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| Sales Training Information |
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The 7 Deaths of a Salesman
In sales, you can work one of two ways. You can either do the things you should do or you can do the things you want to do. Sometimes these are one in the same, but more often they are at odds with one another. However, this article isn't about doing the right things, it's about showing you what things to avoid. If you can figure out how to control each of these 7 things on a daily basis, you'll be well on you way to selling success. Eternal Email Eternal email can occur several different ways. The most common of these is checking your email every five minutes in eager anticipation of something new. Another way to waste your day with email is by relying on it for long messages or conversations that last longer than a few sentences. To control your email instead of the other way around, set aside two or three scheduled times a day to check it. Also, never have a conversation over email that could ever be misinterpreted because of the rigidity of writing instead of speaking. Embrace your telephone for communication with your clients, prospects, and colleagues. In the age of information overload, a friendly voice on the other end of the phone can greatly separate you from your competitors who are taking hours of their client's time with excessive emails. Personal Phone Calls How many people do you know at your office that take at least a dozen personal phone calls a day? I bet at least one or two people came to your mind almost immediately. Do you know why? Because taking personal phone calls is one of the most distracting and unprofessional things you can do in a corporate environment and is immensely irritating to co-workers. If you are concerned with productivity, this should be one of your most irritating pet peeves. If you don't think that taking personal phone calls at work is such a bad thing, then you may be the very person at the office that everyone is complaining about. In sales, if you are having problems with personal phone calls, I recommend putting a little note on the receiver of your phone that says "Can this Wait Until Later?" Most of the time, when you take a personal call at work, it's because you think it has to happen right now. Ask yourself this question before taking any personal phone calls at the office and you'll quickly start to take less time each day with distraction. Unplanned Internet Research A killer for sales people is surfing the internet for hours at a time and justifying it as prospect research. Should you do research every day on your clients and prospects? Of course you should, but only if it doesn't interfere with your more important tasks such as meeting with clients, following up with prospects, and asking for referral business. The key to overcoming unplanned internet research, as well as many of these other distractions, is planning your day the night before. Lay aside a reasonable amount of time each day for research (probably between 30 minutes to an hour) and make sure you don't go outside of that time the next day. Try to keep this philosophy for your sales research, only do research that you plan to act on in the next 24 hours. That will prevent you from doing any research that you might forget before having the opportunity to use it. Running Personal Errands on Your Sales Route Whether it's dry cleaning, grocery shopping, buying shoes, or anything else, keep your personal errands out of your business life. Why? Because you have a limited number of hours each day to sell and you can't afford to spend that time on things that aren't making you any money. In sales, everything should be weighed according to its opportunity cost. You probably remember this from your economics class in college. Basically, opportunity cost means the cost of something in terms of an opportunity foregone (and the benefits that could be received from that opportunity). Whether the cost is time, safety, or money, nothing is ever totally free. So when you are picking up your dry cleaning during time that you could be making phone calls, the opportunity cost of doing that is the amount of money you would be making if you were making calls instead of picking up your dry cleaning. Measure everything in sales by looking at the opportunity cost and you'll find that making decisions about what to do first becomes much easier. Running Your Day Without a Plan If there's anything on this list that probably kills more sales people that any other, it's trying to function without a daily plan. Study the life of any successful sales person throughout history and you'll quickly see that planning is a common thread that runs through all of their careers. The worst thing I've seen that happens to dozens of sales people is that they manage their day according to how they feel. When this happens, you can work for an entire day without ever accomplishing anything significant. Don't let this happen to you, make a plan and follow it every day. Some of the things you should plan into each and every day are new prospect development activities, follow up activities, research, and planning. Everything that moves a sale from beginning to end should be planned into every day. Long Term Marketing During Work Hours This one may not hit home if you are not responsible for the branding and marketing of your product on a more national or long term basis. But for those of you that are selling for a small business, or own a business, this one is just for you. Long term marketing includes writing articles or books, working on your web site, putting together marketing material, and any other similar activity during business hours. If you are in the very first steps of developing your business model then this material has to be created before you can really selling, but for those of you that just aren't convinced that your marketing material is top quality, or your brand positioning needs a little work, you've got a constant temptation to do this during work hours and it will kill your sales if you give in to it. You've got to strike while the iron's hot and that mean selling during normal business hours and working on long term projects after or before business hours. If you think that sounds too difficult for you, guess what, you are in the wrong profession. When you decided to go into sales, you agreed to a whole different lifestyle than your computer programmer friends. Non-Business Work During Business Hours This is the catch-all for all those other things that you do at work that don't make yourself or your company any profits. This includes paying bills, reviewing your 401K, balancing your checkbook, writing poems to your girlfriend, playing video games, watching movies, and so on. All of these things have a time and a place in life, but it's not at the office when you need to be selling. If you find yourself gravitating to these activities every day, I recommend getting some professional help. A great way to start would be to sign up for my Nacke Gazette where you'll find encouragement and success tips in your inbox every couple of weeks. Overcoming non-productive activities in sales is probably something you'll struggle with your entire career. By being mindful of what you are doing and fighting against distraction, you'll see greater and greater success throughout the years. Mike Nacke is a speaker, author, and consultant to business owners, managers, and recruiters. He has helped companies make millions of dollars by developing unique hiring processes that turn hiring into a measurable science. He is also the publisher of The Nacke Gazette. Visit http://www.mikenacke.com for more information on reducing labor costs and increasing workforce productivity. Mike is currently the Director of Development for PrideStaff, a national staffing and recruiting firm.
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Coaching In Sales, Words Just Don't Compute In studies conducted by Motivational Systems of West Orange, New Jersey, researchers found that 72% of the 12,000 participants reported that, in first time meetings, non-verbal communication carried significantly more weight than a verbal message (words). Only 6% of the respondents paid the slightest attention to what a person said at a first time meeting. This finding parallels Dr. Al Mehrabian's research at UCLA, who reported that only 7% of a person's communications effectiveness comes from words, while 38% is made up of tone of voice and 55% from non-verbal communication like eye contact, gestures, body language, dress, facial hair, etc. Ninety three percent of what is effectively communicated is non-verbal. 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. The Myth of the Natural Born Sales Wonder When I researched the field of using personality inventories to determine future sales success potential, I found the following flaws in their application and interpretation: 10 Power-Packed Ways To Spark Your Sales 1. Spend money on targeted advertising instead of mass media advertising. You don't want to waste your ad dollars on people who aren't interested. Getting People to Buy Without Selling In my youth I landed a job selling encyclopedias door to door. I worked for commissions. If I did not sell anything, I did not get paid. Trying to sell a high ticket item such as encyclopedias door to door was no small task as you might imagine. Six Simple Steps to Increase Sales and Decrease Stress Have you ever found a lead on a scrap of paper after the prospect purchased from your competition? Are you spending time recreating proposals because you can't find a similar one you wrote a few months ago? Do you run out of the door for an appointment at the last minute because you could not find the brochures you really wanted to take? Are you feeling overwhelmed? If so, here are six simple steps to help you increase sales and decrease stress: 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. Is It Time To Rethink Your Sales Training Program or Is Your Sales Training Delivering Results? Sales is still a must for any company who wishes to stay in the marketplace. A recent Internet search uncovered over 471,000,000 hits on the words sales or selling. Visiting an Internet bookstore revealed similar interest with almost 11,400 titles including the key word of sales, over 8,208 titles with the key word of selling and 4,700 titles with the key words of sales and marketing. The Business of Closing the Sale Without Killing It You must be able to coordinate your sales talk to service whatever step in the selling process the customer has arrived at in their mind. Sales Tips from Sales Masters 7 Sales Techniques To Differentiate You From The Competition You have a choice. You can stand out or blend in with your competitive landscape. Differentiation doesn't come naturally, blending in does. We all want to fit in with the crowd, we want to be like everybody else, and we've been that way since we were kids. As a professional sales representative you should focus on what makes you different because the similarities will take care of themselves. Say What?!? Sales is a Profession? What exactly is the sales profession? Without a common dialogue and context for the sales profession, sales professionals and corporate executives who choose to engage marketing, sales, and customer service functions through a sales effort are often left scratching their heads when it comes to understanding what sales really is. What do we make of the numerous and powerful "How to" concepts defined and implemented within the sales profession? These "How to" concepts are invaluable, but they only define one-half of what is needed to be considered a profession. Without the other half, we're doomed to non-professional status. Let me explain. Why More Sales Training Comes Before More Marketing Expenditure In most businesses, when sales are slow or low, the first reaction is to spend more on marketing. Create better adverts, more adverts; direct sales letters is the cry. But is this always the right solution? How to Maximize Sales by Minimizing Windshield Time During the late 1980's I was a field sales representative for a computer distributor, selling computer systems and peripherals in and around Los Angeles, California. The traffic was horrendous, and the time I wasted driving to and from appointments just drove me crazy (no pun intended). Cross-selling for Increased Sales, Profits, and Customer Satisfaction Cross-selling - the art of selling for non-salespeople The Power of Confidence My experience has taught me that people want to buy from sales people who are confident in their abilities. Taking control of the circumstances and situations around you will develop your self-confidence. When you consider the amount of rejection that many sales people encounter, the fact that many salespeople lack self-confidence is not surprising. Top performing people in any industry typically possess a high level of self-confidence. They may not necessarily possess this confidence all their lives. A Sale in 30 Seconds? Its all in the Greeting It has been said that a customer makes a decision to buy within the first 30 seconds of their experience at a retail store. That means that as a salesperson, you must create an environment that is comfortable for your customer and conducive to making a sale, all within 30 seconds of their arrival. How to Build a Repeat Client Base in Automobile Sales Here is a question I recently received from a young automobile salesperson: Getting Them to Buy: The Two Most Important Pieces to the Sales Pitch Why are some sales pitches more persuasive than others? Are the salespeople just naturally more convincing, or do they know secrets about creating a sales pitch that the rest of us don't? Make More Sales By Creating How To Use It Product Updates Do you have any idea what your customers have experienced from using the products they have purchased from you? Most of the vendors I work with make a sale and move on. They often don't bother investing much time improving the products they sell to their customers, much less develop ways to help them better understand how to use them. A very small minority of vendors have continued to send me unsolicited free bonus 'how to use it' follow-up emails and publications long after I made my purchase from them. And whenever I receive something like this, it almost always compels me to take another look at the product I purchased because anything that helps me understand more ways to use what I already own is pretty useful to me.
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