The Sales Pro Insider Building Performance Profits and People

What does it take to be successful in the sales world?  Intelligence, drive, a good work ethic, being customer and company focused, knowing ‘how’ to sell in your industry and so much more.  Yet all of this can be boiled down to two broader items:  confidence and competence.

In my sales training courses, we build competence and confidence.  When my prospects ask me which is more important – I’m stumped.  It’s both!  Being confident with competence is what is necessary.  Strengthening each of these lasts and gives a healthy ROI to the training!

Let’s look at the alternatives:    

• Confidence with incompetence:  You know these folks – lots of bravado and nothing to back it up.  They create a trail of destruction – inside and outside the company. Often these are what people label the dreaded ‘used car salesman’ type.
• Lack of confidence with incompetence:  Not much to say, hopefully they find another career quickly. The sad part?  Often they are the NICEST people – just miscast in sales.
• Lack of confidence with competence:  They know what to do and CAN do it – but their lack of confidence can rear its ugly head in so many unproductive ways – procrastination, lack of making contact with prospective buyers, and over preparing for everything.

A competent and confident sales professional knows WHAT to do, HOW to do it and does “it”.  They are consistent, productive and proactive.

It’s Friday – let’s have some fun with this one.  Please comment with examples of salespeople you have run into that fit into one of these groups. 

Filed Under: consultative selling, productivity, sales tips, skills

Once a week we have a Smörgåsbord night for dinner at my house.  (Somepeople might call this leftover night – we don’t.)  It’s the time when we gather all our little tidbits of this and that food and have a FEAST!  Well, today is a sales Smörgåsbord.  Lots of little tidbits from around the world of sales for you. 

1. Jonathan Farrington is offering YOU a free seat in his February 3rd Top Sales Expert Masterclass:  How to Become a Sales Superstar in 2010.  Click here for free registration.
2. Jill Konrath continues her philanthropy with Get Back to Work Faster – visit the site for a free book, free resources and webinars.  Share this with those who need to…get back to work!
3. SmartSelling Tools is offering a written tool – a 100 page eBook titled Increase Sales Productivity in 2010: Sales Tools and the Path to Productivity Gains - full of great tools that can help you be more productive this year.  Click  here.
4. Free eBook from Top Sales Experts with lots of great articles and advice.  Great reads to have with you so that when you are waiting for an appointment, you can make great use of your time.  Click here for the ebook.
5. Sharpenz.com offers a free ready-to-go sales training kit. the kit is for a 30 minute ‘live’ training with a group.  If you aren’t a sales leader, get your free copy and share it with your manager – you’ll score brownie points and get a productive ‘boost’ for your skills and energy!  
6. And last, but not the least of this fabulous Smörgåsbord, Sales Pro Insider, Inc.  (that’s me!) is giving the new eBook Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals is being downlaoded by dozens of sales pros each day!  Get your copy by signing up for the Timely Tips ezine – sent every 3 weeks and full of little tips and ideas to help you get the most out of your day and contacts.

I hope you’ll find plenty to feast on with today’s sales Smörgåsbord. 

If you have any ‘treats’ to add – leave a comment!

Filed Under: productivity, sales tips, sales tools

It’s Monday morning.  I’m tired.  The weekend was long and ended with a funeral for a 39 year old mom with young kids.  What an energy zapper.  And I have a long To Do list for today including an important sales call (aren’t they all important?).

How about you?  Ready to go this morning?

Sometimes its hard to be productive when you have ZERO pep.  Isn’t it?  So what to do?  Going back to bed is not an option.  Taking the day off isn’t either.  So I need to find a way to dig in and find ‘it’ today!

Here’s my plan to find ‘it’:

1. Before looking at my long To Do list, I am taking out my goals.  I am going to read through them and remind myself of WHERE I am headed.
2. Then I am going to really think hard about the rewards I am seeking by achieving the goals.
3. And next I am going to look at my To Do list for today and this week and make sure I have activities listed out that will move me forward.
4. Then I am going to start with the #1 priority (this blog post was the first #1 and I am almost finished !

Just writing these actions has me feeling more energetic!  I think it is because I have a plan now.  That works for me. I will have a productive day

What you need to discover is what works for you? How are you going to get ‘it’ going today so that THIS week is productive and powerful?

If you want help in being more productive, starting with your goals can help.  I did complete the Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals eBook.  It’s a quick process to help you write and plan to reach your goals.  An easy-to-use goal planner is included!  All you need to do is sign up for the Timely Tips ezine here to get your copy.  If you are   already a Timely Tips subscriber, I sent you a link over a week ago to access yours.  If you don’t have it – send me an email. 

Filed Under: goal setting, maximize sales productivity, productivity, sales tips

Great Expectations is more than a Dickens book – its a powerful force in business life.  It drives customer loyalty, frustration, sales and so much more.  ‘Managing expectations’ isn’t good enough anymore…driving and exceeding expectations is the ‘real’ differentiator of pros from rookies.  

Don’t get me wrong, managing expectations is important.  But matching expectations to reality should be the goal.   The effort to sync up reality with expectations runs throughout the sales cycle, implementation or delivery and the relationship. Exceed expectations and you’ll do great.  Miss or just manage expectations and you’ve got a hard road ahead.

Let’s look at a few points in the sales process and the ‘reality” for the sales pro and the customer.

Throughout the whole process your reality may be very different from their reality.  What’s important is to:

• Define and clarify expectations along the way 
• Explain intention and HOW things will go or
• WHY you are asking for certain information
• Ask open ended questions throughout all your discussions to determine their reality.  It might be way different than you think. 

I know this sounds easy on paper -and in ‘real’ life – its tough.  People have different ways of communicating, or not communicating.  They are busy and don’t want to take time, or they are clear them self on certain points, needs, information, etc.  Recapping discussions with clear WHAT’s next, WHO is doing what, WHEN time frames, and HOW you are proceeding will help you get in front of the reality to build great expectations together.

Filed Under: consultative selling, sales tips

Ever been in a conversation with a customer or prospect that missed the mark?  Whether we are responding to objections, trying to communicate value or understand their situation, a key component of being an effective communication is to match intensity.

Matching intensity is not an easy idea. It was first explained to me by an industrial psychologist about 10 years ago. I kind of understood what he was saying and then started observing.  What I found is that many communication ‘misses’ are caused by this mis-match of intensity!

You may have heard that we should ‘mirror’ the prospect or match them emotion for emotion.  And that can be effective.  But  with so many emotions, will that always work? Do you want to match:

• Anger with anger?
• Frustration with more frustration?
• Irritation with irritability?

Probably not.  What we need to do is match the INTENSITY of what they are communicating with like intensity.  Here’s an example:

Customer:  “You just gave me the wrong product after a long wait, I’d like a refund.”  with a medium tone and loudness.

Sales Rep very calmly: “Yes, there was an error in fulfillment. What would you like us to do?”

Customer: “I would like you to take back this product and give me a refund like I asked.” Louder and more anxious.

Sales Rep: “Well, we can do that and the refund will take 30 days to process  through your account.” Very calmly with a lower voice

Customer: “I don’t think YOU get this. I have already paid and waited 30 minutes and now  you gave me the wrong item, I was an immediate refund.” Incredulous and loud.

The calm Sales Rep: “I’m sorry to hear that. We would hate to lose your business. The way we are set up is that we will issue a credit in 30 days.”

Customer: “Well that doesn’t make sense!”  Irritated and increasingly frustrated.

And on the discussion went.  What happened?  The rep was saying some of the right things and trying to be  understanding, but by staying very calm and low-key the customer escalated their emotional reaction and intensity because they didn’t think the rep was ‘getting it’.   This is a real situation – that went further involving a store manager who was ‘calm and collected’ and everyone just kept missing my signals of irritation (yes, I was the irritated customer).  What I needed to know was that someone “GOT IT” and that the gift I was expecting now wasn’t here in time for the holiday. 

The disconnect in intensity led to misunderstanding, less engagement and trust. It also has led me to not do business with that company for many years now.  They weren’t showing understanding OR listening to me.  Yes, they heard my words – but they weren’t getting the intensity and emotion of the importance of it. 

 Instead if the rep had been more animated and emphasized his concern with an increase in tone and energy, we might have headed in a more mutually agreeable direction.

What’s that mean for all of us?  Even when something goes wrong, when we try to  understand and connect with the person – we can increase the customer’s level of satisfaction and loyalty.  In fact,  a study by the Washing D.C. firm Technical Assistant Research Programs found that you can increase customer retention by communicating effectively during a difficult situation.

The key is to match intensity level of whatever the emotion.  It is not to get emotional with them.

This just isn’t about complaints – its also about excitement!  If you are presenting a solution and you notice the energy changing in your prospect – pay attention and adjust. 

The adjustment might need to be up or down in intensity – its getting to the right level that matters.  Sometimes I see reps get MORE intense and animated thinking that will get a higher level of interest.  What it usually does is cause the other person to dismiss the discussion as superficial.

For many of us – its not comfortable trying to figure out emotions its much easier to pick up on intensity.  Some ‘intense-level’ signs to watch for:

• Tone of voice
• Energy level
• Pace of speech
• Level of animation and movement in their body
• How close they are standing
• The degree of eye contact
• Whether they are using ‘feeling’ or ‘thinking’ words

Not an easy concept to grab – but one that can make a HUGE difference when you want to build an intense connection with your customer.

Filed Under: Communication, customer loyalty, sales tips

What happens when you hear an objection?  Do you freeze?  Do you run?  Do you get defensive?  There are many ways to respond to objections – and most will kill your sale!  But when you listen to the objection and respond appropriately, the sale will live on!

My energetic and unbelievably talented colleague, Colleen Francis of Engage  Selling just posted her two-step formula for responding to objections on her blog today:

Here’s a proven two-step formula that can help you handle any pricing objections your prospects throw at you.

 Step 1: Shut up!

 Whenever you’re faced with a difficult question or objection, the first thing you need to do is take a deep breath, make eye contact with your prospect and silently count to three.

 It is amazing how many clients will answer their own objections, or at least give you some much-needed information, when you simply say nothing. Don’t be afraid of silence. Practice it until the three-second pause becomes one of the most effective tools in your arsenal.

 Step 2: Ask questions.

 You can ask up to three questions before you have to answer an objection – provided you ask the right questions in the right way.

 The key is to acknowledge what the customer is saying and then offer them a compliment before asking your question.

 Which questions should you ask?

 Once you’ve acknowledged the objection, ask them a question that is both direct and phrased to elicit more information. Try the following.

 Prospect: “Your price is too high!”

Sales professional: “Thanks for sharing that. How much too high are we?” or “You’re right; we are more expensive than most. How much were you hoping to pay?” or “I appreciate your honesty. Is our price a showstopper?”

 Prospect: “I need a discount!”

Sales professional: “It’s good of you to be looking for the best deal. How much of a discount do you need?” or “Making sure you’re getting the best deal for your company is a good idea. If we can’t budge on the price, does that mean it’s over between us?”

I agree wholeheartedly with the two step approach.  One caution:  Be careful NOT to ignore the emotion that the customer is displaying when they share the objection.  Match the intensity of the emotion with your response/question.  Or there will be a disconnect.  In fact, this is so important, the next Sales Pro Inisider post will address intensity and emotion.

For today, Colleen Says “Shut Up”, I say “Be Quiet” for at least 3-5 seconds when you hear an objection. Then open your mouth and the discussion with a good question to learn more about the objection.

Filed Under: Sales Objections

Last night I returned to Wisconsin after 3 days working with my Sharpenz.com partner in Boca Raton, FL. (Don’t be jealous, it was cold and I was working.)  Traveling always provides interesting situations and sales lessons, and this trip provided a GREAT tip on stalled sales.  The lesson? Don’t be a lemming.

AirTran is the only direct flight and I arrived to check in early. This isn’t a bash on AirTrain, in fact my “TO” flight was smooth and 15 minutes early and the return last night arrived 28 minutes early!

As I entered the Check-in line, there were about 10 passengers in front of me and the line was stalled.  I could see the self check kiosks…without anyone using them.  I asked the man in front of me why no one was using them and he said “Looks like you have to go through one of the agents.”

I waited.

Now there were 6 people behind me and we were still stalled.  I saw an AirTran employee and asked him “Can we  use those kiosks?”  He said “Do you have your confirmation number handy?”  I replied, “No.” (It was buried deep and I didn’t need it on the way out.)  He told me ‘Sorry, then.” and moved on. 

The next 15 minutes were Wait. Move a little. Wait. Stall, stall, stall.  I watched the other people in line (20 or so).  One gentleman really in a panic that the was going to miss his flight.  But he stood in this stalled line like everyone else.

When I reached the front of the line there was another AirTrain employee. I asked her, “Can’t we use the open kiosks?” She said “I don’t think so unless you have your confirmation number.”

Okay.  But I kept looking at them and they LOOKED just like the one I used in Milwaukee three days earlier – you just swiped your credit card and it brought up your itinerary. So I said to the agent, “I think I just need my credit card. Can I try?”  She shrugged her shoulders like “Go ahead’.

As I approached the kiosk I thought “If this works, how many people waited needlessly?”  

Guess what?  It took me about 2 1/2 minutes to swipe my card, move through the screens and pick up my boarding pass.

Wow.  Of course being a trainer I always like to share tips and tools that help others so I turned to the Airtran agent, held up the pass and with a big smile said “It DOES work with a credit card!!”  She looked disinterested.  But the man behind me in line, quickly walked up to the next kiosk instead of waiting.

As I was on my way to security, I was thinking:  How inefficient that was!   How many people were just going with the flow and stalled because everyone else was? 

All because they didn’t:

• Want to ask questions.
• Weren’t paying attention to the details. (One half the kiosk were on and unused)
• Were given wrong information and they didn’t question it.

And that’s how this ties into a sales lesson.  How often do salespeople get stuck in the stalled sales line?  And wait it out without finding out why there is a stall and if there is a way to speed it up?

What, if instead of stalling we:

• Looked for other ways to approach the situation and take action?
• Asked questions on why and how?
• Took a chance by trying something – even if others weren’t willing to?

I think we would move the sales process along more quickly, learn something useful (I’ll never wait like that in line again with open kiosks) and be able to share the idea with others!

Last year was a perfect example of this.  While MANY salespeople ‘waited out’ the recession and followed other non-active msed that stall, kept moving forward and had great sales results!

How have you avoided being a leming and moving a stalled sale?

P.S. I’m not sure if everyone knows the leming reference:  Lemings are rodents who are ‘mythed’ to follow one lemming no matter what, even to death (going over a cliff).  The Urban Dictionary says it is a person with no originality or voice of their own.  They follow what others do.

Filed Under: Sales, consultative selling, maximize sales productivity, sales tips

What is your toughest sales situation?  Is it Prospect A?  The Gatekeeper?  Or the ‘new’ guy that needs to prove his worth by making your sale tougher?  Though these might all be REALLY tough situations, many times our toughest sale isn’t to a paying customer, it’s with the internal folks in marketing, customer support, operations and leadership.

Whether we like it or not, collaborating or working WITH others  IN your company to ‘win’ their assistance and support will help you sell more.  Having them on your side makes all your sales activities from marketing, prospecting, presentation, order fulfillment, and customer relations easier and more efficient.

John Miller, author of QBQ! and now Outstanding! uses a phrase that still makes me chuckle, he says that some sales teams call the ‘insiders’ at their company, the Sales Prevention Department.  Now come on!  Are the operations and marketing people really trying to keep you from making sales?  Probably not.  

Like an ignored or unhappy customer, though, they can make our jobs more challenging.

This week I am in Florida working with my Sharpenz.com partner, Alice Kemper.  Watching the support of her Administrative Manager  reminds me why she is so successful.  Alice takes care of Gloriann Perque at work and as a person. In turn, Gloriann will do ‘anything’ (she told me so) for Alice.  And that pays off in business.

With my associates at Sales Pro Insider, Inc. I am fortunate to have Lynn Zimmber, Kayla Kutz and Claire Ziffer help me with so many things – even at last notice.

I see this with many successful sales professionals. They know who to go to when they need to get something done.  They may be demanding, but they also take care of their internal folks.  Some even give gifts or money at year-end to share their bonus and commission that they couldn’t have earned without that support.  Others are thoughtful throughout the year and verbalize their appreciation often.

So today I challenge you collaboratively sell with your internal people:

• Build a relationship with your internal associates
• Ask them questions - understand what THEY do and why they do it.  Find out what they need to be able to serve you better
• Listen – really listen
• Appreciate them and what they do
• When giving them something to do, ask for any potential obstacles and work with them to remove them
• Ask for a decision or commitment. 

Identify one person on your team (it can even be your manager) that you want buy-in from for you and your efforts.  And then begin today to sell with them and win them over.  An easy way is to show genuine appreciation TODAY!  Your benefits will be huge!

What do you think?  How have you turned an internal associate into a huge advocate that helps you?  Who is the internal person that you want to recognize and appreciate? 

Filed Under: customer loyalty, customer service, maximize sales productivity, sales tips

You can start this week and year out with a big kick!  And a panel of sales experts will provide tips and ideas you can use to kick high!

Join me – and 4 other sales experts, Jonathan Farrington, Joanne Black, Nancy Nardin and Lori Richardson TOMORROW for a Roundtable discussion on Kicking Your Year Into  High Gear!  I’ve twisted Jonathan’s arm to offer FREE seats for you!   Just click here to register for what is sure to be an engaging and  helpful 60 minutes that will stretch your mind.

Hope to have you on the call!  I’ll announce how to get your FREE eBook on Achieving Your Goals during this roundtable.

Filed Under: sales seminar, sales tips, sales tips

I hope the series of Sales Predictions for 2010 that wraps up today has given you some ammunition on actions, strategy and maybe a boost of hope and confidence that THIS year can be whatever you want it to be.  As we wrap up the first full work week of 2010, I share my predictions for sales leaders and sales professionals. 

I am optimistic about this year – with a caution.  The business landscape is different.  There is hesitation on ‘is it over yet?’ and maybe a lack of commitment to MOVE.  This leads all of us in sales – really the driver of our economy in so many ways – to need to think differently, find different paths and collaborate more consciously.  And it will be worth it because there is a LOT of opportunity to ‘light up the sky’ with and for our customers!

My specific predictions:

Sales Leaders

Leaders at all levels will continue to have to do more with less.  Problem solving and finding proactive activities to equip and engage their sales team will be critical.  Retaining top and average performers will need attention as the markets start to show signs of strengthening and sellers realize there are new opportunities. 

Sales Reps:

The gap between high performers and mediocre performers will widen.  Top performers will seek skills, habits and tools to sell even more.  The ‘noise’ of social media and the internet will become louder.  Filtering to find the right tools and right information will be key to focus on what sales people need to do:  get in front of prospective buyers to determine how they can provide value with and for them.  Collaborative approaches in marketing, nurturing, selling and account management will reign.

And there you have it.  A full week of 2010 sales predictions from credible sales expertise sources - Jill Konrath, Nancy Nardin, Jonathan Farrington, Jeb Blount, Anne Miller and Alice Kemper.  What they’ve learned from their contacts with many companies and sales reps globally, and their attention to the economy allowed all of us a glimpse into what we can focus on this year to capture more sales.  If you’d like to have all the predictions in one, easy to access document for your review, click here.    

Now what?  Well, that’s up to you!  Your focus on setting your targets and goals for this year and then acting to achieve them is critical.  That’s why these next sales resources might be very helpful!

Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals  – a new ebook I’ve written with a turn-by-turn route for you to set and achieve goals.  It even includes an effective Goal Planner!   

I’ve put all the best tips I have shared over the last 18 months into one easy to follow document.  I’m putting the final touches on Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals and it will be available next Tuesday FREE!  Come back for the link.

The eBook will be ready in time to be a companion to the upcoming Top Sales Expert Roundtable on Tuesday, January 12th on Time to Get Into Gear Early!  (This roundtable can be free if you are a VIP member – only $25 a year! for dozens of sales sessions and tools.)  Plus, as a presenter, I have a free seats to offer you today!  (Who says the holiday gift-giving is over?) Click here to be a part of this roundtable that is sure to be helpful and entertaining.   

 One final FREEbie today, a FREE Ready-to-go sales training booster kit for you now.  Sharpenz…Half Hour of Power boosters were designed to help EVERYONE in the sales profession efficiently stay at the top of their game!  And YOU can get a free booster to equip, engage and energize your sales team!  Visit theSharpenz site for the FREE booster. 

Filed Under: Sales, focus, maximize sales productivity, sales tips