively. The alternative is to let your customer form an image of your product or company by accident, instead of on purpose. Now that’s risky! I’ve seen scads of salespeople lose sales and offer up excuses like: “The customer misunderstood our capabilities,” or, “They just didn’t get it.” Really? And who’s fault is that? The sender or the receiver? Well, start with yourself. Seriously. Every voice mail message, email and sales meeting either creates a positive, negative, or hohum impression.

Asking a question that has no point to it, is stupid. So is asking the same question twice. If you had really listened to the customer’s answer the first time, you wouldn’t need to ask again. This is blunt talk, I know. But customers don’t like salespeople who ask impertinent, dull, ignorant questions. They don’t have time for it. And it makes you look bad. So how do you avoid asking stupid questions? For starters, take sufficient time before your call to create and screen your questions. Ask yourself if the question is relevant. Ask whether or not it will be relevant and important to your customer.

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September 2012

Listen. Comprehend what your customer tells you. Use what you learn to ask really good questions.

Think two moves ahead. What does strategy have to do with closing sales? Everything. A great hockey player anticipates where the puck is going. Great basketball players ‘see’ the whole court. Great quarterbacks anticipate defensive maneuvers. Same goes for great sales closers. They’re always thinking ahead. Always plotting out their next possible move. Should they arrange for a plant tour? Bring a tech support person to the call? Offer a case study that introduces a new option? Work on minimizing a disadvantage? Good sales strategy doesn’t just happen, it’s created. Thought out. Planned for.

Over the last twenty-five years, I’ve never once heard of a customer complaining that a B2B salesperson was overly aggressive about getting the sale. Not once. So, this may point to a more universal problem – salespeople aren’t being aggressive enough. Customers don’t view professional persistence as being too pushy. They know our job is to link product value with their specific drivers. Now then, be persistent. So, what do you think about these ideas? Any others come to mind? Let’s visit for a moment (email below) if you’re interested.

Mark Holmes helps salespeople make tough sales. He trains, coaches and speaks in a way that really gets through. He helps people believe they can, then shows them how. Mostly, Mark is engaged by companies, sometimes by

Persist or perish!

individuals. His ideas, along with his books, have been widely

Concerned you’ll come across as too pushy so you purposely hold back? That’s unfounded. Did I mention it’s also unwise?

featured in the media. Mark and his wife live in the beautiful

www.soldlab.com

Ozarks of Missouri. Connect: mark@Salesonomics.com Learn more: www.Salesonomics.com

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Does Your Body Language Stop aÂ Sales Presentation before It Starts? 40 |

September 2012

You can wear the most expensive business suit and still not convey confidence, approachability, and, perhaps most importantly – sincerity. Salespeople are always looking for new ways to make the sale. What they need to do is remember that you can’t sell anything before you can sell yourself.

eople put out visual signals based on their body language. Often we are not even aware of doing so. These signals include posture, eye contact, gestures, facial expression and other factors. An effective salesperson needs to know how to master the subtle cues of body language before he or she can be successful. Visual signals can make you appear not to be in control, and will detract from your overall presentation … and the sale.

Posture Salespeople are always giving presentations – whether they know it or not. Even if it’s a one-on-one meeting with a client or prospect, you are always presenting your ideas, products, or services. Your posture is an important part of the presentation. Your objective is to be comfortable and controlled. You want your audience – the client<s> or prospect<s> – to see you relaxed and comfortable. This puts them at ease as well. If you tend to sway or rock while speaking, spread your feet about 6 to 8 inches apart, parallel to each other, with toes pointed straight ahead. Flex your knees and put your weight on the balls of your feet. Standing in this position will stop any swaying or rocking motion, and reduce distracting heel movements. You can move around and return to this position, just don’t pace. Make sure you are standing up straight and facing your audience head-on. Keep your posture open with arms relaxed and hanging down at your sides. If your hands are clasped firmly in front of you, your feet are crossed and your body is tight, you are not exactly exuding confidence.

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Other “don’ts” include: hands on hips – you look too condescending or parental crossed arms – you are not conveying a look that says, “Let’s talk.” hands crossed in front of you – otherwise known as the “fig leaf” stance, this makes you look weak and timid hands joined behind your back – this stance (the “parade rest”) makes you seem like you have no energy leaning back in a chair, if seated – you look like you’re ready to pass judgment putting your hands in your pockets – this makes you seem nervous and can result in jingling any change or keys that might be there The effective salesperson keeps his or her hands open. Also, hold your chin raised; this gives you the aura of being in control.

Gestures Gestures are an important part of your visual picture. They are reinforcements of the words and ideas you are trying to convey. Gestures include hand, arm, and head movements. We all know people who “talk with their hands” – in some cultures, gesticulating a great deal is the norm.

Two gestures to avoid are: using a pointed finger – this makes you look accusatory, even if that wasn’t your intent fist raising – this is perceived as hostile or threatening The most effective gestures are spontaneous. They come from what you are thinking and feeling, and help your listeners relate to you and what you are telling them.

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ing on the phone. Be aware of any artificial, unfriendly, or deadpan expressions you may be making. Do you squint, frown, make strange faces? Once you are aware of any expressions you may make, it will be easier to eliminate them. Practice smiling and looking pleasant. That’s how you want to look when meeting clients or prospects.

When giving a presentation, make sure you vary your gestures. Don’t use the same motion over and over again. Audience members will focus on the repeated gesture, and not your content. Use your palms, and open them out to your audience when gesturing. Move your arm and hand as a single unit, gesturing up and down. When gesturing, always keep your hands and gestures above your waist.

Eye Contact Any career-related manual or book will agree that one of the most important things that someone interviewing for a new job can do is to make contact with his or her interviewer. The same is true of a salesperson giving a presentation. Even if it’s one-on-one, don’t be afraid to make eye contact. When you make eye contact, you are relating to your audience, which will help get your message across and possibly close the sale. If you make eye contact with someone who quickly looks away, try not to directly look into that person’s eyes again. In some cultures direct eye contact is inappropriate, and some people just feel uncomfortable. If you are giving a presentation to a group of people, the eye contact should be done in an irregular and unpredictable “Z” formation – looking at one person for three to five seconds and then moving on to the next face. The possible problem area with eye contact is if you over do it, and start to stare. In conjunction with making eye contact, you can nod your head occasionally. This also helps connect with your listener.

The most effective gestures are spontaneous

Some facial expression “don’ts” include:

arching eyebrows – this makes you seem surprised or questioning frowning – your moodiness will be the only thing the other person remembers grimacing – your prospect will wonder where it hurts Salespeople can learn to practice their gestures, posture, eye contact and facial expressions. Doing so can only help improve your sales performance. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter how exciting or innovating your sales pitch is, because your body language speaks louder than words. by BRODY

BRODY Professional Development has been delivering training and coaching to new hires, key opinion leaders,

Facial Expressions There are different variations on it, but the age-old maxim is true: “Your face speaks a thousand words” or “The look on your face speaks volumes.” Be aware of your facial expressions. If possible, look at a mirror each time you are on the phone – do this for one week. Watch your face when you are talk-

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managers, and emerging leaders since 1983, with the primary focus of sharpening communication skills to boost business performance. BRODY offers training programs, executive coaching and conference speaking services (keynotes and workshops) in four key areas: Presentation Power, Business Communications, Leadership Presence & Sales Impact. Learn more at www.brodypro.com

September 2012

Public Speaking: The Original Social Media for Sales Pros Y

ou’re blogging. You’re tweeting. You’re linked in. You’re creating videos and articles and ezines. All of that is great but let’s not forget that social media is – first and foremost – social! It’s personal. And that person is YOU. The ultimate test of a sales professional is the answer to one simple question: When you open your mouth, do people listen? Online, offline, in person, via email, via Skype, on Slideshare, on YouTube. The media doesn’t matter. The messenger (aka YOU) matters a whole lot more. If Benjamin Franklin had social media, would he use it? You bet. Would it work for him? Absolutely. How can we be sure? Because when old Ben opened his mouth back in the 1770΄s and 1780΄s – people listened. The same could be said for Plato, Socrates, Shakespeare, Einstein, King, Jobs and Obama.

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Long before social media – people rose to prominence using the influence of the spoken word. Articulation of powerful ideas – useful ideas – crazy ideas – revolutionary ideas – is what made people remarkable. Whether you stood up to speak to an audience of Roman senators, a rowdy bunch of war protesters, a roomful of hostile reporters, or a boardroom filled with naysayers – the people who made a difference did so because of the power of public speaking to spread their ideas and change the course of events. Public speaking – the original social media – is based on the same principles as today’s electronic social media. The key factors to your success are: Have something worth saying

1 2

Say it in a powerful, simple and intriguing way

Deliver your messages with consistency, clarity and passion

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Public speaking – the original social media – is based on the same principles as today’s electronic social media Change the game – don’t blend in – very simply: stand out when you speak up Let’s explore each of these in a bit more depth:

Have something worth saying. Craft your message by speaking to both the heart and the head. People are emotional creatures – tap into emotion to back up your facts, opinions, and recommendations. As business author Harvey Mackay likes to point out, “There are no business relationships – all relationships are personal relationships.” Say it in a powerful, simple and intriguing way. Don’t mince words. Short sentences rule. People’s attention spans are shrinking daily. Keep it short, snappy and memorable. For example, when I speak on marketing I use the power of alliteration by sharing my philosophy that marketing needs to be easy, effortless and enjoyable. I call it the “3 E’s” and people remember it. Include hooks, tag lines, and memory devices when you speak and you will increase your influence and impact.

wafflers. Every political season, the worst name you can call your opponent in a hotly-contested election is a “waffler.” It’s considered even worse than lying! Don’t be wishy-washy. Have a clear, strong point of view and hammer it home over and over – boldly, passionately and fearlessly. Change the game – don’t blend in – very simply: stand out when you speak up. Boring doesn’t sell. Boring ideas die. Boring people lose. In short – you want to be the opposite of boring. You want to stand out from the crowd. As Steve Jobs encouraged us, “Think Different.” Where can you zig where everyone else zags? Where can you break the mold – or create a new mold that you (and you alone) are perfectly designed to fit in? Follow these four principles and you will have mastered the original social media – no computer required! by David Newman

As the founder of Do It! Marketing,

David Newman works with executives and sales teams who want to establish their position as thought-leaders and win

Deliver your messages with consistency, clarity and passion. Americans hate

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more business, more easily and more often. Visit www.doitmarketing.com for free resources and tools.

September 2012

Visually Speaking

News Flash: Words Don’t Actually Exist by Peter Temple Words don’t actually exist … to our brains, at any rate. We don’t see words as a series of letters. We see them as pictures. When we read a word, we actually see it as a whole bunch of little tiny pictures. We look for features like horizontal or vertical lines, rounded corners, etc. and then we think back to our library of word and letter images and match it up to what we’ve stored from the past. When we read a word, we actually see it as a whole bunch of little tiny pictures. Over time, we get pretty darned good at this process and it takes us milliseconds to do all the calculations and read a sentence. So reading text is fairly taxing on our brains. What’s more, we don’t remember words. What was the last series of words you remember from a presentation? Exactly! But images – now, that’s a different story. Here’s a fact for you from John Medina’s book, “Brain Rules”: ‘If information is presented orally, we remember about 10% three days later. However, if a picture

is added in, that figure goes up to 65%.’ Text-only presentations are simply not very effective for transferring information, compared to using multiple senses – sight, sound, smell, and touch.

Don’t Fall Into the Text Trap! PowerPoint and Keynote are text-based. That’s a problem. Don’t fall into the trap of using screens and screens of text because it’s easy. You’ll simply be transmitting thousands and thousands of pictures – symbols, really … and we’ll remember very few of them. Words don’t really exist. Pictures are where the power is. Why use only words if there are such powerful alternatives? Tests have shown that people can remember more than 2500 images with at least 90 percent accuracy for days after initial exposure. Most of us think in pictures. If you were to read or hear the phrase “chocolate ice cream cone,” most of us would conjure up an image – a picture in our minds – of a mouth-watering, single, or doubledecker cone, ready to be devoured. Don’t underestimate the power of our imagination. In fact, it’s perhaps the most powerful tool you can use in presenting. During Britain’s Olympics, I constantly heard how athletes used their imagination to envision their routines – to see themselves winning. If you can get your audience to imagine themselves using your product or services, you’ve got them!

Three Rules to Engage the Brain If you want to be more effective in the use of media in your presentations, it’s important to understand how visuals and movement relate to learning. These rules come from the work of educational psychologist, Richard Mayer, in his

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September 2012

book, “Multimedia and Learning.”

Rule Number One: We learn better with words and pictures than with words alone. Using hearing and vision to transfer information results in much better recall that lasts much longer … often years longer.

Number Two: We learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented at the same time or next to each other on the same screen.

Rule three:

ample, text that moves for no reason at all falls into that category. If everything moves, how will our brain know what’s important to follow? Adhere to the “Rule of 66.” If you’re using screen of mostly text, six lines, or six words each maximum. Font size should not be under 24 point. It must be seen and read at the back of the room. Don’t ever put sentences on the screen unless they’re direct quotes. That’s because audiences can’t read and listen to you at the same time. And the single biggest dislike from every survey I’ve ever seen is for the presenter to read sentences of text from the screen. Black the screen when it doesn’t relate to your talk, for example, when you expand with a story. Any information on the screen that doesn’t relate to what you’re talking about is distracting. If you’re using PowerPoint or Keynote, the ‘B’ key acts as a toggle switch. Most remotes also have a button that mirrors this same function. You are what your audience pays to watch and hear. If your visual support doesn’t add to your message in a dramatic and memorable way, take a step back and think about whether you need it at all.

When we read a word, we actually see it as a whole bunch of little tiny pictures

We’re attracted by movement. Animation with narration is the most powerful means of transferring information. Demonstrating something on the screen while you explain it aloud is an extremely powerful learning experience. Which brings up my final point … We learn better when interesting but unneeded material is left out. Tests prove that information that doesn’t support your key point reduces your presentation’s effectiveness. It creates processing overload. Less is more! If you want to harness the real power of speaker support, use a short phrase and a related picture on the screen and say the phrase aloud as it comes to the screen. You’ll have a far more powerful presentation; better learning with longer retention.

Peter Temple has been a writer/

Steps You Can Take Today

producer/director in the corporate world

If you decide to use visual support, consider when and when NOT to use it. Here are some tips for more effective visual support: Animation, if motivated by the point you’re making, attracts attention. Your audience’s eyes follow light and movement. However, animation that isn’t critical to making your point is distracting. For ex-

for over 35 years. He has designed and

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written countless presentations and speeches and now helps executives, managers, and salespeople use technology effectively in presentations. For more articles and video about using speeches and presentations effectively, go to: www.presentationsforbusiness.com

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Presentation 2.0

Exemplary Selling by Phil Waknell for SOLD Magazine Last month we looked at the first element of storytelling in a sales presentation: how to structure your pitch. Now it’s time to spice it up with some mini-stories. Once the overall presentation has a clear storyline, mini-stories are the examples and anecdotes that make it come to life. We very easily forget facts, numbers and generalities – but we are hard-wired to remember stories. When I sold print services, I was often challenged by customers asking why our branded toner cartridges were so expensive. I could have gone on and on about the number of moving parts, the reliability, the testing, etc, but that wouldn’t have been very effective. So I told them a story. Once, when I was in the office of a sourcing manager at a big pharm company, he showed me a printout with yellow and pink lines down it, and complained about the quality of our printers. I opened his color printer and found that the yellow and magenta cartridges were leaking toner everywhere. The black and cyan cartridges were our own brand, whereas the leaky ones were ‘generic’ cartridges. He realized with horror that he would have to pay to have the printer cleaned, and pay to replace the leaky cartridges, and that he would have saved money by buying our reliable cartridges. Telling that story worked far better than spouting facts. I would always deliver my key messages by telling true stories about what happened with similar customers. And I still do the same today for my own company. For example, I had a potential customer who wanted to change the way her managers presented, but was concerned that they might react against a radical change. I replied with the example of a customer who made a small change for a first presentation, saw that it worked, and then asked us to change a little more the next time, and then on the third presentation, he had completely switched to the Presentation 2.0 method. This comforted the new customer, and the simple mini-story told her a number of things:

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1 2 3

It is OK to want to take things one step at a time – she was not the only one. We can support that gradual process, and have already done so successfully. We have satisfied customers who give us repeat business. Now imagine how I could get those points across without a mini-story, without overtly pushing my company. It would be tough. Customers hate pushy salespeople, so it’s important to avoid vaunting how fantastic you are. What is more, if you just deliver information, your customer will use her critical faculties to examine whether you are telling the truth, or just trying to sell. They may not believe you. Yet when you tell stories, they are far less likely to question what you say. This is also why the case-study teaching method used at top business schools works so well: we remember the examples, and we remember the key learning points attached to those cases. A story is a hook on which you can hang your most important messages. So once you have selected the key messages in your sales presentation (and don’t choose more than three), think which examples and anecdotes can help you to illustrate each one, and communicate it memorably. Mini-stories are the chocolate chips in your cookie. Without them, your presentation will be bland and forgettable. So use them carefully to make your presentation interesting, and to make your key messages stick. Next month: more about ‘stickification’

As Partner at Ideas on Stage, the leading presentation design and training firm,

Phil Waknell trains executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities and salespeople to create and deliver memorable presentations, and speaks regularly at corporations and business schools about the need for a new way of presenting. He also shares ideas on his popular blog www.philpresents.com.

September 2012

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sales@ideasonstage.com

To Close More Sales – Read Body Language 50 |

September 2012

Have you ever considered looking at the closing process of a sale from a body language viewpoint? Have you considered the value that can be had by looking at the closing process from the perspective of reading the body language of your prospect or client?

ince the closing process of a sale, in essence, is part of the ‘give and take’ that occurs in any negotiation, wouldn’t it be nice to gather insight into what your client is thinking, based on the signals he emits via his body language? By possessing the ability to read body language and projecting it into the negotiation process of closing a sale, you create an advantageous position for yourself. This article is different from the ‘run-of-the-mill’ articles on closing a sale. It gives insights into how you can increase your awareness of when to close a sale based on your observance of a few body language gestures. The article delves into how to view your client from a psychological and body language perspective.

Psychology From a psychological standpoint, everyone wants and needs to feel safe in his or her environment. Thus, it behooves you to understand how

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your client’s decision to use your product or service may be influenced by his perception of how his peers will view him. He may want to secure your offerings from another source simply due to the fact that the other source has a greater name recognition, is perceived to be more reputable, or because his company has never had a problem with a particular vendor; there may be a host of other concerns that prevents him from closing the sale with you. To the degree you assist your client in feeling safe, by mollifying his fears, as you move towards the close of the sale, the probability of the close occurring increases.

Body Language Observe, when posing probing questions, to what degree your client mirrors your body language (i.e. mimic your body movements), the kinesthetic feelings you perceive from him, his eye movements, and

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the comfort gestures (i.e. rubbing his arm, touching his leg, etc.) that he performs, along with when he performs them. Those signs and your perception of his feelings will give you insight into how receptive he is to allowing you to close him.

By understanding his purchasing process, you can position your delivery (close) to match how he’s made purchases in the past and thus the manner in which he feels comfortable when making purchases.

Kinesthetics Have you ever had a ‘gut feeling’ about something? During such times, kinesthetically, you were attuned to the emotional state of your environment. There are times when we sense things in an environment and we’re not sure why we feel a certain way. The feelings are usually generated as the result of something we’ve picked up at a subconscious level that we’re not aware of at the conscious level. Take heed when you have such experiences. During such times, you’re more acutely aware of your environment than you think. If nothing else, when you have such a sensation, explore your feelings by posing your perception to the client in a manner that’s nonthreatening. Then, pay close attention to how he responds. Take note of what he does with his body during the response (see below for eye, hand, and mouth movements). Use that observance to detect your client’s emotional state of mind as you progress and engage in the closing process.

Eye Movement You can gain insight into how the client fells about purchasing either your product or service, or how he made a similar purchase in the past, based on his eye movements. You should seek to understand how he went about making such a purchase by getting him to peer into those occurrences. You can do this by asking probing questions about those occurrences and noting how he responds.

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As you engage him in traversing his past purchases, observe if he looks up and to the left when he’s attempting such recall, or if he looks up and to the right. If he looks up and to the left, more than likely, he’s attempting to accurately recall how such a decision turned out and how he felt about it. If he looks up and to the right, he’s more than likely attempting to create how he might feel if he goes forth with the decision to utilize your product or service. (Note: Before accurately determining the direction in which your client uses his eye movement to recall or create visual or auditory factors from his past, first pose questions related to situations unrelated to your product or service and observe in which direction he looks to retrieve such information. See eye chart below.) Once you can accurately detect such eye movement, you can gain insight into his mental state of mind related to how he really feels about the proposition that you’ve proposed. You might also consider coupling his eye movements with him moving closer or further away from you shortly after you’ve detected the movement of his eyes to gain greater insight into his thoughts.

Hand Movement When conversing with someone, always lend attention to the movement of their hands. In the closing of the sale process, give even more attention to the movement of your prospect’s

September 2012

hands. His hand movements will lend insight into the silent thoughts that he’s engaged in. As an example, if you suggest that he adopts a particular action and he puts his hand near or over his mouth, such a gesture may indicate that he doesn’t believe what you’re saying or he’s holding back his opinion. At such a point, consider either questioning him about his perception of your offer or reframing it. In either case, observe what he does with his hands to detect if he’s become more amenable to your offer or if he’s still in a mindset of being closed. There is a host of other hand signals that you should be aware of, such as steepling (hands placed together as in the appearance of a church steeple – see picture below), balled fist, palms up, palms down, hand near ear, hand on chin/forehead, hands rubbing one another, etc. Those gestures will be covered in another article. Suffice it to say, you can glean a lot of information about where you are in the closing process, and how receptive your prospect or client might be to your closing attempts, based on what he does with his hands as you attempt to close the sale. The more aware you are of his hand signals, the better positioned you’ll be to succeed at your attempts to successfully close the sale.

Mouth Movement Like hand movements, the positioning of your client’s mouth, after you’ve attempted to close the sale, can also add value to your perception of the inner workings of his mind. If during your attempt to close the sale he raises a corner of his mouth, he could be displaying contempt for your offer. If his mouth becomes agape, he may be displaying

surprise, which might be an indication that your offer has caught him off guard. Being caught off guard could mean either he’s pleasantly surprised by your offer being at the correct price point or significantly better than he anticipated, or surprised that it’s so high and thus so far off base. In either case, probe to identify what you’ve perceived in order to more accurately detect the perception he has of your offer.

Conclusion: Part of convincing your client about your position is the way you deliver your perspective and how he feels it fits into his point of view, related to what is thought to be the best course of action for him. It’s important to receive verbal feedback from your client when you’re attempting to close a sale, but it’s more important to observe what he does with his body when he’s giving you his feedback. Words can convey one’s position and yet those words may drip with the perception of insincerity. If you attempt to close a sale with conviction and assuredness, you stand a better chance of having it perceived as the right course to follow. In so doing, all things being equal, you’ll enhance your chances of being successful. By adding the ability to detect a few body language gestures, you’ll gain better insight into when it’s appropriate to close a sale, you’ll increase your closing percentages, and everything will be right with the world. Remember, you’re always negotiating. © 2012 Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator/Body Language Expert by Greg Williams

Greg Williams, is ‘The Master Negotiator and Body Language Expert’ who is also a Fox TV News Contributor. He’s a member of the National Speakers Association and a people-oriented business professional that has enhanced the negotiation and body language skills of people around the world. Clients rave about his fun-filled and highly entertaining presentations. He infuses negotiation tactics and strategies, along with how to read body language, into the minds of attendees with tactics that they can use immediately to enrich their negotiation outcomes. He adds value to attendee’s repertoire by using ‘live’ examples with audience members throughout his presentations. www.TheMasterNegotiator.com

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Greg Williams The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

Negotiate for Life Do you want to obtain higher positions in life? Would you like to make your resources last longer and go further? When you need to negotiate like your life depends on it, will you be prepared? Go further! Last longer! Achieve better negotiation outcomes! Discover how to be more successful in life. Discover how to uncover hidden negotiation secrets while reading body language Discover … Greg Williams, “The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert” www.TheMasterNegotiator.com GregWilliams@TheMasterNegotiator.com (609) 369-2100

Negotiate From a Position of Strength

Sell the financial advantages of your product or service

t’s a buyer’s market. Anyone in sales can tell you Critical business issues (CBIs) are those issues which that. As a result, a lot of salespeople are stuck are most important to the person with budget authority. in unproductive sales cycles in which they sell These are probably not the same issues that are top-ofagainst competitors feature-by-feature in a costmind for the operations person who may be your first driven process. That’s a strategy designed for failpoint of contact at a company. For example, if your produre. If you are the low-cost leader today, someone uct is software and your contact is the manager of a data else will replace you tomorrow. And, if the features entry department, a critical issue may be the ease of use you offer are unique, they won’t be for long. In toof the application’s interface. This will not be a pain point day’s hyper-competitive environment, successful for the person with budget authority who will undoubtedfeatures spread faster than viruses. ly be concerned with issues such as efficiency and ROI. To negotiate and To identify the criticlose profitable sales cal business issues for deals today, you have the person with budget In order to solve a to change the way you authority, you will need company’s “pain points,” think about what you to conduct research. you have to identify offer and who you tarThe goal is to uncover what they are. To do this, get within a prospect’s the “hot-button issues” organization. And if you facing your prospect you will need to research believe you can do this and its industry. Look for your prospect’s company based on the strength information on the comand industry. of your account relationpany’s website, news ships, you’re going to be releases, 10-K’s and andisappointed. nual report. If you have a subscription to Hoover’s or another industry database, educate yourself on the issues that are imporUnderstand the real barriers to sales tant to your prospect’s industry. When sales are lost, it’s usually not for the reasons Read trade publications. Arm yourself with as that salespeople think. Most salespeople will attrimuch information as possible. Then identify how your bute lost sales to a critical feature they couldn’t proproduct or service addresses your prospect’s most vide, a lower price available from a competitor, or critical business issues and either creates revenue or even a rigged bidding system engaged in for show reduces costs. In other words, hone in on the finanwhen the decision was a foregone conclusion. cial advantages that you offer. But usually none of these reasons apply. Most sales are lost for two reasons: The sales pitch did not address the prosSell to the right person – on the right pect’s “pain points,” or critical business issues issues The person who had budget authority was Once you have identified your prospect’s CBIs and not involved in the sales process determined how your product or service can

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also reduce the risk that the decision will be to not effectively address them, you have earned the right move forward at all. Once you have the attention of to negotiate with “Power,” the person with budget Power – and you have convinced this person of the authority. But wait, you’re thinking, that’s not where value you offer – the sales process will move forward my sweet spot is. I’ve spent years cultivating relamuch more quickly and the funds that are needed will tionships at the middle-management level of orgabe made available. nizations. Customers love me. Well guess what? So how do you convince Power of your value? The world has changed and those relationships Be very clear about the ways in which your product won’t help you if the person with budget authority or service will help the company either make more doesn’t see the value of what you offer. Whether money or reduce costs. The more significant the opyou realize it or not, your customer is not the guy portunity or savings, the more compelling your case who implements your solution. It’s the person who will be. holds the purse strings. So unless you want to become irrelevant, you need to target the person with budget authority with a well-prepared, financially Reap the benefits driven sales pitch. While this approach to selling is more time-consumIn order for your pitch to be successful, you need to: ing up-front because of the research that is required, Keep your preit actually reduces the sentation short and length of the sales cycle direct because you have inGetting the attention of Be clear about volved the person with how your product or budget authority early in the person with budget service addresses the process. authority is a game-changer. a pain point for the Selling in this way is Sales processes don’t organization both liberating and emFocus on the fipowering. Focusing on languish and funds have nancial advantages the economic advana way of appearing if you of your offer tages of your product or have convinced this person If you do these three service enables you to of the value you offer. things, you will have rise above the featurethe executive’s attenby-feature comparisons tion and will be in a very and pricing wars that strong negotiating posiare characteristic of the typical sales process. You will be in a stronger negotion. tiating position because you know the value that you Now, your solution will not be evaluated relative to offer to the prospect. As a result, you will be empowfeatures and price points. Rather, it will be evaluated ered to negotiate and close more profitable deals on how well it solves critical business issues felt at the than you ever have in the past. executive level of the organization. When you position your product or service this by Jeff Koser way, you eliminate the need to reduce your price. You

Jeff Koser is the founder and CEO of Selling to Zebras, Inc., a global leader in sales process improvement. Selling to Zebras teaches sales professionals how to close 90% of the business they pursue with greater ease, speed and profitability. The company provides process efficiency tools, sales software and management support to help companies achieve considerable sales improvement. Selling to Zebras has helped countless companies achieve their sales goals. Jeff and Chad Koser describe the Selling to Zebras sales process in their award-winning book, Selling to Zebras. Their most recent book, Selling to Zebras – The Untold Story for Salespeople, tells the story of Kurt Kostner, the dedicated vice president and general manager of C3 Technology, who has been given an ultimatum: Turn sales numbers around in 90 days or pack up your things. It is available as an e-book on Amazon.

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September 2012

Fearless Selling

What Every Sales Person Needs to Know about Negotiating by Kelley Robertson Negotiating is a key business skill. Unfortunately, most of the sales people I interact with in my sales training workshops don’t invest enough time improving their ability to negotiate more effectively. Here are nine things that you need to know about sales negotiating.

Negotiating is not just about price

Although price is one factor in most negotiations, it is not always the most important element, although many sales people would beg to differ. Here’s the thing about price…the sooner it comes up in a sales conversation or negotiation, the more of a focal point it will become. Your goal is to defer price discussion until you have fully worked through the sales process and demonstrated the value of your offering. Negotiating is a process. A process that starts when you first contact your prospect and continues until a final decision is made.

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Everything you do and say in a sales conversation affects the value of your product or solution. However, launching into a lengthy pitch is NOT a good way to increase the value of your offering. It is much more effective to invest time asking highvalue, thought-provoking questions that force your prospect to think. The ability to ask great questions causes your prospect view you as more than a sales person pitching a product. When you make them think, you position yourself as an expert and a peer and someone who brings value to the bargaining table.

Make the other person work

Many sales people quickly offer a substantial discount or immediately say yes to a demand or request. This type of behavior costs you money and severely limits your negotiating power. It is much more effective to make the other person work for every concession they request. Make a counter-offer. Ask them for a larger order if they ask for a discount. Suggest an alternate solution.

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Fearless Selling

Developing a new skill takes

р rac t

and

negotiating is no dif ferent

Learn to say no

There are times that it is impossible to make a certain concession. However, rather than say “I can’t do that” rephrase your statement into a positive once by saying, “That would be difficult. Here’s what I can do.”

Learn to identify key tactics

There are dozens of different negotiating tactics that you need to be aware of. These include: the flinch, the trade-off principle, higher authority, the red herring, good-cop/bad-cop, the nibble, the hot potato, the cherry picker, and many more. Every negotiating tactic is designed to accomplish a specific outcome. For example; The nibble is a very effective way to get a seller to make a last-minute concession…just when they think they have closed the sale. The reason it is so effective is that the request is made in a non-threatening manner after the main terms of the deal have been agreed to. And, the request is usually small in comparison to everything else. A nibble sounds something like, “Rick, you’ll include the shipping on that order, right?” Sellers make the concession because it sounds reasonable AND because they often think — mistakenly — that they will lose the sale if they don’t concede. By learning to identify the tactics buyers, prospects and key decision-makers use, you can also learn how to respond to them.

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Learn how to respond to tactics and strategies

Each tactic requires a different response or reply. Let’s use the example from the above point. If a prospect made that request, the best way to reply is to say, “Sandra, if I could do that you wouldn’t even have to ask.” The best way to achieve the above two points is to invest some time studying the art of negotiating. Read a few books, listen to an audio program, or attend a negotiating training workshop.

Practice, practice, practice

Developing a new skill takes practice and negotiating is no different. Once you learn the key tactics, practice using them in your day-to-day life. By using the negotiating tactics you will become more familiar with how they sound which means you will be able to identify them more quickly when a prospect uses them. You can also practice your responses to certain tactics. This is a great way to train your brain and mouth to work together and is very effective in helping people become more comfortable with a new concept.

Keep your pipeline full

Although this is not directly related to negotiating, your pipeline does affect your ability to negotiate. The more prospects you have in your sales funnel the less likely you will be to accept a skinny deal that has no margin. A full pipeline also gives you the

September 2012

ability to walk away from a sale that does not make good business sense.

It’s okay to walk away

Many sales people are afraid to walk away from a deal. However, not every deal makes good business sense. If a prospect is getting too greedy or too demanding, it is perfectly acceptable to walk away. The key is to make sure you do this in a professional manner and to leave the door open by saying something like, “Mr Johnson, I appreciate the opportunity to work on this deal. However, it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to reach an outcome that works for both of us. If things change please feel free to contact me and we can revisit this.”

gotiated him. He kept saying, “That wasn’t fair” but the client actually hadn’t done anything wrong. She simply did a better job at negotiating a good outcome for her company. Great sales people are also great negotiators. They take every opportunity to hone and practice their skill. And they recognize that negotiations between two people (or companies) are dynamic; no two negotiations are the same. Invest time developing your skill and you will notice a difference in your top-line sales and bottom-line profits (aka commissions).

Kelley Robertson, author of The Secrets of Power Selling helps people

Don’t get defensive

Negotiating is about business. It’s not personal. Some sales people get defensive or allow their egos to get in the way instead of remaining objective and clear-headed. I worked with a sales person who got really upset after a client out-ne-

master their sales conversations so they can win more business. Kelley conducts sales training workshops and speaks regularly at sales meetings and conferences. Contact him at 905-633-7750 or Kelley@Fearless-Selling.ca.

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Selling on the Edge

How to Never Lose Another Negotiation Ever Again by Dan Waldschmidt Part of being successful in business is learning how to negotiate your way through the choices and options that are placed in front of you. Whether you’re an attorney closing multibilliondollar acquisitions, an SVP trying to reach a sales quota, or a husband asking his wife if he can hang out with the guys a little longer this evening, you have to be able to negotiate effectively to get what you want.

It’s not about manipulation. Negotiation isn’t you twisting someone else’s arm. You don’t need to be glib, witty, or smooth.

You just need to know what the other person really wants.

around them – to be able to communicate clearly the advantages of their own position. Being self-aware means that you understand your own weaknesses. You aren’t pretending that they do not exist. You are embracing what makes you your worst and using all the potential of your strengths to convince the other person of your position. The next time you head into a showdown and find yourself unable to get what you think you deserve, you might want to ask the following questions: How might another person view your demands? Are you really being as honest as you could be? How will you feel about your demands six months from now? Answering these questions will give you additional insight into how the other person in your negotiation is likely interpreting your demands.

Sure, it helps to be self-aware. In fact, if there were one quality that could make you a superstar negotiator, it would be self-awareness. How many times have you tried to reason with someone who just seemed like an absolute idiot? Despite you pointing out to them the ridiculous nature of their requests, they just can’t seem to get out of their own way and position themselves for the success they really want. They just aren’t aware enough of their own behaviors – of how their behaviors appear to those

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September 2012

But enough about you. What about the person on the other end of the deal? We often wittily say that it takes “two to tango”. And while we can do a better job of fixing ourselves than those we do business with, just being a rational human being doesn’t guarantee you negotiation success. Especially since a considerable amount of negotiation is quite illogical. It’s emotional. The biggest mistake of negotiations is that most people don’t know what the other person wants out of the deal.

And don’t be confused. What someone says they want isn’t likely at all to be what they really want out of the deal. It isn’t. And remember – you act that way too. You claim you want a higher price point, but really you just want to hold your head up with dignity. You claim that the deal terms are way out of control, but really you just want to feel like you are in control of something. You shout and scream about the details, but just want to feel like you are being heard. That’s how you act. Right? So why wouldn’t you suspect that’s how everybody does it? And you would be exactly right. You struggle with understanding what you really want out of life. You struggle knowing what will make you happy. It’s important to remember that the person you’re negotiating with thinks and acts and feels the exact same way.

The key is being vulnerable. Being vulnerable enough to ask the intimate details that help you understand what the other person really wants. You might simply try asking: What is it that you really want? or What would make you happy? Since birth, Dan

Kindness might seem like weakness, but it’s the catalyst that can grow your business The reality is that you might have to ask the same question 3 to 4 times before the person you’re negotiating wish actually believes that you want an honest answer. It’s hard for us to believe that someone else might actually care about our needs. It’s hard to believe that the person were doing battle with might not actually be doing battle with us at all.

Negotiation, like a lot of other parts of business, is best served with kindness. You can bully and banter and badger your way through negotiations. And from time to time you’ll have some quick wins to brag about. But over the long run you’ll just end up being a lonely, scared, empty person. Kindness might seem like weakness, but it’s the catalyst that can grow your business. If you’re not negotiating with it. You’re probably not as effective as you could be.

Waldschmidt has been refusing to accept business as usual. Sure, he had a

lawn mowing business at 12, but he turned his into a money-making machine (though he opted not to tell his mom about his increased profits). He ran track like plenty of other kids, but he pushed himself to break his high school's mile record. He got the usual entry-level job right out of college, but then he changed the sales process, earned millions of dollars for the company, and became CEO by the time he was 25. These days, Dan is a business strategist. A conversation changer. Dan and his team help executives arrive at business-changing breakthrough ideas by moving past outdated conventional wisdom, social peer pressure, and the selfish behaviors that stop them from being high performers. The Wall Street Journal calls his blog, Edgy Conversations, one of the Top 7 blogs sales blogs anywhere on the internet and hundreds of his articles on unconventional business strategy have been published. So read the blog, check out his resources, send him an email, ask him for help. Whatever you do, don't just sit on the sidelines! Learn more at: www.danwaldschmidt.com

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Why

Price Matters

and How It Is Tied up with Marketing, Service and Customer Experience 62 |

September 2012

n a recent post, I wrote: “Bob Thompson shared the results of research he had been involved in some years ago. When customers were asked what constituted ‘customer-centricity’ they came up with: product quality/fitness for purpose; customer service excellence; being treated fairly; and price. Bob made a big play, as do others, about price only being fourth on the list. I will be writing a post on the price myth soon.” Can you count on customers to tell the ‘truth’? Before we can grapple with the ‘price is not that important, other stuff is more important‘ myth we have to grapple with the customer/market research myth. Why? Because the people who make customer related claims – including on the matter of price – almost always refer to the results of customer surveys and market research. Research simply discloses how a specific bunch of people responded to/answered a set of questions given the way that these questions were worded/framed and how/when the research was conducted. ‘That is it – that is all it tells you! You cannot use it to make declarative statements of ‘truth’ about what matters to customers nor what they actually do when they are shopping in the real life shopping environment. Even if we assume that all bias has been stripped out of the surveying/research process we are confronted with this: people deceive themselves whilst being convinced that they are espousing the truth – neuroscience suggest that this is a fundamental feature due to the design of the brain, which is really many brains in one. Asking about price, and how much it matters or not, is like asking about sex. Why? Because the question is laden with meaning which puts one’s identity, self-esteem and ‘social face’ at stake. If you are a woman and answer that you have had many partners and love sex then you are likely to be thought of as being ‘loose’ and looked down upon. And you, the woman that is being asked that question know that and so you modulate your answer –

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you lie. Now imagine that you are a man. How likely are you to say that you have had no sex at all in the last three months? I recently took part in a speed awareness course where only 2 people out of 23 claimed not to be ‘better than the average driver’. Was it because most of us in that room (including me) are deluded or is it some of us were not willing to admit that we are not good drivers in front of our fellows? Possibly and most likely both. First the price question will be answered differently by different segments and you cannot average it out – to some people it might matter a lot, to others not at all. Second, there will be a ‘right’ answer (socially desirable) given the current circumstances – have you noticed how thrift is in and conspicuous spending out? Third, what people say (and even think they do and what matters to them) is often very different to what is so. And even when you educate them on what is so they tend to ignore it – they were blind to it for a very good reason. In short, the scientifically correct thing to do is to be skeptical about what people say: you simply cannot count on human beings to have accurate insights into themselves or their behaviour. And you cannot count on them to tell the ‘truth’ as it shows up for them if their ‘social identity’ is at stake. What is our relationship to price? Take a look at what is happening on the high street. We go and try out products and get advice in stores and then go home and buy it online because we can get the same product cheaper. Is this why so many stores have closed in the UK and why high streets are littered with empty or boarded up shops? Remember Gateway? The online PC seller who opened stores and designed/delivered a great shopping experience? It ended up closing the stores. Why? Consumers tuned up at the stores got great advice and then they went home and bought online from Dell because Dell was cheaper. What was the fear with the internet? Ease of finding/comparing prices. Why? Because it would enable buyers to buy from the cheapest seller. Why do offline retailers fear smartphones? Because.

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they enable shoppers to compare prices and either buy it online (cheaper) or head for a store down the street that supplies the same product at a cheaper price. Look at Ryanair and Easyjet – these low cost airlines exist because they have come up with a low price value proposition for air travel that speaks to people whose first and foremost requirement is price – cheap. Look at IKEA – it had done the same for furniture. Then there is WalMart in the USA and Matalan in the UK – doing very well by selling merchandise at value prices. In short these players are doing well because they are playing the price card well. Price can also be an indicator for quality and thus assuage our concerns about being swindled/making the wrong choice. For example, experiments show that if you have a high end product and a low end product then you can do better by introducing a ‘in between product’ in terms of price. When you do that what happens? You make more money because you help people to buy. Most people will buy the ‘in between’ priced product – these people fear buying the ‘cheap’ products (quality concerns) and are not up for buying the top priced product. Note: it is essential that the shopper is uncertain about the quality of the products for this behaviour to show up. What is my point of view on Price? I say that price does matter especially in the current economic climate. We are all sensitive to price – our sensitivity depends on our sense of our financial well being. It depends on current savings, current income and how we see the future. If our income/savings are low then we will be price sensitive. Last summer I spent some time in the New Forest and in particular in a locale where only the rich can afford to live – property price are high. Yet, I was shocked to see busy ‘cheap stores’ nestled in amongst the expensive stores. Then I got that there are plenty of old folks who have retired in this locale. They have used their savings to buy their homes and their incomes are limited and so they use the ‘cheap’ stores. Finally, the future matters, if the future looks bleak then we are more price sensitive than if the future looks bright. I say that we will not willingly pay more than we have to for the same product if all things are equal. A great example of this is insurance – most people

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buy on price as they assume that all companies, all policies are alike. Only those that have made a claim, become wise to and factor in what the policy covers and the claims experience. That means that if store A wants to charge us more than Store B for an identical product then the people at store A have to invent differences and communicate these differences so that the customer can justify paying the higher price. The central challenge of business continues to be inventing differences – real and imagined – so as to get the customer to pay a higher price than s/he would otherwise pay. The factors that companies have to play with are: product and product development; marketing and the art/science of impression/perception management (notice the interest in neuroscience and neuromarketing); service (not the function called Customer Services) and in its broadest/modern sense Customer Experience; and business model design – what you charge for, how you charge…. Apple does it through great products. Zappos does it through great service. Amazon does it through the ease of the purchasing process. USAA does it through the ‘community’ and ‘integrity’ and ‘service’. Zane’s Cycles does it through the customer experience and ‘community’. Put differently, the justification for investments in marketing, in service, in the customer experience are based on counteracting the buyers propensity to buy on price if all things are equal. That means that the purpose of marketing, service, customer experience is to ensure that all things are not equal in the minds of buyers. Manipulating perceptions – the role of marketing – used to be enough because only marketer had access to media. Media exists to shape minds – always. Marketing no longer works that well due to the democratisation of voice. Which is why there is pressure to actually be different: stand out products; stand out service; stand out customer experience. This requires a fundamental change in organisational behaviour: investments have to move from marketing (impression management) to the product and/or the operations that enable buyers to buy, own and use the product. Few organisations have made that shift in priorities and spending. Which is why so much customer talk is simply empty talk. Now compare that with the companies that stand out in

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If the future looks bleak then we are more price sensitive than if the future looks bright terms of product-service-customer experience: do you notice that they don’t spend anywhere near as much on marketing as their competitors? What is the good news? Whilst price matters it is not the only thing matters. Our dignity matters to us – we are selves who are aware of ourselves and who are driven to relate to ourselves as worthy/ important/as mattering. And this need is as important as the need for a ‘good deal’. As such this provides an opening for organisations who honour our

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need for validation, for dignity, for wanting to feel there are good guys out there and that we live in a ‘good’ world. Which is why companies like Zappos and Zane’s Cycles are doing well – they charge premium prices in turn for honouring us ‘as the best of ourselves’ . And enough of us are willing to pay the premium price and talk about these companies as if they are our friends. Because they show up for as being our friends. Amongst friends, price is not the most important thing, it is trust, it is looking after one another, it is acting equitably/fairly. It is giving a helping hand now, in the full knowledge that our friend will be there when we need that hand in return. As and when that expectation is violated by our friend/s then we speak out – think Netflix. by Maz Iqbal

Educator and a coach committed to opening minds, touching lives and transforming organisations. Customer-based strategist, a business consultant and a performance coach. Learn more about Maz at www.thecustomerblog.co.uk

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How to Turn Old Contacts into New Clients

ou know that your old clients and contacts are your best sources of new business and referrals. You’ve even got a pretty good “little black book” of names – people who already know, like and trust you. People who could be good sources of referrals or even new work with their companies. But there’s a problem. You’re hesitating. You haven’t been in touch for over a year. You don’t want to seem like you’re “begging” for work. You don’t want to risk them seeing you as “too salesy”. And wouldn’t they be knocking on your door if they needed your help or had a referral for you?

You’ve got to take the first step Very many sales professionals find themselves in

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this situation. Work pressures and long hours mean they lose touch with old clients and contacts. A few months without communication can easily turn into a year. And then it becomes too embarrassing to call to re-establish contact. In my article on “What to Do if You Need Sales Fast” I highlighted that one of the key criteria for someone to be able to buy from you relatively quickly is that they already have a high degree of trust in you and belief in your capabilities. By and large, that means people who you’ve worked with before and done great work for. But unfortunately, if you’ve dropped out of touch – they’re not going to call you. No matter how great a job you did: their minds will be filled with their own priorities. So if you want to get back in touch – you’re going to have to take the first step.

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How to re-establish contact without embarrassment Many sales professionals are concerned that a call or email “out of the blue” will come across as desperate, or too pushy, or too “salesy”. It won’t – if you do it right. Think from the perspective of the contact. Would you really mind a consultant, lawyer or accountant who you worked with a while ago getting back in touch? Probably not – particularly if they did a great job for you and you got on well together. Think of the times old contacts have got back in touch with you via Linkedin for example. Did you mind? Did you think “hmm, we haven’t spoken in ages, what are they after?”. Probably not. And certainly not if you had a good relationship. But what if they started asking for business or a referral? Wouldn’t that feel a bit awkward? A bit like the only reason they got back in touch was for their benefit. There’s a grain of truth in this. Many people would feel a bit uncomfortable if a service provider ignored them for a year and only got back in contact when they needed something from them (an important reason to keep in touch properly in between and not lose touch, of course). So you need to turn the situation around. You need to think about how you could be helpful to them rather than just vice versa. What you want them to be thinking when they get your call or email is “Great. He’s created/discovered something that could be valuable for me – so he’s contacted me to let me know”. That puts a whole new dynamic on the situation. Instead of thinking “What’s he after?” they’re thinking “That was really thoughtful”. The relationship can develop in a much more productive direction after that. But for that perception to happen – it has to be true. You really do have to think about them first and how you can help them. Of course, every professional could argue that everything they do is helpful and valuable to their clients. That’s the nature of their business. And it’s true – but you need to go further. When you’re re-establishing contact you need to have some extra value to offer over and above your normal services. Something specific and timely. Something of high value to them right now – that’s why you called.

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Creating Client-Focused Campaigns An excellent way to offer this extra value is to create what I call “client-focused campaigns”. What you do is look through your address book to identify who you would like to re-establish contact with. Then look for a common factor between them. Are they largely in the same industry or sector? Or the same business function? Or perhaps they share a common business challenge like growth without major investment, managing talent, or dealing with redundancies. They key is that the people you want to connect with would recognise themselves as sharing that factor. Then based on the common factor, create or repackage an “easy to digest” offer specifically for those clients. It could be a free offer like a report (e.g. “the 5 key employment challenges faced by small manufacturers”) or a short “health-check assessment” (e.g. a 2-hour “leadership inventory” for HR directors). Or it could be an entry level service or workshop that would be paid for. Once you have this, you have a valid business reason for reconnecting: “Hi John – long time no speak – it was probably back on that project we did in Italy at your Modena plant. The reason I’m calling you is that we’ve just put together a report on how biotech companies can enhance the value of the deals they do with BigPharma – and I thought you might find it useful. Do you want me to send you a copy?” So from John’s perspective – primarily subconsciously – you’ve “proven” you’re interested and focused on helping him rather than on just thinking about what’s in it for yourself. The communication channels have been opened on a positive note and you can begin to catch up with no embarrassment. And after John has read the report you can follow up: “John, the reason we pulled together the report was that we’re looking to do more business with biotech companies to help them with deal values. If you were me, how would you go about establishing connections with the major biotech firms?” And from there, John (if he so chooses) can give you his advice, offer referrals or contact names, and perhaps even say that he’d be interested in getting your help himself.

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The offer has done two things. It’s got the conversation started in a positive note, and it’s re-established your credibility and perceived expertise which may have become dimmed since you were last in contact. By the way – asking for advice like this is a great technique in itself. It’s flattering and it’s non-threatening. Next time you would like a referral for example, don’t ask “can you give me the names of …” but say “I’m looking to connect with … – if you were me, how would you go about it?”

Now you need to Act The concept of “client-centric campaigns” provides an easy and embarrassment-free way of helping sales professionals re-establish connection with their valuable ex-clients and contacts. Because you’re starting off by giving tremendous value to them – you can be confident that rejection will be minimum. But you need to make it happen. There are three simple steps: Create your list of “people I want to get back in contact with” and review it for common factors Create your campaign offer Get back in touch – phone is best, but at a push, email will do And if, like me, you’ve been following Richard Wiseman’s excellent psychology-based tips on www.richardwiseman.wordpress.com you’ll know that the best way to beat procrastination and actually achieve something is to just get started and work on it for a few minutes. So what are you waiting for? by Ian Brodie

Ian Brodie is a marketing and sales specialist who works with consultants, coaches and other professionals to help them attract and win more clients. He was recently named by Top Sales World as one of the Top Marketing and Sales Influencers Globally for 2012, and by Salesforce.com as one of their European Social Business Dream Team. For more articles with practical, effective marketing and sales tips, and for free access to Ian's Pain Free Marketing Blueprint, head over to

Great Service is Great Theater In their book, The Experience Economy, Joseph Pine and James Gilmore define that “Work is theater and every business a stage.” If you were an actor delivering a great live theatrical performance, the audience becomes wrapped up in the experience and as they walk out of the theater, they are telling their friends that it was the best thing that they’ve enjoyed in a long time. It does not matter to the audience that the actors are performing for the 100th time. The audience has paid very good money to see the show and expect that the actors will deliver their performance with the same passion as on opening night. Your customers expect nothing less. As it is in Great Theater, you have to “act it like you mean it”. Do not confuse this with “fake it until you make it”. Your customers, like any audience, can see right through that kind of performance. Do you always feel like working every day, five days a week, 8-10 hours a day, on your birthday, the holidays or

www.ianbrodie.com

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September 2012

even on scheduled days off? Of course not. But do you think the customer really cares how you feel? Of course not! No customer walks into your establishment with an expectation of being dissatisfied. So you have to deliver Great Theater every day whether you feel like it or not. When you perfect the delivery of the script, you perfect your performance. Break down your customer experience, act it like you mean it and deliver Great Theater. For example: ACT ONE. Scene One. The Customer enters from offstage. SERVICE PROVIDER: “Good afternoon, how may I help you?” Motivation: Never say “May I help you?” If the customer is standing in front of you, he obviously needs help or he would have bypassed you completely. CUSTOMER: “I believe I have a reservation. Last name is Smith.” SERVICE PROVIDER: “Yes, Mr. Smith, we’ve been expecting you. Welcome to The Best.” Direction: Maintain eye contact for at least seven seconds and smile as you say your lines. Motivation: As Dale Carnegie says in his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” So start with the customer’s name. What do you think is the very first question running through the mind of a customer when coming up to an airline counter, front desk, host stand, or reception desk? That question is, “I wonder if they have my reservation?” So to establish a great first im-

pression, incorporate this statement into your welcome, “We’ve been expecting you.” It immediately removes that mental dissatisfier and puts the customer at ease. Follow that up with the name of your business. Let it all flow together. “Mr. Smith” (you’re very important to us). “We’ve been expecting you.” (No need to worry about your reservation. We have it.) “Welcome to . . .” (Where did Mr. Smith feel the most comfortable in interacting with a company? With you, of course) Define each scene in the customer experience and practice it often off stage. Never practice on the customer. Then perform your role so well that all your customers say to themselves and others that your service was the best that they have enjoyed in a long time. And when you deliver that kind of Great Theater performance consistently, you will build repeat business and customer loyalty. by Bill Quiseng

It does not matter to the audience that the actors are performing for the 100th time

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Bill Quiseng, Chief Experience Officer at billquiseng. com, is an award winning writer, blogger and professional speaker in the areas of customer service for front-line associates and associate engagement and leadership for managers. Bill's blog offers tips to improve your company's customer experience. His Facebook page and tweets are your #1 source for practical tips, insight and inspiration from various sources to improve your personal delivery of customer service.

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Create Customer Amazement TM

Amazing Customer Service Shouldn’t Be a Surprise by Shep Hyken Often, what surprises me is that so many people seem to be surprised when they encounter good customer service. People call or email me to rave about the service they received from a particular store, restaurant or other business. Sometimes I understand their surprise – stories of truly over-the-top customer service stories occasionally cross my desk. But most of the examples I hear about are simply instances of the good, solid customer service that people or companies should offer on a regular basis. It is simply companies doing the right thing – making sure that the customer is happy, correcting a problem, being attentive to customer’s needs, etc. It is not necessarily “spectacular,” but it is more than expected, and even just a little more can make a difference. The surprising part, as I’ve said, is that people seem amazed to be receiving this level of customer service. Of course, there are some truly outstanding, “WOW” moments of service that go above and beyond what should be expected. And people who receive such service are right to be surprised, and to want to share the experience. But most of the stories I hear I would simply classify as people doing their jobs the way they should. They have the right attitude, are polite, helpful and attentive to the customer and provide quality service. They are not over the top, but are consistently a little better than average. To me, it just makes sense. Amazing customer service – by my definition, consistently better than average – should be the norm! It should be expected, not come as a surprise. There is really no excuse today for business-

es to offer anything less. There is so much information about the benefits of ensuring good customer service, as well as help to train employees how to do it right. There are training programs, books, videos, articles, the list goes on and on … and no reason for anyone to ignore this necessary element of good business practice. It should be expected, and customers should be surprised when they don’t receive amazing service. So why are people still calling and emailing stories of good customer service? Unfortunately, service that is better than average is still not the norm. While most customer service is not terrible, it is still just satisfactory or average, which is why the level of service that should be expected stands out as something more. These days, average isn’t good enough. Train yourself and your employees to do a little bit more, and do it regularly. The customer may be surprised, and will definitely be happier.

Unfortunately, service that is better than average is still not the norm

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Shep Hyken is a professional speaker and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling business author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For information on Shep’s speaking programs, books, and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Web: www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).

September 2012

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NOW Practices for Professional Selling