Many of us continuously look for signs of economic recovery.  And for me, today provided a lot of positive signs!

I had 5 appointments today – its a lot in one day for the in depth needs analysis and follow-up I do, and I am exhausted tonight as I finish up notes and follow-up actions. 

Yes, as I am recapping, I noticed that there is a trend…4 of the 5 presidents/business owners reported healthy sales increases this year!  The lowest? 9%, the highest? Over 30%!

What’s this mean to me?  Some good and some bad news. The good? They now have money to spend on consulting and training. The bad? If sales are up, they don’t think they need any help with their sales teams!  (I won’t let that deter me from finding ways to get them to even higher levels

More importantly, What’s this mean to you?  If you are operating under the ‘no one is spending’ and ‘no one has budget’ beliefs – STOP!  Those sellers and companies that are READY when the buyers are will recover much quicker than those with their heads down. 

Find the signs of recovery in your industry – share the good news with your propsects.  You can send a note saying “Have you seen the lastest blah-blah-blah, stating that blah-blah-blah”?   Even if they disagree with the facts you have -  you have started a conversation to build from!  It’s an opportunity to connect.

What signs are you noticing?  Is it time to capitalize on the opportunities emerging?

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“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but “NO” can never hurt me!”  What a powerful quote from the Go For No book by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz.

Andrea gave me the Go For No book last week at the Sales Shebang in Chicago.  It is a ’short’ book that I read early Saturday morning as I sat on the patio enjoying the fantastic end-of-summer weather in Wisconsin.

Go For No is a story about Eric James Bratton (fictional) who discovers that his success increases exponentially with the number of Nos that he seeks each day.  Eric  finds that if “Yes is the destination, No is how you get there.”  The philosophy is that persistence pays off.  And most of us give up WAY too early – like after we hear No once, twice, or even three times!

Fenton and Waltz’ message is that we need to embrace failure (if we consider hearing “No” a failure).  They outline the Five Failure Levels and the number of people that stop there – meaning if we keep going we differentiate ourselves and will find more success at the end! 

What are these Failure Levels?

1. Level 1  The Ability to Fail -  100% of people have this ability. 80% of people stay here because they avoid any form of failure.
2. Level 2 Willingness to Fail – These people come to accept failure as a natural product of the process of seeking success. Only 20% of people make it to this Level
3. Level 3 Wantingness to Fail- Developing the desire to fail with the inner faith that growth follows. Fewer than 5% of people get to this level.
4. level 4 Failing Bigger and Faster – These people conclude that if failing is good, than failing faster is better!  And they go after big goals to make it worth their effort!
5. Level 5 Failing Exponentially – Bringing others along because if individual failure means individual success; group failure equals group success!

Sounds crazy to ‘want’ to fail – but reading the book reminded me of a story I heard many years ago from a trainer.

Bob was a couple of years out of college working for a manufacturing company in Detroit. He had impressed management enough to be given the lead in a million dollar project.  He was so excited and spent 10 months executing the project…which failed quickly.

Bob was summoned to the President’s office. With his head low, Bob entered the office with his ‘data’.  The President had many questions for Bob on How, Why and What. Then he asked ‘What would you do different?” Bob had some thoughts on that.

The President thoughtfully listened to Bob and then excused him. Bob was confused and said, “So, do you want to me clean out my desk today?” The President said “Why would I want you to clean out your desk?”

Bob replied, “Aren’t I fired for wasting the time and money on this project?”

The President chuckled and said “Fire you? Are you kidding? Son, I’ve just invested a million dollars in your education! I need to see a return on that investment.”

Wouldn’t it be great to work for THAT President?  Well, even if we don’t when take on the Go For No philosophy we have permission to TRY – and if it doesn’t work, that is more than OKAY – we are now closer to success.

I ‘grew up’ in the banking industry. Going for No was NOT okay with the President I worked for. We were careful…very careful….too careful! And unbelievable ideas and successes were missed. I learned a lot – and grew a lot but was also stifled.

After years I made a change…to the opposite end of the spectrum!  President Peter Reynolds at BRIO Toys (he now owns the Little Little Little Toy company) changed my possibilities. Peter was open to new ideas…and letting people try ALL kinds of things. That is where I learned how much I love sales – and the people who sell!  Without the permission to try things and possibly fail…I surely wouldn’t be in the career of selling and helping others sell better! 

I highly recommend you get a Go For No book – and the resources that come with it for yourself- and your team if you have one.  Don’t just read it once – read it again – digest the message. Determine how you can approach what you do with the Go For No attitude.

This week I am challenging myself to hear ‘no’ more often. Its a great week to put this into practice – with a focus on business development at work and transitioning  3 teens back into school – the Go For No mindset might just allow me to feel like a winner by the end of the week!

p.s. This is not a sponsored recommendation – I receive no monetary gain from recommending this book – its just THAT powerful.

p.s.s. I just returned from a local parade. I told the folks around me I was Going for No for all the freebies being tossed out. they couldn’t believe what I received! A Frisbee, water bottle, tons of candy, certificates from local stores, temporary tattoes, a bead necklace (not like at Mardi Gras and refreshing squirts of water.  Yes it was a  little silly ‘test’ with great reesults.  My ‘loot’ was more than double anyone around me (And I paid it forward and gave kids most of the goodies I collected too. I wanted to keep the water bottle…) 

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Technology and work overload have made it easy to lose  the personal touch. Even pushing messages out through social media can be very one way – unless you are in a dialogue. 

The good news is that with so many professionals only focused on technology ‘touches’ it is easier than ever to create a memorable WOW experience for your contacts!

Sometimes the small touches matter more!  Easy wows that take little time and money:

• Send a handwritten personal note. Attach a copy of something interesting you have ready lately that would be interesting to them.  Your note can be as simple as “I thought this would be of interest to you.”
• Share something inspirational. Find a quote and add it to your email signature. Change it often.
• Call someone without a sales reason – thank them for their business and let them know you value their relationship. Keep it short -though often they will want to chat longer if it is all about them!

When you Wow your contacts with the small touches – they will remember you when the BIG opporutnity arises.  The 5 minutes you spend on the small things do matter. It’s one of those ‘Just do its’ that we need to make time for.

I suggest you make time today to Wow one prospect or customer. Then do it again tomorrow!

What else do you do to wow your customers?

p.s. Today as I head to the women’s sales experts conference, Shebang, one of our preparation items is to share our “$1 idea” – a small thing we have done in the past year that has helped in some way.  I’ll share the ideas discussed with you next week!

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Today is my birthday…actually I’m not even supposed to be working – a long held practice from never having to be in school on my birthday since it was always during summer break!

But here I am posting this offer…cuz I’m so excited! What am I offering?  A FREE sales course to 2 deserving sales professionals!  This FREE $1295 8-week sales course will help you build your sales quickly – and I am giving 2 seats away this week!

Details, details….

• The sales training course is in the Milwaukee, WI area beginning September 22, 2010 at 8:30 a.m.
• The workshop is 1.5 days and then the course continues once a week for 8 weeks of reinforcing teleconferences!
• The sales approach is collaborative sales and will include success habit building activities and tools.
• All your materials – and success tools are included!
• You pick up your personal travel expenses.
• Contact me for a full course description.

What do you have to do?  Email me your name, company name and why you are ready to building your sales skills and results.  I’ll draw the winning names Monday morning!

Giving on my birthday makes me so happy!  I hope you’ll take me up on the gift!

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Months ago I was interviewed for a potential article about effective sales meeting practices.  Both Alice Kemper and I were on a joint call firing off ideas to the reporter and we had no idea what would work for him…

Now that the article is published here in the Insurance and Financial Management magazine you can read all the wisdom we shared. Heck, I even gave away my signature ‘how to ensure people pay attention’ tip!  Play doh and chenille sticks are powerful focus-generators! 

If you are planning a meeting and want it to be interactive, engaging and productive, the tips in the article offer some sound advice.  my favorites:

1. Break large groups into smaller groups where conversations can happen.
2. Make time for networking/socializing for Type A sales pros.
3. Use audiovisual equipment effectively to engage and educate – not as your presentation notes!
4. Only share relevant and timely  information.
5. Your room set up and the ambiance matters! Plan for it.
6. Make sure there are ‘how tos’ shared and not just information dumps.

You’ll need to read the rest of the article to get the rest of the tidbits.

The article is a great reminder that planning effective sales training meetings takes effort and energy!  That’s why we did develop the Sharpenz sales training kits. The Guide and specific topic outlines and copy-ready handouts are to ensure you ALWAYS deliver effective sales training meetings.

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Today I facilitated a workshop with a group of 40+ realtors. Our topic? Referrals!  Instead of coming in and telling them what to do – collectively their years of experience FAR outweighed mine – I used a Sharpenz ready-to-go sales training kit instead. 

The format included each person identifying “I wish I knew” items on referrals as a rookie and as they look at what is needed the next six months.  I circled the room and listened to what they were sharing…solid reminders and principles of referrals.  Here’s a dozen tips for you to ponder and act upon.

1. Ask for referrals consistently.
2. Have a plan for asking.
3. Identify Howto ask in a way that is comfortable for you.  Some like humor, some asked in writing, others at certain points in the relationship. 
4. Have a process of follow-up to the referrer. Lots of discussion around whether you should reward the referrer in some way.
5. Tap into the need for many people to help. Ask for their help!
6. Assure the referrers of your intentions and what you will do with the contact information.
7. Be timely in contacting the referral.
8. Do not ask for their entire contact list. 
9. Be specificin what information you would like.
10. Use social media outlets when possible.
11. Be sincere and honest (someone suggested saying “I get referrals from every one of my clients.” and the group said if it wasn’t true, then you would break trust.)
12. Always be thankful – state your appreciation and then assure them how you will use the information they shared.

Taking action on these tips will increase your ABILITY to earn valuable referrals.

There’s so much more to referrals. What’s your best tip?

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It’s the end of another month. Sales managers and sales pros around the world are faced with the reality of ‘their numbers’ and efforts for the past 30 days.  Some are happy, some are not. 

Because I am fortunate to work with many companies and sales professionals each month, I get to see a lot of reaction – and reality!  I offer you several Do’s and Don’ts for your month end actions.

Do:

1. Look at your numbers.  Not just the ’sales’ or results. Look at your activity, your close ratio, your prospecting efforts, etc. Closed sales only tell part of the story of your effectiveness and efforts.
2. Set your goal for next month. Do you have ground to make up from this month? Or from earlier this year?  Write down your goal(s) and as you write it – pay attention to your self talk. Are you confident in your goal? Are you second guessing it? Make sure it is realistic and believable.
3.  Discuss your monthly results and activity with your manager, coach, mentor to seek their opinion.  What do they see you doing well that you should continue doing? What do they suggest you can do different to be even more effective next month?
4. Celebrate your success and progress!  What is a reward that is important to you? Extra time this weekend with friends/family? A nice dinner out, a special drink or treat? Pause and acknowledge what you have done well.

Don’t:

1. Make excuses. Whether you made your numbers or not. If you don’t like your results – it means you need to do something different next month
2. Ignore the facts.  So often I see people who under- or over-estimate results without hard data. You won’t know if you don’t look and get the hard numbers. 
3. Procrastinate. Monday starts a new month. Be prepared to jump into August with enthusiasm and energy – and most important activity!

Using these tips will help you – and your manager – find happiness and success at the next month end.

What other tips do you have for month end?

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A quick tip today – which is simple, but not easy – to show your prospects and customers how brilliant you are.

Most people think that we talk our way into situations, sales and deals. But is that true? More often I see sales won by great listening. 

Many long-term successful sales professionals have already discovered that as they listen and tap into the power of the knowledge of others, their successes increase exponentially with the amount of time they DON’T talk! 

Several years ago I learned how powerful this could be. I had a lead and in our first discussion I was prepared with questions – and more importantly prepared to really listen (I had even written – LISTEN – at the top of my call sheet as a reminder!)  Well, I was successful, in fact, I figured I didn’t even talk more than 5-10% of the time during the hour conversation.  Yet, when I hung up I was unsure if I had gotten my point across even though he scheduled a next meeting.

The next day I heard from Tom, who referred me. Tom asked me how the meeting went and before i could answer he said, ‘Because whatever you did, he thinks you’re BRILLIANT!”   

Well, brilliant?  That is a good first impression isn’t it?  And all because I kept my mouth shut. 

The tip?  Strive for a 80/20 ratio of listening/talking and you’ll listen your way into new levels of brilliance (and results) with your prospects and customers!

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Is sales a real career?  Is it something you can choose to study in college and declare it as your ‘major’?  

As my husband and I talk with our teens about careers and college majors, we cover a lot of ground on their intersts.  of course we discuss business options, and I always bring up a career in sales.  Last night, our 14 year old asked ‘What do you have to do in sales?’ 

Finally!  A signal of interest for a rewarding and lucrative career discussion? I narrowed it down to three things to help her understand sales 101. A sales professional:

1. Helps others get what they want or need in their industry/niche.
2. Builds and maintains a productive pipeline and great relationships.
3. Is rewarded based on their efforts and the value they bring to their company and customers.

Is that it?  In a nutshell I believe it is! it does take skill and expertise to do each of these well but it it something that can be learned.  And a Sales 101 course that brought awareness first to what sales is would help alleviate a lot of the present negativity around ’sales guys’.

I don’t think we look at sales as a career choice nearly enough.  In my sales workshops, when I ask participants, “Who chose this career?”  Maybe 15-20% of people raise their hands.  And most chose because of a relative being in sales. 

The others ‘ended up in sales’ through default, luck or chance. 

I’ve notice a forwad trend though, throughout the country sales majors and disciplines are instituted. The career of sales is being taken seriously as a displine and something that can be studied and learned.  Yeah! 

That’s why I was happy to find the website for The University Sales Education Foundation.   As I read through the university and major description, I noticed many of the programs are still small, and some are just starting Fall 2010!    But we’re are advancing the profession of sales and that is great.

Now I ask you…what is the career of sales to you? Is it a career you are proud of? That you can advocate and endorse to others starting out?  If not, why? Digging in for those answers might be the best thing you can do for yourself this week.

If you are proud of your career and the value you bring, you will be more successful. If you aren’t, it moght be holding you back from higher levels of success. 

p.s. Unlike the recent court ruling by a federal judge in Connecticut that competitive cheerleading is not an ‘official sport’, we can all claim that sales is an ‘official profession’ worthy of college study.

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 ”How are you?” says the sales professional. “I’m crazy-busy right now and don’t have time to talk.” says the prospect.

Sound familiar?  Making productive contact with prospective buyers is as tough as its always been…or tougher?  Jill Konrath, sales expert extraordinaire, tackles the topic of how to get more time and opportunity with today’s crazy-busy buyers in her latest book, SNAP Selling. 

Jill’s subtitle is “Speed Up sales and Win More Business with Today’s Frazzled Customers” – how appropriate!  I was privileged to have a before-publish copy of the book and highly recommend you pick up a copy – and then read and apply the information NOW! I’m not alone in my praise for the book – its been the #1 sales book on Amazon for weeks!

Three key decisions are necessary to earn business with crazy-busy people. Jill outlines the decisions and describes how to navigate througoh the decsion making process. Thee information on SNAP is extremely valuable. The SNAP rules are:

• Keep it Simple
• Be iNvaluable
• Always Align
• Raise Priorities

As an example of becoming iNvaluable, here’s a recent story Jill shared in her newsletter: 

Have you ever felt that what you’re selling is just like what your competitors offer? Well, if you think that, imagine how your prospects feel. They get multiple calls every day from sellers who are all saying the same thing.

Crazy busy buyers don’t want to waste one iota of their precious time with these sales clones. Instead, they want to work with people who:

•  
  • Have a deep understanding of their business challenges. 
  • Continually bring them suggestions and insights. 
  • Provoke their thinking.

In today’s business environment, YOU are the primary differentiator – not your products or services. When you focus on developing and leveraging your own expertise, you’ll start seeing immediate results.

Just ask Bill. When he moved into sales at a printing firm where he’d worked for years, he thought the transition would be easy. But after leaving over 2,500 voice mail messages, he was getting nowhere.

His prospects rarely answered the phone. And, when he left messages, they never called him back. Bill was getting desperate – until the day he decided to embrace the approaches detailed in SNAP Selling.

What did he do first? He decided to quit selling “printing.” It just wasn’t working anymore.

Decision makers were simply not interested in talking to another printer who offered one-stop shopping for all their needs combined with great customer service. Their current provider was fine and their pricing acceptable.

Bill’s next step was to narrow his focus. But in what area? After reviewing a variety of projects that his company had done over the years, he decided to become a menu expert.

This is an incredibly hard decision for sellers to make – especially when business is bad. But it is necessary in order to increase your effectiveness.

With this new identity, Bill immersed himself in the restaurant industry. He learned the lingo, studied the history, analyzed how big restaurant chains worked, examined their challenges, and read everything he could on the topic of menus.

Then he targeted the companies he wanted to land as clients. As he studied their menus, he discovered ways that he could help the restaurants improve them, possibly in ways they’d not yet perceived.

He followed the trade press to identify potential opportunities for new menu sales. He looked for chains that were lowering their prices, expansions into new markets, announcements of new menu offerings, and more. When he noticed these trigger events, he’d get in touch.

Finally, he unleashed a carefully crafted campaign directly on the chief marketing officers (CMOs) of these big firms. All his communications included:

•  
  • Strong value propositions with statistics;
  • Up-to-date commentary about the restaurant’s current direction; and
  • Fresh new ideas about how he could help.

Things started changing almost immediately. Bill was soon engaged in interesting conversations with the marketing people. They talked about how to energize offers and drive revenue growth with newly designed menus. The “how much” question was barely a consideration.

Meanwhile, his competitors were fighting pricing battles with the supply chain people. Because they were viewed as a commodity, they were discounting like crazy.

The results? In just two years, Bill’s company has printed over two million menus for the country’s best-known restaurants. He’s in active discussions with his top one hundred targeted restaurants. He’s blowing out his sales numbers and having more fun than ever before.

And he’s expanding his expertise into his next target market right now – but I’m sworn to secrecy and can’t reveal it.

That’s why one of the four SNAP Rules is to Be iNvaluable. In today’s marketplace, it’s imperative for sales success.

Even if your company offers a wide product line or a variety of services, you can still chose to become a specialist – just as Bill did. While it requires an upfront time investment, the payback can be huge.

Jill Konrath, author of SNAP SELLING and Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into new accounts, speed up sales cycles and win big contracts. She is a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings and professional conferences.

For more articles like this, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com . To get a FREE Sales Call Planning Guide ($19.95 value) and sign up for the newsletter, send an email to jill@sellingtobigcompanies.com

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