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19 Seconds
That was the time left on the Rose Bowl clock when quarterback Vince Young cleaned USC’s. Well, maybe not cleaned their clock but he certainly stopped it and their 34 game winning streak. The University of Texas Longhorns went on to upset the favored USC Trojans in one of college football’s most memorable national championship games 41-38. It was all over with 19 seconds left, except for the singing of “The Eyes of Texas”. (Okay, okay, I’ll admit I’m from Texas, but we haven’t been able to gloat since 1969.)

But not to worry. Today’s article is not about the Longhorn’s stunning upset. (Just had to get it in again.) It’s about getting what you want. Ran across an interesting book couple of weeks ago by T. Harv Eker, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. It makes you feel a little uneasy reading it. The theme of the book is about getting what you want. Made me think. Can you? Get what you want?

Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns did. Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and the USC Trojans didn’t. How do you square Eker’s belief that you can get what you want when you don’t?

****
The point? Set goals for yourself. Want something. This is the only way things get done. The only way you’ll stretch yourself and grow. The only way you can have a positive impact on others. Everything you have today you have because someone wanted to create it. Someone wanted to market it. You wanted to buy it. If you get what you want, that’s icing on the cake. If you don’t, you’ve grown and you’ll learn how to do something even better on the other side. You’ll have fun along the way. The journey becomes the destination.

What will give you the confidence to go after what you want? Try this. Picture something you’ve accomplished in the past. Something you got that you wanted really, really badly. Got the picture? Okay, now say to yourself, “I can (not will, but can) get what I want. I know. I’ve done it before.” Remind yourself every day until you get it. How do you know it works? Did you ever get anything you wanted? Then you know. You’ve done it before.

(1035 words)

10 Things Every First-Year Salesperson Must Do (Part 1)
Find your own customers. No one’s doing it for you. The company won’t hand over their house accounts. The other salespeople don’t care if you fail. Sales managers won’t let you sit around the office waiting for the phone to ring. You either find the business or get out of the business. That’s what sales is about.

****
Know how to qualify a prospect. Before you start selling you need to know what a qualified prospect looks like so you won’t waste your time. Don’t know? Ask the other salespeople what seven characteristics they look for in their customers before they would even make an appointment. Look in the customer files. What do they have in common?

****
Avoid interruptions. When you ask a question, shut up and listen. The #1 complaint customers have about salespeople is being interrupted. Don’t try to finish the person’s sentence. Don’t assume you know the answer (even if you do). If you’re asking meaningful questions, they’re trying to formulate appropriate responses. If you interrupt, you may throw them off-track and they’ll lose their train of thought. Or, you may have asked a really good question and when you interrupt you let them off the hook to change the subject.

(861 words)

10 Things Every First-Year Salesperson Must Do (Part 2)
Don’t be afraid to discuss money. Buyers buy. They expect to pay. They’ve set aside the money. Otherwise they wouldn’t be looking. Don’t be afraid to ask, “What kind of budget are you trying to stay within?” The difference between the new salesperson and the buyer is that the salesperson is focused on the cost, whereas the buyer is focused on what the service or product will do for her. She knows it’s not free. She’s paying to solve a problem, take advantage of an opportunity, or maybe to be entertained.

****
Be on time. Have you ever heard a client say, “Hey, thanks for being late”? Show up for the appointment 15 minutes early. If you get there early, it gives you time to gather your thoughts and go over your strategy, observe what’s happening in the customer’s environment, and maybe pick up a few clues about your appointment.

****
Follow-up. Where sales are made and lost. In Dallas in 1973, my first year in sales, I learned one of my most important sales lessons. It was on a plaque, on the wall, in the office of the chairman of the Zale’s Corporation:

You don’t need to be a genius to succeed in this business. You do, however, need to take care of the details.

That was good news for me, because I was new to sales and I’m certainly no genius. Maybe success was in my grasp, because I could learn how to take care of the details.

(1015 words)

Once Known as Peak 15
Where is it?

Want a hint? Latitude 27 °59'N – Longitude 86 °56'E. More? 8850m. It’s grown six feet since 1999. Derives its name from the British surveyor-general of India. Jim Whittaker was the first American to climb it in May, 1963.

Give up? Rising at 29,035' on the border of Nepal and Tibet is what was once known as Peak 15, later re-named in 1865 in honor of Sir George Everest.

If you have the spirit of adventure and the courage of a mountaineer to cold call, but your greatest accomplishment in scaling great heights is driving to the top of Pike’s Peak, even you wouldn’t make Mt. Everest your first goal, would you?

Then why set unattainable goals when cold calling?

Don’t set an impossible goal of turning every cold call into a sale. It won’t happen. That’s not to say that cold calls can’t lead to closing the deal on the first call. It can be done. I’ve done it. But that’s the exception and not the rule. Some products and services can be sold on a first call. Most can’t. Even the best climbers can’t climb Mt. Everest on every attempt.

(360 words)

Is Cold Calling Dead?
The message is in the medium. Cold calling. Networking. Referrals. Trade shows. Voicemails. Direct mail. Advertising. Marketing. Television. Radio. Newspapers. Magazines. Faxes. Yellow Page advertising. Press releases. Newsletters. Internet advertising. Emails. Oprah.

How are you going to get your message out to increase your sales, grow your business, and save your job? There’s your options. Depending upon what you sell you won’t need to do them all, nor can you afford to. And it’s not that we’re not capable of doing what needs to be done. It’s that we’re not willing. Let’s see if you’ll do what it takes.

Process of elimination
Now you don’t have the money for television and radio. That’s expected. No shame no blame. Scratch two possibilities. Sending unsolicited faxes in today’s support-a-lawyer society with Federal and state laws being what they are leads to thousands in fines. Unplug the line. Magazine advertising? Pockets not deep enough. Display newspaper advertising? Requires months-long strategy of running two to three times a week; it’s a gamble of tens of thousands of dollars. Roll the dice? Can’t afford to hire your own marketing department. You are the marketing department. Trade shows lead to leads. But they’re expensive and too far and few between.

(821 words)

Bushwacky
“Ayieeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”

I thought the two startled businessmen were going to leave a surprise in their shorts. They were bushwhacked from behind the bush by bushwacky. The street crowd held their collective sides as they split with laughter.

One of the two best places in America to watch street performers is at Fisherman’s Wharf. The two San Franciscans fell victim to the diminutive little man who had set up his small bush office on the sidewalk of the Embarcadero near Pier 39. Squatting behind it he would spy unsuspecting tourists walking towards him and prepare for the pounce. After surviving your own scare, you’d move several strides down the walkway so as to not draw attention to him and watch and wait with glee for his next unwitting cast member to take center stage. Beside him his donation cup was overflowing with tips from his formerly terrified but now amused audience.

I’m a student of marketing. And bushwhacking is a marvelous technique in the appropriate environment: well-known street performing area, tourists, people having fun. It was the unexpected technique in the expected environment that surprised you. A technique you’d never forget. Ever. Something you’d tell others about for a lifetime. We can all learn from marketing geniuses like the bushwacky.

Roy H. Williams, the Wizard of Ads, says the focus of your marketing is to “surprise Broca”. French surgeon and anthropologist Paul Broca, in 1861, was the first to identify the left hemisphere of the brain as involved with speech production, in particular assessing the order of the words as they’re used. Williams refers to Broca as “the theater critic of the imagination; the part of the human mind that anticipatesandignores the predictable.” Williams says your goal in marketing is to surprise Broca with the unexpected so your message won’t be ignored.

(664 words)

Are Men Necessary
That’s the title of New York Times and Pulitzer Prize columnist Maureen Dowd’s new book. Landed her a one-hour gig to plug the book with her friend and moderator of Meet the Press Tim Russert, on his weekly book review program on CNBC.

Got to admit…the title grabs you regardless of your gender. Great marketing ploy that Dowd said Cosmo is famous for. Dowd said her assistant often carries the book with her to public places in order to be a magnet to meet people. With the title boldly showing, people of both sexes approach her and start conversations. Superb marketing tactic. Get people to come to you. I’m sure that many are surprised, offended, and then defensive of the title. Men. Others are tickled and laugh knowing the answer is a no brainer. Women!

****
Make them itch
We could learn to do the same with our selling and marketing. We don’t need to make bold statements as to what our service or product can or can’t do. Forget boring statistics, features, advantages, and benefits. Simply ask a sharp question that gets an opinion. Make a statement that provokes a reaction. Make them itch. Then sit back and see who scratches.

(691 words)

26.2 Miles
A marathon’s not won in the first 100 meters. A sale is not made on the first call. Both require strategies to go the distance.

We’re not talking about retail products like Coke, cell phones, or the BlackBerry you’d walk into the store and buy off the shelf. This is about 90% of the services and products most of us sell. From the time we find a prospect and close the deal, one to thirty-six months may elapse. It takes time to qualify the prospect, strategize with management, put together a presentation, present a proposal, negotiate the terms, and close the deal. It takes time for the prospect to compare with the competition, build trust with the salesperson, justify to his boss, and give us his autograph.

Persistency. That’s what management wants in their salespeople. Will our salesperson stay in the race until there’s an answer, be it “yes” or “no”? What irritates them is if the salesperson loses focus, stops making contact with the prospect, and then one day learns the competitor, the persistent one, walked away with the order the week before.

(765 words)

How To Get To Motown
“We always felt we could win, but we never expected to win. Now we expect to win.” Robbie Tobeck, center, NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks gave that as his answer as to why his team has gone 15-3 this year to earn a berth in this year’s XL Super Bowl.

Subtle thought differences. Barely noticeable. Well articulated. What does it mean “we felt we could win” but “now we expect to win”?

Remember that sale you lost? You felt you should get it. You deserved it. But deep down you knew you didn’t have a chance. It felt like you were going through the motions. Yet you still pursued it. How did that feeling compare to the sale you expected to get and got? Why did you get one and not the other? What were you feeling, thinking, expecting?

****
Expectations, winning or losing, create corresponding thoughts create corresponding actions. If you expect to win the contract, you act with confidence. You concede less in negotiations. Nothing is too difficult. Nothing is impossible. You expect to find a way to close the deal. You expect to attract people and events to you that make things work. You expect to make the necessary calls. You expect to say the right things at the right time. You expect luck to be on your side; the questionable calls to go your way. You expect to win.

(1034 words)

Plain Speak
In one sentence, explain why a cough is good. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Can’t? How about this: a cough is like a water sprinkler – it helps rid the body of its infection.

On the Today Show Katy Couric was discussing with an MD the value of taking cough medicine (there is none, research has found). The doctor was trying to explain that coughs are good and they serve a purpose. She looked puzzled. When he used his simile above, her eyes widened. A light went on. “Oh. That’s easy. Now I understand.”

We’re all selling. Every day. Every time we talk with a co-worker, friend, or stranger. We’re selling ourselves, our ideas, and our beliefs. It doesn’t matter what you’re profession is. The doctor on the Today show was selling the value of coughs. Your dentist sells you on the need for braces for the children. Actors are selling their emotions. Public speakers sell their ideas to hundreds of people at a time. Politicians sell trust, taxes, and war. If you’re a CEO you’re selling your board and investors. If you’re in management, you’re selling your staff on better service and increased sales. If you’re in bookkeeping, you’re selling your customers on the billing. If you’re in sales, you’re selling your services and products. What separates the successful “salespeople” from the wannabe’s is their ability to convey ideas simply. Look no further than the Great Communicator – Ronald Reagan – for how to communicate with passion.

(1055 words)

Desperate Salespeople – The Pilot

“The goal of branding is simply to be the name that customers think of immediately whenever they, or anyone they know, need what you sell,” quoth advertising genius Roy H. Williams.

Growing up in Texas, as a child I remember going to a friend of the family’s ranch in the Hill Country and watching the real-life cowboys brand cattle. “They never feel it,” one of the branders told me. “Then why are they hollerin’?” I wanted to know. They said the purpose of the brand was to show ownership of the beef beneath the hide if they escaped the prickly confines of the barbed wire, or if they decided to hoof it over to socialize with the neighbor’s stock.

Branding in the business world is different. Even though we’re not lost, we want to be found. We actually try to brand ourselves, self-brand, so that people remember us when they’re ready to buy. Thankfully it’s not as painful and we won’t holler. Business has two levels of branding: one for the company and one for the individual salesperson. Yes, it’s just as important for the salesperson to be found as it is for her company since she’s the one who needs to meet quota, make a commission, and save her job.

(991 words)

First Impressions

“You got my business when I saw you walking up the steps.”

The principal of an elementary school in the heart of Dallas told me that several months after he had signed his contract to do his school pictures with me. Wasn’t what I said. Wasn’t our picture packages or prices. It had to do with first impressions. How you carry yourself, how you look, what you say.

What made it funny was this was my first year in sales and I couldn’t afford much of a wardrobe. An inexpensive sport coat, tie, shirt, slacks, and shoes. I was thinking if he was impressed with what little I had, the competitors must have been awful. That’s when I became aware that it doesn’t take much to win. It’s the little things.

We only have a few points of contact with our customers. Every one counts. Each one impresses. Good or bad. People decide in a breath if we’re worthy of their time and money. People do business with people they like and trust. First impressions set the tone. People don’t look for reasons to do business with you. They look for reasons to not even talk with you. And they’ll do it faster than you read this sentence.

(475 words)

Getting Around the Experience Barrier

A bright college grad wants to break into the field of sales. “I’ve had several interviews, but they always tell me ‘We’re looking for someone with more experience.’ How can I get the experience if no one hires me?” Catch-22.

“When they ask why you want to go into sales, what’s your response?” I asked.

“I like people.” Show this man the exit. He just self-eliminated. That’s like a lead guitarist telling the group’s manager he wants to be in the band because he likes to travel. Sales managers don’t hire you to like people. It helps if you do. But they want you to make them money. Selling is pretty basic.

But no one in sales ever grew up playing salesman/vendor as kids. That would be really weird. We never imagined ourselves being salespeople…did we?

Why will you be good at sales?
If you don’t have the experience, the next question is going to be “Why? Why do you want to go into sales?” The interviewer just cut you a break. She might see enough potential to ask you to stay for one more answer. If it’s good, she’ll follow-up with “Why do you think you’ll be good at selling for us?” If you survive these questions, you may have just eliminated the experience factor. People will hire someone with passion faster than one with experience. If you can show the passion, you just might have landed your first sales job.

(1234 words)

Here’s the Problem

Gathering his thoughts, he leaned in to me, elbows on his knees, the twinkle in his eyes replaced by the arch of his brows. “You’re willing to do what it takes to help others,” he paused making sure he had my complete attention, “so why would you do anything less for yourself?”

My mouth opened, but no words would come. I was expecting more. I’d never thought of it that way. I was here because I was told the old man might have some insight to help me in my business to find new customers and improve my sales. His question became the answer.

“…so why would you do anything less for yourself?” The question ricocheted in my mind.

I thought about it. Maybe I never took action because I was looking for guarantees. A guarantee that I was doing the right thing. A guarantee that I would get the results I wanted.

But business, like life, never guarantees. Don’t look for formulas. There are none. Your actions will uncover the answers you need. You do this, you get that. Simple. Success comes to those who act. You do nothing, you get nothing. Simple.

(710 words)

Lip Magnet

Want to disarm someone? Want to know the first rule of hypnotizing someone?

Smile.

Guards are let down. People are attracted to you. Tempers are tempered. Ever see anyone get angry at a smiling child? Even if it’s their mischievous one?

Smile for medical reasons. Doctors have found that a smile, either natural or forced, releases endorphins in the brain. Endorphins fight stress. They say these endorphins are twenty times more potent than morphine. That should be reason enough.

Put a mirror by your telephone and see the changes you make. Your smileless conversations bore and become tedious. Your voice is monotone. But break out into an unrestrained smile and feel what happens. Your voice takes on a life of its own and your thoughts become positive. A smile changes the tone of your voice, puts life into your eyes, and a gait in your walk. Your body, feelings, and emotions change in the twinkle of an eye.

(422 words)

Risky Business

How do you know when to stay? When to go? When to hold ‘em? When to fold ‘em?

Risky. Business. No guarantees. Probabilities possibly. Possibilities probably. Failures certain.

Every business. Every decision. Risky.

When do you move forward or retreat in your tracks? Depends on your comfort level. Depends on your resources. Depends on what you want. What you believe.

If you love the journey, you move on. If the love is lost, the journey ends. Ever read a book you wish never ended? Ever worked at something not for the reward promised but for the enjoyment delivered? Ever walked away from a safe job that paid more than you’re worth? Why?

Do you like seat-of-the-pants excitement? Do you want to test your self-imposed limits? Do you want to improve your life or that of others? Why do some people take the risks others cower from?

(472 words)

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

A desire for short term instant sales gratification leads to long term stupidity.

My daughter’s family recently moved into a house in a new development where they are building over 300 homes. Her’s is just the second house occupied in the area. After her first week as an excited first time homeowner she is amazed by what she is seeing. Not by the houses going up, but by the inept skills of two salespeople who knocked on her door.

Both men came on different days. Both represented competing national home security companies. Was she interested in installing alarms for her house? She explained they had just moved in and were too busy to even think about it. Both men were nice, thanked her, got into their trucks and drove off.

Her jaw dropped as they walked away. Neither man asked her name. Neither left a brochure. Neither left his business card. Neither asked if he could keep in touch once she settled in. They just walked away. How would you grade their effort? Would you have done the same thing? Then why let your salespeople do it? What would you tell them if you had found out about it? (And you never will because their sales report will simply say “No one’s interested”.)

***
No, opportunity doesn’t knock. Opportunity has the door wide open and we don’t even know what to do with it.

(877 words)

Touchy Feely

“I say touch can be learned. I don’t say touch can be taught. The way you learn touch is by practice. There is no other way.” – Harvey Penick, golfing legend instructor extraordinaire.

Golf. Sales. Life. Not taught. Learned. You have to practice feeling the touch to learn the touch. There is no other way.

What separates a wannabe salesperson from a legend? Practice. Learning. Practice. Understanding. Practice. Knowing. The wannabe’s don’t wannabe.

Oh, they’ll memorize product knowledge. Application knowledge. Prices. The silly superficial stuff that makes no difference whether the sale is made or lost. Wannabe’s are the duffers of selling. Their failed learning withholds the secret winning touch.

The learning practice of selling is tedious. More bore than excitement. Too many times scary. Learning is not understanding. Anyone can understand. Learning is knowing. Few do. Mastering the chasm between understanding and knowing makes the legends legend.

(469 words)

What A Honker!

“We were really impressed with her ability to remember everyone’s names,” my daughter commented about the photographer at her best friend’s wedding this weekend.

Former Senator Fred S. Thompson. Ever notice the snoz on that guy? If we were riding an elevator together, by the time we reached the top floor I’d be passed out on the floor from O 2 deprivation.

One of my brain gymnastics is to learn people’s names. Names and faces. Attaching the intangible to the tangible. Not only can you impress others with this skill, but you show them that they’re not just another pretty face in the crowd. Attorney Mac Fulfer, jury consultant and lecturer, can help. I searched for his well-illustrated book Amazing Face Reading because I knew there must be more to faces than I was seeing. Something that could help me remember names better. There is.

Then I got an unexpected and pleasant dividend from his book. The accuracy of his research shows how a facial feature – a brow or cheek line, the upturned corner of the mouth, or the tip of the nose – can give us away. Jury consultants use his profiling techniques to help select sympathetic juries. I was leery of the associations until I started observing them. Amazing.

The Fred Thompson nose? Large. Good. He wants to make a major impact. Be in charge. And don’t bother him with menial tasks. Big picture guy. Proofs? Republican Tennessee Senator 1994-2003. Arthur Branch, the domineering district attorney on Law & Order. Make an impact. Take charge. No nonsense. Was the nose the reason Thompson was picked by the White House to walk new Chief Justice John Roberts through his slam dunk confirmation hearings? I don’t think so. But it didn’t hurt the image of either. Nothing to sneeze at.

(726 words)

Street Smarts

A business owner told me that one of his interview questions for a new employee is, “Tell the about the last three books you’ve read.” He said if they fail this basic question, they’ve failed the interview because he wants people who are constantly learning.

To his question I would add, “What did you try from what you learned?” I want to find out if they can take book smarts and turn them into street smarts they can use every day to get better results.

Here is my response from just a few of the books that I’ve read and that have helped me in sales. Joe Girard, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the #1 salesman in the world for four straight years taught me in his book, How to Sell Anything to Anybody, two important lessons. The first was the Law of 250 which states that every person you meet knows 250 people you don’t. The second thing I learned was to keep in touch with every person you meet at least once a month in order to sell yourself and position yourself to be #2 on their list if you can’t be #1. Putting those two lessons together helped to make me the #1 salesman in the nation for three years at a Fortune 500 company and helped me lead the nation for them every year in referrals. (You can get more details about Joe’s ideas in our just released free PDQ Online Sales Training programs you can learn about in the margin of this newsletter.)

(1053 words)

Cold Calling Sucks. Huh?

A friend sent me an article by a nationally known author and asked my thoughts of his thoughts. The theme of the article was that cold calling is a waste of time for a number of reasons:

1. The people you’re calling don’t know who you are. Hmmm. I thought that was the purpose of the call – to introduce yourself.

(363 words)

Flash In The Pan

“How long do you plan to be in business?” Roy Williams asks in one of his trilogy Wizard of Ads books. What are you doing to make sure you’re here tomorrow?

You advertise. Good. Television is out of the question of course. Too much moola. Your Yellow Page ad has that phone ringing off the hook. What’s that? Oh? It’s not?

Well, at least you’ve got your newspaper ads running every day. Oh? Not doing those either? Never saw the results you expected? Hmmm.

How about direct mail? Surely that will work. Huh? You’ve heard too many horror stories of monies lost? (Believe me…they’re true!)

****
In one way, cold calling is similar to newspaper advertising. The average cold caller is looking for a deal today. Hold your fingers up in front of your face. Go ahead. All ten of them. Now count the number of sales you’ve made on your first cold call. Are you going to make a good living at that rate?

I call this type of cold calling – looking for a quick sale now – flash in the pan marketing. The average cold caller fails to understand that the prospect will buy what he’s selling some time in the future once he has the need. Rather than take the time to start a relationship so he’ll be remembered when the need arises, he hangs up and makes his next call. Like the early prospector looking in his pan of silt and rocks, he fails to recognize the gold nuggets and throws them out with the wash.

(877 words)

Grilled Onions

Strolling the corridor of make-shift booths and multi-colored tents, the mixture of smells from the grilled onions and burgers leap out and try to pull you in. But you fight the urge. Suddenly, without warning, a sudden burst of smoke from a raised pit door shoots out like a smoke signal bearing a secret message just for you. You’re glands are salivating as you’re drawn dangerously close. The smoke clears. The chickens – all halves of course – have the perfect mixture of spicy sauce that blackens them in certain places to ensure their crispiness. You’re only a man. You can take just so much. Hold on! Hold on! You can make it. What? What’s that? The grill master’s turning the plump sausages and as his fork punctures the one you have your eye on, the juices flow causing the flames to shoot up from below.
****
So…how’s your marketing? What’s missing in your sales? Many people say that if only they could get in front of a prospect, they could sell her anything. “The problem,” they admit, “is simply getting in front of her.”

The problem is not “simply getting in front of her”. The problem is doing something to get in front of her. It’s called marketing. In its simplest form it’s getting her attention to look at your message; to smell the grilled onions. “The person who can capture and hold attention is the person who can effectively influence human behavior,” wrote H.A. Overstreet in his book Influencing Human Behavior. And every company, every salesperson must be masters of the art.

(535 words)

Here's the Problem

****
Gathering his thoughts, he leaned in to me, elbows on his knees, the twinkle in his eyes replaced by the arch of his brows. “You’re willing to do what it takes to help others,” he paused making sure he had my complete attention, “so why would you do anything less for yourself?”

My mouth opened, but no words would come. I was expecting more. I’d never thought of it that way. I was here because I was told the old man might have some insight to help me in my business to find new customers and improve my sales. His question became the answer.

“…so why would you do anything less for yourself?” The question ricocheted in my mind.

****
But business, like life, never guarantees. Don’t look for formulas. There are none. Your actions will uncover the answers you need. You do this, you get that. Simple. Success comes to those who act. You do nothing, you get nothing. Simple.

And the funny thing? It’s not that I don’t know what to do; it’s just that I don’t do it. It’s not that I don’t have customers; it’s that I don’t do anything to get them. It’s not that I don’t have sales; it’s that I don’t do anything to get them. If not me, who?

(710 words)

Voicemail Jail Break

The Wizard of Ads, by Roy H. Williams is an excellent source for how to create more effective letters, proposals, and voicemail messages. The chapter “Look for the Loophole!” shows you how to get rid of the blah words that numb people’s minds…

How excited would you be to return this call?

“Hi, this is Becky…
(Who? I’m not expecting a call from any Becky. I’m busy.)

“…with the Snow Peak Better Business Bureau.”
(Aargh! Leave me alone.)

“We’ve got some super membership specials we’re running this summer.” (Whooooo…cares? What was I supposed to get at the store on the way home?)

“We’re the largest bureau on the West coast…
(Milk? Coffee? Hey, look at that bird on the windowsill.)

“…and we have a brand new president installed…
(Good grief! That’s a bald headed eagle!)

“…last month who promises…
(Never mind. False alarm. It looks like a deranged parakeet. Sugar! That’s what I’m supposed to get.)

(694 words)

Fire! Fire! Fire!

If you’re walking into a building to call on a client for an appointment or to do a cold call, walk in like the building is on fire. Head up and shoulders back. Have a twinkle in your eyes. You’re coming in with great news.

(196 words)

If I Knew, Don’t You Think I’d Be Doing It?

When was the last time you asked yourself, “What do I need to do to make this work?”

It’s not that you’re not willing to do whatever it takes to make things work, but it’s that you don’t know what it is that you need to be doing.

(606 words)

If They Tell You It’s A Numbers Game, Tell Them To Face Randy Johnson

Many people say that selling or cold calling or writing a book is a numbers game. You throw enough out there, and you’re bound to get enough hits to succeed and make a good living.

I disagree. Everything is both a numbers – and skills – game.

(244 words)

The Person Who Makes the Fewest Mistakes Wins

Actor Samuel L. Jackson commented on The Late Show with David Letterman that he played golf and came to the conclusion that golf is simply a game of mistakes. Letterman then added golf instructing legend Harvey Penick’s now famous comment that “the person who makes the fewest mistakes is the one who wins”.

The same is true in sales, in dealing with gatekeepers, and in using voicemail. The salesperson who makes the fewest mistakes is the one who gets her calls taken and returned.

(332 words)

An Arm and A Leg

Roy Williams has said that, “Value, in the eyes of the customer, is simply the difference between the anticipated price and the marked price.” He goes on to say that, “The secret, then, is to control the anticipated price.”

(524 words)

10 Things Not to Say to the Sales Manager on Your First Job Interview

The following are actual statements made to me by people who thought they wanted to be in sales:

• On your first sales job interview, you tell the sales manager you “like people”.
• You’re a great “idea” man, but you’re not good with details.
• You’re just out of college, can’t find a job, so think you’ll go into sales until you “find” yourself….

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3 Myths About Selling

Many people contemplating going into sales have preconceived myths about what it takes to be a professional salesperson. Let’s look at three of them.

Myth 1: “I’ll be good in sales because I like people!”

Some of the best salespeople I’ve seen over the last 30 years are really not “people” persons. They’re shy, cautious, and reserved. They’re introverts. Many people….

(625 words)

5 Mistakes I’ve Seen Salespeople Make On A Sales Call

During the 30+ years I’ve been in sales, I’ve seen a lot of silly, crazy, and stupid things salespeople do on a sales call and interview. These are also the same things people do when interviewing for a new position within their company or when looking for a new job. I hope you’re not one of my examples.

1. They don’t know how to leave a good voicemail message….

(734 words)

Don’t Give Them A Reason To Leave

Each person at your company who has contact with your customers either sells or unsells your company. One of the worst things we can do is to give our customers reasons to look at our competitors. Research has found it is sixteen times more expensive and six times more difficult to keep the customers we have. Here are just a few things we do to lose customers….

(254 words)

 

If I Wanted to Sell for A Living I Would Have Majored In It In College

By a show of hands, how many of you grew up as a kid saying to yourself, “I can’t wait to grow up and become a salesperson”?

Why do people go into sales? Here are some reasons people have given to sales managers and me when they apply for a sales position:

• I don’t know what else to do in life, so I might as well sell.
• I’m tired of my present job of (you fill in the blank), so I guess I’ll go into sales; anybody can do it….

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Just Not What It Used to Be

Selling’s just not what it used to be. In the past, if you had a good service or product and a fair price, if you had adequate product knowledge, and if you could close the sale you could make a decent living.

So what’s changed? More competition for one. Before, if you had four or five competitors in your city you could compete. Today, with the Internet and the globalization of services and products, the entire world is your competitor….

(609 words)

Why Secrets Are Safe

You know the secret of selling. When asked you’ve shared it with others. But it’s so simple people don’t believe it.

Neither did you until times got rough. Quotas were missed. Sales were lost. Then you recalled the secret. You witnessed the 5% of the people who practiced the secret and you became a believer. Things turned. Now people come to you for advice.

Today you’re reluctant to share the secret; not because you want to keep it but because it’s so simple you know they won’t do anything with it….

(312 words)