"Colleen - how can I get more referrals?"

This is the most common question I get when conducting prospecting workshops. My most common answer is: "What have you done to deserve more referrals?"

Referrals are the most powerful tool in any sales personal arsenal. A referred prospect is much more likely to be ready to listen to you, trust what you say and ultimately to buy from you. Referrals make your job easier, and help you sell more with less effort and in less time. What else could any sales person ask for?

If you want to increase your referral rate, however, you have to start not by looking to your existing customers, but by asking yourself a number of questions about how you conduct business on a daily basis. The most important question is: How likeable are you?

Here is a quick test to help you decide whether you referrals:

1) Do you do what you said you were going to do?
2) Do you show up on time ..always?
3) Do you complete every task you start...fully?
4) Are you gracious - do you thank people everyday for their time, efforts and help?
5) Are you polite? - Do you say please.

If people like you, they will think you referrals. Its as simple as that. Sadly the majortiy of sales people are not likeable. For more on how to be likeable and increase referrals visit the Engage Selling Article Archive

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

Even I Am Not This Stupid...

As far as I am concerned, Dan Kennedy is the smartest direct marketing guru around. I recommend his "No B.S." Series of books to everyone. If you work, you should read them all. Especially the No B.S. Guide to Time Management

So this week I received my monthly newsletter form Dan and in it he references a study done for Virgin Mobile on cell phone use. Its states that 5% of cell phone users answer their phones during sex. INSANE!

When I am coaching sales people to make prospecting calls I insist that they turn cell phones, email, and pagers off, to only focus on the phone for that 1-2 hours. I believe that nothing is so important it can't wait for 1-2 hours. You can get to everything else in your work day once you have done the most important thing for your business - find new customers! Focusing on the task at hand, without the distraction of email, cellphones or your backberry/treo is the key to success.

Focus and discipline is the key to success. Not just in sales. Look to professional athletes. Those that are disciplined, block out distractions, and focus on their specific job at that time, win.

In sales, those in the top 10% guard their time jealously, focus on profitable sales activities everyday and make lots of money. Mediocre sales people continue to get distracted by less important items, waste time with unprofitable tasks and don't continuously generate new business profitably. They remain mediocre.

So back to those who get easily distracted during sex. My guess is that with that little focus and discipline to get the job done, they also never achieve greatness!

Snap Out Of it! Real Life Ideas to Break a Sales Slump

To help you snap out of a slump and get your year back on track, try some of the following ideas submitted from Engage Selling’s clients

1. Reconnect to your plan.
Review your goals and either recommit to the action plan you set for yourself at the beginning of the year – or create a new one!

2. Get back to basics.
Once, after Tiger Woods had spent hours on the practice green sinking hundreds of puts, a commentator asked him why he was still practicing considering how consistent he had been. Tiger responded: “I don’t like the way the ball is rolling into the cup.” That’s mastering the basics.

3. Get a coach.
Have someone you respect listen to your phone calls, watch you at networking events and evaluate your presentations. This could be a manager, a colleague, a friend or a hired gun. Whoever you choose, ask them to be honest with you, and when they are, do something with the advice they give you.

4. Coach yourself.
Video or audio tape your presentations and calls, and be honest with yourself. Would you buy from you?

5. Change your presentation.
Maybe it’s time to turn your presentation style upside down, or inside out. What you’re doing now obviously isn’t working, so if you want a different result, you have to do something different. Try starting with the end, or in the middle. And while we’re talking about change, everyone should read the cover story of the June 2005 issue of Fast Company magazine: “Change or die.” It’s an excellent article on why change is so hard – yet so necessary.

6. Stay away from life suckers.
You know who they are. The one who lies in wait at the water cooler, just so they can whine, moan and complain to whatever poor, parched soul happens to wander by. The one lurking in the lunchroom way past 1pm to tell you about how nothing is ever right, and they’re always getting the short end of the stick. Life suckers can’t help you; they have problems of their own.

7. Get to work earlier.
Yes, I know, you’re already screaming at me: “Colleen, I need balance!” Not while you’re in a slump, you don’t. Right now, you’re behind, and you need to do something about it. Only the mediocre use balance as their battle cry during a slump. So suck it up for this short period, and save the balance until you’re back on top.

8. Change your environment.
This could be as simple as de-cluttering your office. It’s impossible to feel fresh and excited about what you do if you can’t see your desk. A chaotic work environment will make you depressed to be there, and if you’re depressed to be at work, you won’t snap out of your slump.

9. Follow a leader.
Trail the best sales person you know on their calls for a day. See what they’re doing differently than you, and how you can incorporate those ideas in your business. Note that this doesn’t have to be someone from the office. You can learn a lot from watching sales people in other industries, too.

10. Take your boss to work.
Take your boss with you on calls for a week. This will force you to be more prepared and on your best behavior. You’ll also probably receive more feedback than you probably want. Instead of rejecting this feedback, use it to be better.

11. Prove that money can buy a little happiness.
Buy something you can’t afford. This is radical, I know, and not many of you will like this idea or think it’s responsible of me to suggest it. But it works better for me than any other “counter slump maneuver” I know of, so I felt it wouldn’t be right not to at least share the possibility with you.

12. Know what motivates you. Be disciplined – it’s the one thing that separates the best from the mediocre – and stay focused on those activities that you know will pull you out of the slump. And remember to keep it all in perspective.

Halloween Sales Horrors!

Dan Seidman is a great friend of mine. We met over 6 years ago at a conference where I attended one of his presentations. His material is hilarious and I love reading the horror stories... in fact, I contributed a few to his website myself. They didn't make this book but they were worth laughing about anyway! I think that if you are in sales, and want a good chuckle or at the very least a really big smile, you should buy his new book.

http://www.salesautopsy.com/bestseller.htm

To Channel or Not To Channel.....

Many Sales managers and business owners think that having a channel program rather than a sales team will increase their sales more quickly while helping them to avoid the "headaches" of hiring and managing a sales team. I think this is a big mistake for companies that don’t have a well developed, profitable sales team

I've seen countless cases of companies, thinking that the channel will be their silver bullet, deciding not to hire any "over priced sales people who add no value." But how can you train resellers to sell your product properly, if you don't have extensive experience doing it yourself? Based on what I've seen of early-stage or small companies, I firmly believe that the founders and their team need to do the initial selling themselves, and then hire train and develop a well functioning profitable direct sales team for two very important reasons.

Don’t get me wrong, the channel and distribution can be a lucrative sales tool. Not to replace a sales team, rather to enhance it. Using it too quickly can have devastating results for a young company without an established direct sales team.

When you let someone else run the sales of your product, you risk losing control of the sales cycle, your reputation and your revenue flow. For an early stage company, this risk can be far too great to take.

First, your channel will never be as passionate about your product as you are. As a result, they tend to give up on sales early, letting the sales cycle drag on and on while they're busy selling other products that are literally walking out the door. Because they don't share your vested interest, they naturally want to sell products that are easy to sell, and new-to-market software is anything but an "easy" sell.

Second, as an early stage company, your reputation is extremely fragile. Do you think the channel really cares about how you are perceived when there are implementation or delivery problems with your products? Or are they more focused on making the sale, and letting you worry about the consequences?

Let's face it, there's no such thing as a 100% flawless first-run production on any product or service. But by retaining control of the sales cycle, implementation and delivery, you can make sure all the bugs are worked out, and more effectively manage your customers' expectations.

Helping Buyers Buy

People are always asking me how to close sales. The simple truth is, don't close. Let the client close for you. How is this possible? Only by asking questions.

Here are two ideas:

1) If the client conversation ends with them making a statement I close by asking question. Either "Where do we go from here?" or "What should we do next?" are my favorites.

2) If the client asks me a question that is a clear buying signal, I respond with a question to confirm the sale. In other words, after I get the prospect's signal that confirms that the prospect wants to buy what I'm selling, I confirm with another question.

It's not as complicated as I just made it sound. Here are some examples of confirming questions:

• "Do you have model A?" Is this the model you want? If the prospect says yes, all I have to do now is find out when he wants delivery, and I'm finished.
• "Does it come in black?" "Would you like it in black?
• "Can you deliver on Tuesday?" "Is Tuesday the best day for you to have it delivered?"
• "How many are in stock right now?" "How many do you need?"
• "When do I have to place my order?" "When do you want to have the product delivered?"
• "How soon can someone be here?" "When do you need to have it?"

Asking questions to close a sale ensures the customer feels it's their idea to buy. They don't leave the transaction feeling pushed cajoled or manipulated. This means they'll be back to re-order when the need arises.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

Colleen 1, her appendix 0

Sorry that I have been out of touch this week. Last weekend I suffered a major appendix attack and had to undergo an emergency appendectomy. Suffice it to say it was a surprise to all of us... as appendicitis always is! So I have spent the week relaxing and healing at home with the help of some serious pain killers, lots of sleep, a warm dog at my feet and a doting husband. Back at the office Casey has been doing an amazing job holding down the fort, fielding calls and answering your emails!

So what causes appendicitis? As the good Dr's told me, "No one knows. There is nothing you did that caused it and nothing you could have done to stop it." Well, with that being said, it can strike anyone at anytime. And trust me, should you ever feel severe sharp pain in your stomach - the kind that feels like Mike Tyson is repeatedly punching you, with both fists - don't go to bed thinking its just the flu. Go to the hospital right away!

Its Friday now, the surgery was Monday, and I am almost back to full strength. I feel much better although for a while, I think its best to stay away from my karate classes. It's a long weekend in Canada, our Thanksgiving, so I have 3 extra days to recuperate. You can expect to see Engage back in full throttle on Tuesday.

Thanks for your support and kind words this week. It's been wonderful and uplifting to hear from you. Casey an I appreciate your patience as we work though the backlog of emails and calls and I promise to be back in touch ASAP.

I look forward to having you on our October Web class this month - it will be awesome! Our topic is closing which always brings out a huge crowd with lots of questions and great interaction. Casey will send out an invitation in the next week or so, so be sure to look for it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians

Cheers, Colleen