5 Small Steps To Ultimate Sales Success
"Selling worth doing is worth doing badly ? at first!" ~ Gavin Ingham, 2002Have you ever wanted to learn something new but just found it too difficult? Or started something but gave up because you just couldn't get the hang of it? Or maybe you just find the ![thought of ringing new clients far too scary? Perhaps you sometimes get great results but don't know what you're doing differently? Could you be stuck in your ways?If any of these could possibly be true then this article is for you.Everyone would agree that the ability to learn, understand and utilise new information, strategies and behaviours is important particularly with a topic such as sales where you may well have tried before with limited success. In order to help this process it is important to understand the learning process itself and the stages through which we develop new skills, behaviours or attitudes.Whenever we learn anything new we go through 5 steps.Sometimes we will do this so quickly that we may be unaware of the process whereas other times we may be made much more aware of the process by our emotions. Understanding this process, why we do it, the pitfalls and the strengths will allow you to maximise your learning capabilities.Step 1) Unconscious Incompetence. You are unaware of what you don't know. You don't know all that you don't know!Step 2) Conscious Incompetence. You become aware of what you don't know. You're ignorant and you know you are!Step 3) Conscious Competence. You become aware of how to do things properly. You can do something but you have to be concentrating on it.Step 4) Unconscious Competence. You are unaware of how you do things you know. You do things without even thinking about it!I think one of the best ways to really understand this process is to consider a specific situation such as learning to drive. Do you remember learning to drive? I think that most of us do! It was for most of us a fairly sizeable landmark in our lives so it tends to stick in our memories! I certainly remember learning to drive! Like most teenage lads it meant a lot to me ? freedom, adulthood and sex appeal!On my 17th birthday I dragged my mother out to the car and hopped in to have a go. I knew that I would be able to drive! I had been watching others for months in preparation ? this was going to be easy! How unconsciously incompetent was I?! I was totally ignorant of how difficult this was actually going to be! Ah well, ignorance is bliss. Easing into the seat I grasped the wheel, started the engine, depressed the clutch, punched the accelerator and ? stalled the car! Not deterred I had another go ? same result. Another ? another ? another.Suddenly I was overtaken by the dawning recognition that this was going to be really difficult and challenging. Welcome to conscious incompetence! Gavin you're useless and you know you are! But I was determined to learn to drive so I persevered and practised. After a lot of heartache and effort I eventually reached the point where, if I could maintain my concentration, I was actually quite a proficient driver. Now I don't know if you remember your driving test? I do. There was so much to concentrate on wasn't there! Keeping your hands at 10 to two, mirror, signal, manoeuvre, the examiner, the speed limit, the road signs and that's without mentioning the other road users! Remember taking your test and that's probably a fair gauge of conscious competence!"Now you really go out and learn to drive!" That's what everybody said to me when I passed my test and they weren't wrong. Your whole concept of driving changes. You don't have to focus on every little detail all of the time infact you might not have to think about it all. Have you ever driven somewhere got out the car and thought ? how did I get here? I don't even remember driving here. Welcome to unconscious competence! Fabulous the way that the brain works isn't it!Being able to operate at unconscious competence clearly has many advantages. We're able to multitask, we generally operate fluidly and easily, it's within our comfort zone, it's stress free, it's the way we do things and for most people we spend the vast amount of out lives here. Just think about it for a moment. How many things do you now do that you once had to think about consciously. Walking, talking, picking things up, bodily awareness, writing, driving are all great examples but we also become unconsciously competent at responding to certain stimulus in certain ways. If I were to walk into your office and say, "Right! Time to make 100 cold-calls" you'd probably be unconsciously competent at producing a feeling and a response. Maybe not a very nice one! When a client snarls, "That's too expensive, you must be having a laugh!" chances are that you will also be unconsciously competent at producing an emotional reaction.So unconscious competence does have disadvantages too. We are unconscious or unaware of our responses or our behaviours therefore we may gradually change what we are doing and be unaware of it. We may find it very difficult to teach others our skills because we are not aware of how we put them together. Maybe we continue to do things in a way that used to be unconsciously competent but external changes now mean that what we are doing is now wrong. And here's the challenge and the danger of unconscious competence. When does unconscious competence become unconscious incompetence? It's very difficult to say for sure because the one commonality between the two is that we are unconscious!Reacting in a certain way to a certain stimulus may be right for one situation but it may be wrong for another. Take the example above of the snarling client. Many salespeople would feel frustrated and angry without having to think about it. When we unconsciously learned this response there may well have been good reasons for it however I'd suggest that if you want to be a sales superstar then this kind of reaction is unconscious incompetence. One of my first clients used to frequently tell his salespeople that they should sell products that were a 50% match and that if they couldn't they were bad salespeople. Maybe in his day the clients were happy with this kind of product but in today's competitive markets they certainly would not be! Maybe this boss was once unconsciously competent but changing market conditions, changing client attitudes and his lack of flexibility had left him unconsciously incompetent. Most dangerous of all was the fact that everyone in the business knew it but him!So it's clear that if we are doing things unconsciously we need to periodically step back and have a look around to see if what we are doing makes sense and is getting us the results that we want. If it is great, if it's not ? change it for something that does work.But if unconscious is where most of us are most of the time conscious incompetence is what most of us try to avoid at all costs. When you are learning a new skill or behaviour and you reach conscious competence how does it feel? Take a bit of time to think about it. Typical associations with unconscious competence are feelings of stress, frustration, challenge, obstacles, pain, outside your comfort zone, lack of control, uncomfortable, fear and uncertainty. When we think about ringing new clients on the phone this will often occur the moment that you step outside of your comfort zone and have a go. Indeed this barrier is so great for many people that they would rather give up than actually break through. But the human mind is a clever animal and it won't punish you for this ? nope! It will give you reasons, other things to do. It will rationalise, explain and help you to feel OK. As you slip back to unconscious incompetence you will feel perfectly great because ignorance is bliss!To achieve anything worthwhile you must break through this barrier. And you can! As children we achieved some absolutely amazing feats. One of the most impressive was learning to walk. How many times do toddlers fall over? Thousands and thousands but the one thing that you can count on is that they always get back up again. Crawling for the rest of their lives is never an option ? they are going to walk just like the rest of us. It's a certainty. Yet as adults we're not so resilient. We don't tend to push, push, push our limitations. Infact there are many people who, even with the weight of the medical establishment behind them, fail to teach themselves to walk again properly after an accident even though physically they could. Somehow life and growing up seems to programme us to not try as hard.There might be many reasons for this however I think that one of them is the perpetuation of the win / lose culture in our society. There can only be one winner and for every winner there must be a whole group of losers. You often cannot win unless you've beaten someone else. Now don't get me wrong I do not subscribe to the no competition brigade ? that's just sop ? what I do believe however is that we should create ways for us to win by being the best that we can be. In cold calling many salespeople set unrealistic targets that they are never going to hit because they have benchmarked someone else. Had they benchmarked themselves they would have found that they were winning all along.On the other side of the coin we need to realise that everything in life is a learning experience. Eddison's much hyped quote as he failed to invent the light bulb for the umpteenth time was that he had eliminated another way to not make a light-bulb! In sales we have to accept that we will continue to be put through the learning experience for the whole of our career. As a director, author, business owner and sometime sales guru (!) I believe my sales ability to be a real asset to my business however I am constantly put through learning experiences. And I wouldn't want it to be any other way. My feelings as yours are telling me something. They are reminding me to be prepared to practise and to make sure that I am at the top of my game.So how do we break through from conscious incompetence to conscious competence?Persistence. Determination. Self-belief. Drive. Tenacity. Repetition. Add your own here!!!But if I was to say to you, "Hey look! Just go out there and be tenacious, persistent, determined and have drive!" you'd tell me to tell you something that you didn't know! And quite rightly so! Because we all know that this is what's required ? it's maintaining it that's the challenge.I was reminded of this when I first started sales coaching. I was working with a client who had a small telesales team. Two of his staff were organising a campaign focused on a specific niche market. They were targeted to make 100+ outbound calls per day, to speak to 25 decision-makers and to organise at least 2 interviews. For the market they were working in this was about average. One of them was very positive and was consistently surpassing his target. He was a joy in the office and great to have on the team. The other however was really struggling, not good around the office and mostly fairly negative. I wasn't specifically working with these chaps and therefore hadn't really spoken with them much but we had been introduced. One afternoon as I was sitting there I found myself alone with the chap who wasn't doing so well. I asked him what he was doing and how it was going. He turned to me, scowled and said, "I'm cold calling, what's it look like! It's awful!" Needless to say I left him alone.About half an hour later the other chap went to make a coffee so on a whim I followed him determined to ask him the same question. As I asked him he turned to me and smiled, "I'm developing an new and essential part of the business. This project is going to get me into major account sales and get me noticed within the company. I should be promoted within 6 months. It's hard work but I know that it will be worth it!" Interesting! Same job, same opportunity, same potential clients, same products ? totally different meaning.The meaning we attach to things determines the impact that they have on us. When you attach a strong personal meaning you don't have to remind yourself to be motivated or persistent, you just are. The successful sales professional in the above example doesn't constantly have to harry himself to be motivated because he knows why he is doing the cold-calling and he knows what it means for him. He'll still have days when he feels less motivated, outside his comfort zone, challenged and uncomfortable but he will view them differently because he will accept them as part of the essential development process on his journey to success.Exercise: Take a moment to review your goals. When you've done this make note of why setting up client meetings plays a vital part in helping you to proactively achieve these goals. If one of your goals is materialistic, try getting a picture of it and sticking it by your phone. Every time you make a call think to yourself ? "one step closer!".Top Tips for the 5 Steps to Sales Success1. Look around at what you habitually do and how you habitually react once in a while.2. Most things worth learning will feel uncomfortable or challenging at some point.3. Practise, practise, practise!4. It takes several week's worth of telesales to beat your fear.5. Challenge yourself one step at a time."But Gavin ? you said there were 5 steps."Correct. And in my opinion there are.I have been teaching the 4 steps to success now for several years and in several different forms and I have used it successfully in individual coaching sessions with both myself and others. Powerful as I know that it is I believe that the fundamental construct has inherent challenges?If many times we find ourselves back at unconscious incompetence despite our best efforts or we have to keep dropping back to conscious competence to check ourselves then we are performing below our potential. There must be a better way?Step 5) Mastery. Mastery is something more than unconscious competence ? it has an extra, somewhat mystical quality. It's the sort of state that most of us only experience once or twice in a lifetime ? you probably never quite know how to describe it. Top athletes would call it being in the zone. I remember the first time I saw it in action. I was nearly 13 and the athlete in question was Sebastian Coe. He smashed the world record for 800m running 1 minute 41.72 seconds, a time nearly two seconds faster than the next fastest person ever. But it wasn't the time ? it was the way that he ran it. Majestic, graceful, relaxed. He made it look easy! Of that race Seb himself said,"Other sportsmen say there are moments when they are outside themselves, watching from the stand, as it were, and I've only experienced that in the 800 metres."I believe that we all have the potential to enter this state if only momentarily and I believe that this is the state that top salespeople reach when they are playing their best possible game. When I present, this is what I strive for and, having achieved it a few times, I can say no more than that once you taste it you know that you have the tools to recreate it and become the best that you can possible be.Exercise: Describe what cold calling will be like when you achieve a state of mastery? What will you be doing? Feeling? Thinking? What is the one most important thing that you need to learn to help you to move towards mastery right now?For the last 10 years, Gavin Ingham has been helping sales people to explode their sales performance by turning self-doubt, fear and lack of motivation into self-belief, confidence and action. With his inspirational approach to sales performance and motivation Gavin combines commercial experience, personal excellence and communications technologies in delivering personal and business sales success.Visit http://www.gaviningham.net now to join my free monthly newsletter packed full of sales secrets and strategies. Join now and get my ground-breaking 9-part objection handling course absolutely free.](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46 »
ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...
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Get Leverage & Increase Your Sales Results Immediately!
Have you ever started something and not completed it? Or maybe there's something that you know that you should do but you just don't seem to get around to it? Or perhaps there's something that you know would benefit from more attention / more focus but you just don't give ![it the attention that it deserves?For a lot of business people this sums up the selling experience!Most people that I speak to who are involved in sales freely admit that they don't focus on new business enough or that they frequently put off new business generation to do something else instead. This seems surprising when every business person knows that new business generation is essential to helping them to hit target, push them over target or build the business that they desire.Given this ? why is it that we so often don't take action?A large percentage of people that I speak to complain that sales isn't seen as professional and that they don't consider themselves as doing a professional job. When I ask them when they last read a book or attended a seminar on selling, communications or motivation they look at me like I'm stupid.90% plus haven't read a book in the last year and ?well over 80% have never read a book on selling!Is it any surprise then that they feel unprofessional?Question.Would you consider a brain surgeon with no training and who had never read a book or attended a seminar? I don't think so!So why is this the case?I believe that it simply comes down to leverage. We often know what we need to do but it's just easier not to do it. Think about it for a second. Have you ever thought that you really needed to so some cold calling? You maybe got the client list together, got yourself a coffee and sat down to do it. All ready to go but then you ended up going through your email inbox! I think every business person has done that because sometimes it's easier just not to do it!As we're still at the start of 2005 I decided today that we should focus on what you want and on how to get leverage so that you feel compelled to take action right now. Record the results of your findings in your sales success log and remember ? the more detail you go into, the greater the leverage ? the greater the leverage, the more the call to action.But before we do this? consider the fact that according to all of the statistics - you are about to catapult yourself into the elite group of sales winners!Why?* 90% of sales people don't buy books or listen to audios* 90% of books / audios won't be read / heard past the first chapter* 80% of readers / listeners won't take any actionThat means that if you read AND take action you will be part of an incredibly elite group! Interested?Where are you now?No seriously! Where are you now? When I work with individuals and teams I have discovered that it takes an incredible amount of courage and honesty to really investigate where we are currently. In life we all live in our own perceptions of the world ? prejudiced by the spectacles that we habitually wear. If you are going to make a radical difference to any area of your life it is essential that you break through this barrier and be honest with yourself. Only by taking this crucial step will you get what you want.Over the course of the next few minutes I am going to ask you some questions. The more time you take to really consider these and think through the answers, the more they will help you to get leverage. I strongly recommend that you record the questions and the answers into your Sales Success Log (SSL).Questions to Ask YourselfWhat is the most pressing issue or challenge that you face with new business generation at the moment?If you were to know, what is the biggest issue that you need to resolve at the moment such that if you solved it you would make a major breakthrough?Sometimes this question isn't so easy to answer. Keep asking it of yourself over and over. Let's face it, if this was dead easy, everyone would do it and then you'd only be keeping up not getting ahead!Typical answers include:* I don't have enough time to generate new business * Making excuses * Fear of rejection * Not confident enough * Not enough training, knowledge, support, back-up etc. * Market depressed * Client rejections * Price * Existing supplier relationships * No database * Unqualified leads * And many, many more?Am I sure that I understand this issue fully?Sometimes the presenting issue is not the real issue at all.Before we carry on you need to ensure that you have a full understanding of the issue at hand.* What is really going on here? * How long has this issue been going on? * Have I always considered it a challenge? * How bad are things really? * Is this worth working on?For the rest of this exercise I am going to use fear of rejection and not having enough time as my examples. I will be basing my answers on typical answers given by coachees in sessions that I run.Fear of rejection. "Before I even make the call I am worried that the client will reject me. I wasn't always worried about this. When I first started selling I didn't care at all. I guess that I started to feel this way about 3 months after I started. I seem to get rejected much more often now and, if I'm honest I do very little new business generation. This is definitely worth working on as my lack of proactivity is effecting my business."I don't have enough time. "I think that this is more wrapped up with the fear of rejection. I am very busy but generally I do make excuses when it comes to cold-calling. If I didn't have the fear of rejection I am sure that I could find the time. I started finding things to do as soon as I started to win my first clients and things have really got pretty bad now. If I were to lose a client I really have no back-up as I haven't been focusing on new business generation at all recently."What is the Impact of This Problem on Me?Now? I said that you had to be honest! Ask yourself?* How is this problem currently impacting on me? * What results am I getting due to this problem? * How are these results impacting me; my team; my business? * When I consider this impact how do I feel about it?Remember to consider each incidence separately.Fear of rejection. "I'm not doing hardly any new business generation. I know that this is impacting my potential client base. I used to bring on new clients quite regularly but I can't remember the last time that I brought on a really new client. My team don't really see me as a new business winner and I know that the boss thinks that I only "cherry-pick" easy business. his makes me feel annoyed as I know that I can be better than this. What's more I think that I am less confident in my dealings with existing clients and this is impacting my potential revenues."I don't have enough time. "Because I don't make the time to generate new business I am sabotaging my own chances of success. When the others are doing business generation I am usually doing administration. I'm not really part of the team because of this and it upsets me."What Future Consequences Will Your Problem Bring?Quite often when we don't do something right now it doesn't really matter. Doing exercise today or not doing exercise today will do little (or nothing) for your fitness levels, your physique or your health. When considered over a larger period of time however daily actions such as exercise will determine massive differences in the results that you get.When considering your actions and their consequences you need to look at the long-term. It's important that you take time to really think through and picture these consequences. The more real they are for you, the more leverage for change will be created.Questions to ask yourself?* If nothing changes in your current situation what will the consequences be?* What's the likely outcome of your continued action (or inaction)?* What consequences will this have on your sales career, finances, business, promotional prospects and self-esteem?* What's at stake for you?* How will others such as your family, friends and acquaintances be affected?* How do you feel about this course of events?Fear of rejection. "Ultimately, I will not have enough business coming in and I will probably be sacked or go bust. No business can survive without new sales. I have been quite ambitious in the past and have taken on loans for cars and a new house. If I don't make the sales then I could easily lose these. My industry is quite small and it would not be good for my reputation or future employability if I were sacked or made redundant. I would hate the thought that I had failed to do my job. If I lost my house it would put an incredible amount of pressure on my family life too as we are hoping to have a baby next year."I don't have enough time. "If I don't create the time to generate new business I won't make any sales and I will lose my job. This will make me unemployable as my reference would be poor. I wouldn't be able to keep up the car payments or my mortgage. This would create massive family tensions and personal stress."Take Personal ResponsibilityPeople often ask me what the differences are between great salespeople and sales superstars. This is a truly great question which, I believe, has several answers. High up on my list would be that sales superstars' take personal responsibility for their success no matter how hard things around them may get. Only by taking total personal responsibility can you become totally accountable for the results that you get.Keeping this foremost in your mind consider how you contributed to the current situation or problem?I totally accept that your initial answer may well be that you didn't contribute. For many people this way of thinking represents a quantum leap in their habitual behaviour so it may not come easily.Keep asking yourself?If I knew, how have I contributed to this current situation or problem?Fear of rejection. "I have allowed myself to fall prey to my own imagination and become fearful of generating new business. I have focused on the times that I have not succeeded rather than the times that I have. I have listened to people around me who are not getting results rather than focusing only on those who are peak performers."I don't have enough time. "I have allowed myself to make excuses and rationalise my own behaviour because of my fear of rejection. I have listened to and adopted the mindsets of other salespeople who are making excuses rather than taking action."Do You Want to Change Now?Before we start talking about what you want instead I think that it's important to know that you do want to change now don't you. So take a moment and consider?* What you will gain when you resolve this situation?* What results will you begin to get and why will you enjoy them?*How do you feel about your decision to move towards a satisfactory solution?Fear of rejection. "When I let go of the fear I will be able to generate new business confidently and professionally. This will allow me to take control of my own destiny whatever sales challenges are thrown into my path. I will begin to create new client relationships, new sales and new opportunities. Knowing this makes me feel alive and ready to get going."I don't have enough time. "I will gain the ability to choose how I spend my time rather than being dictated to by my irrational fear. I can concentrate on planning my sales campaign so that I gain maximum benefits from my efforts. I feel excited at the possibilities ahead."You + 100% CommitmentMany times in my programmes I ask you to commit yourself to action. In the minds of sales superstars there is no greater commitment than to yourself. Grab your Sales Success Log and answer the following questions?1. What is the most powerful and congruent step that you can take right now?2. What's going to get in the way of you taking it?3. How are you going to deal with this challenge?4. When will you start and complete this step (put a date on it)?My suggestion is that you sign and date your commitment to this step.Welcome to the new you ? let's get going!For the last 10 years, Gavin Ingham has been helping sales people to explode their sales performance by turning self-doubt, fear and lack of motivation into self-belief, confidence and action. With his inspirational approach to sales performance and motivation Gavin combines commercial experience, personal excellence and communications technologies in delivering personal and business sales success.Visit http://www.gaviningham.net now to join Gavin's free monthly newsletter packed full of sales secrets, strategies and tactics. Join now and get Gavin's ground-breaking 9-part objection handling course absolutely free.](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
వర్గం: సంఘము »
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తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46 »
ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...
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Body Language, Five Key Ingredients
When making your living in the sales industry, and working with people, it is important to not only get your point across verbally, but you want to allow for your body language to send a clear message as well.Your body language consists of many key ingredients, but here are ![the five that are considered to be the most important, along with a description and a few tips to improve your skills.1. Eye ContactWhen you are speaking with a customer, or potential customer, look them in the eye, it will show that you are a confident person, and that you are confident in the product you are selling.2. Hand ShakeWhen you shake someone's hand, grasp it firmly, and give no less than three good pumps. This will once again give your customer the indication that you are a confident person, and that you are genuinely glad to meet them, or see them.A limp hand shake, better known as the "dead fish" is a way of telling your customer that you are not interested, it is a major turn off!3. Appearance is key, and many studies have confirmed this. People prefer to deal with sales people who present themselves well in appearance. The mind set of the customer is, if this person doesn't take care of himself, how can I expect them to take care of me?Would you buy a food product, or utensil off of a person with grimy fingernails? It sounds kind of harsh, but it is the truth.4. SmilingSmiling, the easiest thing to do in the world! Smiling is contagious, and it puts your customer at ease, and puts a nice upbeat inflection in your voice.5. Good PostureGood posture also shows the customer that you have confidence in yourself and the products that you sell. It also speaks volumes about your personality. Anything less, such as slouching, makes you look like a slacker, and will give your customer the indication that you don't believe in your product, and that you would prefer to be somewhere else, and doing something else.These are the five main ingredients to having good body language, and it isn't very hard to master these skills. In fact you can practice on your friends and family without them even knowing it.Once you master these skills, they will begin to come effortlessly, and before you know it, they will be second nature to you, and your sales will ultimately increase. Good Luck!Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
వర్గం: సంఘము »
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తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46 »
ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...
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The First Step to Stress-Free Selling (TM)
Step 1: Get Ready - Create a foundation you can build on. This step involves prospecting and pre-call planning. Approach businesses randomly and you will: 1) Call businesses unsuitable for your magazine 2) Who don't believe in advertising and 3) Are unlikely to advertise ![with you. Then appeal to them by doing homework before m contact. You will make sales more often contacting businesses inclined to advertise with you.ProspectingIdentify the businesses most likely to advertise with you. Then prioritize them. Call your best prospects before your least likely prospects. As adverse as this sounds, many ad reps call businesses who don't believe in advertising or are not interested in their industry or their reader. If this were so obvious to all reps, I wouldn't be writing about it! The fastest way to make sales hard is to call the wrong businesses, and sadly, many salespeople do just this. Start off with the right prospects and save yourself a lot of time.Your key prospects are found in these locations:1. Advertisers in competitive publications. This most obvious source is the one you should prospect first.2. Current customers running sizes or schedules smaller than they are in competitors or smaller than their competitors are running with you are great prospects. After all, they already believe in and like your publication. What a great place to start!3. Advertisers who used to do business with you. Just because someone stopped doing business with you does not mean they never will again. Many will come back. Why make it later rather than sooner? Stay in touch with them. Maybe the decision maker left.4. Advertisers advertise. Seek key prospects in other media (newspaper, radio, television, billboard, yellow pages, internet, etc.) If they meet your criteria (type of business, location, their customer is your reader), these advertisers are excellent prospects.5. New businesses entering your market or industry. If they believe in advertising (you'll find out easily in an initial conversation), get them early? before your competitors do.6. Referrals are my favorite prospecting source. They are the easiest to sell! You can turn these leads into sales nearly 100% of the time. Don't be among the unfortunate who do not capitalize on this tool.When asking for referrals, be specific. Don't ask, "Do you know anyone who would be interested in advertising in our magazine?" Your answer will probably be "No." Ask if they know a specific business (have a list of your top prospects), specific type of business, a business in a specific geographical area. You get the idea. Narrow your request and you will help your customers help you.Make sure the leads are good. Referrers must know the person they are referring well. If they say, "SoAndSo should advertise with you," and they don't know this person, they're right, but this does not qualify as a referral. Just a good idea you probably already had.Pre-Call Planning"To me, selling begins with investing time in preparation and planning," Donald Trump.Determining and gathering the information you need prior to contact facilitates Getting In and helps make first calls successful.At a minimum, know the key places your prospects advertise before you get in touch with them. Know the size ad they run, their main message, and have copies of their ads. You will learn a lot about them. For example, are they running a consistent, cohesive campaign, or is every ad different in look, content and tone? How organized is the company in their approach to advertising? This will clue you.Who should you ask for? If your first call sounds like, "I'd like to speak to the person responsible for advertising," you are likely to get them on the phone before you know their name. This does not make you look good. Learn who to call before getting them on the phone.How long have they been in business? Who is their target market? Find this information and a lot more by visiting their web site or reading their ads. A new business has different objectives than one in business for decades. Does their target market match your audience?Arm yourself with this basic information about your prospects, and you will make Getting In easier and build trust faster.Skip this preparatory step, and you will contact many people before you find the ones who are right for you. Why would you want to do that?Next month, will discuss Step 2: Getting In. Create Introductions that Eliminate Hurdles. Get Past Gatekeepers, Voice Mail and eMail, one of today's biggest challenges. Get Permission to meet with you on your terms.Jenaé Rubin is president of Sales Powerhouse, a sales and marketing consulting and training firm whose mission is to help you become #1 in your market. Jenaé is currently writing a book Stress-Free SellingTM, the 7 Steps to Successful Sales and may be reached at http://www.SalesPowerhouse.com or 954-476-0067.](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
వర్గం: సంఘము »
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తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46 »
ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...
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Simple Technique for Isolating Objections
To isolate any objection quickly you can use this effective and powerful sentence - "Aside from "that" is there anything else?"Here's how it works: You're a water softener salesperson, I'm your prospect. In the qualifying steps of the sales process you have identified a few ![concerns that I've shared with you:1. Cost 2. Financing 3. Company CredibilityLet's review and address these individuallyYou say:](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46 »
ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...
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The Art And Science of Closing - How To Close More Sales Right Now
One of the questions I often get asked as a sales coach by sales people and business owners alike is, "How do I close sales better? What closing techniques would you recommend?"In my experience, closing is one of the three most feared areas of the sales process. ![The other two are fear of canvassing and fear of objections. But the real question is, what is it about these three that creates such a fear? Especially, when even some of the most successful sales professionals face challenges in one or more of these three areas. The answer is simple ? fear of rejection. Humans are social animals and the fear of rejection is one of the primary human drivers so it takes a different line of thought to face this issue. Mere techniques will not suffice.There are books about closing with hundreds of different types of closes in. Some are great examples, some are awful but all of them have one thing in common. They are just examples. They are often not usable as "off the shelf" solutions for your sales scenarios because they each represent a model and that model only works if the person you are dealing with is "running" a similar model in their personality and if your situation is nearly the same too!Now, I am not saying don't study about sales. Infact, quite the opposite. I do recommend that you read everything you can about sales and human communications because you will learn more about sales and communications in that way than from virtually any other. What you learn however may not always be what the author intended as you should be a student of human behaviour and influence, not beholden to any one particular book! When Bruce Lee studied kung fu he took the best of each style of kung fu and designed a new art which had no set forms and changed to be the most effective for each and every situation. A good sales professional will be aiming to achieve the same.The first tactic for achieving a better close ration is to change the words that you use. Why not "ask for the business" or "take the order" or "provide a solution" instead? These words don't create the same fear. I have tested this on dozens of sales people and removing the word that the fear is associated with removes the fear too. If anyone has read Anthony Robbin's material he describes how you can only experience feelings that you have words for and that words only have the meaning that you ascribe to them. He describes how, because the quality of snow is important to their survival, eskimos have dozens of different words for snow but we just have sleet and snow. Their experience of snow is different than ours and we cannot comprehend that because we have no words to describe it.Secondly, it is important that you start with the end in mind. Whenever you go to a meeting or make a call think through it in your head first. Think about what outcome you want from the meeting or call and think through the possible ways this might occur. Think also of what the minimum outcome is that you are prepared to accept from the meeting or call. When you have built rapport, asked questions, uncovered your clients' needs and provided a solution it's only natural to ask for the business. After all, you have provided a solution so asking for the business is the next step! Why would you accept less than your minimum acceptable behaviour from the client?I once worked with a talented sales professional. He made fantastic cold calls, built elegant and effective rapport and uncovered client needs effortlessly but he did little business. In a short coaching session I discovered that he disassociated the sales process from "closing" hence he would "do the meeting" and then think, "Oh dear! Now I need to close!". Cue panic. His customers could see it and the sale was lost, every time. He was in "sales" mode and they were resisting and he was a nice guy so it was easier to walk away than risk rejection or upsetting the client! Simply by viewing the sale as one seemless process with a natural conclusion he was able to see the "timeline" and "path" of the sale. If the client deviated from this he was able to maintain control and bring them back on track. He achieved a sales breakthrough literally overnight.At this point, I might add that you must remain flexible. There will be times when you cannot make the sale for unexpected reasons. On these occasions, it is important that you assess your performance objectively. Ask yourself whether next time you could ask better questions to uncover the unexpected situation earlier. If the answer is "no" then reset your objective for the meeting. If the answer is "yes" then take on board what you have to learn and reset the objective for your next meeting. But, and this is very important, always remember to set a new objective for the meeting.When was the last time you heard this conversation:"How was the sales meeting?" "Great". "How did you get on?". "Oh, great I think he / she will use us!".My next question for you is, "So what's the next step?"This should have been agreed, with time-scales with the client. If it hasn't then you haven't reached your objective. Maybe this was because you didn't set one or you didn't achieve it but this sales meeting was not "great"!Lets face it, you work hard to find clients and get that all important meeting with them and you listen hard to understand their true needs not your perceived ones. When you provide a solution that matches their needs they are expecting you to "ask for the business". When this becomes a relaxed, natural part of the meeting you will achieve more and effortless sales.For the last 10 years, Gavin Ingham has been helping sales people to explode their sales performance by turning self-doubt, fear and lack of motivation into self-belief, confidence and action. With his inspirational approach to sales performance and motivation Gavin combines commercial experience, personal excellence and communications technologies in delivering personal and business sales success.Visit http://www.gaviningham.net now to join Gavin's free monthly newsletter packed full of sales secrets, strategies and tactics. Join now and get Gavin's ground-breaking 9-part objection handling course absolutely free.](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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How To Become A Sales Superstar And Have Fun Winning More Business - Start
One of the interesting things about being a coach and speaker is that I have the good fortune to work with lots of different people from all sorts of different types of companies, markets and backgrounds. Whilst I do work (on the motivation and public speaking side) with ![non-sales people probably 95%+ of the work I do is with sales teams of some sort or other! As such, I get a real insight into the challenges and issues that many top sales performers face and also into who they are and what they believe.Now I guess that not many of my readers will not have heard of logical levels; logical levels hails from neuro-linguistic programming (nlp) and has been championed by a chap called Robert Dilts. Logical levels is a model of what's inside of us and how that helps us to filter information through ourselves before acting on it. There are various different versions of logical levels however they all have at the deeper levels the word IDENTITY or who you are.If you think about it, who you think you are forms the basis of every action you take and every feeling you have. And it's not something that we consciously choose. At your next sales meeting why not ask everyone around the table:](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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How To Win Business By Networking
In sales we do tend to become focused upon our own little worlds. Our company, our desk, our clients; but there is a whole world of people out there living their lives in their little worlds too. And they do a lot of business. The purpose of personal networking is to move ![yourself into these people's networks so that you can do business with them naturally and without cold calling. Now, I am not for one second suggesting that you should stop cold calling but you can use personal networking to greatly increase your chances of success and referrals.Pareto's Law states that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your clients. Chances are that these are the clients that you have strong relationships with, your "champions" if you like. So start to network with them. Find out who they know, who they can refer you to and who they would approach for business if they were you.Now you may be thinking, "Well, I cannot do that." Or even, "Well, they would have given it to me if they had any contacts, wouldn't they!".Wrong! On both counts! People who do not sell for a living do not understand what you want if you don't tell them. They may well think that you do not need or want their help. Approached properly your clients will help you, they will give you leads and they will sell your services for you. I advocate that everyone I coach has a "circle of influence" ? a group of people who always speak well of you, will refer you to other people and who will happily pass leads to you. Start by identifying ten people for yours now and start to network with them. As time passes you can expand this group. You will find that many of your best clients will be people who are referred to you by your existing best clients.And remember! In sales, none active clients can be "champions" too so keep in touch with them. I have won many large pieces of business from clients who work with my competitors for a variety of valid reasons but then recommended me and not them!!! Why? Because the salesperson who sold them had something specific that they wanted at the right time but I had the networking skills and the credibility so they gave their referral business to me not the other salesperson!"But Gavin, I have only just started out and I haven't got any clients or any people to get into my circle!!!!"Well, firstly I don't believe you. Ten years ago I was offered a job with a large financial advisors in the City. I was very tempted. It was more money than I was earning, the commission was incredible and the offices were flash. I decided that it was not the path for me but I do remember their first question in the interview, "When you start with us you have to make a list of 200 people you know. Now you many not think that you know 200 people but you will. Write down all of your family, all of your friends and then everyone you know through them. It may take you a while but you'll get there. Your first job is to ring them all, tell them what you are doing and ask them how they can help. Can you do that?"So you see you will know people, when you try. Are you ready to try yet?But there are other ways to get to know people and here are just a few. I am sure that you will have more and better ideas because you know your business better than me?Business groups, user groups, networking groups (such as BNI), breakfast clubs, Toastmasters, church, rotary, rotaract, the round table, standing in queues, public speaking anywhere, charity work, in restaurants, volunteer service, hotels, at the gym, professional associations (such as REC), your local business link, schools/ colleges / universities, neighbours, friends, family, colleagues, ex-colleagues and many, many more.And as a final note before you all leave your desks to take your best clients out for lunch or to go and visit BNI! You are running your own business. You are responsible for making the sales that you need to hit target. You need to work out ? by yourself and in discussion with your manager or coach ? the best way to do that. Every networking meeting you attend should have an objective!Several of my ex staff may well be reading this thinking, "I cannot believe him ? he stopped me going to the XXX user group." Yes, I might have and if you remember I asked you why you were going. If the objective is not clear and not quantifiable ? don't go. It's not a "jolly" or a day out of the office, it's a proven business development method!For the last 10 years, Gavin Ingham has been helping sales people to explode their sales performance by turning self-doubt, fear and lack of motivation into self-belief, confidence and action. With his inspirational approach to sales performance and motivation Gavin combines commercial experience, personal excellence and communications technologies in delivering personal and business sales success.Visit http://www.gaviningham.net now to join Gavin's free monthly newsletter packed full of sales secrets, strategies and tactics. Join now and get Gavin's ground-breaking 9-part objection handling course absolutely free.](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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Marketing Vs. Sales
Marketing and sales co-exist and work in tandem beautifully if they are allowed to remain as separate entities coming together to achieve results:DRIVING REVENUE!!Marketing = SIZZLE ------ Sales = CLOSINGThe misunderstanding that marketing and sales are the same causes a ![downward spiral of events. Sales staff and managers become frustrated, productivity drops, turnover is high, and company image suffers. This "cycle of misunderstanding" perpetuates itself over and over again resulting in lost revenue.STOP THE CYCLE OF MISUNDERSTANDING!HOW?1) Understand that there is a difference between marketing and sales. What's The Difference? Marketing is associated with advertising, event planning, community involvement, getting your company name "out there", creating credibility, normally a "people pleaser" personality, with the primary focus on lead generation.Sales is associated with knowledge and understanding of the value of a lead, understanding the "selling cycle", a well documented sales process (and knowing how to use it), great qualifying questions, developing an atmosphere of trust with customers, listening more than talking, asking for the sale or the next step, great follow-up skills.The actual skill sets (not personalities) for each of these areas of expertise is different. Most companies evaluate potential sales staff on personalities NOT skills. A critical component in the hiring process should include a skill based evaluation. 2) When recruiting, define well in advance what position you are hiring for ? sales or marketing? Most companies' need both as a team working together.3) Eliminate untrained or unskilled staff from being involved in the recruitment process. The misconception about sales and marketing being one and the same runs rampant in all industries in all staff involved in the hiring process.Solutions:1) Develop a company profile to differentiate skill sets.2) Create a list of key questions designed to delineate the difference in skill sets of the sales person vs. the marketing person.3) Provide appropriate training to anyone involved in the hiring process to help them understand the differences to assure you are hiring the right person for the right position.CEO - United Sales Training (http://www.unitedsalestraining.com), 20 years as a Professional Sales Trainer, Recruiter, Sales and Marketing Manager, Consultant. Dedicated to the](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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Increasing Your Sales FASTER -- Dealing with Ill Think It Over.
Do you frequently hear that from a prospect?"I'll Think It Over."What does this mean? It usually means that either The prospect doesn't know how to say No, or There are real questions he doesn't have the answers to that he will be looking for. He might want to ![price shop. Some clients are just procrastinators; they don't make quick decisions, or will never make a decision. and Something was missed earlier in the sales process.So, could this have been avoided before it got this far? Possibly. The problem is that the longer the prospect delays, the less likely you'll close this deal. I see sales close ratios go up when my clients start using dealing with this before it happens, and handling it quickly when it does happen.When your hear](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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Training for Trade Shows - 5 FAQs
Trade shows are so obvious. You go. You hand out brochures. You come back to the office. It's just a glitch in your work week. Well, it's much more than that. Your bottom line can float on when you make - or lose - a sale at a trade show.Trade show training. So, who needs ![it? Well, you do - if you want to understand the process and do a better job. Is training just for one person? It's a start but it's best that everyone involved in a show understand the impact a show can have.Through the years, I've been asked lots of questions about training. These are the one that are asked most often - the FAQs about why training is important.Q - We've been going to shows for years. We always send the same crew. Why do we need training?A - Because if you've been going to the same shows, sending the same staff and selling the same products to the same people, you're in a rut. The business world is changing quickly, and you need to adapt. Trade show marketing is unique for each show because there's a change of exhibitors, attendees - and most important - your reason for attending. To "just do it" doesn't work for trade shows.Q - Why does everybody involved in the show need training?A - Because old habits are hard to break. And bad habits are tougher. Trade shows are a company-wide marketing event, not a trip for the sales staff. Statistics show that 80% of leads are not followed-up after a show. When you have more people responsible for the success of the show - from the executive office to the loading dock, from the telemarketing staff to the out-of-town reps, your odds are greater for making sales and keeping customers.Q - We have had sessions on how to sell and follow-up. What's so different about trade shows?A - Trade shows are a completely different environment. The time is compressed, the expectations are high (sometimes too high), you're constantly on stage meeting strangers. Then you get back to your office? Well, you have to follow-up leads as well as do your regular work. The more you know about this unique marketing opportunity, the more comfortable and successful you will be.Q - We're just going to a show to walk the aisles. Why do we need training?A - Are you a good spy? What are you looking for? Do you know trade shows are the best source of market intelligence about your industry, new products, new processes, new suppliers, new partners, new reps, new employees and new competitors? Training can help you be more aware of your surroundings, focus on your targets and be open to new opportunities.Q - Our display is looking worn since we do lots of road shows a year. But the boss doesn't want to spend money. Can we substitute training for a new display?A - Sorry, no. A sad-looking display is a reflection on how important you think your company is. Training can make you more effective, but it can't overcome a neglected image.Conversely, a new and expensive exhibit cannot overcome an inexperienced staff, pushy sales people, a lack of purpose or that infamous I-don't-care attitude. Don't put all your exhibit money into the exhibit. A sharp exhibit is important to get people to your space, but it's people who make the contact - and the contract.The more you know, the better you will be at a trade show.Julia O'Connor - Speaker, Author, Consultant - writes about practical aspects of trade shows. As president of Trade Show Training, Inc, now celebrating its 10th year, she works with companies in a variety of industries to improve their bottom line and marketing opportunities at trade shows.Julia is an expert in the psychology of the trade show environment and uses this expertise in sales training and management seminars.](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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5 Powerful Tips To Persuasion!
Having excellent persuasion skills is one of the most important abilities to possess in today's fast-paced world. We all need the support and cooperation of others in helping us reach our own personal goals. The saying that "no man is an Island" is an undeniable truth.These ![are some tips to influence effectively and persuade others to buy your product or service.1. Provide an Understanding Attitude.Enter into their world. You must understand their situation. Look at life from their point of view. This is a time to set aside your personal interests in order to concentrate on your prospective buyer. Do not talk about you. Ask questions to learn about them.If you were this person, what would you do? How would feel? What would your opinion be? Once you have these answers, then, take the appropriate action that would benefit them.It would not hurt to mirror some of their actions. You don't want to be too obvious about mirroring, but it is helpful so that others relax in your presence. It is as if they see themselves in you. This can lead to trust.2. Provide a Friendly Atmosphere.Smile to brighten up the day. Make a sincere compliment to raise their spirits. Little things like this count a lot.Make them feel that whenever they need help or just someone to look up to, you will always be there to lend a hand. They will tend to be more receptive in a caring environment.If you want others to respond to your requests, be sure to go the extra mile. Always over deliver and exceed their expectations. It really does not cost much extra time or money to over deliver, but it pays off in dividends. Others will notice and want that kind of service.3. Provide compelling evidence.Explain how your ideas or suggestions could be the most effective techniques to implement. Show undeniable proof that you have the best product by way of testimonials, before and after scenarios. Give detailed comparisons against your competitors. Make sure all your claims are true and verifiable. You want to maintain a good reputation.4. Provide Solutions to Meet the Needs of Others.This point is very important.](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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Get Tough
You deal with rejections, frustrations, disappointment, and possibly disrespect on a daily basis. You probably experience more emotional ups and downs than most other professionals. And, no matter how successful you are, your income is less predictable than that of salaried ![employees. As a salesperson, your level of mental and emotional toughness affects you everyday, both on and off the job.Being mentally and emotionally tough is less about what you say and do than it is about how you feel about what you say and do. For example, if your feelings about asking a prospect to make a decision keep you from asking, then you start a downward spiral to nowhere. First, you're uncomfortable asking, so you don't ask and end up wasting time with a non-qualified prospect. You get angry with yourself and/or the prospect for wasting time. All these negative feelings and actions only serve to tear down your emotional and mental well-being.Here's a Sandler rule:](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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Cutting Through Stalls and Objections
It's the prospect. If stalls and objections frequently come up in your sales calls, it's a good idea to bring them up before the prospect has the opportunity. If you bring them up first, several good things happen:* It helps your credibility when the prospect sees that ![you're not afraid to bring up stalls and objections, even before you're asked. This promotes a feeling of trust.* You remain in control, not the prospect.* You can save time and get down to business faster and easier.Here's how you can handle stalls and objections up-front:](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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Build Rapport by Mirroring
Traditionally, salespeople look for something in the office that begs a question. For example, "Is that your sailfish on the wall?"How many times do you think that prospect has been asked that question? How often do you think the prospect hears a salesperson ask about the ![family portrait on the desk, last night's baseball game, etc.? The prospect anticipates these questions. Verbal skill is actually a very small part of the rapport quotient. Non-verbal communication goes a long way toward establishing rapport with your prospect.This may seem to suggest the need to learn to read body language. But it's not as simple as interpreting (guessing) what your prospect's body language is saying. The fact is, people feel comfortable with people who are like themselves! So, as a professional salesperson, you can use a technique called mirroring to match your prospect's body language so that your prospect relaxes and feels comfortable in your presence.Show and Tell (and Touch)All of us interpret our personal environments through our senses, which act like filters. Your mind is constantly asking,](http://www.bandu2.com/_binc/images/site/three_dots.gif)
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