Look after yourself - worth reading

Hi Everyone,

Sales people are notorious for working themselves to the bone and then getting sick. Its difficult (and gross) to deliver an effective sales presentation to a customer if you are hacking and wheezing in front of them so this season do yourself a favour and take precautions against getting sick. My friend Kevin Dee had a great article on "Taking care of yourself" in his blog that I thought you should read.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

Podcast on referrals

I recently recorded a podcast for www.saleopedia.com that has been receiving a great response. I'm not sure if you are a salesopedia subscriber so I thought I would forward you the link directly. (You should sign up for their newsletter, it's great!)

http://www.salesopedia.com/content/view/956/1/

In this podcast I discuss the advantages of referred leads versus cold calling, supporting my position with the hard sales numbers you really should know. I address why we don't ask for referrals, when and how to ask for a referrals, and I share specific tips on asking for referrals that actually work. You will also hear about my 'Advocacy Program' designed to manage your referral network more efficiently.

Be sure to listen to the podcast and start immediately applying the concepts during your sales day - everyday!

http://www.salesopedia.com/content/view/956/1/

Dedicated to increasing your sales,
Colleen

Albert Einstein was a sales genius!

Having once said that "If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut", Albert Eistein got it right about sales success!

Its true: Listening is more important that talking in sales. Knowing that here are some ideas on how to improve your listening skills with clients, prospects and employees.

1. Pause and listen.Let's be honest - do you really listen to what your customers have to say, or are you just catching your breath between questions? If that sounds a little too familiar, try counting silently to three (at a regular speaking pace!) every time your prospect finishes talking. This will give them enough time to gather their thoughts and continue what they were saying if they haven't finished, while also not being a long enough pause to seem awkward if they are done talking, and are simply waiting for your response.

2. Support what they tell you only when you mean it.Before you ask your next question, make sure to thank your prospect for the information they already provided in response to your previous one. It’s not always easy for a prospect to open up, especially in the early stages of your relationship. If they have been generous with their information, thank them for being open. If they ask a great question, thank them for it. But while this approach can yield great results, don’t ever fake a compliment or expression of gratitude. If you don't truly believe what you are telling and thanking your prospects for, then believe me - you won't be fooling anyone but yourself.

3. Take notes and ask for clarification.To make sure you remember the details as well as the substance of what a customer is telling you, take notes, and ask for clarification any time they say something you don't fully understand. Remember, in sales, your best friends are “why," "how" and "what." Use them often to get additional information from your customers - and then don’t forget to document their answers!

4. Echo and paraphrase.They say that you never really understand something until you have to teach it to someone else. To be certain you really understand what a customer is telling you, repeat it back to them, using your own words and interpretation. Then end with a question, to gain their confirmation that your understanding is correct.

Experts agree that the most successful sales people listen 70% of the time, and talk only 30%. Check out our articles The Fine Line Between Being Honest, And Being Brutal and Don't Get Angry - Get Results), you receive more tools to get the information you need from your prospects, create an open dialogue - and start building long-term profitable relationships with your customers.


Cheers, Colleen
Toll Free at 1-877-364-2438

P.S. – If you have not already taken advantage of my 30-Day no-charge trial of Lead- Up sales mentoring program, here is another opportunity to see what you have been missing: http://www.lead-up.com

"Colleen, one of our reps went from one or two conversations out of 10 cold-call connects and no prospects (previous week average), to 6 prospects from of his 10 cold-calls on the day immediately following your training. That is a pretty dramatic and immediate result!" – Thanks, Lewis Prochnau Corporate Sales Manager Protus IP

The Most Important Thing In 2007

From the Magazine Person of the Year: Time's Person of the Year: You

"In 2006, the World Wide Web became a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter"- Lev Grossman

From Business 2.0 July 2006 issue - The 50 Who Matter Now

"Why you matter: They've always said the customer is always right. But they never really meant it. Now they have no choice. You...continually crate and filter new forms of content, anointing the useful, the rel event, and the amusing, and rejecting the rest."

I think its interesting that both Time and Business 2.0 have listed "You" as the most important person of the year - or as the person who mattered most (Business. 2.0 ranked you number 1 which incidentally that is above Bill Gates, Bono, and Rupert Murdoch - I guess they are more important as part of the collective "You" than they are as individuals.....)

Both sources site "You" as the most important because of our ability and willingness to create, filter and user customized content on the Internet. Everyone with a computer today has the ability to create a community, connect with people of shared interest regardless of where they are in the wold. This blog is a simple example of that.

The world is smaller, that is for sure. I am amazed every week when we are shipping sales content to users in Europe, Australia, India....all because someone saw an article I had written on my site, someone else's site, or a blog. Very little of our business comes from someone who didn't see me on the web first.

How web enabled is your business? Does your company have a newsletter? Do you post articles to web based magazines? Do you blog? Run surveys? Have special email promotions? Create user communities?

And its not just about creating your own unique content either. Some companies are now using their web communities to help them develop new slogans (Delta and T-Mobile), while Lego actively incorporates your product ideas into their new product designs.

VW allowed you to select unique car colours only by ordering on line when the new bug was released and Proctor and Gamble currently takes suggestions and ideas from their website.

"You" are driving business decisions worldwide.

Imagine how powerful this is as a sales strategy. Your company can solicit ideas online from your user community, you then launch the product and sell it back to those same users who contributed to the product idea. How can your community no?? Truth is they can't. Engage clients who incorporate client ideas into their product and service design reduce their closing ratios by as much as 50%. "You" simply can't resist buying something they had a hand in creating.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

Get More Sales Meetings

Over the past few weeks I have been leading many private sales training classes for clients in various industries, with teams of varying experience. Despite their differences, all teams have a common struggle: A constant battle to get through to the decision maker.

Once engaged with a decision makers my clients are having little trouble navigating through the buying process, building a relationship and making a sale. In fact, we are finding that for many clients, closing ratio's are up. Trouble is ,sales are down becuase meetings are way down.

So what can we do. Here are a couple simple yet effective techniques for getting through.

1) Don't look and sound like a sales person. You must look and sound like an industry expert. When you act differently to all other vendors, the gatekeeper and decision maker will treat you differently. Try this exercises in your next sales meeting:

"Divide a paper in half and on the left hand side write down all the things a typical sales person in your industry says and does - maybe its the same list of what you said and did yesterday. Them, on the right hand side list everything you can do that is different from the column on the left. What can you do that's different?"

2) Scour the news for valuable articles about your prospect's business that you can send them in the mail, with a note attached from you. These CANNOT be advertising pieces. Chose articles that your company wrote, or that others wrote that are pertinent to your clients business an/or business problems. Call them back about 5 days later and there is an increasing chance they will return your call because they will want to thank you for the article and discuss it with you.

3) Be friendly with the gatekeeper. Remember that all day gatekeeps are feilding calls from vendors, and employees trying to get hold of their boss. The majority of those calls are not respectful, fun nor easy. What can you do to show respect and thankfulness to the gatekeeper? Can you make them laugh? If they like you, you have a better chance of getting through.

4) Ask for their help. Something like "I was hoping you could help me....." often works to get you an appointment with the decision maker because people have hard time resisting "help". Take a look at our article on Gatekeepers for more detail.

send a thank you. Try www.sendyourcardnow.com if your handwritting is that terrible! If you do manage to get put through or have an appointment schedule take out a pen and a card and hand write a thank you card immediately. Send it to the gatekeeper. They will remember you and help to make sure your calls are taken in the future

Cheers, Colleen
P.S. – If you have not already taken advantage of my 30-Day no-charge trial of Lead- Up sales mentoring program, here is another opportunity to see what you have been missing: http://www.lead-up.com

"Colleen, one of our reps went from one or two conversations out of 10 cold-call connects and no prospects (previous week average), to 6 prospects from of his 10 cold-calls on the day immediately following your training. That is a pretty dramatic and immediate result!" – Thanks, Lewis Prochnau Corporate Sales Manager Protus IP